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Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire
This episode of Ten Minute History (like a documentary, only shorter) covers the turmoil in the Frankish Kingdom which led to the rise of Charles Martel who famously defeated the invading forces of the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of Tours...
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Charlemagne
Charlemagne (Charles the Great, also known as Charles I, l. 742-814) was King of the Franks (r. 768-814), King of the Franks and Lombards (r. 774-814), and Holy Roman Emperor (r. 800-814). He is among the best-known and most influential figures...
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Dagobert I
Dagobert I (l. 605-639) ruled as King of Austrasia from 623 to 634 and as King of All the Franks from 629 to 639. Together with the reign of his father, Chlothar II, the period of Dagobert's rule has been characterized as the peak of Merovingian...
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The Ideology of the Holy Roman Empire
"The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire," wrote Voltaire, and this interpretation still dominates the popular imagination, so the Holy Roman Empire is treated as a bad joke, a pale parody of the glory of Rome...
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Merovingian Dynasty
The Merovingian Dynasty was the ruling family of the Franks from roughly 481 when Clovis I ascended the throne of the Salian Franks until 751 when Childeric III was deposed and the Merovingians were supplanted by the Carolingian Dynasty as...
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Roman Empire
The Roman Empire, at its height (c. 117), was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. Building upon the foundation laid by the Roman Republic, the empire became the largest and most powerful political and...
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Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire is the modern-day term for the western half of the Roman Empire after it was divided in two by the emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305 CE) in c. 285/286 CE. The Romans themselves did not use this term. At its height (c...
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Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea was a successor state to the Byzantine Empire, or rather a Byzantine Empire in exile lasting from 1204 to 1261 CE. The Empire of Nicaea was founded in the aftermath of the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade...
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Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire (912-612 BCE) was the final stage of the Assyrian Empire, stretching throughout Mesopotamia, the Levant, Egypt, Anatolia, and into parts of Persia and Arabia. Beginning with the reign of Adad Nirari II (912-891 BCE...
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Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond was an offshoot of the Byzantine Empire that existed from 1204 to 1461 CE, ruled by the Megas Komnenos Dynasty, descendants of the Komnenos Byzantine emperors. The Empire of Trebizond has been far less researched than...