Hope you guys enjoy this one! The format is ever evolving, as I am trying to make these vids as educational & entertaining as possible. I welcome any & all feedback :) HUGE thanks to KnowHistory for helping me out with the maps in this vid. Go check out his channel if you haven't already, as I am positive you will enjoy his work: www.youtube.com/@KnowHistory/ Corrections/clarifications will be posted here, as always: -I misspoke and said Basil II instead of Basil I at 25:05
I love your content bro please keep making more. I also appreciate your Cinematic intros and you do make your videos entertaining which is the best way to learn anything. I've watched just about every video you've put out 😅. Also I would like to know what are your future planned projects?
@@Empire-Builders Byzantines, then Ottonians, in that order! Your videos have become the gold standard for historical content for me going forward. So thank you for all your hard work!
For someone with as small a subscriber base as you have, the content you produce is absolutely wonderful, not only in quality but also in the subjects you've gone through. As a teacher myself I find myself constantly inspired to follow in your footsteps. I only hope you manage to grow your viewerbase here as you most definitely deserve it.
Given how little is known about him, the bastard son of Charles the Fat, Bernard, seems the perfect character to make a fiction novel out of. A bastard son of an unjustly deposed emperor, fighting against Arnulf of Carinthia to reclaim his birthright and just maybe bring back peace to the empire as the last hope of the dying dynasty is just too good to pass.
Absolutely fascinating and eye opening. I had absolutely no knowledge of the successors of Charlemagne much less Louis the Pious. They were all fascinating and incredible in their own ways. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of history of this niche era of Western and Central Europe. Great work as always man. The movie clips once again hitting harder than ever. I cannot wait for future uploads! 😁😁 - Bob.
Oh, and I had some questions regarding the succession system of the Franks. Why couldn't bastards inherent the throne if there were no other legitimate male claimants? (I'm assuming legitimate female heirs were out of the question during this time.) If there was a Carolingian ruler that had the opportunity to curb the power of the nobles, which one in your opinion could do it?
@@bcvetkov8534Thank you very much for the kind words friend :) As far as I can tell, the rules about bastards were still being written. Carloman's bastard, Arnulf of Carinthia, was able to rise high, although other bastards (e.g. Charles the Fat's bastard) were less successful. Even upstart legitimate sons were liable to face opposition from the nobility (e.g. Charles the Bald's early reign in West Francia). If Charles the Fat had a bunch of legitimate sons, things probably would have gone differently, but it's safe to say those sons would face some degree of opposition assuming power in the various sub-kingdoms. The rules forbidding female inheritance, on the other hand, were fairly strict at this time, enshrined in Salic law which dates back to Clovis' time. Lots of later Carolingians showed great promise. The odds were stacked against Charles the Bald & Charles the Fat, which is why they were bashed by contemporaries right up to the present day. But even contemporaries acknowledged the potential that Carloman of Bavaria had, along with Louis the Stammerer's two young sons (Regino of Prum even called them "the great hope of Europe," as mentioned in the vid).
@@Empire-Builders Thank you for the reply good sir! Sallic law is so fascinating especially when you realize how important it was to Frankish society on a cultural and legal level. Have a wonderful day man.
Putting aside the historial merit of the video, you've got really good editing skills. Nice to watch a long historical video that isn't more or less a podcast with a slideshow
that crusader kings needle drop was cold 🥶🥶💯 very fascinating to see the complex and twisting beginning of what we would later call the medieval age also love the bookending of No Country for Old Men!
The quality of content this channel puts out is unreal. My knowledge of the Carolingian Empire has at least quintupled since I started watching these videos.
Another great one. It feels too good to be true to have a solid history youtuber who puts out content regularly. I never thought I would be into Frankish history, so idk if I just got tired of Roman,greek, and Byzantine history or if your videos are just that good. Probably both.
Agreed. Being the oldest son and brother myself, I definitely understand that. If only the younger siblings would know their roles, that would make everything run more smoothly .🤴
Thanks man, this was a gripping tale, last part had me dreaming up an image of an old and infirm Charles the Fat sitting in an empty hall in an impoverished castle, staring up at a portrait of Charlemagne and his other ancestors and maps of Charlemagnes once great realm
Dude, you are really good. Keep it up! Been a fan of this channel for some time now, just wanted to let you know you are doing a great job. RAHT for you.
Wow, you've really carved out quite a niche for yourself to become one of the premier UA-cam channels! I'm glad to have subscribed over a month ago when you had a tiny fraction of subscribers.
I've been searching for a channel like this on youtube for the better part of 10 years now. I've never found one - just the odd video on the merovingians or charemagne either from a TV program or a sidenote from a historian channel. Nothing this high caliber. Thank you so much for making all this content. I am not sure about Louis the Stammerer and others, but I know that Charles the Bald was called such because he was the one brother without a crown for most of his life (being so young). This could of course be just legend or hearsay, but that makes the most sense to me given that he wasn't really bald as you said.
One point of contention: being otherwise hairy does NOT preclude baldness; rather the reverse. Show me a bald guy and I'll show you the same guy with a hairy back. God has a sense of humor. The chroniclers of this period also have a sense of humor. Now Gibbon may be underrating the last of the Carolingian kings, but the nicknames ARE suggestive, as you indicate. Suggestive of a certain lack of respect, regardless of the merits of the rulers. Charles the FAT. Timothy the Toothless. Jaques Itch. Maxim the Minecrafter. Anyway, educational as always. Using "No Country" as prologue and epilogue was a boss move, as well.
You have great videomaking skills, and I would love to watch a midquel documentary between this video and your video about the Ottonian dynasty - 887 to 955 is a mighty time period specifically because of the lack of a lone centralising figure, which makes each of the many stories of the time worth telling.
"It is better to have Albert the Bear standing inside the tent and pissing out than standing on the outside and doing the same in reverse." Dirk Hoffman-Becking in "History of the Germans"
The same pattern of rival brothers and rebellious sons seems to have been repeated with Plantagenet history -specifically with the sons of Henry II -where even the wife Eleanor of Aquitaine got in on the act on the side of the sons.
I absolutely adore your videos. From the sources you've read on the post-Carolingian Middle Ages, what would you recommend as the best one(s) to start with as a baseline? (I've read nothing at all so far)
There are many sources on my desk right now, but I don't have a favorite (yet). Some are wide-ranging histories, and some have a narrower scope on a specific aspect of the 9th century onwards. The Rise Of The Ottonians: Origins Of The German Empire (David Bachrach) Warfare in Medieval Europe c.400-c.1453 (Bernard S. Bachrach, David S. Bachrach) Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany (David S. Bachrach) The Medieval Empire in Central Europe: Dynastic Continuity in the Post-Carolingian Frankish Realm, 900-1300 (Herbert Schutz) Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: The Carolingian and Ottonian Centuries (Karl Leyser) Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c.936-1075 (John W. Bernhardt) Medieval Germany, 500-1300: A Political Interpretation (Benjamin Arnold) The Civilization of the Middle Ages (Norman Cantor) Early Medieval Europe 300-1000 (Roger Collins) Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800-1056 (Timothy Reuter)
So good! I this might be my favourite video of yours, the mix of history and poetry with the music brilliant visuals just come together perfectly.. What is the the song that starts at 8.20?
Given how much mention of feudalism there is in this video, as a medievalist, I'm very curious what your take will be on the term, how nuanced and precisely you might approach it. Suffice to say the term is... controversial among medievalists. Chris Wickham's definition is, I think, probably the best if one is to be used at all. Regardless this is the best overview of the end of the Carolingians one could hope for in this format. Supremely well done.
Basil I, the usurpator, not Basil II, the B'lgursmasher, offered the byzantine float to the service of a Carolingian, so initiating a collaboration between both empires. Charlemagne himself could have married Eirene, the widow of emperor Zeno the Isaurian and mother of his successor Constantine VI, to whom a daughter of the same Charlemagne was promised. Later, the already menopaused Zoe, daughter of Constantinos VIII, was promised to young Kaiser Otto III, who died from " malaria" as Zoe was waiting to encounter him in Brindisi. Zoe married four successive byzantine emperors, while attempting all sort of " fertility cures" to overcome her passed fertility. Would an alliance between the Heilige Römische Reich and the Oriental Roman Empire have discouraged the incessant approaches of the Muslim invaders ?
How are emperors of the eastern rome just claimants when they are in continuity with previous emperors? How is Basil making a jab when it is known that he was pissed due to someone else using his title? also calling Basil I as II is just embarassing, if you try to present something from contemporary states at least be accurate.
Hope you guys enjoy this one! The format is ever evolving, as I am trying to make these vids as educational & entertaining as possible. I welcome any & all feedback :)
HUGE thanks to KnowHistory for helping me out with the maps in this vid. Go check out his channel if you haven't already, as I am positive you will enjoy his work:
www.youtube.com/@KnowHistory/
Corrections/clarifications will be posted here, as always:
-I misspoke and said Basil II instead of Basil I at 25:05
I love your content bro please keep making more. I also appreciate your Cinematic intros and you do make your videos entertaining which is the best way to learn anything. I've watched just about every video you've put out 😅. Also I would like to know what are your future planned projects?
@@billybobjr762 Thanks so much! Ottonians or Byzantines next up -- which would you like to see?
@@Empire-Builders Why not both?
(No, but seriously either one would be incredible on its own.)
@@Empire-Builders Byzantines, then Ottonians, in that order! Your videos have become the gold standard for historical content for me going forward. So thank you for all your hard work!
For someone with as small a subscriber base as you have, the content you produce is absolutely wonderful, not only in quality but also in the subjects you've gone through. As a teacher myself I find myself constantly inspired to follow in your footsteps. I only hope you manage to grow your viewerbase here as you most definitely deserve it.
58 minutes? This isn't the Shorts section, sir.
😂🤣
Given how little is known about him, the bastard son of Charles the Fat, Bernard, seems the perfect character to make a fiction novel out of. A bastard son of an unjustly deposed emperor, fighting against Arnulf of Carinthia to reclaim his birthright and just maybe bring back peace to the empire as the last hope of the dying dynasty is just too good to pass.
Him and Pepin II both!
Absolutely fascinating and eye opening.
I had absolutely no knowledge of the successors of Charlemagne much less Louis the Pious.
They were all fascinating and incredible in their own ways.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of history of this niche era of Western and Central Europe.
Great work as always man.
The movie clips once again hitting harder than ever.
I cannot wait for future uploads! 😁😁
- Bob.
Oh, and I had some questions regarding the succession system of the Franks.
Why couldn't bastards inherent the throne if there were no other legitimate male claimants? (I'm assuming legitimate female heirs were out of the question during this time.)
If there was a Carolingian ruler that had the opportunity to curb the power of the nobles, which one in your opinion could do it?
@@bcvetkov8534Thank you very much for the kind words friend :)
As far as I can tell, the rules about bastards were still being written. Carloman's bastard, Arnulf of Carinthia, was able to rise high, although other bastards (e.g. Charles the Fat's bastard) were less successful. Even upstart legitimate sons were liable to face opposition from the nobility (e.g. Charles the Bald's early reign in West Francia). If Charles the Fat had a bunch of legitimate sons, things probably would have gone differently, but it's safe to say those sons would face some degree of opposition assuming power in the various sub-kingdoms.
The rules forbidding female inheritance, on the other hand, were fairly strict at this time, enshrined in Salic law which dates back to Clovis' time.
Lots of later Carolingians showed great promise. The odds were stacked against Charles the Bald & Charles the Fat, which is why they were bashed by contemporaries right up to the present day. But even contemporaries acknowledged the potential that Carloman of Bavaria had, along with Louis the Stammerer's two young sons (Regino of Prum even called them "the great hope of Europe," as mentioned in the vid).
@@Empire-Builders Thank you for the reply good sir!
Sallic law is so fascinating especially when you realize how important it was to Frankish society on a cultural and legal level.
Have a wonderful day man.
I took EARLY MODERN EUROPE in college, and this period was barely given a paragraph. SMH
Putting aside the historial merit of the video, you've got really good editing skills. Nice to watch a long historical video that isn't more or less a podcast with a slideshow
Finally, been waiting for this to drop
that crusader kings needle drop was cold 🥶🥶💯
very fascinating to see the complex and twisting beginning of what we would later call the medieval age
also love the bookending of No Country for Old Men!
Sir, how am I supposed to sleep?
I would love a series about the Ottonian Dynasty
Next part in this series is on the Ottonians :)
@@Empire-Builders no way that’s awesome 🙏
Welp, time to stay up and watch this amazing video.
The quality of content this channel puts out is unreal. My knowledge of the Carolingian Empire has at least quintupled since I started watching these videos.
Another great one. It feels too good to be true to have a solid history youtuber who puts out content regularly. I never thought I would be into Frankish history, so idk if I just got tired of Roman,greek, and Byzantine history or if your videos are just that good. Probably both.
I'm not saying this is relatable content haha, but there is something about fighting with your brother that I really connect with in this story.
Agreed. Being the oldest son and brother myself, I definitely understand that. If only the younger siblings would know their roles, that would make everything run more smoothly .🤴
41:22 “Unbuckled his belt…” Dunno why but that diction being used in reference to Charles the Fat of all people made me laugh way too hard.
This channel has been the find of the year. You are literally presenting what I am thinking. Thank you.
Thanks man, this was a gripping tale, last part had me dreaming up an image of an old and infirm Charles the Fat sitting in an empty hall in an impoverished castle, staring up at a portrait of Charlemagne and his other ancestors and maps of Charlemagnes once great realm
Dude, you are really good. Keep it up! Been a fan of this channel for some time now, just wanted to let you know you are doing a great job.
RAHT for you.
These empire videos rock! I've never known much about the Carolingian empire, nor had I heard of the Akkadian empire untill I came across your channel
Wow, you've really carved out quite a niche for yourself to become one of the premier UA-cam channels! I'm glad to have subscribed over a month ago when you had a tiny fraction of subscribers.
Impressive production quality. I also like how quotes from books and such are handled.
What a fascinating story! Hope to see your channel grow further. The quality of your content is unmatched!
There are few better ways to spend a Sunday then with a nice, long video by EB. Keep up your ever improving work!
Like I said last time, this is good stuff. Word needs to get out you should have even more subscribers
Thanks a lot for your time and the awesome work.
Thank you for putting together such amazing content! I can't wait for the next episode on the channel!
Thanks again for your help with the maps man!
Your use of art and media for the video enjoyers is awesome
I've been searching for a channel like this on youtube for the better part of 10 years now. I've never found one - just the odd video on the merovingians or charemagne either from a TV program or a sidenote from a historian channel. Nothing this high caliber. Thank you so much for making all this content.
I am not sure about Louis the Stammerer and others, but I know that Charles the Bald was called such because he was the one brother without a crown for most of his life (being so young). This could of course be just legend or hearsay, but that makes the most sense to me given that he wasn't really bald as you said.
You’re great man, thank you, you deserve more traffic and recognition
Great video. Can’t wait for the next part, the Ottonian Dynasty. Looking forward to it.
This and last video were really good man! Keep it up😎
These videos are fantastic! It's criminal that more people don't see these.
Well now you absolutely have to do a series on the Ottonians and the HRE
This channel is a golden nugget here b4 1 million
Not only do u push out great content. You do it consistently, you will quickly become one of the best history channels on the platform keep it up
Very excited for you to continue the series!!
Nicely done! Rare find, this series!
Keep going dude! Wonderful to listen to.
All the gaming soundtrack, chef's kiss*
Phenomenal channel. Keep up the good work. This was very informative.
One point of contention: being otherwise hairy does NOT preclude baldness; rather the reverse. Show me a bald guy and I'll show you the same guy with a hairy back. God has a sense of humor. The chroniclers of this period also have a sense of humor. Now Gibbon may be underrating the last of the Carolingian kings, but the nicknames ARE suggestive, as you indicate. Suggestive of a certain lack of respect, regardless of the merits of the rulers. Charles the FAT. Timothy the Toothless. Jaques Itch. Maxim the Minecrafter. Anyway, educational as always. Using "No Country" as prologue and epilogue was a boss move, as well.
You have great videomaking skills, and I would love to watch a midquel documentary between this video and your video about the Ottonian dynasty - 887 to 955 is a mighty time period specifically because of the lack of a lone centralising figure, which makes each of the many stories of the time worth telling.
Do you seriously think imma watch 58 minutes of pt 2 of the fall of the Carolingian Empire?!? Well, you would be damned right because I will!
"It is better to have Albert the Bear standing inside the tent and pissing out than standing on the outside and doing the same in reverse." Dirk Hoffman-Becking in "History of the Germans"
The same pattern of rival brothers and rebellious sons seems to have been repeated with Plantagenet history -specifically with the sons of Henry II -where even the wife Eleanor of Aquitaine got in on the act on the side of the sons.
Nice, very splendid. Now do Otto next!
I look forward to these drops the same way I do Hardcore History drops.
That is high praise 🙏 Love Dan Carlin!
I absolutely adore your videos. From the sources you've read on the post-Carolingian Middle Ages, what would you recommend as the best one(s) to start with as a baseline? (I've read nothing at all so far)
There are many sources on my desk right now, but I don't have a favorite (yet). Some are wide-ranging histories, and some have a narrower scope on a specific aspect of the 9th century onwards.
The Rise Of The Ottonians: Origins Of The German Empire (David Bachrach)
Warfare in Medieval Europe c.400-c.1453 (Bernard S. Bachrach, David S. Bachrach)
Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany (David S. Bachrach)
The Medieval Empire in Central Europe: Dynastic Continuity in the Post-Carolingian Frankish Realm, 900-1300 (Herbert Schutz)
Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: The Carolingian and Ottonian Centuries (Karl Leyser)
Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c.936-1075 (John W. Bernhardt)
Medieval Germany, 500-1300: A Political Interpretation (Benjamin Arnold)
The Civilization of the Middle Ages (Norman Cantor)
Early Medieval Europe 300-1000 (Roger Collins)
Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800-1056 (Timothy Reuter)
thank you!@@Empire-Builders
If Louis the Pious set up proper succession laws,France,Germany and probably Italy too would be one country today,just imagine that.
So good! I this might be my favourite video of yours, the mix of history and poetry with the music brilliant visuals just come together perfectly.. What is the the song that starts at 8.20?
Thank you very much! The track is the wonderful "Hrafnsmál - The Words of the Raven" as heard in AC Valhalla.
Love the NCFOM allegories
Can anybody tell me the name of the music that begins around 6:20? I swear I've heard it somewhere. I think in Civ 5 actually lol
🔥🔥intro
another banger
What a complicated ass family. Would love to see a series about the Ottonians and the later restablishment of the HRE as it is known in modern day
Thank you ❤
Given how much mention of feudalism there is in this video, as a medievalist, I'm very curious what your take will be on the term, how nuanced and precisely you might approach it. Suffice to say the term is... controversial among medievalists. Chris Wickham's definition is, I think, probably the best if one is to be used at all.
Regardless this is the best overview of the end of the Carolingians one could hope for in this format. Supremely well done.
So good
Those are CK2's execution sound files, right? Has been a while since I heard those utterly viscerally gruesome sounds.
Haha, the very same
You are the Dude! I love the way you shove the History in my Ears!!
Anybody here just aching for kingdom come deliverance time period 1403 and after to be covered? God be praised
We’ll get to that!
This is some serious gourmet.. stuff
I often wonder what peasants were thinking in those days like during the moments when the kingdom was split into 3 between 3 brothers
IMO, they would get it. Partitioned inheritance was a Germanic norm from top to bottom.
What's the source for that translation of Angelbert? I'm having trouble finding a good English version
dokumen.pub/poetry-of-the-carolingian-renaissance-080611939x-9780806119397.html
@@Empire-Builders Thanks!
I am not sure if that reenactment in the last couple of minutes of the video is a historically accurate representation of the HRE.
What's the image you used at 39:44? Looks gorgeous
www.meisterdrucke.ie/fine-art-prints/Bertrand-Perrony/189141/Map-of-Charlemagnes-Empire%2C-c.1890-.html
@@Empire-Buildersthanks!
25:06 the eastern Roman emperor was basil the first not the second
Correct, I misspoke. Mentioned in my pinned comment with corrections/clarifications
Can you do Clovis's empire next ?
He already did
It truly is strange how such a great empire collapsed into tragedy and farce
Babe come quickly empire builders posted a new video.
Future episode on Russian conquest of the Caucus?
Lore of How did the Carolingian Empire Collapse? Momentum 100
Basil I, the usurpator, not Basil II, the B'lgursmasher, offered the byzantine float to the service of a Carolingian, so initiating a collaboration between both empires. Charlemagne himself could have married Eirene, the widow of emperor Zeno the Isaurian and mother of his successor Constantine VI, to whom a daughter of the same Charlemagne was promised.
Later, the already menopaused Zoe, daughter of Constantinos VIII, was promised to young Kaiser Otto III, who died from " malaria" as Zoe was waiting to encounter him in Brindisi.
Zoe married four successive byzantine emperors, while attempting all sort of " fertility cures" to overcome her passed fertility.
Would an alliance between the Heilige Römische Reich and the Oriental Roman Empire have discouraged the incessant approaches of the Muslim invaders ?
PUMP Dark age history into my veins.
Your channel should be boosted more
..great vid..i need a coin of Louis the German for my Louies of France...:)
Can we be honest
Baso was just TommyKay CK2 in real life.
Indeed, the shadow of Charles Martell, Pepin the short and Charlemagne was a huge one, to huge you can say.
Lovely videos, but WHY the annoying movie clips/scenes???????????????
How did the Carolingians collapse?
Charlemagne died.
Tick tick tick… have no regrets 🙏
45:47 "chasing a girl" yeah we know what he actually intended to do.
This video is more a promotional work for various books than it is an adequate historical view on the end of the Carolingian Empire.
You caught me… I’m an agent representing Edward Gibbon & Regino of Prum.
and then i woke up
👍👍😊
Sound effects and scresming easnt needed. Your blind listensers would appreciate the removal of them
What a primitive, inefficient empire.
Bump
How are emperors of the eastern rome just claimants when they are in continuity with previous emperors?
How is Basil making a jab when it is known that he was pissed due to someone else using his title?
also calling Basil I as II is just embarassing, if you try to present something from contemporary states at least be accurate.
You are big
A lot of utterly ridiculous and distracting umusic here.