The
Salian Franks or
Salii were a subgroup of the early
Franks who originally had been living north of the
limes in the coastal area above the
Rhine in the northern
Netherlands, where today there still is a region called
Salland. The
Merovingian kings, responsible for the conquest of Gaul were of Salian stock. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as warlike Germanic people and pirates, and as "Laeti" (allies of the Romans). They were the first Germanic tribe from beyond the
limes that settled permanently on Roman land.
The Salians fully adopted the Frankish identity and ceased to appear by their original name from the 5th century onward, when they evolved into the Franks par excellence.[1] This is long before the Ripuarian Franks were first mentioned. The Lex Ripuaria originated about 630 around Cologne and has been described as a later development of the Frankish laws known from Lex Salica. Contrary to popular opinion, there was no division of Franks between Salians and Ripuarians.[2][verification needed]
From the early 7th century on, the name Salian Franks (or Salii in Latin)[3] is used to contrast with the Ripuarian Franks. Salii may have derived from the name of the medieval lakeland Sall zee area, close to the Zuyder zee, or to the IJssel river, formerly called Hisloa or Hisla and most anciently Sala[4], signalling this as the Salians' original residence. Even today this area is called Salland. The name may ultimately refer to salt and, by extension, the sea, referring to their coastal location.[5]
Their language belongs to, and is ancestral to, the family of Low Franconian dialects. The Salian Franks are one of the people that formed the foundation for early Dutch culture and society (along with other Frankish groups, Frisians and native Belgian tribes). According to modern scholars like Robinson their language evolved from Franconian into Dutch. After settling within Roman territory, they were to develop an organized society that tilled the land and did not pose a threat to the neighboring Romans.
