The influence of francs on the nature of the Gauls

After the influence of Roman society, the Gallic race was influenced by the Franks; but it is necessary to understand well the nature of this influence. Over the past 150 years, the idea of ​​the Roman empire as the purest despotism with all the corruption associated with it, and of ancient Germany, as a free "country of virtue," insensibly took root in the minds of historians.

Fustel de Coolange has the honor that he showed that the first of these representations is “only half true,” and the second is false. Similarly, he says, as they imagined that England was always wise, free and prosperous, they also created in their imagination Germany, invariably hardworking, virtuous and intelligent. Because of this, the invasion of the Franks and Germans seemed to us like the rebirth of our race and even of the entire human race. The Germans did not fail to introduce their ancestors to the great purifiers of Latin depravity, and we finally took their word for it. “Our historical theories,” concludes Fustel de Coolange, “serve as the starting point for all our strife; on this basis, all our hatred has grown. ” The Franks and the Germans did not revive and even in essence did not convert Gaul; they were as depraved as the Romans, and, moreover, their depravity was barbaric. They did not possess "neither exceptional virtues, nor quite original institutions."

They reigned, just as before the Gauls, tribal property; their so-called political freedom is pure illusion. In addition, they did not actually invade Gaul; they penetrated into it in small crowds, "called upon by the Romans and immediately romanized." The Gauls, who were not at all enslaved by the Romans, were also not oppressed by the Germans, as a lower and slave race. "The Germans plundered and usurped, but did not make displacements in the mass of property." They did not change anything in personal or in property relations. When the Franks begin to dominate and replace the Roman power with their monarchy, Roman law constantly gains an advantage over the German one. When the monarchy of the Franks is powerless to ensure the safety of individuals, property and labor, they begin to look for other guarantees, and the feudal system is established in Gaul, just as it arose under the influence of similar causes in previous societies. This system, the honor of the discovery of which the Germans wanted to attribute to their ancestors, was not a random feature of medieval Europe and something “Germanic”, but one of the normal and general forms of the social development of humanity. What is the meaning of race here? A true explanation must be sought here in the laws of sociology.

Despite the well-known exaggerations in which Fustel de Culange can be reproached, his basic position remains true, and we should, in sociology (the existence of which as a separate science, he, however, did not recognize) look for the most profound causes of national development, which is part of universal. But from this point of view, the German influence in Gaul was really of secondary importance. Fustel de Coolange, like other historians, did not accept, however, in consideration of the ethnic influence of the Franks. Precisely because they penetrated into the Wednesday the Gauls little by little and gradually mixed with the population, conquering it physiologically, so to speak, they had to introduce new elements into the composition of the French people. The blond and long-headed race was gradually weakened in it and exhausted both by military expeditions and by the rapid reproduction of a mass of brachycephalic, Celto-Slavs. The Franks, like the Normans, only supported or increased the proportion of dolichocephalus in France, but by this they, perhaps, saved us from too much Celtic temperament. Their blood probably increased the dose of energy, initiative, seriousness and firmness that was part of the Gallic character.

Based on the numerous remains collected in the Merovingian cemeteries, it can be concluded that the Franks were tall, massively built, with very developed muscles. Their features were sometimes coarse, and their very faces were slightly wide and flat, their cheekbones were rather prominent, their orbits were deep and low, their nasal openings were wider than those of any other European people, with the exception of Finns and Laplanders. They are very long-headed; their type is found on the banks of the Elbe; it can be traced east to Galicia. The Gauls, also very long-headed, had a large cranial capacity, and their faces and nasal openings were already; they looked like friezes.