Louis IV of France, known as Louis d’Outremer, was a tenth-century West Frankish king whose reign was marked by aristocratic rivalry and Carolingian survival. His rule belongs to the turbulent period before the rise of the Capetian dynasty.
Louis IV of France also held the offices or ranks of king of West Francia. Louis IV of France belonged to the Carolingian dynasty and operated within West Francia. Louis IV of France was born in Laon and died in Reims.
Tim Hodkinson’s Blood Eagle places Louis IV—Louis d’Outremer—at the moment he returns from English exile in 936 to claim the West Frankish throne. Æthelstan sends Einar and the Wolf Coats on a diplomatic mission connected with Louis’s restoration, so the king’s contested accession and need for noble support provide the political purpose behind the fictional warband’s journey through Francia and Brittany.