Nomadic tribe of Germanic origin, known for their strength, who overthrew the Roman Empire in the fourth to sixth centuries AD. They then dominated Europe. The Franks first moved into Gaul in the middle of the fourth century AD, and under Clovis, they overcame the Romans at the Battle of Soissons in AD486. The Frankish Kingdom was then founded under Clovis. His successors, the Merovingians, continued to rule the Kingdom of the Franks until AD751.
