Franks

Franks, Germanic tribes, originally living east of the Rhine. In the 3^rd–5th centuries A.D. they repeatedly invaded Gaul and finally overran it (486). Clovis I united the disparate tribes under his rule, founding the Christian Merovingian dynasty; this was weakened by internal conflict, and finally deposed by the Carolingians in the 8th century. Under the rule of Charlemagne the Franks reached the height of their power. France and Franconia in Germany are named for them.