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Middle Ages

Social system and rule under the Merovingians

The king was the ruler of the state and kingship was elective, but the only possible candidates were descendants of the Merovingian dynasty. Since...

Kingdom of the Burgundy (406-534)

The Burgundians were an east-Germanic tribe. Firstly they were settling around the Baltic Sea, and on the island Bornholm. They were driven from the...

Vandals (165-536 AD)

The Vandals were a east-Germanic tribe. They were settling around the Oder River area in the first century. They had two main groups, the...

Feudalism and the role of villages in the early middle ages

Feudalism, in a stricter sense, represents a system of rights and obligations that is founded on the ownership of land, and the personal relations...

Carolingian Dynasty (714-768)

Charles Martel (714 – 741) Pepin of Herstal died in 714 after uniting the Frankish state. His son Grimoald II died during Pepin’s lifetime. Nevertheless,...

Charlemagne or Charles the Great (768 – 814) – King of the Franks

Pepin the Short died in 768. Shortly before his death he decided that his son Charles would rule over Austrasia and Neustria, while his...

The Visigoths in Hispania, Kingdom of Toledo (555-633 AD)

The Visigoths were mostly pushed out of Gaul by the mid-6th century, and their interest shifted to the Iberian Peninsula. The peninsula was inhabited...

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