Captivating History - Germanic Tribes: A Captivating Guide to the History of the Franks and Lombards

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A Captivating Guide to a Group of Germanic Peoples Who Invaded the Western Roman Empire

The beginnings of the modern state of France can be found in the Roman province of Gauls transformation into a unified kingdom under the people known as the Franks. This transition occurred over centuries and was not uniform throughout the territory comprising modern-day France. While some regions, particularly in the north of France, quickly became Frankish in culture, it took longer for non-Roman cultural characteristics to become widespread in the south, where Roman influence was particularly strong. The story of how France became a political entity, or what we call a state, begins in the Dark Ages.

The Dark Ages were not, in fact, particularly dark in the sense that we know nothing about life in the era. There are sufficient historical sources to provide a detailed picture of how the Roman Empire started on the road to its variety of modern states. In retrospect, we may think that the people living in the Dark Ages had particularly dark lives. This is a modern concept for societies in which life may have been short, harsh, and often brutish. Of course, people living under these conditions were not always aware that there was any alternative. It was not until the rise of the Christian church and the evolution of Christian charity that any form of consideration was given to the lower classes, which helped change their harsh lives. What help the dispossessed, the poor, the sick, and the maimed received from ecclesiastics and church institutions varied from place to place in Europe. With the Christianization of pagans came hope for redemption and, with this, a rise in piety. The reach of the Christian church expanded as more and more demands were put on the many services it offered. Members of the nobility who chose to demonstrate their piety began to retreat from the world and found monasteries and convents. These institutions, which housed communities of the faithful, sometimes dispensed charity to the less fortunate in society. They also were integrated into the social fabric, contributing taxes to the treasuries of dukes, princes, and kings; offering educational services to those who could afford to send their children to a monastic school; and sometimes served as royal advisors and, from time to time, as military leaders.

The name of the Dark Ages, comprising the historical period immediately following the collapse of the Roman Empire, was invented by 14 th -century Renaissance scholars to describe a time of what they considered to be intellectual darkness between the light or brilliance of Roman culture and the period of revival of Roman culture in their day. The Dark Ages was a pejorative term, indicating that the culture in this period was inferior, without merit, and barbaric. This is definitely not true of the era. Although the Roman Empire was on the decline, Christian Europe was on the rise, forming a series of new states or kingdoms, among which was the Frankish kingdom ruled by members of the Merovingian dynasty.

A widespread misconception about the Dark Ages is that it is considered dark because there are few surviving primary historical sources and not enough artistic or material culture to shed light on the lives of the peoples who inhabited Europe at the time. On the contrary, there are many surviving historical documents and archaeological remains to paint a rather comprehensive picture of life in the Dark Ages. This historical period from the late Roman Empire, or late antiquity, to the Early Middle Ages, when European civilization flourished under the banner of emerging Christian feudal states, evolved from the amalgamation of Roman ideas of civilization and the traditions of barbaric, pagan tribes.

The gradual decline in the power of Rome, which began in the 3 rd century CE, meant that the frontiers once separating the so-called barbarian tribes from the civilization of Rome or romanitas (Roman-ness) began to be breached. There were several reasons for this change in the status quo. The Roman Empire suffered from poor leadership, multiple coups, declining economic dominance over the lands around the Mediterranean, and a generalized malaise among the Roman citizens. The peoples who were called barbarians by the Romans, who settled beyond the frontiers of the empire, came under pressure from invaders who swooped out of the Eurasian steppes and southeastern Europe. The Roman armies guarding the frontiers, made up in large part by non-Roman local tribesmen, were weakened by disputes over payment for their service. These disputes were exacerbated by frequent bouts of inflation and the devaluation of Roman currency. The barbarians at the gate began to flood into Roman lands. On the one hand, they sought protection from migrating nomadic tribes from the east, and on the other hand, they wished to avail themselves of the fruits of farming in the organized and peaceful Roman state. This era of the movement of peoples of various ethnicities has been labeled by historians as the Migration Period. It runs roughly from 375 CE or perhaps earlier and ended in the 6 th century.