Barbarians: From The Roman Empire To France

Barbarians is somewhat of a biased terminology referring to the people from the central and northern parts of Europe. They invaded the Roman Empire as it was declining during the 5th century and would divide it among themselves gradually with the intentions of sharing in its wealth but never the intention if destroying the Roman Empire.

It wasn’t the Barbarians that destroyed the Roman Empire, as it was already in decline. Then when they were unable to stop the Germanic tribes from entering and settling in Gaul during December 406 AD, the new settlers would accept Roman rule. Yet as the Roman Empire continued to break down, independent kingdoms were gradually formed.

On To France

The Barbarians would be referred to as ‘Franks’ by about 500 AD and they would rule northern France, giving their name to that country. They were ruled by Clovis starting in 481 to his death in 511, who would have them converted to Christianity and have followers. With everyone following the same religion, there wasn’t much difference between the Franks and people that were native Romano-Gallic. In time, the two groups would intermarry, merging their cultures.

In 507 AD Clovis would use his Salic law and create Paris as his capital. As the Roman Empire was collapsed, the towns in Gaul shrank during the 5th century.  Clovis would go on to subdue areas of southern France. His work was continued by his descendants after his death in 511. And the Franks would rule France by the mid-6th century.

The Islamic advance into Europe was halted by Charles Martel in 732 at the battle of Poitiers, where he would defeat the Bavarians and the Saxons as well. Charlemagne, his son, would carry on his work, thus creating a great European empire and force the conversion of pagan Germans to Christianity. In 800 AD, finally the Pope crowned Charlemagne Emperor and Charlemagne would go forth and claim to be the old Roman Emperor’s successor.

Charlemagne would go on and establish several monasteries in effort to keep the church’s support. He would give the church gifts of land and art and learning would be revived under his ruling.

After Charlemagne

Louis the Pious would be the successor after the death of Charlemagne in 814, would announce right after Charlemagne’s death that the empire would be split between his sons. The death of Louis in 840 would create fighting between those sons and the Frankish realm would be divided into three parts in 843 after they created the treaty of Verdun. Charles the Bald would rule the western part from 838 to 877 and over time, it would become France.

Where did the Barbarians go after France? Follow our blog and find out! And in the meantime, sit back, play GoT while enjoying your favorite beverage from a drinking horn!


Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.


Barbarians: From The Roman Empire To France