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490
Clovis I
Clovis was the first king of Franks, he united all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He was the founder of the Merovingian kingdom of Gaul. He later on converted to Christianity because he thought it would beneficial to him to secure the loyalty of all the Frankish people. Clovis is considered to be the one that's responsible to spread Christianity in the Frankish Kingdom and perhaps the following of the Holy Roman Empire. -
687
Battle of Tertry
Pepin of Herstal Battle, who was the mayor of the Austrasian Palace, gained his revenge on the forces of Burgundy and Neustria which Battle of Tertry becomes the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of the Franks. Pepin reunified and reorganized the Frankish realm. -
718
Mayor of the Palace: Charles Martel
Charles Martel succeeds his father Pepin. Under this leadership, he was able to unite the lands of all the Franks under his rule which is historic for this time because due to the social hierarchy and religion at this time having a massive united land under one rule was impressive. -
732
Battle of Tours
Frankish leader Charles Martel, defeated a large army of Spanish Moors. This battle was highly significant for Christian Europeans because it halted the Muslim advance in Western Europe. If the Muslim had won, Western Europe might have became part of the Muslim Empire, Charle's Martel's victory at Tours made him a Christian hero. -
741
Death of Charles Martel
Upon his death, Charles Martel divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two sons, Peppin (the Short) III and Carloman. Shortly after, Carloman retired to religious life in 747 and Peppin became the ruler and first King to the Carolingians to become king. -
800
Coronation of Charlemagne
After his father, Pepin the Short, who died from a casualty in a war. Charles the Great is crowned by Pope Leo III to be the first Emperor. He's the cause of the rise of the Carolingian Empire. He founded the Holy Roman Empire, stimulated political and economic life and fostered the first Carolingian Renaissance and laid the foundation of Western Civilization -
814
Death of Charlemagne
Charlemagne died from pleurisy, he made important reforms in the military, the economic system, education, the church, writing, and politics. During his time of rule, he united most of Western Europe under a sole emperor since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He was succeeded by his son Louis. -
817
1st Paritition
Louis divided the territory of the empire to his three sons. Lothair his oldest son was proclaimed and crowned co-emperor. Pepin was proclaimed as King of Aquitaine and Louis the German, the youngest son was proclaimed king of Bavaria -
829
Second Partition
When Louis was remarried after his wife died he had a son and this caused Louis to give a portion of his other son Louis and gave this land to his new son. Then Louis of Bavaria did not appreciate his father giving away his land but after four years of war the father Louis gave his new son Charle's Pippin's kingdom instead -
843
Treaty of Verdun
This was the treaty that divided the Carolingian Kingdom into 3 separate parts between Louis's 3 sons. It ended the 3 years long Carolingian Civil war. Charles the Bald received the part that became France. Lothair received what became the Low Countries, Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence, and the Kingdom of Italy. Louis the German received the Kingdom of Germany, the largest part of the Holy Roman Empire. -
855
Lothair I Dies
The eldest son of Louis the Pious, he comes seriously ill and renounced the throne. The struggles between Lothair and his brothers divided and broke up the Frankish kingdom. He received the centermost portion due to the Treaty of Verdun, when Lothair died, the kingdom was divided among his three sons. -
870
Treaty of Mersen
This treaty was an agreement of the division of the Carolingian Empire by his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald. It divided the kingdom into east and west, the countries that became France and Germany. This redefined boundaries set in the Treaty of Verdun. -
876
Louis the German dies
Upon his death, his kingdom is divided between his three sons. Unlike the other events, this division was peaceful. Carolman got Bavaria, Louis got Saxony, Franconia, and Thuringia, and Charles the Fat got Swabia and Raetia. -
877
Death of Charles the Bald
At this point, Charles the Bald held the title of the Holy Roman Emperor and king of France. He got invaded not only by his brother, Louis of Bavaria, but outsiders as well including Vikings. He had to pay heavy sums to force them to retreat many times. He died from being ill while coming back to Gaul. -
888
Charles the Fat dies
Charles had started to reunited the Carolingian Empire again. At the beginning, he had been King in Alemania, but took over the kingdoms of his relatives as they died. He died from natural causes, and his death was then the end of the Carolingian Empire