Medieval and pre-modern Europe

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By the 5th Century AD the western Roman Empire was disintegrating and "barbarian" tribes were setting up their own kingdoms in Europe; the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Visigoths in Spain and the Franks in Gaul. The take-over wasn't always by conquest. Settlement of Roman lands by treaty and the use of barbarian mercenaries by them, contributed to the new order. The newcomers, by and large, adopted the Christian religion of the Romans. The Frankish lands, roughly present-day France and western Germany were ruled over by the Merovingian dynasty. However, rule was weakened by the sub-division between a rulers' sons and other relatives. Charlemagne (768 - 814) managed to create a strong Frankish empire, extending across most of central Europe, while suppressing the Saxons to the east. This empire was once more sub-divided by the "Partition of Verdun" in 843, when Charles the Bald took the western half, Louis the German the eastern half and Lothar, a strip between them. Although Lothar was nominally emperor, over the centuries, Lotharingia as it was known, shrunk to the present-day province of Lorraine. Charles's section, though, eventually became France and Louis's, Germany. In 711 AD, most of Spain fell to the Muslims, or Moors as history has called them. They were not expelled until the "Reconquista" (1085 - 1340). Christianity was important in medieval Europe and governed the actions of kings and emperors. Kings and bishops were twin pillars of power and any king claiming divine rule, needed the Pope's cooperation.

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Carolingian France Charles II le Chauve (the Bald) 843-877 (875-877 as Emperor)	Feudal France -Paris Philip II 1180 AD - 1223 AD	Feudal France Philip VI de Valois 1328-1350
Feudal France: Duchy of Lorraine Charles II (the Bold) 1391 - 1431	France Henri II 1547 AD - 1559 AD	Germany - Holy Roman Empire Friedrich I Barbarossa 1152-1190
Germany - Bishop of Constance Diethelm von Krenkingen 1190-1206	Bavaria -Regensburg Bishop Heinrich II and Duke Otto III 1277 AD - 1296 AD	Italy -Lucca Conrad II King of Germany 1024 AD - 1039 AD
Sicily William II 166 - 1189 AE15 Arabic/Latin	Naples Charles II of Anjou 1285 AD - 1309 AD	Venice Doge Pietro Gradinego 1289 AD - 1311 AD
Spain: Castile and Leon Alphonso X 1252 AD - 1284 AD	Spain: Aragón Jaime II 1291 AD - 1327 AD	Spain: Castile and Leon Henry (Enrique) IV 1454 AD - 1474 AD
Spain Ferdinand and Isabella 1474 AD - 1504 AD	Spain Philip II or III 1556 AD - 1598 AD	Hungary Stephen I (Saint Stephen) 997-1038 AD
Hungary Bella III 1172 - 1196 AD	Hungary Sigismund 1387 AD - 1437 AD	Poland Sigismund III (Zygmunt Wasa) 1587 - 1632 AD
Austria Archduke Leopold V of Tirol 1619-1632	Scotland Alexander III 1249-1286	Low Countries -Hainaut William III Count of Hainaut, "the Mad"; 1356-1389
Bulgaria Ivan Alexander and Mihail 1330-1355(65?)	Armenia Levon I 1196 AD - 1219 AD	Russia: Ivan IV (the Terrible) 1534-1584 AR wire Kopek

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