I.] THE MERWINGS AND KARLINGS. 5 of Chlodwig, the Merwings or Merovingians, is strictly part of German history, and will be found in the German volume. So will also the account of the institutions which arose through the settlement of the German conquerois among the Roman provincials. The dynasty lasted till 753 ; but the Merowingian kings had already lost all power. The chief power had fallen to the house of the Karlings, the great Austrasian house who were Mayors of the Palace to the feeble kings, and were called Dukes or Princes of the Franks. Their rule greatly strengthened the Teutonic element in the Frankish kingdom, and Paris especially became of little account. In 753 the last Merwing Chilperic was deposed and Pippin was chosen king of the Franks. 7. The Karligs. — After Pippin came his son Charles tiie Great, Emperor of the Romans as well as King of the Franks. Under Pippin and Charles the Frankish do- minion was completely German. So it was under Charles's son the Emperor Lewis the Pious, the last who reigned over the whole Western Empire. After him, the Frankish dominions were divided among his sons by the treaty of Verdun in 843. The middle portion, a strip reaching from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, was chosen by the eldest son Lotiiar. It took the name of LotJiaringia after his son, and the name still survives in the duchy of Lorraine. Lewis, the next brother, had the eastern or German provinces, and Charles the Bald the west. Neustria had been given to him before, but on the death of his brother Pippin, Aquitaine was added to it. Thus Karoliiigia, or Charles's portion, the kingdom of the West-Franks, consisted of everything west of the Scheldt, Meiise, Saone, and Rhone, including Spain as far as the Ebro. The name of Karolingia died out, while the name of Lotharingia lived on ; but they were names of exactly the same class. The kingdom was formed by a kind of accident, by the addition of Aquitaine to Neustria. And, as in the other kingdoms of the time, the kings had but small power, for the counts and dukes who ruled the provinces were fast growing into princes owing the king a mere nominal homage, and sometimes, especially in Aquitaine and Britanny, defying him altogether. Still the beginning of Karolingia or the Western Kingdom of the Franks marks a great era in our history. Charles the Bald became Emperor in 875, the only separate king of the West- Franks who was Emperor. Charles was
