© Getty Images

The Early Middle Ages -

During the Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, a Western European people known as the Franks extended their power and influence from the Lower Rhine region to in and around present-day France.

© Getty Images

Myth and legend -

One legend describes the Merovingians as being descended from the Quinotaur, a type of sea beast. This story from Germanic mythology was taken to show that the royal dynasty had supernatural origin.

© Getty Images

Myth and legend -

However, this could have been a way to explain the surname, which means "sea-bull." There is no evidence that the Merovingians ever made the claim to be descended from God, as some other monarchies in Europe did.

© Getty Images

The myth of Merovech -

A figure of Merovingian myth, Merovech is claimed to be the ancestor of the Merovingian dynasty. If he did exist, there is debate about whether his father is a sea creature or a Frankish king named Chlodio.

© Getty Images

The "long haired kings" -

Traditionally, Frankish tribal leaders wore their hair long, while warriors wore theirs short. The Merovingians continued the long hair tradition, earning them the title of the "long hair kings" among their contemporaries.

© Getty Images

King Clovis (c. 466 CE - 511 CE) -

Clovis was the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. There were several, small petty Frankish kingdoms in existence in the 5th century, which under his rulership were brought together. For this reason, he's often viewed as the first Merovingian king.

© Getty Images

Battle of Tolbiac -

Clovis was just 15 years old when he succeeded his father. He led troops to victory at the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni in 496 CE, and later defeated the Visigoths of Toulouse in 507 CE.

© Getty Images

Conversion to Christianity -

Clovis realized he would find it difficult to rule Gaul without the clergy's help. He married a Nicene Christian wife, later being baptized himself. This set him apart from the Visigoth and Vandal kings of the time.

© Getty Images

Codification of Salic law (Lex Salica) -

Under the reign of Clovis, Salic Frank law was codified for the first time. It incorporated aspects of Christianity, as well as Salic legal and Roman tradition.

© Getty Images

Codification of Salic law (Lex Salica) -

The Lex Salica did not allow for the concept of new law; it was concerned with upholding tradition. It was not universal law, i.e. based on equity and applicable to all. Instead, it was applied to each man depending on his origin.

© Getty Images

Clovis' death -

On the death of Clovis, his kingdom was partitioned between his four sons, Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire.

© Getty Images

Clovis' death -

This tradition would lead to disunity between the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris, and Soissons until the end of the Merovingian dynasty in 751 CE.

© Getty Images

Clotaire I (c. 497 CE - 561 CE) -

Clotaire I, one of Clovis' sons, managed to reunite Francia by outliving his brothers, and seizing their territory after they died. He even had his nephews murdered as children, to prevent their claim to their fathers' lands. However, upon his death, Clotaire I left the Merovingian kingdom to his four sons, again leading to division.

© Getty Images

Charibert I (517 - 567 CE) -

Gregory of Tours, a Roman historian, recorded much of what is still known about the Merovingians. According to him, Charibert I was one of the most dissolute of them. He kept four wives, which led to his excommunication.

© Getty Images

Internal struggles -

Between 561 CE and 567 CE, the internal struggles in the family led to new political configurations, as land was partitioned. For example, Austrasia was created from the Rhine, Moselle, and Meuse districts, which had formerly been the Kingdom of Reims.

© Getty Images

Internal struggles -

The Merovingian kingdom was in an almost constant state of war, usually civil, from 511 CE onwards. Effective rulership was diminished, in sharp contrast to the first century of Merovingian rule, which established the Frankish state as the most stable and important in Western Europe.

© Getty Images

Childebert II (570 CE - 595/6 CE) -

Childebert II ruled over Austrasia (which included Provence, which was under Merovingian rule at the time). His father was assassinated when he was only five years old, and he was adopted by both Chilperic I of Paris and Burgundian king Guntrum. Childebert and his wife were poisoned in 596 CE.

© Getty Images

Clotaire II (584 CE -629 CE) -

The son of Chilperic I with his third wife was Clotaire II. He would carry on the family tradition of feuding.

© Getty Images

Clotaire II (584 CE -629 CE) -

One of the few Merovingians who practiced monogamy, Clotaire II unified the Franks once more and renewed a treaty of friendship between the Frankish kings and the kings of the Lombards (present-day northern Italy).

© Getty Images

Dagobert I (c. 605 CE - 639 CE) -

Dagobert I later came to be known as the last king to wield Merovingian power. Only 36 when he died, he would go down as one of the greatest Merovingian kings. He became immortalized in a nursery rhyme, Le bon roi Dagobert ('The Good King Dagobert').

© Getty Images

Clovis II (633 CE - 657 CE) -

Clovis II was the son of Dagobert I. He succeeded him to became the first of what are known as the roi fainéant, or "lazy kings."

© Getty Images

Clovis II (633 CE - 657 CE) -

During this time, the kings became dominated by the secular palace mayors. "There was nothing left the King to do but to be content with his name of King, his flowing hair, and long beard, to sit on his throne and play the ruler," one record states.

© Getty Images

Battle of Tertry (687 CE) -

Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia in 680, Pepin II, known as Pepin of Herstal, embarked on numerous wars to further the expansion of his power. Pepin's statesmanship was notable as it reduced Merovingian royal authority, and his victories in battle drew acceptance of the undisputed right to rule for his family.

© Getty Images

Battle of Tertry (687 CE) -

From the victory in the Battle of Tertry forward, the Pepin clan became senior figures in Francia. It paved the way for Pepin's heirs to see the beginning of the Carolingian dynasty.

© Getty Images

Kings of Francia -

Eventually, the Merovingians were supplanted by the Carolingian dynasty as kings of Francia. The Frankish realm was divided between east and west, with those to the west becoming known as the French.

© Getty Images

Childeric III (c. 717 CE - c. 754 CE) -

The last of the Merovingian kings was Childeric III, who was deposed in 751. Pepin the Short, the grandson of Pepin of Herstal, became the first Carolingian king.

© Getty Images

Merovingian legacy -

Building on the legacy of the Merovingian's dynasty, the Carolingians came to be the most important ruling dynasty in Western Europe.

© Getty Images

The coronation of Charlemagne -

Pepin the Short's oldest son with Bertrada of Laon, Charlemagne, would lead the expansion of the Carolingian dynasty. In 800 CE, Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III, the first emperor recognized as ruling Western Europe since the fall of the Romans.

© Getty Images

The Ecclesia -

Today in Luxeuil-les-Bains, The Ecclesia is an architectural showcase housing the Philippe Kahn Gallery and the Saint-Martin archaeological site with Merovingian tombs on display.

Sources: (Britannica) (World History Encyclopedia) (New World Encyclopedia) (World History)

See also: 30 things King Charles can do that you can't

© Getty Images