What is Franks?
{{otheruses}} The '''Franks''' or the '''Frankish peoples''' were one of several west Germanic federations of [[tribe]]s.<ref>Jo Ann H. Moran Cruz and Richard Gerberding, ''Medieval Worlds: An Introduction to European History'' Houghton Mifflin Company 2004, p. 80</ref> It was formed out of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]]: Salians, Sicambri, Chamavi, Tencteri, Chattuarii, Bructeri, Usipetes, Ampsivarii, Chatti. Most of them lived at the northern borders of the Rhine. They entered the late [[Roman Empire]] from the north and east river bank of the Rhine into modern northern [[Belgium]] and southern [[Netherlands]]. Later invasions conquered and established a lasting [[kingdom]] in an area which eventually covered most of modern-day [[France]], [[Belgium]], the [[Netherlands]], and the western regions of [[Germany]]. When the pagan Frankish king [[Clovis I|Clovis]] became Christian in the late 5th century that was an important event in the history of Europe. Modern scholars of the period of the [[Migration Period|migration]]s are in agreement that the Frankish confederacy emerged at the beginning of the third century. A region in the northeast of the modern-day [[Netherlands]] – north of the erstwhile Roman border – still bears the name [[Salland]], and may have received that name from the Salians, who formed the core of the Frankish sea raiders. == Frankish Empire== From their heartland, the Franks gradually conquered most of Roman [[Gaul]] north of the [[Loire]] valley and east of [[Visigoth]]ic [[Aquitaine]]. At first they helped defend the border as allies; for example, when a major invasion of mostly East Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine in 406, the Franks fought against these invaders. In the region of [[Paris]], Roman control persisted until 486, a decade after the fall of the emperors of [[Ravenna]], in part due to alliances with the Franks. === Merovingians === In 451, [[Aëtius]] called upon his Germanic allies on Roman soil to help fight off an invasion by [[Attila the Hun]]. The Salian Fra