The founding of the Frankish state

The Franks were a Germanic tribe living on the lower Rhine; later they spread into Roman-ruled Gaul. Clovis of the Merovingian dynasty defeated rival tribal leaders, became ruler of all the Franks and in 486 founded the Frankish state; tradition links this year with his victory at Soissons over Syagrius, the last Roman governor in Gaul. Clovis accepted Christianity from the Roman church (the traditional date is about 496), which won him the support of the bishops and of the Gallo-Roman population. Kings began to give warriors land, called a benefice, in return for service, and a class of large landowners — feudal lords — took shape. Land that could be owned outright and passed to heirs was called an allod. On Clovis’s order the customs of the Franks were written down as the “Salic Law” (“Salic Truth”), an important source on life at that time.