A group of Germanic tribes who dominated Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman empire. They consisted of Salians from what is now Belgium and Ripuarians from the Lower Rhine. They settled in Gaul by the mid-4th century and ruled it by the following century when the Salians under Clovis defeated the Romans at Soissons. Gaul became ‘Francia’, ruled from the old capital Lutetia Parisiorum (Paris) of the Parisii Gauls. The Merovingian succession continued until 751. Power then passed from the kings to their palace mayors. In 751 Pepin, son of Charles Martel, became the first Carolingian ruler of the Franks.