Franks

This article is about the Frankish people. For the Frankish empire, seeFrancia.For other uses, seeFrank.

Not to be confused withFranc.

TheFranks(Latin:Franciorgens Francorum;German:Franken;French:Francs) were a western European people during theRoman EmpireandMiddle Ages.They began as aGermanic peoplewho lived near theLower Rhine,on the northern continental frontier of the empire. They subsequently expanded their power and influence during theMiddle Ages,until much of the population of western Europe, particularly in and nearFrance,were commonly described as Franks, for example in the context of their joint efforts during theCrusadesstarting in the 11th century.A key turning point in this evolution was when the FrankishMerovingian dynastybased within the collapsingWestern Roman Empirefirst became the rulers of the whole region between the riversLoireandRhine.From this starting point they imposed power over many other post-Roman kingdoms both inside and outside the old empire.

Aristocratic Frankish burial items from theMerovingian dynasty

Although the Frankish name does not appear until the 3rd century, at least some of the original Frankish tribes had long been known to the Romans under their own names, both as allies providing soldiers, and as enemies. The term is first used to describe the tribes working together to raid Roman territory. Frankish peoples subsequently living inside Rome's frontier on the Rhine river are often divided by historians into two groups – theSalian Franksto the west, who came south via theRhine delta;and theRipuarianor Rhineland Franks to the east, who eventually conquered the Roman frontier city ofCologneand took control of the left bank of theLower Rhinein that region.

Childeric I,aSalianFrankish king, was one of several military leaders commanding Roman forces with various ethnic affiliations in the northern part of what is now France. He and his sonClovis Ifounded the Merovingian dynasty which succeeded in unifying most of Gaul under its rule during the 6th century following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, as well as establishing leadership over all the Frankish kingdoms on or near the Rhine frontier. The dynasty subsequently gained control over a significant part of what is now western and southern Germany. It was by building upon the basis of this Merovingian empire that the subsequent dynasty, theCarolingians,eventually came to be seen as the new emperors of Western Europe in 800, whenCharlemagnewas crowned by the pope.

In870,the Frankish realm came to be permanently divided betweenwesternandeasternkingdoms, which were the predecessors of the laterKingdom of FranceandHoly Roman Empirerespectively. It was the inhabitants of western kingdom who eventually came to be known as "theFrench"(French:Les Français,German:Die Franzosen,Dutch:De Fransen,etc.) and this kingdom is the forerunner of the nation state of France. However, in various historical contexts, such as during the medieval crusades, not only the French, but also people from neighbouring regions inWestern Europe,continued to be referred to collectively as Franks. The crusaders in particular had a lasting impact on the use of Frank-related names for Western Europeans in many non-European languages.

Etymology

Main article:Name of the Franks

A 19th century depiction of different Franks (AD 400–600)

The nameFranciwas not a tribal name, but within a few centuries it had eclipsed the names of the original peoples who constituted the Frankish population. Following the precedents ofEdward GibbonandJacob Grimm,the name of the Franks has been linked with the English adjectivefrank,originally meaning "free".There have also been proposals that Frank comes from the Germanic word for "javelin"(such as inOld EnglishfrancaorOld Norsefrakka).Words in other Germanic languages meaning "fierce", "bold" or "insolent" (Germanfrech,Middle Dutchvrac,Old EnglishfrǣcandOld Norwegianfrakkr) may also be significant.

Eumeniusaddressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus atTrierbyConstantine Iin 306 and certain other measures:Ubi nunc est illa ferocia? Ubi semper infida mobilitas?( "Where now is that ferocity of yours? Where is that ever untrustworthy fickleness?" ).Latinferoceswas used often to describe the Franks.Contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. Theformulary of Marculfwritten about 700 AD described a continuation of national identities within a mixed population when it stated that "all the peoples who dwell (in the official's province), Franks, Romans, Burgundians and those of other nations, live... according to their law and their custom."Writing in 2009, ProfessorChristopher Wickhampointed out that "the word 'Frankish' quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of theRiver Loireeveryone seems to have been considered a Frank by the mid-7th century at the latest (exceptBretons);Romani(Romans) were essentially the inhabitants ofAquitaineafter that ".

Mythological origins

Apart from theHistory of the FranksbyGregory of Tours,two early sources relate the mythological origin of the Franks: a 7th-century work known as theChronicle of Fredegarand the anonymousLiber Historiae Francorum,written a century later.

Many say that the Franks originally came from Pannonia and first inhabited the banks of the Rhine. Then they crossed the river, marched through Thuringia, and set up in each county district [pagus] and each city [civitas] longhaired kings chosen from their foremost and most noble family.

— Gregory of Tours,History of the Franks(6th c. CE)

The author of theChronicle of Fredegarclaimed that the Franks came originally fromTroyand quoted the works ofVirgilandHieronymus:

Blessed Jerome has written about the ancient kings of the Franks, whose story was first told by the poet Virgil: their first king was Priam and, after Troy was captured by trickery, they departed. Afterwards they had as king Friga, then they split into two parts, the first going into Macedonia, the second group, which left Asia with Friga were called the Frigii, settled on the banks of the Danube and the Ocean Sea. Again splitting into, two groups, half of them entered Europe with their king Francio. After crossing Europe with their wives and children they occupied the banks of the Rhine and not far from the Rhine began to build the city of "Troy" (Colonia Traiana-Xanten).

— Fredegar,Chronicle of Fredegar(7th c. CE)

According to historianPatrick J. Geary,those two stories are "alike in betraying both the fact that the Franks knew little about their background and that they may have felt some inferiority in comparison with other peoples of antiquity who possessed an ancient name and glorious tradition. [...] Both legends are of course equally fabulous for, even more than most barbarian peoples, the Franks possessed no common history, ancestry, or tradition of a heroic age of migration. Like theirAlemannicneighbours, they were by the sixth century a fairly recent creation, a coalition of Rhenish tribal groups who long maintained separate identities and institutions. "

The other work, theLiber Historiae Francorum,previously known asGesta regum Francorumbefore its republication in 1888 by Bruno Krusch,described how 12,000 Trojans, led by Priam andAntenor,sailed from Troy to theRiver Donin Russia and on toPannonia,which is on the RiverDanube,settling near theSea of Azov.There they founded a city called Sicambria. (TheSicambriwere the most well-known tribe in the Frankish homeland in the time of the early Roman empire, still remembered though defeated and dispersed long before the Frankish name appeared.) The Trojans joined the Roman army in accomplishing the task of driving their enemies into the marshes of Mæotis, for which they received the name of Franks (meaning "fierce" ). A decade later the Romans killed Priam and drove awayMarcomerandSunno,the sons of Priam and Antenor, and the other Franks.

History

Early history

The most important contemporary sources mentioning the early Franks include thePanegyrici Latini,Ammianus Marcellinus,Claudian,Zosimus,Sidonius ApollinarisandGregory of Tours.The Franks are first mentioned in theAugustan History,a collection of biographies of theRoman emperors.None of these sources presents a detailed list of which tribes or parts of tribes became Frankish, or concerning the politics and history, but to quoteJames (1988,p. 35):

A Roman marching-song joyfully recorded in a fourth-century source, is associated with the 260s; but the Franks' first appearance in a contemporary source was in 289. [...] TheChamaviwere mentioned as a Frankish people as early as 289, theBructerifrom 307, theChattuarrifrom 306 to 315, the Salii or Salians from 357, and theAmsivariiandTubantesfrom c. 364 to 375.

The Franks were described in Roman texts both as allies (laeti) and enemies (dediticii). About the year 260, during theCrisis of the Third Century,one group of Franks penetrated as far asTarragonain present-day Spain, where they plagued the region for about a decade before they were subdued and expelled by the Romans. In 287 or 288, the Roman CaesarMaximianforced a Frankish leaderGenobaudand his people to surrender without a fight.

In 288, the emperorMaximiandefeated theSalian Franks,Chamavi,Frisiiand other Germanic people living along the Rhine and moved them toGermania inferiorto provide manpower and prevent the settlement of other Germanic tribes.In 292,Constantius,the father of Constantine Idefeated the Franks who had settled at the mouth of the Rhine. These were moved to the nearby region ofToxandria.Eumeniusmentions Constantius as having "killed, expelled, captured [and] kidnapped" the Franks who had settled there and others who had crossed the Rhine, using the termnationes Franciaefor the first time. It seems likely that the term Frank in this first period had a broader meaning, sometimes including coastalFrisii.

TheLife of Aurelian,which was possibly written by Vopiscus, mentions that in 328, Frankish raiders were captured by the 6th Legion stationed atMainz.As a result of this incident, 700 Franks were killed and 300 were sold into slavery.Frankish incursions over the Rhine became so frequent that the Romans began to settle the Franks on their borders in order to control them.

Detail of theTabula Peutingeriana,showing Francia at the top

The Franks appear to be mentioned in theTabula Peutingeriana,anatlasofRoman roads.(It is a 13th-century copy of a 4th or 5th century document that reflects information from the 3rd century.) Several tribal names are written at the mouth of the Rhine. One of these saysHamavi; Quietpranci,which is generally believed to mean 'The Chamavi who are Franks' (despite the letter p). Further up the river the word "Francia" is clearly marked, indicating a country name on the bank opposite toNijmegenandXanten.

Salians

Main article:Salian Franks

Germanic tribesin the 5th century

The Salians were first mentioned byAmmianus Marcellinus,who describedJulian's defeat of "the first Franks of all, those whom custom has called the Salians", in 358.Julian allowed the Franks to remain inTexuandriaasfœderatiwithin the Empire, having moved there from the Rhine-Maas delta.The 5th centuryNotitia Dignitatumlists a group of soldiers asSalii.

Some decades later, Franks in the same region, possibly the Salians, controlled the RiverScheldtand were disrupting transport links toBritainin theEnglish Channel.Although Roman forces managed to pacify them, they failed to expel the Franks, who continued to be feared as pirates.

The Salians are generally seen as the predecessors of the Franks who pushed southwestwards into what is now modern France, who eventually came to be ruled by the Merovingians (see below). This is because when the Merovingian dynasty published the Salian law (Lex Salica) it applied in the Neustrian area from the river Liger (Loire) to theSilva Carbonaria,the western kingdom founded by them outside the original area of Frankish settlement. In the 5th century, Franks underChlodiopushed into Roman lands in and beyond the"Silva Carbonaria"or "Charcoal forest", which ran through the area of modern westernWallonia.The forest was the boundary of the original Salian territories to the north and the more Romanized area to the south in the Roman province ofBelgica Secunda,which now lies in northern France. Chlodio conqueredTournai,Artois,Cambrai,and as far as theSomme river.Chlodio is often seen as an ancestor of the future Merovingian dynasty.Childeric I,who according toGregory of Tourswas a reputed descendant of Chlodio, was later seen as administrative ruler over RomanBelgica Secundaand possibly other areas.

Records of Childeric show him to have been active together with Roman forces in the Loire region, quite far to the south. His descendants came to rule Roman Gaul all the way to there, and this became the Frankish kingdom ofNeustria,the basis of what would become medieval France. Childeric's sonClovis Ialso took control of the more independent Frankish kingdoms east of the Silva Carbonaria and Belgica II. This later became the Frankish kingdom ofAustrasia,where the early legal code was referred to as "Ripuarian".

Ripuarians

Main article:Ripuarian Franks

Approximate location of the original Frankish tribes in the 3rd century

The Rhineland Franks who lived near the stretch of the Rhine from roughlyMainztoDuisburg,the region of the city ofCologne,are often considered separately from the Salians, and sometimes in modern texts referred to as Ripuarian Franks. TheRavenna Cosmographysuggests thatFrancia Renensisincluded the oldcivitasof theUbii,in Germania II (Germania Inferior), but also the northern part of Germania I (Germania Superior), includingMainz.Like the Salians they appear in Roman records both as raiders and as contributors to military units. Unlike the Salii, there is no record of when, if ever, the empire officially accepted their residence within its borders. They eventually succeeded to hold the city of Cologne, and at some point seem to have acquired the name Ripuarians, which may have meant "river people". In any case a Merovingian legal code was called theLex Ribuaria,but it probably applied in all the older Frankish lands, including the original Salian areas.

Jordanes,in hisGeticamentions a group called the "Riparii" as auxiliaries ofFlavius Aetiusduring theBattle of Châlonsin 451, and distinct from the "Franci":"Hi enim affuerunt auxiliares: Franci, Sarmatae, Armoriciani, Liticiani, Burgundiones, Saxones, Riparii,Olibriones... "But theseRiparii( "river dwellers" ) are today not considered to be Ripuarian Franks, but rather a known military unit based on theRhône.

The Ripuarian territory on both sides of the Rhine thus became a central part of MerovingianAustrasia.This stretched to include RomanGermania Inferior(laterGermania Secunda), which included the original Salian and Ripuarian lands, and roughly equates to medieval Lower Lotharingia. It also includedGallia BelgicaPrima (roughly medieval Upper Lotharingia), and further lands on the east bank of the Rhine.

Merovingian kingdom (481–751)

Main article:Merovingian dynasty

A 6th–7th century necklace of glass and ceramic beads with a central amethyst bead. Similar necklaces have been found in the graves of Frankish women in the Rhineland.

A 6th century bowfibulafound in north-eastern France and the Rhineland. They were worn by Frankish noblewomen in pairs at the shoulder or as belt ornaments.

Gregory of Tours (Book II) reported that small Frankish kingdoms existed during the fifth century aroundCologne,Tournai,Cambraiand elsewhere. The kingdom of the Merovingians eventually came to dominate the others, possibly because of its association with Roman power structures in northern Gaul, into which the Frankish military forces were apparently integrated to some extent. In the 450s and 460s,Childeric I,a Salian Frank, was one of several military leaders commanding Roman forces with various ethnic affiliations in Roman Gaul (roughly modern France). Childeric and his sonClovis Ifaced competition from the RomanAegidiusas competitor for the "kingship" of the Franks associated with the Roman Loire forces (according toGregory of Tours,Aegidius held the kingship of the Franks for 8 years while Childeric was in exile). This new type of kingship, perhaps inspired byAlaric I,represents the start of theMerovingian dynastywhich succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century, as well as establishing its leadership over all the Frankish kingdoms on the Rhine frontier. Aegidius died in 464 or 465.Childeric and his son Clovis I were both described as rulers of the Roman Province ofBelgica Secunda,by its spiritual leader in the time of Clovis,Saint Remigius.

Clovis later defeated the son of Aegidius,Syagrius,in 486 or 487 and then had the Frankish kingChararicimprisoned and executed. A few years later, he killedRagnachar,the Frankish king of Cambrai, and his brothers. After conquering theKingdom of Soissonsand expelling theVisigothsfrom southern Gaul at theBattle of Vouillé,he established Frankish hegemony over most of Gaul, excludingBurgundy,Provence andBrittany,which were eventually absorbed by his successors. By the 490s, he had conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of theRiver Maasexcept for theRipuarian Franksand was in a position to make the city of Paris his capital. He became the first king of all Franks in 509, after he had conquered Cologne.

Clovis I divided his realm between his four sons, who united to defeat Burgundy in 534. Internecine feuding occurred during the reigns of the brothersSigebert IandChilperic I,which was largely fuelled by the rivalry of their queens,BrunhildaandFredegunda,and which continued during the reigns of their sons and their grandsons. Three distinct subkingdoms emerged:Austrasia,Neustriaand Burgundy, each of which developed independently and sought to exert influence over the others. The influence of theArnulfingclan of Austrasia ensured that the political centre of gravity in the kingdom gradually shifted eastwards to the Rhineland.

The Frankish realm was reunited in 613 byChlothar II,the son of Chilperic, who granted his nobles theEdict of Parisin an effort to reduce corruption and reassert his authority. Following the military successes of his son and successorDagobert I,royal authority rapidly declined under a series of kings, traditionally known aslesrois fainéants.After theBattle of Tertryin 687, eachmayor of the palace,who had formerly been the king's chief household official, effectively held power until in 751, with the approval of the Pope and the nobility,Pepin the Shortdeposed the last Merovingian kingChilderic IIIand had himself crowned. This inaugurated a new dynasty, theCarolingians.

Carolingian kingdom (751–987)

Main articles:Carolingian dynastyandCarolingian Empire

Carolingianwarrior on awar horse(8th - 10th century) withlance,round shield,chainmailandspangenhelmin the Coronation Hall of theAachen City Hallin June 2014 on the occasion of the exhibition "Charlemagne - power, art, treasures"

The unification achieved by the Merovingians ensured the continuation of what has become known as theCarolingian Renaissance.The Carolingian Empire was beset by internecine warfare, but the combination of Frankish rule and Roman Christianity ensured that it was fundamentally united. Frankish government and culture depended very much upon each ruler and his aims and so each region of the empire developed differently. Although a ruler's aims depended upon the political alliances of his family, the leading families of Francia shared the same basic beliefs and ideas of government, which had both Roman and Germanic roots.

The Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. With thecoronation of their ruler CharlemagneasHoly Roman EmperorbyPope Leo IIIin 800 AD, he and his successors were recognised as legitimate successors to the emperors of theWestern Roman Empire.As such, the Carolingian Empire gradually came to be seen in the West as a continuation of the ancient Roman Empire. This empire would give rise to several successor states, including France, theHoly Roman EmpireandBurgundy,though theFrankishidentity remained most closely identified with France.

After the death ofCharlemagne,his only adult surviving son became Emperor and KingLouis the Pious.Following Louis the Pious's death, however, according to Frankish culture and law that demanded equality among all living male adult heirs, theFrankish Empirewas now split between Louis' three sons.

Military

Participation in the Roman army

Germanic peoples, including those tribes in the Rhine delta that later became the Franks, are known to have served in the Roman army since the days ofJulius Caesar.After the Roman administration collapsed in Gaul in the 260s, the armies under the Germanic BatavianPostumusrevolted and proclaimed him emperor and then restored order. From then on, Germanic soldiers in the Roman army, most notably Franks, were promoted from the ranks. A few decades later, the MenapianCarausiuscreated a Batavian–British rump state on Roman soil that was supported by Frankish soldiers and raiders. Frankish soldiers such asMagnentius,Silvanus,RicomerandBautoheld command positions in the Roman army during the mid 4th century. From the narrative ofAmmianus Marcellinusit is evident that both Frankish and Alamannic tribal armies were organised along Roman lines.

After the invasion ofChlodio,the Roman armies at the Rhine border became a Frankish "franchise" and Franks were known to levy Roman-like troops that were supported by a Roman-like armour and weapons industry. This lasted at least until the days of the scholarProcopius(c. 500 – c. 565), more than a century after the demise of the Western Roman Empire, who wrote describing the formerArborychoi,having merged with the Franks, retaining their legionary organization in the style of their forefathers during Roman times.The Franks under the Merovingians melded Germanic custom with Romanised organisation and several important tactical innovations. Before their conquest of Gaul, the Franks fought primarily as a tribe, unless they were part of a Roman military unit fighting in conjunction with other imperial units.

Military practices of the early Franks

TheHornhausen rider stoneis a 7th-century relief depicting a Frankish warrior on horseback with shield, longsword, and lance.

The primary sources for Frankish military custom and armament areAmmianus Marcellinus,Agathiasand Procopius, the latter twoEastern Romanhistorians writing about Frankish intervention in theGothic War.

Writing of 539, Procopius says:

At this time the Franks, hearing that both the Goths and Romans had suffered severely by the war... forgetting for the moment their oaths and treaties... (for this nation in matters of trust is the most treacherous in the world), they straightway gathered to the number of one hundred thousand under the leadership ofTheudebert Iand marched into Italy: they had a small body of cavalry about their leader, and these were the only ones armed with spears, while all the rest were foot soldiers having neither bows nor spears, but each man carried a sword and shield and one axe. Now the iron head of this weapon was thick and exceedingly sharp on both sides, while the wooden handle was very short. And they are accustomed always to throw these axes at a signal in the first charge and thus to shatter the shields of the enemy and kill the men.

His contemporary, Agathias, who based his own writings upon the tropes laid down by Procopius, says:

The military equipment of this people [the Franks] is very simple... They do not know the use of thecoat of mailorgreavesand the majority leave the head uncovered, only a few wear the helmet. They have their chests bare and backs naked to the loins, they cover their thighs with either leather or linen. They do not serve on horseback except in very rare cases. Fighting on foot is both habitual and a national custom and they are proficient in this. At the hip they wear a sword and on the left side their shield is attached. They have neither bows nor slings, no missile weapons except the double edged axe and theangonwhich they use most often. The angons are spears which are neither very short nor very long. They can be used, if necessary, for throwing like ajavelin,and also inhand to hand combat.

In theStrategikon,supposedly written by theemperor Maurice,or in his time, the Franks are lumped together with theLombardsunder the heading of the "fair-haired" peoples.

If they are hard pressed in cavalry actions, they dismount at a single prearranged sign and line up on foot. Although only a few against many horsemen, they do not shrink from the fight. They are armed with shields, lances, and short swords slung from their shoulders. They prefer fighting on foot and rapid charges. [...] Either on horseback or on foot they are impetuous and un- disciplined in charging, as if they were the only people in the world who are not cowards.

While the above quotations have been used as a statement of the military practices of the Frankish nation in the 6th century and have even been extrapolated to the entire period precedingCharles Martel's reforms (early mid-8th century), post-Second World War historiography has emphasised the inherited Roman characteristics of the Frankish military from the date of the beginning of the conquest of Gaul. The Byzantine authors present several contradictions and difficulties. Procopius denies the Franks the use of the spear while Agathias makes it one of their primary weapons. They agree that the Franks were primarily infantrymen, threw axes and carried a sword and shield. Both writers also contradict the authority of Gallic authors of the same general time period (Sidonius ApollinarisandGregory of Tours) and the archaeological evidence. TheLex Ribuaria,the early 7th century legal code of the Rhineland or Ripuarian Franks, specifies the values of various goods when paying awergildin kind; whereas a spear and shield were worth only twosolidi,a sword and scabbard were valued at seven, a helmet at six, and a "metal tunic" at twelve.Scramasaxesand arrowheads are numerous in Frankish graves even though the Byzantine historians do not assign them to the Franks.

The frontispiece of Gregory'sHistoria Francorum

The evidence of Gregory and of theLex Salicaimplies that the early Franks were a cavalry people. In fact, some modern historians have hypothesised that the Franks possessed so numerous a body of horses that they could use them to plough fields and thus were agriculturally technologically advanced over their neighbours. TheLex Ribuariaspecifies that a mare's value was the same as that of an ox or of a shield and spear, twosolidiand a stallion seven or the same as a sword and scabbard,which suggests that horses were relatively common. Perhaps the Byzantine writers considered the Frankish horse to be insignificant relative to the Greek cavalry, which is probably accurate.

Merovingian military

Composition and development

The Frankish military establishment incorporated many of the pre-existing Roman institutions in Gaul, especially during and after the conquests of Clovis I in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Frankish military strategy revolved around the holding and taking of fortified centres (castra) and in general these centres were held by garrisons ofmilitiesandlaeti,who were descendants of Roman soldiers with Germanic origin, granted a quasi-national status under Frankish law. Thesemilitescontinued to be commanded by tribunes.Throughout Gaul, the descendants of Roman soldiers continued to wear their uniforms and perform their ceremonial duties.

Immediately beneath the Frankish king in the military hierarchy were theleudes,his sworn followers, who were generally 'old soldiers' in service away from court.The king had an elite bodyguard called thetruste.Members of thetrusteoften served incentannae,garrison settlements that were established for military and police purposes. The day-to-day bodyguard of the king was made up ofantrustiones(senior soldiers who werearistocratsin military service) andpueri(junior soldiers and not aristocrats).All high-ranking men hadpueri.

The Frankish military was not composed solely of Franks and Gallo-Romans, but also containedSaxons,Alans,TaifalsandAlemanni.After the conquest ofBurgundy(534), the well-organised military institutions of that kingdom were integrated into the Frankish realm. Chief among these was the standing army under the command of thePatrician of Burgundy.

In the late 6th century, during the wars instigated byFredegundandBrunhilda,the Merovingian monarchs introduced a new element into their militaries: the locallevy.A levy consisted of all the able-bodied men of a district who were required to report for military service when called upon, similar toconscription.The local levy applied only to a city and its environs. Initially only in certain cities in western Gaul, in Neustria and Aquitaine, did the kings possess the right or power to call up the levy. The commanders of the local levies were always different from the commanders of the urban garrisons. Often the former were commanded by thecountsof the districts. A much rarer occurrence was the general levy, which applied to the entire kingdom and included peasants (pauperesandinferiores). General levies could also be made within the still-pagan trans-Rhenishstem duchieson the orders of a monarch. TheSaxons,Alemanni andThuringiiall had the institution of the levy and the Frankish monarchs could depend upon their levies until the mid-7th century, when the stem dukes began to sever their ties to the monarchy.Radulf of Thuringiacalled up the levy for a war againstSigebert IIIin 640.

Soon the local levy spread to Austrasia and the less Romanised regions of Gaul. On an intermediate level, the kings began calling up territorial levies from the regions of Austrasia (which did not have major cities of Roman origin). All the forms of the levy gradually disappeared, however, in the course of the 7th century after the reign ofDagobert I.Under the so-calledrois fainéants,the levies disappeared by mid-century in Austrasia and later in Burgundy and Neustria. Only in Aquitaine, which was fast becoming independent of the central Frankish monarchy, did complex military institutions persist into the 8th century. In the final half of the 7th century and first half of the 8th in Merovingian Gaul, the chief military actors became the lay and ecclesiasticalmagnateswith their bands of armed followers called retainers. The other aspects of the Merovingian military, mostly Roman in origin or innovations of powerful kings, disappeared from the scene by the 8th century.

Strategy, tactics and equipment

Merovingian armies usedcoats of mail,helmets,shields,lances,swords,bows and arrowsandwar horses.The armament of private armies resembled those of the Gallo-Romanpotentiatoresof the late Empire. A strong element of Alanic cavalry settled inArmoricainfluenced the fighting style of theBretonsdown into the 12th century. Local urban levies could be reasonably well-armed and even mounted, but the more general levies were composed ofpauperesandinferiores,who were mostly farmers by trade and carried ineffective weapons, such as farming implements. The peoples east of theRhine– Franks, Saxons and evenWends– who were sometimes called upon to serve, wore rudimentary armour and carried weapons such asspearsandaxes.Few of these men were mounted.

Merovingian society had a militarised nature. The Franks called annual meetings everyMarchfeld(1 March), when the king and his nobles assembled in large open fields and determined their targets for the next campaigning season. The meetings were a show of strength on behalf of the monarch and a way for him to retain loyalty among his troops.In their civil wars, the Merovingian kings concentrated on the holding of fortified places and the use ofsiege engines.In wars waged against external foes, the objective was typically the acquisition of booty or the enforcement of tribute. Only in the lands beyond the Rhine did the Merovingians seek to extend political control over their neighbours.

Tactically, the Merovingians borrowed heavily from the Romans, especially regarding siege warfare. Their battle tactics were highly flexible and were designed to meet the specific circumstances of a battle. The tactic of subterfuge was employed endlessly. Cavalry formed a large segment of an army,but troops readily dismounted to fight on foot. The Merovingians were capable of raising naval forces: the naval campaign waged against theDanesbyTheuderic Iin 515 involved ocean-worthy ships and rivercraft were used on theLoire,RhôneandRhine.

Culture

Language

Main article:Frankish language

In a modernlinguisticcontext, the language of the early Franks is variously called "Old Frankish" or "Old Franconian" and these terms refer to the language of the Franks prior to the advent of theHigh German consonant shift,which took place between 600 and 700 AD. After this consonant shift the Frankish dialect diverges, with the dialects which would become modernDutchnot undergoing the consonantal shift, while all others did soto varying degrees.As a result, the distinction betweenOld Dutchand Old Frankish is largely negligible, with Old Dutch (also calledOld Low Franconian) being the term used to differentiate between the affected and non-affected variants following the aforementioned Second Germanic consonant shift.

The Frankish language has not been directly attested, apart from a very small number ofrunic inscriptionsfound within contemporary Frankish territory such as theBergakker inscription.Nevertheless, a significant amount of Frankish vocabulary has been reconstructed by examining early Germanic loanwords found inOld Frenchas well as throughcomparative reconstructionthrough Dutch.The influence of Old Frankish on contemporaryGallo-Romanvocabularyandphonology,have long been questions of scholarly debate.Frankish influence is thought to include the designations of the four cardinal directions:nord"north",sud"south",est"east" andouest"west" and at least an additional 1000 stem words.

Although the Franks would eventually conquer all ofGaul,speakers of Frankish apparently expanded in sufficient numbers only into northern Gaul to have a linguistic effect. For several centuries, northern Gaul was a bilingual territory (Vulgar Latinand Frankish). The language used in writing, in government and by the Church was Latin.Urban T. Holmeshas proposed that a Germanic language continued to be spoken as a second tongue by public officials in westernAustrasiaand NorthernNeustriaas late as the 850s, and that it completely disappeared as a spoken language during the 10th century from regions where only French is spoken today.

The Germanic tribes who were called Franks inLate Antiquityare associated with theWeser–Rhine Germanic/Istvaeoniccultural-linguistic grouping.

Art and architecture

Achalicefrom theTreasure of Gourdon

The pinnacle of Carolingian architecture: ThePalatine chapelatAachen,Germany.

Main articles:Merovingian art and architectureandCarolingian art

Early Frankish art and architecture belongs to a phase known asMigration Period art,which has left very few remains. The later period is calledCarolingian art,or, especially in architecture,pre-Romanesque.Very little Merovingian architecture has been preserved. The earliest churches seem to have been timber-built, with larger examples being of abasilicatype. The most completely surviving example, abaptisteryinPoitiers,is a building with threeapsesof a Gallo-Roman style. A number of small baptistries can be seen inSouthern France:as these fell out of fashion, they were not updated and have subsequently survived as they were.

Jewelry (such as brooches), weapons (including swords with decorative hilts) and clothing (such as capes and sandals) have been found in a number of grave sites. The grave of QueenAregund,discovered in 1959, and theTreasure of Gourdon,which was deposited soon after 524, are notable examples. The few Merovingianilluminated manuscriptsthat have survived, such as theGelasian Sacramentary,contain a great deal ofzoomorphic representations.Such Frankish objects show a greater use of the style and motifs ofLate Antiquityand a lesser degree of skill and sophistication in design and manufacture than comparable works from theBritish Isles.So little has survived, however, that the best quality of work from this period may not be represented.

The objects produced by the main centres of the Carolingian Renaissance, which represent a transformation from that of the earlier period, have survived in far greater quantity. The arts were lavishly funded and encouraged by Charlemagne, using imported artists where necessary, and Carolingian developments were decisive for the future course ofWestern art.Carolingian illuminated manuscriptsand ivory plaques, which have survived in reasonable numbers, approached those ofConstantinoplein quality. The main surviving monument ofCarolingian architectureis thePalatine Chapel in Aachen,which is an impressive and confident adaptation ofSan Vitale, Ravenna– from where some of the pillars were brought. Many other important buildings existed, such as the monasteries of Centula orSt Gall,or the oldCologne Cathedral,since rebuilt. These large structures and complexes made frequent use of towers.

Religion

A sizeable portion of the Frankish aristocracy quickly followed Clovis in converting to Christianity (the Frankish church of the Merovingians). The conversion of all under Frankish rule required a considerable amount of time and effort.

Paganism

Main article:Frankish mythology

Drawing of golden bees or flies that was discovered in the tomb ofChilderic I

Echoes ofFrankish paganismcan be found in the primary sources, but their meaning is not always clear. Interpretations by modern scholars differ greatly, but it is likely that Frankish paganism shared most of the characteristics of other varieties ofGermanic paganism.The mythology of the Franks was probably a form ofGermanic polytheism.It was highly ritualistic. Many daily activities centred around the multiple deities, chiefest of which may have been theQuinotaur,a water-god from whom the Merovingians were reputed to have derived their ancestry.Most of their gods were linked with local cult centres and their sacred character and power were associated with specific regions, outside of which they were neither worshipped nor feared. Most of the gods were "worldly", possessing form and having connections with specific objects, in contrast to the God of Christianity.

Frankish paganism has been observed in the burial site of Childeric I, where the king's body was found covered in a cloth decorated with numerous bees. There is a likely connection with the bees to the traditional Frankish weapon, theangon(meaning "sting" ), from its distinctive spearhead. It is possible that thefleur-de-lisis derived from the angon.

Christianity

Further information:Christianity in Merovingian GaulandFrankish Church

Some Franks, like the 4th century usurperSilvanus,converted early to Christianity. In 496, Clovis I, who had married a BurgundianCatholicnamedClotildain 493, was baptised bySaint Remiafter a decisive victory over the Alemanni at theBattle of Tolbiac.According to Gregory of Tours, over three thousand of his soldiers were baptised with him.Clovis' conversion had a profound effect on the course of European history, for at the time the Franks were the only majorChristianised Germanic tribewithout a predominantlyArianaristocracy and this led to a naturally amicable relationship between the Catholic Church and the increasingly powerful Franks.

Although many of the Frankish aristocracy quickly followed Clovis in converting to Christianity, the conversion of all his subjects was only achieved after considerable effort and, in some regions, a period of over two centuries.TheChronicle of St. Denisrelates that, following Clovis' conversion, a number of pagans who were unhappy with this turn of events rallied aroundRagnachar,who had played an important role in Clovis' initial rise to power. Although the text remains unclear as to the precise pretext, Clovis had Ragnachar executed.Remaining pockets of resistance were overcome region by region, primarily due to the work of an expanding network of monasteries.

Gelasian Sacramentary,c. 750

The Merovingian Church was shaped by both internal and external forces. It had to come to terms with an established Gallo-Roman hierarchy that resisted changes to its culture, Christianise pagan sensibilities and suppress their expression, provide a new theological basis for Merovingian forms of kingship deeply rooted in pagan Germanic tradition and accommodate Irish andAnglo-Saxon missionaryactivities and papal requirements.The Carolingian reformation of monasticism and church-state relations was the culmination of the Frankish Church.

The increasingly wealthy Merovingian elite endowed many monasteries, including that of the Irish missionaryColumbanus.The 5th, 6th and 7th centuries saw two major waves ofhermitismin the Frankish world, which led to legislation requiring that all monks and hermits follow theRule of St Benedict.The Church sometimes had an uneasy relationship with the Merovingian kings, whose claim to rule depended on a mystique of royal descent and who tended to revert to the polygamy of their pagan ancestors. Rome encouraged the Franks to slowly replace theGallican Ritewith theRoman rite.

Laws

As with other Germanic peoples, the laws of the Franks were memorised by "rachimburgs", who were analogous to thelawspeakersofScandinavia.By the 6th century, when these laws first appeared in written form, two basic legal subdivisions existed: Salian Franks were subject toSalic lawand Ripuarian Franks toRipuarian law.Gallo-Romans south of theRiver Loireand the clergy remained subject to traditionalRoman law.Germanic law was overwhelmingly concerned with the protection of individuals and less concerned with protecting the interests of the state. According to Michel Rouche, "Frankish judges devoted as much care to a case involving the theft of a dog as Roman judges did to cases involving the fiscal responsibility ofcuriales,or municipal councilors ".

Crusaders and other Western Europeans as "Franks"

See also:CrusadesandIslamic views on the crusades

Carolingian Empire(green) in 814

The termFrankhas been used by many of the Eastern Orthodox and Muslim neighbours of medieval LatinChristendom(and beyond, such as in Asia) as a general synonym for a European fromWesternand Central Europe, areas that followed the Latin rites of Christianity under the authority of the pope inRome.Another term with similar use wasLatins.

Christians following the Latin rites in the eastern Mediterranean in this period were calledFranksorLatins,regardless of their country of origin, whereas the wordsRhomaiosandRûmi( "Roman" ) were used for Orthodox Christians. On a number of Greek islands, Catholics are still referred to asΦράγκοι(Frangoi) or "Franks", for instance onSyros,where they are calledΦραγκοσυριανοί(Frangosyrianoi). The period ofCrusaderrule in Greek lands is known to this day as theFrankokratia( "rule of the Franks" ).

TheMediterranean Lingua Franca(or "Frankish language" ) was apidginfirst spoken by 11th century European Christians and Muslims inMediterranean portsthat remained in use until the 19th century.

The termFrangistan( "Land of the Franks" ) was used by Muslims to refer to Christian Europe and was commonly used over several centuries inIberia,North Africa,and theMiddle East.PersianateTurkic dynasties used and spread the term in throughoutIranandIndiawith the expansion of the language. During theMongol Empirein the 13th–14th centuries, theMongolsused the term "Franks" to designate Europeans,and this usage continued into Mughal times in India in the form of the wordfirangi.

The Chinese called the PortugueseFolangjiFarangi ( "Franks" ) in the 1520s at theBattle of TunmenandBattle of Xicaowan.Some other varieties ofMandarin Chinesepronounced the characters as Fah-lan-ki.

During the reign of Chingtih (Zhengde) (1506), foreigners from the west called Fah-lan-ki (or Franks), who said they hadtribute,abruptly entered theBogue,and by their tremendously loud guns shook the place far and near. This was reported at court, and an order returned to drive them away immediately, and stop the trade.

— Samuel Wells Williams, The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Geography, Government, Education, Social Life, Arts, Religion, &c. of the Chinese Empire and Its Inhabitants, 2 vol. (Wiley & Putnam, 1848).

Examples of derived words include:

• Frangos(Φράγκος) inGreek
• FrënginAlbanian
• FrenkinTurkish
• FirənginAzerbaijani(derived from Persian)
• al-Faranj,AfranjandFirinjīyahin Arabic
• Farang(فرنگ),Farangī(فرنگی) inPersian,also the toponymFrangistan(فرنگستان)
• FaranjiinTajik.
• FerengiorFaranjiin some Turkic languages
• Ferenj(ፈረንጅ) inAmharicin Ethiopia,Farangi(ፋራንጂ) inTigrinya,and similar in other languages of theHorn of Africa,refers to white people with European ancestry
• FeringhiorFiranginHindiandUrdu(derived from Persian)
• Phirangeein some other Indian languages
• ParangiarinTamil
• ParangiinMalayalam;inSinhala,the word refers specifically toPortuguese people
• Bayingyi(ဘရင်ဂျီ) inBurmese
• BaranginKhmer
• FeringgiinMalay
• FolangjiorFah-lan-ki(Farangi) andFulangin Chinese
• Farang(ฝรั่ง) inThai.
• Pirang( "blonde" ),Perangai( "temperament/al" ) inBahasa Indonesia

In the Thai usage, the word can refer to any European person. When the presence ofUS soldiersduring theVietnam Warplaced Thai people in contact with African Americans, they (and people of African ancestry in general) came to be calledFarang dam( "Black Farang",ฝรั่งดำ). Such words sometimes also connote things, plants or creatures introduced by Europeans/Franks. For example, in Khmer,môn barang,literally "French Chicken", refers to a turkey and in Thai,Farangis the name both for Europeans and for theguavafruit, introduced by Portuguese traders over 400 years ago. In contemporary Israel, theYiddishwordפרענק(Frenk) has, by a curious etymological development, come to refer toMizrahi Jewsin Modern Hebrew and carries a strong pejorative connotation.

Some linguists (among them Drs. Jan Tent and Paul Geraghty) have suggested that theSamoanand genericPolynesianterm for Europeans,Palagi(pronounced Puh-LANG-ee) orPapalagi,might also be cognate, possibly a loan term gathered by early contact between Pacific islanders and Malays.

See also

• Germanic Christianity
• List of Frankish kings
• List of Frankish queens
• Name of France
• List of Germanic peoples
• Frankokratia

Sources

Primary sources

• Fredegar
  • Fredegarius; John Michael Wallace-Hadrill (1981) [1960].Fredegarii chronicorum liber quartus cum continuationibus(in Latin and English). Greenwood Press.
  • Liber Historiae Francorum.Translated byBachrach, Bernard S.Coronado Press. 1973.
  • Woodruff, Jane Ellen;Fredegar(1987).The Historia Epitomata (third book) of the Chronicle of Fredegar: an annotated translation and historical analysis of interpolated material.Thesis (Ph.D.). University of Nebraska.
• Gregory of Tours
  • Gregory of Tours."Libri Historiarum".The Classics Page: The Latin Library(in Latin). thelatinlibrary.
  • Gregory of Tours(1997) [1916]. Halsall, Paul (ed.).History of the Franks: Books I–X (Extended Selections).Translated by Ernst Brehaut. Columbia University Press; Fordham University. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-08-14.Retrieved2007-07-20.
  • Gregory (1967).The History of the Franks.Translated byO. M. Dalton.Farnborough: Gregg Press.
• Ammianus Marcellinus
  • Marcellinus, Ammianus(2007) [1862].Roman History.Translated by Roger Pearse. Bohn; tertullian.org.
• Procopius
  • Procopius(2008).History of the Wars.Translated by H.B. Dewing – viaWikisource.

Secondary sources

• Bachrach, Bernard S.Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751.University of Minnesota Press, 1971.ISBN0-8166-0621-8
• Collins, Roger.Early Medieval Europe 300–1000.MacMillan, 1991.
• Dörler, Philipp (2013). "The Liber Historiae Francorum – a Model for a New Frankish Self-confidence".Networks and Neighbours.1:23–43.S2CID161310931.
• Geary, Patrick J.(1988).Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-504458-4.
• Geipel, John (1970) [1969].The Europeans: The People – Today and Yesterday: Their Origins and Interrelations.Pegasus: a division of Western Publishing Company, Inc.
• Greenwood, Thomas(1836).The First Book of the History of the Germans: Barbaric period.Longman, Rees, Orne, and Co.
• Halsall, Guy (2007).Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West 376–568.
• Howorth, Henry H. (1884)."XVII. The Ethnology of Germany (Part VI). The Varini, Varangians and Franks. Section II".Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.13.Trübner & Co.: 213–239.doi:10.2307/2841727.JSTOR2841727.
• James, Edward(1988).The Franks.The Peoples of Europe. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell.ISBN0-631-17936-4.
• Lewis, Archibald R. "The Dukes in the Regnum Francorum, A.D. 550–751."Speculum,Vol. 51, No 3 (July 1976), pp. 381–410.
• McKitterick, Rosamond.The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, 751–987.London: Longman, 1983.ISBN0-582-49005-7.
• Murray, Archibald Callander, andGoffart, Walter A.After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History.University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 1998.
• Nixon, C. E. V. and Rodgers, Barbara.In Praise of Later Roman Emperors.Berkeley, 1994.
• Nonn, Ulrich (2010).Die Franken.
• Noske, Roland (2007). "Autonomous typological prosodic evolution versus the Germanic superstrate in diachronic French phonology". In Aboh, Enoch; van der Linden, Elisabeth; Quer, Josep; et al. (eds.).Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory(PDF).Amsterdam; Philadelphia: Benjamins. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-03-03.Retrieved2011-12-30.
• Perry, Walter Copland(1857).The Franks, from Their First Appearance in History to the Death of King Pepin.Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts.
• Pfister, M. Christian (1911). "(B) The Franks Before Clovis". In Bury, J.B. (ed.).The Cambridge Medieval History.Vol. I: The Christian Roman Empire and the Foundation of the Teutonic Kingdoms. Cambridge University Press.
• Schutz, Herbert.The Germanic Realms in Pre-Carolingian Central Europe, 400–750.American University Studies, Series IX: History, Vol. 196. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
• Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.The Long-Haired Kings.London: Butler & Tanner Ltd, 1962.
• Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.The Barbarian West.London: Hutchinson, 1970.

Further reading

• Hitchner, R. Bruce(2005)."Franks".InKazhdan, Alexander P.(ed.).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-518792-2.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.
• Mann, Chris (2004)."Franks".InHolmes, Richard;Singleton, Charles; Jones, Spencer (eds.).The Oxford Companion to Military History.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-172746-7.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.

External links

• Åhlfeldt, Johan (2010)."Regnum FrancorumOnline – interactive maps and sources of early medieval Europe 614–840 ".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-10-11.
• Kurth, G. (1909)."The Franks".The Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Martinsson, Örjan."The Frankish Kingdom".Historical Atlas.Retrieved5 December2011.
• Nelson, Lynn Harry (2001)."The Rise of the Franks, 330–751".Lectures in Medieval History.vlib.us.
• "The Franks".International World History Project. 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 2018-09-12.Retrieved2011-12-05.