(1) Germanic Kingdoms: Political History (All Tribes and Subtribes)

Fictional Images added where necessary

18 BCE - 21 CE - Arminius (All Facts) 

• Leader of the Cherusci tribe

• He and his Cherusci forces defeated Varus and the Romans in the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest in 9 CE

• He and his Cherusci forces were defeated by Germanicus and the Romans in the Battle of the Weser River in 16 CE

0s CE - 37 CE - Maroboduus (All Facts) 

• Leader of the Marcomanni tribe

• Migrated south from Germany

• Built up a kingdom in the land of Bohemia 

• Sought refuge on Roman territory after internal troubled in his kingdom in Bohemia were stirred up by the Romans 

• Met with the Romans at Ravenna after the Romans had stirred up trouble in his native Bohemia

0s CE - Gaius Julius Civilis (All Facts)

• Leader of the Batavi tribe

• He led his namesake revolt against Rome or “War of Liberation” in 69 CE

200s CE - Cniva (All Facts)

• Gothic King who invaded the Roman Empire and defeated and killed the Emperor Decius of the Roman Empire and his son in the Battle of Abrittus in 251

296 - 376 - Ermanaric (All Facts) 

• King of the Ostrogoths

• He committed suicide when he and his forces were defeated by the Huns after they had invaded his land in modern-day Ukraine 

369 - 381 - Athanaric (All Facts)

• Founder of the Visigothic Kingdom

370s - Fritigern (All Facts) 

• King of the Visigoths who led them to defeat Emperor Valens and the Romans in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, one of the most humiliating defeats for Rome in Roman history 

400s - 406 - Radagaisus (All Facts) 

• King of the Goths 

• Led the Goths in 

  • 406 - The Battle of Fiesole, where they were defeated by Stilicho and the Romans 

400s - Hengest / Horsa (All Facts)

• Legendary Germanic brothers who led the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in their invasion of Great Britain in the 400s

• The former is considered the first King of the Jutes and the first King of Kent

400s - Vortigern (All Facts)

• Legendary Saxon leader

• Hired 140 Saxon warriors to combat Pictish raiders from the north

400s - Coroticus (All Facts)

• Ancient English King who is the subject of St. Patrick’s “Epistola”

418 - 721 - Visigothic Kingdom (All Facts)

• Founded by Wallia

• First Barbarian Successor Kingdom of the Western Roman Empire

• It covered modern-day southwestern France and most of modern-day Spain and Portugal 

• It maintained independence against the Byzantine Empire for over 300 years

395 - 531 - Balti Dynasty of the Visigoths (All Facts)

• First Dynasty of the Visigothic Kingdom 

• Dynasty of Visigoths characterized by their rulers being Arian Christians

• Dynasty of Visigoths that included the reigns of many notable kings including

  • Alaric

  • Athaulf

  • Wallia 

395 - 410 - Alaric (All Facts) 

• 1st King of the Visigoths 

• Led the Visigoths in

  • 402 - The Siege of Asti, where he defeated the Romans and took that city 

  • 402 - The Battle of Verona, where they were defeated by Stilicho and the Romans

  • 410 - Sack of Rome, where they took and pillaged Rome 

411 - 415 - Athaulf (All Facts) 

• 3rd King of the Visigoths 

• He was Alaric’s brother-in-law

• He married Galla Placidia, the sister of Emperor Honorius of Rome, in 414, after she was held hostage by his predecessor and brother-in-law Alaric

• He led the Visigoths into Gaul and seized the southwestern part of the region in 412

• He struck a deal with Emperor Honorius of Rome but the Emperor broke his word after striking the deal

  • In response, he and the Visigoths invaded and occupied Narbonne, Toulouse, and Bordeaux 

• He struck another deal with Emperor Honorius in which he would marry the Emperor’s sister Galla Placida, which briefly restored good relations between him and the Emperor

  • He married the Roman princess Galla Placida in the hopes of establishing a joint Roman-Visigothic Union, but their infant son died and this plan failed

  • After this, another quarrel eventually broke out between him and the Emperor and Emperor Honorius and his Roman forces drove Athaulf and the Visigoths into Spain, where famine awaited them 

• After this, he was murdered by his own people and they proclaimed a new king, King Wallia

415 - 418 - Wallia (All Facts)

• 4th King of the Visigoths 

• He struck a deal with Emperor Honorius and the Romans in which he and the Visigoths could establish their own kingdom

  • In exchange, provided with funds from the empire, he and the Visigoths were to defend the Atlantic Coast from raids by Saxon pirates for the Roman Empire and not to invade or attack Western Rome anymore 

  • This led to him establishing the Visigothic Kingdom

• He was the first barbarian to set up an independent barbarian successor state within the borders of the Roman Empire

  • The kingdom’s holdings at the time included the lands that comprised the Roman province of Aquitaine, which included modern-day Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France

• He established peaceful coexistence between the Visigoths and Aquitaine’s preexisting ruling class given that the Visigoths were Arian Christians and the preexisting ruling class which consisted of an old aristocracy that combined Roman and Gallic stock were non-Arian Christians 

409 - 585 - Suebi Kingdom (All Facts)

• They occupied parts of modern-day Spain

• Were led by

  • Rechiarus

• Converted to Nicene Christianity by St. Martin of Braga in the 560s 

• Conquered by Liuvigild and the Visigoths in 585 

415 - 456 - Rechiar (All Facts)

• King of the Suebi

• He and his Suevic forces were eventually defeated and killed by Theodoric II and the Visigoths and their allies in the Gothic War in Spain

418 - 451 - Theodoric (All Facts) 

• 5th King of the Visigoths 

• Died heroically fighting against Atilla and the Huns and successfully preventing them from invading Gaul in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451

411 - 534 - Burgundian Kingdom / First Kingdom of Burgundy / Kingdom of the Burgundians (All Facts)

• Kingdom of the namesake Germanic tribe

  • Kingdom in which many of its rulers started out as Roman / Byzantine “Masters of Soldiers” in Roman / Byzantine military service 

• When it began, it covered modern-day Switzerland and southeastern France

• By the reign of Gundobad, it covered much of eastern Gaul and had two capitals at Lyon and Geneva

• It was conquered and absorbed by the Franks

400s - 480 - Chilperic (All Facts)

• King of the Burgundians

• His brother was Gondioc

420 - 473 - Gondioc (All Facts)

• Under his authority, the foundations were laid for the later Burgundian kingdom

  • He established the Burgundian Kingdom as a leftover of the surviving Burgundians who had crossed the Rhine in 406 and were nearly destroyed by the Romans and Huns shortly after that

  • In 451, he led the Burgundian forces during the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields

  • Around 455, he led the Burgundian people together with his brother Chilperic I

454 - 567 - Gepid Kingdom (All Facts)

• Founded by Ardaric 

425 - 464 - Ardaric (All Facts)

• Led the Gepids and an alliance of other peoples within the Hunnic Empire and revolted against and defeated the sons of Atilla the Hun and their allies in the Battle of Nedao in 454

453 - 466 - Theodoric II (All Facts)

• 7th King of the Visigoths 

• He and his forces, supported by Emperor Avitus and the Roman Empire, along with Burgundian and Frankish troops, fought against and defeated King Rechiarus and the Suebi in the Gothic War in Spain 

  • As a result, he and the Visigoths seized parts of modern-day (Roman) Spain, to be added to the Visigothic Kingdom

• He supported Emperor Avitus of the Western Roman Empire and the Romans in general until the death of Avitus, in which he began to operate more independently thereafter 

435 - 534 - Vandal Kingdom (All Facts) 

• Founded by Gaiseric 

• Second Barbarian Successor Kingdom of the Western Roman Empire

• It covered parts of modern-day North Africa and parts of the Mediterranean

• Kingdom characterized by their rulers being Arian Christians

• Kingdom characterized by its continuation of Roman law and continuation of the preexisting administration being largely maintained by Romans, to the profit of the namesake group 

• It maintained independence for 99 years

• Of all the Germanic Kingdoms that overtook the Roman Empire, they probably had the least lasting impact

428 - 477 - Gaiseric (All Facts)

• First King of the Vandals who founded the Vandal Kingdom; he

  • Led 80K Vandals, 15K of which were warriors, across the Straits of Gibraltar, from Spain into North Africa

  • Sacked and looted city after city until he reached Carthage, which he promptly took from the Romans 

  • Caused a devastating blow to Rome, since North Africa was its main source for wheat and thus for bread 

  • Was formally granted the lands he taken by Rome in a desperate attempt by them to appease him not to take anymore, but that did not quell his ambitions

  • Confiscated Roman estates throughout Carthage and Roman Africa in which he and his men lived in unprecedented luxury and idleness as a result

• He

  • Led the Vandals to besiege and capture Hippo in 430

  • Led the Vandals against Flavius Aetius in the Vandal Wars, in which he successfully defended his established kingdom against several Roman attempts to take back North Africa

  • Signed a peace treaty with Valentinian III and the Romans, with the approval of Theodosius II, ending the Vandal Wars

    • It granted the namesake full rights to be an independent ruler over most of the Roman province of Africa (Tunisia and Western Libya), leading to the formation of the Vandal Kingdom 

    • In exchange, the namesake agreed to give Sicily, Numidia, and Mauretania (Morocco and Algeria) back to Rome

  • Oversaw the construction of a fleet of fast ships, which he made in attempt to try to control the western Mediterranean

  • Led the Vandals and oversaw the Second Sack of Rome, in which he and his forces 

    • Defeated the Romans and take the namesake heart of the Roman Empire, pillaging it for two weeks straight, upon the death of Valentinian III

    • Seized 

      • The remainder of Roman North Africa 

      • Sardinia and Corsica 

      • Spoils taken by Titus from  Jerusalem back in 70 CE 

      • Thousands of captives

      • Empress Eudoxia and her daughters 

    • Took Rome due to their powerful fleet 

      • Despite being his ally, Gaiseric took Valentinian III’s murder as a sign that all treaty obligations with him were nullified 

      • After this, the fleet roamed freely throughout the western Mediterranean ready to take more land and booty 

  • Led the Vandals in conquering Sicily

• He oversaw a violent persecution against (non-Arian) Nicene Christians (Catholics)

  • Romans who held office in the administration of the Vandal Kingdom were expected to convert to Arianism 

  • Targeted and persecuted the Nicene clergy 

  • Exiled many Christian bishops to Sardinia in an attempt to break the powerful hold the clergy had on the people the Vandals ruled over 

  • Prohibited conversion to Nicene Christianity 

• He adopted a policy of weakening the Roman senatorial class in which he oversaw the confiscation of large tracts of Roman land 

• Despite his oppressive anti-Roman / anti-Christian reign, he absorbed Roman culture as much as other barbarian successor state rulers / kings 

  • The population continued to live under Roman law and the existing administration was largely still maintained by Romans, to the profit of the Vandals

• Died in the province of Africa and was succeeded by his son 

457 - 481 - Childeric (All Facts)

• Leader of the Franks

• He led a Frankish section of the Roman army, having established the Frankish foothold to which his son and successor had added onto

• He died at his capital Tournai

• He was succeeded by his son

466 - 484 - Euric (All Facts)

• 8th King of the Visigoths

  • He is granted legal tenure of his conquests by Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos

• He ruled the largest and most powerful of the Barbarian Kingdoms in Europe at the time 

  • Under his reign, the Visigoths controlled southwestern Gaul and most of Spain, except for the Suebi Kingdom in the northwest of Spain

  • He conquered the remainder of southern Gaul, up to the Italian frontier

• He issued his namesake law code to demonstrate he was just as good of a ruler as a Roman Emperor, it 

  • Was the first document published that recorded in writing Visigothic (German) law(s) into Latin 

  • Helped reassure his subjects that the Visigothic Kingdom was administered according to the rule of law  

  • Dealt with issues such as land tenure

• He heavily persecuted Nicene Christians

  • He exiled bishops

  • He forbade cities with exiled bishops to ordain successors

477 - 484 - Huneric (All Facts)

• 2nd King of the Vandals

• He was an Arian Christian

• He oversaw a violent persecution against (non-Arian) Nicene Christians (Catholics)

  • Some Nicene Christians were executed for refusing to convert to Arianism 

  • Many Nicene bishops were banished to Corsica 

  • Influential Nicene Romans were exiled to the Sahara Desert 

  • Romans who held office in the administration of the Vandal Kingdom were expected to convert to Arianism 

  • Targeted and persecuted the Nicene clergy 

  • Exiled many Christian bishops to Sardinia in an attempt to break the powerful hold the clergy had on the people the Vandals ruled over 

  • Prohibited conversion to Nicene Christianity 

• He adopted a policy of weakening the Roman senatorial class in which he oversaw the confiscation of large tracts of Roman land 

• Despite his oppressive anti-Roman / anti-Christian reign, he absorbed Roman culture as much as other barbarian successor state rulers / kings 

  • The population continued to live under Roman law and the existing administration was largely still maintained by Romans, to the profit of the Vandals

484 - 507 - Alaric II (All Facts)

• 9th King of the Visigoths

• He sponsored the creation of a compilation of Roman law known as the “Breviarium” (“Summary”) which

  • Reassured nervous Romans that their legal rights were protected

  • Was his attempt to pacify the Roman population during his reign

  • Was inspired by the Theodosian Code 

• He was known for his softness towards Nicene Christians

  • He allowed Nicene bishops to hold councils

• He and his forces were defeated by Clovis and the Franks, who had help from Gundobad and the Burgundians, in the Battle of Vouille in 507

  • After this battle, he and the Visigoths lost nearly all of their territory in Gaul and were pushed back to Spain while the Franks took Aquitaine

  • He was also killed

  • His only son Amalaric was too young to rule, so Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths temporarily served as regent and successor to him 

473 - 516 - Gundobad (All Facts)

• King of the Burgundians 

• He issued his “Lex Burgunidonum” legal code, which brought the Romans and Burgundians under the same law

  • Influenced by Roman law, it dealt with domestic laws concerning marriage and inheritance as well as regulating the Germanic practice of “weregild” and other penalties 

• Under his reign, their kingdom extended over much of eastern Gaul and had two capitals, with one at Lyon and the other at Geneva 

• He and his forces allied with Clovis and the Franks, in which they defeated Alaric II and the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouille in 507, pushing them back to Spain 

• He died after having shared power with his son, who succeeded him

496 - 523 - Thrasamund (All Facts) 

• 4th King of the Vandals 

516 - 524 - St. Sigismund of Burgundy (All Facts)

• King of the Burgundians 

• Established Nicene Christianity (Catholicism) in place of Arianism amongst his people, who up to that point were Arian 

• He was killed by Chlodomer and Theuderic and the Franks

• His death was avenged by his successor

493 - 553 - Ostrogothic Kingdom (All Facts)

• Founded by Theodoric the Great 

• Were the most powerful nation in western Europe following their annexation of southeastern Gaul in the beginning of the 500s

  • Move which was made with the aim of containing Clovis and the Franks

• Kingdom which stretched from Gaul to Illyricum (modern-day Yugoslavia) and eventually modern-day Spain

• Kingdom in which

  • Goths

    • Were Arian Christians 

    • Ran the army

    • Owned a third of Italy 

  • Romans

    • Were Nicene Christians

    • Ran the civil service 

    • Enjoyed traditional powers 

493 - 526 - Theodoric the Great (All Facts) 

• First King of the Ostrogoths who founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom 

  • He was the son of King Theodomir

• 11th King of the Visigoths, he served as regent for them 

• His rise to power followed a series of events including

  • After threatening Constantinople for many years, he was bought off by the emperor and made a general and consul by the Emperor in 484 

  • Paid by Byzantine Emperor Zeno to expel King Odoacer from Italy in 489 

  • He defeated Odoacer and his forces in the Battle of Verona in 489

  • He besieged Odoacer and his forces in the Siege of Ravenna in 490 

  • He persuaded Odoacer to surrender after the siege by offering him a share in government in 493 

  • When Odoacer agreed, he promptly murdered him at a banquet, thus fulfilling his mission brought onto him by Byzantine Emperor Zeno in 493  

  • This all led to the Ostrogoths gaining control of and establishing their kingdom within Italy in 493 

  • He then received imperial insignia of the West by Byzantine Emperor Anastasius for his accomplishments in taking and becoming the Emperor’s representative in Italy in 497 

  • He had his grandson Amalaric rule Spain with him governing as regent by 508 

• He united his fellow tribesman

• He respected Roman customs 

  • For this, he was hailed in Italy as the “most glorious king”

• He and his forces

  • Drove the Franks out of Provence (in Gaul) and took it over

  • Recovered Septimania (Languedoc) for the Visigoths

• He imprisoned his minister Boethius on the charge of plotting with the Byzantine Emperor

• Died of dysentery

• His daughter Amalasuntha became regent for his young son and successor 

523 - 530 - Hilderic (All Facts) 

• 5th King of the Vandals

• He was supported by the Byzantine Emperor but disliked by many fellow Vandals due to his sympathy for Nicene Christianity / Christians 

• He lifted the restrictions on Nicene Christianity and worship

• Under his reign, ordinary Vandals began to convert to Nicene Christianity

• He was imprisoned and succeeded by his cousin

524 - 534 - Godomar II (All Facts)

• King of the Burgundians

• He and his Burgundian forces avenged the death of his predecessor and defeated Chlodomer and the Franks in the Battle of Vezeronce in 524

526 - 534 - Athalaric / Amalasuntha (All Facts) 

• 2nd King of the Ostrogoths

• His mother ruled as regent 

• He lived a hedonistic lifestyle and died as a teenager  

• His mother was strangled by his (her) successor, which gave Justinian of the Byzantine Empire pretext to invade the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy 

530 - 534 - Gelimer (All Facts) 

• 6th and Final King of the Vandals 

• He reinstituted a staunch Arianism among the Vandals 

• He was defeated by Belisarius and the Byzantines in the Vandalic War in 534, having lost control of North Africa to them

• This thus ended the Vandal Kingdom 

534 - 536 - Theodahad (All Facts) 

• 3rd King of the Ostrogoths

• He had his wife and predecessor strangled, which gave Justinian of the Byzantine Empire a pretext to invade the Ostrogoths and their Kingdom in Italy 

• Inactive, he is deposed by the Ostrogoth people, who elected a general to replace / succeed him 

536 - 540 - Vitiges (All Facts) 

• 4th King of the Ostrogoths 

• Elected by the Ostrogoth people to replace his cruel predecessor, he was an Ostrogothic general 

• He led the Ostrogoths against the Byzantines in the Gothic War, in which he

  • 537 - Besieged Rome

  • 538 - Abandoned his Siege of Rome

  • 539 - Captured and destroyed Milan, massacring its men and enslaving its women

• He was taken back by Belisarius to Constantinople after the Siege of Ravenna in 540, forcing the Ostrogoths under him to elect a new king to succeed him 

481 - 843 - Frankish Kingdom / Francia (All Facts) 

• Founded by Clovis

• Established by the namesake Germanic people, who had reached the northern edge of Gaul by 350

• It was the largest Barbarian Successor State / Kingdom in Post-Roman Western Europe

  • In 534, they controlled all of Gaul except Visigothic Septimania (Languedoc) and Armorica (Brittany)

  • In 541, they attacked the Visigothic Kingdom in northern Spain but were driven back at Saragossa

481 - 751 - Merovingian Dynasty (All Facts)

• Dynasty of the German Frankish Kingdom founded by Clovis

• It was the largest and most powerful of the states of western Europe following the breakup of the empire of Theodoric the Great

  • They conquered most of Gaul

    • 507 - Defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouille, conquering all of Gaul except for southeastern Gaul

    • 534 - Defeated the Burgundians

    • 537 - Subdued Raetia

• Interestingly, unlike Anglo-Saxon genealogies, this dynasty never claimed descent from a god, nor were they ever regarded as sacred 

481 - 511 - Clovis (All Facts)

• First King and Founder of the Merovingian Dynasty of France

  • He was the grandson of Merovech

• First King of the Franks to

  • Unite all of the Franks under one ruler

  • Change the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single king

  • Ensure that the kingship was passed down to his heirs

• He married Clotilda, a Nicene Christian and Burgundian 

• He converted to (Nicene) Christianity (Catholicism)

  • At that time, he was the only Nicene Christian Ruler in Europe 

    • This was because the kings of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Burgundians were Arians and the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius was a Monophysite 

  • Thus, he was the first of the Barbarian rulers / kingdoms to convert to Nicene Christianity

  • He said he would be willing to be baptized if God helped him defeat the Alamanni, thus he kept his word 

  • This further gave him theological justification to wage war against the Arian Visigoths

  • He was not the best model of (Nicene) Christian meekness, once having claimed that had he been at Christ’s crucifixion, he would avenge Christ’s death with this Frankish army

• He and his Frankish forces

  • Defeated Syagrius, leader of the Romans in northern Gaul and conquered much of northern Gaul except for Armorica (Brittany) in the Battle of Soissons in 486 

    • From this point, he ruled from the Somme River to the Loire River after he had advanced the Frankish army to the Loire River 

    • After this battle, he was regarded with terror by “civilized society”

  • Defeated the Alamanni near the Rhine River, with help from the Franks of the Rhineland, in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496

    • Battle in which the Alamanni were driven back beyond the Rhine River

  • Defeated Alaric II and the Visigoths, with help from King Gundobad and the Burgundians, in the Battle of Vouille in 507 

    • Battle in which the Franks took Aquitaine

    • Battle which led to the Franks’ control of all of Gaul except for southeastern Gaul 

    • Battle in which the Visigoths were pushed back to Spain 

    • Battle which he was “theologically justified” in waging against the Visigoths because of their Arianism and denial of the Trinity as he was a recently converted Nicene Christian

• He received imperial recognition as ruler over Gaul from Byzantine Emperor Anastasius at Tours in 508

• He died and his kingdom was divided up into and he was succeeded by four sons, who ruled over four mini-kingdoms

455 - 825 - Kingdom of Kent (All Facts)

• Founded by Hengest

477 - 860 - Kingdom of Sussex / South Saxons (All Facts)

• Founded by Aelle 

477 - 514 - Aelle (All Facts)

• First King and Founder of the Sussex Kingdom of South Saxons

  • He led the Saxons onto land on Britain’s south coast and drove the preexisting (Celtic) Britons westward in order to establish the kingdom

519 - 886 - Kingdom of Wessex / West Saxons (All Facts) 

511 - 524 - Chlodomer (All Facts) 

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Orleans 

• Killed King Sigismund of Burgundy 

• Invaded Burgundy 

• Died in the Battle of Vezeronce in 524 

511 - 534 - Theuderic (All Facts)

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Metz and Rheims

• Killed King Sigismund of Burgundy 

• Invaded Burgundy

• Conquered Thuringia in 531  

511 - 558 - Childebert (All Facts) 

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Paris

• Conquered and annexed the Kingdom of Burgundy in 534 

511 - 558 - Clothar (All Facts)

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Soissons

• Conquered Thuringia in 531 

• Conquered and annexed the Kingdom of Burgundy in 534 

• He eventually became sole king of the Franks

• Died at Compiegne, where the Frankish Kingdom was divided again between his four sons

541 - 552 - Totila (All Facts) 

• 5th King of the Ostrogoths

• He led the Ostrogoths against the Byzantines in the Gothic War, in which he

  • 543 - Besieged and recaptured Naples, forcing Belisarius to return to Italy

  • 546 - Besieged and recaptured Rome, in which all but 500 of its inhabits fled from the city

  • 550 - Recaptured and reconquered Rome back from Belisarius after he is recalled from Italy back to Constantinople due to lack of imperial money and reinforcements

  • 551 - Recaptured almost all of Italy 

• He died after being killed by Narses and the Byzantines in the Battle of Taginae in 552, forcing the Ostrogoths under him to elect a new king to succeed him

552 - 553 - Teias (All Facts) 

• 6th and Final King of the Ostrogoths

• He and the Ostrogoths were defeated by Narses and the Byzantines in the Battle of Vesuvius, thus ending the Gothic War 

• His death marked the end of the Ostrogoth Kingdom

554 - 567 - Athanagild (All Facts)

• 16th King of the Visigoths 

• A pretender to the Visigothic throne, he invited Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great’s troops into Visigothic Spain but when he had no use for them anymore they continued to occupy it 

567 - 573 - Liuva (All Facts)

• 17th King of the Visigoths, he ruled with Liuvigild

561 - 567 - Charibert (All Facts) 

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Paris

• Son of Clothar

561 - 575 - Sigibert (All Facts) 

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Austrasia (eastern Gaul) / Reims / Metz

• Son of Clothar

561 - 584 - Chilperic (All Facts) 

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Neustria (western Gaul) / Soissons

• Son of Clothar

561 - 592 - Guntram (All Facts)

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Burgundy (southeastern Gaul) / Orleans

• Son of Clothar

568 - 774 - Lombard Kingdom (All Facts)

• Founded by Alboin

• By 600, they were the only Barbarian Successor State that continued to practice Arianism / Arian Christianity

568 - 572 - Alboin (All Facts)

• First King of the Lombards who founded the Lombard Kingdom 

  • His military efforts led to the foundation of the Lombard Kingdom

• In 567, he invaded northern Italy, abandoning Pannonia (Hungary) to the Avars due to Avar pressure there

• In 569, he took Milan and proclaimed himself “Lord of Italy”

• In 572, he besieged the city of Pavia and overran Italy

• He was murdered by his Gepid wife

568 - 586 - Liuvigild (All Facts) 

• 18th King of the Visigoths, he initially co-ruled with his predecessor Liuva until he died 

• In 572, he and the Visigoths recaptured Cordoba in Spain from the Byzantine Empire

• In 578, he decided religious unity would promote national solidarity and began to persecute Nicene Christians

  • However, few changed their beliefs 

  • His elder son Hermenegild actually converted after marrying a Frankish Nicene Christian princess 

  • He attempted to overthrow his namesake father but he was imprisoned by his namesake father where he died, still a stalwart Nicene Christian 

• In 585, he conquered the Suebi Kingdom, in northwestern Spain

• Upon his death, Visigothic persecution of Catholics ended, especially upon the accession of his younger son and successor

584 - 590 - Authari (All Facts) 

• 2nd King of the Lombards

• Under his reign, the Lombards survive a combined attack by the Franks and the Byzantines by retreating behind their city walls and paying (bribing) the Franks a tribute to withdraw

• He eventually died from the Frankish Invasion of the Kingdom of Lombard 

575 - 596 - Childebert II (All Facts)

• Merovingian King of the Franks at Austrasia (eastern Gaul) / Reims / Metz 

• With help from the Byzantines, he invaded the Lombard Kingdom 

• The Lombards survived his invasion by retreating behind their city walls

• They withdrew after exacting tribute from the Lombards 

586 - 601 - Reccared (All Facts)

• 19th King of the Visigoths

• Famous for his renunciation of Arian Christianity in favor of Nicene Christianity (Catholics)

  • Presided over the Council of Toledo, where he 

    • Saw the need for religious and thus national unity but chose Nicene Christianity rather than Arian Christianity, as that was the belief of the majority, thus he corrected the mistake his predecessor and father had made 

    • Thus summoned Visigothic Spain’s leaders to the Council to declare their adherence to Nicene Christianity, despite some of the Visigoth priests remaining Arians even after the Council 

  • This forever changed the Visigothic Kingdom from being Arian Christian and persecuting Nicene Christians to being Nicene Christians

  • By the end of his reign, Arianism was virtually extinct and only the Lombard Kingdom continued to practice it

• During his reign, the Visigothic Kingdom expanded to cover Hispania, Gallaecia, and Septimania in modern-day Spain

574 - 609 - Aedan (All Facts)

• King of the Scots who attempted to stop the expansion of the Northumbrians under Aethelfrith, but was defeated in the Battle of Degastan and forced to flee

550 - 616 - Aethelbert (All Facts) 

• King of Kent 

• Encouraged by St. Augustine of Canterbury and his Frankish Christian wife Bertha, he converted to Nicene Christianity in 600, which led to the eventual conversion of the Anglo-Saxons and the Kingdom of Kent to Nicene Christianity

590 - 616 - Agilulf (All Facts) 

• 3rd King of the Lombards 

• In 598, he signed a treaty with the Byzantines in which they agreed to concede northern Italy to his Lombard Kingdom

  • The Byzantine Empire continued to retain control over most of central and southern Italy

• Under his reign, the march of the Lombards from Milan continued southward until the Byzantine Empire, paralyzed by wars against the Sassanids and Slavs, were forced to negotiate

565 - 621 - Sisebut (All Facts)

• 23rd King of the Visigoths

• Poet and patron of learning

• Led campaigns against the Byzantines and the Basques

599 - 624 - Redwald (All Facts)

• King of East Anglia, the Kingdom of the Angles

• He was the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings by the time of his death

• He was buried inside the hull of a long ship on top of a cliff at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia in which a wooden hut with gables was built around it to house it and a hoard of treasure

  • Objects buried in his grave reveal how wealthy the East Angles were in foreign articles as well as in ornaments of fine workmanship including beautifully engraved gold ornaments; although there were bowls from Constantinople and Alexandria and coins from Gaul, and a Swedish-produced helmet and shield

• He had a residence at Rendlesham

584 - 629 - Clothar II (All Facts)

• King of the Franks as a whole (for the first time since Clovis)

• Consolidated his power after the execution of Queen Brunhild

• Issued the Edict of Paris in an attempt to stamp out corruption in the Kingdom of Francia

• Established mayors of the palace to act as his chief ministers in the three parts of his united kingdom at Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy

621 - 631 - Suintila (All Facts)

• 25th King of the Visigoths

• During his reign, the Visigoths took back their lands in southern Spain from the Byzantine Empire

616 - 633 - Edwin (All Facts)

• King of Northumbria

• Converted to Christianity

• Baptized by Paulinus

• Killed in the battle by the Britons in alliance with the Mercians

654 - 1066 - Northumbria (All Facts)

• Early medieval kingdom which spannde modern-day Northern England and Southern Scotland

629 - 639 - Dagobert (All Facts)

• King of the Franks

• During his reign, the Franks became a more unified people

• He abandoned the usual Frankish practice of dividing the kingdom between all those in the direct royal line; instead insisting that he should be made the sole king and take absolute power

  • While he extended his father’s policy by creating sub-kingdoms to satisfy nationalist tendencies in Aquitaine and Austrasia, real power remained firmly in his hands

  • With this power, the king was able to control rebellions and resume campaigns against the Celts of western Gaul, the Visigoths, and the Basques

• He was a wise and just King for the masses, despite his alienation of some of the aristocracy and senior clergy caused by his diminishing of their powers and possessions

  • He toured out his dominions and stamped out the injustices of the rich

• He allied with the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in striving to hold the Slavs at bay

• Died after suffering an attack of dysentery

604 - 642 - Oswald (All Facts)

• King of Northumbria

• After a brief pagan revival, he restored Christianity with the help of Irish monks from Iona led by Aidan