Rivals and Inheritors: The Franks Afternoon Course Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. ET Code: 1J0526C Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Register for this program by purchasing one of these series: 4 Program Series: Rivals and Inheritors: Goths, Huns, Franks, and Anglo-Saxons View series details Resize text The Plunder of Rome by Joseph-Noel Silvestre, 1890 Between 350 and 750, western Europe underwent a profound transformation. The Roman empire, which had dominated the ancient world for more than half a millennium, collapsed. The last Western Roman emperor was deposed in 476, while new peoples competed with the Roman population and with each other. Gothic tribes traveled across the empire to found kingdoms in France, Spain, and Italy. They were driven in turn by the nomadic Huns, whose power expanded dramatically from the east and disappeared just as suddenly. The Franks advanced from the banks of the Rhine River to carve out the only early Germanic kingdom which laid the foundation for a modern country. And in Britain, the Anglo-Saxons moved into the vacuum left by the Roman collapse to settle the lands that would become England. Historian David Gwynn traces the entangled stories of these four remarkable peoples, each of which interacted in different ways with the Roman empire and its legacy and together shaped the history of Christian Europe and Western civilization. Gwynn is an associate professor in ancient and late antique history at Royal Holloway in the University of London and author of several books, including The Goths: Lost Civilizations and Christianity in the Later Roman Empire: A Sourcebook. Session Information The Franks Only one of the Germanic kingdoms which emerged during the collapse of the Western Roman empire laid the foundation from which a modern country would arise. This was the achievement of the Franks. Under the leadership of their king Clovis (ca. 481-511), the Franks converted to catholic Christianity and drove the rival Visigoths from the lands now known as France. Gwynn draws upon the extensive writings and archaeology the Frankish kingdom left behind to examine the unique survival of the Franks from the post-Roman West into medieval Europe, from Clovis and his tempestuous Merovingian descendants to the most famous Frankish ruler: the emperor Charlemagne. Additional Sessions of the Rivals and Inheritors Course March 4: The Goths March 11: The Huns March 25: The Anglo-Saxons General Information View Common FAQs and Policies about our Online Programs on Zoom.
