BRIEF ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF FRANCE France which officially known as French Republic
BRIEF ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF FRANCE
France which officially known as French Republic. It is one of the world’s oldest nations. France lies near the western end of the great Eurasian landmass, largely between latitudes 42° and 51° N. The Celtic tribes which the Romans know as Gaul consist most of the population of France especially in the center and west as it spread from Central Europe in the period of 500 BCE- 500 CE.
The monarchs of France ruled, first as kings and later as emperors, from the Middle Ages to 1848. There is some disagreement as to when France came into existence. The earliest date would be the establishment of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom by Clovis I in 486 with the defeat of Syagrius, the last Roman official in Gaul. That kingdom’s rulers were deposed in the 8th century. The Treaty of Verdun established the Kingdom of Western Francia in 843. Another date medieval historians believe is 987, the beginning of the Capetian Dynasty.
The Franks, a Germanic group of people, invaded settled the Roman area called Gallic. There was a moderate movement in power as the Roman empire fell and the Franks grew in influence. By AD 509 Clovis I was king over all the Franks with his capital was in Paris, He established the Merovingian dynasty that was named after his grandfather Merovech as the ruling family over Francia (where we get the name France). That dynasty would carry on for almost three hundred years, until the last Merovingian was removed in favor of a man named Pepin (Charlemagne’s father).
Due to the tradition of Frankish kings to split their kingdom between surviving sons, who would inevitably war with each other. Of all the kingdoms the one name Francia would prove to be the most powerful and would eventually become the name of the nation we know today.
MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY (486-751)
The Merovingian Dynasty ruled the Franks for about 300 years in an area known as Francia in Latin that began in middle of the 5th Century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. The dynasty rose to historical popularity with Childeric I (457-481) who was the son of Merovech but it was Childeric I son Clovis I who united all united all of Gaul under Merovingian rule.
LIST OF MONARCHS IN THE MENROVINGIAN
• Chlodio the Long hair.
Chlodio was a king of the Salian Franks from the Merovingian dynasty. He was known as a Long-Haired King and lived at a place on the Thuringian border called Dispargum. From there he invaded the Roman Empire in 428 and settled in Northern Gaul, where already other groups of Salians were settled. Although he was attacked by Romans he was able to maintain his position and 3 years later in 431 he extended his kingdom down south to the Somme River.
