Franks

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

The earliest records of the Franks

The earliest Frankish history remains relatively unclear. Our main source, the Gallo-Roman chronicler Gregory of Tours, whose Historia Francorum (History of the Franks) covers the period up to 594, quotes from otherwise lost sources like Sulpicius Alexander and Frigeridus and profits from Gregory's personal contact with many Frankish notables. Apart from Gregory's History there exist some earlier Roman sources, such as Ammianus and Sidonius Apollinaris.

Related Topics:
Gallo-Roman - Gregory of Tours - 594 - Sulpicius Alexander - Frigeridus - Ammianus - Sidonius Apollinaris

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Gregory states that the Franks originally lived in Pannonia, but later settled on the banks of the Rhine. Additional early sources likewise relate that the Franks migrated in prehistoric times from the mouth of the Danube on the Black Sea, to the Rhine, where they adopted their name (circa. 11 BC) in honour of a hereditary chieftain called Franko ? replacing the earlier tribal name Sicambri (or Sugambri) ? said to be an offshoot of the Cimmerians or Scythians. This legend of a Scythian or Cimmerian background is thus consistent with the origin legends of nearly all other European nations as well.

Related Topics:
Pannonia - Rhine - Danube - 11 BC - Sicambri - Cimmerians - Scythians

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Modern scholars of the period of the migrations have similarly suggested that the Frankish Confederacy emerged from the unification of various earlier, smaller Germanic groups (including the Sugambri, Usipeti, Tencteri, and Bructeri) who inhabited the Rhine valley and lands immediately to the east ? a social development perhaps accelerated by increasing upheaval in the area arising from the war between Rome and the Marcomanni beginning in 166, and subsequent conflicts of the late 2nd century and the 3rd century. A region in the north-east of the modern-day Netherlands ? north of the erstwhile Roman border ? bears the name Salland, and may have received that name from the Salians ? likewise, the island of Sjælland in Denmark.

Related Topics:
Migration - Germanic - Usipeti - Tencteri - Bructeri - Rhine - Rome - Marcomanni - 166 - 2nd century - 3rd century - Netherlands - Salland - Sjælland

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Around 250, one group of Franks, taking advantage of a weakened Roman Empire, penetrated as far as Tarragona in present-day Spain, plaguing this region for about a decade before Roman forces subdued them and expelled them from Roman territory. About forty years later, the Franks had the Scheldt region under control and interfered with the waterways to Britain; Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks.

Related Topics:
250 - Tarragona - Spain - Scheldt - Britain

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