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The Franks were not a single tribe but a league of several Germanic peoples on the right Lower Rhine – among them Sugambri, Chamavi and Bructeri. Their name appears in the 3rd century and probably means "the bold/free ones".
One distinguished above all the Salian Franks (in Toxandria/Netherlands) and the Rhine Franks around Cologne. Rome took many as federates and soldiers; Frankish officers rose to the highest ranks of the late Roman army.
Under Clovis (the Merovingian) the Franks became around 500 the dominant power: victory at Zülpich, baptism at Reims, unification of Gaul. From the Frankish empire came France and the German imperial lands – our region was its heartland.
"The Franks take their name from their ferocity/boldness."after Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae (public domain, own translation)
The Franks are the thread of our home history. Continue with the Sugambri and Chamavi.
The Sugambri · The Chamavi · The Ubii · The Alemanni · The Saxons.
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