561 to c. 590

We take a look at the utterly baffling fraternal struggles as the descendants of Clovis continue to be unable to get along with each other or their neighbors.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/11/18/60-carry-on-my-wayward-sons/

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Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

547-561

The two remaining Merovingian kings, Chlothar and Childebert, rule the now vast lands of the Franks, while warily eying each other. The question of inheritance hangs over everything, and one son decides to betray his father.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/11/19/59-the-life-and-lusts-of-chlothar-the-first/

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Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

c. 500 to 590

"Bishops move diagonally. That's why they often turn up where the kings don't expect them to be."

- Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/05/05/58-bishops-gambits/

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Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Additional Music:

Hildegard of Bingen, “Antiphon for St. Ursula”

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

516 - 548

One of the strongest of the early Merovingians, Theudebert built a powerful kingdom while squabbling with his uncles and carrying on a complicated personal life.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/04/16/57-the-life-and-loves-of-theudebert-i/

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Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

511-532

Out of the four sons of Clovis, not one of them was the type to stay at home, or to be content with what he had. In this episode, we’ll abandon chronological accuracy for the moment, to tell stories of each of these kings. Violence, mostly.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode:

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

c. 450 - c. 600

When Clovis, king of the Franks, died in 511, he passed on to his sons a huge territory, containing many millions of people. In this episode, we take a look at those people, how they made their livings, and how they organized society around them.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

https://www.museedestempsbarbares.fr/le-village-franc/

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/03/03/the-kingdoms-of-francia/

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Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Basque-ing in Glory

4000 BCE to c. 700 CE

The Western Pyrenees are home to the Basques, a mysterious community who speaks a unique language, and who have been there … for as long as anyone can tell. In this episode we’ll explore their history up through the seventh century, and their relationship to the people who have come and gone around them.

Webpage for this Episode https://darkagespod.com/2025/01/31/54-basque-ing-in-glory/

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Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Of Outstanding Goodness

586 to 601 CE

Reccared takes the throne and makes a momentous change. The Visigothic kingdom becomes unified under one religion and climbs to a new level of stability and security.

Webpage for this Episode

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music: "The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/