Austrasia

/aw stray"zheuh, -sheuh/, n.

the E part of the former kingdom of the Franks, comprising parts of what is now NE France, W Germany, and Belgium. Cap.: Metz.

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or Ostrasia

Early medieval European kingdom.

During the Merovingian dynasty (6th–8th centuries AD), it was the eastern Frankish kingdom and Neustria was the western kingdom. Austrasia covered present-day northeastern France and areas of western and central Germany; its capital was at Metz. The region was the power base of the early Carolingian mayors of the palace, one of whom, Pippin III, deposed the last Merovingian king in 751 and founded the Carolingian dynasty. The dynasty's heartland, Austrasia, was an important region in the empire established by Charlemagne.

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▪ Frankish kingdom, Europe

      the eastern Frankish (Frank) kingdom in the Merovingian period (6th–8th century AD) of early medieval Europe, as distinct from Neustria, the western kingdom. Its mayors of the palace, leading household and government officials under the king, were ancestors of the Carolingian dynasty. Covering present northeastern France, Belgium, and areas of western and central Germany, the kingdom included the old homeland of the Ripuarian (Rhineland) Franks. Ruled from 561 to 613 by Sigebert I and his descendants, it was briefly reunited with the other Frankish kingdoms in the early 7th century. From 634, when Dagobert, sole king of the Franks from 629, gave to the Austrasians his son Sigebert III as their separate king, Austrasia had a main centre at Metz and its own mayor of the palace. Its ascendancy over the other Frankish kingdoms was assured when the Carolingian Austrasian mayor of the palace, Pippin II, defeated the Neustrians at Tertry in 687. His grandson, Pippin III the Short, in 751 deposed the last Merovingian king and was himself elected king instead. See also Merovingian dynasty. Under the Carolingians, Austrasia and Neustria were incorporated into the greater Frankish empire and gradually disappeared as distinct entities.

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