Political map of Europe in 771, showing the Franks and their neighbors in Charlemagne

The birth of Gallo-Roman-Germanic Europe,
a Europe of which Portugal is not, has never been, a part,
despite being currently subject to it.

The Franks: the Birth of Modern Europe

When the Roman Empire fell and the Franks, the barbarians, started uniting via alliances and conquests, no one could predict them to grow into a powerful kingdom that, thanks to outstanding kings — Charles Martell and Charlemagne — would conquer half of Europe. Watch the video to dive into the details of the Frankish conquest, their transformation from a kingdom into an empire, and the fall of this great power.

Carolingian Empire

The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the Roman Empire from the Byzantine Empire to Western Europe. The Carolingian Empire is sometimes considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

Charlemagne's additions to the Frankish Kingdom in Charlemagne

Treaty of Verdun (843)

The Treaty of Verdun (French: Traité de Verdun), agreed in August 843, divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms between Lothair I, Louis II and Charles II, the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and was the culmination of negotiations lasting more than a year. It was the first in a series of partitions contributing to the dissolution of the empire created by Charlemagne and has been seen as foreshadowing the formation of many of the modern countries of western Europe.
The treaty was the first of the four partition treaties of the Carolingian Empire, followed by the Treaties of Prüm (855), Meerssen (870), and Ribemont (880).

Partition of the Frankish Empire after the Treaty of Verdun 843.
From left to right: Francia Occidentalis, Francia Media, Francia Orientalis.

The Dissolution of the Frankish Empire

Apart from a successful insurrection by the Basques, attacks from Vikings and Arabs, and that Benevento definitely had slipped out of Frankish control, the Empire of Charlemagne was still intact until 843. South of Bavaria, direct rule over the Slavic principality of Karantania had been introduced in 828. Charlemagne himself had intended to divide his empire between his sons but only one of them, Louis the Pious, was alive when he died 814. Louis the Pious inherited the entire empire except Italy which was ruled by his nephew Bernhard, but Louis defeated him in 818. Unlike his father, Louis wanted to preserve the unity of the Frankish Empire. His younger sons were given kingdoms of their own, but they had to acknowledge their elder brother Lothair’s overlordship as Roman emperor. These vassal kingdoms were Aquitaine (Pepin) and Bavaria (Louis the German), both of them created in 817. A third kingdom (Swabia) was created in 829 to the youngest son Charles the Bald. The arrangement with the younger brothers having to be vassals to the eldest brother was a clear break against the Frankish tradition and civil war between the three surviving brothers broke out when Louis the Pious died in 840. The civil war resulted in the treaty of Verdun in which the Frankish empire was divided into three parts, Lothair got the middle kingdom and kept the title of emperor but without overlordship over his brothers. Pepin had died in 838 and his son Pepin II fought in vain to hold on to his father's kingdom of Aquitaine. He was finally defeated in 852.

Left and right, in light blue, loosely held territories.

Having been denied expansion to the south, the Gallo-Roman-Germans expanded eastward at the expense of the Western Slavs, the Balts and the Finns who, depending on the case, were exterminated, subjected and Germanized or simply subjected, a expansion that went well until they clashed with the Eastern Slavs who were Christianized by the Eastern Roman Empire.

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