Frankish Kingdom Timeline

(481 CE - 843 CE)

The Frankish Kingdom was a medieval Germanic state established by the Franks in present-day France and western Germany. Founded under the Merovingian dynasty with King Clovis I, it reached its height under the Carolingians, especially Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor in 800 CE. The kingdom laid the foundations for modern France and Germany before being divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. More Less

Go to: Timeline | Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Origins and Early Franks

Emergence of the term 'Franks'

200

The term 'Franks' emerged in the 3rd century AD as a name for several Germanic tribes, including the Bructeri, Chamavi, and Chattuarii, who had long lived near the Rhine just outside the Roman Empire.

Image source: Franks

Franks cross the Rhine during the Crisis of the Third Century

235 - 284

During the Crisis of the Third Century, while the Roman Empire was weakened by internal turmoil, the Franks were able to cross the Rhine, raiding into Roman Gaul and settling in the Rhine delta.

Image source: Crisis of the Third Century

Tetrarchy emperors reassert authority over the Rhine frontier

293 - 305

In the late 3rd century the Tetrarchy emperors reasserted Roman authority over their Rhine frontier and their hegemony over the Frankish tribes, but they effectively gave up the Rhine delta as an area for normal taxation and governance, with population and agricultural activity decreasing dramatically.

Image source: Tetrarchy

Franks re-enter the Rhine delta in the 4th century

300 - 400

In the 4th century the Franks re-entered the Rhine delta region and continued to make incursions into the Roman Empire.

Chlodio expands Frankish influence to the Somme river

431 - 448

Originally, the core Frankish territories inside the former Western Roman Empire were located close to the Rhine and Meuse rivers in the north, but Frankish chiefs such as Chlodio expanded their influence within Roman territory as far as the Somme river in the 5th century.

Religion and Culture

Frankish synods shape the Church in Gaul

500 - 700

The Frankish Church grew out of the Church in Gaul in the Merovingian period, which was given a particularly Germanic development in a number of 'Frankish synods' throughout the 6th and 7th centuries.

Image source: Francia

Irish and Scottish missionaries re-Christianize the Frankish realm

600 - 700

In the 7th century, the territory of the Frankish realm was (re-)Christianized with the help of Irish and Scottish missionaries.

Image source: Hiberno-Scottish mission

Frankish Catholic missionaries enter Saxon lands

750 - 800

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.

Image source: Saxon Wars

Carolingian denarius replaces the Merovingian coinage

755

A Carolingian denarius replaced the Merovingian one, and the Frisian penning was used in Gaul from 755 to the 11th century.

Image source: Denarius

Popes Hadrian I and Leo III intervene against the Filioque

786 - 816

The popes of the time, Hadrian I and Leo III, intervened against the Filioque interpolation but with no result, and thus the interpolated Creed became common throughout the Frankish realms.

Image source: Filioque

Filioque controversy spreads through the Frankish realms

792 - 810

By the end of the 8th century, under the influence of some earlier Visigothic practices, various Church leaders in Francia developed an erroneous notion that the Filioque clause was an authentic part of the original Nicene Creed, views further expanded by the Libri Carolini.

Denarii issued in Italy in the name of Carolingian monarchs

794

The denarius subsequently appeared in Italy issued in the name of Carolingian monarchs after 794, later by so-called 'native' kings in the tenth century, and later still by the German emperors from Otto I (962).

Insular style appears in Frankish book production

800 - 899

The Irish influence in Frankish monasteries is reflected in the adoption of Insular style in book production, visible in 8th-century works such as the Gelasian Sacramentary.

Image source: Insular art

Insular style appears in Frankish book production

Development of the Carolingian minuscule

800 - 900

The 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.

Image source: Carolingian minuscule

Development of the Carolingian minuscule

Denarii issued in Rome for pope and emperor

800 - 1000

Finally, denarii were issued in Rome in the names of pope and emperor from Leo III and Charlemagne onwards to the late 10th century.

Merovingian Era

Gallo-Romans and Franks begin gradual fusion

550 - 600

As early as the second half of the 6th century, the inhabitants of northern Gaul recognized themselves as Franks, testifying to the accomplishment of the gradual fusion between Gallo-Romans and Franks.

Brunhilda incites war between Austrasia and Neustria

567 - 613

Brunhilda, Galswintha's sister and wife of Sigebert, incited her husband to war, and the conflict between the two queens continued to plague relations until the next century.

Image source: Brunhilda of Austrasia

Birth of a Gallo-Frankish patriotism

600 - 700

The fusion between Gallo-Romans and Franks was completed in the 7th century, marking, in the words of Ferdinand Lot, the birth of a Gallo-Frankish patriotism.

Carolingian Expansion

Pepin of Herstal campaigns across the Frankish state

680 - 714

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—began securing the greatest expansion of the Frankish state.

Image source: Pepin of Herstal

Charles Martel's military campaigns

714 - 741

Charles Martel, son of Pepin of Herstal, continued the nearly continuous campaigns that secured the greatest expansion of the Frankish state under the Carolingian dynasty.

Image source: Charles Martel

Pepin the Short expands the Frankish state

741 - 768

Pepin the Short, grandson of Pepin of Herstal, continued the nearly continuous Carolingian campaigns that secured the greatest expansion of the Frankish state by the early 9th century.

Image source: Pepin the Short

Pepin the Short expands the Frankish state

Charlemagne secures the greatest expansion of the Frankish state

768 - 814

Through the nearly continuous campaigns of Pepin of Herstal, his son Charles Martel, grandson Pepin the Short, and great-grandson Charlemagne, the Carolingian dynasty secured the greatest expansion of the Frankish state by the early 9th century.

Image source: Charlemagne

Charlemagne extorts tribute from the Saxons

772 - 804

Charlemagne'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.

Conversion of neighbours by armed force becomes Frankish practice

772 - 804

These campaigns expanded the practice of non-Roman Christian rulers undertaking the conversion of their neighbours by armed force, resulting in increasing conflict with the Saxons who resisted missionary efforts and parallel military incursions.

Division and Legacy

Treaties and conflicts divide the Frankish kingdom

843 - 925

After various treaties and conflicts in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, West Francia came under control of the Capetian dynasty, while East Francia and Lotharingia came under the control of the Saxon Ottonian dynasty.

Image source: Treaty of Verdun

East Francia becomes the Kingdom of Germany

919

After various treaties and conflicts in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, East Francia and Lotharingia came under the control of the Saxon Ottonian dynasty, becoming the Kingdom of Germany.

Image source: Kingdom of Germany

Germany conquers Burgundy and Italy to form the Holy Roman Empire

962

The Kingdom of Germany would conquer Burgundy and Italy to then form the medieval Holy Roman Empire.

Image source: Holy Roman Empire

Elective tradition persists in the Holy Roman Empire

962 - 1806

While in later France the kingdom became hereditary, the kings of the later Holy Roman Empire proved unable to abolish the elective tradition and continued as elected rulers until the empire's formal end in 1806.

Image source: Holy Roman Emperor

West Francia becomes the Kingdom of France

987

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.

Image source: Kingdom of France

Key Facts

Clovis I united the Frankish tribes around 481-509 CE and converted to Christianity, aligning the Franks with the Catholic Church.
The kingdom was ruled first by the Merovingian dynasty and later by the Carolingian dynasty after Pepin the Short seized power in 751.
Charlemagne expanded the kingdom into a vast empire covering much of Western and Central Europe and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800 CE.
The Battle of Tours in 732 CE, led by Charles Martel, halted the Umayyad advance into Western Europe.
The Treaty of Verdun in 843 CE divided the empire among Charlemagne's grandsons into West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia, precursors to modern France and Germany.

Source

This Frankish Kingdom timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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