Louis the Pious made him seneschal of the Carolingian Empire. On Louis' death, he joined Charles the Bald and arranged a marriage between the king and Ermentrude of Orléans, his niece by Ingeltrude of Fézansac and Odo, Count of Orléans. After the Treaty of Verdun (in 843), Adalard went to serve Louis the German in East Francia.