Throughout the ninth century, from the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious (r. 814–840) to the accession of King Louis the Child in 901, the monks of the abbey of Fulda maintained a chronicle known as the Annals of Fulda, in which they set down the most significant events that happened year by year in the East Frankish kingdom. Along with the contemporary West Frankish chronicle, known as the Annals of St. Bertin, the Annals of Fulda are the most important primary source for the political history of the ninth century. During the year 874, the brethren of Fulda reported a dream of Louis the German, king of Bavaria (817–843) and Eastern Francia (843–876), in which the ghost of his father, Louis the Pious, entreated him to find relief for the suffering of his soul in the afterlife. Louis the German turned to the monks of the realm, in the hope that their prayers would free the soul of his dead father from torment. The story leaves the reader to ponder the outcome of their intercession.
During the season of Lent in 874, when Louis the German had put aside the business of worldly affairs and was devoting his time to prayer, one night he saw in a dream his own father, Emperor Louis the Pious, in a state of suffering. The emperor said this to him in Latin, “I beseech you by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the majesty of the Trinity to free me from the torments, in which I am trapped, so that I can at last at some point obtain eternal life.” Terrified by this vision, Louis the German sent letters to all of the monasteries in his realm so that the monks might intercede with their prayers before God for a soul trapped in torment. From this dream, it is clear that, although the emperor had done many things that were praiseworthy and pleasing to God, nevertheless he also permitted many things to happen in his kingdom that were contrary to God’s law.