The Lost Kingdom of Middle Francia
When the Western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, war chiefs of various Germanic tribal confederations carved up its territory into successor kingdoms. The kingdoms of the Ostrogoths in Italy and the Vandals in North Africa were subdued a century later by the Eastern Romans, while the Visigoths of Spain fell to the armies of Islam in the early 8th century. By the end of the 8th century, the Franks were the last great surviving power and their king, Charles the Great (Charlemagne) had incorporated most of the remnants of the west from Rome to the North Sea and from Catalonia to Austria into his realm when the pope crowned him Emperor of a revived Western Empire in the year 800.
However, Frankish tradition operated differently from Roman law. Rather than passing the imperial to a single successor, Frankish royal families divided their territories among able members of the royal family. When Charlemagne died in 814, his sole surviving son Louis the Pious succeeded to his entire realm, but after Louis died the Empire was partitioned into three parts which were given to his three sons. Charles II “the Bald” was given West Francia --- the realm that would eventually become France. East Francia, which included lands that became Germany, was given to Louis II “the German.” The eldest son, Lothair, inherited the imperial crown and Middle Francia: a string of realms that included Rome and Italy, the Kingdoms of Provence and Burgundy, and the territory between France and Germany (which took their name from Lothar “Lothringia”/ “Lorraine”), including Charlemagne’s capital of Aachen. While the Middle Kingdom was short-lived, the partition changed the course of European history.
Broadcasting from the city of Lyon, in the heart of what was once Middle Francia, John Hamer of Centre Place will consider the Middle Kingdom and its legacy.
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