Editing Thuringii (section)

==Political history==
{{See also|Rulers of Thuringia}}
[[File:Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png|thumbnail|350px|Europe at the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.]]
The Thuringii established an empire in the late fifth century. It reached its territorial peak in the first half of the sixth before it was conquered by the [[Franks]] in 531&ndash;532. Examination of Thuringian grave sites reveal cranial features which suggest the strong presence of [[Huns|Hunnic]] women or slaves, perhaps indicating that many Thuringians took Hunnic wives or Hunnic slaves following the collapse of the [[Huns#Unified Empire under Attila|Hunnic Empire]].<ref>Schutz, 411.</ref> There is also evidence from jewellery found in graves that the Thuringians sought marriages with [[Ostrogothic]] and [[Lombards|Lombard]] women.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} Under the leadership of [[Alboin]], a large group of Thuringii joined the Lombards on their migration into Italy.<ref name=HGL>{{cite book|title=History of the Lombards: Translated by William Dudley Foulke |first=Edward |last=Peters |year=2003 |place=University of Pennsylvania Press}}</ref> The Lombard king [[Agilulf]] (590&ndash;616) was of Thuringian descent.

After their conquest, the Thuringii were placed under Frankish dukes, but they rebelled and had regained their independence by the late seventh century under [[Radulf, King of Thuringia|Radulf]]. Towards the end of this century, parts of Thuringia came under [[Duke of Saxony|Saxon]] rule.

By the time of [[Charles Martel]] and [[Saint Boniface]], they were again subject to the Franks and ruled by Frankish dukes, with their seat at [[Würzburg]] in the south. Under Martel, the Thuringian dukes' authority was extended over a part of [[Austrasia]] and the [[Bavaria]]n plateau. The valleys of the [[Lahn]], [[Main (river)|Main]], and [[Neckar]] rivers were included. The [[Naab]] formed the south-eastern border of Thuringia at the time. The [[Werra]] and [[Fulda]] valleys were within it also and it reached as far as the [[Old Saxony|Saxon]] plain in the north. Its central location in [[Germania]], beyond the [[Rhine]], was the reason it became the ''[[point d'appui]]'' of Boniface's mission work.

The Thuringii had a separate identity as late as 785&ndash;786, when one of their leading men, [[Hardrad]], led an abortive insurrection against [[Charlemagne]]. The [[Carolingians]] codified the Thuringian legal customs (but perhaps did not use them extensively) as the ''[[Lex Thuringorum]]'' and continued to exact a tribute of pigs, presumably a [[Merovingian]] imposition, from the province. In the tenth century, under the [[Ottonians]], the centre of Thuringian power lay in the north-east, near [[Erfurt]]. As late as the end of the tenth century, the porcine tribute was still being accepted by the [[King of Germany]].