In world history, there were many peoples who had a small or significant impact on world culture. One of these peoples are the Franks. And who are the Franks, we will analyze further.
Definition
Franks are a union of Germanic tribes living in the third century. They were first mentioned in the year 242 AD in chronicles. The exact definition of francs is still a topic of discussion among scientists. Some believe that the word "frank" means "brave, courageous, " others believe that it means "wandering", while others say that the word means "wild."
Who are the Franks
Franks are divided into two groups. The first group includes salic francs, they are also called upper. In the IV century, they were located in the lower Rhine. The second group includes coastal, or, as they are called, lower francs. They lived in the middle reaches of the Rhine and Main. In the third century, the Franks included tribes such as the Hattuaries, Sigambras, Tenkters and Brookters. During this period, they broke the tribal relations. The largest tribes united in alliances. Unions of the Franks, such as Gothic, Suevian, etc., were formed earlier.
The history of the state of the francs
To answer the question: "Who are the Franks?" - take a look at their story. Franks have long been the enemies of the Romans, they raided their territory. One of the famous leaders of that period is Merovei. Under his leadership, they fought against Attila, and the Merovingian family was also named after him. In the time of Julius Caesar, the tribes existed quite apart, but later began to separate. The Roman Empire had a great influence on the development and fate of the Franks. In fact, the Franks themselves began a hostile relationship with the Romans when they began to move to the other side of the river and mount raids. Caesar destroyed the tribe of Uzepets and Tenkters. Soon he met a detachment of cigambers who refused to give out the captives hiding from them, and as a result they were forced to hide in the forests.
After Caesar's death, Agrippa continued the feud. Due to countless wars, the government of Rome decided to conquer the adjacent territories of Germany. The implementation of the plan began to deal with Druz. Thanks to him, fortifications were built on German soil, he also defeated several tribes, but death overtook him on the way from the Elbe. Tiberius won the final victory over the cigambers. They began to serve the Roman Empire and soon became part of the Salic francs.
King Clovis
Clovis was the son of the leader of Childeric. After he became king of the Franks, he began to conquer, along with other leaders, the lands of Gaul in the interests of the state. At the end of the fifth century, the last Roman possession in Gaul was captured - this is the Soissons region. At the end of the fifth century, Clovis adopted Christianity with his retinue, which numbered about three thousand. The king was baptized not because of deep faith, but because of political views. The ceremony was held according to the rules of the Roman church. Germanic tribes living in the Black Sea were heretics. Thanks to the adopted Christianity, all the clergy who lived behind the Loire joined to Clovis. This clergy opened its gates when there was a war with the Visigoths. They controlled all of southern Gaul. As a result, the Franks defeated the Visigoths and they got only part of Spain.
As a result of all the conquests, the French state was created, which extended almost throughout Roman Gaul. The history of Frankish success can be attributed to the fact that, unlike the Visigoths, they did not disperse in the mass of the population, but settled down with broad-based companies. And when they started the war, they drew strength and troops from their homeland. Also important was the role and clergy in the history of the Franks.
"Salic truth"
"Salic truth" - this is information about the judicial customs of the Franks, which began to lead even under King Clovis. It contains records of the social structure of the Franks union, records of their daily lives. For various crimes corresponding penalties were indicated. It even recorded minor crimes in the form of theft of chicken, as well as murder. “Salic truth” was divided into chapters and sub-chapters. The most significant place in the chapters was occupied by crimes and fines for them. There were also punishments for insulting words, for stealing someone else's wife, and so on.
Franchise
The economy of the Franks was an order of magnitude higher than that of the Germans. Livestock played a large role in the economy. For theft of pets a fine was imposed. Also theft of fish, birds, dogs was not allowed. In addition to animal husbandry, fishing, hunting, and agriculture played a significant role. Franks planted flax, crops, beans, lentils, turnips. They built watermills.
The political system of Frankish society
Changes in the economic relations of the Franks led to the emergence of changes in the political system. Even in the time of Clovis, a tendency towards the emergence of the kingdom of the Franks is visible. One of the events characterizing the emergence of royal power was the case described by Tursky. George Tursky, the author of the chronicle, wrote that during the war for the city of Soissons, the Franks seized the booty in the church. This booty was rich, there was also a valuable bowl, which simply fascinated everyone with its beautiful view. When they began to divide the captured, the Roman church asked to return the stolen cup. Clovis agreed to do this only if he got it.
When the king asked the soldiers to give the cup to him, no one said a word against, only saying that his thing was rightfully. Thus, all the soldiers confirmed the status of the king and the willingness to follow him and follow his orders.
Clovis, due to its cunning, cruelty, had no opponents in power. After he captured Gaul and received vast lands, he killed all his opponents in the person of other leaders. As mentioned above, the king was cunning, he killed his relatives because of fear that he would be ousted from the throne. And later he began to grieve that he was left alone, but in fact he wanted to check who else remained from living relatives.
The Salicheskaya Pravda states that the High Court was the highest court. The popular assembly did not exist, it was replaced by military shows held by the king. If someone stole the king’s property, the thief had to pay a triple fine. Also, the life of the priest was guarded by a fine (about six hundred solidi). The highest fines were imposed on violators for spoiling and burning churches. The church and state power supported each other, so mutual immunity was important to them.
