The sons of Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, conquered the Burgundian and the Alamanni Kingdoms. They acquired Provence, and went on to make the peoples of the Bavarii and Thuringii their clients. The Merovingians were later replaced by the new Carolingian dynasty in the 8th century. By the late 10th century, the Carolingians themselves had been replaced throughout much of their realm by other dynasties.
A timeline of Frankish rulers has been difficult to trace since the realm, according to old Germanic practice, was frequently divided among the sons of a king upon the king's death. However, territories were eventually reunited through marriage, treaty or conquest. There were often multiple Frankish kings who ruled different territories, and divisions of the territories were not very consistent over time.
The idea of a "King of the Franks" (Rex Francorum) gradually disappeared. The title "King of the Franks" is attested in the Kingdom of France until 1190, that of "Queen of the Franks" (for queen consorts) until 1227. That represented a shift in thinking about the monarchy from that of a popular monarchy, the leader of a people, sometimes without a defined territory to rule, to that of a monarchy tied to a specific territory.
Clovis I united all the Frankish petty kingdoms as well as most of Roman Gaul under his rule, conquering the Domain of Soissons of the Roman general Syagrius as well as the VisigothicKingdom of Toulouse (Aquitaine). He took his seat at Paris, which along with Soissons, Reims, Metz, and Orléans became the chief residences. Upon his death, his four sons – and later his grandsons – split the kingdom among them. Every son received a part of the original Frankish territory and also a part of the newly acquired Aquitaine.[1]
Lines of Theuderic I and Sigibert I (Kings at Reims/Metz (Austrasia) and later in Burgundy)
Chlodomer and Guntram (Kings at Orleans and Burgundy)
Childebert I and Charibert I (Kings at Paris)
Lines of Clothar I and Chilperic I (Kings at Soissons)
Illegitimate son of Theuderic II Ruled Burgundy and Austrasia with his great-grandmother Brunhilda as regent.
Kings in Neustria and Burgundy (613–679)
Chlothar II defeated Brunhilda and her great-grandson, Sigibert II, reunifying the kingdom. By that time the realms of Neustria, Burgundy and Austrasia had developed regional identities. In order to appease the local nobility, Austrasia was usually ruled by separate king, often a son or brother of the king ruling in Neustria and Burgundy. A similar arrangement for Aquitaine was short-lived.
Third son of Clovis II Also king in Austrasia after 679
Kings in Austrasia (623–679)
Chlothar II had reunified the kingdom in 613. By that time the realms of Neustria, Burgundy and Austrasia had developed regional identities. In order to appease the local nobility, Clothar made his young son, Dagobert I, king of Austrasia. Austrasia was usually ruled by a separate king, often a son or brother of the king ruling in Neustria and Burgundy, for the following decades.
Theuderic III was recognized as king of all the Franks in 679. From then on, the kingdom of the Franks can be treated as a unit again for all but a very brief period of civil war. This is the period of the roi fainéant, "do-nothing kings" who were increasingly overshadowed by their mayors of the palace.
The Carolingians were initially mayors of the palace under the Merovingian kings, first in Austrasia and later in Neustria and Burgundy. In 687 Pepin of Heristal took the title Duke and Prince of the Franks (dux et princeps Francorum) after his conquest of Neustria in at the Battle of Tertry, which was cited by contemporary chroniclers as the beginning of Pepin's reign. Between 715 and 716, the descendants of Pepin disputed the succession.
Finally, in 747 Pepin the Short became Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia in addition to that of Neustria, making him ruler of the entire Frankish kingdom. He arranged for the deposition of the Merovingian king Childeric III and in March 752,[6][7] Pepin was himself anointed King of the Franks. The office of Mayor was absorbed into the Crown, and this marked the start of the Carolingians as the ruling dynasty. Charlemagne was crowned emperor in the year 800, beginning the line of Holy Roman Emperors that lasted (with some interruptions) until 1806, although the title was held by German monarchs after 962.
Louis the Pious made many divisions of his empire during his lifetime. The final division, pronounced at Worms in 838, made Charles the Bald heir to the west, including Aquitaine, and Lothair heir to the east, including Italy and excluding Bavaria, which was left for Louis the German. However, following the emperor's death in 840, the empire was plunged into a civil war that lasted three years. The Frankish kingdom was then divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Lothair was allowed to keep his imperial title and his kingdom of Italy, and granted the newly created Kingdom of Middle Francia, a corridor of land stretching from Italy to the North Sea, and including the Low Countries, the Rhineland (including Aachen), Burgundy, and Provence. Charles was confirmed in Aquitaine, where Pepin I's son Pepin II was opposing him, and granted West Francia (modern France), the lands west of Lothair's Kingdom. Louis the German was confirmed in Bavaria and granted East Francia (modern Germany), the lands east of Lothair's kingdom.
The following table does not provide a complete listing for some of the various regna of the empire, especially those who were subregna of the Western, Middle, or Eastern kingdom such as Italy, Provence, Neustria, and Aquitaine.
After Lothair's death in 855, his realm was divided between his sons:
Louis II, 855–875, the eldest son, succeeded his father as Emperor and received Italy. For the continuation, see King of Italy.
Lothair II, 855–869, the second son, received the northern half of Middle Francia, which came to be named "Lotharingia" (Lorraine) from his name. For the continuation, see the list of rulers of Lorraine.
Charles II, 855–863, the youngest son, received the southern half of Middle Francia, consisting of Provence and Burgundy. For the continuation, see King of Burgundy.
Louis divided his lands between his three sons, but they all ended up in the hands of the youngest by 882:
Carloman, King of Bavaria 876–880. King of Italy 877
Louis III, called the Younger, King of Saxony, Franconia, and Thuringia 876–882, inherited Bavaria from his brother Carloman in 880
Charles III, called the Fat, King of Swabia, Alemannia and Rhaetia 876–887, inherited Italy from his brother Carloman in 879, and inherited the remainder of East Francia from his brother Louis in 882. Emperor 881
On the deposition of Charles the Fat, East Francia went to his nephew:
^ abcdefghijklmWilliam Deans; Frederick Martin (1882). A History of France: From The Earliest Times to the Present Day. Vol. 1. Edinburgh & London: A. Fullarton & Co. pp. vi–ix, 420, 1792, Table of Sovereigns of France.
^Charles Knight, The English Cyclopaedia: Volume IV, (London : 1867); p. 733 "We have no circumstantial account of this important event, except that Pepin was anointed at Soissons, in March 752, by Boniface, bishop of Mainz, called the Apostle of Germany, before the assembly of the nation."
^Claudio Rendina & Paul McCusker, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, (New York : 2002), p. 145
McConville, Julia (2018). "Clovis III". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press.
Further reading
The history of France as recounted in the "Grandes Chroniques de France", and particularly in the personal copy produced for King Charles V between 1370 and 1380 that is the saga of the three great dynasties, the Merovingians, Carolingians, and the Capetians, that shaped the institutions and the frontiers of the realm. This document was produced and likely commissioned during the Hundred Years' War, a dynastic struggle between the rulers of France and England with rival claims to the French throne. It should therefore be read and considered carefully as a source, due to the inherent bias in the context of its origins.
The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians 500–1000 by Edward James ISBN0-333-27052-5
Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640–720 (Manchester Medieval Sources); Paul Fouracre (Editor), Richard A. Gerberding (Editor) ISBN0-7190-4791-9
Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, eds. W. Kibler and G. Zinn. New York: Garland Publishing, 1995.
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