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( Stem duchy)
Stem duchies (from the German Stammesherzogtum, literally "tribal duchy") were associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the East, in the Early Middle Ages. In contrast to later duchies, these entities were not defined by strict administrative boundaries but by the area of settlement of major Germanic tribes. Their dukes were neither royal administrators nor territorial lords. Historians distinguish between two sets of stem duchies, the older stem duchies (6th–8th century) and the younger stem duchies (9th–12th century). The older stem duchies were regions inhabited by Germanic tribes that were associated with the Frankish Kingdom. The duchies were more or less independent entities ruled by native rulers, which had acquired the Roman title of dux. All of them found their end during the rule of the early Carolingians. These older stem duchies were Some tribes, such as the Frisians, never formed a stem duchy with cultural allegiance to any single duke.
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