The Dark Ages: Merovingians & Carolingians
Rome falls, literacy retreats into the monasteries, and new Frankish dynasties rise: the Migration Period, Clovis's Merovingians, and Charlemagne's Carolingian revival.
Articles on The Dark Ages: Merovingians & Carolingians (5)
The Treaty of Verdun and the Frankish Partition of 843
In August 843 three grandsons of Charlemagne signed the Treaty of Verdun, splitting the Carolingian Empire...
Clovis and the Rise of the Merovingian Franks
How Clovis I united the Franks, chose Catholicism over Arianism, and founded the Merovingian dynasty that...
Dagobert I and the Twilight of Merovingian Power
Dagobert I was the last strong Merovingian king. After him, the mayors of the palace rose and the 'do-nothing...
Decline of Literacy Outside the Church in the Dark Ages
After Rome fell, reading retreated almost entirely into the Church. How monastic scriptoria became the memory...
The Carolingian Renaissance: Charlemagne's Revival of Learning
Advised by Alcuin of York, Charlemagne deliberately rebuilt schooling, manuscript copying, and literacy —...
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