Austrasia

Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Kingdom of the Franks from the 6th to 8th centuries, ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle Ages. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine, and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the Franks, including both the so-called Salian Franks and Ripuarian Franks, which Clovis I, King of the Franks (481–511) conquered after first taking control of the bordering part of Roman Gaul (present-day northwestern France), which is sometimes described in this period as Neustria.

In 561, Austrasia became a separate kingdom within the Frankish kingdom and was ruled by the Merovingian king Sigebert I (561–575). In the 7th and 8th centuries, it was the powerbase from which the Carolingians, originally mayors of the palace of Austrasia, took over the rule of all Franks, all of Gaul, most of Germany, and northern Italy. After this period of unification, the now larger Frankish Empire was once again divided between eastern, central, and western sub-kingdoms (West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia), with the new version of the eastern kingdom eventually becoming the foundation of the Kingdom of Germany.