“In the history of Europe the period between
the end of the Roman Empire in the fifth
century and the cessation of Viking Raids in
the eleventh is one of particular
importance.
It was a time of transition, or rather
transitions, from a Mediterranean
–based empire to a world of states which
were to develop into those of modern Europe.
Within these six centuries of transition,
the earliest saw the greatest changes; the
collapse of the Empire and the first
emergence of what might be called the
Nation State. It was the fifth century that
saw the origins of France and the sixth that
saw those of England. And if the lines of
development from Visigothic Spain and
Ostrogothic and Lombard Italy to their
modern counterparts were not to be so
direct, they nevertheless marked major
developments in the transformation of the
Roman World.
Within the first three centuries which
followed the end of the Roman rule the
kingdom which emerged in France, Belgium,
the Rhineland and Switzerland holds a
preeminent place. Of the states which
succeeded the Roman Empire it was the
longest lasting. It was also, for much of
the time, the most powerful.”
(Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751, 1994, Ian
Wood, page xi).
The dynasty which ruled the Frankish kingdom
from 448-751 …was the
Merovingian dynasty.
Merovech (Merovee) governed the Salic Franks
448-457, and defeated Atila, the
Hun in 451.
(Royalty for Commoners, 2002, Roderick W.
Stuart, [Line 303]).
