Duchy of Thuringia

The Duchy of Thuringia, later known as the Landgraviate of Thuringia, was a polity in medieval Thuringia, initially a duchy, and then a landgraviate. It was centered in the homeland of Thuringians, encompassing territories previously ruled by independent Kings of Thuringia. During the first half of the 6th century, Thuringia came under the supreme rule of Frankish kings, and was organized as an eastern frontier region of the Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia. It was established as a duchy about 631, by King Dagobert I, who appointed a local Thuringian noble Radulf as the first Duke of Thuringia. It was recreated within the Carolingian Empire, and then belonged to the East Frankish Realm.