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531-561] the Bro-Waroch, so called from the name of one of the chiefs; the group of Cornovii, coming from Cornwall, established itself in the east; to the north, from Brest harbour to the river Couesnon extended the Domnonée, the inhabitants of which were natives of Devon. No doubt these various chiefs recognised in theory the suzerainty of the Frankish kings, but they were not appointed by the latter, and were in fact independent. The western extremity of France, the ancient Armorica, was thus separate from the rest of the country; and similarly, between the Gironde and the Pyrenees, the Basques, who belonged to a distinct race and spoke a peculiar dialect, maintained their independence under the rule of their dukes.

Such was the state of the Frankish kingdom proper; but, under the sons of Clovis, Frankish influence extended even over the neighbouring countries. They came in contact with various Germanic peoples and imposed their suzerainty on some of them. Clovis himself had subjugated the Alemans; Theodebald his great-grandson entered into relations with the Bavarians beyond the Lech. Theodoric (Thierry) and Chlotar made war on the Thuringians and destroyed their independence (531). It was from Thuringia that Chlotar took his wife, Radegund, who left him in order to found the famous convent of Ste Croix, at Poitiers. Chlotar even made war upon the Saxons, who inhabited the great plain of northern Germany, and imposed upon them a yearly tribute of 500 cows. Spain and Italy, too, witnessed the warlike exploits of these Frankish princes. From an expedition against Saragossa in 542 Childebert brought back the tunic of St Vincent, and in honour of this relic he founded at the gates of Paris the monastery of St Vincent, later known as St Germain-des-Près. Theudibert made several incursions into Italy. Sometimes posing as a friend of the Ostrogoths, at others as a friend of the Byzantines, he plundered some of the wealthy cities and amassed large spoils. He even made himself master for a time of Liguria, Emilia, and Venetia, and had coins minted at Bologna. Indignant because the Emperor added to his titles that of Francicus, he even thought of penetrating by way of the valley of the Danube into Thrace, and of appearing in arms before Constantinople. He addressed to Justinian a haughty letter, which has come down to us. So far these sons of Clovis still bear themselves like kings. They had achieved the conquest of Gaul up to the frontiers assigned by nature to that country; they had also turned their arms against Germany, the country of their origin, and had opened up in that direction the pathway of civilisation. Like the ancient Gauls whom they supplanted, they had descended upon Italy, where their incursions created wide-spread consternation.

To all this the epoch of the grandsons of Clovis presents a striking contrast. The vigorous expansion of the Franks was checked. They failed to wrest Septimania from the Visigoths and make Gaul a united whole. No doubt they made several expeditions against the Lombards