- Ripuarian Franks
The Ripuarian Franks (Latin: Ripuari) were
Franks that lived in along the middle-Rhine River during the Roman Era.Etymology
The name "Ripuarian", and variants "Ripaurii" and "Riparii", may have come from the Roman word "ripa", (Latin for "river bank"), to mean people from the
Rhine according to Perry [Perry, 1857:48.] , although the connection to "ripa" is considered "doubtful" to other historians. [Chisholm 1910:35-36.] Generally Ripuarian refers to a people "river-dwelling" along the Rhine, and would be used to differentiate them from theSalian Franks (the Franks of the "Sal", the IJssel RiverPerry 1857:48.] , or the Franks of the "salty sea". [Chisholm 1910:35.] ) The first obscure reference to the Ripuarians has been attributed to the historian of the Goths Jornandes (aka Jordanes). Jordanes alludes to them in "Getica" ("The Origin and Deeds of the Goths"), dated approximately 551 AD, where he listed the "Riparii" as one of theAetius ' allies in the "Battle of Chalons ", in an auxiliary of tribes::"Hi enim affuerunt auxiliares: Franci, Sarmatae, Armoriciani, Liticiani, Burgundiones, Saxones, Riparii, Olibriones ..." ["Getica", Jordanes 551 v.191.]
Culture
Ripuarian was also the name of this people's language, it was known as one of the
Central Franconian dialects.Ancient mythology and religion was pagan and Germanic in nature. Their polytheistic beliefs are thought to have flourished among the Franks until the conversion of Clovis to Christianity, after which paganism withered slowly.
History
The people who came to be known as the Ripuarians probably composed the Frankish army that was defeated by Emperor
Maximian (250-310) in the battle atTreves . [Perry 1857:50.] They began to populate the regions ofAndernach down the Rhine through the 5th Century and took possession ofCologne , where they held the left banks of the Rhine in the area known as "Germania Secunda ".Perry 1857:54; "Encyclopædia Britannica, Online" 2007:119.] They also spread into "Belgica Secunda " as far south as theMoselle River , although without taking the City of Treves.The Ripuarians appear in written history in the first half of the
7th century , when they received their Ripuarian laws (Lex Ripuaria ) from the dominating Salian Franks. [Rivers 1986:_?.]Footnotes
References
* Chisholm, Hugh (1910). "Franks", In "The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information", V. 11, pp. 35-36. [http://books.google.com/books?id=mEcEAAAAYAAJ&dq]
* Jordanes (ca 551 AD). "Getica", v. 191. Online translation retrieved Nov. 1, 2007. [http://www.hieronymus.us/Goths/Goths2.htm]
* Perry, Walter Copland. (1857) " [http://books.google.com/books?id=NuoJAAAAIAAJ&dq The Franks, from Their First Appearance in History to the Death of King Pepin] ". Longman, Brown, Green: 1857.
* Rivers, Theodore John. (1986) "Laws of the Salian and Ripuarian Franks." New York: AMS Press, 1986.
* "France: Early Frankish Period", In "Encyclopædia Britannica", p. 119. Retrieved Nov. 1, 2007, from "Encyclopædia Britannica Online." [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-40265]
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