Francia

The Kingdom of the Franks (Latin: Regnum Francorum), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, the Frankish Empire (Latin: Imperium Francorum) or Francia, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle Ages. Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era.

Quick facts: Kingdom of the FranksRegnum Francorum (L... ▼

Kingdom of the Franks Regnum Francorum (Latin) Francia (Latin)
481–843
Expansion of the Frankish kingdom 481–870
Capital	Tournai (481-508) Paris (508–768) Aachen (771–843) 47°14′24″N 6°1′12″E
Common languages	Frankish, Latin, Vulgar Latin, Old French
Religion	Originally Frankish paganism; most of the Frankish elite shifted to Catholic Christianity by 751 AD[1] (among Gallo-Roman (people); however Christianity had largely supplanted paganism at the beginning of the 9th century).
Demonym(s)	Frankish, Frank
Government	Monarchy
King of the Franks
• 481–511	Clovis I
• 558-561	Clothar I
• 613–629	Chlothar II
• 629–639	Dagobert I
• 751–768	Pepin the Short
• 768–814	Charlemagne
• 814–840	Louis the Pious
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	481
• Clovis I crowned first King of the Franks	496
• Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor	25 December 800
• Treaty of Verdun	843
Area
814 est.[2]	1,200,000 km2 (460,000 sq mi)
Currency	Denier
Preceded by Succeeded by Western Roman Empire Frisian Kingdom Germania Kingdom of the Burgundians Kingdom of the Visigoths Alamannia West Francia Middle Francia East Francia

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History of France
Ancient Prehistory   Greek colonies 600 BC – 49 BC Celtic Gaul   until 50 BC Roman Gaul 50 BC – 486 AD
Middle Ages Francia and the Franks   Merovingians 481–751 Carolingians 751–987 Direct Capetians 987–1328 Valois 1328–1498
Early modern Ancien Régime Valois-Orléans kings 1498–1515 Valois-Angoulême kings 1515–1589 Bourbon kings 1589–1792
Long 19th century French Revolution 1789–1799 Kingdom of France 1791–1792 First Republic 1792–1804 First Empire 1804–1814 Restoration 1814–1830 July Monarchy 1830–1848 Second Republic 1848–1852 Second Empire 1852–1870 Third Republic 1870–1940     Belle Époque 1871–1914
20th century Third Republic 1870–1940     Interwar period 1919–1939         Années folles 1920–1929 Free France Vichy France 1940–1944 Provisional Republic 1944–1946 Fourth Republic 1946–1958 Fifth Republic 1958–present
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The original core Frankish territories inside the former Western Roman Empire were close to the Rhine and Meuse rivers in the north, but Franks such as Chlodio and Childeric I expanded Frankish rule into what is now northern France. A single kingdom uniting all Franks was founded by Clovis I, the son of Childeric, who was crowned King of the Franks in 496. He founded the Merovingian dynasty, which was eventually replaced by the Carolingian dynasty. Under the nearly continuous campaigns of Pepin of Herstal, Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, Charlemagne, and Louis the Pious—father, son, grandson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson—the greatest expansion of the Frankish empire was secured by the early 9th century, and is by this point referred to as the Carolingian Empire.

During the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties the Frankish realm was one large polity, generally subdivided into several smaller kingdoms ruled by different members of the ruling dynasties. These coordinated but also regularly came into conflict with each other. The old Frankish lands, for example, were initially contained within the kingdom of Austrasia, centred on the Rhine and Meuse, roughly corresponding to later Lower Lotharingia. The Gallo-Roman territory to its south and west was called Neustria. The exact borders and number of these subkingdoms varied over time, until a basic split between eastern and western domains became persistent. After various treaties and conflicts in the late-9th and early-10th centuries, West Francia continued as the medieval Kingdom of France, while East Francia and Lotharingia came under the control of the non-Frankish Ottonian dynasty, and became the core of the medieval Holy Roman Empire.