Franks

The Franks or the Frankish peoples were an ever-changing confederation of west Germanic tribes, that came to be subdivided into Salian Franks, living near the sea, and Ripuarian Franks, living along the Rhine. The Salians, later preeminent among the tribes, were a "proto-Dutch" (Old Low Franconian) speaking people. The Franks first appeared in history around 260. Sometimes the Franks allied with non-Old Frankish speaking tribes, such as the Frisians and occasionally the Saxons. They were not originally grouped into one tribe, but "as with the other barbarians, they belonged to much smaller groups that would join constantly changing confederations."

Most of the Frankish peoples were living at the northern borders of the Rhine about the Insula Batavorum, in a region the Panegyrici Latini called "Francia" . They exerted a constant pressure on the Roman borders, but also took active service in the Roman army, climbing up the ranks like the late fourth century the Frankish general Arbogastes. They slowly replaced the Batavians in their native domains and, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, expanded their territory on Roman soil to the delta of the Scheldt, where the Salians blocked grain supplies for the Roman army. With later invasions of the Salians Chlodio and Childeric they moved up the Scheldt and homed around Tournai, from where those Salians finally conquered the Roman army, that was supported by other Franks.

The Merovingian family of Childeric united all Franks in Gaul and slowly expanded their influence to other territories until a new dynasty called the Carolingians took over and conquered a major part of western Europe. The location of Francia moved with the Franks until finally around the year 1000 it came to be known as France. But a great number of Franks also lived in Eastern Francia, which later developed into Germany. These Franks preserved more of their Germanic roots, while the Franks of Francia merged with the indigenous population much more. Because of the name similarities the Franks are often incorrectly more associated with France than with Germany or the Netherlands.