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101-669: These two sub-kingdoms, along with several others, were subsequently ruled by the descendants of Clovis, the Merovingian dynasty , followed in the 8th and 9th centuries by their successors the Carolingian dynasty , whose own powerbase was in Austrasia itself. The two Frankish dynasties did not always have a single ruler ruling the whole Frankish empire. They also often allowed different family members to rule sub-kingdoms, and these were sometimes even in conflict with each other despite

202-528: A pliosaurid from the Middle Jurassic ( Bajocian ) deposits, was discovered in Lorraine and named after this region in 2023. Most of Lorraine has a clear French identity, with the exception of the northeastern part of the region, today known as Moselle , which historically has had a German-speaking population. In 1871, Bismarck annexed about a third of today's Lorraine to the new federation of

303-483: A Christian. My country is a Christian country and I reckon the history of France beginning with the accession of a Christian king who bore the name of the Franks". The Merovingians feature in the novel In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust : "The Merovingians are important to Proust because, as the oldest French dynasty, they are the most romantic and their descendants the most aristocratic." The word "Merovingian"

404-549: A Merovingian figurehead ( Childeric III ) to stem rebellion on the kingdom's periphery. However, in 751, Pepin finally displaced the last Merovingian and, with the support of the nobility and the blessing of Pope Zachary , became one of the Frankish kings. The Merovingian king redistributed conquered wealth among his followers, both material wealth and the land (including its indentured peasantry), though these powers were not absolute. As Rouche points out, "When he died his property

505-633: A Roman military leader who competed with the Merovingians for power in northern France. He won the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni in 496, according to Gregory of Tours , Clovis adopted his wife Clotilda 's Orthodox—i.e., Nicene — Christian faith at a time when other Germanic tribes were largely Arian . He subsequently went on to decisively defeat the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in

606-595: A closer inspection for that fact alone: like Gregory of Tours , they were almost without exception from the Gallo-Roman aristocracy in regions south and west of Merovingian control. The most characteristic form of Merovingian literature is represented by the Lives of the saints. Merovingian hagiography did not set out to reconstruct a biography in the Roman or the modern sense, but to attract and hold popular devotion by

707-617: A crossroads between French and German cultures, Lotharingia experienced tremendous economic, artistic, and cultural prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under the Hohenstaufen emperors. Along with the rest of Europe, this prosperity was terminated in Lorraine in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and the Black Death . During the Renaissance , a flourishing prosperity returned to Lotharingia until

808-459: A gigantic 44.3-meter (145 feet) high Cross of Lorraine. The use of the potato in Lorraine can be traced back to 1665. It was imported to Europe from South America. It is used in what developed as various traditional dishes of the region, such as the potée lorraine . The Breux potato, which takes its name from the village of Breux in the north of the Meuse, is considered to be excellent because of

909-403: A paramount strategic asset as the crossroads of four nations. This, along with its political alliances, marriage alliances, and the ability of rulers over the centuries to choose sides between East and West, gave it a tremendously powerful and important role in transforming all of European history. Its rulers intermarried with royal families over all of Europe, played kingmaker, and seated rulers on

1010-434: A permanent part of the modern Republic of France . Because of wars, it came under control of Germany several times as the border between the nations shifted. While Lorrainian separatists do exist in the 21st century, their political power and influence is negligible. Lorraine separatism today consists more of preserving its cultural identity rather than seeking genuine political independence. With enlightened leadership and at

1111-555: A rebellion by the nobility against Brunhilda saw her betrayed and handed over to her nephew and foe in Neustria, Chlothar II . Chlothar then took control of the other two kingdoms and set up a united Frankish kingdom with its capital in Paris . During this period the first majores domus or mayors of the palace appeared. These officials acted as mediators between the king and the people in each realm. The first Austrasian mayors came from

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1212-477: A son called Merovech, from whom the kings of the Franks have subsequently been called Merovingians. In the past, this tale was regarded as an authentic piece of Germanic mythology and was often taken as evidence that the Merovingian kingship was sacral and the royal dynasty of supernatural origin. Today, it is more commonly seen as an attempt to explain the meaning of the name Merovech (sea-bull): "Unlike

1313-568: Is Lorrain , which is a moribund minority Romance language that is spoken in southeastern Lorraine. The second is the German dialect of Lorraine Franconian , a group of three Franconian dialects independently surviving in northern and western Lorraine. They are referred to collectively as Plàtt in Franconian or francique or platt (lorrain) in French (not to be confused with Lorrain ,

1414-605: Is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France , now located in the administrative region of Grand Est . Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia (855–959 AD), which in turn was named after either Emperor Lothair I or King Lothair II . Lorraine, originally the southern or "upper" part of this kingdom, came to be ruled by the Holy Roman Empire as the Duchy of Lorraine before

1515-586: Is generally used as a garden or for car parking. Furniture developed a specific identity after the Thirty Years' War : the "Lorrain style". At €44 billion (in 2000), Lorraine generates 3.4% of France's GDP. Despite ranking 11th in population, it ranks 8th in GDP out of the 22 regions of France, making it per capita among the top economic producing regions in the country, along with Alsace and Île-de-France (Paris). The logistics and service sectors have experienced

1616-577: Is identical to the same dialects spoken in the neighboring Rhineland of Germany. Like most of France's regional languages (e.g. Basque , Breton , West Flemish , Catalan , Provençal , and Alsatian which is close to dialects of its neighboring Lorraine), Lorrain and Lorraine Franconian have largely been replaced in use by French. For more than a century, nationalistic policies of the central government required public schooling to be conducted only in French. Now, however, there are efforts being made to revive Lorraine Franconian , whose linguistic vitality

1717-614: Is now a separate administrative region. Most of the region forms part of the Paris Basin , with a plateau relief cut by river valleys presenting cuestas in the north–south direction. The eastern part is sharper with the Vosges. Many rivers run through Lorraine, including Moselle , Meurthe , and Meuse . Most of them are on the Rhine drainage basin . Lorraine has an oceanic climate with continental influences. Lorrainosaurus ,

1818-482: Is still relatively high. Recent efforts include the use of bilingual signs in Franconian areas, and Franconian-language classes for young children whose parents can no longer speak their ancestral language. During World War II, the cross was adopted as the official symbol of the Free French Forces (French: Forces Françaises Libres , or FFL) under Charles de Gaulle . Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested

1919-497: Is the Liber Historiae Francorum , an anonymous adaptation of Gregory's work apparently ignorant of Fredegar's chronicle: its author(s) ends with a reference to Theuderic IV 's sixth year, which would be 727. It was widely read; though it was undoubtedly a piece of Arnulfing work, and its biases cause it to mislead (for instance, concerning the two decades between the controversies surrounding mayors Grimoald

2020-550: Is used as an adjective at least five times in The Way By Swann’s . The Merovingians are featured in the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) where they are depicted as descendants of Jesus , inspired by the " Priory of Sion " story developed by Pierre Plantard in the 1960s. Plantard playfully sold the story as non-fiction, giving rise to a number of works of pseudohistory among which The Holy Blood and

2121-680: The Anglo-Saxon rulers the Merovingians—if they ever themselves acknowledged the quinotaur tale, which is by no means certain—made no claim to be descended from a god". In 1906, the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie suggested that the Marvingi recorded by Ptolemy as living near the Rhine were the ancestors of the Merovingian dynasty. In 486 Clovis I , the son of Childeric, defeated Syagrius ,

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2222-541: The Austrian Netherlands . For political reasons, he decided to hide those heirs who were not born by his first wife, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria , who was deceased when he took office. The vacuum in leadership, the French Revolution , and the political results and changes issuing from the many nationalistic wars that followed in the next 130 years, ultimately resulted in Lorraine becoming

2323-521: The Battle of Vouillé in 507. After Clovis's death, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons. This tradition of partition continued over the next century. Even when several Merovingian kings simultaneously ruled their own realms, the kingdom—not unlike the late Roman Empire —was conceived of as a single entity ruled collectively by these several kings (each ruling one section much as the late Roman Empire had been divided between up to four emperors). The death of one or more of these kings could result in

2424-535: The Byzantine Empire . The few surviving Merovingian edicts are almost entirely concerned with settling divisions of estates among heirs. Byzantine coinage was in use in Francia before Theudebert I began minting his own money at the start of his reign. He was the first to issue distinctly Merovingian coinage. On gold coins struck in his royal workshop, Theudebert is shown in the pearl-studded regalia of

2525-441: The Carolingian dynasty . The 7th-century Chronicle of Fredegar implies that the Merovingians were descended from a sea-beast called a quinotaur : It is said that while Chlodio was staying at the seaside with his wife one summer, his wife went into the sea at midday to bathe, and a beast of Neptune rather like a Quinotaur found her. In the event she was made pregnant, either by the beast or by her husband, and she gave birth to

2626-472: The Cross of Lorraine was a symbol of Free France . The administrative region of Lorraine is larger than the 18th century duchy of Lorraine , which gradually came under French sovereignty between 1737 and 1766. The modern region includes provinces and areas that were historically separate from the duchy of Lorraine proper. These are: Some historians consider the traditional province of Lorraine as limited to

2727-469: The French language and culture in favor of High German, which became the administrative language (Geschäftssprache. ) It required the use of German in schools in areas which it considered or designated as German-speaking , an often arbitrary categorisation. French was allowed to remain in use only in primary and secondary schools in municipalities definitely considered Francophone, such as Château-Salins and

2828-608: The German Empire following a decisive victory in the Franco-Prussian War . This disputed third has a culture not easily classifiable as either French or German , since both Romance and German dialects are spoken here. Like many border regions, Lorraine was a patchwork of ethnicities and dialects not mutually intelligible with either standard French or German (see linguistic boundary of Moselle ). Traditionally, two languages are native to Lorraine. The first

2929-715: The German Sixth Army under Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria counterattacked and forced the French forces into retreat at the Battles of Sarrebourg and Morhange . Lorraine remained under martial law , close to the Western Front in northeastern France, and suffering from refugee crises for the rest of the war. The population effectively revolted against German rule by participating in the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and welcomed French troops into

3030-525: The Kingdom of France annexed it in 1766. From 1982 until January 2016, Lorraine was an administrative region of France. In 2016, under a reorganisation, it became part of the new region Grand Est. As a region in modern France, Lorraine consisted of the four departments Meurthe-et-Moselle , Meuse , Moselle and Vosges (from a historical point of view the Haute-Marne department is also located in

3131-417: The Kingdom of France , via derivative aristocratic house alliances. The succession within these houses, in tandem with other historical events, would have later restored Lorraine's status as its own duchy, but a vacuum in leadership occurred. Its duke Francois Stephen de Lorraine took the throne of the Holy Roman Empire as Francis I , and his brother Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine became governor of

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3232-486: The Lombards since 568) and Visigothic Septimania remained fairly stable. Internally, the kingdom was divided among Clovis's sons and later among his grandsons and frequently saw war between the different kings, who allied amongst themselves and against one another. The death of one king created conflict between the surviving brothers and the deceased's sons, with differing outcomes. Later, conflicts were intensified by

3333-544: The Pippinid family, which experienced a slow but steady ascent until it eventually displaced the Merovingians on the throne. In 623, the Austrasians asked Chlothar II for a king of their own and he appointed his son Dagobert I to rule over them with Pepin of Landen as regent. Dagobert's government in Austrasia was widely admired. In 629, he inherited Neustria and Burgundy. Austrasia was again neglected until, in 633,

3434-409: The Thirty Years' War . France inherited Lorraine in 1766. The region's location has caused the population to be mixed. The north largely speaks German , Lorraine Franconian and other German dialects . A strong centralised nationalism had only just begun to replace the feudalist system which had formed the multilingual borders, and an insurrection against the French occupation influenced much of

3535-725: The Valois era. In this the Franks lagged behind the Burgundians and the Visigoths, that they had no universal Roman-based law. In Merovingian times, law was handled by officials called rachimburgs , who memorised the set of legal precedents which formed the basis for their society's laws, for Merovingian society did not allow the concept of creating new law, only of maintaining tradition. Nor did its Germanic traditions offer any code of civil law required of urbanised society, such as Justinian I caused to be assembled and promulgated in

3636-695: The Visigoths (507) and the Burgundians (534), and also extended their rule into Raetia (537). In Germania , the Alemanni , Bavarii and Saxons accepted their lordship. The Merovingian realm was the largest and most powerful of the states of western Europe following the breakup of the empire of Theodoric the Great . The dynastic name, medieval Latin Merovingi or Merohingii ("sons of Merovech"), derives from an unattested Frankish form, akin to

3737-658: The 11th century. Merovingian coins are on display at the Monnaie de Paris in Paris; there are Merovingian gold coins at the Bibliothèque Nationale , Cabinet des Médailles . Christianity was introduced to the Franks by their contact with Gallo-Romanic culture and later further spread by monks . The most famous of these missionaries is St. Columbanus (d 615), an Irish monk. Merovingian kings and queens used

3838-447: The 19th century. The first well-known Merovingian king was Childeric I (died 481). His son Clovis I (died 511) converted to Nicene Christianity , united the Franks and conquered most of Gaul. The Merovingians treated their kingdom as single yet divisible. Clovis's four sons divided the kingdom among themselves, and it remained divided until 679 with the exception of four short periods (558–561, 613–623, 629–634, 673–675). After that it

3939-616: The Byzantine emperor; Childebert I is shown in profile in the ancient style, wearing a toga and a diadem . The solidus and triens were minted in Francia between 534 and 679. The denarius (or denier ) appeared later, in the name of Childeric II and various non-royals around 673–675. A Carolingian denarius replaced the Merovingian one, and the Frisian penning , in Gaul from 755 to

4040-513: The Elder and Ebroin : 652–673). Aside from these chronicles, the only surviving reservoirs of historiography are documentary sources (letters, charters, laws, etc.) and hagiography . Clerical men such as Gregory and Sulpitius the Pious were letter-writers, though relatively few letters survive. Edicts, grants, and judicial decisions survive, as well as the famous Lex Salica , mentioned above. From

4141-635: The Emperor of Byzantium Leo III the Isaurian over the Arabs led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik prevented the attempts of Islam to expand into eastern Europe, the victory of Charles Martel at Tours limited its expansion onto the west of the European continent. During the last years of his life, he even ruled without a king, though he did not assume royal dignity. His sons Carloman and Pepin again appointed

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4242-624: The Frankish settlements being located along the Lower and Middle Rhine . The further south in Gaul one traveled, the weaker the Frankish influence became. Hen finds hardly any evidence for Frankish settlements south of the Loire . The absence of Frankish literature sources suggests that the Frankish language was forgotten rather rapidly after the early stage of the dynasty. Hen believes that for Neustria, Burgundy and Aquitania, Vulgar Latin remained

4343-431: The Franks, who commonly cut their hair short. Contemporaries sometimes referred to them as the "long-haired kings" (Latin reges criniti ). A Merovingian whose hair was cut could not rule, and a rival could be removed from the succession by being tonsured and sent to a monastery. The Merovingians also used a distinct name stock. One of their names, Clovis, evolved into Louis and remained common among French royalty down to

4444-746: The High German standard (i.e. Germanised ) a number of genuine Francophone toponyms remained untouched. During the Nazi occupation between 1940 and 1944, however, its government imposed German translations to replace French names. For instance, Château-Salins was called Salzburg in Lothringen. During the Battle of the Frontiers at the beginning of World War I , the French First Army invaded Lorraine and briefly occupied Mulhouse . However,

4545-531: The Holy Grail was the most successful. The "Priory of Sion" material has given rise to later works in popular fiction, notably The Da Vinci Code (2003), which mentions the Merovingians in chapter 60. The title of " Merovingian " (also known as "the Frenchman") is used as the name for a fictional character and a supporting antagonist of the films The Matrix Reloaded , The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Resurrections . Lorraine Lorraine

4646-632: The Kingdom of France in 1766. During the French Revolution , four departments were created from the main parts of the territories of Barrois, Three Bishoprics and the Duchy of Lorraine: After 1870 some parts of Moselle and Meurthe became German. Of the remaining parts, France formed the new department named Meurthe-et-Moselle . After 1918 and the Great War, France took over control again of Moselle . When France created its administrative regions in

4747-530: The Meuse River) was the Duchy of Bar , part of the Holy Roman Empire . In the 15th century, it was united with the Duchy of Lorraine by the marriage of the Duke of Bar, René of Anjou , with Isabella , daughter of the Duke of Lorraine. Thus the duchies of Bar and Lorraine were united in personal union under the same duke, although formally they were officially separate until being annexed and incorporated into

4848-570: The Romance language). Now mainly rural and isolated, these dialects gradually differ in the region, though they are mutually intelligible. Lorraine Franconian is distinct from neighbouring Alsatian , to the south, although the two are often confused. Neither of them has official status where they are spoken, but Alsatian is far more widely used. Technically, Lorraine Franconian is a catch-all term for what were historically three dialects: Luxembourgish , Mosel Franconian , and Rhine Franconian . Each

4949-545: The adoption of the Cross of Lorraine as the symbol of the Free French. In his General Order No. 2 of 3 July 1940, Vice-Admiral Émile Muselier , chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French for two days, created the bow flag displaying the French colours with a red Cross of Lorraine, and a cockade also featuring the Cross of Lorraine. De Gaulle is memorialised at his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises by

5050-482: The area's early identity. In 1871, the German Empire regained a part of Lorraine ( Bezirk Lothringen , corresponding to the current department of Moselle ). The department formed part of the new German Empire 's Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine . In the French Third Republic , the revanchist movement developed to recover this territory. The Imperial German administration strongly discouraged

5151-412: The attested Old English Merewīowing , with the final - ing being a typical Germanic patronymic suffix. The name derives from Salian King Merovech , who is at the center of many legends. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies , the Merovingians never claimed descent from a god, nor is there evidence that they were regarded as sacred . The Merovingians' long hair distinguished them among

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5252-471: The backdrop of a newly isolated Europe without its Roman systems of taxation and bureaucracy , the Franks having taken over administration as they gradually penetrated into the thoroughly Romanised west and south of Gaul. By the time of Dagobert I , governmental documents were recognizably Roman, it is by then written in Latin on imported papyrus similar to Roman bureaucratic norms and where it also made use of

5353-502: The death of Lothair I, Middle Francia was divided in three by the Treaty of Prüm in 855, with the northern third called Lotharingia and going to Lothair II . Due to Lotharingia being sandwiched between East and West Francia , the rulers identified as a duchy from 870 onward, enabling the duchy to ally and align itself nominally with either eastern or western Carolingian kingdoms in order to survive and maintain its independence. Thus, it

5454-614: The duchy of Lorraine proper, while others consider that it includes Barrois and the Three Bishoprics. The duchy of Lorraine was originally the duchy of upper Lorraine, and did not include the entire area since called Lorraine . The case of Barrois is the most complicated: the western part of Barrois (west of the Meuse), known as Barrois mouvant , was detached from the rest of Barrois in the early 14th century and taken over by French sovereignty. The largest part of Barrois (east of

5555-446: The east, is commonly seen as the last powerful Merovingian King. Later kings are known as rois fainéants ("do-nothing kings"), despite the fact that only the last two kings did nothing. The kings, even strong-willed men like Dagobert II and Chilperic II , were not the main agents of political conflicts, leaving this role to their mayors of the palace, who increasingly substituted their own interest for their king's. Many kings came to

5656-441: The end of the Merovingian era. In 718, Charles Martel had Austrasian support in his war against Neustria for control of all the Francian realms. He was not king himself, but appointed Chlothar IV to rule in Austrasia. In 719, Francia was united by Martel's family, the Carolingian dynasty , under Austrasian hegemony. While the Frankish kings continued to divide up the Frankish realm in different ways over subsequent generations,

5757-507: The formulas of elaborate literary exercises, through which the Frankish Church channeled popular piety within orthodox channels, defined the nature of sanctity and retained some control over the posthumous cults that developed spontaneously at burial sites, where the life-force of the saint lingered, to do good for the votary . The vitae et miracula , for impressive miracles were an essential element of Merovingian hagiography, were read aloud on saints' feast days. Many Merovingian saints, and

5858-423: The greatest discoveries of lost objects was the 1653 accidental uncovering of Childeric I's tomb in the church of Saint Brice in Tournai . The grave objects included a golden bull's head and the famous golden insects (perhaps bees, cicadas, aphids, or flies) on which Napoleon modelled his coronation cloak. In 1957, the sepulchre of a Merovingian woman at the time believed to be Clotaire I 's second wife, Aregund ,

5959-414: The history of the Merovingian Franks, but those that survive cover the entire period from Clovis's succession to Childeric's deposition. First among chroniclers of the age is the canonised bishop of Tours , Gregory of Tours . His Decem Libri Historiarum is a primary source for the reigns of the sons of Clotaire II and their descendants until Gregory's own death in 594, but must be read with account of

6060-409: The hours). By tradition, they do not toll during Holy Week preceding Easter. Instead, the children of the villages play ratchets and announce, C'est l'Angélus! (It's the Angelus). After Easter , the children go from house to house and receive small presents for their service. Sinterklaas is celebrated in Lorraine, where he is called "Saint Nicolas". Each year, more than 150,000 people gather in

6161-440: The inheritance of older Merovingian children. This pragmatic use of monasteries ensured close ties between elites and monastic properties. Numerous Merovingians who served as bishops and abbots, or who generously funded abbeys and monasteries, were rewarded with sainthood. The outstanding handful of Frankish saints who were not of the Merovingian kinship nor the family alliances that provided Merovingian counts and dukes, deserve

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6262-452: The king leader of the warrior-band. Furthermore, the king was expected to support himself with the products of his private domain ( royal demesne ), which was called the fisc . This system developed in time into feudalism , and expectations of royal self-sufficiency lasted until the Hundred Years' War . Trade declined with the fall of the Roman Empire , and agricultural estates were mostly self-sufficient. The remaining international trade

6363-410: The kingdoms of Burgundy , and Italy . The name Austrasia is not well attested in the Merovingian period . The first surviving record of the term is by Gregory of Tours , writing in about 580. It was later used by Aimoin of Fleury around 1000. It is presumably the latinization of an Old Frankish name, reconstructed as *Oster-rike ("Eastern Kingdom"). As with the name Austria , it contains

6464-436: The kings in return for their support. These concessions saw the very considerable power of the king parcelled out and retained by leading comites and duces ( counts and dukes ). Very little is in fact known about the course of the 7th century due to a scarcity of sources, but Merovingians remained in power until the 8th century. Clotaire's son Dagobert I (died 639), who sent troops to Spain and pagan Slavic territories in

6565-487: The lands that were to become Austrasia. Descended from Theuderic, a line of kings ruled Austrasia until 555, when it was united with the other Frankish kingdoms of Chlothar I , who inherited all the Frankish realms by 558. He redivided the Frankish territory amongst his four sons, but the four kingdoms coalesced into three on the death of Charibert I in 567: Austrasia under Sigebert I , Neustria under Chilperic I , and Burgundy under Guntram . These three kingdoms defined

6666-450: The majority of female saints, were local ones, venerated only within strictly circumscribed regions; their cults were revived in the High Middle Ages, when the population of women in religious orders increased enormously. Judith Oliver noted five Merovingian female saints in the diocese of Liège who appeared in a long list of saints in the late 13th-century Lardanchet psalter–hours . The vitae of six late Merovingian saints that illustrate

6767-517: The middle of the 20th century, it decided to gather Meurthe et Moselle , Meuse , Moselle and Vosges into a single region, known as Lorraine. Lorraine is the only French region to have borders with three other countries: Belgium ( Wallonia ), Luxembourg , and Germany ( Saarland , Rhineland-Palatinate ). It also borders the French regions of Franche-Comté , Champagne-Ardenne , which were at times part of historical Lorraine Lotharingia , and Alsace , which, while still part of Lorraine's identity,

6868-501: The newly forming ecclesiastical power structure to their advantage. Monasteries and episcopal seats were shrewdly awarded to elites who supported the dynasty. Extensive parcels of land were donated to monasteries to exempt those lands from royal taxation and to preserve them within the family. The family-maintained dominance over the monastery by appointing family members as abbots . Extra sons and daughters who could not be married off were sent to monasteries so that they would not threaten

6969-532: The old legal formulae. While laymen made up most of the administrators, there was a gradual shift to a clerical presence from the reign of Clotaire II. The counts had to provide armies, enlisting their milites and endowing them with land in return. These armies were subject to the king's call for military support. Annual national assemblies of the nobles and their armed retainers decided major policies of war making. The army also acclaimed new kings by raising them on its shields continuing an ancient practice that made

7070-443: The people demanded the king's son as their own king again. Dagobert complied and sent his elder son Sigebert III to Austrasia. Historians often categorise Sigebert as the first roi fainéant , or do-nothing king, of the Merovingian dynasty. His court was dominated by the mayors. In 657, the mayor Grimoald the Elder succeeded in putting his son Childebert the Adopted on the throne, where he remained until 662. Thereafter, Austrasia

7171-546: The perfect conditions of the area for its cultivation. Smoked bacon is also a traditional ingredient of the cuisine of Lorraine. It is used in various traditional dishes of the region, including the famous quiche Lorraine . The mirabelle plum of Lorraine is the emblematic fruit of Lorraine. It is used in pies and other desserts, as well as in alcoholic beverages . Traditional dishes in the region include: Traditional cheeses of Lorraine include: Carré de l'Est , Brouère , Munster-géromé , Tourrée de l'Aubier . Desserts from

7272-399: The personal feud around Brunhilda . However, yearly warfare often did not constitute general devastation but took on an almost ritual character, with established 'rules' and norms. Eventually, Clotaire II in 613 reunited the entire Frankish realm under one ruler. The frequent wars had weakened royal power, while the aristocracy had made great gains and procured enormous concessions from

7373-463: The political division of Francia until the rise of the Carolingians and even thereafter. From 567 to the death of Sigebert II in 613, Neustria and Austrasia fought each other almost constantly, with Burgundy playing the peacemaker between them. These struggles reached their climax in the wars between Brunhilda and Fredegund , queens, respectively, of Austrasia and Neustria. Finally, in 613,

7474-580: The political history of the era have been translated and edited by Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding , and presented with Liber Historiae Francorum , to provide some historical context. Yitzhak Hen stated that it seems certain that the Gallo-Roman population was far greater than the Frankish population in Merovingian Gaul, especially in regions south of the Seine , with most of

7575-510: The pro-church point of view of its author. The next major source, far less organised than Gregory's work, is the Chronicle of Fredegar , begun by Fredegar but continued by unknown authors. It covers the period from 584 to 641, though its continuators, under Carolingian patronage, extended it to 768, after the close of the Merovingian era. It is the only primary narrative source for much of its period. The only other major contemporary source

7676-531: The realm among each other under the rule of a single king. After Pepin's long rule, his son Charles Martel assumed power, fighting against nobles and his own stepmother. His reputation for ruthlessness further undermined the king's position. Under Charles Martel's leadership, the Franks defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours in 732. After the victory of 718 of the Bulgarian Khan Tervel and

7777-531: The region include: madeleine , macaron , rum baba , plombières ice-cream , various pie recipes ( brimbelles bilberry, mirabelle plum, rhubarb, quark ...). The Christstollen is also popular in Lorraine during the Christmas season. Lorraine has a Roman Catholic heritage. Almost every village has a church, often centuries old, although many do not have a dedicated priest anymore. Church bells are traditionally rung to announce Angelus time (and often toll

7878-553: The region several days later. In the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , the Weimar Republic suffered severe territorial losses following World War I , including the portion of Lorraine territory that had been part of its state of Alsace-Lorraine. With the exception of its de facto annexation by Nazi Germany as part of the Gau Westmark during World War II , that area has since remained a part of France. During that war,

7979-504: The region), containing 2,337 communes. Metz is the regional prefecture . The largest metropolitan area of Lorraine is Nancy , which was the seat of the duchy for centuries. To the north, Lorraine borders Germany , Belgium , and Luxembourg . In French, its male inhabitants are called Lorrains and its female inhabitants are called Lorraines . The population of Lorraine is about 2,356,000. Lorraine's borders have changed often in its long history. The location of Lorraine led to it being

8080-406: The reign of Clotaire II and Dagobert I survive many examples of the royal position as the supreme justice and final arbiter. There also survive biographies of saints of the period, for instance Saint Eligius and Leodegar , written soon after their subjects' deaths. Finally, archaeological evidence cannot be ignored as a source for information, at the very least, on the Frankish mode of life. Among

8181-481: The reunification of the whole kingdom under a single ruler. Even when divided under different kings, the kingdom maintained unity and conquered Burgundy in 534. Upon Clovis's death in 511, the Merovingian kingdom included all of Gaul except Burgundy and all of Germania magna except Saxony . After the fall of the Ostrogoths , the Franks also conquered Provence . After this their borders with Italy (ruled by

8282-544: The south and to Neustria to the southwest. The exact boundary between Merovingian Neustria and Austrasia is unclear with respect to areas such as the medieval counties of Flanders , Brabant and Hainaut , and areas immediately to the south of these. Metz served as the Austrasian capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Reims , Trier and Cologne . Other important cities included Verdun , Worms and Speyer . Fulda monastery , an important royal monastery,

8383-507: The spoken language in Gaul throughout the Merovingian period and remained so even well in to the Carolingian period. However, Urban T. Holmes estimated that a Germanic language was spoken as a second tongue by public officials in western Austrasia and Neustria as late as the 850s, and that it completely disappeared as a spoken language from these regions only during the 10th century. A limited number of contemporary sources describe

8484-464: The streets of Nancy to celebrate Sinterklaas . A total of that number gather in other areas across the region. Except for dispersed settlement in the Vosges mountains, traditional farms display linked houses, forming linear villages . They are built quite far from the road. The area between the house and the road is called l'usoir  [ fr ] . Until the 1970s, the usoir was used to store farming tools, firewood, or manure. Today this area

8585-430: The surrounding arrondissements, as well and in their local administration. After 1877, higher education, including state-run colleges, universities and teacher seminaries, was conducted exclusively in German. The predominance of German and the partial usage of French, though restricted, were both guaranteed by the 1911 constitution of Alsace-Lorraine. While many toponyms of German etymology in Lorraine were adapted to

8686-479: The term Austrasia was only used occasionally after the Carolingian dynasty. Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty ( / ˌ m ɛ r ə ˈ v ɪ n dʒ i ə n / ) was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul . By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gallo-Romans under their rule. They conquered most of Gaul, defeating

8787-592: The territory of present-day Luxembourg , parts of eastern Belgium , north-eastern France ( Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne ), west-central Germany (the Rhineland , Hesse and Franconia ) and the southern Netherlands ( Limburg , North Brabant , with a salient north of the Rhine including Utrecht and parts of Gelderland ). After the death of the Frankish king Clovis I in 511, his four sons partitioned his kingdom amongst themselves, with Theuderic I receiving

8888-452: The throne at a young age and died in the prime of life, weakening royal power further. The conflict between mayors was ended when the Austrasians under Pepin the Middle triumphed in 687 in the Battle of Tertry . After this, Pepin, though not a king, was the political ruler of the Frankish kingdom and left this position as a heritage to his sons. It was now the sons of the mayor that divided

8989-464: The throne in Austrasia. Grimoald was arrested and executed; but his son ruled until 662, when the Merovingian dynasty was restored. When King Theuderic IV died in 737, the mayor Charles Martel continued to rule the kingdoms until his death in 741. The dynasty was restored again in 743, but in 751 Charles's son, Pepin the Short , deposed the last king, Childeric III , and had himself crowned, initiating

9090-656: The thrones of the Holy Roman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire , and others. In 840, Charlemagne 's son Louis the Pious died. The Carolingian Empire was divided among Louis' three sons by the Treaty of Verdun of 843. The middle realm, known as Middle Francia , went to Lothair I , reaching from Frisia in Northern Germany through the Low Countries , Eastern France, Burgundy , Provence , Northern Italy, and down to Rome . On

9191-409: The underlying continuity of the overall Frankish empire. Already by 561, Austrasia was ruled as a separate kingdom within the Frankish realm by the Merovingian king Sigebert I (561–575). The last emperor to hold the entire Frankish empire including Austrasia was Louis the Pious . For several generations his descendants negotiated different ways of dividing the empire. In 880, the Treaty of Ribemont

9292-514: The word for " east ", and means "eastern land". The term designated the original territory of the Franks in contrast to Neustria , which apparently meant the "(new) western land". Austrasia was centered on the Middle Rhine , including the basins of the Moselle , Main and Meuse rivers. It bordered on Frisia and Saxony to the north, Thuringia to the east, Swabia and Burgundy to

9393-532: Was a duchy in name but operated as an independent kingdom. In 870, Lorraine allied with East Francia while remaining an autonomous duchy. In 962, when Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor , restored the Empire ( restauratio imperii ), Lorraine was designated as the autonomous Duchy of Lorraine within the Holy Roman Empire. It maintained this status until 1766, after which it was annexed under succession law by

9494-474: Was discovered in Saint Denis Basilica in Paris . The funerary clothing and jewellery were reasonably well-preserved, giving us a look into the costume of the time. Beyond these royal individuals, the Merovingian period is associated with the archaeological Reihengräber culture . The Merovingians play a prominent role in French historiography and national identity , although their importance

9595-425: Was divided again only once (717–718). The main divisions of the kingdom were Austrasia , Neustria , Burgundy and Aquitaine . During the final century of Merovingian rule, the kings were increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role. Actual power was increasingly in the hands of the mayor of the palace , the highest-ranking official under the king. In 656, the mayor Grimoald I tried to place his son Childebert on

9696-434: Was divided equally among his heirs as though it were private property: the kingdom was a form of patrimony." Some scholars have attributed this to the Merovingians' lacking a sense of res publica , but other historians have criticized this view as an oversimplification. The kings appointed magnates to be comites (counts), charging them with defense , administration , and the judgment of disputes. This happened against

9797-488: Was dominated by Middle Eastern merchants, often Jewish Radhanites . Merovingian law was not universal law equally applicable to all; it was applied to each man according to his origin: Ripuarian Franks were subject to their own Lex Ripuaria , codified at a late date, while the so-called Lex Salica ( Salic Law ) of the Salian clans, first tentatively codified in 511 was invoked under medieval exigencies as late as

9898-543: Was founded in eastern Austrasia in the final decade of the Merovingian period. In the High Middle Ages , its territory became divided among the duchies of Lotharingia and Franconia in Germany , with some western portions including Reims and Rethel passing to France . Its exact boundaries were somewhat fluid over the history of the Frankish sub-kingdoms, but Austrasia can be taken to correspond roughly to

9999-534: Was partly overshadowed by that of the Gauls during the Third Republic . Charles de Gaulle is on record as stating his opinion that "For me, the history of France begins with Clovis , elected as king of France by the tribe of the Franks, who gave their name to France. Before Clovis, we have Gallo-Roman and Gaulish prehistory. The decisive element, for me, is that Clovis was the first king to have been baptized

10100-526: Was predominantly the kingdom of the Arnulfing mayors of the palace and their base of power. With the Battle of Tertry in 687, Pepin of Heristal defeated the Neustrian king Theuderic III and established his mayoralty over all the Frankish kingdoms. This was even regarded by contemporaries as the beginning of his "reign". It also signalled the dominance of Austrasia over Neustria, which would last until

10201-504: Was the last such major agreement, which established formal boundaries eastern, central, and western sub-kingdoms that remained important throughout the Middle Ages . West Francia , which contained Neustria, was the basis of the later medieval Kingdom of France . Lotharingia , which corresponded to Austrasia, was folded into the larger kingdom of East Francia . These became the core of the Holy Roman Empire , which also had claims over

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