Carolingian dynasty linguistic divisions occurred within the Frankish Empire The eastern Frankish people retained their Germanic dialects, while the western Franks spoke a language that developed into Old French, an amalgam of Gallo-Latin and Germanic dialects The division of the Frankish Empire was not only a political delineation, but also a cultural and linguistic one Following Lothair I’s death in 855, Middle Francia was divided among his sons and renewed tensions arose between the various factions of the Carolingians The Carolingians maintained control of Middle Francia, which became the kingdoms of Lotharingia and Provence, and Lombardy, the eldest retaining the empty title of emperor until 899 Despite ensuing rivalries and invasions, the Carolingians retained control of the eastern portion of the Frankish Empire until 911 East Francia served as the nucleus for the later Holy Roman Empire, sometimes referred to as the First Reich (First Empire) Over time East Francia’s political centralization dissolved into regional duchies, which operated as petty kingdoms Such fragmentation continued, with local rulers promoting their own interests and autonomy within the kingdom as a whole Following the death of Louis “the Child” (893–911), the last Carolingian ruler, nobles eventually elected Henry the Fowler (876–936), duke of Saxony, to succeed Sometimes referred to as the Ottonians, after Henry I’s son Otto I (912–973), who was crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in 962, the dynasty presented themselves as continuous successors to the Carolingians The duchies’ powers increased as the Holy Roman Emperors did not assume their position through a blood link, but rather by election from the rulers of the most prominent kingdoms within the empire Consequently they ruled over a confederation of sovereign territories, rather than a feudal empire West Francia (known variously as Francia Occidentalis and the Kingdom of the West Franks), the western portion of the former Frankish Empire, was dominated by several feudal lords, who elected the count of Paris, Hugh Capet (938–996), as king of France in 987 following the death of the last Carolingian ruler He became the founder of the French royal house, the Capetians (987–1328), which included the later cadet branches: the Valois (1328–1589), the Bourbons (1589–1792, 1814, 1815–30), and the Bourbon-Orléans (1830–48) See also Carolingian Renaissance; Pepin, Donation of Further reading: Dutton, Paul Edward, ed Carolingian Civilization: A Reader Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2004; Fichtenau, Heinrich The Carolingian Empire 73 Charlemagne’s empire included today’s France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Italy and Spain Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979; Ganschof, Franỗois Louis The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1971; McKitterick, Rosamond The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians, 751–987 New York: Longman, 1983; McKitterick, Rosamond History and Memory in the Carolingian World Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004; Riché, Pierre The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe Trans by Michael Idomir Allen Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993 Eric Martone