Franks

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

The Merovingians

:Main article: Merovingian.

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The reigns of earlier Frankish chieftains ? Pharamond (about 419 until about 427) and Clodio (Chlodio) (about 427 until about 447) ? seem to owe more to myth than fact, and their relationship to the Merovingian line remains uncertain.

Related Topics:
Pharamond - 419 - 427 - Clodio - 447 - Merovingian

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Gregory mentions Chlodio as the first king who started the conquest of Gaul by taking Camaracum (today's Cambrai) and expanding the border down to the Somme. This probably took some time; Sidonius relates that Aëtius surprised the Franks and drove them back (probably around 431). This period marks the beginning of a situation that would endure for many centuries: the Germanic Franks became rulers over an increasing number of Gallo-Roman subjects.

Related Topics:
Chlodio - Camaracum - Cambrai - Somme - Aëtius - 431

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In 451, Aëtius called upon his Germanic allies on Roman soil to help fight off an invasion by the Huns. The Salian Franks answered the call, the Ripuarians fought on both sides as some of them lived outside the Empire. Gregory's sources tentatively identify Meroveus (Merovech) as king of the Franks and possibly a son of Chlodio. Meroveus was succeeded by Childeric I, whose grave was found in 1653 containing a ring that identified him as king of the Franks.

Related Topics:
451 - Huns - Meroveus - Childeric I - 1653

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Clovis

:Main article: Clovis I

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Childeric's son Clovis engaged in a campaign of consolidating the various Frankish kingdoms in Gaul and the Rhineland, which included defeating Syagrius in 486. This victory ended Roman control in the Paris region.

Related Topics:
Clovis - Rhineland - Syagrius - 486

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In the Battle of Vouillé (507), Clovis, with the help of the Burgundians, defeated the Visigoths, expanding his realm eastwards down to the Pyrenees mountains.

Related Topics:
Battle of Vouillé - 507 - Burgundians - Visigoths - Pyrenees

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The conversion of Clovis to Trinitarian Roman Christianity, after his marriage to the Catholic Burgundian princess Clothilde in 493, may have helped to increase his standing in the eyes of the Pope and the other orthodox Christian rulers. Clovis' conversion signalled the conversion of the rest of the Franks. Because they were able to worship with their Catholic neighbours, the newly-Christianized Franks found much easier acceptance from the local Gallo-Roman population than did the Arian Visigoths, Vandals or Burgundians. The Merovingians thus built what eventually proved the most stable of the successor-kingdoms in the west.

Related Topics:
Trinitarian Roman Christianity - Clothilde - 493 - Pope - Christianized - Arian - Visigoths - Vandals - Burgundians - Merovingians

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:Main article: Merovingian

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Stability, however, did not feature day-to-day in the Merovingian era. While casual violence existed to a degree in late Roman times, the introduction of the Germanic practice of the blood-feud to obtain personal justice led to a perception of increased lawlessness. Disruptions to trade occurred, and civic life became increasingly difficult, which led to an increasingly localized and fragmented society based on self-sufficient villas. Literacy practically disappeared outside of churches and monasteries.

Related Topics:
Feud - Villa

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The Merovingian chieftains adhered to the Germanic practice of dividing their lands among their sons, and the frequent division, reunification and redivision of territories often resulted in murder and warfare within the leading families. So though Clovis drove the Visigoths out of Gaul, at his death in 511, his four sons divided his realm between themselves, and over the next two centuries his descendants shared the kingship.

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The Frankish area expanded further under Clovis' sons, eventually covering most of present-day France, but including areas east of the Rhine river as well, such as Alamannia (today's southwestern Germany) and Thuringia (from 531). Saxony, however, remained outside the Frankish realm until conquered by Charlemagne centuries later.

Related Topics:
Alamannia - Thuringia - 531 - Saxony - Charlemagne

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After a temporary reunification of the separate kingdoms under Clotaire I, the Frankish lands split once again in 561 into Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, which had been absorbed into the Frankish realms through a combination of political marriage and force of arms.

Related Topics:
Clotaire I - 561 - Neustria - Austrasia - Burgundy

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In each Frankish kingdom the Mayor of the Palace served as the chief officer of state. A series of premature deaths beginning with that of Dagobert I in 639 led to a series of under age kings. By the turn of the 8th century, this had allowed the Austrasian Mayors to consolidate power in their own hereditary regency, laying the foundation for a new dynasty: their descendants the Carolingians.

Related Topics:
Mayor of the Palace - Dagobert I - 639 - 8th century - Carolingians

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