Franks

:Francia redirects here. For the Bolognese artist, see Francesco Raibolini.

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The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the region of Franconia in Germany, forming the historic kernel of both these two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity of the pagan Frankish king Clovis was a crucial event in the history of Europe.

Related Topics:
Germanic tribe - Roman Empire - Frisia - Foederati - Realm - France - Franconia - Germany - Clovis

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The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other, first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.

Related Topics:
Res publica - Private property - Literacy - Dynasties - Merovingians - Carolingians

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The Merovingian kings claimed descent of their dynasty from the Sicambri, a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe, asserting that this tribe had changed their name to "Franks" in 11 BC, following their defeat and relocation by Drusus, under the leadership of a certain chieftain called Franko.

Related Topics:
Sicambri - Scythian - Cimmerian - 11 BC - Drusus

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The ethnonym has also been traced to a *frankon "javelin, lance" (Old English franca, compare the Saxons, named after the seax, and the Lombards, named after the battle-axe; the throwing axe of the Franks is known as the Francisca), but conversely, the weapon may also have been named after the tribe.

Related Topics:
Old English - Saxons - Seax - Lombards - Battle-axe - Francisca

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The meaning of "free" (English frank, frankly) arose because after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks had the status of freemen.

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Initially two main subdivisions existed within the Franks: the Salian ("salty") and the Ripuarian ("river") Franks. By the 9th century, if not earlier, this division had in practice become virtually non-existent, but continued for some time to have implications for the legal system under which a person could go on trial.

Related Topics:
Salian - Ripuarian - 9th century

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