Kingdom of Metz (Theuderic I)

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Was one of the many Frankish Teilreiche (polities emerging from the hereditary divisions of the Frankish Kingdom that repeatedly divided and reunited) of the Merovingian Dynasty. It originated with the division of the Empire at the death of King Clovis I.

Establishment

November 511: Frankish King Clovis died in Paris in 511. According to old Germanic custom, his kingdom was divided equally among his four sons. Theuderic received the Kingdom of Metz.

Chronology

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1. Frankish Partitions

The Frankish Kingdom was partitioned and reuinited several times as the Frankish rulers used to divide their territories equally among their heirs. This lead also to a number of wars and revolts.

1.1.Partition of the Frankish Kingdom (511)

After the death of King Clovis I, the Frankish Kingdom was divided among his four sons.

1.2.Conquest of Burgundy

The Burgundian kingdom was invaded and divided between the Frankish rulers.

January 535: In 532, Childebert and Chlothar seized Autun. They hunted for Godomar III, brother of Sigismund, with the help of his father and ally, the king of the Ostrogoths Theoderic the Great. The death of Athalaric, the grandson and successor of Theodoric the Great, in 534 generated a succession crisis in the Ostrogothic kingdom, the Burgundian ally. Chlothar, Theudebert, and Childebert took the opportunity to invade the Burgundian kingdom, now devoid of Ostrogothic protection. The Burgundian kingdom was overtaken and divided between the three Frankish rulers. Chlothar received Grenoble, Die and many of the neighbouring cities.

1.3.Acquisition of Metz

When the Frankish subking of Metz Theudebal died, the frankish subking Chlothar married his widow to take control of the kingdom.

January 556: Theudebald, Chlothar's great-nephew and the grandson of the late Theuderic, died childless in 555. So Chlothar immediately went to Metz to take possession of the kingdom from his late nephew, but under Salic Law he had to share it with his brother. So he married Vuldetrade, Theudebald's widow and the daughter of the Lombard king Wacho. This ensured the smooth succession to the kingdom of Great Metz, as well as an alliance with the Lombards, established since the reign of Theudebert. But the bishops condemned this incestuous marriage and forced Chlothar to divorce her. They gave her in marriage to the Bavarian Duke Garibald. To compensate for the breakdown of the marriage with Vuldetrade, Chlothar gave Chlothsind, his daughter, to the Lombard prince and future king, Alboin.

2. Origin of the Kingdom of the Saxons

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century the Old Saxons who remained in Germania were loosely associated with the Merovingian kingdom of Franks, but practically remained independent and maintained their old pagan religion.

January 532: After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century the Old Saxons who remained in Germania were loosely associated within a confederation. Hadugato was the first documented duke of the Saxons.

3. Frankish campaign in Béziers

Was a Frankish military expedition to conquer the region of Béziers from the Visigoths.

January 533: In 532, the Kingdom of Metz, ruled by Theuderic I, annexed a small territory and some towns in the area of Béziers. The Franks, led by Theuderic I, had also penetrated Cantabria in that same year.

4. Frankish campaign against the Visigoths in Dio-et-Valquières and Cabrières

Was a Frankish military campaign against the Visigoths.

January 536: Over the years, the Spanish Visigoths had made many incursions into Frankish territories and had taken lands. Clovis had retrieved them and even made further conquests of Gothic territories. Chlothar sent his eldest sons to reclaim lost territories. Although there was some success, for some unknown reason Gunthar, his second eldest, ended his campaign and returned home. Theudebert, the eldest, continued the war and took the strongholds of Dio-et-Valquières and Cabrières. Most of the lost Frankish lands were recovered.

5. Ostrogothic cession of Raethia and Noricum to the Franks

During the Gothic War against the Byzantine Empire, the Ostrogoths ceded Raetia and Noricum to the Frankish Kingdom.

January 537: In 536, during their defensive struggle against Byzantium, the Goths of Italy ceded all the areas they controlled north of the Alps to the Frankish kings, in order to at least gain neutrality from them. So Rätien and Norikum also became Franconian.

6. Gothic Wars

Were a series of conflicts between the Roman Empire and the Goths.

6.1.Gothic War (535-554)

Was a war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes.

6.1.1.First Intervention (Gothic War)

Was the first Eastern Roman campaign in Italy under General Belisarius during the Gothic War (535-554).

September 539: Frankish raid in Liguria.

October 539: After their raid, the Franks left Liguria.

7. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

January 549: Taking advantage of the military weakening of the Ostrogoths in the fight against the Byzantines, Theudebert I brought the rest of Raetia under his control until his death in 548 with the militarily and economically important Graubünden pass roads.

January 552: In surviving records, the Bavarian name was first mentioned historically by the Franks in a list of peoples, prepared in c. 520 AD. The first document that also describes their location (east of the Swabians) is the History of the Goths by the historian Jordanes dating from 551 AD. Probably the Bavarians invaded Austria and southeastern Germany at the time of the Gothic-Byzantine wars.