The Merovingian dynasty was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gallo-Romans under their rule. They conquered most of Gaul, defeating the Visigoths (507) and the Burgundians (534), and also extended their rule into Raetia (537). In Germania, the Alemanni, Bavarii and Saxons accepted their lordship. The Merovingian realm was the largest and most powerful of the states of western Europe following the breakup of the empire of Theodoric the Great.
Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Frankish empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had been the northernmost part of Roman Gaul, and cities such as Cologne, Trier and Metz. It also stretched beyond the old Roman borders on the Rhine into Frankish areas which had never been formally under Roman rule. It came into being as a part of the Frankish empire founded by Clovis I (481–511). At the same time, the initial powerbase of Clovis himself was the more Romanized part of northern Gaul, lying southwest of Austrasia, which came to be known as Neustria.
The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks, who were fighting under Clovis I, and the Alamanni, whose leader is not known. The date of the battle has traditionally been given as 496, though other accounts suggest it may either have been fought earlier, in the 480s or early 490s, or later, in 506. The site of "Tolbiac", or "Tolbiacum", is usually given as Zülpich, North Rhine-Westphalia, about 60 km east of what is now the German-Belgian frontier. The Franks were successful at Tolbiac and established their dominance over the Alamanni.
The Kingdom of the Franks, also known as the Frankish Kingdom, the Frankish Empire or Francia, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle Ages. Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era.
Ripuarian or Rhineland Franks were one of the two main groupings of early Frankish people, and specifically it was the name eventually applied to the tribes who settled in the old Roman territory of the Ubii, with its capital at Cologne on the Rhine river in modern Germany. Their western neighbours were the Salii, or "Salian Franks", who were named already in late Roman records, and settled with imperial permission within the Roman Empire in what is today the southern part of the Netherlands, and Belgium, and later expanded their influence into the northern part of France north of the Loire river, creating the Frankish empire of Francia.
Alamannia, or Alemania, was the kingdom established and inhabited by the Alemanni, a Germanic tribal confederation that had broken through the Roman limes in 213.
Odilo, also Oatilo or Uatilo of the Agilolfing dynasty was Duke of Bavaria from 737 until his death in 748. He had the Lex Baiuvariorum compilation edited, the first ancient Germanic law collection of the Bavarians.
The Duchy of Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German Kingdom. It arose in the 10th century in the southwestern area that had been settled by Alemanni tribes in Late Antiquity.
The Council of Cannstatt, also referred to as the blood court at Cannstatt, was a council meeting at Cannstatt, now a part of Stuttgart, in 746 that took place as a result of an invitation by the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Carloman, the eldest son of Charles Martel, of all nobles of the Alemanni.
The Rammachgau was a Gau in southern Germany in present-day Baden-Württemberg. The Rammachgau was located in northern Upper Swabia.
Gundoin was the first Duke of Alsace in the middle of the seventh century. He was a Frankish nobleman from the Meuse-Moselle basin. He was, according to the author of the Vita Sadalbergae, an "illustrious man, opulent in wealth and fame according to the highest secular dignity and skilled in courtly affairs."
Theudebald or Theutbald was the Duke of Alamannia from 730 until his deposition. He was a son of Gotfrid and brother and co-ruler with Lantfrid from 709.
Willehari or Willihari was an Alemannic duke (dux) in the Ortenau in the early eighth century.
Cotefredus was the Duke of Alemannia in the late 7th century and until his death. He was of the house of the Agilolfing, which was the dominant ruling family in the Frankish Duchy of Bavaria.
Leutharis, Leuthari, Leuthard, or Leutharius II was the Duke of Alamannia in the early seventh century.
Rigunth, also known as Rigundis, was a Frankish princess, daughter of the Merovingian King Chilperic I and Fredegund.
Wisigard or Wisigardis was a Frankish Queen by marriage to Theudebert.
The Dux Belgicae secundae was a senior officer in the army of the Late Roman Empire who was the commander of the limitanei and of a naval squadron on the so-called Saxon Shore in Gaul.
Eugen Ewig was a German historian who researched the history of the early Middle Ages. He taught as a professor of history at the University of Mainz and the University of Bonn. In the second half of the 20th century, he was considered the foremost expert on the Merovingian dynasty.
The Luxembourg question refers to the political tensions surrounding the (Grand) Duchy of Luxembourg, particularly in the 19th century, but also earlier in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, when the present-day territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was ruled by different dynasties. The issue at stake in the Luxembourg question was the territorial affiliation and independence of Luxembourg, which was located between the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany.
