Dark Age Superpower: Empire of the Franks | Mega-Documentary

The Franks were arguably the most successful barbarian people that emerged in the late antique period. Though they helped bring an end to the Western Roman Empire, they later restored it under Charlemagne, even as they laid the primitive foundations for a new age and order.

This is the story of the Franks, spanning six centuries of war, intrigue, and statesmanship, which saw this people rise from tribe to kingdom to empire.

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
1:07 - Chapter I: The Merovingians
1:13:40 - Chapter II: The arms of Charlemagne
2:02:25 - Chapter III: The arts of Charlemagne
3:13:27 - Chapter IV: The ministerium of Louis the Pious
3:54:57 - Chapter V: The fall of the Carolingian Empire
4:47:16 - Conclusion

Sources & further reading:
Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire (Peter H. Wilson)
History of the Franks (Gregory of Tours)
Chronicle of Fredegar + Continuations
Liber Historiae Francorum
The Merovingian Kingdoms (Ian Wood)
From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader (Alexander Callander Murray)
Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West 450-900 (Guy Halsall)
The Carolingian World (Marios Costambeys, Matthew Innes, Simon MacLean)
Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories (Bernahrd Scholz & Barbara Rogers-Gardner)
Life of Charlemagne (Einhard)
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edward Gibbon)
The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians 751-987 (Rosamond McKitterick)
The Demanding Drama of Louis the Pious (Courtney M. Booker)
Past Convictions: The Penance of Louis the Pious and the Decline of the Carolingians
Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict Under Louis the German, 817-876 (Eric J. Goldberg)