Austrasia

Austrasia
511–751
King
Historical era	Early Middle Ages
• Established	511
• Disestablished	751
Preceded by Succeeded by Roman Gaul Germania inferior Carolingian Empire

Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the

.

In 561, Austrasia became a separate kingdom within the Frankish kingdom and was ruled by the

.

Etymology

The name Austrasia is not well attested in the

As with the name Austria, it contains the word for "east", and means "eastern land". The term designated the original territory of the Franks in contrast to Neustria, the "(new) western land", in northern Gaul.

Geography

Austrasia was centered on the

, and areas immediately to the south of these.

Fulda monastery

, an important royal monastery, was founded in eastern Austrasia in the final decade of the Merovingian period.

In the High Middle Ages, its territory became divided among the duchies of Lotharingia and Franconia in Germany, with some western portions including Reims and Rethel passing to France.

Its exact boundaries were somewhat fluid over the history of the Frankish sub-kingdoms, but Austrasia can be taken to correspond roughly to the territory of present-day Luxembourg, parts of eastern Belgium, north-eastern France (Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne), west-central Germany (the Rhineland, Hesse and Franconia) and the southern Netherlands (Limburg, North Brabant, with a salient north of the Rhine including Utrecht and parts of Gelderland).

History

After the death of the Frankish king Clovis I in 511, his four sons partitioned his kingdom amongst themselves, with Theuderic I receiving the lands that were to become Austrasia. Descended from Theuderic, a line of kings ruled Austrasia until 555, when it was united with the other Frankish kingdoms of Chlothar I, who inherited all the Frankish realms by 558. He redivided the Frankish territory amongst his four sons, but the four kingdoms coalesced into three on the death of Charibert I in 567: Austrasia under Sigebert I, Neustria under Chilperic I, and Burgundy under Guntram. These three kingdoms defined the political division of Francia until the rise of the Carolingians and even thereafter.

From 567 to the death of

family, which experienced a slow but steady ascent until it eventually displaced the Merovingians on the throne.

In 623, the Austrasians asked Chlothar II for a king of their own and he appointed his son

and established his mayoralty over all the Frankish kingdoms. This was even regarded by contemporaries as the beginning of his "reign". It also signalled the dominance of Austrasia over Neustria, which would last until the end of the Merovingian era.

In 718,

, under Austrasian hegemony. While the Frankish kings continued to divide up the Frankish realm in different ways over subsequent generations, the term Austrasia was only used occasionally after the Carolingian dynasty.

Rulers

Merovingian kings

Mayors of the palace

See also

• Francia
• East Francia
• Duchy of Franconia
• Benelux
• Continental Europe

References

Bibliography

• Charles Oman. The Dark Ages 476–918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
• Thomas Hodgkin. Italy and Her Invaders. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895.