Support HistoryMaps

Settings

Dark Mode

Voice Narration

3D Map

MapStyle
HistoryMaps Last Updated: 02/01/2025

© 2025 HM


AI History Chatbot

Ask Herodotus

Play Audio

Instructions: How it Works


Enter your Question / Request and hit enter or click the submit button. You can ask or request in any language. Here are some examples:


  • Quiz me on the American Revolution.
  • Suggest some books on the Ottoman Empire.
  • What were the causes of the Thirty Year's War?
  • Tell me something interesting about the Han Dynasty.
  • Give me the phases of the Hundred Years’ War.
herodotus-image

Do you have a question about History?


ask herodotus

History of France

Frankish Kingdoms

© Charles de Steuben

History of France

Frankish Kingdoms

431 Jan 1 - 987
Aachen, Germany
Frankish Kingdoms
Victory over the Umayyads at the Battle of Tours (732) marked the furthest Muslim advance and enabled Frankish domination of Europe for the next century. © Charles de Steuben

Video

Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. After the Treaty of Verdun in 843, West Francia became the predecessor of France, and East Francia became that of Germany. Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era before its partition in 843.


The core Frankish territories inside the former Western Roman Empire were close to the Rhine and Maas rivers in the north. After a period where small kingdoms interacted with the remaining Gallo-Roman institutions to their south, a single kingdom uniting them was founded by Clovis I who was crowned King of the Franks in 496. His dynasty, the Merovingian dynasty, was eventually replaced by the Carolingian dynasty. Under the nearly continuous campaigns of Pepin of Herstal, Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, Charlemagne, and Louis the Pious—father, son, grandson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson—the greatest expansion of the Frankish empire was secured by the early 9th century, and was by this point dubbed the Carolingian Empire.


During the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties the Frankish realm was one large kingdom polity subdivided into several smaller kingdoms, often effectively independent. The geography and number of subkingdoms varied over time, but a basic split between eastern and western domains persisted. The eastern kingdom was initially called Austrasia, centred on the Rhine and Meuse, and expanding eastwards into central Europe. Following the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Frankish Realm was divided into three separate kingdoms: West Francia, Middle Francia and East Francia. In 870, Middle Francia was partitioned again, with most of its territory being divided among West and East Francia, which would hence form the nuclei of the future Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire respectively, with West Francia (France) eventually retaining the choronym.


The growth of Frankish power, 481–814, showing Francia as it originally was after the crumbling of the Western Roman Empire. © William R. Shepherd

The growth of Frankish power, 481–814, showing Francia as it originally was after the crumbling of the Western Roman Empire. © William R. Shepherd

Page Last Updated: 11/11/2024

Support HistoryMaps

There are several ways to support the HistoryMaps Project.

Shop Now
Donate
Say Thanks