Early kings
Ascaric and Merogais, AD 306
Ascaric or Ascarich (asca- "ash tree" and -riks "ruler", Latin: Ascaricus) and Merogais (Latin: Merogaisus) were an early Frankish war leaders, who are the earliest known leaders explicitly called Frankish, although the name of the Franks is earlier.
In 306 Ascaric and Merogais led a Frankish raid across the Rhine into southern Gaul while Constantius Chlorus was campaigning against the Picts in Britannia. The Franks (at the time part of the Bructeri) had made a previous agreement with Rome, since Chlorus' successor, his son Constantine I, sought to punish them as traitors upon his return. The two chieftains were defeated, captured, and executed "for their past crimes", an act which "bound with fear the slippery loyalty of the whole race,". The execution took place Trier, Constantine's capital in Gaul, and the two Franks and their followers were torn apart by animals in the amphitheatre before a large crowd. Their defeat was followed by a punitive expedition against the tribe from which they had conducted the raid.
Ascaric and Merogais, AD 306
Ascaric or Ascarich (asca- "ash tree" and -riks "ruler", Latin: Ascaricus) and Merogais (Latin: Merogaisus) were an early Frankish war leaders, who are the earliest known leaders explicitly called Frankish, although the name of the Franks is earlier.
In 306 Ascaric and Merogais led a Frankish raid across the Rhine into southern Gaul while Constantius Chlorus was campaigning against the Picts in Britannia. The Franks (at the time part of the Bructeri) had made a previous agreement with Rome, since Chlorus' successor, his son Constantine I, sought to punish them as traitors upon his return. The two chieftains were defeated, captured, and executed "for their past crimes", an act which "bound with fear the slippery loyalty of the whole race,". The execution took place Trier, Constantine's capital in Gaul, and the two Franks and their followers were torn apart by animals in the amphitheatre before a large crowd. Their defeat was followed by a punitive expedition against the tribe from which they had conducted the raid.
Present Kings
Mallobaudes, AD 330-383 (Roman ally)
Mallobaudes or Mellobaudes is a 4th-century Frankish king who also hold the Roman title of comes domesticorum. In 354 he was a tribunus armaturarum in the Roman army in Gaul, where he served under Silvanus, who usurped power in 355. Mallobaudes tried unsuccessfully to intervene on his behalf. Appointed comes domesticorum by Gratian, he is second-in-command of the army in Gaul in 378 when he defeat the Alemannic tribes under King Priarius at Battle of Argentovaria. In 380 he kill Macrian, king of the Bucinobantes and Roman ally, who had invaded Frankish territory. During the usurpation of Maximus, Mallobaudes is killed shortly after the assassination of the emperor Gratian.
Mallobaudes, AD 330-383 (Roman ally)
Mallobaudes or Mellobaudes is a 4th-century Frankish king who also hold the Roman title of comes domesticorum. In 354 he was a tribunus armaturarum in the Roman army in Gaul, where he served under Silvanus, who usurped power in 355. Mallobaudes tried unsuccessfully to intervene on his behalf. Appointed comes domesticorum by Gratian, he is second-in-command of the army in Gaul in 378 when he defeat the Alemannic tribes under King Priarius at Battle of Argentovaria. In 380 he kill Macrian, king of the Bucinobantes and Roman ally, who had invaded Frankish territory. During the usurpation of Maximus, Mallobaudes is killed shortly after the assassination of the emperor Gratian.
Genobaud, Marcomer and Sunno, AD 340-391 (Roman enemies)
Genobaud, Marcomer (Marcomeres, Marchomer, Marchomir) and Sunno are leaders (dux) of the Franks. He invade the Roman Empire in the year 388, when the usurper and leader of the whole of Roman Gaul, Magnus Maximus was surrounded in Aquileia by Theodosius I..
They invade the Roman provinces Germania and Belgia. They broke through the limes, kill many people, destroy the most fruitful lands and made the city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, panic. After this raid the main body of the Franks move back over the Rhine with their booty. Some of the Franks remain in the Belgian woods. When the Roman generals Nanninus and Quintinus heard the news in Trier, they attack those remaining Frankish forces and kill many of them. After this engagement Quintinus cross the Rhine to punish the Franks in their own country; however, his army is surrounded and beaten. Some Roman soldiers drown in the marshes, others are killed by Franks, and but few makee it back to their Empire.
Later, after the fall of Magnus Maximus, Marcomer and Sunno held a short meeting about the recent attacks with the Frank Arbogastes, who is a general (magister militum) in the Roman army. The Franks deliver hostages as usual, and Arbogastes return to his winter quarters in Trier.
A couple of years later when Arbogastes has seized power and the West Roman army is nearly completely in the hands of Frankish mercenaries, he cross the Rhine with a Roman army into Germania in 393 CE to take revenge against his own Franks and their kinglets Sunno and Marcomer who had plundered the regions north of the Rhine during the previous year while the West was still under the rule of Valentinian II. In launching this campaign, which is met with little opposition, Arbogast is successful in restoring the fortress city of Cologne, returning to the city its protection as a strategic location, which, at this is the last time the Roman army would occupy the eastern bank of the Rhine River. Marcomer is seen as leader with Chatti and Ampsivarii but the two do not engage. Furthermore, Arbogast is able to conclude a peace treaty with the Franks that provide the Roman military with fresh Frankish recruits, something that is considered a great accomplishment.
Sunno cross the Rhine and tries to settle himself as leader of the band of Marchomir, however he is killed by his own people.
Marcomer tries to unite the Franks after the death of Sunno. He proposes that the Franks should live under one king and proposes his own son Pharamond for the kingship. Pharamond was regarded as the first king of the Franks. Later Marcomer is arrested by Romans and banned to a villa in Tuscany.
Genobaud, Marcomer (Marcomeres, Marchomer, Marchomir) and Sunno are leaders (dux) of the Franks. He invade the Roman Empire in the year 388, when the usurper and leader of the whole of Roman Gaul, Magnus Maximus was surrounded in Aquileia by Theodosius I..
They invade the Roman provinces Germania and Belgia. They broke through the limes, kill many people, destroy the most fruitful lands and made the city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, panic. After this raid the main body of the Franks move back over the Rhine with their booty. Some of the Franks remain in the Belgian woods. When the Roman generals Nanninus and Quintinus heard the news in Trier, they attack those remaining Frankish forces and kill many of them. After this engagement Quintinus cross the Rhine to punish the Franks in their own country; however, his army is surrounded and beaten. Some Roman soldiers drown in the marshes, others are killed by Franks, and but few makee it back to their Empire.
Later, after the fall of Magnus Maximus, Marcomer and Sunno held a short meeting about the recent attacks with the Frank Arbogastes, who is a general (magister militum) in the Roman army. The Franks deliver hostages as usual, and Arbogastes return to his winter quarters in Trier.
A couple of years later when Arbogastes has seized power and the West Roman army is nearly completely in the hands of Frankish mercenaries, he cross the Rhine with a Roman army into Germania in 393 CE to take revenge against his own Franks and their kinglets Sunno and Marcomer who had plundered the regions north of the Rhine during the previous year while the West was still under the rule of Valentinian II. In launching this campaign, which is met with little opposition, Arbogast is successful in restoring the fortress city of Cologne, returning to the city its protection as a strategic location, which, at this is the last time the Roman army would occupy the eastern bank of the Rhine River. Marcomer is seen as leader with Chatti and Ampsivarii but the two do not engage. Furthermore, Arbogast is able to conclude a peace treaty with the Franks that provide the Roman military with fresh Frankish recruits, something that is considered a great accomplishment.
Sunno cross the Rhine and tries to settle himself as leader of the band of Marchomir, however he is killed by his own people.
Marcomer tries to unite the Franks after the death of Sunno. He proposes that the Franks should live under one king and proposes his own son Pharamond for the kingship. Pharamond was regarded as the first king of the Franks. Later Marcomer is arrested by Romans and banned to a villa in Tuscany.
Pharamond, AD 370-427 (Roman enemy)
Pharamundus, Pharamond or Faramund. After the death of Sunno, his brother Marcomer, leader of the Ampsivarii and Chatti, proposes to the Franks that they should have one single king, contrary to their tradition. Pharamond, Marcomer's son, is chosen as this first king (thus beginning the tradition of long-haired kings of the Franks), and then states that when he died, his son Chlodio was raised up as the next king. However, multiple kings will rule simultaneously during his reign and later times. His wife name is Argotta.
Pharamundus, Pharamond or Faramund. After the death of Sunno, his brother Marcomer, leader of the Ampsivarii and Chatti, proposes to the Franks that they should have one single king, contrary to their tradition. Pharamond, Marcomer's son, is chosen as this first king (thus beginning the tradition of long-haired kings of the Franks), and then states that when he died, his son Chlodio was raised up as the next king. However, multiple kings will rule simultaneously during his reign and later times. His wife name is Argotta.
Theodemer, AD 375-422 (Roman ally)
Theodemer (also Theudomer) one of the leaders of the Salian Franks and king of Thérouanne (409–414).He is the son of the Roman commander Richomeres and his wife Ascyla, a cousin of Arbogastes and father of King Chlodio.
A war break out between the Franks and the Romans after the fall of the usurping Emperor Jovinus (411-413) who had been supported by the Franks. Around 422, a Roman army enter Gaul. King Theodemer and his mother Ascyla are executed by the sword.
Theodemer (also Theudomer) one of the leaders of the Salian Franks and king of Thérouanne (409–414).He is the son of the Roman commander Richomeres and his wife Ascyla, a cousin of Arbogastes and father of King Chlodio.
A war break out between the Franks and the Romans after the fall of the usurping Emperor Jovinus (411-413) who had been supported by the Franks. Around 422, a Roman army enter Gaul. King Theodemer and his mother Ascyla are executed by the sword.
Chlodio, AD 395-448
Chlodio also spelled Clodio, Clodius, Clodion, Cloio or Chlogio is a king of the Salian Franks from the Merovingian dynasty. He is known as the Long-Haired King and lived in Thuringian territory, at the castle of Duisburg. He will become chief of the Thérouanne area in 414 AD. From there, he invades the Roman Empire in 428, defeating a Roman force at Cambrai, and settles in Northern Gaul, where other groups of Salians are already settled. Although he is attacked by the Romans, he is able to maintain his position and, 3 years later in 431, he extend his kingdom south to the Somme River in the future Francia. In AD 448, 20 years after his reign began, Chlodio is defeated at Vicus Helena in Artois by Flavius Aëtius, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul.
Like all Merovingian kings, Chlodio has long hair as a ritual custom. His successor will be Merovech, after whom the dynasty was named 'Merovingian'.
Chlodio also spelled Clodio, Clodius, Clodion, Cloio or Chlogio is a king of the Salian Franks from the Merovingian dynasty. He is known as the Long-Haired King and lived in Thuringian territory, at the castle of Duisburg. He will become chief of the Thérouanne area in 414 AD. From there, he invades the Roman Empire in 428, defeating a Roman force at Cambrai, and settles in Northern Gaul, where other groups of Salians are already settled. Although he is attacked by the Romans, he is able to maintain his position and, 3 years later in 431, he extend his kingdom south to the Somme River in the future Francia. In AD 448, 20 years after his reign began, Chlodio is defeated at Vicus Helena in Artois by Flavius Aëtius, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul.
Like all Merovingian kings, Chlodio has long hair as a ritual custom. His successor will be Merovech, after whom the dynasty was named 'Merovingian'.
Merovech, AD 415-457
Merovech (Latin: Meroveus or Merovius) His name is close to Marwig, lit. "famed fight" (cf. māri "famous" + wīg "fight").
He is one of several barbarian warlords and kings that join forces with the Roman general Aetius against the Huns under Attila on the Catalaunian fields in Gaul.
He is the founder of the Merovingian dynasty of the Salian Franks (although Chlodio may in fact be the founder), which later became the dominant Frankish tribe. The first Frankish royal dynasty called themselves Merovingians ("descendants of Meroveus") after him.
A legend about Merovech's conception is that he was the son of the queen, Chlodio's wife; but his father was a sea-god, bistea Neptuni. The Dutch river Merwede is name after Merovech, the area where the Salian Franks once dwelled. Later, this “descending from a fish" legend will actually refer to the concept that the Merovingian line had married into the bloodline of Jesus Christ, since the symbol for early Christians had also been a fish.
Merovech (Latin: Meroveus or Merovius) His name is close to Marwig, lit. "famed fight" (cf. māri "famous" + wīg "fight").
He is one of several barbarian warlords and kings that join forces with the Roman general Aetius against the Huns under Attila on the Catalaunian fields in Gaul.
He is the founder of the Merovingian dynasty of the Salian Franks (although Chlodio may in fact be the founder), which later became the dominant Frankish tribe. The first Frankish royal dynasty called themselves Merovingians ("descendants of Meroveus") after him.
A legend about Merovech's conception is that he was the son of the queen, Chlodio's wife; but his father was a sea-god, bistea Neptuni. The Dutch river Merwede is name after Merovech, the area where the Salian Franks once dwelled. Later, this “descending from a fish" legend will actually refer to the concept that the Merovingian line had married into the bloodline of Jesus Christ, since the symbol for early Christians had also been a fish.
Childeric I, AD 440-482
Childeric I (French: Childéric, Latin: Childericus) is a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks and the father of Clovis I, who would unite the Franks and found the Merovingian dynasty.
Childeric succeedes his father Merovech as king of the Salian Franks in 457. By 457 he is the ruler of the Franks in the territory covering Tournai and the Lys valley. He have power over further territories to the south.
Childeric is exiled at some point, as Frankish become unhappiness with Childeric's private life, as he seduce some prominent leaders wives. He is exiled for eight years in Thuringia with King Basin and his wife, Queen Basina. He return only when a faithful servant advises him that he could safely do so by sending him half of a gold piece that Childeric had split with him before his exile. The book also describes his arrival in Tournai with Basina, who had left her husband to be with him. The Franks recalled Childeric after 8 years of exile. Childeric married Basina of Thuringia, daughter of Basin, and they had the following children: Clovis I (466 – 511), Audofleda, Queen of the Ostrogoths, wife of Theodoric the Great, Lanthilde (468 –), Aboflede (470 –).
Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum. In 463 Childeric fight in conjunction with the Roman General Aegidius, the magister militum of northern Gaul based in Soissons, to defeat the Visigoths, who hope to extend their dominion along the banks of the Loire River. After the death of Aegidius, Childeric assist Comes ("count") Paul of Angers, together with a mixed band of Gallo-Romans and Franks, in defeating the Goths and taking booty. Saxon raiders under the command of Odoacer reach Angers and captured it, but Childeric and Count Paul retook the city in 469. Childeric, having delivered Angers, follow a Saxon warband to the islands on the Atlantic mouth of the Loire, and massacred them there. In the period around 476 to 481, he and Odoacer discuss the possibility of an alliance against the Alamanni who wished to invade Italy.
Childeric died in 482 and was buried in Tournai. His son Clovis succeeded him as king of the Salian Franks. Childeric's tomb contains numerous precious objects, including jewels of gold and garnet cloisonné, gold coins, a gold bull's head, and a ring with the king's name inscribed. Some 300 golden bees or cicadas placed on the king's cloak.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigobert_the_Lame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlodoric_the_Parricide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chararic_(Frankish_king)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnachar
Childeric I (French: Childéric, Latin: Childericus) is a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks and the father of Clovis I, who would unite the Franks and found the Merovingian dynasty.
Childeric succeedes his father Merovech as king of the Salian Franks in 457. By 457 he is the ruler of the Franks in the territory covering Tournai and the Lys valley. He have power over further territories to the south.
Childeric is exiled at some point, as Frankish become unhappiness with Childeric's private life, as he seduce some prominent leaders wives. He is exiled for eight years in Thuringia with King Basin and his wife, Queen Basina. He return only when a faithful servant advises him that he could safely do so by sending him half of a gold piece that Childeric had split with him before his exile. The book also describes his arrival in Tournai with Basina, who had left her husband to be with him. The Franks recalled Childeric after 8 years of exile. Childeric married Basina of Thuringia, daughter of Basin, and they had the following children: Clovis I (466 – 511), Audofleda, Queen of the Ostrogoths, wife of Theodoric the Great, Lanthilde (468 –), Aboflede (470 –).
Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum. In 463 Childeric fight in conjunction with the Roman General Aegidius, the magister militum of northern Gaul based in Soissons, to defeat the Visigoths, who hope to extend their dominion along the banks of the Loire River. After the death of Aegidius, Childeric assist Comes ("count") Paul of Angers, together with a mixed band of Gallo-Romans and Franks, in defeating the Goths and taking booty. Saxon raiders under the command of Odoacer reach Angers and captured it, but Childeric and Count Paul retook the city in 469. Childeric, having delivered Angers, follow a Saxon warband to the islands on the Atlantic mouth of the Loire, and massacred them there. In the period around 476 to 481, he and Odoacer discuss the possibility of an alliance against the Alamanni who wished to invade Italy.
Childeric died in 482 and was buried in Tournai. His son Clovis succeeded him as king of the Salian Franks. Childeric's tomb contains numerous precious objects, including jewels of gold and garnet cloisonné, gold coins, a gold bull's head, and a ring with the king's name inscribed. Some 300 golden bees or cicadas placed on the king's cloak.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigobert_the_Lame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlodoric_the_Parricide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chararic_(Frankish_king)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnachar
Clovis I, AD 466-511
Clovis (Latin: Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: *Hlodowig; c. 466 – c. 511) is the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of royal chieftains to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs. Clovis will be important in the historiography of France as "the first king of what would become France". His name is Germanic, composed of the elements hlod ("fame") and wig ("combat"), and is the origin of the later French given name Louis, borne by 18 kings of France.
Clovis is the son of Childeric I, a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks, and Basina, Queen of Thuringia, and he succees his father in 481, at the age of fifteen. He will conquer the remaining rump state of the Western Roman Empire at the Battle of Soissons (486), and by his death in 511 he had conquered much of the northern and western parts of what had formerly been Roman Gaul.
Clovis is also extremely significant due to his conversion to Catholicism in 496, largely at the behest of his wife, Clotilde, who would later be venerated as a saint for this act. The adoption of Nicene orthodoxy (as opposed to the Arianism of some other Germanic tribes) by Clovis will let to widespread conversion among the Frankish peoples, religious unification across modern-day France and Germany, and Charlemagne's alliance with the pope and the consequent birth of the early Holy Roman Empire.
Under Clovis, the Salian Franks will came to dominate their neighbours, initially aided by the association with Aegidius. Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum. Clovis will turn against the Roman commanders, however, defeating the Gallo-Roman ruler, and son of Aegidus, Syagrius in the Battle of Soissons (486), considered the end of Western Roman rule outside of Italy. Clovis then will have the Frankish king Chararic imprisoned and executed. A few years later, he kills Ragnachar, the Frankish king of Cambrai, along with his brothers. Another victory follow in 491 over a small group of Thuringians to the east. By this time Clovis will have conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of the River Maas, except for the Ripuarian Franks. He secures an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great.
With the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he will narrowly defeat the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496. He made Paris his capital and established an abbey dedicates to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine.
He gained the support of the Armoricans (Alans, Gallo Romans, Britons) in the following years, for they assisted him in defeating the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507, eliminating Visigothic power in Gaul. The battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis' kingdom and resulted in the death of the Visigothic king Alaric II.
Clovis became the first king of all Franks in 508, after he had conquered Cologne, capital of the Ripuarian Franks.
Under Clovis, the first codification of the Salian Frank law took place. The Roman Law was written with the assistance of Gallo-Romans to reflect the Salic legal tradition and Christianity, while containing much from Roman tradition. The Roman Law lists various crimes as well as the fines associated with them.[17]
When Clovis died, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons, Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partition created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons, and inaugurated a tradition that would lead to disunity lasting until the end of the Merovingian dynasty in 751. The disunity continued under the Carolingians until, after a brief unity under Charlemagne, the Franks splintered into distinct spheres of cultural influence that coalesced around Eastern and Western centers of royal power. These later political, linguistic, and cultural entities became the Kingdom of France, the myriad German States, and the semi-autonomous kingdoms of Burgundy and Lotharingia.
Clovis (Latin: Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: *Hlodowig; c. 466 – c. 511) is the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of royal chieftains to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs. Clovis will be important in the historiography of France as "the first king of what would become France". His name is Germanic, composed of the elements hlod ("fame") and wig ("combat"), and is the origin of the later French given name Louis, borne by 18 kings of France.
Clovis is the son of Childeric I, a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks, and Basina, Queen of Thuringia, and he succees his father in 481, at the age of fifteen. He will conquer the remaining rump state of the Western Roman Empire at the Battle of Soissons (486), and by his death in 511 he had conquered much of the northern and western parts of what had formerly been Roman Gaul.
Clovis is also extremely significant due to his conversion to Catholicism in 496, largely at the behest of his wife, Clotilde, who would later be venerated as a saint for this act. The adoption of Nicene orthodoxy (as opposed to the Arianism of some other Germanic tribes) by Clovis will let to widespread conversion among the Frankish peoples, religious unification across modern-day France and Germany, and Charlemagne's alliance with the pope and the consequent birth of the early Holy Roman Empire.
Under Clovis, the Salian Franks will came to dominate their neighbours, initially aided by the association with Aegidius. Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum. Clovis will turn against the Roman commanders, however, defeating the Gallo-Roman ruler, and son of Aegidus, Syagrius in the Battle of Soissons (486), considered the end of Western Roman rule outside of Italy. Clovis then will have the Frankish king Chararic imprisoned and executed. A few years later, he kills Ragnachar, the Frankish king of Cambrai, along with his brothers. Another victory follow in 491 over a small group of Thuringians to the east. By this time Clovis will have conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of the River Maas, except for the Ripuarian Franks. He secures an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great.
With the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he will narrowly defeat the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496. He made Paris his capital and established an abbey dedicates to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine.
He gained the support of the Armoricans (Alans, Gallo Romans, Britons) in the following years, for they assisted him in defeating the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507, eliminating Visigothic power in Gaul. The battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis' kingdom and resulted in the death of the Visigothic king Alaric II.
Clovis became the first king of all Franks in 508, after he had conquered Cologne, capital of the Ripuarian Franks.
Under Clovis, the first codification of the Salian Frank law took place. The Roman Law was written with the assistance of Gallo-Romans to reflect the Salic legal tradition and Christianity, while containing much from Roman tradition. The Roman Law lists various crimes as well as the fines associated with them.[17]
When Clovis died, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons, Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partition created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons, and inaugurated a tradition that would lead to disunity lasting until the end of the Merovingian dynasty in 751. The disunity continued under the Carolingians until, after a brief unity under Charlemagne, the Franks splintered into distinct spheres of cultural influence that coalesced around Eastern and Western centers of royal power. These later political, linguistic, and cultural entities became the Kingdom of France, the myriad German States, and the semi-autonomous kingdoms of Burgundy and Lotharingia.