Map of the regnum Teutonicorum during the reign of Otto the Great. Otto I the Great ( 23 November 912 &ndash 7 May 973) son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke

The Kingdom of Germany was a medieval state which grew out of that of East Francia in the tenth century. East ( ern) Francia ( Regnum Francorum orientalium) known variously as Francia Orientalis or the Kingdom of the East Franks, was the ^[1] The eastern partition of the Treaty of Verdun of 843 was never entirely Frankish and consisted of large populations of Saxons, Bavarii, Thuringii, and Alemanni. In the Treaty of Verdun of 843 the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, Charlemagne 's grandsons divided his territories the Carolingian Events By Place Europe The Treaty of Verdun divides the Carolingian Empire between the 3 sons of Louis the The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group The Saxons or Saxon people were a Confederation of Old Germanic tribes. The Bavarii were a large and powerful Tribe which emerged late in Teutonic tribal times in what is now the Czech Republic ( Bohemia) The Thuringii or Toringi were a Germanic tribe which appeared late during the Völkerwanderung in the Harz Mountains of central The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Main river ( Germany When the crown passed to a non-Frankish dynasty (the Liudolfings), the term regnum Teutonicum or Teutonicorum came into informal use. The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024 named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin

By the High Middle Ages, the German character of the united stem duchies was generally recognised. The High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th 12th and 13th centuries (AD 1000&ndash1299 Stem duchies (from the German Stammesherzogtum, literally "tribal duchy" were associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the East As the other various states of the Carolingian then Holy Roman Empire removed themselves from its orbit, leaving solely Germany, her kings holding the imperial title and struggling for it,^[2] the German state became synonymous with the Empire and in the time of the Renaissance, the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" united the two concepts of empire and kingdom. Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere In that sense, the German kingdom survived until the abdication of Francis II in 1806. Francis II (Franz II Heiliger Römischer Kaiser ( 12 February 1768 &ndash 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling

The term rex Teutonicorum, or "king of the Germans", first came into recorded formal use during the Investiture Controversy perhaps as a polemical tool against the Emperor Henry IV by Pope Gregory VII in the late eleventh century. The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was an 11th century dispute between Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over Henry IV ( November 11, 1050 &ndash August 7, 1106) was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until Pope ^[3] In the twelfth century, in order to stress the imperial and transnational character of their office, the emperors began to employ the title rex Romanorum or "king of the Romans" on their election (by the prince-electors, seven German bishops and noblemen). King of the Romans ( Latin: Rex Romanorum) was the title used by the elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus The Prince-Electors (or simply Electors) of the Holy Roman Empire ( German: Kurfürst ( pl The royal titles of Germany, Italy, and Burgundy, which traditionally had their own courts, laws, and chanceries, remained nominally with the Holy Roman Emperors until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 or the abdication of Francis II in 1806. The term Peace of Westphalia refers to the two peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, signed on May 15 and October 24 of Francis II (Franz II Heiliger Römischer Kaiser ( 12 February 1768 &ndash 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling

Terminology

History of Germany
Ancient times
Germanic peoples
Migration Period
Frankish Empire
Medieval times
East Francia
Kingdom of Germany
Holy Roman Empire
East Colonisation
Sectionalism
Building a nation
Confederation of the Rhine
German Confederation
German Revolutions of 1848
German Reichsflotte Navy
North German Confederation
Unification of Germany
The German Reich
German Empire
World War I
Weimar Republic
Nazi Germany
World War II
Post-war Germany since 1945
Occupation + Ostgebiete
Expulsion of Germans
FR Germany + GDR
German reunification
Present day Germany
Federal Republic of Germany
Topical
Military history of Germany
Territorial changes of Germany
Timeline of German history
History of the German language
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The eastern division of the Treaty of Verdun was called the regnum Francorum Orientalium or Francia Orientalis: the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks or simply East Francia. Despite the lack of a German nation state prior to 1871 the History of Germany dates back to the era of the Germanic tribes. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic The Migration Period, also called Barbarian Invasions, or sometimes Völkerwanderung ( German for "wandering of peoples" is the English name Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire (imperium Francorum Frankish Kingdom (Latin regnum Francorum, "Kingdom of the East ( ern) Francia ( Regnum Francorum orientalium) known variously as Francia Orientalis or the Kingdom of the East Franks, was the The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in This article covers the medieval eastward migrations of Germans de Kleinstaaterei is a German word mainly used for the political situation in Germany and neighbouring regions during the Holy Roman Empire. The Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation (Rheinbund États confédérés du Rhin officially and Confédération du Rhin in practice) lasted The German Confederation (Deutscher Bund was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to " Germany " at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 39 States loosely bound together in the German Confederation. The Reichsflotte (Imperial Fleet was the first all- German Navy. The North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund came into existence in August 1866 as a military alliance of 22 states of northern Germany with the Kingdom of The unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Prussian Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck managed to unify a number of independent Deutsches Reich was the name for Germany from 1871 to 1945 in the German language. The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification During World War I, the German Empire was one of the Central Powers that ultimately lost the war The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The history of Germany during World War II closely parallels that of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. As a consequence of Germany 's defeat in World War II and the onset of the Cold War, the country was split between the two global blocs in the East and West The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative The former eastern territories of Germany (ehemalige deutsche Ostgebiete describes collectively those Provinces or Regions east of the current eastern The expulsion of Germans after World War II was the Forced migration and Ethnic cleansing of German nationals ( Reichsdeutsche) and ethnic West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung took place twice after 1945 first in 1957 the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. While German -speaking peoples have a long history Germany as a Nation-state dates only from 1871. Background German settlement in Eastern Europe See also History of German settlement in Eastern Europe Part of the motivation behind the territorial This is a timeline of German history. To read about the background to these events see History of Germany. High German Old High German See also Old High German The earliest testimonies of Old High German are from scattered Elder Futhark It was the eastern half of the old Merovingian regnum Austrasiorum. The Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin Austrasia (rarely Austria, both meaning "eastern land" formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising The "east Franks" (or Austrasians) themselves were the people of Franconia, which had been settled by Franks. Franconia (Franken is a historic region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and the area to its immediate west The other peoples of East Francia were Saxons, Frisians, Thuringii, and the like, referred to as Teutonici (or Germans) and sometimes as Franks as ethnic identities changed over the course of the ninth century.

An entry in the Annales Iuvavenses (or Salzburg Annals) sub anno 919, roughly contemporary but surviving only in a twelfth century copy, record that Baiuarii sponte se reddiderunt Arnolfo duci et regnare ei fecerunt in regno teutonicorum, i. The Annales Iuvavenses or Annals of Salzburg were a series of Annals written in the 9th and 10th centuries from Salzburg. e. that "Arnulf, Duke of the Bavarians, was elected to reign in the Kingdom of the Germans". Arnulf (died 14 July 937) called the Bad (der Schlimme or the Evil ( der Böse) was the Duke of Bavaria from 907 until ^[4] Although some historians, such as Gillingham and Reindal, were sceptical about the contemporaneousness of this entry and more generally the 10th century German identity of the Kingdom, others such as Susan Reynolds and Beumann are less so and believe that the Kingdom had already taken its German identity, as opposed to eastern Frankish identity, by the 10th century. Susan Reynolds is a British medieval Historian whose 1994 book Fiefs and Vassals the Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted was part of ^[5] However, there is general agreement that the German identity is firmly established by the eleventh century. ^[6]

Beginning in the late eleventh century, during the Investiture Controversy the Papal curia began to use the term regnum teutonicorum to refer to the realm of Henry IV in an effort to reduce him to the level of the other kings of Europe while he himself began to use the title rex Romanorum or King of the Romans to emphasise is divine right to the imperium Romanum. The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was an 11th century dispute between Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope Henry IV ( November 11, 1050 &ndash August 7, 1106) was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until King of the Romans ( Latin: Rex Romanorum) was the title used by the elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus This title was employed most frequently by the German king themselves, though they did deign to employ "Teutonic" titles when it proved diplomatic, such as Frederick Barbarossa's letter to the pope referring to his receiving the coronam Theutonici regni (crown of the German kingdom). Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 &ndash 10 June 1190) was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned Foreign kings and ecclesiastics continued to refer to the regnum Alemanniae and règne or royaume d'Allemagne. The terms imperium/imperator or empire/emperor was often employed for German kingdom and its rulers, which indicates a recognition of their imperial stature but combined with "Teutonic" and "Alemannic" references a denial of their Romanitas and universal rule. The term regnum Germaniae (literally "Kingdom of Germany") begins to appear in even German sources beginning in the fourteenth century.

Development

Carolingian age, 843–911

Main article: East Francia

The tripartite division of the Carolingian Empire effected by the Treaty of Verdun was challenged very early on with the death of the Emperor Lothair I in 855. East ( ern) Francia ( Regnum Francorum orientalium) known variously as Francia Orientalis or the Kingdom of the East Franks, was the Lothair I ( German: Lothar, French: Lothaire, Italian: Lotario) (795 &ndash 29 September 855) He had divided his kingdom of Middle Francia between his three sons and immediately the northernmost of the three divisions, Lotharingia, was disputed between the kings of East and West Francia. Middle Francia designates the realm created for Emperor Lothair I (843-855 wedged between East Francia and West Francia. --> Lotharingia or Lorraine was a short-lived kingdom in West Francia or the West Frankish Kingdom was a short-lived kingdom encompassing the lands of the western part of the Carolingian Empire that came under the undisputed The war over Lotharingia lasted until 925. Lothair II of Lotharingia died in 869 and the Treaty of Meerssen (870) divided his kingdom between East and West Francia, but the West Frankish sovereigns relinquished their rightful portion to East Francia by the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Lothair II ( 835 - August 8, 869) was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. The Treaty of Meerssen or Mersen in 870 was an agreement of the division of the Carolingian Empire by the surviving sons of Louis I, Charles Ribemont determined the border between France and Germany until the fourteenth century. The Lotharingian nobility tried to preserve their independence of East of West Frankish rule by switching allegiance at will with the death of king Louis the Child in 911, but in 925 Lotharingia was finally ceded to East Francia by Rudolph of West Francia and it thereafter formed the Duchy of Lorraine within the East Frankish kingdom. Louis the Child (893 &ndash 20/ 24 September 911) sometimes called Louis IV or Louis III, was the last Carolingian ruler of Rudolph (also Radulf, Ralph, or Raoul) (died 15 January 936) was the Duke of Burgundy between 921 and 923 and king Lorraine (Lorraine Lothringen is a historical area in present-day northeast France.

East Francia was itself divided into three parts at the death of Louis the German (875). Traditionally referred to as "Saxony", "Bavaria", and "Swabia" (or "Alemannia"), these kingdoms were ruled by the three sons of Louis in cooperation and were reunited by Charles the Fat in 882. Charles the Fat (Carolus Pinguis 13 June 839 – 13 January 888) was the King of Alemannia from 876 King of Italy from Regional differences existed between the peoples of the different regions of the kingdom and the each region could be readily described by contemporaries as a regnum, though each was certainly not a kingdom of its own. The common Germanic language and the tradition of common rule dating to 843 preserved political ties between the different regna and prevented the kingdom from coming apart after the death of Charles the Fat. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The work of Louis the German to maintain his kingdom and give it a strong royal government also went a long way to creating an East Frankish (ie German) state.

Stem duchies

Main article: stem duchy

One of the most controversial aspects of the development of medieval Germany is the creation of what in German historiography are called the jüngeres Stammenherzogtum, or "younger stem (or tribal) duchies. Stem duchies (from the German Stammesherzogtum, literally "tribal duchy" were associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the East " They are contrasted with the "older" stem duchies of the Merovingian era, namely Bavaria, Alemannia, and Thuringia. The Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin The following is a list of rulers during the History of Bavaria. Alamannia or Alemannia was the territory inhabited by the Alamanni after they broke through the Roman limes in 213 The Thuringii or Toringi were a Germanic tribe which appeared late during the Völkerwanderung in the Harz Mountains of central Bavaria and Alemannia (as Swabia) formed two of the younger duchies, while Saxony and Franconia were two other new creations. The following is a list of Dukes of Swabia in southwest Germany The mediæval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian Stem duchy " covering the greater part of Northern Germany. Franconia (Franken is a historic region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and the area to its immediate west Whether or not Lorraine, Thuringia, and Frisia were stem duchies in the ninth and tenth centuries is debated. Frisia ( West Frisian: Fryslân; North Frisian: Fraschlönj, Freesklöön, Freeskluin, Fresklun, and Just exactly what a stem duchy was is debated by scholars and probably depended on the viewpoint of contemporaries. While the dukes preferred to see themselves as representatives of their tribes to the king, the royal court preferred to view them as the king's delegated authorities in the regions of the kingdom.

Bavaria and Saxony had very different histories, but each saw the rise of a one family to ducal prominence in the final decades of the ninth century, while Alemannia and Franconia, whose histories were likewise very different, struggled under the infighting of families and factions vying for power and influence. In Bavaria the Liutpoldings and in Saxony the Liudolfings creating dynasties which were to rule until well into the tenth century, while Franconia never succeeded in establishing a dynasty and came under direct royal rule after the failed rebellion of its duke, Eberhard, in 938. The Luitpolding was a medieval dynasty which ruled Bavaria from some time in the late ninth century off and on until 985. The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024 named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin Eberhard III (c885-939 was a member of the Conradine dynasty who became duke of Franconia following the death of his older brother King Conrad I (or Alemannia (Swabia) failed to develop into a hereditary duchy until the late tenth century and then never formed as strong a polity as the more established stem duchies. By the late twelfth century, the power of the stem duchies had been broken by the kings.

Saxons and Salians, 911–1125

Personifications of Sclavinia ("land of the Slavs"), Germania, Gallia, and Roma (Italy), bringing offerings to Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor; from a gospel book dated 990. Germania was the Latin Exonym for Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Otto III (980 &ndash January 23, 1002) was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire.

The distinction between the kingdoms of Eastern Francia and Germany is to some extent the product of later retrospection. East ( ern) Francia ( Regnum Francorum orientalium) known variously as Francia Orientalis or the Kingdom of the East Franks, was the It is impossible to base this distinction on primary sources, as Eastern Francia remains in use long after Kingdom of Germany comes into use. ^[7] The 12th century imperial historian Otto von Freising reported that the election of Henry the Fowler was widely regarded as marking the beginning of the kingdom, though Otto himself disagreed with this. Otto von Freising ( Otto Frisingensis) (c 1114 in Klosterneuburg – September 22, 1158) was a German Bishop and chronicler Thus:

From this point some reckon a kingdom of the Germans as supplanting that of the Franks. Hence, they say that Pope Leo in the decrees of the popes, called Henry's son Otto the first king of the Germans. For that Henry of whom we are speaking refused, it is said, the honor offered by the supreme pontiff. But it seems to me that the kingdom of the Germans — which today, as we see, has possession of Rome — is a part of the kingdom of the Franks. For, as is perfectly clear in what precedes, at the time of Charles the boundaries of the kingdom of the Franks included the whole of Gaul and all Germany, from the Rhine to Illyricum. When the realm was divided between his son's sons, one part was called eastern, the other western, yet both together were called the Kingdom of the Franks. So then in the eastern part, which is called the Kingdom of the Germans, Henry was the first of the race of Saxons to succeed to the throne when the line of Charles failed . . . [western Franks discussed] . . . Henry's son Otto, because he restored to the German East Franks the empire which had been usurped by the Lombards, is called the first king of the Germans — not, perhaps, because he was the first king to reign among the Germans. ^[8]

It is here and elsewhere that Otto distinguishes the first German king (Henry I) and the first German king to hold imperial power (Otto I). ^[9]

In 1028, after his coronation as Emperor in 1027, Conrad II had his son, Henry III, elected King of Germany by the prince electors. Conrad II (c 990&ndash June 4, 1039) was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace who inherited Henry III ( 29 October 1017 &ndash 5 October 1056) called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty When, in 1035, Conrad attempted to depose Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia, Henry, acting on the advice of his tutor, Egilbert, Bishop of Freising, refused to allow it, as Adalbero was a vassal of the King of Germany, not the Emperor. Adalbero of Eppenstein (980 &ndash November 29 1039) was Duke of Carinthia from 1011 or 1012 The Duchy of Carinthia (Herzogtum Kärnten Vojvodina Koroška was a Duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. The German magnates, having legally elected Henry, would not recognise the deposition unless their king did also. After many angry protests, Conrad finally knelt before his son and pleaded for his desired consent, which was finally given.

See also

• List of German monarchs

Notes

References