OrléansOrléans (UKɔːrˈliːənz,_ˈɔːrliənz; USˌɔːrleɪˈɑ̃,_ˌɔːrliˈɑːn,_ɔːrˈleɪənz, ɔʁleɑ̃) is a city in north-central France, about 120 kilometres (74 miles) southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the department of Loiret and of the region of Centre-Val de Loire. Orléans is located on the river Loire nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley, classified as a World Heritage Site, where the river curves south towards the Massif Central. In 2019, the city had 116,269 inhabitants within its municipal boundaries.
Lorsch AbbeyLorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (Reichsabtei Lorsch; Laureshamense Monasterium or Laurissa), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany. Its chronicle, entered in the Lorscher Codex compiled in the 1170s (now in the state archive at Würzburg), is a fundamental document for early medieval German history.
RoussillonRoussillon (UKˈruːsɪjɒn , USˌruːsiːˈjoʊn , ʁusijɔ̃; Rosselló rusəˈʎo; Rosselhon ruseˈʎu) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of Northern Catalonia or French Catalonia (the former used by Catalan-speakers and the latter used by French-speakers), corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales (with Roussillon, Conflent, and Fenouillèdes) in the former region of Languedoc-Roussillon (today Occitanie).
TongerenTongeren (ˈtɔŋərə(n); Tongres tɔ̃ɡʁ; Tongern ˈtɔŋɐn; Tóngere ˈtʊŋəʀə) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the only Roman administrative capital within the country's borders. As a Roman city, it was inhabited by the Tungri, and known as Atuatuca Tungrorum, it was the administrative centre of the Civitas Tungrorum district.
DorestadDorestad (Dorestat, Duristat) was an early medieval emporium, located in the southeast of the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, close to the modern-day town of Wijk bij Duurstede. It flourished during the 8th to early 9th centuries, as an important port on the northeastern shipping routes due to its proximity to the fork in the Rhine, with access to Germany via the Nederrijn (the northernmost branch of the Rhine), to the southern Netherlands, northern France, and England (via the Lek), and to the northern Netherlands, northern Germany, and Scandinavia (via the Kromme Rijn).
CapitularyA capitulary (Medieval Latin capitulare) was a series of legislative or administrative acts emanating from the Frankish court of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, especially that of Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Romans in the west since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century. They were so called because they were formally divided into sections called capitula (plural of capitulum, a diminutive of caput meaning "head(ing)": chapters).
Carolingian architectureCarolingian architecture is the style of north European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries, when the Carolingian dynasty dominated west European politics. It was a conscious attempt to emulate Roman architecture and to that end it borrowed heavily from Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, though there are nonetheless innovations of its own, resulting in a unique character.
Gertrude of NivellesGertrude of Nivelles, OSB (also spelled Geretrude, Geretrudis, Gertrud; c. 628 – 17 March 659) was a seventh-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles, now in Belgium. The early history of Gertrude's family is not well documented. The anonymous author of her Early Middle Ages biography, Vita Sanctae Geretrudis, only hints at her origins: "it would be tedious to insert in this account in what line of earthly origin she was descended.
DesideriusDesiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born 720 – died 786), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Desiderius is remembered for this connection to Charlemagne and for being the last Lombard ruler to exercise regional kingship. Born in Brescia, Desiderius was originally a royal officer, the dux of Tuscia and he became king after the death of Aistulf in 756.
TaifalsThe Taifals or Tayfals (Taifali, Taifalae or Theifali; Taïfales) were a people group of Germanic or Sarmatian origin, first documented north of the lower Danube in the mid third century AD. They experienced an unsettled and fragmented history, for the most part in association with various Gothic peoples, and alternately fighting against or for the Romans. In the late fourth century some Taifali were settled within the Roman Empire, notably in western Gaul in the modern province of Poitou.
