Researchers recently discovered the bone remains of a guy buried amid the remains of a headless horse. Knittlingen, in southern Germany, was where the bones were discovered. Researchers believe the man and horse were buried 1400 years ago, during the reign of the Merovingian dynasty.
From the middle of the fifth century until 751, the Merovingian dynasty ruled the Franks. They initially appear in the Roman army of northern Gaul as 'Kings of the Franks.' By 509, they had conquered all of the Franks and northern Gaulish Romans. They captured the majority of Gaul, conquering the Visigoths and Burgundians, and expanded their control into Raetia. The Alemanni, Bavarii, and Saxons recognized their sovereignty in Germania. Following the disintegration of Theodoric the Great's kingdom, the Merovingian realm was the greatest and most powerful of Western European powers.
The mediaeval Latin Merovingi or Merohingii dynasty name stems from an unattested Frankish form, similar to the recorded Old English Merewowing, with the ending -ing being a common Germanic patronymic suffix. The name is derived from King Merovech, who is the subject of several stories. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies, the Merovingians never proclaimed divine origin, and there is little indication that they were revered.
