History Fact Finder | Eras and Their Highlights - Who Were The Franks?

Who were the Franks?

The Franks were a Germanic people who lived along the lower and middle Rhine River in the third century A.D. They were two independent groups: the Salians, who lived in the north, and the Ripuarians who lived in the south. In 481 Clovis (c. 466–511), a cruel and cunning ruler, became king of the Salians. Five years later he went to war, conquering the Romans, Gauls, Visigoths, and other tribes. Ultimately he reigned over Europe, from the Mediterranean Sea in the south to the English Channel in the north and from the Pyrenees Mountains in the west to the Rhine River in the east. He united the northern Salians and Ripuerians, converted to Roman Catholicism, and founded the Frankish Empire. After Clovis died in 511, the Franks continued to control this territory, which expanded during the sixth through ninth centuries to include most of present-day France, the Low Countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, and...

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