History of Cologne - Frank, Merovingian, and Carolingian Periods

Frank, Merovingian, and Carolingian Periods

Colonia was pillaged several times by the Franks in the 4th century and the city finally fell to the Ripuarian Franks in 459 AD. Two lavish burial sites located near the Cathedral date from this time of late antiquity.

In 355 AD, the Alemanni tribes besieged the town for 10 months. At the time, the garrison of Colonia Agrippina was under the generalship of Marcus Vitellus. The city was captured after the months of siege and was reestablished as a Roman colonia several months afterwards by the soon-to-be Roman Emperor Julian. In 455, the Salian Franks finally captured Cologne and made it their capital city. In 795 the chaplain to Charlemagne, Hildebold was elevated to Archbishop of Cologne, a newly created archbishopric.