East Frankish

Kingdom of the East Franks
Francia orientalis
843–962
East Francia and its vassal territories after the Treaty of Verdun of 843.
Capital		Various, including Frankfurt and Ratisbon (Regensburg)
Languages		Old High German Old Low German Old Frisian limited use of Old Franconian and Latin in official and church matters; vassal territories also used Slavic and various other languages
Religion		Catholic Church
Government		Monarchy
King of the Franks
•	843–876	Louis the German (first)
•	936–962 (title held until his death in 973)	Otto the Great
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Treaty of Verdun	843
•	Treaty of Meerssen	870
•	East Francia blends into the Holy Roman Empire upon Otto the Great being crowned Holy Roman Emperor	962
Currency		Pfennig
Preceded by Succeeded by Francia Lotharingia Kingdom of Germany Holy Roman Empire
Today part of		East Francia proper:  Germany   Switzerland  Austria  Netherlands  Slovenia  Italy Vassal territories:  Germany  Czech Republic  Slovakia  Hungary  Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Serbia

East Francia (Latin: Francia orientalis) or the Kingdom of the East Franks (regnum Francorum orientalium) was a precursor of the Holy Roman Empire. A successor state of Charlemagne's empire, until 911 it was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty. It was created after the 840–43 civil war between Charlemagne's grandchildren which ended with the Treaty of Verdun which divided the former empire into three kingdoms.

The east–west division, enforced by the German-Latin language split, "gradually hardened into the establishment of separate kingdoms", with East Francia becoming the Kingdom of Germany and West Francia the Kingdom of France. However, while the Kingdom of France became a centralised stable kingdom, this did not happen in Germany, which is why the term Kingdom of Germany is rather rarely used for the many independent territories, loosely standing under the King of the Romans.

In August 843, after three years of civil war following the death of emperor Louis the Pious on 20 June 840, the Treaty of Verdun was signed by his three sons and heirs. The division of lands was largely based on the Meuse, Scheldt, Saone and Rhone rivers. While the eldest son Lothair I kept the imperial title and the kingdom of Middle Francia, Charles the Bald received the West Francia and Louis the German received the eastern portion of mostly Germanic-speaking lands of Duchy of Saxony, Austrasia, Alamannia, Duchy of Bavaria, and March of Carinthia.