Editing Austrasia

{{Single source|date=March 2025|article}}{{Short description|Kingdom within Frankish empire (511–751)}}
{{distinguish|Australasia|Australia|Austria|Asturias}}
{{Infobox Former Country
 | conventional_long_name   = Austrasia
 | common_name              = Austrasia
 | p1                       = Roman Gaul
 | flag_p1                  = 
 | p2                       = Germania inferior
 | flag_p2                  = 
 | s1                       = Carolingian Empire
 | flag_s1                  = 
 | era                      = Early Middle Ages
 | status                   = 
 | empire                   = Frankish Empire
 | status_text              = 
 | government_type          = Monarchy
 | year_start               = 481
 | year_end                 = 751
 | image_map                = Frankish Empire 481 to 814-en.svg
 | image_map_caption        = Austrasia, homeland of the [[Franks]] (darkest green), and their [[Frankish kingdom|subsequent conquests]] (other shades of green)
 | capital                  = [[Reims]], [[Metz]]
 | common_languages         = [[Old Frankish]], [[Vulgar Latin]] (Gallo-Roman), [[Latin]]
 | religion                 = [[Germanic Christianity|Christianity]]
 | currency                 = 
 | leader1                  = 
 | leader2                  = 
 | title_leader             = [[Germanic king|King]]
 | year_leader1             = 
 | year_leader2             = 
}}

'''Austrasia''' was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the [[Francia|Frankish Empire]] during the [[Early Middle Ages]], centring on the [[Meuse]], [[Middle Rhine]] and the [[Moselle]] rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had been the northernmost part of [[Roman Gaul]], and cities such as [[Cologne]], [[Trier]] and [[Metz]]. It also stretched beyond the old Roman borders on the Rhine into Frankish areas which had never been formally under Roman rule. It came into being as a part of the [[Francia|Frankish Empire]] founded by [[Clovis I]] (481–511). At the same time, the initial powerbase of Clovis himself was the more Romanized part of northern Gaul, lying southwest of Austrasia, which came to be known as [[Neustria]]. 

These two sub-kingdoms, along with several others, were subsequently ruled by the descendants of Clovis, the [[Merovingian dynasty]], followed in the 8th and 9th centuries by their successors the [[Carolingian dynasty]], whose own powerbase was in Austrasia itself. The two Frankish dynasties did not always have a single ruler ruling the whole Frankish empire. They also often allowed different family members to rule sub-kingdoms, and these were sometimes even in conflict with each other despite the underlying continuity of the overall Frankish empire. Already by 561, Austrasia was ruled as a separate kingdom within the Frankish realm by the Merovingian king [[Sigebert I]] (561–575). 

The last emperor to hold the entire Frankish empire including Austrasia was [[Louis the Pious]]. For several generations his descendants negotiated different ways of dividing the empire. In 880, the [[Treaty of Ribemont]] was the last such major agreement, which established formal boundaries eastern, central, and western sub-kingdoms that remained important throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. [[West Francia]], which contained Neustria, was the basis of the later medieval [[Kingdom of France]]. [[Lotharingia]], which corresponded to Austrasia, was folded into the larger kingdom of [[East Francia]]. These became the core of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], which also had claims over the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Burgundy]], and [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Italy]].

==Etymology==
The name ''Austrasia'' is not well attested in the [[Merovingian period]]. The first surviving record of the term is by [[Gregory of Tours]], writing in about 580. It was later used by [[Aimoin of Fleury]] around 1000. It is presumably the [[Latinisation of names|latinization]] of an [[Old Frankish]] name, reconstructed as ''*Oster-rike'' ("Eastern Kingdom").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=William Cooke |title=A Manual of Ancient and Modern History |date=1848 |publisher=D. Appleton |location=New York Public Library |page=[https://archive.org/details/manualofancientm00tayluoft/page/342 342] |url=https://archive.org/details/manualofancientm00tayluoft|quote=Oster-rike. }}</ref>
As with the [[Name of Austria|name ''Austria'']], it contains the word for "[[:wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/austraz|east]]", and means "eastern land". The term designated the original territory of the [[Franks]] in contrast to [[Neustria]], which apparently meant the "(new) western land".

==Geography==
{{No sources|section|date=March 2025}}
Austrasia was centered on the [[Middle Rhine]], including the basins of the [[Moselle]], [[Main (river)|Main]] and [[Meuse]] rivers. It bordered on [[Frisia]] and [[Old Saxony|Saxony]] to the north, [[Duchy of Thuringia|Thuringia]] to the east, [[Alamannia|Swabia]] and [[Burgundy]] to the south and to [[Neustria]] to the southwest. The exact boundary between Merovingian Neustria and Austrasia is unclear with respect to areas such as the medieval counties of [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[Pagus of Brabant|Brabant]] and [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]], and areas immediately to the south of these.

[[Metz]] served as the Austrasian capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from [[Reims]], [[Trier]] and [[Cologne]]. Other important cities included [[Verdun]], [[Worms, Germany|Worms]] and [[Speyer]]. [[Fulda monastery]], an important royal monastery, was founded in eastern Austrasia in the final decade of the Merovingian period.

In the [[High Middle Ages]], its territory became divided among the duchies of [[Lotharingia]] and [[Duchy of Franconia|Franconia]] in [[kingdom of Germany|Germany]], with some western portions including [[Reims]] and [[Counts and dukes of Rethel|Rethel]] passing to [[kingdom of France|France]].

Its exact boundaries were somewhat fluid over the history of the Frankish sub-kingdoms, but Austrasia can be taken to correspond roughly to the territory of present-day [[Luxembourg]], parts of eastern [[Belgium]], north-eastern [[France]] ([[Lorraine]] and [[Champagne-Ardenne]]), west-central [[Germany]] (the [[Rhineland]], [[Hesse]] and [[Franconia]]) and the southern [[Netherlands]] ([[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]], [[North Brabant]], with a salient north of the Rhine including [[Utrecht]] and parts of [[Gelderland]]).

== History ==
{{No sources|section|date=March 2025}}[[File:Metz_st_pierre_nonnains.jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains]] from the 4th century in [[Metz]], capital of the kingdom of Austrasia]]

After the death of the Frankish king [[Clovis I]] in 511, his four sons partitioned his kingdom amongst themselves, with [[Theuderic I]] receiving the lands that were to become Austrasia. Descended from Theuderic, a line of kings ruled Austrasia until 555, when it was united with the other Frankish kingdoms of [[Chlothar I]], who inherited all the Frankish realms by 558. He redivided the Frankish territory amongst his four sons, but the four kingdoms coalesced into three on the death of [[Charibert I]] in 567: Austrasia under [[Sigebert I]], [[Neustria]] under [[Chilperic I]], and [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Burgundy]] under [[Guntram]]. These three kingdoms defined the political division of Francia until the rise of the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingians]] and even thereafter.

From 567 to the death of [[Sigebert II]] in 613, Neustria and Austrasia fought each other almost constantly, with Burgundy playing the peacemaker between them. These struggles reached their climax in the wars between [[Brunhilda of Austrasia|Brunhilda]] and [[Fredegund]], queens, respectively, of Austrasia and Neustria. Finally, in 613, a rebellion by the nobility against Brunhilda saw her betrayed and handed over to her nephew and foe in Neustria, [[Chlothar II]]. Chlothar then took control of the other two kingdoms and set up a united Frankish kingdom with its capital in [[Paris]]. During this period the first ''majores domus'' or [[mayors of the palace]] appeared. These officials acted as mediators between the king and the people in each realm. The first Austrasian mayors came from the [[Pippinid]] family, which experienced a slow but steady ascent until it eventually displaced the Merovingians on the throne.

[[File:Francia 714.png|thumb|Map of Francia in 714 (Austrasia shown in green)]]
In 623, the Austrasians asked Chlothar II for a king of their own and he appointed his son [[Dagobert I]] to rule over them with [[Pepin of Landen]] as regent. Dagobert's government in Austrasia was widely admired. In 629, he inherited Neustria and Burgundy. Austrasia was again neglected until, in 633, the people demanded the king's son as their own king again. Dagobert complied and sent his elder son [[Sigebert III]] to Austrasia. Historians often categorise Sigebert as the first ''[[roi fainéant]]'', or do-nothing king, of the Merovingian dynasty. His court was dominated by the mayors. In 657, the mayor [[Grimoald the Elder]] succeeded in putting his son [[Childebert the Adopted]] on the throne, where he remained until 662. Thereafter, Austrasia was predominantly the kingdom of the [[Arnulfing]] mayors of the palace and their base of power. With the [[Battle of Tertry]] in 687, [[Pepin of Heristal]] defeated the Neustrian king [[Theuderic III]] and established his mayoralty over all the Frankish kingdoms. This was even regarded by contemporaries as the beginning of his "reign". It also signalled the dominance of Austrasia over Neustria, which would last until the end of the Merovingian era.

In 718, [[Charles Martel]] had Austrasian support in his war against Neustria for control of all the Francian realms. He was not king himself, but appointed [[Chlothar IV]] to rule in Austrasia. In 719, Francia [[Carolingian Empire|was united]] by Martel's family, the [[Carolingian dynasty]], under Austrasian hegemony. While the Frankish kings continued to divide up the Frankish realm in different ways over subsequent generations, the term Austrasia was only used occasionally after the Carolingian dynasty.
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== Rulers ==
=== Merovingian kings ===
{{further|List of Frankish kings}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Theuderic I]], 511–533
* [[Theudebert I]], 533–548
* [[Theudebald]], 548–555
* [[Chlothar I]], 555–561
* [[Sigebert I]], 561–575
* [[Childebert II]], 575–595
* [[Theudebert II]], 595–612
* [[Theuderic II]], 612–613
* [[Sigebert II]], 613
* [[Chlothar II]], 613–623
* [[Dagobert I]], 623–634
* [[Sigebert III]], 634–656
* [[Childebert the Adopted]], 656–661
* [[Chlothar III]], 661–662
* [[Childeric II]], 662–675
* [[Dagobert II]], 675–679
* [[Theuderic III]], 679–691
* [[Clovis IV]], 691–695
* [[Childebert III]], 695–711
* [[Dagobert III]], 711–715
* [[Chilperic II]], 715–717
* [[Chlothar IV]], 717–720
* [[Chilperic II]], 720–721 (again)
* [[Theuderic IV]], 721–737
* [[Childeric III]], 743–751
}}

=== Mayors of the palace ===
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Parthemius]], until 548
* Carloman, father of Pepin of Landen, c. 550-560
* [[Gogo (mayor of the palace)|Gogo]], {{c.}} 567–581
* [[Wandalenus]], from 581
* Gundulf, from 600
* [[Landric]], until 612
* [[Warnachar]], 612–617
* [[Chucus|Hugh]], 617–623
* [[Pepin of Landen|Pepin I]], 623–629
* [[Adalgisel]], 633–639
* [[Pepin of Landen|Pepin I]], 639–640 (again)
* [[Otto (mayor of the palace)|Otto]], 640–643
* [[Grimoald I]], 643–656
* [[Wulfoald]], 656–680
* [[Pepin of Herstal|Pepin II]], 680–714
* [[Theudoald]], 714–715
* [[Charles Martel]], 715–741
* [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]], 741–747
* [[Pepin III]], 747–751
}}

==See also==
*[[Francia]]
*[[East Francia]]
*[[Duchy of Franconia]]
*[[Benelux]]
*[[Continental Europe]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* [[Charles Oman]]. ''The Dark Ages 476–918''. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
* [[Thomas Hodgkin (historian)|Thomas Hodgkin]]. ''Italy and Her Invaders''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895.

{{Barbarian kingdoms}}
{{Lorraine topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Merovingian period]]
[[Category:Former countries in Europe]]
[[Category:751 disestablishments]]
[[Category:510s establishments]]
[[Category:8th-century disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:6th-century establishments in Europe]]