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Name: Frankish Empire

Type: Polity

Start: 800 AD

End: 888 AD

Nation: frankish empire

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Frankish Empire

This article is about the specific polity Frankish Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

Was the Kingdom of the Franks, a Germanic Tribe. Their Kingdom was founded during the period of fragementation of the Western Roman Empire. The initial core of their Kingdom was located in Northern France and Belgium. The Kingdom of the Franks was partitioned and reunited several times as the Frankish rulers usually divided their territories among their heirs. In the year 800 Charlemagne was crowned in Rome and the Kingdom became an Empire.

Summary

The Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope in 800 AD, uniting much of Western Europe under his rule and ushering in the Carolingian Renaissance of learning and culture.

After the death of Charlemagne in 814 AD, his son Louis the Pious became the first emperor of the Carolingian dynasty. Louis divided his empire among his three sons - Lothair, Louis, and Charles the Bald. This led to conflict and civil war as the brothers fought for control. By 843 AD, the Treaty of Verdun was signed, dividing the empire into three distinct kingdoms - East Francia (modern-day Germany), Middle Francia, and West Francia (modern-day France).

Charles the Bald became king of West Francia, establishing the Frankish kingdom that would eventually evolve into the Kingdom of France. The Carolingian rulers after Charles the Bald struggled to maintain control, as Viking raids, civil war, and the rise of powerful local counts and dukes weakened central authority. In 888 AD, the last Carolingian king, Charles the Fat, was deposed, marking the end of the Carolingian dynasty.

After the Carolingian collapse, the French nobility elected Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, as the new king in 987 AD, establishing the Capetian dynasty that would rule France for over 300 years.

Establishment

December 800: In 797 the throne of the Byzantine Empire was usurped by Irene of Athens. The fact that the Roman throne was occupied by a woman prompted the pope to consider the Roman throne vacant. During the Christmas mass of 25 December 800, in St. Peter's basilica, Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III, a title never used again in the West after the dismissal of Romulus Augustus in 476.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. Incoronation of Charlemagne

The Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans") in Saint Peter's Basilica by Pope Leo III.

2. Reconquista

Were a series military campaigns from the 8th century until 1492 by the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula to reconquer the region from the Islamic rulers that had conquered it during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania.

2.1.Expansion of the Frankish Spanish March

Were a series of military campaigns by the Frankish rulers that led to the creation of a buffer zone between the Iberian Peninsula, controlled by the Umayyad Caliphate, and the Frankish Empire.

January 801: The first records of the county of Empúries (with Perelada) are from 812 but the county was probably under Frankish control before 800.

January 802: After a series of struggles the County of Barcelona (with Ausona) was taken by Frankish forces in 801.

3. Wars of Charlemagne

Military campaigns initiated by the Frankish emperor Charlemagne.

3.1.Frankish war against Venice

Was a war between the Frankish Empire and Venice.

June 810: The Franks attacked the lagoons of Venice both from the sea and from the mainland, quickly conquering the more peripheral centers such as Grado. In particular, they reached as far as Albiola, a very short distance from the capital, Malamocco.

September 810: During the final battle, which took place in the lagoon waters behind Malamocco, the Frankish fleet, awkward in maneuvering among the intricate lagoon weaves of canals and slums, was easy prey for the agile Venetian boats. The invaders were annihilated.

4. 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.

4.1.Partition of the Frankish Empire (Treaty of Verdun)

The Treaty of Verdun, signed in August 843, was the first of the treaties that divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, who was the son of Charlemagne. The treaty, signed in Verdun-sur-Meuse, ended the three-year Carolingian Civil War.

September 843: The Treaty of Verdun, signed in August 843, divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, who was the son of Charlemagne. The treaty, signed in Verdun-sur-Meuse, ended the three-year Carolingian Civil War.

4.2.Unification of the Frankish realm under Charles the Fat

After the death of the Emperor of East Francia, Charles the Fat, who was already Emperor of West Francia, was able to reuinite the whole Frankish Empire. Charles the Fat was the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth and the last to rule a united kingdom of the Franks.

December 884: Carloman II died near Les Andelys, while he was hunting, on 12 December 884. Leaving no direct heirs, the Franks reunited and decided to turn to the Emperor, Charles the Fat, who succeeded Carloman both on the throne of Aquitaine and on that of the West Franks.

4.3.Secession of East Francia

In late 887, Charles the Fat's nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia revolted and assumed the title of King of the East Franks.

November 887: In late 887, emperor Charles the Fat's nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia revolted and assumed the title as King of the East Franks.

4.4.Partition of the Frankish realm after the death of Charles the Fat

After the Death of Charles the fat, Oddo was proclamated King of West francia.

January 888: When Emperor Charles the Fat died in 888, after having been deposed the year before, Rudolf managed to get himself elected king of all Transjurana Burgundy.

January 888: After the Death of Charles the fat Oddo is proclamated King of West francia. .

January 888: In 888 Berengar of Friuli managed to convince a special diet of Counts and Bishops meeting in Pavia, then considered the capital of the Kingdom, to be elected as the successor of Charles the Fat on the Italian throne.

5. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

January 811: The Moors managed to briefly take control of the island of Corsica in 810.

January 812: The Moors were eventually wiped out of Corsica by an expedition led by the Emperor's son Charles.

January 813: The Franks also waged wars with the Byzantine Empire until a peace treaty, known as the Pax Nicephori, was signed in 812. By that treaty the Byzantines retained control of the coastal cities and islands in Dalmatia, while acknowledging Frankish rule over Istria and the Dalmatian hinterland.

January 830: The Franks turned the Avar lands under their control into a frontier march.

January 830: Whatever was left of Avar power was effectively ended when the Bulgars expanded their territory into the central and eastern portions of traditional Avar lands around 829.

January 831: The exact date of the founding of the Moravian state or empire is disputed. Dušan Třeštík assumes that the Moravian state formation process began around 790 and was completed around 831 under the Moravian prince Mojmir I (around 830-846).

January 840: The Principality of Lower Pannonia emerges in history shortly after the creation of Great Moravia north of the Danube in 833: Pribina, until then prince of the Principality of Nitra, was expelled from his country by Mojmír I of Moravia. After various adventures, he received from the Franks the territories located in Lower Pannonia in 839 where he created the Principality.

January 885: During the War of Succession in the eastern Frankish Empire in 884, the region of Lower Pannonia was conquered by Great Moravia, a powerful Slavic state ruled by Prince Svatopluk I. This expansion of Great Moravia significantly increased their territorial influence in the region.

Disestablishment

January 888: When Emperor Charles the Fat died in 888, after having been deposed the year before, Rudolf managed to get himself elected king of all Transjurana Burgundy.

January 888: After the Death of Charles the fat Oddo is proclamated King of West francia. .

January 888: Netherlands Coastline Change.