View source for Francia

{{Short description|Western European kingdom (c. 509–843)}}
{{about|the geographical and political development of the lands of the Franks|the Frankish people and society|Franks|other uses}}
{{Distinguish|France |Kingdom of France}}
{{More footnotes|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = {{native name|la|Regnum Francorum}}
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Franks
| common_name            = Francia
| era= [[Early Middle Ages]]
| status                 = 
| life_span              =
| status_text                                = 
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| image_flag             = <!-- Rise and fall, events, years and dates -->
| date_pre               = {{circa}} 481
| event_pre              = Clovis I becomes king of the [[Salian Franks]]
| event_start            = Clovis I unites all [[Franks]]
| year_start             = {{circa}} 509
| event1                 = Charlemagne crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor of the Romans]]
| date_event1            = 25 December 800
| event2                 = Death of [[Louis the Pious]]
| date_event2            = 20 June 840
| event_end              = [[Treaty of Verdun]]
| date_end               = 10 August
| year_end               = 843
| p1                     = <!-- Not well defined -->
| s1                     = Middle Francia
| s2                     = East Francia
| s3                     = West Francia

<!-- Map & Capital -->| image_map              = Franks expansion.gif
| image_map_alt          = Expansion of the Frankish kingdom from 481 to 870
| image_map_caption      = Expansion of the Frankish Kingdom, 481–870
| capital                = 
| stat_year1             = 814 (peak)<ref name=taagepera1997>{{Cite journal |last=Taagepera |first=Rein |year=1997 |title=Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn68807 |journal=International Studies Quarterly |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=475–504 |doi=10.1111/0020-8833.00053 |jstor=2600793|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
| stat_area1             = 1200000
<!-- Motto, languages, religion, currency -->
| religion               = [[Catholic]]ism (official) <!-- This is not an article about christianity. Catholicism is more recognisable than Chalcedonian Christianity -->
| currency               = [[French denier|Denier]]{{efn|After c.673}}

<!-- Titles and names of the first and last leaders and their deputies -->| title_leader           = [[List of Frankish kings|King]]
| leader1                = [[Clovis I]] 
| year_leader1           = {{circa}} 509–511 (first)
| leader2                = Contested between [[Lothair I]], [[Louis the German]] and [[Charles the Bald]]{{efn|All three were sons of [[Louis the Pious]].}}
| year_leader2           = 840–843 (last)
| demonym                = [[Franks|Frank]], Frankish
| today                  = <!-- Too many countries to include -->
}}
The '''Kingdom of the Franks''' ({{langx|la|Regnum Francorum}}), also known as the '''Frankish Kingdom''', or just '''Francia''', was the largest [[History of the Roman Empire|post-Roman]] [[barbarian kingdom]] in [[Western Europe]]. It was ruled by the [[Franks|Frankish]] [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingian]] and [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] dynasties during the [[Early Middle Ages]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Griffith |first=Michael |title=Carolingian Dynasty |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Carolingian_Dynasty/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Harrison W. |title=Merovingian Dynasty |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Merovingian_Dynasty/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the [[Migration Period]] era.

Originally, the core Frankish territories inside the former [[Western Roman Empire]] were located close to the [[Rhine]] and [[Meuse]] rivers in the north,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Uehlinger |first1=Urs |last2=Haartmut |first2=Arndt |last3=Wantzen |first3=Karl |last4=Leuven |first4=Rob |date=2009 |title=The Rhine River Basin |url=https://d-nb.info/1088795714/34 |website=Deutsche National Bibliothek}}</ref> but Frankish chiefs such as [[Chlodio]] would eventually expand their influence within Roman territory as far as the [[Somme (river)|Somme river]] in the 5th century.

[[Childeric I]], a [[Salian Franks|Salian]] Frankish king, was one of several military leaders commanding Roman forces of various ethnic affiliations in the northern part of what is now France. His son, [[Clovis I]], succeeded in unifying most of Gaul under his rule in the 6th century by notably conquering [[Battle of Soissons (486)|Soissons]] in 486 and [[Battle of Vouillé|Aquitaine]] in 507 following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, as well as establishing leadership over all the Frankish kingdoms on or near the Rhine frontier; thus founding what would come to be known as the Merovingian dynasty. The dynasty subsequently gained control over a significant part of what is now western and southern Germany. It was by building upon the basis of these Merovingian deeds that the subsequent [[Carolingian]] dynasty— through the nearly continuous campaigns of [[Pepin of Herstal]], his son [[Charles Martel]], grandson [[Pepin the Short]], and great-grandson [[Charlemagne]]— secured the greatest expansion of the Frankish state by the early 9th century. Charlemagne also received the Roman imperial crown in 800, thus creating the ''Frankish-Roman Empire'',{{sfn|Watts|2021|p=165-166}} which is also referred to as the [[Carolingian Empire]], or just the ''Frankish Empire'' ({{langx|la|Imperium Francorum}}).

During the reign of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, the Frankish realm was one large [[polity]], generally subdivided into several smaller kingdoms ruled by different members of the ruling dynasties. Whilst these kingdoms coordinated, they also regularly came into conflict with one another. The old Frankish lands, for example, were initially contained within the kingdom of [[Austrasia]], centred on the [[Rhine]] and [[Meuse]], roughly corresponding to later [[Lower Lotharingia]]. The bulk of the Gallo-Roman territory to its south and west was called [[Neustria]]. The exact borders and number of these subkingdoms varied over time, until a basic split between eastern and western domains became persistent. 

After various treaties and conflicts in the late-9th and early-10th centuries, [[West Francia]] came under control of the [[Capetian dynasty]], becoming the [[Kingdom of France]], while [[East Francia]] and [[Lotharingia]] came under the control of the non-Frankish [[Ottonian dynasty]], becoming the [[Kingdom of Germany]] (which would conquer Burgundy and Italy to then form the medieval [[Holy Roman Empire]]). Competing French and German nationalisms in later centuries would claim succession from Charlemagne and the original kingdom, but nowadays both have become seen by many as [[Pan-European identity|Pan-European]] symbols.<ref>{{cite web | title=The legacy of Charlemagne: how the king of the Franks continues to cast a shadow over Europe | website=History Extra | access-date=2 April 2020 | url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/charlemagne-unifier-father-europe-correct-european-symbol-who-was-he/}}</ref>

==Historical periods==
[[File:Clotilde partageant le royaume entre ses fils.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The partition of the Frankish kingdom among the four sons of [[Clovis I|Clovis]] with [[Clotilde]] presiding, ''[[Grandes Chroniques de France]]'' (Bibliothèque municipale de Toulouse)]]

===Origins, the early Frankish period===
{{Main|Franks}}
The term "Franks" emerged in the 3rd century AD as a term for several [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] who settled on the northern Rhine frontier of the [[Roman Empire]], including the [[Bructeri]], [[Ampsivarii]], [[Chamavi]], [[Chattuarii]] and [[Salian Franks|Salians]]. While all of them had a tradition of participating in the Roman military, the Salians were allowed to settle within the Roman Empire. In 358, having already been living in the ''civitas'' of Batavia for some time, [[Julian (emperor)|Emperor Julian]] defeated the Chamavi and Salians,<ref>[[Ammianus Marcellinus]] ''Res Gestae'' (late 4th century), XVII.8</ref> allowing the latter to settle further away from the border, in [[Toxandria]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bijsterveld|first1=Arnoud-Jan A.|last2=Toorians|first2=Lauran|date=June 29, 2018|title=Texandria revisited: In search of a territory lost in time|url=https://www.academia.edu/36993583|journal=Rural Riches & Royal Rags?: Studies on Medieval and Modern Archaeology, Presented to Frans Theuws|language=en|publisher=SPA-Uitgevers|pages=35|via=[[Academia.edu]]}}</ref>

Some of the early Frankish leaders, such as [[Flavius Bauto]] and [[Arbogast (magister militum)|Arbogast]], were committed to the cause of the Romans, but other Frankish rulers, such as [[Mallobaudes]], were active on Roman soil for other reasons.{{clarify|date=December 2024|reason=says who and why?}} After the fall of Arbogastes, his son Arigius succeeded in establishing a [[Heredity|hereditary]] countship at [[Trier]] and after the fall of the usurper [[Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor)|Constantine III]] some Franks supported the usurper [[Jovinus]] (411). Jovinus was dead by 413, but the Romans found it increasingly difficult to manage the Franks within their borders.{{explain|date=December 2024}} The Frankish king [[Theodemer (Frankish king)|Theudemer]] was executed by the sword, in c. 422.

Around 428, the king [[Chlodio]], whose kingdom may have been in the ''[[civitas Tungrorum]]'' (with its capital in [[Tongeren]]), launched an attack on Roman territory and extended his realm as far as ''Camaracum'' ([[Cambrai]]) and the [[Somme (river)|Somme river]]. Though [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] relates that [[Flavius Aetius]] defeated a wedding party of his people (c. 431), this period marks the beginning of a situation that would endure for many centuries: the Germanic Franks ruled over an increasing number of [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman subjects]].{{who|date=December 2024}}

The [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingians]], believed by some in the latter half of the 6th century to be relatives of Chlodio as reported by [[Gregory of Tours]] (although, he himself did not share this belief),<ref>Gregory of Tours was apparently skeptical of Childeric's connection to Chlodio, and only says that some say there was such a connection. Concerning ''Belgica Secunda'', which Chlodio had conquered first for the Franks, Bishop Remigius, the leader of the church in the same province, stated in a letter to Childeric's son Clovis that "Great news has reached us that you have taken up the administration of ''Belgica Secunda''. It is no surprise that you have begun to be as your parents ever were." (Epistolae Austriacae, translated by AC Murray, and quoted in Murray's "From Roman to Merovingian Gaul" p. 260). This is normally interpreted to mean that Childeric also had this administration. (See for example Wood "The Merovingian Kingdoms" p. 41.) Both the passage of Gregory and the letter of Remigius note the nobility of Clovis's mother when discussing his connection to this area.</ref> arose from within the Gallo-Roman military, with Childeric and his son Clovis being called "King of the Franks" in the Gallo-Roman military, even before having any Frankish territorial kingdom. Once Clovis defeated his Roman competitor for power in northern Gaul, [[Syagrius]], he turned to the kings of the Franks to the north and east, as well as other post-Roman kingdoms already existing in Gaul: [[Visigoths]], [[Burgundians]], and [[Alemanni]].

The original core territory of the Frankish kingdom later came to be known as [[Austrasia]] (the "eastern lands"), while the large Romanised Frankish kingdom in the west came to be known as [[Neustria]].

===Merovingian period===
====Merovingian rise and decline, 481–687====
{{See also|Merovingian dynasty}}
[[File:Politically divided Gaul, 481.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The political divisions of [[Gaul]] at the inception of [[Clovis I|Clovis]]'s career (481). Note that only the [[Burgundians#Burgundian kingdoms|Burgundian kingdom]] and the province of [[Septimania]] remained unconquered at his death (511).]]
Chlodio's successors are obscure figures, but what can be certain is that [[Childeric I]], possibly his grandson, ruled a Salian kingdom from [[Tournai]] as a ''[[foederati|foederatus]]'' of the Romans. Childeric is chiefly important to history for bequeathing the Franks to his son [[Clovis I|Clovis]], who began an effort to extend his authority over the other Frankish tribes and to expand their ''territorium'' south and west into [[Gaul]]. Clovis converted to [[Roman Catholicism|Christianity]] and put himself on good terms with the powerful Church and with his Gallo-Roman subjects.

In a thirty-year reign (481–511) Clovis defeated the Roman general [[Syagrius]] and conquered the [[Kingdom of Soissons]], defeated the [[Alemanni]] ([[Battle of Tolbiac]] in 496) and established Frankish hegemony over them. Clovis defeated the Visigoths ([[Battle of Vouillé]] in 507) and conquered all of their territory north of the Pyrenees save [[Septimania]], and conquered the [[Bretons]] (according to [[Gregory of Tours]]) and made them vassals of the Franks. He also incorporated the various Roman military settlements (''[[laeti]]'') scattered over Gaul: the Saxons of [[Bessin]], the [[Celtic Britons|Britons]] and the [[Alans]] of [[Armorica]] and [[Loire valley]] or the [[Taifals]] of [[Poitou]] to name a few prominent ones. By the end of his life, Clovis ruled all of Gaul save the Gothic province of Septimania and the [[Kingdom of the Burgundians|Burgundian kingdom]] in the southeast.

The exact date on which Clovis became "king of all Franks" is not known, but it happened sometime after the [[Battle of Vouillé]], which is securely dated to 507.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mathisen |first1=Ralph W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v58cU1TLQrkC&pg=PA43 |title=The Battle of Vouillé, 507 CE: Where France Began |last2=Shanzer |first2=Danuta |date=2012 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-099-4 |language=en}}</ref> One year after this battle, Clovis made Paris his capital,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Boucheron |first1=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7r9kDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |title=France in the World: A New Global History |last2=Gerson |first2=Stéphane |date=2019 |publisher=Other Press, LLC |isbn=978-1-59051-942-4 |pages=81–86}}</ref> and in the [[Christmas Day]] of the same year he converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]],<ref name=":4">{{cite journal|last1=Danuta|first1=Shanzer|title=Dating the baptism of Clovis: the bishop of Vienne vs the bishop of Tours|journal=Early Medieval Europe|date=March 1998|volume=7|issue=1|pages=29–57|doi=10.1111/1468-0254.00017| s2cid=161819012 |url=https://www.academia.edu/455620}}</ref> and some time later he orchestrated the murders of Frankish kings [[Sigobert the Lame|Sigobert]] and [[Ragnachar]], uniting all Franks under his rule.<ref>[[Gregory of Tours]], [https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/gregory-hist.asp#book2 Book II 38-43].</ref> The sole source for this early period is [[Gregory of Tours]], who wrote around the year 590. His chronology for the reigns of the early kings is almost certainly fabricated, often contradicting itself and other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Mathisen |first1=Ralph W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v58cU1TLQrkC&pg=PR13 |title=The Battle of Vouillé, 507 CE: Where France Began |last2=Shanzer |first2=Danuta |date=2012 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-099-4 |pages=xiii-xv |language=}}</ref> Clovis' baptism, traditionally dated to 496, is now believed to have taken place in 508.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heiks |first=Heidi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBRV72orm_EC&pg=PR25 |title=AD 508 Source Book |date=2011 |publisher=TEACH Services, Inc. |isbn=978-1-57258-631-4 |pages=xv-xxx |language=}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

The Merovingians were a [[hereditary monarchy]]. The Frankish kings adhered to the practice of [[partible inheritance]]: dividing their lands among their sons. Even when multiple Merovingian kings ruled, the kingdom—not unlike the late [[Roman Empire]]—was conceived of as a single realm ruled collectively by several kings and the turn of events could result in the reunification of the whole realm under a single king. The Merovingian kings ruled by divine right and their kingship was symbolised daily by their long hair and initially by their acclamation, which was carried out by raising the king on a shield in accordance with the ancient Germanic practice of electing a war-leader at an assembly of the warriors.

===== Clovis's sons =====
At the death of Clovis, his kingdom was divided territorially by his four adult sons in such a way that each son was granted a comparable portion of [[Fisc|fiscal land]], which was probably land once part of the Roman fisc, now seized by the Frankish government.

[[File:Division of Gaul - 511.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The division of the Frankish kingdom on [[Clovis I|Clovis]]'s death (511). The kingdoms were not geographic unities because they were formed in an attempt to create equal-sized fiscs. The discrepancy in size reveals the concentration of Roman fiscal lands.]]
Clovis's sons made their capitals near the Frankish heartland in northeastern Gaul. [[Theuderic I]] made his capital at [[Reims]], [[Chlodomer]] at [[Orléans]], [[Childebert I]] at [[Paris]], and [[Chlothar I]] at [[Soissons]]. During their reigns, the [[Thuringii]] (532), [[Burgundes]] (534), and [[Saxons]] and [[Frisians]] (c. 560) were incorporated into the Frankish kingdom. The outlying trans-Rhenish tribes were loosely attached to Frankish sovereignty, and though they could be forced to contribute to Frankish military efforts, in times of weak kings they were uncontrollable and liable to attempt independence. The Romanised Burgundian kingdom, however, was preserved in its territoriality by the Franks and converted into one of their primary divisions, incorporating the central Gallic heartland of Chlodomer's realm with its capital at Orléans.

The fraternal kings showed only intermittent signs of friendship and were often in rivalry. On the early death of Chlodomer, his brother Chlothar had his{{clarify|date=September 2024}} young sons murdered in order to take a share of his kingdom, which was, in accordance with custom, divided between the surviving brothers. Theuderic died in 534, but his adult son [[Theudebert I]] was capable of defending his inheritance, which formed the largest of the Frankish subkingdoms and the kernel of the later kingdom of [[Austrasia]].

Theudebert was the first Frankish king to formally sever his ties to the [[Roman Emperor]] in [[Constantinople]] by striking gold coins with his own image on them and calling himself ''magnus rex'' (great king) because of his supposed suzerainty over peoples as far away as [[Pannonia]]. Theudebert interfered in the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]] on the side of the [[Gepids]] and [[Lombards]] against the [[Ostrogoths]], receiving the provinces of [[Raetia]], [[Noricum]], and part of [[Veneto]].

===== Chlothar =====
His son and successor, [[Theudebald]], was unable to retain them and on his death all of his vast kingdom passed to Chlothar, under whom, with the death of Childebert in 558, the entire Frankish realm was reunited under the rule of one king.
[[File:Division of Gaul - 561.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The division of Gaul on [[Chlothar I]]'s death (561). Though more geographically unified realms were created out of the second fourfold division, the complex division of [[Provence]] created many problems for the rulers of [[Burgundians|Burgundy]] and [[Austrasia]].]]
In 561 Chlothar died and his realm was divided, in a replay of the events of fifty years prior, between his four sons, with the chief cities remaining the same. The eldest son, [[Charibert I]], inherited the kingdom with its capital at Paris and ruled all of western Gaul. The second eldest, [[Guntram]], inherited the old kingdom of the Burgundians, augmented by the lands of central France around the old capital of Orléans, which became his chief city, and most of [[Provence]].

The rest of Provence, the [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]], and eastern Aquitaine were assigned to the third son, [[Sigebert I]], who also inherited Austrasia with its chief cities of Reims and [[Metz]]. The smallest kingdom was that of Soissons, which went to the youngest son, [[Chilperic I]]. The kingdom Chilperic ruled at his death (584) became the nucleus of later [[Neustria]].

This second fourfold division was quickly ruined by fratricidal wars, waged largely over the murder of [[Galswintha]], the wife of Chilperic, allegedly by his mistress (and second wife) [[Fredegund]]. Galswintha's sister, the wife of Sigebert, [[Brunhilda of Austrasia|Brunhilda]], incited her husband to war and the conflict between the two queens continued to plague relations until the next century. Guntram sought to keep the peace, though he also attempted twice (585 and 589) to conquer Septimania from the Goths, but was defeated both times.

All the surviving brothers benefited at the death of Charibert, but Chilperic was also able to extend his authority during the period of war by bringing the Bretons to heel again. After his death, Guntram had to again force the Bretons to submit. In 587, the [[Treaty of Andelot]] — the text of which explicitly refers to the entire Frankish realm as ''Francia'' — between Brunhilda and Guntram secured his protection of her young son [[Childebert II]], who had succeeded the assassinated Sigebert (575). Together the territory of Guntram and Childebert was well over thrice as large as the small realm of Chilperic's successor, [[Chlothar II]]. During this period Francia took on the tripartite character it was to have throughout the rest of its history, being composed of Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy.

[[File:Division of Gaul - 587.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Gaul as a result of the [[Treaty of Andelot]] (587). The treaty followed the division of [[Charibert I]]'s kingdom between the three surviving brothers. It gave [[Guntram]]'s portion with [[Poitou]] and [[Touraine]] to [[Childebert II]] in exchange for extensive lands in southern and central [[Aquitaine]].]]

===== Francia split into Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy =====
When Guntram died in 592, Burgundy went to Childebert in its entirety, but he died in 595. His two sons divided the kingdom, with the elder [[Theudebert II]] taking Austrasia plus Childebert's portion of Aquitaine, while his younger brother [[Theuderic II]] inherited Burgundy and Guntram's Aquitaine. United, the brothers sought to remove their father's cousin Chlothar II from power and they did succeed in conquering most of his kingdom, reducing him to only a few cities, but they failed to capture him.

In 599 they routed his forces at [[Dormelles]] and seized the [[Dentelin]], but they then fell foul of each other and the remainder of their time on the thrones was spent in infighting, often incited by their grandmother Brunhilda, who, angered over her expulsion from Theudebert's court, convinced Theuderic to unseat him and kill him. In 612 he did and the whole realm of his father Childebert was once again ruled by one man. This was short-lived, however, as he died on the eve of preparing an expedition against Chlothar in 613, leaving a young son named [[Sigebert II]].

During their reigns, Theudebert and Theuderic campaigned successfully in [[Gascony]], where they had established the [[Duchy of Gascony]] and brought the [[Basques]] to submission (602). This original Gascon conquest included lands south of the [[Pyrenees]], namely [[Biscay]] and [[Gipuzkoa]], but these were lost to the Visigoths in 612.

On the opposite end of his realm, the Alemanni had defeated Theuderic in a rebellion and the Franks were losing their hold on the trans-Rhenish tribes. In 610 Theudebert had extorted the [[Duchy of Alsace]] from Theuderic, beginning a long period of conflict over which kingdom was to have the region of Alsace, Burgundy or Austrasia, which was only terminated in the late seventh century.

During the brief minority of Sigebert II, the office of the [[Mayor of the Palace]], which had for sometime been visible in the kingdoms of the Franks, came to the fore in its internal politics, with a faction of nobles coalescing around the persons of [[Warnachar II]], [[Rado (mayor of the palace)|Rado]], and [[Pepin of Landen]], to give the kingdom over to Chlothar in order to remove Brunhilda, the young king's regent, from power. Warnachar was himself already the mayor of the palace of Austrasia, while Rado and Pepin were to find themselves rewarded with mayoral offices after Chlothar's coup succeeded and Brunhilda and the ten-year-old king were killed.

=====Rule of Chlothar II =====
Immediately after his victory, Chlothar II promulgated the [[Edict of Paris]] (614), which has generally been viewed as a concession to the nobility, though this view has come under recent criticism. The Edict primarily sought to guarantee justice and end corruption in government, but it also entrenched the regional differences between the three kingdoms of Francia and probably granted the nobles more control over judicial appointments.

By 623 the Austrasians had begun to clamour for a king of their own, since Chlothar was so often absent from the kingdom and, because of his upbringing and previous rule in the Seine basin, was more or less an outsider there. Chlothar thus granted that his son [[Dagobert I]] would be their king and he was duly acclaimed by the Austrasian warriors in the traditional fashion. Nonetheless, though Dagobert exercised true authority in his realm, Chlothar maintained ultimate control over the whole Frankish kingdom.

[[File:Frankish kingdoms in 628.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The Frankish Kingdom of [[Aquitaine]] (628). The capital of Aquitaine was [[Toulouse]]. It included [[Gascony]] and was the basis of the later [[Duchy of Aquitaine]].]]
During the joint reign of Chlothar and Dagobert, who have been called "the last ruling Merovingians", the Saxons, who had been loosely attached to Francia since the late 550s, rebelled under [[Berthoald, Duke of Saxony]], and were defeated and reincorporated into the kingdom by the joint action of father and son. When Chlothar died in 628, Dagobert, in accordance with his father's wishes, granted a subkingdom to his younger brother [[Charibert II]]. This subkingdom, commonly called Aquitaine, was a new creation.

===== Dagobert I =====
[[File:Europe around 650.jpg|upright=1.6|thumb|left|Francia and neighbouring [[Slavic peoples]] c. 650]]
Dagobert, in his dealings with the Saxons, Alemans, and Thuringii, as well as the [[Slavs]] beyond the borders of Francia, upon whom he tried to force tribute but who instead defeated him under their king [[Samo]] at the [[Battle of Wogastisburg]] in 631, made all the far eastern peoples subject to the court of Neustria and not of Austrasia. This, first and foremost, incited the Austrasians to request a king of their own from the royal household.

The subkingdom of Aquitaine corresponded to the southern half of the old Roman province of Aquitania and its capital was at [[Toulouse]]. The other cities of his kingdom were [[Cahors]], [[Agen]], [[Périgueux]], [[Bordeaux]], and [[Saintes, Charente-Maritime|Saintes]]; the duchy of Vasconia was also part of his allotment. Charibert campaigned successfully against the Basques, but after his death they revolted again (632). At the same time the Bretons rose up against Frankish suzerainty. In 635 an army sent by Dagobert subdued the Basques, while threats of military action induced the Breton leader [[Saint Judicael|Judicael]] to relent, make peace with the Franks, and pay tribute.

Meanwhile, Dagobert had Charibert's infant successor [[Chilperic of Aquitaine|Chilperic]] assassinated and reunited the entire Frankish realm again (632), though he was forced by the strong Austrasian aristocracy to grant his own son [[Sigebert III]] to them as a subking in 633. This act was precipitated largely by the Austrasians' desire to be self-governing at a time when Neustrians dominated at the royal court. Chlothar had been the king at Paris for decades before becoming the king at Metz as well and the Merovingian monarchy was ever after him to be a Neustrian monarchy first and foremost.

Indeed, it is in the 640s that "Neustria" first appears in writing, its late appearance relative to "Austrasia" probably due to the fact that Neustrians (who formed the bulk of the authors of the time) called their region simply "Francia". ''Burgundia'' too defined itself in opposition to Neustria at about this time. However, it was the Austrasians, who had been seen as a distinct people within the realm since the time of Gregory of Tours, who were to make the most strident moves for independence.

The young Sigebert was dominated during his minority by the mayor, [[Grimoald the Elder]], who convinced the childless king to adopt his own Merovingian-named son [[Childebert the Adopted|Childebert]] as his son and heir. After Dagobert's death in 639, the [[duke of Thuringia]], [[Radulf, King of Thuringia|Radulf]], rebelled and tried to make himself king. He defeated Sigebert in what was a serious reversal for the ruling dynasty (640).

The king lost the support of many magnates while on campaign and the weakness of the monarchic institutions by that time are evident in his inability to effectively make war without the support of the magnates; in fact, he could not even provide his own bodyguard without the loyal aid of Grimoald and [[Adalgisel]]. He is often regarded as the first ''[[roi fainéant]]'': "do-nothing king", not insofar as he "did nothing", but insofar as he accomplished little.

[[Clovis II]], Dagobert's successor in Neustria and Burgundy, which were thereafter attached yet ruled separately, was a minor for almost the whole of his reign. He was dominated by his mother [[Nanthild]] and the mayor of the Neustrian palace, [[Erchinoald]]. Erchinoald's successor, [[Ebroin]], dominated the kingdom for the next fifteen years of near-constant civil war. On his death (656), Sigbert's son was shipped off to Ireland, while Grimoald's son Childebert reigned in Austrasia.

Ebroin eventually reunited the entire Frankish kingdom for Clovis's successor [[Chlothar III]] by killing Grimoald and removing Childebert in 661. However, the Austrasians demanded a king of their own again and Chlothar installed his younger brother [[Childeric II]]. During Chlothar's reign, the Franks had made an attack on northwestern Italy, but were driven off by [[Grimoald, King of the Lombards]], near [[Rivoli, Piedmont|Rivoli]].

====Dominance of the mayors of the palace, 687–751====
[[File:Francia at the death of Pepin of Heristal, 714.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Gaul]] at the death of [[Pepin of Heristal]] (714). At this time the vast [[duchy of Aquitaine]] (yellow) was not a part of the Frankish kingdom.]]

In 673, Chlothar III died and some Neustrian and Burgundian magnates invited Childeric to become king of the whole realm, but he soon upset some Neustrian magnates and he was assassinated (675).

The reign of [[Theuderic III]] was to prove the end of the Merovingian dynasty's power. 
Theuderic III succeeded his brother Chlothar III in Neustria in 673, but Childeric II of Austrasia displaced him soon thereafter—until he died in 675, and Theuderic III retook his throne. When Dagobert II died in 679, Theuderic received Austrasia as well and became king of the whole Frankish realm. Thoroughly Neustrian in outlook, he allied with his mayor [[Berchar]] and made war on the Austrasian who had installed [[Dagobert II]], Sigebert III's son, in their kingdom (briefly in opposition to [[Clovis III]]).

In 687 he was defeated by [[Pepin of Herstal]], the [[Arnulfing]] mayor of Austrasia and the real power in that kingdom, at the [[Battle of Tertry]] and was forced to accept Pepin as sole mayor and ''dux et princeps Francorum'': "[[Duke and Prince of the Franks]]", a title which signifies, to the author of the ''[[Liber Historiae Francorum]]'', the beginning of Pepin's "reign". Thereafter the Merovingian monarchs showed only sporadically, in our surviving records, any activities of a non-symbolic and self-willed nature.

During the period of confusion in the 670s and 680s, attempts had been made to re-assert Frankish suzerainty over the Frisians, but to no avail. In 689, however, Pepin launched a campaign of conquest in [[Western Frisia]] (''Frisia Citerior'') and defeated the [[Rulers of Frisia|Frisian king]] [[Radbod, King of the Frisians|Radbod]] near [[Dorestad]], an important trading centre. All the land between the [[Scheldt]] and the [[Vlie]] was incorporated into Francia.

Then, circa 690, Pepin attacked central Frisia and took [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]]. In 695 Pepin could even sponsor the foundation of the [[Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)|Archdiocese of Utrecht]] and the beginning of the conversion of the Frisians under [[Willibrord]]. However, [[Eastern Frisia]] (''Frisia Ulterior'') remained outside of Frankish suzerainty.

Having achieved great successes against the Frisians, Pepin turned towards the Alemanni. In 709 he launched a war against [[Willehari]], duke of the [[Ortenau]], probably in an effort to force the succession of the young sons of the deceased [[Gotfrid]] on the ducal throne. This outside interference led to another war in 712 and the Alemanni were, for the time being, restored to the Frankish fold.

However, in southern Gaul, which was not under Arnulfing influence, the regions were pulling away from the royal court under leaders such as [[Savaric of Auxerre]], [[Antenor of Provence]], and [[Odo the Great|Odo of Aquitaine]]. The reigns of [[Clovis IV]] and [[Childebert III]] from 691 until 711 have all the hallmarks of those of ''rois fainéants'', though Childebert is founding making royal judgements against the interests of his supposed masters, the Arnulfings.

===== Death of Pepin =====
When Pepin died in 714, however, the Frankish realm plunged into civil war and the dukes of the outlying provinces became ''de facto'' independent. Pepin's appointed successor, [[Theudoald]], under his widow, [[Plectrude]], initially opposed an attempt by the king, [[Dagobert III]], to appoint [[Ragenfrid]] as mayor of the palace in all the realms, but soon there was a third candidate for the mayoralty of Austrasia in Pepin's illegitimate adult son, [[Charles Martel]].

After the defeat of Plectrude and Theudoald by the king (now [[Chilperic II]]) and Ragenfrid, Charles briefly raised a king of his own, [[Chlothar IV]], in opposition to Chilperic. Finally, at [[Battle of Soissons (718)|a battle near Soisson]], Charles definitively defeated his rivals and forced them into hiding, eventually accepting the king back on the condition that he receive his father's positions (718). There were no more active Merovingian kings after that point and Charles and his [[Carolingian]] heirs ruled the Franks.

After 718 Charles Martel embarked on a series of wars intended to strengthen the Franks' hegemony in western Europe. In 718 he defeated the rebellious Saxons, in 719 he overran Western Frisia, in 723 he suppressed the Saxons again, and in 724 he defeated Ragenfrid and the rebellious Neustrians, ending the civil war phase of his rule. In 720, when Chilperic II died, he had appointed [[Theuderic IV]] king, but this last was a mere puppet of his. In 724 he forced his choice of [[Hugbert of Bavaria|Hugbert]] for the ducal succession upon the Bavarians and forced the Alemanni to assist him in his campaigns in Bavaria (725 and 726), where laws were promulgated in Theuderic's name. In 730 Alemannia had to be subjugated by the sword and its duke, [[Lantfrid]], was killed. In 734 Charles fought against Eastern Frisia and finally subdued it.

===== Umayyad invasion =====
In the 730s the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Umayyad conquerors of Spain]], who had also subjugated [[Septimania]], began advancing northwards into central Francia and the [[Loire valley]]. It was at this time (circa 736) that [[Maurontus]], the ''dux'' of Provence, called in the Umayyads to aid him in resisting the expanding influence of the Carolingians. However, Charles invaded the [[Rhône Valley]] with his brother [[Childebrand]] and a Lombard army and devastated the region. It was because of the alliance against the Arabs that Charles was unable to support [[Pope Gregory III]] against the Lombards.

In 732 or 737—modern scholars have debated over the date—Charles marched against an Arab army between [[Poitiers]] and [[Tours]] and defeated it in a [[Battle of Tours|watershed battle]] that turned back the tide of the Arab advance north of the [[Pyrenees]]. But Charles's real interests lay in the northeast, primarily with the Saxons, from whom he had to extort the tribute which for centuries they had paid to the Merovingians.

Shortly before his death in October 741, Charles divided the realm as if he were king between his two sons by his first wife, marginalising his younger son [[Grifo (noble)|Grifo]], who did receive a small portion (it is unknown exactly what). Though there had been no king since Theuderic's death in 737, Charles's sons [[Pepin the Younger]] and [[Carloman, son of Charles Martel|Carloman]] were still only mayors of the palaces. The Carolingians had assumed the regal status and practice, though not the regal title, of the Merovingians. The division of the kingdom gave [[Austrasia]], [[Alemannia]], and [[Thuringia]] to Carloman and Neustria, Provence, and Burgundy to Pepin. It is indicative of the ''de facto'' autonomy of the duchies of Aquitaine (under [[Hunald I|Hunoald]]) and Bavaria (under [[Odilo of Bavaria|Odilo]]) that they were not included in the division of the ''regnum''.

After Charles Martel was buried, in the [[Abbey of Saint-Denis]] alongside the Merovingian kings, conflict immediately erupted between Pepin and Carloman on one side and Grifo their younger brother on the other. Though Carloman captured and imprisoned Grifo, it may have been enmity between the elder brothers that caused Pepin to release Grifo while Carloman was on a pilgrimage to Rome. Perhaps in an effort to neutralise his brother's ambitions, Carloman initiated the appointment of a new king, [[Childeric III]], drawn from a monastery, in 743. Others have suggested that perhaps the position of the two brothers was weak or challenged, or perhaps there Carloman was merely acting for a loyalist or legitimist party in the kingdom.

In 743 Pepin campaigned against Odilo and forced him to submit to Frankish suzerainty. Carloman also campaigned against the Saxons and the two together defeated a rebellion led by Hunoald at the head of the [[Basques]] and another led by Alemanni, in which [[Liutfrid]] of Alsatia probably died, either fighting for or against the brothers. In 746, however, the Frankish armies were still, as Carloman was preparing to retire from politics and enter the monastery of [[Monte Soratte]]. Pepin's position was further stabilised and the path was laid for his assumption of the crown in 751.

===Carolingian period===
====Carolingian Empire, 751–840====
[[File:Growth of Frankish Power, 481-814 Edit.jpeg|upright=1.15|thumb|The growth of Frankish power, 481–814, showing Francia as it originally was after the crumbling of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. It was located northeasterly of that during the time of [[Constantine the Great]].]]
[[File:Franks expansion.gif|thumb|upright=1.15|Frankish expansion from the early kingdom of [[Clovis I]] (481) to the divisions of [[Carolingian Empire|Charlemagne's Empire]] (843/870)]]

{{main|Carolingian Empire|Carolingian dynasty}}
Pepin 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 "kingworthy" leader out of the ruling clan 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 [[Prince-elector|elective tradition]] and continued as elected rulers until the empire's formal end in 1806.

Pepin solidified his position in 754 by entering into an alliance with [[Pope Stephen II]], who presented the king of the Franks a copy of the forged "[[Donation of Constantine]]" at Paris and in a magnificent ceremony at [[Saint Denis Basilica|Saint-Denis]] anointed the king and his family and declared him ''patricius Romanorum'' ("protector of the Romans"). The following year Pepin fulfilled his promise to the pope and retrieved the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]], recently fallen to the [[Lombards]], and returned it to the Papacy.

Pepin donated the re-conquered areas around Rome to the Pope, laying the foundation for the [[Papal States]] in the "[[Donation of Pepin]]" which he laid on the tomb of St Peter. The papacy had good cause to expect that the remade Frankish monarchy would provide a deferential power base (''potestas'') in the creation of a new world order, centred on the Pope.

Upon Pepin's death in 768, his sons, Charles and [[Carloman, son of Pippin III|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]] or Charles the Great, a powerful, intelligent, and modestly literate figure who became a legend for the later history of both France and Germany. Charlemagne restored an equal balance between emperor and pope.

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 Christian rulers undertaking the conversion of their neighbours 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's 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 (Aller)|Verden]], Charles ordered the wholesale [[Massacre of Verden|killing]] of thousands of [[Paganism|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 Christianize the Saxons, Charles founded several [[Diocese|bishopric]]s, among them [[Archbishopric of Bremen|Bremen]], [[Münster]], [[Paderborn]], and [[Osnabrück]].

At the same time (773–774), Charles conquered the [[Lombards]] and thus included 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 III, Duke of Bavaria]] rebelled against Charles. Crushing the rebellion incorporated Bavaria into Charles's 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 reached from the [[Pyrenees]] in the southwest (actually, including an area in Northern Spain (''[[Marca Hispanica]]'') 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. In the hierarchy of the church, bishops and abbots looked to the patronage of the king's palace, where the sources of patronage and security lay. Charles had fully emerged as the leader of Western [[Christendom]], and his patronage of monastic centres of learning gave rise to the "[[Carolingian Renaissance]]" of literate culture. Charles also created a large palace at Aachen, a series of roads, and a canal.

On Christmas Day, 800, [[Pope Leo III]] crowned Charles as "[[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor of the Romans]]" in Rome in a [[Charlemagne#Coronation|ceremony]] presented as a surprise (Charlemagne did not wish to be indebted to the bishop of Rome), a further papal move in the series of symbolic gestures that had been defining the mutual roles of papal ''auctoritas'' and imperial ''potestas.'' Though Charlemagne preferred the title "Emperor, king of the Franks and Lombards", the ceremony formally acknowledged the ruler of the Franks as the Roman Emperor, triggering disputes with the [[Byzantine Empire]], which had maintained the title since the division of the Roman Empire into East and West. The pope's right to proclaim successors was based on the [[Donation of Constantine]], a forged Roman imperial decree. After an initial protest at the usurpation, the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Michael I Rhangabes]] acknowledged in 812 Charlemagne as co-emperor, according to some. According to others, [[Michael I Rangabe|Michael I]] reopened negotiations with the [[Franks]] in 812 and recognized [[Charlemagne]] as ''[[basileus]]'' (emperor), but not as emperor of the Romans. The coronation gave permanent legitimacy to Carolingian primacy among the Franks. The [[Ottonian]]s later resurrected this connection in 962.

Upon Charlemagne's death on 28 January 814 in [[Aachen]], he was buried in his own [[Aachen Cathedral|Palace Chapel at Aachen]].

====Divided empire, after 840====
[[File:Partage de l'Empire carolingien au Traité de Verdun en 843.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Carolingian Empire]] at its greatest extent, with borders displaying the three territorial divisions of 843, from left to right: {{unordered list|[[West Francia]] or the West Frankish Kingdom: [[Charles the Bald]], King of the West Franks.|[[Middle Francia]] or the Middle Frankish Kingdom: [[Lothair I]], King of the Middle Franks, nominally titled Emperor. This kingdom lasted only until 869. |[[East Francia]] or the East Frankish Kingdom: [[Louis the German]], King of the East Franks.}}]]

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 after a brief civil war between the three sons, they made an agreement in 843, the [[Treaty of Verdun]], which divided the empire in three:

# Louis's eldest surviving son [[Lothair I]] became Emperor in name but ''de facto'' only the ruler of the [[Middle Francia|Middle Frankish Kingdom]], or Middle Francia, known as King of the Central or Middle Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them into [[Lotharingia]] (centered on [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]]), [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]], and [[Lombardy]]. These areas with different cultures, peoples and traditions would later vanish as separate kingdoms, which would eventually become [[Belgium]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]], Switzerland, [[Savoyard state|Northern Italy]] and the various [[departments of France]] along the [[Rhône]] drainage basin and [[Jura massif]].
# Louis's second son, [[Louis the German]], became King of the [[East Frankish Kingdom]] or East Francia. This area formed the kernel of the later [[Holy Roman Empire]] by way of the [[Kingdom of Germany]] enlarged with some additional territories from Lothair's Middle Frankish Realm: much of these territories eventually evolved into modern Austria, Switzerland and Germany. For a list of successors, see the [[List of German monarchs]].
# His third son [[Charles the Bald]] became King of the West Franks, of the [[West Frankish Kingdom]] or West Francia. This area, most of today's southern and western France, became the foundation for the later Kingdom of France under the [[House of Capet]]. For his successors, see the [[List of French monarchs]].

Subsequently, at the [[Treaty of Mersen]] (870) the partitions were recast, to the detriment of Lotharingia. On 12 December 884, [[Charles the Fat]] (son of [[Louis the German]]) reunited most of the Carolingian Empire, aside from [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]]. In late 887, his nephew [[Arnulf of Carinthia]] revolted and assumed the title as King of the East Franks. Charles retired and soon died on 13 January 888.

[[Odo, Count of Paris]] was chosen to rule in the west, and was crowned the next month. At this point, West Francia was composed of Neustria in the west and in the east by Francia proper, the region between the [[Meuse]] and the [[Seine]]. The Carolingians were restored ten years later in West Francia, and ruled until 987, when the last Frankish King, [[Louis V of France|Louis V]], died.

[[West Francia]] was the land under the control of [[Charles the Bald]]. It is the precursor of modern France. It was divided into the following great fiefs: [[Aquitaine]], [[Brittany]], [[Burgundy]], [[Catalonia]], [[Flanders]], [[Gascony]], [[Septimania|Gothia]], Paris & Blois, and [[Toulouse]]. After 1180 and [[Philip II of France|Phillip II]], the kingdom came to be known as France, because the new ruling dynasty (the [[House of Capet|Capetians]]) were originally Counts of Paris.

[[Middle Francia]] was the territory ruled by [[Lothair I]], wedged between East and West Francia. The kingdom, which included the [[Kingdom of Italy (medieval)|Kingdom of Italy]], Burgundy, the [[Provence]], and the west of [[Austrasia]], was an unnatural creation of the Treaty of Verdun, with no historical or ethnic identity. The kingdom was split on the death of [[Lothair II of Lotharingia|Lothair II]] in 869 into those of [[Lotharingia]], Provence (with Burgundy divided between it and Lotharingia), and north Italy.

[[East Francia]] was the land of [[Louis the German]]. It was divided into four duchies: [[Duke of Swabia|Swabia]] ([[Alamannia]]), [[Duchy of Franconia|Franconia]], [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]] and [[List of rulers of Bavaria|Bavaria]]; to which after the death of Lothair II were added the eastern parts of [[Lotharingia]]. This division persisted until 1268, the end of the [[Hohenstaufen]] dynasty. [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] was crowned on 2 February 962, marking the beginning of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (''[[translatio imperii]]''). From the 10th century, East Francia became also known as ''regnum Teutonicum'' ("[[Teutons|Teutonic]] kingdom" or "[[Kingdom of Germany]]"), a term that became prevalent in [[Salian]] times. The title of Holy Roman Emperor was used from that time, beginning with [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]].

==Life in Francia==

===Law===
The different Frankish tribes, such as the Salii, [[Ripuarian Franks|Ripuarii]], and Chamavi, had different legal traditions, which were only later codified, largely under Charlemagne. The ''[[Lex Salica|Leges Salica]]'', ''[[Lex Ribuaria|Ribuaria]]'', and ''[[Lex Chamavorum|Chamavorum]]'' were Carolingian creations, their basis in earlier Frankish reality being difficult for scholars to discern at the present distance. Under Charlemagne codifications were also made of [[Lex Saxonum|the Saxon law]] and [[Lex Frisionum|the Frisian law]].

It was also under Frankish hegemony that the other Germanic societies east of the Rhine began to codify their tribal law, in such compilations as the ''[[Lex Alamannorum]]'' and ''[[Lex Baiuvariorum]]'' for the Alemanni and Bavarii respectively. Throughout the Frankish kingdoms there continued to be [[Gallo-Romans]] subject to [[Roman law]] and clergy subject to [[canon law]]. After the Frankish conquest of [[Septimania]] and [[Catalonia]], those regions which had formerly been under Gothic control continued to utilise the [[Lex Visigothorum|Visigothic law code]].

During the early period, Frankish law was preserved by the ''rachimburgs'', officials trained to remember it and pass it on. The Merovingians adopted the ''[[capitulary]]'' as a tool for the promulgation and preservation of royal ordinances. Its usage was to continue under the Carolingians and even the later [[Dukes of Spoleto|Spoletan]] emperors [[Guy III of Spoleto|Guy]] and [[Lambert II of Spoleto|Lambert]] under a programme of ''renovation regni Francorum'' ("renewal of the Frankish kingdom").

The last Merovingian capitulary was one of the most significant: the [[edict of Paris]], issued by Chlothar II in 614 in the presence of his magnates, had been likened to a Frankish [[Magna Carta]] entrenching the rights of the nobility, but in actuality it sought to remove corruption from the judiciary and protect local and regional interests. Even after the last Merovingian capitulary, kings of the dynasty continued to independently exercise some legal powers. Childebert III even found cases against the powerful [[Arnulfings]] and became renowned among the people for his justness. But law in Francia was to experience a [[Carolingian Renaissance|renaissance under the Carolingians]].

Among the legal reforms adopted by Charlemagne were the codifications of traditional law mentioned above. He also sought to place checks on the power of local and regional judiciaries by the method of appointing ''[[missi dominici]]'' in pairs to oversee specific regions for short periods of time. Usually ''missi'' were selected from outside their respective regions in order to prevent conflicts of interest. A capitulary of 802 gives insight into their duties. They were to execute justice, enforce respect for the royal rights, control the administration of the [[count]]s and [[duke]]s (then still royal appointees), receive the oath of allegiance, and supervise the clergy.

===Church===
{{further|Christianity in Merovingian Gaul|Gregory of Tours}}
{{further|Christianity in the 6th century|Christianity in the 7th century|Christianity in the 8th century|Christianity in the 9th century}}
The Frankish Church grew out of the [[Christianity in Gaul|Church in Gaul]] in the Merovingian period, which was given a particularly [[Germanic Christianity|Germanic development]] in a number of [[List of Frankish synods|"Frankish synods"]] throughout the 6th and 7th centuries, and with the [[Carolingian Renaissance]], the Frankish Church became a substantial influence of the medieval [[Western Church]].

In the 7th century, the territory of the Frankish realm was (re-)Christianized with the help of [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Irish and Scottish missionaries]]. The result was the establishment of numerous monasteries, which would become the nucleus of [[Old High German]] literacy in the [[Carolingian Empire]].
[[Columbanus]] was active in Frankish lands from 590, establishing monasteries until his death at [[Bobbio]] in 615. He arrived on the continent with twelve companions and founded Annegray, [[Luxeuil]], and Fontaines in France and [[Bobbio]] in Italy. During the 7th century the disciples of Columbanus and other Scottish and Irish missionaries founded several monasteries or ''Schottenklöster'' in what are now France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland.
The Irish influence in these monasteries is reflected in the adoption of [[Insular art|Insular]] style in book production, visible in 8th-century works such as the [[Gelasian Sacramentary]]. The [[Insular script|Insular]] influence on the [[uncial script]] of the later Merovingian period eventually gave way to the development of the [[Carolingian minuscule]] in the 9th century.

===Society===
{{See also|Slavery in Merovingian Francia}}
Immediately after the fall of Rome and through the Merovingian dynasty, trading towns were re-established in the ruins of ancient cities. These specialised in exchange of goods, craft and agriculture, and were mostly independent of aristocratic control.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Joachim Henning |title=Post-Roman Towns, Trade and Settlement in Europe and Byzantium: The heirs of the Roman West |date=2007 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3110183566 |page=29}}</ref> Carolingian Francia saw royal sponsorship for the construction of monastic cities, built to showcase a revival of the architecture of ancient Rome.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hendrik W. Dey |title=The Afterlife of the Roman City |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107069183 |pages=219–222}}</ref> Administration was conducted by bishops. The old Gallo-Roman aristocrats had survived in prestige and as an institution by taking up the episcopal offices, and they were now put in charge of fields such as justice, infrastructure, education and social services. Kings were legitimized by their links with the religious institutions. Episcopal elections became supervised by the kings, and royal confirmation helped to strengthen the bishops' authority as well.<ref>Kreiner, Jamie. “About the Bishop: The Episcopal Entourage and the Economy of Government in Post-Roman Gaul.”, vol. 86, no. 2, Medieval Academy of America, 2011, pp. 321–60, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41105589.</ref>
There were improvements in agriculture, notably the adoption of a new heavy [[plough]] and the growing use of the [[three-field system]].

===Currency===
[[Byzantine coinage]] was in use in Francia before [[Theudebert I]] began minting his own money at the start of his reign. Theudebert's successor restored the Byzantine Emperor's image on the coinage, and the Byzantine emperors continued to be depicted on some Frankish coins until the reign of [[Heraclius|Emperor Heraclius]], before disappearing in 613.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herman Fischer |title=The belief in the continuity of the Roman Empire among the Franks of the fifth and sixth Centuries |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |date=1925 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=536–553}}</ref> The [[solidus (coin)|solidus]] and [[triens]] were minted in Francia between 534 and 679. The [[denarius]] (or [[French denier|denier]]) appeared later, in the name of [[Childeric II]] and various non-royals around 673–675. A Carolingian denarius replaced the Merovingian one, and the Frisian [[Pfennig|penning]], in Gaul from 755 to the eleventh century.

The denarius subsequently appeared in Italy issued in the name of Carolingian monarchs after 794,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title= Charlemagne and the Carolingian coinages | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/coin/Charlemagne-and-the-Carolingian-coinages |encyclopedia=Britanica |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref> later by so-called "native" kings in the tenth century, and later still by the [[Holy Roman Empire|German Emperors]] from [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] (962). Finally, denarii were issued in Rome in the names of pope and emperor from [[Pope Leo III|Leo III]] and [[Charlemagne]] onwards to the late tenth century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spufford |first=Peter |title=Money and its use in medieval Europe |orig-year=1988 |year=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-30384-2 |pages=398, 400–402 |chapter=Appendix I}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Carolingian Empire]]
* [[List of Frankish kings]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
; Primary sources
{{refbegin}}
*[[Ammianus Marcellinus]]. ''[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_00_eintro.htm Roman History]''. trans. by Roger Pearse. London: Bohn, 1862.
*[[Procopius]]. ''[[s:Author:Procopius|History of the Wars]]''. trans. by H. B. Dewing.
*[[Fredegar]]. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080921232251/http://www.bu.edu/english/levine/grch4+5.htm The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations]''. trans. by [[John Michael Wallace-Hadrill]]. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1960.
*[[Fredegar]]. ''[https://www.proquest.com/docview/303608242 Historia Epitomata]''. Woodruff, Jane Ellen. PhD Dissertation, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1987.
*[[Gregory of Tours]]. [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/gregorytours.html ''Historia Francorum''.]
*[[Gregory of Tours]]. ''The History of the Franks''. trans. by [[Ernest Brehaut]]. 1916. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html Excerpts here]
*[[Gregory of Tours]]. ''The History of the Franks''. 2 vol. trans. [[Ormonde Maddock Dalton|O. M. Dalton]]. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.
*[[Bernard Bachrach|Bachrach, Bernard S.]] (trans.) ''[[Liber Historiae Francorum]]''. 1973.
{{refend}}

;Secondary sources
{{refbegin}}
*[[Bernard Bachrach|Bachrach, Bernard S.]] ''Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1971. {{ISBN|0-8166-0621-8}}
*Collins, Roger. ''Early Medieval Europe 300–1000''. London: MacMillan, 1991.
*Fouracre, Paul. "The Origins of the Nobility in Francia." ''Nobles and Nobility in Medieval Europe: Concepts, Origins, Transformations'', ed. Anne J. Duggan. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-85115-769-6}}.
*Geary, Patrick J. ''Before France and Germany: the Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|0-19-504458-4}}
*[[Edward James (historian)|James, Edward]]. ''The Franks''. (Peoples of Europe series) Basil Blackwell, 1988. {{ISBN|0-631-17936-4}}
*Lewis, Archibald R. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2851704 The Dukes in the Regnum Francorum, A.D. 550–751.]" ''Speculum'', Vol. 51, No 3 (July 1976), pp 381–410.
* {{Cite book|last=McKitterick|first=Rosamond|author-link=Rosamond McKitterick|title=The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians, 751-987|year=1983|location=Harlow|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-49005-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtNnAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=McKitterick|first=Rosamond|author-link=Rosamond McKitterick|title=Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity|year=2008|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-47285-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kxb8kR4hvbQC}}
*Murray, Archibald C. and [[Walter A. Goffart|Goffart, Walter A.]] ''After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History''. 1999.
*Nixon, C. E. V. and Rodgers, Barbara. ''In Praise of Later Roman Emperors''. Berkeley, 1994.
* Laury Sarti, "Perceiving War and the Military in Early Christian Gaul (ca. 400–700 A.D.)" (= Brill's Series on the Early Middle Ages, 22), Leiden/Boston 2013, {{ISBN|978-9004-25618-7}}.
*[[Herbert Schutz|Schutz, Herbert]]. ''The Germanic Realms in Pre-Carolingian Central Europe, 400–750''. American University Studies, Series IX: History, Vol. 196. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
*[[John Michael Wallace-Hadrill|Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.]] ''The Long-Haired Kings''. London: Butler & tanner Ltd, 1962.
*[[John Michael Wallace-Hadrill|Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.]] ''The Barbarian West''. London: Hutchinson, 1970.
* {{Cite book|last=Watts|first=Edward J.|title=The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome: The History of a Dangerous Idea|year=2021|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-007671-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O30_EAAAQBAJ}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140721112701/http://uralistan-intermarum.net/etno/fr_Frankish_Kingdom_Capitals.pdf Table. Capitals of the Frankish Kingdom according to the years, in 509–800.]

{{Early Germanic Kingdoms}}
{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Empires}}
{{Middle Ages}}
{{Middle Ages by region}}
{{History of Europe}}
{{Portal bar|Europe|Middle Ages|Monarchy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Francia| ]]
[[Category:Barbarian kingdoms]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 500s]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 840s]]
[[Category:Former empires]]