metalsmiths and metal work, metallurgy 487dynasty’s fortunes, but they were only partially successful.
The last Merinid was removed in 1465 in a popular revolt,
with branches emerging into the 16th century.
See alsoIDRISIDS;MALI;MARRAKECH.
Further reading: Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The
Islamic Dynasties (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 1967), 32–34; Michael Brett and Werner Forman,
The Moors: Islam in the West(London: Orbis, 1980); Jamil
Abun-Nasr, A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987).
Merovingian dynasty With the accession of CLOVISin
481 or 482, the Merovingian dynasty took control of
Francia or Gaul, ruling there until 751, when the last king
of the dynasty, Childeric II (r. 743–751), was deposed by
PÉPINIII THESHORTwith the help of the PAPACY.
Clovis became king at age 15 in succession to his
father, Childeric I (d. 481/482), the son of the almost leg-
endary Merovech (r. 448–457), the source for the name
Merovingians. Childeric and his FRANKSsettled between
the Somme and the Scheldt, cultivating their ties with
ROME. In his reign of 30 years, Clovis conquered the
greater part of Gaul, from FRISIAto the Pyrenees moun-
tains in the south, from the Atlantic to the Rhine River in
the east. He defeated the Alamanni in 496 near COLOGNE
and the VISIGOTHSin 506. He made PARIShis capital; con-
verted to Catholicism, the religion of his wife, Clotilda
(ca. 470–545); and made an alliance of the Franks with
the papacy.
The history of the Merovingians was frequently
determined by the legal necessity to divide succession
among whatever numbers of sons were produced. The
unity of the kingdom was rarely maintained, under
Clotaire I from 558 to 561 and, more lastingly, from 613
to 639 under Clothar II (r. 613–629) and his son, Dagob-
ert I (r. 629–639). The mayors of the PALACEheld real
power. By 662, the Pepinids occupied the mayoralty of
the palace in Austrasia and later NEUSTRIA.
These Frankish leaders were and had to be war lead-
ers; and a taste for conquest never disappeared. The
Merovingians were the almost magical “long-haired
kings,” the purveyors of lands and the guarantors of
peace. They had to vanquish the enemy and procure good
harvests. If they failed, they were deposed. Their conver-
sion under Clovis to Christianity was helpful to them, in
that they acquired the support of the church, which they
generally respected and enriched. With PRAYERSand epis-
copal advisers, the church called down divine favors on
the dynasty. Other forms of power rested on interpersonal
relations. Lords swore an oath to the king and pledged to
support him, and thus this warrior people was directly
and personally linked to a leader.
See alsoCAROLINGIAN DYNASTY; GREGORY OFTOURS.
Further reading:Gregory of Tours, History of the
Franks,trans. Ernest Brehaut (1916; reprint, New York,
Octagon Books, 1965); Peter Lasko, Ars Sacra, 800–1200,
2nd ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
1994); J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, Merovingian Military Orga-
nization, 481–751(Minneapolis, University of Minnesota
Press, 1972); Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding,
trans. and eds., Late Merovingian France: History and
Hagiography, 640–720(Manchester: Manchester Univer-
sity Press, 1996); Yitzhak Hen, Culture and Religion in
Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481–751(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1995);
Ian N. Wood, The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751(Lon-
don: Longman, 1994).metalsmiths and metal work, metallurgy Medieval
metalsmiths worked with several metals, including iron,
gold, and silver. At that time, western Europe did not
possess the same mineral resources as had the Roman
Empire as a whole. It was rich in iron, particularly in the
regions of central and northern Europe. But it had lost
ready access to the important mineral deposits of the
Muslim-controlled Iberian Peninsula. Metals from else-
where also were controlled by Muslims and were not eas-
ily obtained.
Iron was widely used in daily life and was diffused
throughout continental Europe in the early Middle Ages.
It was less frequent in the south or Mediterranean world,
where nonferrous metals such as copper, tin, and their
alloys remained common in daily life until the mid-14th
century. Iron was commonly used and part of a consider-
able TRADEfrom the regions of production such as the
BASQUE provinces in northern Iberia and LOMBARDY in
northern Italy. The mining of iron did not require great
investment, and its production was common. AbundanceA bellows for metalworking at the abbey of Fontenay in
Burgundy(Courtesy Edward English)