List of Frankish kings

A page from Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum

The Franks were originally led by dukes (military leaders) and reguli (petty kings). The Salian Merovingians rose to dominance among the Franks and conquered most of Roman Gaul. They also conquered the Gaulish territory of the Visigothic Kingdom in 507. The sons of Clovis conquered the Burgundians and Alamanni. They acquired Provence and made the Bavarii and Thuringii their clients. The Merovingians were later replaced by a new dynasty called the Carolingians in the 8th century. By the end of the 9th century, the Carolingians themselves were replaced throughout much of their realm by other dynasties. The idea of a "King of the Franks" or Rex Francorum gradually disappeared over the 12th and 13th centuries.

A timeline of Frankish rulers is difficult since the realm was, according to old Germanic practice, frequently divided among the sons of a leader upon his death and then eventually reunited.

Dukes and reguli

Early rulers and Ripuarians

This list of early rulers is incomplete, as our sources leave open many gaps.

Rulers of the Salians

All of the following may have been related to Clovis in some degree and eventually removed by before 509:

Merovingian kings of the Franks

All the Franks
Image	Name	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Reign	Relationship with predecessor
	Clovis I	c. 466	27 November 511	509–511 (481–511)[1]	N/A

Clovis I united all the Frankish petty kingdoms as well as most of Roman Gaul under his rule, conquering the Domain of Soissons of the Roman general Syagrius as well as the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse. He took his seat at Paris, which along with Soissons, Reims, Metz, and Orléans became the chief residences. Upon his death, the kingdom was split among his four sons:

Soissons		Paris		Orléans		Reims
Picture	Name	Picture	Name	Picture	Name	Picture	Name
	Chlothar I 511–561 (Clotaire r. 511–558) (Neustria)[1]		Childebert I 511–558 (Neustria)[1]		Chlodomer 511–524 (Neustria)[1]		Theuderic I (Thierry I r. 511–534) (Austrasia)[1] 511–534 [2]
				Passed to Paris then to Soissons
							Theudebert I 534–548 (Austrasia)[1]
							Theudebald 548–555 (Austrasia)[1]
		Passed to Soissons in 558				Passed to Soissons in 555

Chlothar I eventually (558-561)^[1] inherited all of the Frankish kingdoms after the deaths of his brothers or their successors. After his own death, the kingdom was once again split among his four sons:

Soissons (eventually Neustria)		Paris		Orléans (eventually Burgundy)		Reims and Metz (eventually Austrasia)
Picture	Name	Picture	Name	Picture	Name	Picture	Name
	Chilperic I 561–584 (Neustria)[1]		Charibert I 561–567 (Caribert r. 561–593) (Neustria)[1]		Guntram 561–592 (Gontran r. 561–570) (Neustria)[1] [3]		Sigebert I 561–575 (Austrasia)[1]
		Partitioned in 567, eventually falling in the hands of Soissons
							Childebert II 575–595
	Chlothar II 584–629 (Clotaire II, son of Chilperic, r. 584-628)[1]
				Passed to Reims and Metz in 592
					Theuderic II 595–613	-	Theudebert II 595–612
						Passed to Orléans in 612 then to Soissons
				-	Sigebert II 613
				Passed to Soissons in 613
							Dagobert I 623–629 (r. 628–638)[1]

Chlothar II defeated Brunhilda and her grandson, reunifying the kingdom. However, in 623, in order to appease particularistic forces and also to secure the borders, he gave the Austrasians his young son as their own king. His son and successor, Dagobert I, emulated this move by appointing a sub-king for Aquitaine, with a seat at Toulouse, in 629 and Austrasia in 634.

Neustria, Austrasia & Burgundy		Aquitaine
Picture	Name	Picture	Name
	Dagobert I 629–634		Charibert II 629–632
			Chilperic 632
		autonomy until c. 767.

Neustria and Burgundy		Austrasia
Picture	Name	Picture	Name
	Dagobert I 634–639		Sigebert III 634–656/660
	Clovis II 639–655
	Chlothar III 655–673	-	Childebert the Adopted 656–661
		Inherited by Chlothar III, but given to Childeric II in 662.
			Childeric II 662–675 Unified rule from 673–675
	Theuderic III 673
	Childeric II 673–675 Displaced Theuderic III until his death in 675
	Theuderic III 675–691 Unified rule after 679
			Clovis III 675–676
			Dagobert II 676–679
		Passed to Neustria and Burgundy

Theuderic III was recognized as king of all the Franks in 679. From then on, the kingdom of the Franks can be treated as a unity again for all but a very brief period of civil war. This is the period of the "idle kings" who were increasingly overshadowed by their mayors of the palace.

Image	Name	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Reign	Relationship with predecessor
	Theuderic III	c. 654	12 April 691	679–691	N/A
	Clovis IV	c. 678	c. 695	691–695	son of
	Childebert III	c. 670/683	23 April 711	695–711	brother of
	Dagobert III	c. 699	31 December 715	711–715	son of
	Chilperic II	c. 672	13 February 721	715–720	first cousin once removed of
	Chlothar IV	?	c. 719	717–718 rival puppet king in Austrasia	relative of
	Theuderic IV	c. 712	16 March/30 April 737	720–737	son of Dagobert III
interregnum 737–743
	Childeric III	c. 717	c. 754	743–752	relative of

Carolingians

Mayors of the palace

The Carolingians were initially mayors of the palace under the Merovingian kings, first in Austrasia and later in Neustria and Burgundy. In 687, Pippin of Heristal took the title Duke and Prince of the Franks (dux et princeps Francorum) after his conquest of Neustria in at the Battle of Tertry, which was cited by contemporary chroniclers as the beginning of Pippin's reign. Between 715 and 716, the descendants of Pippin disputed the succession.

• Pippin I of Landen (Austrasia: 623–629 and 639–640)
• Grimoald I (Austrasia: 643–656; died 662)
• Pippin II of Herstal (Austrasia: 680–714, Neustria and Burgundy: 687–695)
• Drogo (Burgundy: 695–708)
• Grimoald II (Neustria: 695–714, Burgundy: 708–714)
• Theudoald (Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy: 714–716)
• Charles Martel (Austrasia: 715–741, Neustria and Burgundy: 718–741)
• Carloman (Austrasia: 741–747; died 754 or 755)
• Pippin the Younger (Neustria and Burgundy: 741–751, Austrasia: 747–751)

In March 752,^[4][5] Pippin III became the King of the Franks and the office of mayor disappeared. The Carolingians displaced the Merovingians as the ruling dynasty.

Kings of the Franks

• Pepin the Younger, 752–768
• Carloman I, 768–771 (Burgundy, Alemannia, southern Austrasia)
• Charles I, called Charlemagne, 768–814 (at first only Neustria, Aquitaine, northern Austrasia), King of the Lombards 774, Emperor 800
  • Duke of Maine: Charles the Younger, 790–811
  • Italy: Pepin of Italy, 781–810; Bernard of Italy, 810–817
  • Aquitaine: Louis the Pious, 781–814
• Louis I, called the Pious, Emperor and King of the Franks with Charlemagne 813–814, senior from 814–840
  • Italy: Lothair I, 817–855
  • Bavaria: Louis the German, 817–843
  • Aquitaine: Pepin I, 817–838; Charles the Bald, 838–855, in opposition to Pepin II, 838–851

Louis the Pious made many divisions of his empire during his lifetime. The final division, pronounced at Worms in 838, made Charles the Bald heir to the west, including Aquitaine, and Lothair heir to the east, including Italy and excluding Bavaria, which was left for Louis the German. However, following the emperor's death in 840, the empire was plunged into a civil war that lasted three years. The Frankish kingdom was then divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Lothair was allowed to keep his imperial title and his kingdom of Italy, and granted the newly created Kingdom of Middle Francia, a corridor of land stretching from Italy to the North Sea, and including the Low Countries, the Rhineland (including Aachen), Burgundy, and Provence. Charles was confirmed in Aquitaine, where Pepin I's son Pepin II was opposing him, and granted West Francia (modern France), the lands west of Lothair's Kingdom. Louis the German was confirmed in Bavaria and granted East Francia (modern Germany), the lands east of Lothair's kingdom.

The following table does not provide a complete listing for some of the various regna of the empire, especially those which were subregna of the Western, Middle, or Eastern kingdom such as Italy, Provence, Neustria, and Aquitaine.

References

Further reading

External links

• "Merovingian dynasty". Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2011.