General Notes

ema p 307 "As for the Franks, the chronicle associates them with Duke Francio, and Francio with Priam and those who fled from Troy, a connection developed in the eighth-century Book of the History of the Franks.  The sixth-century historian Gregory of Tours was far more sober and less inclined to inventiveness.  He reports Sulpicius Alexander's references to the Franks' leaders as "dukes" and "regales" as well as "kings," regretting Sulpicius's failure to give their names.  Gregory notes that reliable sources designated Theudemer and CLODIO as kings of the Franks, and he mentions MaineROVEUS, father of CHILDERIC, who was wais by some to be descended from CLODIO; . . ."[a23551.ged]

Frankish King of Cologne of the Merovingian Family, 420, kinsman of Clovis I,
the Great, King of the Salic Franks.
Start of the Family Tree of Charlemagne.[Direct Linage1.FTW]

Note: Clodio Crinitus, who compelled his subjects to wear long hair and beards in token of liberty from the Romans, died 445 or 447

He was King of Westphalia & the West Franks. He conquered Artois, Cambray, Tournay, and others.
The Franks" article names Clodion's son Merovaeus but from our primary source we prefer Merovech and from the same sources we prefer the spelling Chlodovech for the numerous Clovis individuals in "The Franks". Our spelling preferences are included as primary spellings in this database and so added within brackets in the following manuscript.

1. "The Franks" by Godefroi Kurth, Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler, from "The Catholic Encyclopedia", Volume VI, Copyright  1909 by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition Copyright  1999 by Kevin Knight, Nihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York:

The Franks were a confederation formed in Western Germany of a certain number of ancient barbarian tribes who occupied the right shore of the Rhine from Mainz to the sea. Their name is first mentioned by Roman historians in connection with a battle fought against this people about the year 241. In the third century some of them crossed the Rhine and settled in Belgic Gaul on the banks of the Meuse and the Scheldt, and the Romans had endeavoured to expel them from the territory. Constantius Chlorus and his descendants continued the struggle, and, although Julian the Apostate inflicted a serious defeat on them in 359, he did not succeed in exterminating them, and eventually Rome was satisfied to make them her more or less faithful allies. After their overthrow by Julian the Apostate, the Franks of Belgium, becoming peaceful settlers, appear to have given the empire no further trouble, satisfied with having found shelter and sustenance on Roman soil. They even espoused Rome's cause during the great invasion of 406, but were overpowered by the ruthless hordes who devastated Belgium and overran Gaul and a part of Italy and Spain. Thenceforth the Belgian provinces ceased to be under the control of Rome and passed under the rule of the Franks.

When they first attracted attention in history the Franks were established in the northern part of Belgic Gaul, in the districts where their Germanic dialect is still spoken. Gregory of Tours tells us that their chief town was Dispargum, which is perhaps Tongres and that they were under a family of kings distinguished by their long hair, which they allowed to flow over their shoulders, while the other Frankish warriors had the back of the head shaved. This family was known as the Merovingians, from the name of one of its members, to whom national tradition had ascribed a sea-god as ancestor. Clodion, the first king of this dynasty known to history, began his series of conquests in Northern Gaul about the year 430. He penetrated as far as Artois, but was driven back by Aetius, who seems to have succeeded in keeping him on friendly terms with Rome. In fact, it seems that his son Merovaeus (Merovech) fought with the Romans against Attila on the Mauriac plains. Childeric, son of Merovaeus (Merovech), also served the empire under Count Aegidius and subsequently under Count Paul, whom he assisted in repelling the Saxons from Angers. Childeric died at Tournai, his capital, where his tomb was found in 1653 (Cochet, Le tombeau De Childéric, Paris, 1859). But Childeric did not transmit to his son Clovis (Chlodovech I), who succeeded him in 481, the entire inheritance left by Clodion. The latter seems to have reigned over all the Cis-Rhenish Franks, and the monarchy was divided among his descendants, although the exact time of the division is not known. There were now two Frankish groups: the Ripuarians, who occupied the banks of the Rhine and whose kings resided in Cologne, and the Salians who had established themselves in the Low Countries. The Salians did not form a single kingdom; besides the Kingdom of Tournai there were kingdoms with centres at Cambrai and Tongres. Their sovereigns, both Salian and Ripuarian, belonged to the Merovingian family and seem to have been descended from Clodion.

When Clovis (Chlodovech I) began to reign in 481, he was, like his father, King of Tournai only, but at an early date he began his career of conquest. In 486 he over threw the monarchy that Syagrius, son of Aegidius, had carved out for himself in Northern Gaul, and set up his court at Soissons; in 490 and 491 he took possession of the Salian Kingdoms of Cambrai and Tongres; in 496 he triumphantly repelled an invasion of the Alamanni; in 500 he interposed in the war of the Burgundian kings; in 506 he conquered Aquitaine; and at length he annexed the Ripuarian Kingdom of Cologne. Henceforth Gaul, from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, was subject to Clovis (Chlodovech I), with the exception of the territory in the southeast, i.e. the kingdom of the Burgundians and Provence. Established at Paris, Clovis (Chlodovech I) governed this kingdom by virtue of an agreement concluded with the bishops of Gaul, according to which natives and barbarians were to be on terms of equality, and all cause of friction between the two races was removed when, in 496, the king was converted to Catholicism. The Frankish kingdom thereupon took its place in history under more promising conditions than were to be found in any other state founded upon the ruins of the Roman Empire. All free men bore the title of Frank, had the same political status, and were eligible to the same offices. Besides, each individual observed the law of the people among whom he belonged; the Gallo-Roman lived according to the code, the barbarian according to the Salian or Ripuarian law; in other words, the law was personal, not territorial. If there were any privileges they belonged to the Gallo-Romans, who, in the beginning were the only ones on whom the episcopal dignity was conferred. The king governed the provinces through his counts, and had a considerable voice in the selection of the clergy. The drawing up of the Salian Law (Lex Salica), which seems to date from the early part of the reign of Clovis (Chlodovech I), and the Council of Orléans, convoked by him and held in the last year of his reign, prove that the legislative activity of this king was not eclipsed by his military energy. Although founder of a kingdom destined to such a brilliant future, Clovis (Chlodovech I) did not know how to shield it against a custom in vogue among the barbarians, i.e. the division of power among the sons of the king. This custom originated in the pagan idea that all kings were intended to reign because they were descended from the gods. Divine blood flowed in the veins of all the king's sons, each of whom, therefore, being a king by birth, must have his share of the kingdom. This view, incompatible with the formation of a powerful, durable monarchy, had been vigorously rejected by Genseric the Vandal, who, to secure the indivisibility of his kingdom, had established in his family a certain order of succession. Either because he died suddenly or for some other reason, Clovis (Chlodovech I) took no measures to abolish this custom, which continued among the Franks until the middle of the ninth century and, more than once, endangered their nationality.

After the death of Clovis (Chlodovech I), therefore, his four sons divided his kingdom, each reigning from a different centre: Thierry (Theuderic I) at Metz, Clodomir (Chlodomer) at Orléans, Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire (Chlotar) at Soissons. They continued the career of conquest inaugurated by their father, and, in spite of the frequent discords that divided them, augmented the estates he had left them. The principal events of their reign were:

The destruction of the Kingdom of Thuringia by Thierry (Theuderic I) in 531, which extended Frankish power into the heart of what is now Germany;

the conquest of the Kingdom of the Burgundians by Childebert and Clotaire (Chlotar I) in 532, after their brother Clodomir (Chlodomer) had perished in a previous attempt to overthrow it in 524;

the cession of Provence to the Franks by the Ostrogoths in 536, on condition that the former would assist them in the war just declared against them by Emperor Justinian. But instead of helping the Ostrogoths, the Franks under Theudebert, son of Thierry (Theuderic I), taking shameful advantage of this oppressed people, cruelly pillaged Italy until the bands under the command of Leuthar and Butilin were exterminated by Narses in 553.

The death of Theudebert, in 548, was soon followed by that of his son Theobald (Theudebald), in 555, and by the death of Childebert in 558, Clotaire (Chlotar I), the last of the four brothers, becoming sole heir to the estate of his father, Clovis (Chlodovech I). Clotaire (Chlotar I) reduced the Saxons and Bavarians to a state of vassalage, and died in 561 leaving four sons; once more the monarchy was divided, being partitioned in about the same way as on the death of Clovis (Chlodovech I) in 511: Gontran (Guntramm) reigned at Orléans, Charibert at Paris, Sigebert at Reims, and Chilperic at Soissons. Charibert's death in 567 and the division of his estate occasioned quarrels between Chilperic and Sigebert, already at odds on account of their wives. Unlike his brothers, who had been satisfied to marry serving-women, Sigebert had won the hand of the beautiful Brunehilde, daughter of Athanagild, King of the Visigoths. Chilperic had followed Sigebert's example by marrying Galeswintha, Brunehilde's sister, but at the instigation of his mistress, Fredegonda (Fredegund), he soon had Galeswintha assassinated and placed Fredegonda upon the throne. Brunehilde's determination to avenge the death of her sister involved in bitter strife not only between the two women but their husbands. In 575 Sigebert, who was repeatedly provoked by Chilperic, took the field, resolved to bring the quarrel to a conclusion. Chilperic, already banished from his kingdom, had taken refuge behind the walls of Tournai, whence he had no hope of escape, when, just as Sigebert's soldiers were about to raise him to the throne, he was felled by assassins sent by Fredegonda (Fredegund). Immediately the aspect of affairs changed: Brunehilde, humiliated and taken prisoner, escaped only with the greatest difficulty and after the most thrilling adventures, while Fredegonda (Fredegund) and Chilperic exulted in their triumph. The rivalry between the two kingdoms, henceforth known respectively as Austrasia (Kingdom of the East) and Neustria (Kingdom of the West), only grew fiercer. Gontran's (Guntramm) kingdom continued to be called Burgundy. First the nobles of Austrasia and then Brunehilde who had become regent, led the campaign against Chilperic, who perished in 584 at the hand of an assassin. The murderer could not be ascertained. During this period of intestine strife, Gontran (Guntramm) was vainly endeavouring to wrest Septimania from the Visigoths, as well as defend himself against the pretender Gondowald, the natural son of Clotaire (Chlotar I), who, aided by the nobles, tried to seize part of the kingdom, but fell in the attempt. When Gontran (Guntramm) died in 592, his inheritance passed to Childebert, son of Sigebert and Brunehilde, and after this king's death in 595 his states were divided between his two sons, Theudebert II taking Austrasia and Thierry II (Theuderic II) Burgundy. In 600 and 604 the two brothers united their forces against Clotaire, (Chlothar II) son of Chilperic and Fredegonda (Fredegund), and reduced him to the condition of a petty king. Soon, however, jealousy sprang up between the two brothers, they waged war on each other, and Theudebert, twice defeated, was killed. The victorious Thierry (Theuderic II) was about to inflict a like fate on Clotaire (Chlothar II) but died in 613, being still young and undoubtedly the victim of the excesses that had shortened the careers of most of the Merovingian princes. Brunehilde, who, throughout the reigns of her son and grandsons, had been very influential, now assumed the guardianship of her great-grandson, Sigebert II, and the government of the two kingdoms. But the earlier struggle between monarchical absolutism and the independence of the Frankish nobility now broke out with tragic violence. It had long been latent, but the sight of a woman exercising absolute power caused it to break forth with boundless fury. The Austrasian nobles, eager to avenge the sad fate of Thierry (Theuderic II), joined with Clotaire (Chlothar II), King of Neustria, who took possession of the Kingdoms of Burgundy and Austrasia. The children of Thierry (Theuderic II) were slain. Brunehilde, who fell into the hands of the victor, was tied to the tail of a wild horse and perished (613). She had erred in imposing a despotic government on a people who chafed under government of any kind. Her punishment was a frightful death and the cruel calumnies with which her conquerors blackened her memory.

The nobles had triumphed. They dictated to Clotaire (Chlothar II) the terms of victory and he accepted them in the celebrated edict of 614, at least a partial capitulation of Frankish royalty to the nobility. The king promised to withdraw his counts from the provinces under his rule, i.e. he was virtually to abandon these parts to the nobles, who were also to have a voice in the selection of the prime minister or "mayor of the palace", as he was then called. He likewise promised to abolish the new taxes and to respect the immunity of the clergy, and not to interfere in the elections of bishops. He had also to continue Austrasia and Neustria as separate governments. Thus ended the conflict between the Frankish aristocracy and the monarchical power; with its close began a new period in the history of the Merovingian monarchy. As time went on royalty had to reckon more and more with the aristocracy. The Merovingian dynasty, traditionally accustomed to absolutism, and incapable of altering its point of view, was gradually deprived of all exercise of authority. In the shadow of the throne the new power continued to grow rapidly, become the successful rival of the royal house, and finally supplanted it. The great power of the aristocracy was vested in the mayor of the palace (major domus), originally the chief of the royal household. During the minority of the Frankish kings he acquired steadily greater importance until he came to share the royal prerogative, and eventually reached the exalted position of prime minister to the sovereign. The indifference of the latter, usually more absorbed in his pleasures than in public affairs, favoured the encroachments of the "mayor of the palace", and this office finally became the hereditary right of one family, which was destined to replace the Merovingians and become the national dynasty of the Franks. Such then were the transformations which occurred in the political life of the Franks after the downfall of Brunehilde and during the reign of Clotaire II (Chlothar II) (614-29). While this king governed Neustria he was obliged, as has been said, to give Austrasia a separate government, his son Dagobert becoming its king, with Arnulf of Metz (Arnold, Saint Arnulf) as councillor and Pepin of Landen as mayor of the palace (623). These two men were the ancestors of the Carolingian family. Arnulf (Arnold, Saint Arnulf) was Bishop of Metz, though resident at court, but in 627 he resigned his episcopal see and retired into monastic solitude at Remiremont, where he died in the odour of sanctity. Pepin, incorrectly called of Landen (since it was only in the twelfth century that the chroniclers of Brabant began to associate him with that locality), was a great lord from Eastern Belgium. With Arnulf (Staint Arnold) he had been at the head of the Austrasian opposition to Brunehilde.

On the death of Clotaire II (Chlotar II), Dagobert I, his only heir, reestablished the unity of the Frankish monarchy and took up his residence in Paris, as Clovis (Chlodovech I) had done in the past. He too was soon forced to give Austrasia a separate government, which he confided to his son Sigebert III (from Ragnetrud), with Cunibert of Cologne as his Councillor and Adalgisil (Anchises or Ansegisel), son of Arnulf of Metz (Arnold, Saint Arnulf) and son-in-law of Pepin (Pepin Martel, Martel of Heristal, from Pepin I's daughter Doda), as mayor of the palace. Pepin Pepin Martel), who had lost royal favour, was temporarily deprived of any voice in the government. The reign of Dagobert I was one of such great pomp and outward show, that contemporaries compared it to that of Solomon; however, it marked a decline in the military prowess of the Franks. They subdued, it is true, the small nations of the Bretons and Basques, but were themselves beaten by the Frankish merchant Samo, who had created a Slavonic kingdom on their eastern confines. Dagobert relieved the situation only by exterminating the Bulgars who had taken refuge in Bavaria. Like most of his race, Dagobert was subject to the females of his family. He died young and was buried in the celebrated Abbey of Saint-Denis which he had founded and which subsequently became the burial-place of the kings of France. After his death Austrasia and Neustria (the latter united with Burgundy) had the same destiny under their respective kings and mayors of the palace. In Neustria the young king, Clovis (Chlodovech II, son of Dagobert I and Nantechild), reigned under the guardianship of his mother, Nanthilde (Nantechild), with Aega, and later Erkinoald, as mayor of the palace. Sigebert III (son of Dagobert I and Ragnetrud) reigned in Austrasia with Pepin of Landen (Pepin I), who had returned and was installed as mayor of the palace after the death of Dagobert. The history of Austrasia is better known to us as far as 657 because, at that time, it had a chronicler. On the death of Pepin of Landen (Pepin I) in 639, Otto, mayor of the palace, took the reins of power, but was overthrown and replaced by Grimoald, son of Pepin. Grimoald went even further; when, in 656, Sigebert III died, he conceived the bold plan of seizing the crown for the benefit of his family: He banished young Dagobert II, son of Sigebert, to an Irish monastery. Not daring to ascend the throne himself, he followed the example of Odoacer and gave it to his son Childebert. But this attempt, as bold as it was premature, caused his downfall. He was delivered up to Clovis (Chlodovech II) by the Austrasian nobles and, so far as can be ascertained, seems to have perished in prison. Clovis (Chlodovech II) remained sole master of the entire Frankish monarchy, but died the following year, 657.

Clotaire III (Chlothar III) (657-70), son of Clovis (Chlodovech II), succeeded his father as head of the entire monarchy under the guardianship of his mother, Bathilde (Bathildis), with Erkinoald as mayor of the palace. But like Clotaire II (Chlothar II), in 614, Clovis (Chlodovech II) was constrained in 660 to grant Austrasia a separate rule, and appointed his brother Childeric II its king, with Wulfoald as mayor of the palace. Austrasia was now overshadowed by Neustria owing to the strong personality of Ebroin, Erkinoald's successor as mayor of the palace. Like Brunehilde, Ebroin sought to establish a strong government and, like her, drew upon himself the passionate opposition of the aristocracy. The latter, under the leadership of St. Léger (Leodegarius), Bishop of Autun, succeeded in overthrowing Ebroin. He and King Thierry III (Theuderic III) who, in 670, had succeeded his brother Clotaire III (Chlothar III), were consigned to a convent, Childeric II, King of Austrasia, being, summoned to replace him. Once again monarchical unity was re-established, but it was not destined to last long. Wulfoald, mayor of Austrasia, was banished, also St. Léger. Childeric II was assassinated and for a short time general anarchy reigned. However, Wulfoald, who managed to return, proclaimed King of Austrasia young Dagobert II, who had come back from exile in Ireland, while St. Léger, reinstated in Neustria, upheld King Thierry III (Theuderic III). But Ebroin, who meanwhile had been forgotten, escaped from prison. He invaded Neustria, defeated the mayor Leudesius, Erkinoald's son, who, with the approval of St. Léger was governing this kingdom, reassumed the power, and maltreated the Bishop of Autun, whom he caused to be slain by hired assassins (678). He afterwards attacked Austrasia, banished Wulfoald, and had King Thierry III (Theuderic III) acknowledged. The opposition shown Ebroin by the Austrasian nobles under the leadership of Pepin II (Pepin Martle) and Martin was broken at Laffaux (Latofao), where Martin perished, and Pepin disappeared for a while. Ebroin was then for some years real sovereign of the Frankish monarchy and exercised a degree of power that none save Clovis I (Chlodovech I) and Clotaire I (Chlothar I) had possessed. There are few characters of whom it is as difficult to form a just estimate as of this powerful political genius who, without any legal authority, and solely by dint of his indomitable will, acquired supreme control of the Frankish monarchy and warded off for a time the reforms of the aristocracy. The friendship professed for Ebroin by Saint Ouen, the great Bishop of Rouen, seems to indicate that he was better than his reputation, which, like that of Brunehilde, was intentionally blackened by chroniclers who sympathized with the Frankish nobles.

Ebroin's disappearance afforded full scope to the power of the family which was now called on to give a new dynasty to the Franks. Forced to remain in obscurity for over twenty years. consequence of Grimoald's crime and downfall, this family finally reappeared at the head of Austrasia under Pepin II (Pepin Martel), inappropriately called Pepin of Heristal. There flowed in the veins of Pepin II (Pepin Martel), son of Adalgisil (Anchises or Ansegisel) and of St. Begga (Doda) daughter of Pepin I, the blood of the two illustrious men who, by the overthrow of Brunehilde, had established a moderate monarchy in Austrasia. Despite the defeat inflicted on him by Ebroin, Pepin remained the leader and the hope of the Austrasians, and, after the death of his adversary, vigorously resumed the kingdom which was then disturbed by the rivalry between Waratton, mayor of the palace, and his son Gislemar. From 681 to 686 the functions of mayor of the palace were alternately discharged by Waratton and Gislemar, again by Waratton, and finally, at his death, by his son-in-law Berthar. Pepin, who seems to have had amicable relations with Waratton, would not acknowledge Berthar, whom he overthrew in the battle of Testri near Soissons (687); in this way Austrasia avenged the above-mentioned defeat at Laffaux. The death of Berthar, assassinated in 688, removed the last obstacle to the authority of Pepin II (Pepin Martel) in Neustria, who was thenceforth simultaneously mayor of the palace for all three kingdoms. So vast was his power that from that date history merely mentions the names of the Merovingian kings whom he kept on the throne: Thierry III (Theuderic III) (d. 691), Clovis III (Chlodovech III) (d. 695), Childebert III (d. 711), and Dagobert III (d. 715). Indeed, it is only for a traditional fiction of history that Pepin II (Pepin Martel) is not put down as the first sovereign of the Carolingian dynasty. The direction of the destinies of the Frankish monarchy now passed from the hands of the Salian into those of the Ripuarian Franks. These constituted the Germanic element of the nation which took the place of the Roman party in the government. Their policy was better adapted to the spirit of the times inasmuch as it abolished the traditional absolutism of the Merovingians. Finally the Carolingians had the merit and the satisfaction (for it was both) of re- establishing unity in the Frankish monarchy which had been so frequently divided; from 687 to 843, that is, for over a century and a half, all the Franks were united under the same government. But Pepin II (Pepin Martel) did not confine himself to restoring Frankish unity; he extended the frontiers of the monarchy by subduing the Frisians, his neighbours on the north. These restless barbarians, who occupied a large portion of the present Kingdom of the Netherlands, were fanatical pagans; Ratbod, their duke, was a bitter enemy of Christianity. Pepin forced him to surrender Western Frisia, which nearly corresponded to the present provinces of South and North Holland, and obliged him to keep the peace for the rest of his life.

Pepin could now consider the Kingdom of the Franks as an hereditary patrimony, and he conferred the mayoralty of Neustria on his son Grimoald. At his death in 714, which was subsequent to that of his two sons Grimoald and Drogon, he bequeathed the entire monarchy, as a family heritage, to his grandson Theodoald, Grimoald's son, still a minor. This act was a political blunder suggested to the clear- minded Pepin on his death-bed by his wife Plectrude. Pepin had a son Charles by a mistress named AlpaïDe (Elphide), who at his father's death was twenty-six years of age and quite capable, as events showed, of vigorously defending the paternal inheritance. It cannot be said that the stigma of illegitimacy caused him to be put aside, for Thedoald was also a natural son, but the blood of the ambitious Plectrude coursed through the latter's veins, and she reigned in his name. The people, however, would not now submit to the regency of a woman any more than in the time of Brunehilde. There was a universal uprising among the Neustrians, Aquitainians, and Frisians. Elsewhere may be found an account of these struggles. (See CHARLES MassachusettsRTEL.) Here it suffices to say that Plectrude was soon cast aside and Charles Martel, whom she had thrown into prison, escaped and placed himself at the head of the national Austrasian party. Defeated at first, but soon victorious over all his enemies, Charles reduced nearly all the rebellious tribes to obedience, not only those just named, but also the Bavarians and Alamanni. His greatest service to civilization was the glorious victory over the Arabs between Tours and Poitiers (732), which earned him the name of Martel, the hammer. This conquest saved Christianity and preserved Europe from the power of the Mussulmans. It was not, however, Charles's last encounter with the Arabs; he banished them from Provence and in 739 defeated them again on the banks of the Berre near Narbonne. This sovereign, whose exclusively military career consisted in restoring, by dint of force, an empire that was crumbling away, could not escape the accusation of having abetted violence in others and resorted to it himself. He has especially been charged with secularizing many ecclesiastical estates, which he took from churches and abbeys and gave in fief to his warriors as a recompense for their services. This land actually remained the property of the ecclesiastical establishments in questions but its hereditary usufruct was assured to the new occupants. This expedient enabled Charles Martel to collect an army and secure faithful followers. Another no less censurable practice was that of conferring the highest ecclesiastical dignities whose only right was that they were loyal soldiers of Charles Martel. However, it must be remembered that those measures enabled him to muster the forces with which he saved Christian civilization at Tours. He also aided efficaciously St. Boniface in his project of spreading the Christian Faith throughout Germany. Such were the popularity and prestige of Charles that when, in 737, King Thierry IV (Theuderic IV) died, he saw no necessity of providing a successor for him, and reigned alone. He died at Quierzy-sur-Oise 21 October, 741, after having divided the provinces between his two sons: Carloman received Austrasia with its Germanic dependencies, and Pepin, Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, while Grifon, a natural son, was excluded from the succession as Charles himself had bee