including headings Merovingians, Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy, Mayors of the palace, Charles Martel, Charles the Great, ...
The Franks are the first of the Germanic peoples to develop a large and stable kingdom in northwest Europe. Clovis, pressing south from the modern region of Belgium, extends his rule in the early 6th century to the Pyren...
The most significant (in the long term) of all the German tribes establish themselves south of the Rhine where it reaches the sea, moving from what is now the Netherlands into Belgium. They are the Franks. By the end of...
The immediate effect of the revolutions which sweep through Europe in 1848 is concession on the part of terrified rulers. Riots in Munich cause the king of Bavaria, Louis I, to abdicate in favour of his son. Unrest in Vi...
The Franks introduce a major improvement, extending the rotation to three fields. One field is now planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye. One field is planted in the spring with oats, barley or vegetables such a...
The Franks make the mistake of camping overnight on a plateau where the wells are dry. By the morning of the battle, in the July heat, they are desperate with thirst. They are destroyed by Saladin's army. The kingdom of...
The Franks acquire stirrups by about 730. They also develop exceptionally heavy horses (the breeds of northwest Europe are the ancestors of the carthorses later used for haulage and ploughing). With stirrups and a powerf...
The Franks provide the dynasty which can be seen as the first royal house of France. From them, in origin one of the Germanic tribes, the word France derives. The dynasty itself is called Merovingian, from Merovech - a l...
Knighthood evolves among the Franks and Germans in the early Middle Ages. Heavy cavalry is now the most important element in warfare, but the provision of a strong horse and full armour is expensive. Men who will make th...
Charlemagne intends, in the tradition of the Franks, to divide his territory equally between his sons. But the two eldest die, in 810 and 811, leaving only Louis - who succeeds as sole emperor in 814. His subsequent name...
A small step in the reconquest of Spain from the Muslims is achieved by Charlemagne and the Franks. Gerona is captured in 785 and Barcelona in 801. The region becomes known as the Marcia Hispánica (Spanish march),...
The choice of Hugh Capet as king in 987 is the moment at which the western half of the empire of the Franks unmistakably becomes France. By a happy accident Hugh and his descendants for twelve generations have sons by wh...
The western half of Charlemagne's Frankish empire, approximating to modern France, introduces in the 12th century a new and influential strand in European literature. The Franks, as a Germanic tribe, enjoy a powerful epi...
These considerations become apparent once there are developed communities on all sides. In the Roman period Switzerland has imperial order to the south and west, but tribal chaos (in varying degrees) to the north. The Fr...
Others might be crushed between the new Carolingian empire to the west and the ancient Byzantine empire in the east. But Venice successfully plays the giants off against each other and thrives. A treaty in 814 between th...
