An imperial castle or Reichsburg was a castle built by order of (or acquired by) the King of the Romans or the Holy Roman Emperor on land that was owned by the crown (Reichsgut) .
108-481: While in the early middle ages, in Francia , as well as in the early Holy Roman Empire , kings and emperors travelled around their realm with their itinerant courts , using their Kaiserpfalzen (imperial palaces) as transit stations and temporary residences, the weakly fortified pfalzen were replaced by imperial castles from the 13th century onwards. However, the stronger fortification of palaces had already begun in
216-581: A "Dark Age" that set Europe back a millennium. In contrast, German and English historians have tended to see Roman–Barbarian interaction as the replacement of a "tired, effete and decadent Mediterranean civilization" with a "more virile, martial, Nordic one". The scholar Guy Halsall has seen the barbarian movement as the result of the fall of the Roman Empire, not its cause. Archaeological discoveries have confirmed that Germanic and Slavic tribes were settled agriculturalists who were probably merely "drawn into
324-602: A "primeval urge" to push into the Mediterranean, the construction of the Great Wall of China causing a "domino effect" of tribes being forced westward, leading to the Huns falling upon the Goths who, in turn, pushed other Germanic tribes before them. In general, French and Italian scholars have tended to view this as a catastrophic event, the destruction of a civilization and the beginning of
432-652: A campaign of conquest in Western Frisia ( Frisia Citerior ) and defeated the Frisian king 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 . In 695 Pepin could even sponsor the foundation of the Archdiocese of Utrecht and the beginning of
540-551: A common identity and ancestry. This was the Romantic ideal that there once had been a single German, Celtic or Slavic people who originated from a common homeland and spoke a common tongue , helping to provide a conceptual framework for political movements of the 18th and 19th centuries such as Pan-Germanism and Pan-Slavism . From the 1960s, a reinterpretation of archaeological and historical evidence prompted scholars, such as Goffart and Todd, to propose new models for explaining
648-538: A particularly large and unexpected crossing of the Rhine was made by a group of Vandals , Alans and Suebi . As central power broke down in the Western Roman Empire, the military became more important but was dominated by men of barbarian origin. There are contradictory opinions as to whether the fall of the Western Roman Empire was a result of an increase in migrations, or if both the breakdown of central power and
756-510: A progressive Romanisation of barbarian society, but also an undeniable barbarisation of the Roman world." For example, the Roman Empire played a vital role in building up barbarian groups along its frontier. Propped up with imperial support and gifts, the armies of allied barbarian chieftains served as buffers against other, hostile, barbarian groups. The disintegration of Roman economic power weakened groups that had come to depend on Roman gifts for
864-433: A result of such an accommodation and were absorbed into Latinhood. In contrast, in the east, Slavic tribes maintained a more "spartan and egalitarian" existence bound to the land "even in times when they took their part in plundering Roman provinces". Their organizational models were not Roman, and their leaders were not normally dependent on Roman gold for success. Thus they arguably had a greater effect on their region than
972-464: A result, kings and emperors continued to travel around the empire well into modern times. The management of the imperial castles, including its surrounding land with its dependants, was entrusted to ministerialis or Burgmannen who were called Reichsministerialen (imperial ministerialis) in this case. Francia The Kingdom of the Franks ( Latin : Regnum Francorum ), also known as
1080-562: 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 , great-grandson Charlemagne , and great-great-grandson Louis the Pious — secured the greatest expansion of the Frankish empire by
1188-466: Is a German word, borrowed from German historiography, that refers to the early migrations of the Germanic peoples. In a broader sense it can mean the mass migration of whole tribes or ethnic groups. Rather than "invasion", German and Slavic scholars speak of "migration" (see German : Völkerwanderung , Czech : Stěhování národů , Swedish : folkvandring and Hungarian : népvándorlás ), aspiring to
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#17328488264271296-464: Is founding making royal judgements against the interests of his supposed masters, the Arnulfings. 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
1404-485: Is now France. His son, Clovis I , succeeded in unifying most of Gaul under his rule in the 6th century by notably conquering Soissons in 486 and 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
1512-629: Is partly documented by Greek and Latin historians but is difficult to verify archaeologically. It puts Germanic peoples in control of most areas of what was then the Western Roman Empire . The Tervingi crossed the Danube into Roman territory in 376, in a migration fleeing the invading Huns . Some time later in Marcianopolis , the escort to their leader Fritigern was killed while meeting with Roman commander Lupicinus . The Tervingi rebelled, and
1620-458: Is securely dated to 507. One year after this battle, Clovis made Paris his capital, and in the Christmas Day of the same year he converted to Catholicism , and some time later he orchestrated the murders of Frankish kings Sigobert and Ragnachar , uniting all Franks under his rule. The sole source for this early period is Gregory of Tours , who wrote around the year 590. His chronology for
1728-469: The Völkerwanderung may illustrate such [a] course of events, but it misleads. Unfolded over long periods of time, the changes of position that took place were necessarily irregular ... (with) periods of emphatic discontinuity. For decades and possibly centuries, the tradition bearers idled, and the tradition itself hibernated. There was ample time for forgetfulness to do its work. Völkerwanderung
1836-619: 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:
1944-473: The 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
2052-624: The Baltic Sea , moving up the Vistula near the Carpathian Mountains . During Tacitus ' era they included lesser-known tribes such as the Tencteri , Cherusci , Hermunduri and Chatti ; however, a period of federation and intermarriage resulted in the familiar groups known as the Alemanni , Franks , Saxons , Frisians and Thuringians . The first wave of invasions, between AD 300 and 500,
2160-566: 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 ;
2268-687: The Brittonic chieftains (whose centres of power retreated westward as a result). The Eastern Roman Empire attempted to maintain control of the Balkan provinces despite a thinly-spread imperial army relying mainly on local militias and an extensive effort to refortify the Danubian limes . The ambitious fortification efforts collapsed, worsening the impoverished conditions of the local populace and resulting in colonization by Slavic warriors and their families. Halsall and Noble have argued that such changes stemmed from
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#17328488264272376-607: 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 symbols. The term "Franks" emerged in
2484-463: 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
2592-757: The Frankish Kingdom , the Frankish Empire (Latin: Imperium Francorum ) or Francia , was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe . It was ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle Ages . Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era. Originally, the core Frankish territories inside
2700-586: The Gothic War on the side of the Gepids and Lombards against the Ostrogoths , receiving the provinces of Raetia , Noricum , and part of Veneto . 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. In 561 Chlothar died and his realm
2808-593: The Hohenstaufen period, as shown by the 3D reconstruction of the castle-like imperial pfalz of Haguenau designed by emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the middle of the 12th century. After the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the royal power temporarily lapsed during the interregnum . One weak king after another was elected, but no one was able to exercise sovereign power. Princes and bishops tried to expand their territories. They oppressed less powerful nobles, fought
2916-506: The Hohenstaufen era . However, kings also liked to stay in free imperial cities loyal to them. In France and England, from the 13th century onwards, stationary royal residences had begun to develop into capital cities that grew rapidly and developed corresponding infrastructure: the Palais de la Cité and the Palace of Westminster became the respective main residences. This was not possible in
3024-705: The Mongols also had significant effects (especially in North Africa , the Iberian Peninsula , Anatolia and Central and Eastern Europe ). Germanic peoples moved out of southern Scandinavia and northern Germany to the adjacent lands between the Elbe and Oder after 1000 BC. The first wave moved westward and southward (pushing the resident Celts west to the Rhine around 200 BC), moving into southern Germany up to
3132-544: The Ostrogoths , led by Theodoric the Great , who settled in Italy. In Gaul , the Franks (a fusion of western Germanic tribes whose leaders had been aligned with Rome since the 3rd century) entered Roman lands gradually during the 5th century, and after consolidating power under Childeric and his son Clovis's decisive victory over Syagrius in 486, established themselves as rulers of northern Roman Gaul. Fending off challenges from
3240-603: The 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 subjects . The 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), arose from within
3348-458: 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,
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3456-474: The fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman kingdoms . The term refers to the important role played by the migration, invasion, and settlement of various tribes, notably the Burgundians , Vandals , Goths , Alemanni , Alans , Huns , early Slavs , Pannonian Avars , Bulgars and Magyars within or into
3564-527: The pfalzen , the heavily fortified imperial castles were built, which - unlike the pfalzen , which were usually located in towns, lowlands, valleys or on river banks - were often hilltop castles like Nuremberg Castle or Trifels Castle . Many imperial castles were built in regions such as Swabia , Franconia , the Palatinate and the Alsace , where there were a high density of imperial estates ( Reichsgüter ) during
3672-595: The 3rd century AD as a term for several Germanic tribes who settled on the northern Rhine frontier of the Roman Empire , including the Bructeri , Ampsivarii , Chamavi , Chattuarii and 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, Emperor Julian defeated
3780-607: The 6th century. They were later followed by the Bavarians and the Franks, who conquered and ruled most of the Italian peninsula. The Bulgars, originally a nomadic group probably from Central Asia , occupied the Pontic steppe north of Caucasus from the 2nd century. Later, pushed by the Khazars , the majority of them migrated west and dominated Byzantine territories along the lower Danube in
3888-635: The 7th century. From that time the demographic picture of the Balkans changed permanently, becoming predominantly Slavic-speaking, while pockets of native people survived in the mountains of the Balkans. Croats settled in modern Croatia and Western Bosnia, bringing with them the Serbs who settled in Rascia, an area around Montenegro - South-West Serbia. By the mid seventh century, Serb tribes were invading northern Albania. By
3996-469: 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 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
4104-567: The Alemanni, Burgundians, and Visigoths, the Frankish kingdom became the nucleus of what would later become France and Germany. The initial Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain occurred during the 5th century, when Roman control of Britain had come to an end. The Burgundians settled in northwestern Italy, Switzerland and Eastern France in the 5th century. Between AD 500 and 700, Slavic tribes settled more areas of central Europe and pushed farther into southern and eastern Europe, gradually making
4212-515: 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
4320-483: 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 . 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
4428-548: 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 as his son and heir. After Dagobert's death in 639, the duke of Thuringia , Radulf , rebelled and tried to make himself king. He defeated Sigebert in what
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4536-783: The Bulgars. During the Khazar–Arab Wars , the Khazars stopped the Arab expansion into Europe across the Caucasus (7th and 8th centuries). At the same time, the so-called Moors (consisting of Arabs and Berbers ) invaded Europe via Gibraltar ( conquering Hispania from the Visigothic Kingdom in 711), before being halted by the Franks at the Battle of Tours in Gaul. These campaigns led to broadly demarcated frontiers between Christendom and Islam for
4644-723: 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. Migration Period The Migration Period (circa 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions , was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw
4752-586: The Chamavi and Salians, allowing the latter to settle further away from the border, in Toxandria . Some of the early Frankish leaders, such as Flavius Bauto and Arbogast , were committed to the cause of the Romans, but other Frankish rulers, such as Mallobaudes , were active on Roman soil for other reasons. After the fall of Arbogastes, his son Arigius succeeded in establishing a hereditary countship at Trier and after
4860-413: 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 . 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 foederatus of the Romans. Childeric is chiefly important to history for bequeathing
4968-423: The Franks to his son 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 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
5076-457: 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
5184-410: The Goths (including the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths ), the Vandals, the Anglo-Saxons , the Lombards, the Suebi, the Frisii , the Jutes , the Burgundians , the Alemanni, the Sciri and the Franks; they were later pushed westward by the Huns, the Avars, the Slavs and the Bulgars. Later invasions, such as the Vikings , the Normans , the Varangians , the Hungarians , the Arabs , the Turks , and
5292-419: The Goths, the Franks or the Saxons had on theirs. Based on the belief that particular types of artifacts, elements of personal adornment generally found in a funerary context, are thought to indicate the ethnicity of the person buried, the "Culture-History" school of archaeology assumed that archaeological cultures represent the Urheimat (homeland) of tribal polities named in historical sources. As
5400-479: The Holy Roman Empire because no real hereditary monarchy emerged, but rather the tradition of elective monarchy prevailed (see: Imperial election ) which, in the High Middle Ages, led to kings of very different regional origins being elected ( List of royal and imperial elections in the Holy Roman Empire ) . However, if they wanted to control the empire and its rebellious regional rulers, they could not limit themselves to their home region and their private palaces. As
5508-609: The Roman Empire in both its western and its eastern portions. In particular, economic fragmentation removed many of the political, cultural and economic forces that had held the empire together. The rural population in Roman provinces became distanced from the metropolis, and there was little to differentiate them from other peasants across the Roman frontier. In addition, Rome increasingly used foreign mercenaries to defend itself. That "barbarisation" parallelled changes within Barbaricum . To this end, noted linguist Dennis Howard Green wrote, "the first centuries of our era witness not merely
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#17328488264275616-445: The Roman West and Byzantium gradually converted the non-Islamic newcomers and integrated them into Christendom. Analysis of barbarian identity and how it was created and expressed during the Barbarian Invasions has elicited discussion among scholars. Herwig Wolfram , a historian of the Goths, in discussing the equation of migratio gentium with Völkerwanderung , observes that Michael Schmidt [ de ] introduced
5724-405: The Roman provinces of Gaul and Cisalpine Gaul by 100 BC, where they were stopped by Gaius Marius and later by Julius Caesar . It is this western group which was described by the Roman historian Tacitus (AD 56–117) and Julius Caesar (100–44 BC). A later wave of Germanic tribes migrated eastward and southward from Scandinavia, between 600 and 300 BC, to the opposite coast of
5832-487: 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 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
5940-417: The Saxons of Bessin , the 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 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
6048-420: 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
6156-420: The Visigoths, a group derived either from the Tervingi or from a fusion of mainly Gothic groups, eventually invaded Italy and sacked Rome in 410 before settling in Gaul. Around 460, they founded the Visigothic Kingdom in Iberia. They were followed into Roman territory first by a confederation of Herulian , Rugian , and Scirian warriors under Odoacer , that deposed Romulus Augustulus in 476, and later by
6264-579: The ancient Germanic practice of electing a war-leader at an assembly of the warriors. 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 fiscal land , which was probably land once part of the Roman fisc, now seized by the Frankish government. 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,
6372-449: 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. When Guntram died in 592, Burgundy went to Childebert in its entirety, but he died in 595. His two sons divided
6480-406: 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
6588-429: The breakdown in Roman political control, which exposed the weakness of local Roman rule. Instead of large-scale migrations, there were military takeovers by small groups of warriors and their families, who usually numbered only in the tens of thousands. The process involved active, conscious decision-making by Roman provincial populations. The collapse of centralized control severely weakened the sense of Roman identity in
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#17328488264276696-404: 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 , and Pepin of Landen , to give the kingdom over to Chlothar in order to remove Brunhilda, the young king's regent, from power. Warnachar
6804-498: The construction of barbarian identity. They maintained that no sense of shared identity was perceived by the Germani ; a similar theory having been proposed for Celtic and Slavic groups. A theory states that the primordialist mode of thinking was encouraged by a prima facie interpretation of Graeco-Roman sources, which grouped together many tribes under such labels as Germanoi , Keltoi or Sclavenoi , thus encouraging their perception as distinct peoples. Modernists argue that
6912-464: 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
7020-493: 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 Judicael to relent, make peace with the Franks, and pay tribute. Meanwhile, Dagobert had Charibert's infant successor Chilperic assassinated and reunited
7128-459: The early 9th century, which was by this point referred to as the Carolingian Empire . 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
7236-407: The eastern half of Europe predominantly Slavic-speaking. Additionally, Turkic tribes such as the Avars and - later - Ugric-speaking Magyars became involved in this second wave. In AD 567, the Avars and the Lombards destroyed much of the Gepid Kingdom . The Lombards, a Germanic people, settled in Italy with their Herulian, Suebian, Gepid, Thuringian, Bulgar, Sarmatian and Saxon allies in
7344-417: 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
7452-535: The equation in his 1778 history of the Germans. Wolfram observed that the significance of gens as a biological community was shifting, even during the early Middle Ages and that "to complicate matters, we have no way of devising a terminology that is not derived from the concept of nationhood created during the French Revolution ". The "primordialistic" paradigm prevailed during the 19th century. Scholars, such as German linguist Johann Gottfried Herder , viewed tribes as coherent biological (racial) entities, using
7560-408: 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
7668-499: The fall of the usurper 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. The 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
7776-413: The former Western Roman Empire were located close to the Rhine and Meuse rivers in the north, but Frankish chiefs such as Chlodio would eventually expand their influence within Roman territory as far as the Somme river in the 5th century. Childeric I , a Salian Frankish king, was one of several military leaders commanding Roman forces of various ethnic affiliations in the northern part of what
7884-446: The idea of "imagined communities"; the barbarian polities in late antiquity were social constructs rather than unchanging lines of blood kinship. The process of forming tribal units was called " ethnogenesis ", a term coined by Soviet scholar Yulian Bromley . The Austrian school (led by Reinhard Wenskus ) popularized this idea, which influenced medievalists such as Herwig Wolfram, Walter Pohl and Patrick J. Geary . It argues that
7992-486: The idea of a dynamic and "wandering Indo-Germanic people". In contrast, the standard terms in French and Italian historiography translate to "barbarian invasions", or even "barbaric invasions" ( French : Invasions barbares , Italian : Invasioni barbariche ). Historians have postulated several explanations for the appearance of "barbarians" on the Roman frontier: climate change, weather and crops, population pressure ,
8100-454: The identity of the newcomers. In Gaul , the collapse of imperial rule resulted in anarchy: the Franks and Alemanni were pulled into the ensuing "power vacuum", resulting in conflict. In Hispania, local aristocrats maintained independent rule for some time, raising their own armies against the Vandals . Meanwhile, the Roman withdrawal from lowland England resulted in conflict between Saxons and
8208-520: The increased importance of non-Romans created additional internal factors. Migrations, and the use of non-Romans in the military, were known in the periods before and after, and the Eastern Roman Empire adapted and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, although it involved the establishment of competing barbarian kingdoms,
8316-411: 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
8424-562: 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, 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
8532-511: 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
8640-503: 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
8748-426: 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
8856-466: The maintenance of their own power. The arrival of the Huns helped prompt many groups to invade the provinces for economic reasons. The nature of the barbarian takeover of former Roman provinces varied from region to region. For example, in Aquitaine , the provincial administration was largely self-reliant. Halsall has argued that local rulers simply "handed over" military rule to the Ostrogoths , acquiring
8964-405: The murder of Galswintha , the wife of Chilperic, allegedly by his mistress (and second wife) Fredegund . Galswintha's sister, the wife of Sigebert, 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
9072-626: The next millennium. The following centuries saw the Muslims successful in conquering most of Sicily from the Christians by 902. The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin from around AD 895 and the subsequent Hungarian invasions of Europe and the Viking expansion from the late 8th century conventionally mark the last large migration movements of the period. Christian missionaries from Ireland,
9180-430: The ninth century, the central Balkans (corresponding to modern Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia) and the area of southern and central Albania became invaded and settled by Bulgars. During the early Byzantine–Arab Wars , Arab armies attempted to invade southeast Europe via Asia Minor during the late 7th and early 8th centuries but were defeated at the siege of Constantinople (717–718) by the joint forces of Byzantium and
9288-505: 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 a battle near Soisson , Charles definitively defeated his rivals and forced them into hiding, eventually accepting
9396-532: The period is widely regarded as the invasion of Europe by the Huns from Asia in about 375 and the ending with the conquest of Italy by the Lombards in 568, but a more loosely set period is from as early as 300 to as late as 800. For example, in the 4th century a very large group of Goths was settled as foederati within the Roman Balkans , and the Franks were settled south of the Rhine in Roman Gaul . In 406
9504-495: The politics of an empire already falling apart for quite a few other causes". Goffart argues that the process of settlement was connected to hospitalitas , the Roman practice of quartering soldiers among the civilian population. The Romans, by granting land and the right to levy taxes to allied (Germanic) armies, hoped to reduce the financial burdens of the empire. The Crisis of the Third Century caused significant changes within
9612-422: The provinces, which may explain why the provinces then underwent dramatic cultural changes even though few barbarians settled in them. Ultimately, the Germanic groups in the Western Roman Empire were accommodated without "dispossessing or overturning indigenous society", and they maintained a structured and hierarchical (but attenuated) form of Roman administration. Ironically, they lost their unique identity as
9720-486: 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
9828-401: The reigns of the early kings is almost certainly fabricated, often contradicting itself and other sources. Clovis' baptism, traditionally dated to 496, is now believed to have taken place in 508. 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,
9936-504: The stimulus for forming tribal polities was perpetuated by a small nucleus of people, known as the Traditionskern ("kernel of tradition"), who were a military or aristocratic elite. This core group formed a standard for larger units, gathering adherents by employing amalgamative metaphors such as kinship and aboriginal commonality and claiming that they perpetuated an ancient, divinely-sanctioned lineage. The common, track-filled map of
10044-644: 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
10152-569: The sword and its duke, Lantfrid , was killed. In 734 Charles fought against Eastern Frisia and finally subdued it. In the 730s the 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
10260-471: The term to refer to discrete ethnic groups. He also believed that the Volk were an organic whole, with a core identity and spirit evident in art, literature and language. These characteristics were seen as intrinsic, unaffected by external influences, even conquest. Language, in particular, was seen as the most important expression of ethnicity. They argued that groups sharing the same (or similar) language possessed
10368-519: The territories of the Roman Empire and Europe as a whole. The period is traditionally taken to have begun in AD ;375 (possibly as early as 300) and ended in 568. Various factors contributed to this phenomenon of migration and invasion, and their role and significance are still widely discussed. Historians differ as to the dates for the beginning and ending of the Migration Period. The beginning of
10476-454: The uniqueness perceived by specific groups was based on common political and economic interests rather than biological or racial distinctions. Indeed, on this basis, some schools of thought in recent scholarship urge that the concept of Germanic peoples be jettisoned altogether. The role of language in constructing and maintaining group identity can be ephemeral since large-scale language shifts occur commonly in history. Modernists propose
10584-496: The urban rulers ( patricians and guilds ), illegally seized imperial fiefdoms, introduced customs duties, new taxes and even royal regalia . Feuds , the law of the fist and robber barons escalated. In this situation, the barely fortified pfalzen no longer offered sufficient security to the German kings. Most were abandoned, repurposed by cities or local princes, disappeared under new development or fell into disrepair. Instead of
10692-628: 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,
10800-678: 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,
10908-496: 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
11016-590: 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
11124-518: 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,
11232-475: 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. 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
11340-400: 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
11448-569: 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. 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
11556-465: 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 young sons murdered in order to take a share of his kingdom, which was, in accordance with custom, divided between
11664-485: Was to some extent managed by the Eastern emperors. The migrants comprised war bands or tribes of 10,000 to 20,000 people. Immigration was common throughout the time of the Roman Empire, but over the course of 100 years, the migrants numbered not more than 750,000 in total, compared to an average 40 million population of the Roman Empire at that time. The first migrations of peoples were made by Germanic tribes such as
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