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The name of the Franks (Latin ''Franci'') and the derived names of ''Francia'' and ''Franconia'' (and the adjectives ''Frankish'' and ''Franconian'') are derived from the name given to a Germanic tribal confederation which emerged in the 3rd century. The Frankish Empire rose to the main successor of Roman imperial power in Western Europe, and as a result, the Franks ultimately gave their name to both the kingdom of France, and to Franconia, one of the stem duchies of the Holy Roman Empire. ==Etymology== It is traditionally assumed that Frank comes from the Germanic word for "javelin" (such as in Old English ''franca'' or Old Norse ''frakka'', latinized ''francisca'' "throwing axe").〔(Online Etymology Dictionary entries for "frank" )〕 Words in other Germanic languages meaning "bold" or "fierce" (Middle Dutch ''vrac'', Old English ''frǣc'' and Old Norwegian ''frakkr''), may also be significant. Eumenius addressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures:〔Panegyric on Constantine, xi.〕〔.〕 ''Ubi nunc est illa ferocia? Ubi semper infida mobilitas?'' ("Where now is that famed ferocity of yours, that ever untrustworthy fickleness?"). ''Feroces'' was used often to describe the Franks.〔.〕 Contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. In a tradition going back to the 7th-century Chronicle of Fredegar, the name of the Franks is taken from ''Francio'', one of the Germanic kings of Sicambri, c. 61 BCE, whose dominion extended all along those lands immediately joining the west-bank of the Rhine River, as far as Strasbourg and Belgium.〔David Solomon Ganz, ''Tzemach David'', part 2, Warsaw 1859, p. 9b (Hebrew); Polish name of book: ''Cemach Dawid''; cf. J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, ''Fredegar and the History of France'', University of Manchester, n.d. pp. 536–538〕 This nation is also explicitly mentioned by Julius Caesar in his ''Notebooks on the Gallic War'' (''Commentarii de Bello Gallico''). Writing in 2009, Professor Christopher Wickham pointed out that "the word 'Frankish' quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the Loire everyone seems to have been considered a Frank by the mid-seventh century at the latest; Romani were essentially the inhabitants of Aquitaine after that". On the other hand, a formulary written by Marculf about AD 700 described a continuation of national identities within a mixed population when it stated that "all the peoples who dwell (the official's province ), Franks, Romans, Burgundians, and those of other nations, live ... according to their law and their custom."〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Name of the Franks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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