Franks

The Franks were a group of Germanic peoples who lived in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Their name survives in today's France, the German region Franconia (Franken), the EU's financial hub Frankfurt, and several other places.

Understand
The Roman Empire described the Franks since at least the 3rd century AD. Many Franks served in the Roman Army. The etymology of "Franks" is not entirely clear but it was most likely a self-applied descriptor – perhaps first used by a military alliance – which can mean things like "bold, rude, free". The words "frank" in English and related words in other Germanic languages are cognates.

In the Migration period of the 4th century, the Franks largely remained in their homeland, in contrast to other tribes who crossed most of Europe. In the chaos following the 5th century fall of Rome, the Franks formed kingdoms, parallel to other Germanic peoples in western and central Europe such as the Saxons and Thuringians, with namesake states in present-day Germany, and the Alamanni, remembered as Allemagne, the French name of Germany. The term Franks has at times been used as a collective term for all those. During the Crusades every Catholic Christian in Outremer who didn't speak a Romance language (and sometimes also Romance speakers) was called "Frank".

The Merovingian dynasty is known since the 5th century and their empire came to rule most of today's France, Benelux and Central Europe in the 8th century. Perhaps the most notable Merovingian king was Clovis (an early form of the name Louis) who defeated Syagrus, the last person in France claiming to be the local representative of the Roman Empire. He converted to Catholic Christianity, which led to widespread conversion – most Germanic chieftains had either been heathens or Arian Christians. However, a Frankish custom to divide the realm among all eligible sons upon the death of the king led to a gradual decline and ultimately the "majordomo" (manager of the king's household) of the Carolingian family became the true "power behind the throne" before the last Merovingian king was stripped of even nominal power and exiled to a cloister.

During the 8th century, the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate conquered Iberia, and ventured into Gaul (today's France). The advance force reached almost to the Loire Valley; however, the Frankish army dealt it a heavy defeat between Poitiers and Tours. This halted the caliphate's expansion and ensured its European territories were confined to south of the Pyrenees. The leader of that army was Charles Martel ("the hammer"), a majordomo and it was his son, Pepin, who took the title of "king" for himself and his family including his son Charlemagne.

They were succeeded by the 8th- and 9th-century Carolingian Empire (so named because of the propensity to name their sons "Karl") founded by Charlemagne, who annexed northern Italy and had himself crowned as the first western Roman Emperor since the fall of Western Rome. His reign is remembered as the Carolingian Renaissance, famous for art, architecture, literature, and coinage.

The Carolingian empire was divided in the late 9th century into three kingdoms ruled by Charlemagne's grandsons Charles, Lothar and Louis. This instability opened way for the Nordic Vikings to raid coastal settlements, and settle in regions such as Normandy.

The post-Carolingian kingdoms consolidated in the 11th century, heralding the High Middle Ages, a period known for urbanization, and the establishment of castles, cathedrals and universities, styled in Romanesque and Gothic architecture. They came to form the Kingdom of France, the Netherlands and Germany respectively; the political division, as well as the language barrier between Romance and Germanic languages, made the collective term Frank obsolete.

The Holy Roman Empire was an entity founded in AD 962, with a claim to succeed Charlemagne, styling their leader as Emperor of Rome. The Empire nominally included much of Central Europe, but it was for much of its existence a ceremonial construct, described by scholars such as Voltaire as "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire". The Roman Empire had however survived in Constantinople, known as the Byzantine Empire until 1453, when it fell to the Ottoman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire was dismantled in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

Destinations
Preserved buildings from before AD 800 are few and small. Carolingian architecture from the 9th and 10th centuries was inspired by the Romans, and represent Western Europe's first palaces, castles and cathedrals, which became more common among the Franks' successors in the High Middle Ages.