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481 | Clovis succeeds his father Childeric I (King of the Salian Franks) |
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486 | Frankish defeat of the Romans at the Battle of Soissons - Gaul comes under the rule of the Merovingians, the first kings of France |
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496 | Clovis aids the Rhenish Franks and stops the Alamanni at the battle of Tolbiac |
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498 | Clovis takes Bordeaux from the Visigoths in Aquitaine |
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500 | Clovis campaigns against the Burgungians, but is forced to withdraw in the face of the Burgundian-Visigoth alliance |
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502 | Customary law of the Burgundians set down by king Gundobad |
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506 | Roman law of the Visigoths set down - Breviary of Alaric |
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507 | Clovis defeats the Visigoths at the battle of Vouille (king Alaric II killed) |
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508 | Clovis captures the Visigoth's capital Toulous, ending their kingdom. He chooses Paris as his capital |
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508 | Legal code of the Franks is drawn up - this is known as the Salic Law (Pactus legis salicae) |
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509 | Clovis is recognized by the Rhenish Franks - he is sole king of the Franks |
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511 | Clovis dies, the kingdom is divided between his four sons: Theodoric takes eastern portion, Clodomire takes the Loire basin, Childebert takes Normandy and Paris, and Chlotar takes the kingdom of Soissons. Aquitaine is shared among them |
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523 | Clodomire, Childebert and Chlotar campaign against Burgundy |
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524 | Clodomire dies in battle. Childebert and Chlotar arrange for the murder of his sons and divide his kingdom between them |
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530 | The Franks conquer Thuringia, Bavaria and Provence over the next 7 years |
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534 | King Gundomar of Burgundy takes flight, Franks take possession of Burgundy |
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543 | Plague strikes |
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558 | Chlotar finally gains control of all the territory formerly divided between himself and his brothers. Frankish kingdom reunited |
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559 | Plague strikes again |
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561 | Chlotar dies, kingdom divided yet again for his four sons: Sigebert, Chilperic, Charibert and Guntram |
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567 | Charibert dies, country is divided into kingdoms of Austrasia (Sigebert), Neustria (Chilperic), and Burgundy (Guntram) |
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568 | Kingdoms of Neustria and Austrasia at war instigated by murder of Galswintha by Chilperic (her husband). |
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569 | Lombards (of Italy) begin to make incursions into Gaul |
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575 | Sigebert defeats Chilperic at the battle of Vitry. His murder is arranged by Chilperic's wife, Fredegund. He is succeeded by his son Childebert II |
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584 | Chilperic is murdered. His 4-month-old son, Chlotar, succeeds him as king of Neustria |
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587 | Treaty of Andelout - Guntram of Burgundy and Childebert II of Austrasia agree to name each other as heir if either dies without a male heir |
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592 | Guntram dies without an heir, his kingdom goes to Childebert II |
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595 | Childebert II dies, he leaves Burgundy to his son Theodoric II, and Austrasia to his son Theodebert II. Chlotar II challenges them both |
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599 | Plague again in France |
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600 | Chlotar II defeated at Dormelles, Theodebert and Theodoric turn on each other |
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605 | Plague strikes yet again |
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612 | Theodoric defeats Theodebert |
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613 | Chlotar is undisputed ruler of the Franks, appoints a mayor of the palace to manage each of the three kingdoms |
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614 | Edict of Paris - ratifies system of administration by mayors of the palace. Pepin is appointed mayor of the palace in Austrasia |
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623 | Chlotar names his son Dagobert king of the Austrasians |
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629 | Chlotar II dies, Dagobert succeeds him (after granting his half-brother, Charibert, a kingdom in Aquitaine for his lifetime) |
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637 | Dagobert I, last Merovingian king |
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640 | Pepin (Austrasia's mayor of the palace) dies |
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656 | Sigebert dies, his son Dagobert is exiled by Pepin's son, Grimoald (mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Grimoald's son, Childebert the Adopted, is put on the throne |
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657 | Clovis II dies, his son Chlotar III is king of Neustria and Burgundy |
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658 | Ebroin becomes mayor of the palace of Neustria |
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662 | Some of the Austrasian nobility hand Childebert the Adopted and Grimoald over to the Neustrians and they are executed. Chlotar III's brother, Childreric II, becomes king and Wulfoald is his mayor of the palace |
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673 | Chlotar III dies, Ebroin puts Chlotar's brother Theodoric II on the throne of Neustria and Burgundy. Theodoric's brother, Childeric II, drives him out and controls all three kingdoms |
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675 | Childeric II is murdered by the magnates of Neustria, Ebroin regains power and installs Theodoric III as king of Neustria and Burgundy |
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677 | War between Austrasia and Neustria ends with a treaty firmly defining their respective borders |
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679 | Ebroin defeats the Austrasians near Laon |
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679 | Wufoald is replaced as Austrasia's mayor of the palace by Pepin II |
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680 | Ebroin is assassinated, Neustrian power is crippled |
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686 | Neustrian mayor of the palace dies, succeeded by Berchar, who is challenged by Pepin II |
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687 | Pepin II defeats Berchar at the battle of Tertry |
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690 | Pepin campaigns against the Frisians |
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693 | Dagobert dies, his kingdom is divided between his sons Sigebert III (Austrasia) and Clovis II (Neustria and Burgundy) |
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695 | The Frisians concede defeat |
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709 | Pepin campaigns against the Alamanni |
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714 | Pepin II dies and his widow Plectrude imprisons his illegitimate son (Charles Martel) to secure power for her grandsons |
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715 | Neustrians rise against Plectrude, defeating her at Compiegne |
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716 | Martel defeats the Neustrians at Ambleve |
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717 | Martel defeats the Neustrians at Vincy, he is master of Austrasia when Plectrude dies |
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719 | Martel defeats the Neustrians completely, gaining control of the kingdom |
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719 | The Saracens (Arabs) occupy Narbonne |
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720 | Martel campaigns against the Saxons |
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720 | Martel recognizes Chilperic II as king of the Franks |
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721 | Chilperic II dies and is succeeded by Theodoric IV |
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732 | Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Poitiers, stopping Arab invasion |
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732 | Saracens invade Poitiers, Martel defeats them at Moussais |
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736 | Over the next three years, Martel brings southern France under Frankish control |
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737 | Theodoric IV dies, Martel does not replace him |
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741 | Martel dies - his sons, Pepin III the short and Carloman, divide the kingdom |
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741 | Plague in France |
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743 | Carloman and Pepin establish Childeric III (the son of Chilperic II and a monk) as king |
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743 | Pepin and Carloman campaign in Aquitaine and Germany |
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747 | Carloman retires to become a monk, Pepin is only mayor of the palace |
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750 | Pope decrees that Pepin should be king |
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751 | Pepin II "The Short" becomes king of the Franks |
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751 | Childeric III is deposed, Pepin is elected king at Soissons |
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754 | Pope Stephen II crowns Pepin and his sons (Charlemagne and Carloman) |
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755 | Pepin restores the royal monopoly of the currency |
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768 | Charlemagne rules as King of the Franks |
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768 | Pepin dies, kingdom divided between Carloman and Charlemagne |
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768 | Pepin subjugates Aquitaine |
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771 | Carloman dies, Charlemagne rules as sole king |
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773 | Charlemagne lays siege to the Lombards in Pavia. King Desiderius capitulates, Charlemagne is king of the Lombards |
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776 | Saxons submit to Frankish rule |
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778 | Charlemagne fights the Muslims in Spain, is halted at Saragossa. His retreat is narrated in the Chanson de Roland |
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781 | Charlemagne crowns his son Louis king of Aquitaine, and his son Pepin king of the Lombards |
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782 | Saxons rise against Charlemagne, he represses them severely, beheading 4500 in one day at Verdun |
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789 | Charlemagne issues his capitulary Admonitio generalis - governing the conduct of civil and ecclesiastical life |
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791 | Charlemagne begins expeditions against the Avars in the Danube basin |
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799 | Charlemagne institutes a policy of mass deportation of Saxons |
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799 | Vikings raid the Vendee |
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799 | Frankish expedition to Brittany fails to crush its independence |
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800 | Charlemagne crowned emperor by Pope Leo III (Leo III was restored to power by Charlemagne after a group of Roman nobles attempted to depose him) |
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800 | Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III |
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804 | Death of Alcuin, Charlemagne's closest advisor |
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811 | Charlemagne's eldest son, Charles, dies - leaving Louis sole heir to the throne |
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813 | Charlemagne has Louis crowned emperor |
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814 | Louis the Pious succeeds Charlemagne as emperor |
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814 | Charlemagne dies, leaving Louis I (the pious) emperor |
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817 | Louis' Ordinatio imperii appoints his son Lothair as successor, his son Pepin is given Aquitaine, and his son Louis (the German) is given Bavaria |
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823 | Louis has a son (Charles, known as the bald) with his new wife |
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829 | Assembly of Worms - Louis desires to divide the empire again, providing for Charles. He is met with opposition |
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830 | Uprising against Louis, led by Lothair and supported by many of the nobility and clergy, leads to civil war |
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833 | Lothair and his brothers depose Louis at the Champ du mensonge (Field of the Lie) |
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834 | Lothair is defeated and Louis reinstalled on the throne |
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838 | Pepin dies, Louis assigns Aquitaine to Charles the Bald (rather than Pepin's son) |
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839 | Louis again divides the empire - this time between Lothair and Charles, with Louis (the German) retaining Bavaria |
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840 | Louis the Pious dies, Lothair moves to take over the empire |
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841 | Louis the German and Charles the Bald unite to defeat Lothair at the battle of Fontenoy-en-Puisaye |
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842 | Oaths of Strasbourg - |
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843 | Treaty of Verdun partitions the Carolingian Empire |
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843 | Treaty of Verdun |
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844 | Pepin II rebels against Charles for possession of Aquitaine |
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845 | Vikings lay siege to Paris, Charles bribes them for peace |
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845 | Duke Nominoe of Brittany asserts Breton independence, defeats Charles at the battle of Ballon |
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851 | Treaty of Angers - Charles recognizes the right of Nominoe's son Erispoe to the title of king and confirms his possession of Retz, Nantes, and Rennes |
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855 | Charles recognizes Pepin II as prince of Aquitaine in exchange for recognition of sovereignty |
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855 | Lothair dies, the kingdom is divided between his sons Louis II (Italy and the title of emperor), Lothair II (Lotharingia), Charles (Provence) |
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856 | The Vikings begin major invasions along the Seine, the Loire and the Girone |
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858 | West Francia is invaded by Louis the German, Charles defeats him and keeps his throne |
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863 | Lothair's son, Charles, dies. His kingdom of Provence is divided between his brother Lothair II and Louis II |
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870 | Treaty of Mersen - Charles the Bald and Louis the German divide Lotharingia, absorbing the fragmented middle lands |
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875 | Louis II dies, Charles the Bald is crowned emperor by Pope John VIII |
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876 | Louis the German dies - his kingdom is divided between his sons, Louis the Young, Charles the Fat, and Carloman |
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877 | Charles the Bald dies, Louis II the Stammerer is crowned king |
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878 | Council of Troyes |
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879 | Louis the Stammerer is succeeded by his two sons Louis II and Carloman, who divide the kingdom. Boso, brother-in-law of Charles the Bald, declares himself king of Provence |
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881 | Louis III defeats the Vikings at Saucourt-en-Vimeu |
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882 | Louis III dies, leaving Carloman sole king of the West Franks |
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884 | The Vikings reach Paris in November |
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884 | Carloman dies, Charles III the Posthumous (4-year-old son of Louis the Stammerer) is sole heir to the throne. The nobles opt for Charles the Fat |
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885 | Count Eudes (Odo) defends Paris from the Vikings |
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887 | Charles the Fat is deposed in December, he dies a month later |
