The Franks

The Franks, as they are known today, were a Germanic tribe who eventually became the French. The Germanic tribes often caused mayhem and destruction in medieval Europe. However, it is important to also note that some of the Germanic tribes were not barbarians, but instead settled in homes, and tried to help build up civilization. They came to inhabit the former wealthy Roman provinces of Gaul and became the most powerful of the Germanic tribes. It was the Franks who created the strongest and most stable barbarian kingdom in the days after the Western Roman Empire had collapsed.
The early Franks were a loose confederation of tribes who shared a similar culture. Tribal loyalty came before loyalty to the confederation and because of this the confederation was extremely weak. In A.D. 481 a Merovingian King by the name of Clovis came to power. He was a brutal warrior, who delighted in bloodshed on the battlefield. He and his successors destroyed all resistance within their empire. Fifteen years after taking the throne, Clovis became converted to Christianity. The conversion of Clovis was critical in European history. He encouraged his people to also convert to this new faith. The Germanic tribes would be critical in later years in defending Christianity against invading Muslims.
By A.D. 700 the Merovingian kings had lost control of the region inhabited by the Franks. Instead, power fell to a leader who was known as the Mayor of the Palace. In A.D. 732 Islam invaded Europe in an attempt to convert the Christians to the Islam faith. They had already conquered much of Europe, including almost all of Spain. As the Muslims entered what is now modern day France, a mayor of the palace by the name of Charles Martel met them with his forces in the city of Tours. Martel and his forces were able to beat back the Muslims, protecting the rest of Europe, and insuring that the religion practiced by the Europeans would remain Christianity. Charles Martel was succeeded as mayor of the palace by his son Pepin. In A.D. 752 the Pope anointed Pepin as king. This anointing by the Pope was important. To his subjects, it meant that Pepin had the backing of God, or that he was God’s chosen ruler. In exchange for the blessing of the Pope, Pepin promised to offer his protection to the Church. At this time, the Church in Rome was under attack by another Germanic tribe called the Lombards. Pepin successfully removed the Lombards from Rome, and gave their lands to the Pope. This strengthened the ties between the Catholic Church and the Franks.
Pepin was succeeded as king by his son Charlemagne. Charlemagne was a tall, friendly ruler, and was also a skillful politician. He built up a capable bureaucracy, a fair judicial system, and revived the arts. Under his leadership, the kingdom controlled by the Franks doubled in size growing to include France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. This kingdom became known as the Frankish Empire. For the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire, all the people of Western Europe were ruled over by a single government and by a single leader. Charlemagne was one of Europe's most successful monarchs.
He became the most powerful leader in western Europe. He was a wise and just ruler who instituted many new ideas. Charlemagne did not think much of the ordeal system of justice. He started a new system - trial by panel.  Under Charlemagne's system, each accused person would be heard by a panel of honorable men, men who had taken an oath to listen and to judge fairly based on the evidence presented.
One of the most important things Charlemagne did for the world was to turn his castle into a learning center - inviting scholars from all over the world to take up residence there. Following his taking control of the Frankish government, Charlemagne grew concerned about the numbers of his people who could not read or write. He sought to improve the situation by opening schools around his kingdom. Charlemagne also gathered together the brightest scholars of his era, and had them work to preserve ancient texts and records. These scholars copied the writings of the Romans, and others, preserving them for future generations. He used his scholars to create illuminated manuscripts that preserved knowledge during the Dark Ages.
Charlemagne ruled his vast empire by using local officials called counts to help him. Each count was responsible for solving local problems. These counts were instructed in their duties and responsibilities personally by Charlemagne, and they swore allegiance to him. Charlemagne then sent loyal authorities known as Missi Dominici on annual tours of his empire to observe how loyal his subjects were to him, and how closely the counts were following the laws he had established. They also had the job of finding men and raising armies for the kingdom. At least once a year, Charlemagne paid surprise visits to his various counts to make sure they were managing fairly and effectively.
After the death of Charlemagne in the year A.D. 814 his son Louise the Pious took the throne as emperor. Louise was not as effective a leader as his father. Upon the death of Louise, his three sons began fighting over control of the empire. After several years of civil war, which greatly weakened the empire, the three brothers signed a treaty in A.D. 843, which divided the empire into three equal pieces. Louis The German took control over most of what is now present day Germany. Charles The Bald took control of what is present day France, and Lothair took the land in-between the two, stretching from the North Sea, down into Italy. Lothair retained the title of emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, since Rome laid within his territory.