Merovingians
The Merovingian Dynasty, ca. 500-751
In Gaul a fusion of Roman and Germanic societies occurred. Clovis, a Salian Frank belonging to a family supposedly descended from a mythical hero named Merovech, became the absolute ruler of a Germanic kingdom of mixed Roman-Germanic population in 486. He consolidated his rule with victories over the Gallo-Romans and all the Frankish tribes, and his successors made other Germanic tribes subjects of the Merovingian Dynasty. The remaining 250 years of the dynasty, however, were marked by internecine struggles and a gradual decline. During the period of Merovingian rule, the Franks reluctantly began to adopt Christianity following the baptism of Clovis, an event that inaugurated the alliance between the Frankish kingdom and the Roman Catholic Church. The most notable of the missionaries responsible for Christianizing the tribes living in Germany was Saint Boniface (ca. 675-754), an English missionary who is considered the founder of German Christianity.
In Gaul a fusion of Roman and Germanic societies occurred. Clovis, a Salian Frank belonging to a family supposedly descended from a mythical hero named Merovech, became the absolute ruler of a Germanic kingdom of mixed Roman-Germanic population in 486. He consolidated his rule with victories over the Gallo-Romans and all the Frankish tribes, and his successors made other Germanic tribes subjects of the Merovingian Dynasty. The remaining 250 years of the dynasty, however, were marked by internecine struggles and a gradual decline. During the period of Merovingian rule, the Franks reluctantly began to adopt Christianity following the baptism of Clovis, an event that inaugurated the alliance between the Frankish kingdom and the Roman Catholic Church. The most notable of the missionaries responsible for Christianizing the tribes living in Germany was Saint Boniface (ca. 675-754), an English missionary who is considered the founder of German Christianity.
The Merovingian Sorcerer-Kings...Dagobert II...and, the Way of the Druid:
The Merovingians ruled much of present-day France and Germany between the fifth and seventh centuries. The beginning of this time coincides with not only the Grail stories, but with the era of King Arthur, who was so central to many of these tales. There was never any question that the Merovingians were the rightful rulers of the Franks. They were not "created" as kings. The sons who were entitled became kings automatically on their twelfth birthdays. Their role was not to govern - that was left to the "Mayors of the Palace." They were simply expected to exist as representatives of the role, holding similar power and status to a twenty-first century constitutional monarch.
***The Merovingians had a reputation for the occult and the supernatural. They were looked upon as priest-kings, much as the Egyptian pharaohs were regarded.***
One of the abiding symbols of the Merovingians was the bee. Hundreds of pure gold bees were found in King Childeric's tomb. The custom endured through the centuries. When Napoleon was crowned emperor in 1804, he made sure that golden bees were attached to his coronation robes. He was fascinated by the Merovingians and commissioned their genealogies to be compiled in order to find out whether the dynasty had survived after it had been deposed.
Dagobert II
Dagobert was born in 651 and when Clovis, his father, died in 656, all efforts were made to prevent him from inheriting Austrasia, the north-eastern realm of Clovis. The leading Mayor of the Palace of the time, Grimoald, kidnapped Dagobert as soon as his father died and managed to persuade the court first that Dagobert was dead, and second that Clovis had wanted Grimoald's son to inherit the throne. So convincing was he that even Dagobert's mother believed him.
However, Grimoald had been unable to bring himself to murder Dagobert and had taken him to the Bishop of Poitiers, who had the child King exiled to Ireland. Here he grew up and was educated at the monastery of Slane near Dublin. He married a Celtic princess, Mathilde, and moved to York in northern England, where he got to know Saint Wilfred, the Bishop of York. At this time, the Merovingian alliance with the Roman Church was not as strong as it had been at the time of Clovis.
Wilfred was very keen to bring the Celtic and Roman churches together, which both sides had agreed upon at the Council of Whitby in 664. However, it seems that Wilfred also recognized the valuable potential of Dagobert - the rightful King of Austrasia - returning to France and reclaiming the land as the militant representative of the Church.
King of Austrasia
Upon his return from exile in Ireland, Dagobert quickly set about re-establishing order throughout his new kingdom and in so doing greatly increased his wealth. With his new-found wealth and lands, Dagobert soon developed enemies. He also caused the resentment of the rulers of neighboring Frankish lands, some of whom had connections in Dagobert's court that could be dangerous to him. One of these was his Mayor to the Palace, the treacherous Pepin the Fat.
King Dagobert II, thirteenth king of Austrasia, was threatened by Ebroin, who was Mayor of the palace to Thierry, king of Neustria. Ebroin administered Neustria unchecked and he wanted to seize Austrasia as well.
Under the guidance of Wulfoad, his own Mayor of the palace, Dagobert II had given his son Sigebert a share of his throne. But the King of Austrasia's sensible precautions were thwarted by Ebroin.
The assassination
The year 679 was coming to its end and Dagobert was living in his royal house, SATHANACUM - known today as Stenay - where he was to spend the Christmas holiday. On 23rd December, he went out hunting in the forest of "Wepria" (known today as Woevre) with a number of followers. Around the middle of the day, tired from the hunt, the king sat down near a fountain, which ran near to a large oak, to take some rest. It is still called ARPHAYS, and the section of the forest known as "SCORTlA" One of the servants among the conspirators struck the king while he was praying.
Dagobert, last king of a wide and powerful realm, perished, dying while doing good.
The king's body was taken first to the villa of Charmois, during the evening of 23rd December, then to the basilica of Sathanacum, which at that time was dedicated to Saint Remi. All the dignitaries of the realm came to mourn the death of the sovereign.
Saint Dagobert II
The Roman Church wasted no time in commending the action. However, perhaps through guilt, they canonized Dagobert in 872, when his remains were moved to the graveyard of a church which was renamed "the Church of Saint Dagobert." They even gave him his own feast day, on December 23rd. The Roman Catholic Church has always been unable or unwilling to explain why he was canonized.
From the day of his burial in the Church of Saint Dagobert, his grave has been a destination of pilgrimage for various significant historical figures including the Duke of Lorraine, the grandfather of Godfroi de Bouillon. The church was destroyed during the French Revolution and most of the relics of Saint Dagobert disappeared. Today only what is believed to be his skull remains, and it is held at a convent at Mons. Curiously some years later, a poem entitled "de Sancta Dagoberto martyre prose" appeared. Its message was that Dagobert had been martyred for some reason and it was found at the Abbey of Orval.
The end of the Merovingian era
Dagobert's assassination effectively marked the end of the Merovingian era. After the death of Dagobert, the Merovingian dynasty fell into decline, although they managed to hang onto much of their status for nearly a hundred more years. However, many of the monarchs were too young to be effective, and were unable to defend themselves against the relentless.
The Merovingians ruled much of present-day France and Germany between the fifth and seventh centuries. The beginning of this time coincides with not only the Grail stories, but with the era of King Arthur, who was so central to many of these tales. There was never any question that the Merovingians were the rightful rulers of the Franks. They were not "created" as kings. The sons who were entitled became kings automatically on their twelfth birthdays. Their role was not to govern - that was left to the "Mayors of the Palace." They were simply expected to exist as representatives of the role, holding similar power and status to a twenty-first century constitutional monarch.
***The Merovingians had a reputation for the occult and the supernatural. They were looked upon as priest-kings, much as the Egyptian pharaohs were regarded.***
One of the abiding symbols of the Merovingians was the bee. Hundreds of pure gold bees were found in King Childeric's tomb. The custom endured through the centuries. When Napoleon was crowned emperor in 1804, he made sure that golden bees were attached to his coronation robes. He was fascinated by the Merovingians and commissioned their genealogies to be compiled in order to find out whether the dynasty had survived after it had been deposed.
Dagobert II
Dagobert was born in 651 and when Clovis, his father, died in 656, all efforts were made to prevent him from inheriting Austrasia, the north-eastern realm of Clovis. The leading Mayor of the Palace of the time, Grimoald, kidnapped Dagobert as soon as his father died and managed to persuade the court first that Dagobert was dead, and second that Clovis had wanted Grimoald's son to inherit the throne. So convincing was he that even Dagobert's mother believed him.
However, Grimoald had been unable to bring himself to murder Dagobert and had taken him to the Bishop of Poitiers, who had the child King exiled to Ireland. Here he grew up and was educated at the monastery of Slane near Dublin. He married a Celtic princess, Mathilde, and moved to York in northern England, where he got to know Saint Wilfred, the Bishop of York. At this time, the Merovingian alliance with the Roman Church was not as strong as it had been at the time of Clovis.
Wilfred was very keen to bring the Celtic and Roman churches together, which both sides had agreed upon at the Council of Whitby in 664. However, it seems that Wilfred also recognized the valuable potential of Dagobert - the rightful King of Austrasia - returning to France and reclaiming the land as the militant representative of the Church.
King of Austrasia
Upon his return from exile in Ireland, Dagobert quickly set about re-establishing order throughout his new kingdom and in so doing greatly increased his wealth. With his new-found wealth and lands, Dagobert soon developed enemies. He also caused the resentment of the rulers of neighboring Frankish lands, some of whom had connections in Dagobert's court that could be dangerous to him. One of these was his Mayor to the Palace, the treacherous Pepin the Fat.
King Dagobert II, thirteenth king of Austrasia, was threatened by Ebroin, who was Mayor of the palace to Thierry, king of Neustria. Ebroin administered Neustria unchecked and he wanted to seize Austrasia as well.
Under the guidance of Wulfoad, his own Mayor of the palace, Dagobert II had given his son Sigebert a share of his throne. But the King of Austrasia's sensible precautions were thwarted by Ebroin.
The assassination
The year 679 was coming to its end and Dagobert was living in his royal house, SATHANACUM - known today as Stenay - where he was to spend the Christmas holiday. On 23rd December, he went out hunting in the forest of "Wepria" (known today as Woevre) with a number of followers. Around the middle of the day, tired from the hunt, the king sat down near a fountain, which ran near to a large oak, to take some rest. It is still called ARPHAYS, and the section of the forest known as "SCORTlA" One of the servants among the conspirators struck the king while he was praying.
Dagobert, last king of a wide and powerful realm, perished, dying while doing good.
The king's body was taken first to the villa of Charmois, during the evening of 23rd December, then to the basilica of Sathanacum, which at that time was dedicated to Saint Remi. All the dignitaries of the realm came to mourn the death of the sovereign.
Saint Dagobert II
The Roman Church wasted no time in commending the action. However, perhaps through guilt, they canonized Dagobert in 872, when his remains were moved to the graveyard of a church which was renamed "the Church of Saint Dagobert." They even gave him his own feast day, on December 23rd. The Roman Catholic Church has always been unable or unwilling to explain why he was canonized.
From the day of his burial in the Church of Saint Dagobert, his grave has been a destination of pilgrimage for various significant historical figures including the Duke of Lorraine, the grandfather of Godfroi de Bouillon. The church was destroyed during the French Revolution and most of the relics of Saint Dagobert disappeared. Today only what is believed to be his skull remains, and it is held at a convent at Mons. Curiously some years later, a poem entitled "de Sancta Dagoberto martyre prose" appeared. Its message was that Dagobert had been martyred for some reason and it was found at the Abbey of Orval.
The end of the Merovingian era
Dagobert's assassination effectively marked the end of the Merovingian era. After the death of Dagobert, the Merovingian dynasty fell into decline, although they managed to hang onto much of their status for nearly a hundred more years. However, many of the monarchs were too young to be effective, and were unable to defend themselves against the relentless.
Marriage of Clovis and Clothilde
MEROVEUS, a Frankish chieftain, of whom little is known that is authentic, beyond the fact that; he was the grandfather of Clovis, the real founder of the Merovingians. Merovech (Latin: Meroveus or Merovius) is the semi-legendary founder of the Merovingian dynasty of the Salian Franks (although Chlodio may in fact be the founder), which later became the dominant Frankish tribe. He allegedly lived in the first half of the fifth century. His name is a Latinization of a form close to the Old High German given name Marwig, lit. "famed fight" (cf. māri "famous" + wīg "fight") compare modern Dutch marevecht "fight". The first Frankish royal dynasty called themselves Merovingians ("descendants of Meroveus") after him.
The Merovingian Dynasty was the first major royal dynasty of what would eventually become France. Descended from the Salian Franks, and supposedly possessing magical powers derived from long hair, the Merovingians ruled an empire that included much of modern France and quite a bit of Germany too, from 448 to 751 AD.
Their greatest legacies were the law codes they issued which neighbouring kingdoms were inspired to issue; and they helped to found the Catholic Church, via the Western Christian Empire.
The Merovingians maintained an uninterrupted, unquestioned reign over Gaul and West Germany for three centuries; but, in spite of their achievements, history largely ignored the likes of Clovis I for the more enigmatic Arthur, or the more imperial Charlemagne, both of whom had better publicists.
Meroveus II
The semi-legendary Meroveus II, otherwise known as Merovech or Merowig, was crowned King of the Franks (or at least of his tribe of Franks) in 448 at the age of 15, and it is from him that the Merovingian Dynasty derives its name. Which was quite an achievement for someone of questionable parentage.
His father, Clodion VI, was the first to commit his tribe's laws to paper, laws which would later be known as the Salic Laws.
Childeric I
While Meroveus II provided the name, bloodline and quite a bit of mythology, his son Childeric is credited with the actual founding of the dynasty. A sometime Roman ally, his grave, supposedly discovered in Tournai in 1653, yielded hundreds of Byzantine coins, and the accoutrements of Roman nobility, indicating some standing with Roman Empire. However, like his father, Childeric is a figure shrouded in mystery.
Clovis I
Clovis, who succeeded his father Childeric I in 481, did much to establish Frankish power. Under his rule, the Merovingians carved out a kingdom that spanned from the Pyrenees to the Rhine. His conversion to Catholicism in 496 gave the embattled Church a powerful ally and its first kingly barbarian convert.
Clovis was a militant convert, though only nominally Christian. Despite the Church's objections, he still kept up his favourite hobbies of bigamy, assassinating rivals and conquering his in-laws. He once said of the Crucifixion, 'If I had been there with my Franks, I would have avenged His wrong', proving that he didn't fully grasp the new philosophy.
Clovis died in 511 and was buried in the church of St Genevieve on the Parisian south bank, a church he himself had built. The kingdom was divided among Clovis' sons, as was the style at the time.
Dagobert I
Ascending the throne in 630, Dagobert was the last truly effective Merovingian king. He was responsible for reforming the Frankish economy, exchanging gold coin for silver, and for bringing civilized notions to his neighbours. The Ripuarian Franks, the Alemanni and the Bavarians all had their own law codes written up for them by Dagobert's scholars.
Childeric III
The last Merovingian king, Childeric was a puppet to the man who would eventually replace him and establish a new dynasty. Most of the actual administration of the Merovingian kingdom was carried out by a Mayor of the Palace, a kind of prime minister; and during the last 100 years of Merovingian rule, more and more power slipped into the hands of the mayors.
The kings of the Late Merovingian period are often referred to as les rois faineants or the feeble kings, partly due to their lack of authority, but mostly because the average age of ascendants was six.
Childeric was deposed by his own mayor Pepin III, otherwise known as Pepin the Short, in 751. He was imprisoned and given a haircut to deprive him of any mystical powers he might have been hiding, deposit et detonsit. Pepin and his descendants, most notably Charlemagne, went on to establish the better known, but shorter-lived, Carolingian Dynasty. Childeric died four years later.
1 Exactly what those powers were is unclear. Super-dandruff perhaps?
2 His mother was a princess, one father a king, the other an unidentified seamonster.
3 Named after the Salian Franks, these laws outlined various crimes and punishments, as well as rules of inheritance. The latter were used to prevent women from claiming the throne.
4 By consolidating the Salian and Ripuarian Franks, Clovis is considered by some to be the founder of the Merovingian Dynasty.
5 Claimants to the throne had an unfortunate tendency of not dying of old age. (BBC)
The Merovingian Dynasty was the first major royal dynasty of what would eventually become France. Descended from the Salian Franks, and supposedly possessing magical powers derived from long hair, the Merovingians ruled an empire that included much of modern France and quite a bit of Germany too, from 448 to 751 AD.
Their greatest legacies were the law codes they issued which neighbouring kingdoms were inspired to issue; and they helped to found the Catholic Church, via the Western Christian Empire.
The Merovingians maintained an uninterrupted, unquestioned reign over Gaul and West Germany for three centuries; but, in spite of their achievements, history largely ignored the likes of Clovis I for the more enigmatic Arthur, or the more imperial Charlemagne, both of whom had better publicists.
Meroveus II
The semi-legendary Meroveus II, otherwise known as Merovech or Merowig, was crowned King of the Franks (or at least of his tribe of Franks) in 448 at the age of 15, and it is from him that the Merovingian Dynasty derives its name. Which was quite an achievement for someone of questionable parentage.
His father, Clodion VI, was the first to commit his tribe's laws to paper, laws which would later be known as the Salic Laws.
Childeric I
While Meroveus II provided the name, bloodline and quite a bit of mythology, his son Childeric is credited with the actual founding of the dynasty. A sometime Roman ally, his grave, supposedly discovered in Tournai in 1653, yielded hundreds of Byzantine coins, and the accoutrements of Roman nobility, indicating some standing with Roman Empire. However, like his father, Childeric is a figure shrouded in mystery.
Clovis I
Clovis, who succeeded his father Childeric I in 481, did much to establish Frankish power. Under his rule, the Merovingians carved out a kingdom that spanned from the Pyrenees to the Rhine. His conversion to Catholicism in 496 gave the embattled Church a powerful ally and its first kingly barbarian convert.
Clovis was a militant convert, though only nominally Christian. Despite the Church's objections, he still kept up his favourite hobbies of bigamy, assassinating rivals and conquering his in-laws. He once said of the Crucifixion, 'If I had been there with my Franks, I would have avenged His wrong', proving that he didn't fully grasp the new philosophy.
Clovis died in 511 and was buried in the church of St Genevieve on the Parisian south bank, a church he himself had built. The kingdom was divided among Clovis' sons, as was the style at the time.
Dagobert I
Ascending the throne in 630, Dagobert was the last truly effective Merovingian king. He was responsible for reforming the Frankish economy, exchanging gold coin for silver, and for bringing civilized notions to his neighbours. The Ripuarian Franks, the Alemanni and the Bavarians all had their own law codes written up for them by Dagobert's scholars.
Childeric III
The last Merovingian king, Childeric was a puppet to the man who would eventually replace him and establish a new dynasty. Most of the actual administration of the Merovingian kingdom was carried out by a Mayor of the Palace, a kind of prime minister; and during the last 100 years of Merovingian rule, more and more power slipped into the hands of the mayors.
The kings of the Late Merovingian period are often referred to as les rois faineants or the feeble kings, partly due to their lack of authority, but mostly because the average age of ascendants was six.
Childeric was deposed by his own mayor Pepin III, otherwise known as Pepin the Short, in 751. He was imprisoned and given a haircut to deprive him of any mystical powers he might have been hiding, deposit et detonsit. Pepin and his descendants, most notably Charlemagne, went on to establish the better known, but shorter-lived, Carolingian Dynasty. Childeric died four years later.
1 Exactly what those powers were is unclear. Super-dandruff perhaps?
2 His mother was a princess, one father a king, the other an unidentified seamonster.
3 Named after the Salian Franks, these laws outlined various crimes and punishments, as well as rules of inheritance. The latter were used to prevent women from claiming the throne.
4 By consolidating the Salian and Ripuarian Franks, Clovis is considered by some to be the founder of the Merovingian Dynasty.
5 Claimants to the throne had an unfortunate tendency of not dying of old age. (BBC)
The Merovigians were a dynasty of Frankish kings, descended, according to tradition, from Merovech, chief of the Salian Franks , whose son was Childeric I and whose grandson was Clovis I , the founder of the Frankish monarchy. Merovingian kings followed Frankish custom in dividing the patrimony. After the death (511) of Clovis I, the kingdom was divided among his descendants into various kingdoms, which later became known as Austrasia , Neustria , and Burgundy . These kingdoms, whose borders were constantly shifting, were often combined; for brief periods, they were all united in a single realm under Clotaire I (558-61), Clotaire II (613-23), and Dagobert I (629-39). The rule of the Merovingians before Dagobert I was disturbed by chronic warfare among aristocrats and rivals for power, notably between Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia and Queen Fredegunde of Neustria. Dagobert I was the last active ruler; his descendants were called the rois fainéants, or idle kings. They were entirely subject to their mayors of the palace, the Carolingians , who became the nominal as well as the actual rulers of the Franks when Pepin the Short deposed (751) the last Merovingian king, Childeric III.
The Merovingians & The Crown of Europe:
Since the time of Clovis I, the Merovingian kings of France have been the rightful heirs to the senior crown of Europe - that of the Holy Roman Empire, although that right has not always been recognized.
The title that Clovis and his descendants were originally given by the Pope when the covenant between the Vatican and the Merovingians first began in 496 A.D. was “New Constantine”, giving him secular authority over the choicest bits of Roman Catholic Europe, just like the authority which the namesake of the office, Constantine, had once enjoyed.
Constantine had been the “thirteenth apostle”, and was responsible for the incorporation of Roman Catholicism into the Roman institution. He was therefore also a priest-king, holding spiritual dominion as well as secular dominion, just as previous Roman emperors had done. However, when later Merovingian kings began to exhibit a desire to exercise their own spiritual authority, it sparked a chain of events that culminated in the assassination of Dagobert II, the last effective Merovingian king, and the loss of the title “New Constantine” for his descendants.
Despite the eventualites which befell Dagobert II, the Merovingian descendants have always taken their right to the title, and their right to European hegemony, very seriously, in a manner that seems to be rooted in something more ancient than the time of Clovis. They believe, that they were entitled to rule over Europe long before it was sanctioned by the Pope. This “Divine Right” was recognized by their loyal subjects as well, who regarded the Merovingians as semi-divine priest-kings, and who formed a cult worshipping Dagobert II after his death. With a following like that, the Merovingians were not about to give up their rightful inheritance without a fight.
Less than 200 years after Dagobert II, a man named Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who married a Merovingian princess, was made Holy Roman Emperor, and given dominion over a land mass greater even than that which the Merovingians had possessed. Thus began the majestic Carolingian dynasty, consisting after Charlemagne of men with partially Merovingian blood. Charlemagne too was considered a priest-king, and is probably the most famous and beloved figure in French history.
Charlemagne's Empire would eventually encompass a significant portion of Western Europe, which was at that time, the foremost bastion of culture, science, philosophy, and morality, a light in the darkness, surrounded on all fronts by uncivilized barbarian hordes.
The Carolingian dynasty ended in 918, but the Holy Roman Empire continued to play a decisive role in the unfolding of its destiny. It was during this time that the Empire began to turn its sights towards the Holy Land. The first Crusade began in 1095, and the entire enterprise was brought about because of the pressure that certain Merovingian descendants placed upon the Pope and the nobility of Europe.
Genetics of the Franks
Based on the results from the Benelux Y-DNA Project it can be inferred that the Franks's main paternal lineage was haplogroup R1b-U106, and that they belonged overwhemingly the Z381 subclade. They also possessed other typical Germanic lineages like I1, I2a2a and R1a (L664 and Z283 subclades), although their ratio to R1b-U106 would have been 1:2, 1:6 and 1:7 respectively. Like modern Scandinavians, the Franks also probably carried a substantial amount of R1b-P312 lineages, including the L21, U152 and DF27 subclades, as well as a minority of E-V13, G2a3b1 and J2. Since all these lineages are also typical of population of Celtic or Italic (including Roman) descent, is not clear at present what proportion of these lineages in the Benelux can be attributed to the Gauls and the Romans, as opposed to the Franks. http://www.eupedia.com/europe/frankish_influence_modern_europe.shtml
The Merovingians & The Crown of Europe:
Since the time of Clovis I, the Merovingian kings of France have been the rightful heirs to the senior crown of Europe - that of the Holy Roman Empire, although that right has not always been recognized.
The title that Clovis and his descendants were originally given by the Pope when the covenant between the Vatican and the Merovingians first began in 496 A.D. was “New Constantine”, giving him secular authority over the choicest bits of Roman Catholic Europe, just like the authority which the namesake of the office, Constantine, had once enjoyed.
Constantine had been the “thirteenth apostle”, and was responsible for the incorporation of Roman Catholicism into the Roman institution. He was therefore also a priest-king, holding spiritual dominion as well as secular dominion, just as previous Roman emperors had done. However, when later Merovingian kings began to exhibit a desire to exercise their own spiritual authority, it sparked a chain of events that culminated in the assassination of Dagobert II, the last effective Merovingian king, and the loss of the title “New Constantine” for his descendants.
Despite the eventualites which befell Dagobert II, the Merovingian descendants have always taken their right to the title, and their right to European hegemony, very seriously, in a manner that seems to be rooted in something more ancient than the time of Clovis. They believe, that they were entitled to rule over Europe long before it was sanctioned by the Pope. This “Divine Right” was recognized by their loyal subjects as well, who regarded the Merovingians as semi-divine priest-kings, and who formed a cult worshipping Dagobert II after his death. With a following like that, the Merovingians were not about to give up their rightful inheritance without a fight.
Less than 200 years after Dagobert II, a man named Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who married a Merovingian princess, was made Holy Roman Emperor, and given dominion over a land mass greater even than that which the Merovingians had possessed. Thus began the majestic Carolingian dynasty, consisting after Charlemagne of men with partially Merovingian blood. Charlemagne too was considered a priest-king, and is probably the most famous and beloved figure in French history.
Charlemagne's Empire would eventually encompass a significant portion of Western Europe, which was at that time, the foremost bastion of culture, science, philosophy, and morality, a light in the darkness, surrounded on all fronts by uncivilized barbarian hordes.
The Carolingian dynasty ended in 918, but the Holy Roman Empire continued to play a decisive role in the unfolding of its destiny. It was during this time that the Empire began to turn its sights towards the Holy Land. The first Crusade began in 1095, and the entire enterprise was brought about because of the pressure that certain Merovingian descendants placed upon the Pope and the nobility of Europe.
Genetics of the Franks
Based on the results from the Benelux Y-DNA Project it can be inferred that the Franks's main paternal lineage was haplogroup R1b-U106, and that they belonged overwhemingly the Z381 subclade. They also possessed other typical Germanic lineages like I1, I2a2a and R1a (L664 and Z283 subclades), although their ratio to R1b-U106 would have been 1:2, 1:6 and 1:7 respectively. Like modern Scandinavians, the Franks also probably carried a substantial amount of R1b-P312 lineages, including the L21, U152 and DF27 subclades, as well as a minority of E-V13, G2a3b1 and J2. Since all these lineages are also typical of population of Celtic or Italic (including Roman) descent, is not clear at present what proportion of these lineages in the Benelux can be attributed to the Gauls and the Romans, as opposed to the Franks. http://www.eupedia.com/europe/frankish_influence_modern_europe.shtml
Merovingian Origins
Presented to the Baronial Order of the Magna Charta and the Military Order of the Crusades, Corinthian Yacht Club,Essington, PA
21 October 2006
by: COL Charles C. Lucas, Jr. MD
Scythia
This was an area of Eurasia that included the Caucasians including Azerbaijan, the central Asia steppes including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, the valley of the Indus or that area between India and Pakistan, and the southern Ukraine with the lower Danube and Bulgaria.
Scholars regard the Scythians as an Iranian nomadic people speaking several languages but mostly Iranian (or Parsi which later became Farsi).
Scythians have left important ethnological markers such as tamgas (brand marks) and kurgans (permanent cemeteries). A 2500 year old mummy was recently found in the snow capped mountains of Mongolia with blond hair, tattoos, and weaponry. The mummy was preserved by ice and was found at 2600 meters. This find extended the range of the territory further east of the Scythians than had been previously thought.
It should be pointed out that the last ice age ended about 9,000 to 10,000 years ago, or about the 8 th millennium BC. Carbon 14 dating has allowed archaeologists to trace the emergence of the Scythians to the Sayan-Altay mountains from 3000BC to about 500BC. These mountains are where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan come together. They are also known as the homeland of the Turks. The mean elevation in the central area is about 4500 meters. About 900 BC the Scythians began a western migration.
They were nomadic warriors who rode horses bareback and who used archers, and the women fought along side the men. Women dressed like men. They were described by Homer and Herodotus. Herodotus, the Greek historian wrote about them in his Histories of the 5th Century. They became slave traders, merchants, and shippers. They were described as long haired warriors who were ferocious. Edmund Spenser wrote that the primary nation that settled Ireland were the Scythians , and that they also settled Scotland. It has been shown that the Scythians landed in Cornwall. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1, he writes of the barbarous Scythian.
It is thought that tribes of the Scythians settled Greece, and also moved into eastern Europe.
Haplotypes from current Y Chromosome DNA studies show that Central Asia was a mixing pot of several population groups. Haplotype R1a and R1b is found in eastern and western Asia as well as Europe and the United States.
Greece
Ancient Greece was formed in the third millennium BC when people known as Greeks migrated south to the Balkans in waves, the last being the Dorian invasion about 2300 BC. 1600-1100 BC is described as Mycenaean Greece known for the Wars against Troy as narrated by Homer. Ancient Greece ended with the end of the reign of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.
Herodotus, 484-425BC, was a Dorian Greek historian who is regarded as the father of history, and who was the author of The Histories- a 6 volume series.
Cimmerians
Herodotus described the Cimmerians of the north Black Sea coast as a distinctly autonomous tribe expelled by the Scythians. The Cimmerians in 714 BC were in the region of Azerbaijan, and in the 7 and 8th century BC were in southern Russia and Ukraine. Their language was Iranian.
There were many off shoots of the Cimmerians. Numerous Celtic and Germanic peoples descended from the Cimmerians. The etymology of Wales is said to descend from the Cimmerians. The Celts in France were known as Gauls. The Celts spread into present day Italy where remnants in the town of Doccia, in the province of Emilia-Romagna, showcase Celtic houses in very good condition dating from the 4th century BC.
Sicambri The west Germanic tribe of the Sicambri descended from the Cimmerians. The Sicambri were located along the right bank of the Rhine and appear about 55 BC. They fought several wars with Rome, namely one led by
Gaius Julius Caesar. In 16 BC they defeated the Roman army under Marcus Lollius. About 11 BC they were forced to move to the left side of the Rhine by Nero Claudius Drusus.
Merovingians The Merovingians claimed their descent from the Sicambri, who they believed were originally a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe once inhabiting the river Danube that changed their name to the Franks in 11 BC under the leadership of a chieftain called “Frankus”. The Franks first appear in historical writing in the 3rd century. The Merovinginans traced their Sicambrian origins from Marcomir I-died 412 BC and ultimately to the Kings of Troy. Marcomir I lived around 400 BC and preceded the Merovingian dynasty.
St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours was installed in 573 and was made
Master of Tours by Sigibert I, King of Austrasia (561-576). St. Gregory of Tours, who was the leading historian wrote that the Frankish leader Clovis on the occasion of his baptism into the Catholic faith in 496 was referred to as Sicambrian by the officiating Bishop of Rheims.
Troy
Troy was a legendary city established about 3000 BC and was the center of the Trojan Wars, which occurred about 1200 BC. These wars were described in the Iliad by Homer, who was a blind Greek historian. Today Troy is an archaeological site in northwest Turkey. Troy was founded by Dardanus, son of the Trojan Royal Family of Electra and Zeus. One generation before the Trojan War, Heracles captured Troy and killed Leomedon, but spared his son Priam who became King of Troy. During his reign, the Mycenaean Greeks invaded and captured Troy in the Trojan War 1193-1183 BC.
It is from Priam, King of Troy that Roderick Stuart in Royalty for Commoners shows descent from the Cimmerians to the Sicambri to the Merovingians.
Rome
Rome was founded 21 April 753 BC from settlements around a fjord on the River Tiber by Romulus and Remus, sons of the Trojan prince Aenas. Romulus killed Remus and became the first of the seven kings of Rome. The Roman Republic was established around 509 BC. By 200 BC Rome had become the dominant Mediterranean power. About 55 BC Gaius Julius Caesar was in power, and by 31 BC Augustus had consolidated his power. The Roman Empire is said to have ended as such in 476 AD when Odoacer, the Barbarian Germanic General deposed Romulus Agustulus. (Ian Woods states that Odoacer deposing Agustulus is speculation).
Barbarian Kings The Roman Empire was replaced with a number of states ruled by barbarian kings. In the 6th century Italy was controlled by the Ostragoths, France by the Franks, and Burgundians, and Spain by the Visigoths. A century later, the Lombards controlled northern Italy, and the Franks were unchallenged in France, and the Anglos and Saxons were in Britannia.
Franks
It was the kingdom of the Franks which was to exercise the most influence for the longest time. For the first three centuries of its existence until 751 it was ruled by a single family, that of the Merovingians.
There were two groups of Franks-the Salian Franks and the Ripuarian Franks.
The Salian Franks (sea dwelling) lived North and East of Limes in the Dutch coastal area and in the 5th century migrated throughout Belgium and into northern France. By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Belgium city of Tournai had become the center of activity.
The Ripuarian Franks (river dwelling) lived along the Rhine river, and were perhaps called Ripuarian by the Romans.
By the 9th century any differences between these two groups had disappeared.
They were involved with the Romans as military recruits in the 5th century. Gregory of Tours, the historian, placed the emergence of the Merovingians at the conclusion of the Frankish migration. The Liber Historiae Francorum went further, connecting them with the Trojan migration.
Gregory of Tours wrote that the Franks had created long haired kings in Thuringia (Belgium). Gregory of Tours was troubled that there was no clear passage of royalty to the Franks from a line of Kings, but other scholars were not troubled since historical records were lacking.
As indicated the line of Frankish Kings began with Frankus
who died 11 BC. The line continues from Frankus to Chlodio.
Chlodio
The history of Chlodio comes from Gregory of Tours and
Sidonius Apollinarius.
Chlodio, was a semi legendary King of the Salian Franks. He lived in Dispargum which was a castle. Around 431 he invaded the territory of Artois but was defeated near Hesdin by Aetius, Commander of the Roman Army in Gaul. He regrouped and captured Cambrai (Cameracum) and occupied territory as far as the Somme River. He made Tournai the capital of all Salian Franks. He died 447-449.
MEROVINGIAN KINGS MEROVEE (MEROVECH) According to the Chronicles of Fredegar, Merovee (Merovech) the first of the Merovingian Kings was conceived by Chlodio’s wife when she went swimming and was encountered by a Quinotaur, a sea monster. The royal dynasty was thus given a supernatural origin. The actual parentage of Merovee is subject to conjecture, but he was clearly a Frank. Stuart in Royalty for Commoners states he was either a son or a son in law of Chlodio.
Merovee, the first Merovingian King, fought along side Flavius Aetius the Roman ruler when Attila the Hun was defeated in 451. Merovee was proclaimed King of the Franks in 448 and reigned for 10 years.
Under Merovee and his successors, the kingdom of the Franks flourished. It was not the crude barbaric culture often imagined. It warrants comparision with the high culture of the Byzantines. Secular literacy was encouraged.
They built lavish Roman styled amphitheaters in Paris and Soissons. The Franks were brutal but not like the Goths and the Huns. They accumulated immense wealth. They were active in farming, commerce, and maritime trade. Their gold coins that were minted bore an equal arm cross.
Childeric I The son of Merovee was Childeric I, who fought Odoacer at Angiers. Childeric was expelled from the Franks for sexual profligacy. Childeric returned to power and married the wife of the King of Thurigia. Childeric’s grave was found in 1653 in Tournai and was filled with weapons, gold, jewelry, Byzantine coins, and gold cicadas or bees. This is one of the most important medieval treasures ever found.
Clovis
The Bishop of Rheims wrote a letter to Clovis, son of Childeric I which has been preserved. With Clovis, we have the beginnings of a substantial documented history. Gregory of Tours could at last chronicle a Barbarian King.
Clovis reigned from 481-511 and was the major Merovingian King as was Charlemagne the major Carolingian King.
Gregory of Tours writes that Clovis defeated Syagrius; he then married Clothilda, daughter of a Burgundian King, who attempted to convert him to Christianity but failed. Clothilda was later named a Saint.
Beginning as early as 496 there were secret meetings between Clovis and Saint Remy, confessor of the wife of Clovis. Soon thereafter an agreement of cooperation was signed between Clovis and the Roman Church. Such an agreement was important because it transformed the less than unified Roman Church to one of supreme power in the West. Clovis became the sword of the Church.
During a battle against the Alamans, he vowed to become a Christian if he was victorious. He won and was baptized by the Bishop of Rheims in 496. On his return he received consular office from the eastern emperor (the Western Roman Empire had ceased to exist) and he established Paris as his capital. He was named Novus Constantinus-the new Constantine. At his baptism, Saint Remy said
“Sicambrian revere what thou hast burned and burn what thou hast revered.”
There was now a powerful religion, and a powerful Church being administered by a Merovingian bloodline.
Clovis allied with Godegisel against the Burgundian King Gundobad, but the latter survived. Clovis then attacked the Visigoths because they were heretics.
His last years were spent eliminating rival Frankish leaders. The sister of Clovis, Audofleda married the Ostrogothic King Theodoric and there were further marriages between the Visigoths, Thuringians, Herules and Burgundians, further consolidating the empire of the Franks.
The conversion of Clovis to Catholicism made him more acceptable to the Gallo Romans. In 511 he convened an ecclesiastical council in Orleans to discuss matters of newly acquired Aquitaine. When Clovis died in 511, the Frankish kingdom was the most powerful in Gaul.
After Clovis died, his kingdom was divided into 4 parts-one for each of his 4 sons. For more than a century thereafter, the Merovingian Dynasty presided over a number of disparate and warring kingdoms.
Clothair II Clothair II reigned 584-629 and reunited the Kingdom of the Franks. He signed the Perpetual Constitution which was an early Magna Charta.
As the Merovingian Kings were concerned with ritual, pomp, and circumstance, the actual administration of the empire was left to the Mayors of the Palaces.
Dagobert II In 651 Dagobert II came to power and was a worthy successor to Clovis. He amassed power and authority and great wealth which has been reported to have been located at Rennes le Chateau. He also seemed to lose interest in protecting the Roman Church and expanding it. Dagobert II married a Visigoth princess, and further expanded the empire to Languedoc. In doing so he created enemies-both secular and ecclesiastic. His Mayor of the Palace, Pepin the Fat aligned himself with enemies of Dagobert II.
Dagobert II had a major capital at Stenay which included a huge forest. On 23 December 679, while resting during a hunt in the forest, a servant under the direction of Pepin the Fat killed him. He was buried at Stenay, the royal chapel of Saint Remy. In 872, he was made a Saint. For all practical purposes, this ended the real power of the Merovingian Kings. The Mayors of the Palaces developed more and more power.
Charles Martel The most important Mayor of the Palace and an extremely important historical figure was Charles Martel, or Charles the Hammer who was born 686 and died 741. He expanded his rule over all three Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy. He was the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida. He won the Battle of Tours in 732 which saved Europe from Muslim expansionism. He was a brilliant general and is considered the father of western heavy cavalry. He was the founder of the Carolingian Empire which was named after him.
In 737 King Theuderic died and Martel titled himself Major Domus and Princeps et dux Francorum and did not appoint a new King. The throne was vacant until the death of Martel. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica. Before his death he divided his properties among his sons.
German and French historians have treated Charles Martel with great acclaim and believe that he saved Europe from Islam. He was called the hero of the age and it was said he delivered Christiandom.
Usurpation by the Carolingians First Carolingian King
Ten years after the death of Charles Martel, his son Pippin III or Pippin the Younger, or Pippin the Short, Mayor of the Palace to King Childeric III enlisted the support of the Pope in overthrowing the Merovingians.
Pippin’s ambassadors to Pope Zachary asked: “who should be King, the man who actually holds power or he though he is King has no power at all?”
The Pope then ordered that by apostolic authority Pippin III, or Pippin the Younger, or Pippin the Short, be created King of all the Franks, thus betraying the pact which had been made with Clovis. Pippin deposed Childeric III, and had his head shaved, and confined him to a monastery.
In 754 Pippin III was anointed at Ponthion. He died in 768 and is buried at St. Denis. In 740 he married Bertrada of Laon. Bertrada descended from the Merovingian Kings.
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was the son of Pippin and Bertrada.
Summary
Accomplishments of the Merovingians
When Childeric III was deposed, the Merovingians were the longest ruling dynasty in western Europe.
Clovis I, Clovis II, Childeric II, and Dagobert II were very strong rulers.
Childebert III operated successively with the aristocracy.
The people east of the Rhine were also subject to the Merovingians.
Merovingian history provides a focus for understanding the political history of western Europe in the two and half centuries following the deposition of Romulus Augustulus.
The Merovingian kingdom had a significant role to play in the transmission of culture from the late Roman period to the Carolingian period.
The Rhone valley was a storehouse of manuscripts, without which Benedict Biscop could never have equipped the great monastery of Monkwearmouth/Jarrow in England.
The Merovingian Church had a distinguished tradition in ecclesiastical legislation in the 6th and 7th centuries; it witnessed a flowering of monastic tradition. It was an institution heavily involved in politics. Boniface’s death at Dokkum can be seen as the last chapter in the Merovingian Church.
Some authors such as Fredegar and the author of
Annales Mettenses Priores perhaps down played the achievements of the Merovingians, yet to accept such readings is to oversimplify Merovingian history.
The Merovingian kingdom boasted no counterpart to Gregory the Great, Isidore, Bede, or Boniface; nevertheless no other state equaled the overall achievement of the Franks in the sixth, seventh, and eight centuries.
References:
Royalty for Commoners by Roderick W. Stuart
Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751 by Ian Wood
Articles from Wikipedia Encyclopedia with References
Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Baigent, Leigh, Lincoln
Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.merovingiandynasty.com/Merovingian_Origins_Lucas.html
Presented to the Baronial Order of the Magna Charta and the Military Order of the Crusades, Corinthian Yacht Club,Essington, PA
21 October 2006
by: COL Charles C. Lucas, Jr. MD
Scythia
This was an area of Eurasia that included the Caucasians including Azerbaijan, the central Asia steppes including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, the valley of the Indus or that area between India and Pakistan, and the southern Ukraine with the lower Danube and Bulgaria.
Scholars regard the Scythians as an Iranian nomadic people speaking several languages but mostly Iranian (or Parsi which later became Farsi).
Scythians have left important ethnological markers such as tamgas (brand marks) and kurgans (permanent cemeteries). A 2500 year old mummy was recently found in the snow capped mountains of Mongolia with blond hair, tattoos, and weaponry. The mummy was preserved by ice and was found at 2600 meters. This find extended the range of the territory further east of the Scythians than had been previously thought.
It should be pointed out that the last ice age ended about 9,000 to 10,000 years ago, or about the 8 th millennium BC. Carbon 14 dating has allowed archaeologists to trace the emergence of the Scythians to the Sayan-Altay mountains from 3000BC to about 500BC. These mountains are where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan come together. They are also known as the homeland of the Turks. The mean elevation in the central area is about 4500 meters. About 900 BC the Scythians began a western migration.
They were nomadic warriors who rode horses bareback and who used archers, and the women fought along side the men. Women dressed like men. They were described by Homer and Herodotus. Herodotus, the Greek historian wrote about them in his Histories of the 5th Century. They became slave traders, merchants, and shippers. They were described as long haired warriors who were ferocious. Edmund Spenser wrote that the primary nation that settled Ireland were the Scythians , and that they also settled Scotland. It has been shown that the Scythians landed in Cornwall. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1, he writes of the barbarous Scythian.
It is thought that tribes of the Scythians settled Greece, and also moved into eastern Europe.
Haplotypes from current Y Chromosome DNA studies show that Central Asia was a mixing pot of several population groups. Haplotype R1a and R1b is found in eastern and western Asia as well as Europe and the United States.
Greece
Ancient Greece was formed in the third millennium BC when people known as Greeks migrated south to the Balkans in waves, the last being the Dorian invasion about 2300 BC. 1600-1100 BC is described as Mycenaean Greece known for the Wars against Troy as narrated by Homer. Ancient Greece ended with the end of the reign of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.
Herodotus, 484-425BC, was a Dorian Greek historian who is regarded as the father of history, and who was the author of The Histories- a 6 volume series.
Cimmerians
Herodotus described the Cimmerians of the north Black Sea coast as a distinctly autonomous tribe expelled by the Scythians. The Cimmerians in 714 BC were in the region of Azerbaijan, and in the 7 and 8th century BC were in southern Russia and Ukraine. Their language was Iranian.
There were many off shoots of the Cimmerians. Numerous Celtic and Germanic peoples descended from the Cimmerians. The etymology of Wales is said to descend from the Cimmerians. The Celts in France were known as Gauls. The Celts spread into present day Italy where remnants in the town of Doccia, in the province of Emilia-Romagna, showcase Celtic houses in very good condition dating from the 4th century BC.
Sicambri The west Germanic tribe of the Sicambri descended from the Cimmerians. The Sicambri were located along the right bank of the Rhine and appear about 55 BC. They fought several wars with Rome, namely one led by
Gaius Julius Caesar. In 16 BC they defeated the Roman army under Marcus Lollius. About 11 BC they were forced to move to the left side of the Rhine by Nero Claudius Drusus.
Merovingians The Merovingians claimed their descent from the Sicambri, who they believed were originally a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe once inhabiting the river Danube that changed their name to the Franks in 11 BC under the leadership of a chieftain called “Frankus”. The Franks first appear in historical writing in the 3rd century. The Merovinginans traced their Sicambrian origins from Marcomir I-died 412 BC and ultimately to the Kings of Troy. Marcomir I lived around 400 BC and preceded the Merovingian dynasty.
St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours was installed in 573 and was made
Master of Tours by Sigibert I, King of Austrasia (561-576). St. Gregory of Tours, who was the leading historian wrote that the Frankish leader Clovis on the occasion of his baptism into the Catholic faith in 496 was referred to as Sicambrian by the officiating Bishop of Rheims.
Troy
Troy was a legendary city established about 3000 BC and was the center of the Trojan Wars, which occurred about 1200 BC. These wars were described in the Iliad by Homer, who was a blind Greek historian. Today Troy is an archaeological site in northwest Turkey. Troy was founded by Dardanus, son of the Trojan Royal Family of Electra and Zeus. One generation before the Trojan War, Heracles captured Troy and killed Leomedon, but spared his son Priam who became King of Troy. During his reign, the Mycenaean Greeks invaded and captured Troy in the Trojan War 1193-1183 BC.
It is from Priam, King of Troy that Roderick Stuart in Royalty for Commoners shows descent from the Cimmerians to the Sicambri to the Merovingians.
Rome
Rome was founded 21 April 753 BC from settlements around a fjord on the River Tiber by Romulus and Remus, sons of the Trojan prince Aenas. Romulus killed Remus and became the first of the seven kings of Rome. The Roman Republic was established around 509 BC. By 200 BC Rome had become the dominant Mediterranean power. About 55 BC Gaius Julius Caesar was in power, and by 31 BC Augustus had consolidated his power. The Roman Empire is said to have ended as such in 476 AD when Odoacer, the Barbarian Germanic General deposed Romulus Agustulus. (Ian Woods states that Odoacer deposing Agustulus is speculation).
Barbarian Kings The Roman Empire was replaced with a number of states ruled by barbarian kings. In the 6th century Italy was controlled by the Ostragoths, France by the Franks, and Burgundians, and Spain by the Visigoths. A century later, the Lombards controlled northern Italy, and the Franks were unchallenged in France, and the Anglos and Saxons were in Britannia.
Franks
It was the kingdom of the Franks which was to exercise the most influence for the longest time. For the first three centuries of its existence until 751 it was ruled by a single family, that of the Merovingians.
There were two groups of Franks-the Salian Franks and the Ripuarian Franks.
The Salian Franks (sea dwelling) lived North and East of Limes in the Dutch coastal area and in the 5th century migrated throughout Belgium and into northern France. By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Belgium city of Tournai had become the center of activity.
The Ripuarian Franks (river dwelling) lived along the Rhine river, and were perhaps called Ripuarian by the Romans.
By the 9th century any differences between these two groups had disappeared.
They were involved with the Romans as military recruits in the 5th century. Gregory of Tours, the historian, placed the emergence of the Merovingians at the conclusion of the Frankish migration. The Liber Historiae Francorum went further, connecting them with the Trojan migration.
Gregory of Tours wrote that the Franks had created long haired kings in Thuringia (Belgium). Gregory of Tours was troubled that there was no clear passage of royalty to the Franks from a line of Kings, but other scholars were not troubled since historical records were lacking.
As indicated the line of Frankish Kings began with Frankus
who died 11 BC. The line continues from Frankus to Chlodio.
Chlodio
The history of Chlodio comes from Gregory of Tours and
Sidonius Apollinarius.
Chlodio, was a semi legendary King of the Salian Franks. He lived in Dispargum which was a castle. Around 431 he invaded the territory of Artois but was defeated near Hesdin by Aetius, Commander of the Roman Army in Gaul. He regrouped and captured Cambrai (Cameracum) and occupied territory as far as the Somme River. He made Tournai the capital of all Salian Franks. He died 447-449.
MEROVINGIAN KINGS MEROVEE (MEROVECH) According to the Chronicles of Fredegar, Merovee (Merovech) the first of the Merovingian Kings was conceived by Chlodio’s wife when she went swimming and was encountered by a Quinotaur, a sea monster. The royal dynasty was thus given a supernatural origin. The actual parentage of Merovee is subject to conjecture, but he was clearly a Frank. Stuart in Royalty for Commoners states he was either a son or a son in law of Chlodio.
Merovee, the first Merovingian King, fought along side Flavius Aetius the Roman ruler when Attila the Hun was defeated in 451. Merovee was proclaimed King of the Franks in 448 and reigned for 10 years.
Under Merovee and his successors, the kingdom of the Franks flourished. It was not the crude barbaric culture often imagined. It warrants comparision with the high culture of the Byzantines. Secular literacy was encouraged.
They built lavish Roman styled amphitheaters in Paris and Soissons. The Franks were brutal but not like the Goths and the Huns. They accumulated immense wealth. They were active in farming, commerce, and maritime trade. Their gold coins that were minted bore an equal arm cross.
Childeric I The son of Merovee was Childeric I, who fought Odoacer at Angiers. Childeric was expelled from the Franks for sexual profligacy. Childeric returned to power and married the wife of the King of Thurigia. Childeric’s grave was found in 1653 in Tournai and was filled with weapons, gold, jewelry, Byzantine coins, and gold cicadas or bees. This is one of the most important medieval treasures ever found.
Clovis
The Bishop of Rheims wrote a letter to Clovis, son of Childeric I which has been preserved. With Clovis, we have the beginnings of a substantial documented history. Gregory of Tours could at last chronicle a Barbarian King.
Clovis reigned from 481-511 and was the major Merovingian King as was Charlemagne the major Carolingian King.
Gregory of Tours writes that Clovis defeated Syagrius; he then married Clothilda, daughter of a Burgundian King, who attempted to convert him to Christianity but failed. Clothilda was later named a Saint.
Beginning as early as 496 there were secret meetings between Clovis and Saint Remy, confessor of the wife of Clovis. Soon thereafter an agreement of cooperation was signed between Clovis and the Roman Church. Such an agreement was important because it transformed the less than unified Roman Church to one of supreme power in the West. Clovis became the sword of the Church.
During a battle against the Alamans, he vowed to become a Christian if he was victorious. He won and was baptized by the Bishop of Rheims in 496. On his return he received consular office from the eastern emperor (the Western Roman Empire had ceased to exist) and he established Paris as his capital. He was named Novus Constantinus-the new Constantine. At his baptism, Saint Remy said
“Sicambrian revere what thou hast burned and burn what thou hast revered.”
There was now a powerful religion, and a powerful Church being administered by a Merovingian bloodline.
Clovis allied with Godegisel against the Burgundian King Gundobad, but the latter survived. Clovis then attacked the Visigoths because they were heretics.
His last years were spent eliminating rival Frankish leaders. The sister of Clovis, Audofleda married the Ostrogothic King Theodoric and there were further marriages between the Visigoths, Thuringians, Herules and Burgundians, further consolidating the empire of the Franks.
The conversion of Clovis to Catholicism made him more acceptable to the Gallo Romans. In 511 he convened an ecclesiastical council in Orleans to discuss matters of newly acquired Aquitaine. When Clovis died in 511, the Frankish kingdom was the most powerful in Gaul.
After Clovis died, his kingdom was divided into 4 parts-one for each of his 4 sons. For more than a century thereafter, the Merovingian Dynasty presided over a number of disparate and warring kingdoms.
Clothair II Clothair II reigned 584-629 and reunited the Kingdom of the Franks. He signed the Perpetual Constitution which was an early Magna Charta.
As the Merovingian Kings were concerned with ritual, pomp, and circumstance, the actual administration of the empire was left to the Mayors of the Palaces.
Dagobert II In 651 Dagobert II came to power and was a worthy successor to Clovis. He amassed power and authority and great wealth which has been reported to have been located at Rennes le Chateau. He also seemed to lose interest in protecting the Roman Church and expanding it. Dagobert II married a Visigoth princess, and further expanded the empire to Languedoc. In doing so he created enemies-both secular and ecclesiastic. His Mayor of the Palace, Pepin the Fat aligned himself with enemies of Dagobert II.
Dagobert II had a major capital at Stenay which included a huge forest. On 23 December 679, while resting during a hunt in the forest, a servant under the direction of Pepin the Fat killed him. He was buried at Stenay, the royal chapel of Saint Remy. In 872, he was made a Saint. For all practical purposes, this ended the real power of the Merovingian Kings. The Mayors of the Palaces developed more and more power.
Charles Martel The most important Mayor of the Palace and an extremely important historical figure was Charles Martel, or Charles the Hammer who was born 686 and died 741. He expanded his rule over all three Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy. He was the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida. He won the Battle of Tours in 732 which saved Europe from Muslim expansionism. He was a brilliant general and is considered the father of western heavy cavalry. He was the founder of the Carolingian Empire which was named after him.
In 737 King Theuderic died and Martel titled himself Major Domus and Princeps et dux Francorum and did not appoint a new King. The throne was vacant until the death of Martel. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica. Before his death he divided his properties among his sons.
German and French historians have treated Charles Martel with great acclaim and believe that he saved Europe from Islam. He was called the hero of the age and it was said he delivered Christiandom.
Usurpation by the Carolingians First Carolingian King
Ten years after the death of Charles Martel, his son Pippin III or Pippin the Younger, or Pippin the Short, Mayor of the Palace to King Childeric III enlisted the support of the Pope in overthrowing the Merovingians.
Pippin’s ambassadors to Pope Zachary asked: “who should be King, the man who actually holds power or he though he is King has no power at all?”
The Pope then ordered that by apostolic authority Pippin III, or Pippin the Younger, or Pippin the Short, be created King of all the Franks, thus betraying the pact which had been made with Clovis. Pippin deposed Childeric III, and had his head shaved, and confined him to a monastery.
In 754 Pippin III was anointed at Ponthion. He died in 768 and is buried at St. Denis. In 740 he married Bertrada of Laon. Bertrada descended from the Merovingian Kings.
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was the son of Pippin and Bertrada.
Summary
Accomplishments of the Merovingians
When Childeric III was deposed, the Merovingians were the longest ruling dynasty in western Europe.
Clovis I, Clovis II, Childeric II, and Dagobert II were very strong rulers.
Childebert III operated successively with the aristocracy.
The people east of the Rhine were also subject to the Merovingians.
Merovingian history provides a focus for understanding the political history of western Europe in the two and half centuries following the deposition of Romulus Augustulus.
The Merovingian kingdom had a significant role to play in the transmission of culture from the late Roman period to the Carolingian period.
The Rhone valley was a storehouse of manuscripts, without which Benedict Biscop could never have equipped the great monastery of Monkwearmouth/Jarrow in England.
The Merovingian Church had a distinguished tradition in ecclesiastical legislation in the 6th and 7th centuries; it witnessed a flowering of monastic tradition. It was an institution heavily involved in politics. Boniface’s death at Dokkum can be seen as the last chapter in the Merovingian Church.
Some authors such as Fredegar and the author of
Annales Mettenses Priores perhaps down played the achievements of the Merovingians, yet to accept such readings is to oversimplify Merovingian history.
The Merovingian kingdom boasted no counterpart to Gregory the Great, Isidore, Bede, or Boniface; nevertheless no other state equaled the overall achievement of the Franks in the sixth, seventh, and eight centuries.
References:
Royalty for Commoners by Roderick W. Stuart
Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751 by Ian Wood
Articles from Wikipedia Encyclopedia with References
Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Baigent, Leigh, Lincoln
Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.merovingiandynasty.com/Merovingian_Origins_Lucas.html
The Merovingians, founders of Europe:
The Franks formed one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm in an area that covers part of today's France, and Germany (Franconia), forming the historic kernel of both these two modern countries.
The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections.
The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few contemporary written records. In essence however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other, first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.
The word frank meant "free" in the Frankish language. Freedom did not extend to women or to the population of slaves that moved with the free Franks. Initially two main subdivisions existed within the Franks: the Salian ("salty") and the Ripuarian ("river") Franks. By the 9th century, if not earlier, this division had in practice become virtually non-existent, but continued for some time to have implications for the legal system under which a person could go on trial.
The earliest Frankish history remains relatively unclear. Our main source, the Gallo-Roman chronicler Gregory of Tours, whose Historia Francorum (History of the Franks) covers the period up to 594, quotes from otherwise lost sources like Sulpicius Alexander and Frigeridus and profits from personal contact with many Frankish notables known to Gregory personally. Apart from Gregory's History there exist some earlier Roman sources, such as Ammianus and Sidonius Apollinaris
Modern scholars of the period of the migrations have suggested that the Frankish people emerged from the unification of various earlier, smaller Germanic groups inhabiting the Rhine valley and lands immediately to the east, a social development perhaps related to the increasing disorder and upheaval experienced in the area as a result of the war between Rome and the Marcomanni, which began in 166 C.E., and subsequent conflicts of the late 2nd century and the 3rd century C.E. For his part, Gregory states that the Franks originally lived in Pannonia, but later settled on the banks of the Rhine. A region in the northeast of the modern-day Netherlands -- north of the erstwhile Roman border -- bears the name Salland, and may have received that name from the Salians.
Around 250 CE a group of Franks, taking advantage of a weakened Roman Empire, penetrated as far as Tarragona in present-day Spain, plaguing this region for about a decade before Roman forces subdued them and expelled them from Roman territory. About forty years later, the Franks had the Scheldt region under control and interfered with the waterways to Britain; Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks.
In 355 - 358 the later Emperor Julian once again found the shipping lanes on the Rhine under control of the Franks and again pacified them. Rome granted a considerable part of Belgica to the Franks. From this time on they become foederati of the Roman Empire. A region roughly corresponding to present-day Flanders and the Netherlands south of the rivers remains a Germanic-speaking region to this day. (The West Germanic language known as Dutch predominates there now.) The Franks thus became the first Germanic people who permanently settled within Roman territory.
From their heartland the Franks gradually conquered most of Roman Gaul north of the Loire valley and east of Visigothic Aquitaine. At first they helped defend the border as allies; for example, when a major invasion of mostly East Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine 406, the Franks fought against these invaders. The major thrust of the invasion passed south of the Loire river. (In the region of Paris, Roman control persisted until 486, i.e. a decade after the fall of the emperors of Ravenna, in part due to alliances with the Franks.)
The Merovingians
The reigns of earlier Frankish chieftains -- Pharamond (about 419 until about 427) and Chlodio (about 427 until about 447) -- seem to owe more to myth than fact, and their relationship to the Merovingian line remains uncertain.
Gregory mentions Chlodio as the first king who started the conquest of Gaul by taking Camaracum (today's Cambrai) and expanding the border down to the Somme. This probably took some time; Sidonius relates that Aetius surprised the Franks and drove them back (probably around 431). This period marks the beginning of a situation that would endure for many centuries: the Germanic Franks became rulers over an increasing number of Gallo-Roman subjects.
In 451 Aetius called upon his Germanic allies on Roman soil to help fight off an invasion by the Huns. The Salian Franks answered the call, the Ripuarians fought on both sides as some of them lived outside the Empire. At this time Merovech reigned as king of the Franks. Gregory's (oral) sources tentatively identify Merovech as a possible son of Chlodio.
Clovis engaged in a campaign of consolidating the various Frankish kingdoms in Gaul and the Rhineland, which included defeating Syagrius in 486. This victory ended Roman control in the Paris region.
In the Battle of Vouillé (507), Clovis, with the help of Burgundy, defeated the Visigoths, expanding his realm eastwards up to the Pyrenees mountains.
The conversion of Clovis to Roman Catholicism, after his marriage to the Catholic Burgundian princess Clothilde in 493, may have helped to increase his standing in the eyes of the Pope and the other orthodox Catholic rulers. Clovis' conversion signalled the conversion of the rest of the Franks. Because they were able to worship with their Catholic neighbors, the newly-Catholicized Franks found much easier acceptance from the local Gallo-Roman population than did the Arian Visigoths, Vandals or Burgundians. The Merovingians thus built what eventually proved the most stable of the successor-kingdoms in the west.
Stability, however, did not feature day-to-day in the Merovingian era. While casual violence existed to a degree in late Roman times, the introduction of the Germanic practice of the blood-feud to obtain personal justice led to a perception of increased lawlessness. Disruptions to trade occurred, and civic life became increasingly difficult, which led to an increasingly localized and fragmented society based on self-sufficient villas. Literacy practically disappeared outside of churches and monasteries.
The Merovingian chieftains adhered to the Germanic practice of dividing their lands among their sons, and the frequent division, reunification and redivision of territories often resulted in murder and warfare within the leading families. So on Clovis's death in 511, his four sons divided his realm between themselves, and over the next two centuries his descendants shared the kingship.
The Frankish area expanded further under Clovis' sons, eventually covering most of present-day France, but including areas east of the Rhine river as well, such as Alamannia (today's southwestern Germany) and Thuringia (from 531). Saxony, however, remained outside the Frankish realm until conquered by Charlemagne centuries later.
After a temporary reunification of the separate kingdoms under Clotaire I, the Frankish lands split once again in 561 into Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy.
In each Frankish kingdom the Mayor of the Palace served as the chief officer of state. From about the turn of the eighth century, the Austrasian Mayors tended to wield the real power in the kingdom, laying the foundation for a new dynasty: their descendants the Carolingians.
The Carolingians
Merovingians: The Once, The Present, & Future kings Carolingian kingship traditionally begins with the deposition of the last Merovingian king and the accession in 751 of Pippin the Short, father of Charlemagne. Pippin had succeeded his own father, Charles Martel, as Mayor of the Palace of a reunited and re-erected Frankish kingdom comprised of the formerly independent parts.
Pippin reigned as an elected king. Although such elections happened infrequently, a general rule in Germanic law stated that the king relied on the support of his leading men. These men reserved the right to choose a new leader if they felt that the old one could not lead them in profitable battle. While in later France the kingdom became hereditary, the kings of the later Holy Roman Empire proved unable to abolish the elective tradition and continued as elected rulers until the Empire's formal end in 1806.
Pippin solidified his position in 754 by entering into an alliance with Pope Stephen III against the Lombards; this papal support proved crucial to silencing any objections to his new position. Pippin donated the re-conquered areas around Rome to the Pope, laying the foundation for the Papal States, of which only the Vatican City remains today, and in turn received the title patricius Romanorum (protector of the Romans).
Upon Pippin's death in 768, his sons, Charles and Carloman, once again divided the kingdom between themselves. However, Carloman withdrew to a monastery and died shortly thereafter, leaving sole rule to his brother, who would later become known as Charlemagne and become an almost mythical figure for the later history of both France and Germany.
From 772 onwards, Charles conquered and eventually defeated the Saxons to incorporate their realm into the Frankish kingdom. This campaign expanded the practice of non-Roman Catholic rulers undertaking the conversion of their neighbors by armed force; Frankish Catholic missionaries, along with others from Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England, had entered Saxon lands since the mid-8th century, resulting in increasing conflict with the Saxons, who resisted the missionary efforts and parallel military incursions.
Charles' main Saxon opponent, Widukind, accepted baptism in 785 as part of a peace agreement, but other Saxon leaders continued to fight. Upon his victory in 787 at Verden, Charles ordered the wholesale killing of thousands of pagan Saxon prisoners. After several more uprisings, the Saxons suffered definitive defeat in 804.
This expanded the Frankish kingdom eastwards as far as the Elbe river, something the Roman empire had only attempted once, and at which it failed in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD). In order to more effectively 'catholicize' the Saxons, Charles founded several bishoprics, among them Bremen, Münster, Paderborn, and Osnabrück.
At the same time (773-774), Charles conquered the Lombards and thus could include northern Italy in his sphere of influence. He renewed the Vatican donation and the promise to the papacy of continued Frankish protection.
In 788, Tassilo, dux (duke) of Bavaria rebelled against Charles. After the quashing of the rebellion Bavaria became incorporated into Charles' kingdom. This not only added to the royal fisc, but also drastically reduced the power and influence of the Agilolfings (Tassilo's family), another leading family among the Franks and potential rivals. Until 796, Charles continued to expand the kingdom even farther southeast, into today's Austria and parts of Croatia.
Charles thus created a realm that spanned from the Pyrenees in the southwest (actually, including an area in Northern Spain after 795) over almost all of today's France (except Brittany, which the Franks never conquered) eastwards to most of today's Germany, including northern Italy and today's Austria.
On December 23 and 24, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles as Emperor in Rome in a ceremony that formally acknowledged the Frankish Empire as the successor of the (Western) Roman one. The coronation gave the Empire the backing of the church, and gave permanent legitimacy to Carolingian primacy among the Franks. The Ottonians later resurrected this connection in A.D. 962. In 812 the Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rhangabes acknowledged Charlemagne's position as Emperor.
Upon Charlemagne's death on January 28, 814 in Aachen, he was buried in his own Palace Chapel at Aachen.
Charlemagne had several sons, but only one survived him. This son, Louis the Pious, followed his father as the ruler of a united Empire. But sole inheritance remained a matter of chance, rather than intent. When Louis died in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the custom of partible inheritance, and the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Empire in three:
1. Louis' eldest surviving son Lothair became Emperor and ruler of the Central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them into Lotharingia, Burgundy and (Northern) Italy. These areas would later vanish as separate kingdoms.
2. Louis' second son, Louis the German, became King of the East Franks. This area formed the kernel of the later Holy Roman Empire, which eventually evolved into modern Germany.
3. His third son Charles the Bald became King of the West Franks; this area became the foundation for the later France. For his successors, see the List of French monarchs.
The Merovingian-Carolingian Legacy
Although an historical accident, the unification of most of what is now western and central Europe under one chief ruler provided a fertile ground for the continuation of what is known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Despite the almost constant internecine warfare the Carolingian Empire endured, the extension of Frankish rule and Roman Catholicism over such a large area ensured a fundamental unity throughout the Empire.
Each part of the Carolingian Empire developed differently; Frankish government and culture depended very much upon individual rulers and their aims. Those aims shifted as easily as the changing political alliances within the Frankish leading families. However, those families, the Carolingians included, all shared the same basic beliefs and ideas of government.
These ideas and beliefs had their roots in a background that drew from both Roman and Germanic tradition, a tradition that began before the Carolingian ascent and continued to some extent even after the deaths of Louis the Pious and his sons.
When modern historians (from the late 18th century on) hearken back to an example of a unified Europe, they turn to the Carolingian Empire, not to the Roman Empire. Whether the Carolingian Empire lasted (or, one could argue, ever really existed as an Empire per se) in a geographical or political sense has no material bearing on this view. The model of several individual kingdoms (or regna, to give them their proper names) under one rule clearly resonates today.
One might argue that the divisions of Verdun still provide the general borders of Germany, France, and Italy, but one can scarcely suppose that they provide any clear cultural divide. They cannot divide the Germanic-Roman Catholic legacy initiated by Clovis I king of the Merovingians, and later, continued and solidified, under the Carolingingians.
(credit bonjourlafrance.com)
http://www.eupedia.com/europe/families_descending_from_charlemagne_clovis.shtml
The Franks formed one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm in an area that covers part of today's France, and Germany (Franconia), forming the historic kernel of both these two modern countries.
The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections.
The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few contemporary written records. In essence however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other, first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.
The word frank meant "free" in the Frankish language. Freedom did not extend to women or to the population of slaves that moved with the free Franks. Initially two main subdivisions existed within the Franks: the Salian ("salty") and the Ripuarian ("river") Franks. By the 9th century, if not earlier, this division had in practice become virtually non-existent, but continued for some time to have implications for the legal system under which a person could go on trial.
The earliest Frankish history remains relatively unclear. Our main source, the Gallo-Roman chronicler Gregory of Tours, whose Historia Francorum (History of the Franks) covers the period up to 594, quotes from otherwise lost sources like Sulpicius Alexander and Frigeridus and profits from personal contact with many Frankish notables known to Gregory personally. Apart from Gregory's History there exist some earlier Roman sources, such as Ammianus and Sidonius Apollinaris
Modern scholars of the period of the migrations have suggested that the Frankish people emerged from the unification of various earlier, smaller Germanic groups inhabiting the Rhine valley and lands immediately to the east, a social development perhaps related to the increasing disorder and upheaval experienced in the area as a result of the war between Rome and the Marcomanni, which began in 166 C.E., and subsequent conflicts of the late 2nd century and the 3rd century C.E. For his part, Gregory states that the Franks originally lived in Pannonia, but later settled on the banks of the Rhine. A region in the northeast of the modern-day Netherlands -- north of the erstwhile Roman border -- bears the name Salland, and may have received that name from the Salians.
Around 250 CE a group of Franks, taking advantage of a weakened Roman Empire, penetrated as far as Tarragona in present-day Spain, plaguing this region for about a decade before Roman forces subdued them and expelled them from Roman territory. About forty years later, the Franks had the Scheldt region under control and interfered with the waterways to Britain; Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks.
In 355 - 358 the later Emperor Julian once again found the shipping lanes on the Rhine under control of the Franks and again pacified them. Rome granted a considerable part of Belgica to the Franks. From this time on they become foederati of the Roman Empire. A region roughly corresponding to present-day Flanders and the Netherlands south of the rivers remains a Germanic-speaking region to this day. (The West Germanic language known as Dutch predominates there now.) The Franks thus became the first Germanic people who permanently settled within Roman territory.
From their heartland the Franks gradually conquered most of Roman Gaul north of the Loire valley and east of Visigothic Aquitaine. At first they helped defend the border as allies; for example, when a major invasion of mostly East Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine 406, the Franks fought against these invaders. The major thrust of the invasion passed south of the Loire river. (In the region of Paris, Roman control persisted until 486, i.e. a decade after the fall of the emperors of Ravenna, in part due to alliances with the Franks.)
The Merovingians
The reigns of earlier Frankish chieftains -- Pharamond (about 419 until about 427) and Chlodio (about 427 until about 447) -- seem to owe more to myth than fact, and their relationship to the Merovingian line remains uncertain.
Gregory mentions Chlodio as the first king who started the conquest of Gaul by taking Camaracum (today's Cambrai) and expanding the border down to the Somme. This probably took some time; Sidonius relates that Aetius surprised the Franks and drove them back (probably around 431). This period marks the beginning of a situation that would endure for many centuries: the Germanic Franks became rulers over an increasing number of Gallo-Roman subjects.
In 451 Aetius called upon his Germanic allies on Roman soil to help fight off an invasion by the Huns. The Salian Franks answered the call, the Ripuarians fought on both sides as some of them lived outside the Empire. At this time Merovech reigned as king of the Franks. Gregory's (oral) sources tentatively identify Merovech as a possible son of Chlodio.
Clovis engaged in a campaign of consolidating the various Frankish kingdoms in Gaul and the Rhineland, which included defeating Syagrius in 486. This victory ended Roman control in the Paris region.
In the Battle of Vouillé (507), Clovis, with the help of Burgundy, defeated the Visigoths, expanding his realm eastwards up to the Pyrenees mountains.
The conversion of Clovis to Roman Catholicism, after his marriage to the Catholic Burgundian princess Clothilde in 493, may have helped to increase his standing in the eyes of the Pope and the other orthodox Catholic rulers. Clovis' conversion signalled the conversion of the rest of the Franks. Because they were able to worship with their Catholic neighbors, the newly-Catholicized Franks found much easier acceptance from the local Gallo-Roman population than did the Arian Visigoths, Vandals or Burgundians. The Merovingians thus built what eventually proved the most stable of the successor-kingdoms in the west.
Stability, however, did not feature day-to-day in the Merovingian era. While casual violence existed to a degree in late Roman times, the introduction of the Germanic practice of the blood-feud to obtain personal justice led to a perception of increased lawlessness. Disruptions to trade occurred, and civic life became increasingly difficult, which led to an increasingly localized and fragmented society based on self-sufficient villas. Literacy practically disappeared outside of churches and monasteries.
The Merovingian chieftains adhered to the Germanic practice of dividing their lands among their sons, and the frequent division, reunification and redivision of territories often resulted in murder and warfare within the leading families. So on Clovis's death in 511, his four sons divided his realm between themselves, and over the next two centuries his descendants shared the kingship.
The Frankish area expanded further under Clovis' sons, eventually covering most of present-day France, but including areas east of the Rhine river as well, such as Alamannia (today's southwestern Germany) and Thuringia (from 531). Saxony, however, remained outside the Frankish realm until conquered by Charlemagne centuries later.
After a temporary reunification of the separate kingdoms under Clotaire I, the Frankish lands split once again in 561 into Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy.
In each Frankish kingdom the Mayor of the Palace served as the chief officer of state. From about the turn of the eighth century, the Austrasian Mayors tended to wield the real power in the kingdom, laying the foundation for a new dynasty: their descendants the Carolingians.
The Carolingians
Merovingians: The Once, The Present, & Future kings Carolingian kingship traditionally begins with the deposition of the last Merovingian king and the accession in 751 of Pippin the Short, father of Charlemagne. Pippin had succeeded his own father, Charles Martel, as Mayor of the Palace of a reunited and re-erected Frankish kingdom comprised of the formerly independent parts.
Pippin reigned as an elected king. Although such elections happened infrequently, a general rule in Germanic law stated that the king relied on the support of his leading men. These men reserved the right to choose a new leader if they felt that the old one could not lead them in profitable battle. While in later France the kingdom became hereditary, the kings of the later Holy Roman Empire proved unable to abolish the elective tradition and continued as elected rulers until the Empire's formal end in 1806.
Pippin solidified his position in 754 by entering into an alliance with Pope Stephen III against the Lombards; this papal support proved crucial to silencing any objections to his new position. Pippin donated the re-conquered areas around Rome to the Pope, laying the foundation for the Papal States, of which only the Vatican City remains today, and in turn received the title patricius Romanorum (protector of the Romans).
Upon Pippin's death in 768, his sons, Charles and Carloman, once again divided the kingdom between themselves. However, Carloman withdrew to a monastery and died shortly thereafter, leaving sole rule to his brother, who would later become known as Charlemagne and become an almost mythical figure for the later history of both France and Germany.
From 772 onwards, Charles conquered and eventually defeated the Saxons to incorporate their realm into the Frankish kingdom. This campaign expanded the practice of non-Roman Catholic rulers undertaking the conversion of their neighbors by armed force; Frankish Catholic missionaries, along with others from Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England, had entered Saxon lands since the mid-8th century, resulting in increasing conflict with the Saxons, who resisted the missionary efforts and parallel military incursions.
Charles' main Saxon opponent, Widukind, accepted baptism in 785 as part of a peace agreement, but other Saxon leaders continued to fight. Upon his victory in 787 at Verden, Charles ordered the wholesale killing of thousands of pagan Saxon prisoners. After several more uprisings, the Saxons suffered definitive defeat in 804.
This expanded the Frankish kingdom eastwards as far as the Elbe river, something the Roman empire had only attempted once, and at which it failed in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD). In order to more effectively 'catholicize' the Saxons, Charles founded several bishoprics, among them Bremen, Münster, Paderborn, and Osnabrück.
At the same time (773-774), Charles conquered the Lombards and thus could include northern Italy in his sphere of influence. He renewed the Vatican donation and the promise to the papacy of continued Frankish protection.
In 788, Tassilo, dux (duke) of Bavaria rebelled against Charles. After the quashing of the rebellion Bavaria became incorporated into Charles' kingdom. This not only added to the royal fisc, but also drastically reduced the power and influence of the Agilolfings (Tassilo's family), another leading family among the Franks and potential rivals. Until 796, Charles continued to expand the kingdom even farther southeast, into today's Austria and parts of Croatia.
Charles thus created a realm that spanned from the Pyrenees in the southwest (actually, including an area in Northern Spain after 795) over almost all of today's France (except Brittany, which the Franks never conquered) eastwards to most of today's Germany, including northern Italy and today's Austria.
On December 23 and 24, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles as Emperor in Rome in a ceremony that formally acknowledged the Frankish Empire as the successor of the (Western) Roman one. The coronation gave the Empire the backing of the church, and gave permanent legitimacy to Carolingian primacy among the Franks. The Ottonians later resurrected this connection in A.D. 962. In 812 the Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rhangabes acknowledged Charlemagne's position as Emperor.
Upon Charlemagne's death on January 28, 814 in Aachen, he was buried in his own Palace Chapel at Aachen.
Charlemagne had several sons, but only one survived him. This son, Louis the Pious, followed his father as the ruler of a united Empire. But sole inheritance remained a matter of chance, rather than intent. When Louis died in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the custom of partible inheritance, and the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Empire in three:
1. Louis' eldest surviving son Lothair became Emperor and ruler of the Central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them into Lotharingia, Burgundy and (Northern) Italy. These areas would later vanish as separate kingdoms.
2. Louis' second son, Louis the German, became King of the East Franks. This area formed the kernel of the later Holy Roman Empire, which eventually evolved into modern Germany.
3. His third son Charles the Bald became King of the West Franks; this area became the foundation for the later France. For his successors, see the List of French monarchs.
The Merovingian-Carolingian Legacy
Although an historical accident, the unification of most of what is now western and central Europe under one chief ruler provided a fertile ground for the continuation of what is known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Despite the almost constant internecine warfare the Carolingian Empire endured, the extension of Frankish rule and Roman Catholicism over such a large area ensured a fundamental unity throughout the Empire.
Each part of the Carolingian Empire developed differently; Frankish government and culture depended very much upon individual rulers and their aims. Those aims shifted as easily as the changing political alliances within the Frankish leading families. However, those families, the Carolingians included, all shared the same basic beliefs and ideas of government.
These ideas and beliefs had their roots in a background that drew from both Roman and Germanic tradition, a tradition that began before the Carolingian ascent and continued to some extent even after the deaths of Louis the Pious and his sons.
When modern historians (from the late 18th century on) hearken back to an example of a unified Europe, they turn to the Carolingian Empire, not to the Roman Empire. Whether the Carolingian Empire lasted (or, one could argue, ever really existed as an Empire per se) in a geographical or political sense has no material bearing on this view. The model of several individual kingdoms (or regna, to give them their proper names) under one rule clearly resonates today.
One might argue that the divisions of Verdun still provide the general borders of Germany, France, and Italy, but one can scarcely suppose that they provide any clear cultural divide. They cannot divide the Germanic-Roman Catholic legacy initiated by Clovis I king of the Merovingians, and later, continued and solidified, under the Carolingingians.
(credit bonjourlafrance.com)
http://www.eupedia.com/europe/families_descending_from_charlemagne_clovis.shtml
Maps
(c)2013-2015; All Rights Reserved, Iona Miller, Sangreality Trust
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Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.