From the later third century, Germans whom the literary sources called Franks had joined with other barbarians to challenge Roman rule in Gaul. This chapter acknowledges the importance of the Bishop Gregory's extensive writings in the discussions of the formation of Frankish kingdoms, the working of kingship, the roles of aristocrats and bishops, and the limits of Merovingian rule. The kingdom in north-eastern Gaul was sometimes known simply as 'Francia'. It also came to be known as Austria or Austrasia. Although by the fifth century Orthodox Christianity provided a dominant world-view among the Roman population in Gaul, as the Franks expanded into Gaul they nevertheless retained their pagan cults, and even into the sixth century they continued to worship at pagan shrines, especially in northern Gaul. In the kingdom of Austrasia various combinations of Frankish aristocrats, Roman aristocrats and bishops competed for influence at the royal court.

The focus of the narrative history of Francia in the seventh century is its ruling dynasty, the Merovingians. This chapter begins at the start of the seventh century with the unification of Francia under a single ruler, which lengthened the distance between ruler and ruled and made necessary the development of political consensus. In the mid to later seventh century much of Francia was run by people schooled in this fashion through the courts of Chlothar II, Dagobert and his son, Clovis II. According to the Chronicle of Fredegar, Chlothar took control of both Burgundy and Austrasia by agreement with the magnates of each kingdom. There was a marked rise in religious activity as Christian culture overflowed from its traditional urban strongholds to penetrate deep into the countryside. It was in fact the overall stability of the Frankish polity which made child kingship possible. The seventh century therefore saw Francia maturing economically as well as politically and culturally.