Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

FRANKS, SIR AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON (1826-...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 36 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

FRANKS, See also:SIR See also:AUGUSTUS See also:WOLLASTON (1826-1897) , See also:English See also:antiquary, was See also:born on the loth of See also:March 1826, and was educated at See also:Eton and at Trinity See also:College, See also:Cambridge. He See also:early showed inclination for antiquarian pursuits, and in 1851 was appointed assistant in the Antiquities See also:Department of the See also:British Museum. Here, and as director of the Society of Antiquaries, an See also:appointment he received in 1858, he made himself the first authority in See also:England upon See also:medieval antiquities of all descriptions, upon See also:porcelain, See also:glass, the manufactures of See also:savage nations, and in See also:general upon all See also:Oriental curiosities and See also:works of See also:art later than the Classical See also:period. 111'1866 the British and medieval antiquities, with the ethnographical collections, were formed into a distinct department under his superintendence; and the See also:Christy collection of ethnography in See also:Victoria See also:Street, See also:London, See also:prior to its amalgamation with the British Museum collections, was also under his care. He became See also:vice-See also:president and ultimately president of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1878 declined the See also:principal librarianship of the museum. He retired on his seventieth birthday, 1896, and died on the 21st of May 1897. His ample See also:fortune was largely devoted to the collection of See also:ceramics and, See also:precious See also:objects of medieval art, most bf which became the See also:property of the nation, either by donation in his lifetime or by See also:bequest at his See also:death. Although chiefly a medieval antiquary, Franks was also an authority on classical art, especially See also:Roman remains in See also:Britain: he was also greatly interested in See also:book-marks and playing-See also:cards, of both of which he formed important collections. He edited See also:Kemble's Horae Ferales, and wrote numerous See also:memoirs on archaeological subjects. Perhaps his most important See also:work of this class is the See also:catalogue of his own collection of porcelain. 36 soldiers; See also:Salii seniores and Salii juniores are mentioned in the Notitia dignitatum, and Salii appear among the auxilia palatina. At the end of the 4th See also:century and at the beginning of the 5th, when the Roman legions withdrew from the See also:banks of the See also:Rhine, the Salians installed themselves in the See also:district as an See also:independent See also:people.

The See also:

place-names became entirely Germanic; the Latin See also:language disappeared; and the See also:Christian See also:religion suffered a check, for the Franks were to a See also:man pagans. The Salians were subdivided into a certain number of tribes, each tribe placing at its See also:head a See also:king, distinguished by his See also:long See also:hair and chosen from the most See also:noble See also:family (Historia Francorum, ii. 9). The most See also:ancient of these See also:kings, reigning over the principal tribe, who is known to us is Chlodio .l According to See also:Gregory of See also:Tours Chlodio dwelt at a place called Dispargum, which it is impossible to identify. Towards 431 he crossed the See also:great Roman road from Bavay to See also:Cologne, which was protected by numerous forts and had long arrested the invasions of the barbarians. He then invaded the territory of See also:Arras, but was severely defeated at Hesdin-le-Vieux by See also:Aetius, the See also:commander of the Roman See also:army in See also:Gaul. Chlodio, however, soon took his revenge. He explored the region of See also:Cambrai, seized that See also:town, and occupied all the See also:country as far as the See also:Somme. At this See also:time See also:Tournai became the See also:capital of the Salian Franks. After Chlodio a certain Meroveus (Merowech) was king of the Salian Franks. We do not know if he was the son of Chlodio; Gregory of Tours simply says that he belonged to Chlodio's stock —" de hujus stirpe quidam Merovechum regem fuisse adserunt," —and then only gives the fact at second See also:hand. Perhaps the remarks of the See also:Byzantine historian See also:Priscus may refer to Meroveus.

A king of the Franks having died, his two sons disputed the See also:

power. The See also:elder journeyed into See also:Pannonia to obtain support from See also:Attila; the younger betook himself to the imperial See also:court at See also:Rome. " I have seen him," writes Priscus; "he was still very See also:young, and we all remarked his See also:fair hair which See also:fell upon his shoulders." Aetius welcomed him warmly and sent him back a friend and foederatus. In any See also:case, eventually, Franks fought (451) in the Roman ranks at the great See also:battle of See also:Mauriac (the Catalaunian See also:Fields), which arrested the progress of Attila into Gaul; and in the Vita Lupi, which, though undoubtedly of later date, is a recension of an earlier document, the name of Meroveus appears among the combatants. Towards 457 Meroveus was succeeded by his son Childeric. At first Childeric was a faithful foederatus of the See also:Romans, fighting for them against the Visigoths and the See also:Saxons See also:south of the See also:Loire; but he soon sought to make himself independent and to extend his conquests. He died in 481 and was succeeded by his son See also:Clovis, who conquered the whole of Gaul with the exception of the See also:kingdom of See also:Burgundy and See also:Provence. Clovis made his authority recognized over the other Salian tribes (whose kings dwelt at Cambrai and other cities), and put an end to the domination of the Ripuarian Franks. These Ripuarians must have comprised a certain number of Frankish tribes, such as the Ampsivarii and the Bructeri. They settled in the 5th century in compact masses on the See also:left See also:bank of the Rhine, but their progress was slow. It was not until the Christian writer See also:Salvian (who was born about 400) had already reached a fairly advanced See also:age that they were able to seize Cologne. The town, however, was recaptured and was not definitely in their See also:possession until 463.

The Ripuarians subsequently occupied all the country from Cologne to See also:

Trier. See also:Aix-la-Chapelle, See also:Bonn and Zulpich were their principal centres, and they even advanced southward as far as See also:Metz, which appears to have resisted their attacks. The Roman See also:civilization and the Latin language disappeared from the countries which they occupied; indeed it seems that the actual boundaries of the See also:German and See also:French See also:languages nearly coincide with those of their dominion. In their southward progress the Ripuarians 1 The chronicler Fredegarius and the author of the See also:Liber historiae Francorum make Sunno and Marcomeres his predecessors, but in reality they were chiefs of other Frankish tribes. The author of the Liber also claims that Chlodio was the son of Pharamund, but this personage is quite legendary. In the Chronicon of Fredegarius it is already affirmed that the Franks are descended from the Trojans.encountered the See also:Alamanni, who, already masters of See also:Alsace, were endeavouring to extend their conquests in all directions. There were numerous battles between the Ripuarians and the Alamanni; and the memory of one fought at Zulpich has come down to us. In this battle See also:Sigebert, the king of the Ripuarians, was wounded in the See also:knee and limped during the See also:remainder of his life—hence his surname Claudus (the Lame). The Ripuarians long remained See also:allies of Clovis, Sigebert's son Chloderic fighting under the king of the Salian Franks at Vouille in 507. Clovis, however, persuaded Chloderic to assassinate his See also:father, and then posed as Sigebert's avenger, with the result that Chloderic was himself assassinated and the Ripuarians raised Clovis on the See also:shield and See also:chose him as king. Thus the Salian Franks See also:united under their See also:rule all the Franks on the left bank of the Rhine. During the reigns of Clovis's sons they again turned their eyes on See also:Germany, and imposed their See also:suzerainty upon the Franks on the right bank.

This country, See also:

north of the See also:Main and the first See also:residence of the Franks, then received the name of See also:Francia Orientalis, and became the origin of one of the duchies into which Germany was divided in the loth century—the duchy of See also:Franconia (Franken). The Franks were redoubtable warriors, and were generally of great stature. Their fair or red hair was brought forward from the See also:crown of the head towards the forehead, leaving the nape of the See also:neck uncovered; they shaved the See also:face except the upper See also:lip. They wore fairly See also:close breeches reaching to the knee and a See also:tunic fastened by brooches. See also:Round the See also:waist over the tunic was worn a leathern See also:girdle having a broad See also:iron See also:buckle damascened with See also:silver. From the girdle hung the single-edged missile See also:axe or francisca, the scramasax or See also:short See also:knife, a See also:poniard and such articles of See also:toilet as See also:scissors, a See also:comb (of See also:wood or See also:bone), &c. The Franks also used a weapon called the framea (an iron See also:lance set firmly in a wooden See also:shaft), and bows and arrows. They protected themselves in battle with a large wooden or wicker shield, the centre of which was ornamented with an iron See also:boss (umbo). Frankish arms and See also:armour have been found in the cemeteries which abound throughout See also:northern See also:France, the warriors being buried fully armed. See J. See also:Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthiimer (See also:Gottingen, 1828) ; K. Mullenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde (See also:Berlin, 1883—1900) ; E. von Wietersheim, Geschichte der Volkerwanderung, 2nd ed., ed. by F.

See also:

Dahn (See also:Leipzig, 188o—1881); G. See also:Waitz, Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte, vol. i. (4th ed. revised by Zeumer) ; R. See also:Schroder, " See also:Die Ausbreitung der salischen Franken," in Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte, vol. xix. ; K. Lamprecht, Frdnkische Wanderungen and Ansiedelungen (Aix-la-Chapelle, 1882) ; W. See also:Schultz, Deutsche Geschichte von der Urzeit bis zu den Karolingern, vol. ii. (See also:Stuttgart, 1896) ; Fustel de Coulanges, Histoire See also:des institutions politiques de l'ancienne France—l'invasion germanique (See also:Paris, 1891). Also the articles SALIC See also:LAW and GERMANIC See also:LAWS, EARLY. (C.

End of Article: FRANKS, SIR AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON (1826-1897)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
FRANKS 		[next]
FRANS HALS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries