Germanic Kingdoms
(AD 370-870)
- Germanic Invasions (370-476)
- The Ostrogoths
- -370: the Huns, a Turkish tribe, attacked the Goths; the Ostrogoths ("east Goths") were chased to the Danube River and conquered.
- -451: the Huns, including the ranks of many Ostrogoths, were defeated by Rome and the Visigoths at the Battle of Chalons; with the Huns forced back, the Ostrogoths gained independence and, with Rome's permission, settled in the northwest Balkans.
- -488: Theodoric, the first king of the Ostrogoths, invaded Italy and killed the Herulian ruler Odoacer; he became ruler of Italy and gave a Roman consul nominal authority, allowing the Ostrogoths to live peacefully with the Romans and influencing their culture.
- The Visigoths
- -376: after the Huns attacked, the Visigoths ("west Goths") sought the protection of the Roman emperor Valens, who gave them permission to settle south of the Danube, within the Roman Empire.
- -378: after being mistreated by Roman soldiers, the Visigoths revolted; they were finally victorious at the Battle of Adrianople, where Valens was killed, and his successor, Theodosius I, made peace, incorporating the Visigoths into the Roman army.
- -the Visigoths became farmers and were greatly influenced by Roman culture; Ulfilas, a Gothic bishop, was greatly responsible for the conversion of the Visigoths to Christianity when he translated the Bible into Gothic and introduced them to Arianism.
- -395: Theodosius died and the Visigoths renounced their allegiance to Rome; under their new leader, Alaric I, they invaded Greece, sacked Corinth, Argos, Sparta, and only spared Athens for a heavy ransom.
- -402: Alaric invaded Italy, but was persuaded to join with the Western emperor, Honorius, in a war against the East.
- -408: when Rome abandoned its plan to attack the East, Alaric demanded 4000 pounds of gold; Flavius Stilicho, who had fought and defeated Alaric in both Greece and Italy, saw it in Rome's best interest to comply; angry, Honorius executed Stilicho.
- -410: Alaric captured and sacked Rome, but died soon after and was succeeded by his brother, Ataulf; Ataulf and his successor Wallia led the Visigoths across the Pyrenees into Spain and conquered a great part of Spain and western Gaul.
- -451: the Visigoths allied with Rome and defeated the Huns (and the Ostrogoths) at the Battle of Chalons, where Theodoric I, the successor of Wallia, was killed.
- -466: Euric became king of the Visigoths and declared independence from Rome for his kingdom, which included all but northwest Spain and much of south and western Gaul; Euric created a Roman-Germanic code of laws, and the powerful nobles established the kingship as an elected position.
- Vandals
- -406: the Vandals migrated from the Danube River, south through the Roman Empire's border, and into Gaul.
- -409: the Vandals migrated across the Pyrenees and conquered all of the Iberian Peninsula; in Iberia, they fought the Visigoths for a time, but continued migrating south.
- -429: Gaiseric, the king of the Vandals, led them into North Africa where they defeated the Romans.
- -439: the Vandals conquered Carthage, allowing their navies to rule the western Mediterranean and also to loot Italy.
- -477: the Vandals sacked Rome, but Gaiseric died; without the leadership of Gaiseric, the Vandal kingdom gradually fell apart.
- Franks
- -410: after the Romans withdrew from the Rhine, the Franks began expanding westward and established themselves in the Lowlands and northern Gaul.
- -420: Faramund became the first king of the Franks and established the Merovingian dynasty.
- The Franks (476-870)
- Clovis I
- -486: Clovis I, the king of the Franks, defeated Syagrius, the last Roman governor of Gaul; he gained control of all northern Gaul and much of northwestern Germany.
- -493: Clovis married Clotilda, a Burgundian princess, who converted him to Christianity and later became canonized as St. Clotilda; from then on, all his victories were attributed to the Christian God.
- -496: the Franks conquered the Alemanni, who had migrated to Alsace, creating the Duchy of Alamannia.
- -507: Clovis defeated and killed Alaric II, king of the Visigoths, at the Battle of Vouille and conquered western Gaul; the Franks were then able to push the Visigoths south and confine them to Iberia.
- -511: Clovis died and the kingdom of the Franks divided between his sons: Theodoric I (Austrasia in eastern Gaul) and Childebert I (Neustria in western Gaul).
- -534: the Franks conquered the Burgundians, who had migrated to southeastern Gaul, creating the Duchy of Burgundy.
- Fall of other Germanic Kingdoms
- -534: the remnants of the Vandals' kingdom in North Africa and the western Mediterranean were defeated by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, who conquered North Africa; the Vandals eventually became absorbed into the Byzantine culture.
- -553: Theia, the last Ostrogoth king, was defeated by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, who conquered Italy; the Ostrogoths eventually became absorbed into the Lombard culture which took control of northern Italy in 572.
- -711: Roderic, the last Visigoth king, was defeated by Muslim invaders from North Africa at the Battle of Rio Barbate; the Visigoths were conquered and the Muslims won many converts, leaving only the Visigoth kingdom of Asturias unconquered.
- Rise of the Carolingians
- -613: Lothar II, king of Neustria, united the Frankish kingdoms under his rule.
- -629: Lothar died, the Frankish kingdom divided once again and the power of his successors greatly passed into the hands of the major of the palace.
- -679: Pepin of Herstal, the Austrasian mayor of the palace, united the Frankish kingdoms under his rule and the nominal rule of Theoderic I.
- -732: Charles Martel, the son and successor of Pepin of Herstal, defeated Muslim invaders from Spain at the Battle of Tours.
- -751: Pepin the Short, the son and successor of Charles Martel, was elected king by the Frankish nobles; Pepin had his election approved by the pope, symbolizing the strong ties between the king and the Church.
- -religion was very important to the people of Europe, and in order to win their favor, Pepin sought the favor of the Pope; the Pope, in turn, liked the influence he had and, so, he gave Pepin "The Donation of Constantine," a letter the Roman emperor Constantine gave to the Pope saying that the Papacy is supreme (it was later proved a forgery).
- -754: Pope Stephen II crowned Pepin III, king of the Franks and Protector of the Pope; when the Pope was threatened by the Lombards of northern Italy, Pepin, as Protector of the Pope, conquered their central Italian possession and by the Donation of Pepin, gave them to the Pope as the Papal States.
- Charlemagne
- -768: Charles I and Carloman succeeded their father Pepin III as joint kings.
- -771: Carloman died suddenly and Charles became king of the Franks; he first went to Rome to support the pope and then began various campaigns to expand his kingdom; Europeans were so impressed, he was called Charlemagne (Charles the Great).
- -773: Pope Adrian I asked for Charlemagne's help against a Lombard invasion of the Papal States; Charlemagne defeated Desiderius, the king of the Lombards, and took the title for himself; this won him great influence over the pope.
- -778: Charlemagne attacked the Muslims of northern Spain and conquered Navarre.
- -782: Charlemagne invaded Saxony, in northwestern Germany, organized it as a Frankish province, and established the Christian Church; due to revolts, Charlemagne had to lead several campaigns, deport many Saxons, and impose strict Frankish rule.
- -795: Charlemagne forced the Slavs and Avars, whose tribes formed the eastern borders, to pay him tribute.
- -800: after suppressing a Roman rebellion against Pope Leo III, Adrian's successor, Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day as "emperor of the Romans"; this was a attempt by the Pope to revive the days of the Roman Empire and to win independence from the Byzantine emperor, who still claimed Italy.
- Carolingian Empire
- -Charlemagne based his empire on feudalism, by which kings gave power to nobles in exchange for loyalty; he appointed the titles of count (leader of a district called countys), margrave (leader of a border districts), and bishop (leader of a church dioceses).
- -to watch over his feudal lords, Charlemagne recruited talented officials to carry out his policies and unify the empire; these missi dominici (lord's messengers) checked on nobles and dealt with economic, political, and judicial matters.
- -because Christianity was such a unifying force, Charlemagne encouraged missionaries and also supported the efforts of the Church to organize parishes, each with its own priest; to finance missionaries and parishes, Charlemagne required a tithe, 10 percent of all his subjects' income to the Church.
- -in order to improve commerce, Charlemagne standardized tolls, customs dues, weights, measures, and issued standard coins which bore his image; he constructed roads, bridges, and canals.
- -Charlemagne codified the many laws of the tribes he conquered, revised the existing laws of the Franks, and also added the Church laws.
- -the Carolingian Renaissance occurred as Charlemagne ordered clergymen, like Alcuin of York, to set up schools and libraries; monks made copies of the Bible and of the few ancient texts left; Latin became the standard spoken language and Carolingian minuscule, which added lower-case letters to Latin, became the standard written.
- Decline of the Empire
- -814: Louis I the Pious succeeded Charlemagne and because the empire was based entirely on Charlemagne's own personal ability, rather than important institutions, the size of the empire made it difficult to administer and tribal dissension was frequent.
- -840: Louis died and disagreement on succession led to civil wars between his three sons: Charles II the Bald, Lothair I, and Louis II the German.
- -843: the Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagne's empire between his three warring grandchildren: Charles II received France, Louis II received Germany, and Lothair I acquired the middle portion from the North Sea to Italy as well as the title of emperor.
- -870: the Treaty of Mersen divided the middle kingdom, Lotharingia, between the kingdom of France, which got Burgundy, and Germany, which got Italy and acquiring the title of emperor, became the Holy Roman Empire.
