苏州中航樾公馆6#楼:简评法兰克王国

法兰克王国
　　Frankish Kingdom

　　5 世纪末～10世纪末由法兰克人在西欧建立的封建王国。法兰克人是日耳曼人的一支，3世纪 定居于莱茵河下游地区，法兰克人主要有萨利克与里普阿尔两大部族，处于原始氏族部落社会阶段。随着罗马帝国的衰落，法兰克人逐步渗入高卢东北部。481 年，克洛维继任萨利克部落酋长后，开始全力向高卢扩张，消灭了法兰克其他酋长势力 。486 年击溃西罗马在高卢的残余势力，占领高卢大部分地区，建立了墨洛温王朝，以巴黎为首都。部落贵族与亲兵成为封建主，一般法兰克人则成为农村公社中的自由农民。当地的高卢-罗马贵族、罗马教会、隶农、奴隶与散居的自由农民依然存在，与法兰克人逐渐融合。496年法兰克统治阶层皈依了基督教，得到高卢-罗马人的大力支持。
　　法兰克王室采取国王死后诸子平分领土的继承制度，使王国经常处于分裂、混战和再统一的反复过程中，同时又不断向外扩张。封建主势力的强大削弱了王权，王国权力逐步落入掌握宫廷事务的宫相之手。
　　8 世纪前半期，宫相查理·马特出于加强统治和进行征战的需要，推行军事采邑制，初步奠定了封建等级制度的基础。732 年在普瓦提埃战役中击败阿拉伯人，阻止其进一步向西欧扩张。733年迫使勃艮第称臣，734年又征服弗里西亚人。751年，查理·马特之子丕平（矮子）废墨洛温王朝国王自立，建立加洛林王朝。查理大帝统治期间(768～814)，连年征战，法兰克王国成为统治西欧大部分地区包括多种部族的大帝国。由于境内各地区缺乏经济和文化上的联系，封建主割据势力强大 ，查理大帝死后不久，帝国陷于混战。843年《凡尔登条约》签订后分裂为东、西、中三个王国，并分别于911、987、887年覆灭。法兰克王国在日耳曼人所建国家中享国最久，对西欧封建制度的发展和罗马教会在西欧统治地位的巩固起了重大作用。

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The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federations. The confederation was formed out of Germanic tribes: Salians, Sugambri, Chamavi, Tencteri, Chattuarii, Bructeri, Usipetes, Ampsivarii, Chatti. They entered the late Roman Empire from present central Germany and settled in northern Gaul where they were accepted as a foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia, Rhineland, Hesse), forming the historic kernel of both these two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity of the pagan Frankish king Clovis was a crucial event in the history of Europe.

The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other, first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.

The Merovingian kings claimed descent of their dynasty from the Sicambri, a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe, asserting that this tribe had changed their name to "Franks" in 11 BC, following their defeat and relocation by Drusus, under the leadership of a certain chieftain called Franko. The ethnonym has also been traced to a *frankon "javelin, lance" (Old English franca, compare the Saxons, named after the seax, and the Lombards, named after the battle-axe; the throwing axe of the Franks is known as the Francisca), but conversely, the weapon may also have been named after the tribe. The meaning of "free" (English frank, frankly) arose because after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks had the status of freemen.

Initially two main subdivisions existed within the Franks: the Salian ("salty") and the Ripuarian ("river") Franks. By the 9th century, if not earlier, this division had in practice become virtually non-existent, but continued for some time to have implications for the legal system under which a person could go on trial.