Austrasia was a historical region and the northeastern realm within the core of the Francia during the Early Middle Ages, centering on the regions between Meuse, Moselle, Middle Rhine and the Main rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had been the northernmost part of Roman Gaul and parts of Roman Germania. 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, founded by the Merovingian king Clovis I (481–511), who expanded Frankish rule further to the southwest, into the Gaul, whose northern regions came to be known as Neustria.
These two realms, or sub-kingdoms (Austrasia and Neustria), along with Aquitaine and Burgundy, were subsequently ruled by various ruler from the Merovingian dynasty, followed in the 8th and 9th centuries by their successors from the Carolingian dynasty, whose own powerbase was in Austrasia itself. The two Frankish dynasties did not always have a single ruling monarch over the whole Frankish realm, and already by 561, Austrasia was ruled as a separate kingdom within the Frankish realm by the Merovingian king Sigebert I (561–575). Kings often allowed different family members to rule sub-kingdoms, and these were sometimes in conflict with each other, despite the underlying continuity of the overall Frankish state.
In 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Austrasia was divided in three parts, with eastern section being assigned to the East Francia, central regions to the Middle Francia, and the most western part to the West Francia. Further divisions affected mostly the central part of Austrasia, ruled since the Treaty of Prüm (855) by king Lothair II, whose name gave rise to Lotharingia, that corresponded to central Austrasia. It was divided by the Treaty of Meerssen (870), but reunited by the Treaty of Ribemont (880), under the east Frankish rule. During the 9th century, Austrasia was still considered as one of the main regions (stem lands) within the Carolingian Empire, surrounded by Alamannia (to the south), Bavaria (to the south-east), Thuringia (to the north-east), and Saxony (to the north), as attested by the Royal Frankish Annals, and the Annals of Saint Bertin, that mentions not only Austrasia, but also Autrasians.
In time, central Austrasia was more frequently designated as Lotharingia, that became the prevailing term for those regions, while eastern parts of Austrasia came to be known as Old Franconia.
Metz served as the Austrasian capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Reims, Trier and Cologne. Other important cities included Verdun, 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 Franconia in Germany, with some western portions including Reims and Rethel passing to 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, North Brabant, with a salient north of the Rhine including Utrecht and parts of Gelderland).
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 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.
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 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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