712-744 Liutprand attempts unification of Italy through the subjugation of the dukes of Spoleto and Benevento and attacks on Ravenna and Rome.

714-741 Charles Martel, illegitimate son of Pepin II, struggles for the position of majordomo and restores the kingdom of the Franks after conflicts with Neustria and Aquitania.

732 Battle of Tours and Poitiers, Charles Martel defeats the Arabs under Abd ar-Rahman

741 Charles Martel divides Kingdom of the Franks between his sons who had been raised in the monastery of St. Denis: Carloman receives the East (Austrasia, Swabia, Thuringia); Pepin the West (Neustria, Burgundy, Provence); Aquitania and Bavaria come under joint rule.

751 Aistulf seizes Ravenna and ends the Exarchate of Ravenna (end of Byzantine rule in central Italy)