In school olympiads on knowledge of the course of history of the Middle Ages, the question often arises: "What were the name of the Germans who conquered Gaul?" Despite its simplicity, many students get confused and give incorrect answers. And the thing is that historical chronicles indicate two moments of the conquest of Gaul, which are divided in time by five centuries.
Gauls and Romans
The first conquest of Gaul took place by the great commander Julius Caesar at the turn of the old and new era. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gaul maintained its existence as a territory on which the Celtic tribes lived. The Germans who conquered Gaul periodically undertook military campaigns that completely devastated the Gallic settlements. The raids of the Germans in 275 and 276 were especially destructive.
Merovingians
In the year 486 e. warlike francs came to the lands of Gaul. That was the name of the great Germanic tribe, whose leader was the great Clovis of the Merovean clan. By his ancestral name, the dynasty of the conquerors of Gaul was called Merovingian. The Germans who conquered Gaul laid the foundation of the Frankish Empire, which existed on the map of Europe for more than two centuries.
The conquest of Gaul
After North Gaul, the Franks conquered Aquitaine in 507, and later Burgundy. Fifty years after the start of the military invasion, the Germans who conquered Gaul settled throughout its territory. Bypassing the slave system characteristic of the Roman Empire, the Franks justified a state entirely based on early feudal relations.
By the end of the fifth century, the Gauls were at a higher stage of development than the Germanic tribes. The subsequent barbarization of the Gallic lands slowed down the development of Gallic settlements, but could not stop the transformation of the clan structure into more promising feudal relations. The Germans who conquered Gaul usually settled separately from the Gallo-Roman tribes. This preserved their ancestral way and customs, but could not protect them from the influence of inevitable historical changes.
All power in the Merovingian empire was concentrated in the hands of the Frankish nobles. This ensured centralized control over the conquered population and guaranteed compliance with the new order. In general, the influence of the Merovingian empire provided the Gallic lands with a relatively quick transition from slaveholding to feudal relations and had a positive impact on the development of this region.