The realm had from early times been divided in three portions, and in the month of August the three kings, coming together at Verdun in Gaul, redivided it among themselves. Louis received the eastern part, Charles the western. Lothair, who was older than his brothers, received the middle portion. After peace was firmly established and oaths exchanged, each brother returned to his dominion to control and protect it. Charles, presuming to regard Aquitaine as belonging properly to his share, was given much trouble by his nephew Pepin,[208] who annoyed him by frequent incursions and caused great loss. 26. A Chronicle of the Frankish Kingdom in the Ninth Century The following passages from the Annals of Xanten are here given for two purposes--to show something of the character of the period of the Carolingian decline, and to illustrate the peculiar features of the mediaeval chronicle. Numerous names, places, and events neither very clearly understood now, nor important if they were understood, occur in the text, and some of these it is not deemed worth while to attempt to explain in the foot-notes. The selection is valuable for the general impressions it gives rather than for the detailed facts which it contains, though some of the latter are interesting enough. Annals as a type of historical writing first assumed considerable importance in western Europe in the time of Charles Martel and Charlemagne. Their origin, like that of most forms of mediaeval literary production, can be traced directly to the influence of the Church. The annals began as mere occasional notes jotted down by the monks upon the "Easter tables," which were circulated among the monasteries so that the sacred festival might not fail to be observed at the proper date. The Easter tables were really a sort of calendar, and as they were placed on parchment having a broad margin it was very natural that the monks should begin to write in the margin opposite the various years some of the things that had happened in those years. An Easter table might pass through a considerable number of hands and so have events recorded upon it by a good many different men. All sorts of things were thus made note of--some important, some unimportant--and of course it is not necessary to suppose that everything written down was actually true. Many mistakes were possible, especially as the writer often had only his memory, or perhaps mere hearsay, to rely upon. And when, as frequently happened, these scattered Easter tables were brought together in some monastery and there revised, fitted together, and written out in one continuous chronicle, there were chances at every turn for serious errors to creep in. The compilers were sometimes guilty of wilful misrepresentation, but more often their fault was only their ignorance, credulity, and lack of critical discernment. In these annals there was no attempt to write history as we now understand it;