Rooks of Burgundy's background

Not many people know where Burgundy actually is. Well, right now it is part of France and borders Germany and Switzerland. However back in 1016 when the story takes place neither France nor Germany were anything like they are today. At that time the Franks inhabited the west under the Carolingian Empire, well before the Merovingians from whom what we think of as France was born. To the east Germany was a mass of feuding princes with small holdings, each arguing for more power and land. This was, of course, before Frederic Barbarossa united the pieces of Germany to create the Holy Roman Empire. Rooks of Burgundy actually takes place in the early stages of the fragmenting of the kingdoms after Otto the Great had Germany so powerful. After Otto the great died Otto the slightly less great took the throne and things began to crumble. Just before Rooks of Burgundy begins a war that had been raging for sixteen years ended with Robert of Frankia wresting the duchy from the German princes, creating the unrest that takes place in the story. No one was in power much and even though it was technically part of Frankia nothing changed but the overlords of the fiefs. It continued to shift back and forth for a while and was even its own kingdom for a bit before being finally absorbed by France for good sometime in the sixteen hundreds. But that is after Rooks of Burgundy so it is none of my concern. Right around there government was a little...anarchical. Can't imagine why. That is why I chose to place my story in this particular setting. I was not looking for a storyline to put in Burgundy, but I had the storyline already and had to find a suitable setting for it. I see why people like to write fantasy novels; we get to just make everything up and it is dang fun. It is much harder fitting your story in real life, but when it does finally fit in the setting you have chosen, it is a feeling like putting the last piece in a puzzle, and you can just write like heck from there.