the second half of the year 751* Childeric III had an expensive haircut. For eleven years he had been king of the Franks, the people who ruled the old Roman provinces of Gaul after the barbarian migrations brought down the western empire. Although Childeric had never wielded practical power—one dismissive chronicler thought his sole function was “to sit back on his throne . . . satisfied with the name of king and the appearance of ruling”—he had nevertheless been the man in possession of majesty, which he symbolized by growing his hair and beard as long as he could, in the time-honored fashion of his royal dynasty, the Merovingians.1 This preference for tousled locks had earned th
Powers and Thrones
Dan Jones