Dynastica

Carolingian

Frankish Empire / Holy Roman Empire · 751 – 987

Carolingian hero image

Overview

The dynasty that ended Merovingian rule of the Franks in 751, built under Charlemagne the largest empire in western Europe since Rome, and held the imperial throne for the next two centuries. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 split the empire among Charlemagne's three grandsons into kernels of modern France, Germany, and the Low Countries. The senior West Frankish line ended with the death of Louis V in 987, when the magnates elected the Robertian Hugh Capet king — opening the Capetian century.

Lineage

13 figures
Premium · Coming soon

All figures

Related events

  • Succession

    Coronation of Charlemagne

    800

    On Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans in St. Peter's Basilica. The coronation revived the imperial dignity in the Latin West for the first time since 476 and bound the Frankish royal line to Rome and to the papacy — relationships that would define European politics for the next thousand years.

  • Succession

    Treaty of Verdun

    843

    Three-way partition of the Carolingian Empire among the surviving sons of Louis the Pious after three years of civil war. Lothair I retained the imperial title and a long, narrow Middle Francia stretching from the Low Countries through Burgundy into Italy. Louis the German received East Francia, the kernel of medieval Germany; Charles the Bald received West Francia, the kernel of France. The borders sketched in 843 shaped European politics for the next millennium.

See also

Same region

Same era