Not only has Charlemagne's empire been divided into three kingdoms, but the East Frankish Kingdom is being weakened by the rise of regional duchies, the so-called stem duchies of Franconia, Saxony, Bavaria, Swabia, and Lorraine, which acquire the trappings of petty kingdoms.

The fragmentation in the east marks the beginning of German particularism, in which territorial rulers promote their own interests and autonomy without regard to the kingdom as a whole.

The duchies are strengthened when the Carolingian line dies out in 911; subsequent kings will have no direct blood link to the throne with which to legitimate their claims to power against the territorial dukes.