after the great migration of peoples the map of Europe changed significantly in Western Europe on the lands of the Roman Empire new States emerged which historians called Barbarian kingdoms because power in these states was held by Germanic barbarians who had come from across the RH one such tribe were the Franks who were destined to lead the next epic in the history of Europe the name Frank comes from the protog Germanic fra meaning free from the very beginning of their existence the Franks were powerful and numerous as they represented an alliance of several smaller tribes over time all these tribes united into two alliances the Salan Franks who lived along the coast hence their name meaning Maritime in Frankish and the ripuarian Franks who lived along the rine their name comes from the name of the riverbank the leader who United the two alliances was the chief of the selan Frank Clovis who came from the maravian family through marriage diplomacy he successfully United the Franks in 485 and became their King that same year he began a war with the Gul Roman Kingdom of swason the following year he defeated the GS in a battle near their capital and captured their territories when the alaman invaded Frankish territory again in 496 Clovis defeated them in the Battle of tolak and then the Franks e easily subjugated half of the alaman lands in 500 Clovis attacked burgundy and won the battle at dijon the Franks established a protectorate over burgundy which remained nominally independent but Clovis greatest achievement was the war with the Visigoths using the pretext of intervening in the Affairs of burgundy the Frankish King invaded the visigothic kingdom in 507 won the Battle of weier and took all of Southern Gaul for himself which then constituted almost half of the visigothic lands Clovis expanded Frankish possessions several times over and is considered in history the founder and first king of France to strengthen his power Clovis carried out administrative reforms moved the capital to Paris and also wrote a code of laws but his most significant decision was the acceptance of Christianity under the Catholic right in opposition to aryanism which was then professed by the majority it of Germanic tribes and which in Rome itself was considered heresy a distorted version of Christianity thus Clovis achieved an alliance with the church which made it possible to consolidate power over the Franks for his dynasty the subsequent marians did not achieve the heights of Clovis the only success of his descendants was the temporary annexation of the dependent burgundy but only for the Franks to soon split into four kingdoms the kings of this dynasty were noted for their incompetent rule often preferring entertainment to state affairs it is not surprising that these rulers were dubbed by contemporaries as lazy Kings and while they sat on the throne power in the kingdoms began to be usurped by Aristocrats and administrators the position of Mayor of the palace was important for the nobility he managed the Royal Palace had access to the treasury the guard and all Royal decrees thus the mayors of the palace took over all practical power for a long time in Australia the position of mayors of the palace was held by two influential families from the union of which Pepin of Hall was born in 680 he inherited the position of Mayor of the palace from his father and through strength Intrigue and diplomacy managed to unite the four Frankish kingdoms after which he focused on campaigns against the frians Saxons and franconians which however did not bring him significant success pepin's inheritance was received by his illegitimate son Charles nicknamed Martell which means hammer it took him four years to seize power and put the puppet King chil peric the second on the throne however even after this the Franks constantly rebelled against him in 719 Charles Martell managed to conquer friia and by 7:30 he forcefully established a protector over almania theia and Bavaria in 732 Arabs invaded Frankish territory on the Iberian Peninsula under the command of ABD Al ramman and encountering Little Resistance Advanced to the banks of the lir their army numbered 30,000 soldiers but the main advantage was the presence of heavy Cavalry which allowed them to make strong and Swift strikes Martell gathered only 20,000 soldiers and moreover he did not have strong Cavalry to somehow neutralize the enemy's Advantage the Franks occupied a hill near potier and set up a fortified Camp there for a whole week the Arabs unsuccessfully stormed them and after the death of their Commander they were forced to retreat from the battlefield Charles Martell gained Fame as a Victor he a bastard ruler who had been constantly rebelled against now became a hero he used his new authority to carry out reforms even though the Franks defeated the Arabs on foot Martell appreciated the advantages of heavy Cavalry which easily broke through the Infantry formation and almost defeated his army therefore he decided to create his own Cavalry for this he began to distribute land to his vassals in exchange for the requirement to appear for war mounted on a horse and in heavy metal armor thus Charles Martell became the founder of European Cavalry which would play a dominant role on the battlefield for almost a thousand years equally important was the emerence of a new aristocratic family among the Franks named after its founder Charles the carolingians from Charles Martell the position of Mayor of the palace was inherited by his son Pepin nicknamed short for his short stature however this position did not suit him and pepen wanted the crown and he found an opportunity to get it in 751 the Pope in exchange for military assistance crowned Pepin the short the last king of the Franks from the maravian dynasty cherik III was forcibly tonsured into a monk in gratitude pepen began a war with the Lombards who interfered with the rule of the Pope in Italy in 755 he crossed the Alps and captured the Lombard Capital the next year the L Lombards besieged Rome pep and the short invaded Italy again where he defeated the Lombards under the walls of Rome and then handed over a number of lands to the pope called the Papal States this will go down in history as the donation of pepen pepen the short continued to try to expand his lands in 759 he captured narbon and the next year he had to suppress the uprising of the aquatan people aquatan was long reluctant to submit to the new Dynasty as soon as pepen left it for the winter the aquatain rebelled again and he had to come here with an army the following spring pepen spent the last 8 years of his Reign that way and he died during another campaign against the rebellious aquatan his eldest son Charlemagne successfully completed the campaign against aquatan mainly because he Enlisted the support of part of the rebellious nobility whom he promised land and wealth at the same time he finally annexed gasin to the Royal domains initially Charles had to share the throne with his younger brother who however died after 3 years of joint rule then the new king having the strongest army in Western Europe began what he had long dreamed of Conquest father of Charles managed to arrange a marriage for his son with the daughter of the Lombard King but in 771 Charlemagne broke off the marriage and sent the princess back to Italy angry desiderius declared war on the pope an ally of the Franks and the Pope in response called on Charlemagne for help in the Autumn of 773 Charlemagne gathered his Army near the Alps the Lombards also brought their troops there then on Charlemagne's orders part of the Frankish Army bypassed the enemy through little known Mountain paths and began to encircle them in in panic the Lombard Army dispersed and desiderius himself was forced to hide in pava which the Franks soon besieged in the spring of 774 leaving part of his troops for The Siege Charlemagne himself headed east where the second Lombard Army was gathering the unexpected approach of the Franks to Verona forced the Lombards to surrender without a fight after that Charlemagne went to Rome made an agreement with the Pope and returned to pava whose residents tired of hunger soon handed over their King to the Franks desiderius was forcibly tonsured as a monk and taken North and Charlamagne took the title of King of the Franks and Lombards and installed his son pepen to rule Italy while Charlamagne was fighting in the South the Saxons invaded austrasia and looted it in response the next year Charlamagne invaded Saxony and marched burning Saxon towns but before he could return home the Lombards rebelled against him and he had to return to Italy again Charlamagne quickly crushed the rebellion and returned to Conquering the Saxons in 777 the Saxons agreed to peace at pbor and recognized Frankish rule after subduing the north charag turned his attention to the lands that the Franks had long dreamed of the lands of the vizigo where the Arabs ruled at the time in 778 he crossed the Pyrenees and laid Siege to Zaragoza The Siege was difficult and when Charlemagne learned that an Arab Army was gathering near Barcelona to relieve Zaragoza he hurried home the retreat was covered by the nant margrave Roland he and his Squad fell into an ambush in Roso pass organized by the basks in Revenge for the Frankish burning of their cities roll became a symbol of nightly bravery and a hero of medieval literature the song of Roland became popular transforming him into the king's nephew and the Knight who heroically died in battle with the Arabs the failed campaign against the Arabs was evaluated by one of the Saxon leaders Vidant who was then hiding in Denmark in 779 he returned home for the first time and raised a rebellion Charlamagne invaded Saxony and suppressed this Rebellion reaching the elb with his army this time he not only defeated the rebel Saxons but also forcibly baptized them built churches and forts the most stubborn Saxons were forcibly resettled in aquatan Vidant however did not give up and spent 2 years preparing for a new Rebellion this time he conspired not only with the Saxons but also incited the frians and Lucan slobs to Rebel moreover he received help from the Duke of Bavaria who had long dreamed of getting rid of Frankish susar in 782 Vidant returned home again and the Saxon Uprising flared up with renewed Vigor the rebellious Saxons destroyed the built forts burned churches executed priests and mass refused baptism they also managed to lure the Frankish troops sent to suppress the Rebellion into an Ambush and defeated them in the Battle of CLE Mountain angry Charlemagne gathered troops in verden and brought there 4,500 Saxon hostages he ordered them all to be executed this event will go down in history as the massacre of verden after that Charlemagne marched with his army through the lands of the Saxons he barely avoided defeat in the battle near tiet Mali but defeated Vidant in the battle on the ha River however he still couldn't either defeat the rebellious army or capture their leader so Charlemagne founded the city of Frankfurt where he settled for the next 3 years from there he constantly raided the Saxons burning their towns in addition he expelled 7,000 inhabitants from Saxony in 785 vidin not wishing to continue the bloody war reconciled with Charlamagne and and even accepted Christianity after which he disappeared from the pages of history according to one Legend Vidant killed Charlemagne never forgiving him for the successful Rebellion according to another Legend Charlemagne made him the Duke of Saxony from whom the dynasty of the future tonians descended Charlemagne also did not forget the Betrayal of Telo III he also remembered that in his war against the Lombards the bavarians supported the latter moreover Scouts brought news that taco III conspired for a joint attack on the Franks with the avars in 788 ad Charlemagne concentrated three armies on the border with Bavaria the northern one was under the command of count Gerald of Franconia the southern one was led by his son pepen and the Western one was led by himself all three armies began to advance simultaneously and the bavarians couldn't even decide whom to March against Telo III capitulated without a fight and went into monasticism and Gerald became the new Duke of Bavaria now Bavarian while the Franks were conquering Bavaria the avars invaded Italy after plundering the friuli region they returned to the danu this became the reason for declaring war Charlamagne invaded the avar kaganate but barely avoided defeat himself and was forced to return home in 791 ad the Franks led by Gerald of Bavaria and Eric of friuli made a new already successful campaign they captured most of the avar fortresses and forced the avars to retreat beyond the danu in 796 with the help of the uprising of the Slavic hitan people against the avars Gerald and Eric managed to capture the avar ruler in 79 9 ad the Franks made another campaign in which both commanders Eric of fuli and Gerald of Bavaria died then prince pepen who took command of the Franks ordered all avars to be slaughtered thus Exterminating their entire nation during the war with the avars Charlamagne refused to lead the armies preferring life in the capital and political reforms despite this in 792 ad he had to supress a rebellion led by his illegitimate son Pepin The Hunchback in 793 ad Saxony rebelled against him again and he had to March there once more after this the Saxons rebelled three more times but these rebellions were suppressed by Charlemagne's Dukes in 799 ad the Franks subdued Britany in 801 ad charlamagne's son Prince Louie who ruled aquatan invaded through the Pyrenees captured Barcelona and then subjugated the Bas however Charlemagne's main achievement during these years was obtaining a new title he used as a pretext the fact that in Byzantium in 797 Emperor Serene came to power according to the Franks a woman cannot be Emperor this is how Charlemagne decided to become the new emperor the pope who was expelled by the Romans in 799 ad supported Charlemagne in exchange for him returning Rome under the power of Pope thus in 800 ad on Christmas Day the 25th of December Charlamagne the great was crowned emperor of Rome and the Frankish Kingdom became an Empire tragic for Charlemagne was the year 810 when an epidemic took the lives of his two eldest Sons therefore all his lands were inherited by his third son Louie who became the new emperor upon his father's death in 814 ad his first decision was to expel almost all the courtly women including his sisters to the monastery for which he was called the pious however Louis the pius's entire Reign was marked by rebellions in 817 ad his nephew Bernard of Italy rebelled against him he agreed to negotiations with the emperor but he was captured and blinded which which led to his death the next year Britany rebelled against Louie but the rebellion was brutally suppressed in 822 ad the Britain rebelled again and lasted in war for 3 years in 830 ad they rebelled once more and this time won practical Independence which however the Franks recognized only 20 years later in 8:30 ad Louie faced a rebellion from his own children they captured their father and and forced him to renounce power but a year later they started a war among themselves and released their father returning him to the throne so that he could decide their fate in 837 ad aquatan rebelled against Louie led by his own grandson who proclaimed himself king of aquatan Louie was unable to suppress the aquatan Rebellion upon the death of Louis the pi in 840 ad his sons again started a war for their father's inheritance none of them had enough strength for a decisive battle and victory therefore in 843 ad the brothers signed the Treaty of veran under which they divided the Frankish Empire among themselves thus the Empire ceased to exist although ler continued to call himself Emperor it was only a formal title the carolingians continued to fight among themselves and their possessions became prototypes of European States L's lands became Italy in the future Lou's lands Germany Charles lands formed France and the strip of land in the middle later called lotharingia became the subject of disputes and Wars until the 20th century [Music]