CHAPTER IX - RETALIATION
Ragnahar’s ashes were put into an urn and buried underneath a larger cairn in the sacred grove right next to Bogatygrad. This place was dedicated to heroes that the people adored.
Tensions between Dagobert and Austrasians were rising like never before. One of the reasons was the transfer of the center of the Kingdom of the Franks from Austrasia to Paris two years ago.
Austrasian nobility was enormously displeased with their King and after the shameful defeat at Bogatygrad, their anger knew no limits. And yet none of them knew what was coming.
Venedian lands were significantly weakened and had a lot of rebuilding ahead. Drahomir had the responsibility to defend Moravia and rebuild what was destroyed and Vladislav was given the task to defend Nitrava and the south-east from Avars.
Samo tried to get support from the chieftains for a revenge campaign and liberation of enslaved Venedians and he got their support.
After a short period of time, Samo was standing at the head of his army in Thuringia on Frankish land. In front of him were Frankish forces that called their Sorbian subordinates for support.
Sorbs were approaching the battlefield from the north.
“There are our servants. We will use them to feed these Venedian savages,” told one Frankish commander to the other. “And after they kill off each other we will finish the job and destroy Samo’s army.
But Sorbs did not side with the Frankish Empire.
Dervan, leader of the Sorbs, approached the Venedian army, jumped off his horse and kneed before Samo. “Honorable Samo, I’m not willing to serve the foul Franks anymore. My people want Sorbia to join your Union and be under your rule. In order to confirm our pledge of allegiance, we will fight for you today and in the future,” spoke Dervan, chieftain of the Sorbs.
Venedians defeated Franks with the help of Sorbs and they continued with victories over the following years. Rumors of their invincibility and immortality quickly spread all over Europe.
But they never tried to conquer the Kingdom of the Franks and instead took what was previously taken from them and liberated Venedians that were taken into slavery.
Dagobert feared the worst. The Kingdom of the Franks was on its knees and that was thanks to Samo, his half brother who was posing a threat to the throne. At least Dagobert thought so.
Austrasian nobility lost the will to defend the border regions and wanted nothing else than Dagobert gone and so they revolted against his rule.
Dagobert in his paranoia had his half brother Charibert II., King of Aquitaine, murdered and shortly after even his infant son Chilperic. One empire was damned, while another was flourishing. A truly fruitful year when among other things, it also witnessed the death of Muhammad, who planted the roots of a powerful empire that would pose a threat to the Kingdom of the Franks sooner as they expected.
It took Dagobert three years in total to realize that his rule is over and if he wants to keep the crown in his family line, he has to step back and cede Austrasia to his three year old son Sigebert.
Austrasians were pleased with this decision and started to pay more attention to the border areas and thus the revenge campaign of Venedians ended.
Dagobert I. continued ruling over Neustria and Burgundy till his death in 639. The Merovingian dynasty was greatly weakened because of two child-kings ruling over parts of the former Kingdom of the Franks, weakening its strength and role in Europe. This decline accounted for the beginning of the end for the Merovingian dynasty.
After years of disunity, weak kings started ruling the Kingdom of the Franks and were overshadowed by their Mayors of the Palace*, the de facto rulers of the Franks. One of the most known Mayors of the Palace, Charles Martel, proved himself worthy by defeating the Umayyad Caliphate in the Battle of Poitiers and by fighting off further expansions of Muslims into the Kingdom of the Franks. Thanks to his son, Pepin the Short, the Carolingian dynasty replaced the Merovingians while becoming the de iure ruling family.
Samo’s unending love towards Drahoslava moved even ordinary people and her shortened name Draha acquired the meaning of the word darling. Gods blessed them with happiness and their love never faded.
Samo ruled Venedians till his death in 658, when Venedian tribes returned to their former independent style of ruling and started transforming into principalities. Samo fought Avars all those years and they remained a threat even long after his death, until Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Pepin the Short’s son from the Carolingian dynasty, crushed them and the Avar Empire was wiped off the world map for good.
* Mayor of the Palace – executive office in the kingdom