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Territorial development of the Frankish Kingdom, AD 481–814.

The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as populating a broad strip of land on the right bank of the Lower and Middle Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the Romans after 357. In the climate of the collapse of imperial authority in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians and conquered all of Gaul except Septimania in the 6th century. The Salian political elite was one of the most active forces in spreading Christianity over western Europe. The Franks had created one of the most strong and stable barbaric kingdoms.

The Merovingian dynasty, descended from the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire from the fifth century. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large parts of western Europe by the end of the eighth century, developing into the Carolingian Empire which dominated most of Western Europe. This empire would gradually evolve into France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Look up frank, frankly, or Francis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

[edit] Name

The name, Franci, applied by the tribes consequently considered Frankish to themselves and their confederacy; i.e., the endonym was never intended to be an ethnonym.^[1] Comprising multiple tribes each with its own ethnonym, it was in origin a socio-political term. To the people who shortly were to counter the invasions of the Franks–the Romans, the Celts, and the Suebi, who in the first two instances spoke significantly different languages–the Franks must have seemed to be all alike; they looked the same and had the same language, so that the word was in fact treated as an ethnonym.

Within a few centuries the names of the original tribes had been eclipsed by the name, Franci. The Franks themselves had developed a new ethnic identity, which they retained until language development created new ethnicities along the geographic lines of the modern Germanic languages, which were now mutually unintelligible to the casual speaker. The old tribal names often remained as local geographic names; for example, Hesse from the name of the Chatti, a constituent tribe of the Franks. The same process happened to the name of the Franks: Franconia is a local name within the ethnic identity of German, or Deutsch.

Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm,^[2] the name of the Franks is universally agreed to be the same word as English frank and counterparts in numerous other languages.^[3] The word is Germanic; however, it cannot credibly be traced back further. Frank has a range of meanings, all of which have been proposed at one time or another as the basis for the name of the confederacy: free, honest, bold. There is even a suggestion that the meaning of "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation.^[4] Another theory is that it came from the Germanic word for "javelin" (cf. Old English franca, Old Norse frakka); however the opposite may be the case, as in the Latin francisca "throwing axe", which was named after the tribe. A weapon-based tribal name would be comparable to that of the Saxons and have an Indo-European precedent in the name of the Skythians ("shooters" or "bowmen"), even though an Indo-European etymology is missing.

There is some historical reason for selecting "bold, fierce" (cf. Middle Dutch vrac, Old English frǣc, Old Norwegian frakkr).^[5] Eumenius rhetorically addresses the Franks^[6] regarding the execution of some Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures such as bridging the Rhine and stationing a fleet there:^[7] Ubi nunc est illa ferocia? Ubi semper insida mobilitas?, "Where now is that famed ferocity of yours, that ever untrustworthy fickleness?" Feroces was used often of the Franks.^[8]

Contemporary definitions of the ethnicity of the Franks vary by period and point of view. Wickham points out that^[9]

...the word 'Frankish' quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the Loire everyone seems to have been considered a Frank by the mid-seventh century at the latest; Romani were essentially the inhabitants of Aquitaine after that."

On the other hand, Marculf's Formulary of circa 700 still mandates that:^[10]

"all the peoples who dwell there [i.e. in the official's province], Franks, Romans, Burgundians, and those of other nations, live ... according to their law and their custom;..."

which implies a continuation of national identities within a mixed population. Viewing the region from the outside, many Eastern peoples used (and still use) the term "Franks" with reference to Western Europeans and Roman Catholic Christians in general; for example, the Arabic word for "Europe" to this day is Firanja.^[11]

Appearance of the Franks[link]

Sidonius Apollinaris described the appearance of the Franks in his time (5th century):^[12]

"Their eyes are faint and pale, with a glimmer of greyish blue. Their faces are shaven all round, and instead of beards they have thin moustaches which they run through with a comb. Close fitting garments confine the tall limbs of the men, they are drawn up high so as to expose the knees, and a broad belt supports their narrow middle."

[edit] Mythological origins

A mythological origin story is a fiction devised by a source to account for an unknown ethnic origin. It is characterized by being patently fictional. The remaining early Frankish sources include two of these, which are subsequent to the main source, Gregory of Tours (6th century), and fill in for events for which Gregory could find no information: a 7th century work termed the Chronicle of Fredegar and an anonymous 8th century work called the Gesta Regum Francorum or the Liber Historiae Francorum. Neither of these works can be totally ignored for their historical value, but neither, because of their tendencies to mythologize, can they be trusted as much as Gregory's Historia Francorum.

The farthest Gregory goes in the direction of speculative origin is to relate a belief ("It is commonly said...."^[13]) that the Franks came from Pannonia (vicinity of Hungary), which would involve their migrating up the Danube and down the Rhine. This view is not supported by the archaeology: the Germanics populating the Rhine migrated there from North Germany; nor is it consistent with other sources on the early Germanics, such as Tacitus. The Celtic Boii inhabited the Danube lands (Bavaria) until almost the time of Julius Caesar, from which they were driven by the incursions of the Suebi, the central tribe of the Alamanni, enemies of the Franks.

The author of the Chronicle of Fredegar goes further afield to the fall of Troy (by modern scholars dated in the late Bronze Age). He claims Vergil and Hieronymous as sources, but only by twisting the names. The Franks as such are not to be found in those works, except in general mention by Hieronymous.^[14] Priam was a Frankish king. After the fall of Troy, the Franks migrated to Macedonia under King Friga (from which the Frigians or Phrygians). Quite apart from the language differences, the migration in history was in the opposite direction, as the Phrygians became one ancestral stream of the Armenians. Subsequently false genealogies of Frankish kings to Armenian ones became common. In Macedonia the putative Franks divided again. The European Franks reached their known location by the river route under King Francio, who serves as namegiver for the Franks, just as Romulus has lent his name to Rome. Another branch under King Turchot became the Turks, an anachronism as well as a language error. Fredegar does state that Theudemer, named king of the Franks by Gregory, was descended from Priam, Friga and Francio.

The author of the Gesta has Aeneas ruling as the king of Troy at its fall. Aeneas led a party ultimately to Latium, but 12000 Trojans led by chiefs Priam and Antenor sailed to the Tanais (Don) river, and with total disregard of geography sailed up it to Pannonia, which is on the Danube, not the Don, and settled there near the Maeotis, now the Sea of Azov and not near Pannonia either. There they founded a city called "Sicambria". Eventually an emperor named Valentinianus (mythical as stated) drove the anachronistic Alamanni into the marshes of Maeotis offering a 10-year abatement of taxes to those who could drive them out. The Trojans joined the Roman army in accomplishing the task, for which exploit they received the name of Franks, which, the author relates, is Attic Greek for feri, "savage." Ten years later the Romans attempting to reinstitute taxes against the will of the Franks killed Priam and drove the Franks downstream under Marcomer, son of Priam, and Sunno, son of Antenor.

After this fantasy it has been difficult for serious scholars to accept the two works as historical. Nevertheless, the Trojan origin of the Franks appears often, especially in contexts where the pedigree of Germanic kings is a topic of social interest. In view of the fact that until the late 20th century the Roman ideology of fallen Trojans remained seriously unquestioned, the Trojan Franks seemed more likely to the general public, even though many scholars had it tagged as a myth from an early date. Starting with circumstances vouched for by Gregory, the two works in question appear more reliable and are often used as historical supplements.

[edit] History

The major primary sources on the early Franks include Panegyrici Latini, Ammianus Marcellinus, Claudian, Zosimus, Sidonius Apollinaris and Gregory of Tours. The Franks are mentioned also on the Tabula Peutingeriana (a chart of the itineraries along Roman roads).

Geography of origins[link]

The "first undoubted mention" of any Franks occurs in the Augustan History, a collection of biographies of emperors written possibly in the 4th century. The Life of Aurelian, possibly by Vopiscus, mentions that the Franks had been raiding across the Rhine and the raiders were captured by the 6th Legion stationed at Mainz.^[15] The Romans killed 700 and sold 300 into slavery. This event happened in the first year of Gordian III, or 238. No mention of Ripuarian is made but these Franks if they were in the jurisdiction of the 6th very likely came from that territory.^[16]

Subsequently Frankish incursions over the Rhine were so frequent that the emperors began to adopt them into the empire and settle them on the borders so that they could control them better. In 292 Constantius defeated and removed some Franks who had settled on the then island of Batavia at the mouth of the Rhine. These were resettled not far away, in Toxandria, the seat of the later Salian Franks.^[17] Eumenius mentioned that Constantius "killed, expelled, captured, kidnapped" two groups of Franks, the one that had settled on Batavia and the other having crossed the Rhine. He also uses the term nationes Franciae, the first use of Francia.

Salian was used for the first time by Ammianus Marcellinus^[18] on the occasion of Julian in 358 campaigning against "the first Franks of all, those whom custom has called the Salians,"^[19] who at that time were in Toxandria. He defeated them but left them in place, promoting them instead to foederati of the empire.^[20] Their soldiers are listed as the Salii in the 5th century Notitia Dignitatum, a book of Roman unit insigniae. The Merovingians were to come from these Salian Franks.

Jordanes in Getica mentions some Riparii as auxiliaries of Flavius Aetius in the Battle of Châlons, 451:^[21]

"Hi enim affuerunt auxiliares: Franci, Sarmatae, Armoriciani, Liticiani, Burgundiones, Saxones, Riparii, Olibriones ..."

Considering that Franci is already listed, there is no definite statement that these Riparii are the Ripuarian Franks. They do not appear for certain under that name until their final subjugation by Clovis, who united all the Franks of Neustria making a capital at Paris. By that time the Salians extended south to the Loire, where they reached the border of the then Basque country of Aquitania. Their leadership had descended to the Merovingian family, hereditary kings first of the Salian Franks, then of all the Franks, of whom Clovis was king. According to his chronicler, or quasi-chronicler, Gregory of Tours, in Historia Francorum, he subjected the previously independent Ripuarians.

Earliest known Franks[link]

Tabula Peutingeriana[link]

One of the key documents in identifying the earliest known Franks is the Tabula Peutingeriana, a 13th century copy of a Roman road map (or perhaps chart) from a 4th or 5th century original reflecting information from the 3rd century. The northernmost limit of the empire depicted there is the right bank of the Rhine. North of it is the ocean. The Romans were well aware from their geographers of the rough outline of Europe; however, the chart was only a practical guide to the roads, to be followed from point to point.

The date of the information is only known through internal evidence; i.e., the disposition of the geopolitical terrain. As this disposition has been the topic of extensive scholarly debate the estimated date varies by a few critical centuries. The information may well be the earliest; if not, the 238 of the Augustan History must stand.

In the middle Rhine region is the word Francia followed upstream by a misspelling of Bructeri. Bonnae (Bonn) is in their territory, but Moguntiaco (Mainz) is further upstream. Beyond Mainz is Suevia, country of the Suebi, and beyond them Alamannia, country of another confederacy, the Alamanni. More follow. Agripina (Cologne) is between the Bructeri and Francia. Downstream after a gap are four tribes at the mouth of the Rhine: Chauci, Amsivarii ("Ems dwellers"), Cherusci and Chamavi, followed by qui et Pranci, "who are also Franks."

Ultimately the tabula was probably based on the Orbis Pictus, a map of 20 years' labor commissioned by Augustus and kept locked away in the Roman Treasury Department for assessment of taxes. It did not survive as such. Some of the data probably derives from it, such as the early imperial divisions of Gaul. A number of configurations specific to early imperial Rome can be cited, but in general none of the tribes and confederacies are depicted on the left bank of the Rhine, which places them at least as early as the 3rd century. The Alamanni first appeared on the Danube River in the reign of Caracalla, ca. 211, but no Goths appear there, suggesting a date of 211-221, the year before the reign of Alexander Severus, when they are known to have been on the Danube.^[22]

As the phrase indicates, the table may not have been intended to be interpreted sequentially. Gregory of Tours^[13] includes the Bructeri among the Franks. Cologne is shown on the tabula opposite the Bructeri, not far from Suevia. Francia, then, might be considered to have extended from the mouth of the Rhine upstream past Cologne, and there were no separate Franks from the tribes mentioned.

Ptolemy[link]

On the other hand the tabula does not correspond as well in that area with the maps of Ptolemy, composed perhaps a generation earlier. Ptolemy's two maps of Germany portray Germania Inferior, confined to the left bank of the Rhine, populated by Germanics who had been in the region before the Romans, as well as Celticised former Germanics. These were divided from the rest of the Germanics, Magna Germania, by the selection of the Rhine as the Roman frontier. Although the upper Rhine and the Danube were a sharp line of demarcation between Germanic and non-Germanic, the middle and lower Rhine were not.

Much of the problem between the empire and Franks was the artificial division of the Germanics along the Rhine frontier. The Franks saw no reason why they should be kept from settling there, and eventually they convinced the emperors. The topography of the Rhinemouth region was even more troubling, as the Rhine divided far inland into a fan of outlets, in which was a significant settlement area, Batavia, an island, as the suffix -avia, "island,", suggests. The Romans altered the topography by diverting the Rhine into the Yssel through a canal, which emptied into an inland lagoon. The area has since subsided, inundating the lagoon in a series of catastrophic infarctions of the North Sea to form the Zuider Zee. Since the Frisians to the north of the sea were never part of the Franks, this process may have begun in Roman times. Batavia is currently high and dry. After the construction of the canal it was on the left bank and therefore under Roman jurisdiction, although Germanic. The Roman naval base on the canal, Navalia, appears in Ptolemy's map of Germania Magna; Batavia, on the map of Germania Inferior.

Ptolemy's maps reflect generally the same tribal names as the tabula, with a notable exception: the Sicambri occupy the right bank upstream past Asciburgium (modern village of Asberg now in Neuss) not far from Cologne, in the region later part of the kingdom of the Ripuarians. The tabula calls this entire part of the bank Francia and does not mention the Sicambri. This difference suggests that in the few decades between the Ptolemaic map and the tabula the name of the Sicambri was submerged in that of the Franks.

Making a connection between the more ancient Sugambri and Gambrivii, the Encyclopedia of European peoples states:^[23]

"The name of the Sugambri is related to the Old High German word Gambar, for 'vigorous.'"

which is in fact not far in meaning from bold. According to Gregory, Sicamber, from Sicambri, was a title of the Merovingian kings, who were Salians. At his baptism Clovis was told:^[24] "Bow your head in meekness, Sicamber." These Sicambri, however, were mainly not located near either the sea or the Yssel, but were on the right bank of the Lower and Middle Rhine. The "sea" was being held by the Romans and the Frisians.

Apparently the distinction between the Salians and the Ripuarians did not yet exist. In the 3rd century, the tribes on or near the right bank of the Rhine were subsumed under a new confederacy, the Franks, that extended from the Yssel as far as Suebia, where it collided with another confederacy, the Alamanni. The two were kept apart by the large Roman base at Mainz. The tribes were already beginning to lose their names and political status in favor of the larger nation. A few large German cities had been founded by the Romans as an interface, such as Cologne, placed among the Ubii. The name means "river men,", from ab, stream, a common element of place names of the times. The Ubii were a Frankish people. Only the presence of the Roman garrison prevented it from declaring for the Franks. Later Cologne would be the capital of the Ripuarian Franks. In the third century neither Salii nor Ripuarii were to be found. When they did appear they were not distinguished as to tribe.

Ripuarians[link]

Approximate location of the original Frankish tribes. The Salians, however, are a Frankish designation, not an earlier Germanic one, containing the Sicambri along with populations from the others. In the depiction they have not yet been settled across the Rhine. The date is therefore the third century.

According to the ancient writers, the Frankish identity emerged at the first half of the 3rd century out of various earlier, smaller Germanic groups: the Sicambri, Chamavi, Bructeri, Chatti, Chattuarii, Ampsivarii, Tencteri and Ubii. These tribes inhabited the lower and middle Rhine valley from the right bank of the Yssel (which flows from the Rhine) between Lacus Flevo, the predecessor of the Zuider Zee, and Mainz. The Romans held the left bank, including Lacus Flevo and all the marsh and riverland to the south.

The Frankish confederation probably began to coalesce in the 210s north of the Roman province called Germania Inferior, "Lower Germany", which had been settled earlier by Celticised Germanic immigrants called by Julius Caesar the Belgae (from which Belgium). Along the Rhine itself were a number of Germanic-speaking cities, the interface between Roman and Germanic civilization. Germanics not already there were not allowed south of the Rhine without Roman permissions. Any unauthorized entry at all was regarded as a hostile act, which must be punished.

The initial unity of the Franks did not outlast the 3rd century. They were interested in reoccupying the left bank of the Rhine, which the Romans were preventing them from doing. There was also a strong interest in marauding expeditions to the south by land or by sea, which they accomplished by forced marches showing up unexpectedly in the Roman undefended rear. About mid-century an attempt was made to appropriate Batavia south of Lacus Flevo (vicinity of Nijmegen). This time the Romans allowed them to stay, settling them in Toxandria (vicinity of Antwerp) where they became a maritime power and were called the Salians (most likely "maritime people.") This group went their own way politically. Of the Franks who were left on the Rhine, those from Mainz to Duisburg raided across the river independently and at some point acquired the name Ripuarians (most likely "river people.") Both groups remained politically distinct until the unification of Francia as it was then by Clovis, the first Christian king, a Salian and a member of the Merovingian dynasty.

Salians[link]

Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies (laeti or dediticii). Around 250, one group of Franks 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. In 287 or 288, the Roman Caesar Maximian overwhelmed the Salian king Gennobaude. He and his people surrendered without a fight. Maximian accepted the surrender and installed the Salians in Toxandria (Germania inferior) at the mouth of the Rhine behind the limes in Belgic Gaul, under the statute of Laeti (subject to imperial authority). This success, however, did not allow him to regain Britain. Later, Constantius completed the reconquest of Britain and, having had problems with some Franks, deported Chamavi and Frisians in Gaul in the country Ambiani and Bellovaci.

About forty years later, the Franks had the region of the Scheldt river (present day west Flanders and southwest Netherlands) under control and were raiding the Channel, disrupting transportation to Britain. Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared as pirates along the shores at least until the time of Julian the Apostate (358), when Salian Franks were granted to settle as foederati in Toxandria, according to Ammianus Marcellinus.^[25]

The Salian Franks invaded the Roman Empire and were accepted as Foederati by Julian the Apostate in 358. By the end of the fifth century, the Salian Franks had largely moved onto Roman soil, to a territory now comprising the Netherlands south of the Rhine, Belgium and northwestern Gaul where, during the chaos of the migration period, they formed a kingdom, eventually giving rise to the Merovingian dynasty.^[26]

Merovingian kingdom (481–751)[link]

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A necklace of beads, most of which are glass or ceramic, with a single amethyst bead. Similar necklaces have been found in the graves of Frankish women in the Rhineland. This necklace is one of 21 said to have been excavated at Niederbreisig (Germany). Mid-sixth to seventh century CE.

A bow fibula found in northeastern France and the Rhineland. They were worn in pairs at the shoulder or as belt ornaments by women with noble status in Frankish society. Sixth century CE.

In the 5th century, numerous small Frankish kingdoms existed, among them the ones in Cologne, Tournai, Le Mans and Cambrai. The kings of Tournai eventually came to subdue the other Frankish kings. This was probably enabled by their association with Aegidius, the magister militum of northern Gaul; King Childeric I fights on Aegidius' side in 463. It is assumed that Childeric and Clovis I, his son, were commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda, and thus subordinate to the magister militum. Clovis later turned against the Roman military leaders and won a battle against Syagrius in 486/487. After this battle, Clovis had Chararic, another Frankish king, imprisoned; he was later executed. A few years later, Ragnachar, Frankish king of Cambrai, and his brothers were killed by Clovis. By the 490s, Clovis had conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of the River Maas, leaving only the Ripuarian Franks. The city of Paris became his capital.

Clovis I became the first king of all Franks in 509, when he conquered the kingdom of Cologne. He had conquered the Kingdom of Soissons of the Roman general Syagrius and expelled the Visigoths from southern Gaul at the Battle of Vouillé, thus establishing Frankish hegemony over most of Gaul, excluding Burgundy, Provence, and Brittany, which he left to his successors, the Merovingians, to conquer.

Clovis divided his realm between his four sons in a manner which would become familiar, as his sons and grandsons in turn divided their kingdoms between their sons. Clovis' sons united to defeat Burgundy in 534, but internecine feuding came to the fore during the reigns of the brothers Sigebert I and Chilperic I and their sons and grandsons, largely fueled by the rivalry of the queens Fredegunda and Brunhilda. This period saw the emergence of three distinct regna (realms or subkingdoms): Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy. Each region developed in its own way and often sought to exert influence over the others. The rising star of the Arnulfing clan of Austrasia meant that the centre of political gravity in the kingdom gradually shifted eastwards from Paris and Tours to the Rhineland.

The Frankish realm was united again in 613 by Chlothar II, son of Chilperic. Chlothar granted the Edict of Paris to the nobles in an effort to cut down on corruption and unite his vast realm under his authority. After the militarily successful reign of his son and successor Dagobert I, royal authority rapidly declined under a series of kings traditionally known as rois fainéants. By 687, after the Battle of Tertry, the chronicler could say that the mayor of the palace, formerly the king's chief household official, "reigned." Finally, in 751, with the approval of the papacy and the nobility, the mayor Pepin the Short deposed the last Merovingian king, Childeric III, and had himself crowned, inaugurating a new dynasty, the Carolingians.

Carolingian empire (751–843)[link]

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The unification of most of what is now western and central Europe under one chief ruler provided a fertile ground for the continuation of what is known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Despite the almost constant internecine warfare that beset the Carolingian Empire, the extension of Frankish rule and Roman Christianity over such a large area ensured a fundamental unity throughout the Empire. Each part of the Carolingian Empire developed differently; Frankish government and culture depended very much upon individual rulers and their aims. Those aims shifted as easily as the changing political alliances within the Frankish leading families. However, those families, the Carolingians included, all shared the same basic beliefs and ideas of government. These ideas and beliefs had their roots in a background that drew from both Roman and Germanic tradition, a tradition that began before the Carolingian ascent and continued to some extent even after the deaths of Louis the Pious and his sons.

The sons of Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's grandsons, fought a civil war after Louis' death over their inheritance, which only ended in exhaustion. The Frankish lands were divided between them. Charles the Bald was given the western lands, "West Francia", that would later become France. Louis the German received the eastern lands, which would become Germany. Lothair I was given the lands between the two, "Middle Francia" which consisted of Lotharingia, Provence, and northern Italy. Middle Francia was not united in any way, and in the next generation disintegrated into smaller lordships, with West Francia and East Francia fighting for control over them. Arguably, France and Germany continued to fight over these lands up until World War II.

[edit] Military

Franks in the Roman army[link]

In general Germanic peoples on the borders are known to have served in the Roman army since the days of Julius Caesar. The tribes at the Rhine delta that later became Franks were no exception to that general rule. Despite the fact that from the 3rd century onward large numbers of Germanic peoples served in the Roman army, others kept on invading and raiding Roman soil. This caused confrontations between Franks and their neighbours on Roman soil such as the Batavi and Menapii. When Roman administration collapsed in Gaul in the 260s due to joint invasions of Franks and Alamanni, the armies under Germanic Batavian Postumus revolted and proclaimed him emperor, proceding to restore order. From that time on Germanic soldiers in the Roman army, most notably Franks, were visibly promoted from the ranks. A few decades later the Menapian Carausius (born in Batavia) created a Batavian-British rumpstate on Roman soil that was supported by Frankish soldiers and raiders. In the mid 4th century Frankish soldiers like Magnentius, Silvanus and Arbitio held command positions in the Roman military. From the narrative of Ammianus Marcellinus it becomes clear that both Frankish and Alamannic tribal armies were organised along Roman lines and fought comparably.

After the invasion of Chlodio 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 till the days of Procopius, when the Western Roman Empire was gone for more than a century, because this historian reports that the former Rhine army was still in operation and that "legions" kept on using the same standard and insignia as had their forefathers during Roman times.

Militarily, the Franks under the Merovingians melded Germanic custom with Romanized 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[link]

The primary sources for Frankish military custom and armament are Ammianus Marcellinus, Agathias, and Procopius, the latter two Eastern Roman historians writing about Frankish intervention in the Gothic 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 of Theudebert I and 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 handles was very short. And they are accustomed always to throw these axes at one signal in the first charge and thus to shatters the shields of the enemy and kill the men.^[27]

His contemporary, Agathias, says:

The military equipment of this people [the Franks] is very simple .... They do not know the use of the coat of mail or greaves and 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 the angon which 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 a javelin, and also in hand to hand combat.^[28]

While the above quotations have been used as a statement of the military practices of the Frankish nation in the sixth century and have even been extrapolated to the entire period preceding Charles Martel's reforms (early–mid eighth 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 Apollinaris and Gregory of Tours) and the archaeological evidence. The Lex Ribuaria, the early 7th-century legal code of the Rhineland or Ripuarian Franks, specifies the values of various goods when paying a wergild in kind; whereas a spear and shield were worth only two solidi, a sword and scabbard were valued at seven, a helmet at six, and a "metal tunic" at twelve.^[29] Scramasaxes and arrowheads are numerous in Frankish graves even though the Byzantine historians do not assign them to the Franks.

The evidence of Gregory and of the Lex Salica implies 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. The Lex Ribuaria specifies that a mare's value was the same as that of an ox or of a shield and spear, two solidi, and a stallion seven or the same as a sword and scabbard,^[29] 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.^[30]