The Germans

The Barbarian Invasions caused the gradual collapse of the Roman Empire and led to the creation of a series of Barbarian kingdoms. Three centuries after the accession of Clovis as King of the Franks, his dynasty, the Merovingians, was ousted by the Pippinids, with the blessing of the pope.Pippin the Short was created King by Right of God by Pope Stephen II at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris, in exchange for granting a state to the papacy. His son, Charlemagne further extended the...
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The Barbarian Invasions caused the gradual collapse of the Roman Empire and led to the creation of a series of Barbarian kingdoms. Three centuries after the accession of Clovis as King of the Franks, his dynasty, the Merovingians, was ousted by the Pippinids, with the blessing of the pope.Pippin the Short was created King by Right of God by Pope Stephen II at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris, in exchange for granting a state to the papacy. His son, Charlemagne further extended the Frankish kingdom, forcibly imposing the Christian Faith as a means of unification. This and the subjugation of the Lombards in the north of Italy, owed him to be raised to Roman Emperor and crowned by Pope Leo III in Rome. By then though, the Frankish realm, now an Empire, had overgrown itself and become unmanageable.Charlemagne's three grandsons shared the empire under the Treaty of Verdun. Louis received the eastern part, Francia Orientalis. It was soon renamed Regnum Teutonicum, the Teutonic Kingdom, which eventually became the Kingdom of the Germans...As in France and the Iberian Peninsula, the sources regarding the medieval period are both scarce and biased, often even contradictory, which allows for several interpretations. In spite of this, I have tried to present the succession of events in a clear and, as much as possible, entertaining way. The narration sticks to the chronology, making it easier to keep track.Although names and dates are a necessary part of the narration when it comes to History, rather than the detailed succession of events, it is the spirit that should retain your attention, the way things unfold, like in a game of Chess where opponents keep making unexpected moves. History does repeat itself, but never in the exact same way!From Charlemagne's grandsons onward, the King of the Germans was also King of the Lombards and Roman Emperor, and because of the Imperial Dignity, Italy plays a prominent part in this tale. The main reason is the near constant opposition between popes and emperors. Interestingly, Germany and Italy saw their unification around the same time, in the 1860s, 1870s.This journey starts in the northeastern confines of the late Roman Empire. It is the tale of the settling of the Barbarians in the Roman world, invaders and invaded holding on to their specificities until they became national entities, Germany, Italy, France. This is the story...