deliver a verdict. Berengar died unexpectedly on the way and, freed of obstacles, the Emperor gave Septimania and its counties and the Toulouse to Bernard. The only territories not returned were Empúries and Roussillon, which had already been granted to Sunyer I and Alaric respectively, and Urgell and Cerdanya, which had been detached from Toulouse by the usurper Aznar I Galíndez. Sunifred, brother of Oliba I of Carcassonne, was assigned to expel him. Bernard returned to his domain, where the Goth population that had supported Bera and then Berengar, still opposed him. Ten complaints were presented against him at the Assembly of Quierzy-sur-Oise in September 838. From 841, he was often absent participating in the struggles of the Empire, and the counties were administered by their respective viscounts. Reign of Charles the Bald Bernard avoided participating in the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye (25 June 841), where Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeated their brother Lothair, who retreated to the south with his army. Bernard remained outside the battle awaiting its result, upon which he sent his son William to offer homage to Charles the Bald and to promise him that his father would obtain the submission of Pepin II, the rebellious son of Pepin, who was claiming to rule Aquitaine. It seems that Bernard had no intention of keeping this last promise. During Charles the Bald's campaign in Aquitaine (842), he decided to punish Bernard, dispossessing him of the county of Toulouse in favor of Acfred (July). Bernard, however, refused to accept the decision and revolted, openly allying himself to Pepin II and expelling Acfred from Toulouse (843). Charles responded by sending the dux Guerin of Provence, who in 842 directed the campaign in Aquitaine, against Septimania. Various other events—renewed Viking invasions and Breton raids—compelled an end to the internal civil struggles afflicting the Empire and, in August 843, the Treaty of Verdun was signed between the three brothers: Charles, Louis, and Lothair. Septimania and Gothia were left in the hands of Charles the Bald. The county of Uzès, where Bernard still possessed estates, was assigned to Lothair. Furthermore, the county of Autun, which had long been lost to Bernard, and to which his son had renewed a claim, was given to Guerin. In 844 Charles the Bald returned to Aquitaine with the objective of forcing Pepin II to submit and conquering Toulouse. During the Battle of Toulouse of