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The Merovingians stuck to the Germanic practice of dividing their lands among their sons, and the frequent division, reunification and redivision of territories reduced the kingship dissolved into murder and warfare. The chief officer of each kingdom was the mayor of the palace.
By the mid-8th century [Pepin the short]?, mayor of the palace for the whole Frankish kingdom, blessed by a new alliance with the Pope against the Lombards, took over the title 'king' as well as the actual administration of the kingdom. Pepin's son Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 800. Charlemagne's grandsons in 843 at Verdun divided the empire into a west, a middle and an eastern part; roughly France for [Charles the Bald]?, a combination of the Low Countries, Burgundy & Italy for Lothar, and finally Germany for [Louis the German]?.
In 962 [Otto the Great]? of Germany reconquered Italy, founding the Holy Roman Empire.
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