Is France a misnomer ?

[Maciamo]

The word "France" comes from "Frank", the Germanic tribe that invaded the Gaulish part of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, and extended until the creation of the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne in 800 (see map).

The Germans call France "Frankreich", literally the "Frank Empire".

However the Franks, or the Salian Franks to be more accurate, were originally from the Netherlands, founded their new Merovingian kingdom in what is now Belgium, Nothern France, the southern Netherlands and the Rheinland part of Germany. The Meuse valley (Wallonia) was at the centre of the kingdom. Have a look at the map (the darkest part is the original kingdom of Clovis, first Frankish king) :



The Frankish "homeland", be it Merovingian or Carolingian has always remained the Meuse valley from Clovis to Charlemagne. All the Carolingian dynasty originated from the region of Liege in Belgium. Only Belgium and Luxembourg have had about all their present borders within the Frankish homeland. The Western tip of France remained Breton, the East was Burgundian, the South was Basque, Catalan, Occitan, Provencal, Corsican, etc.

It is an aberation to associate the whole of France in its present border as the old land of the Franks. France is not even the hair of the Frankish kings. It is Germany and parts of Belgium that remained the centre of the Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne, while the Kingdom of France seceded from it in 843.

The Salian Franks that founded the Merovingian and Carolingian kingdoms being of Dutch origin, and having settled and left most of their offspring in what is now Belgium, it should be Belgium that deserve the appellation of "France" and "Frankreich". Ideally the northern tip of France (Nord-Pas de Calais and possibly also Picardie and Champagne-Ardenne) should form one European region with Belgium (at least French-speaking Wallonia) and be called "France".

It makes sense as the people of these regions are genetically similar (Frankish descent, so higher frequency of blue eyes, blond hair and Frankish facial traits), have a similar traditional architecture (central Lille looks like a Flemish city, and indeed belongs to the Flandre francaise), a similar geography and climate (Flanders, the Ardennes and the Meuse Valley are split between France and Belgium)... What is more Northern French dialects (Picard, Champenois, Lorrain) are closer to Walloon language than to other French dialects or languages. The historical counties of Flanders and Hainaut lied half in Belgium and half in France. This is only one ethnico-cultural entity, the true heir of the Franks.

May present-day France split in culturally uniform regions such as Brittany, Normandy, Alsace, Savoy, Provence, Corsica, Languedoc, etc., each having their own language, culure and history. If the centre wants to remain unifiied, let's call it "Gaul", but "France" is only suitable for the North and Belgium.

[Mycernius]

Not exactly a unique position. The Scot in Scotland comes from the name of an Irish tribe who invaded and settled in Scotland. I'm sure if you looked into the history of other countries you would find similar connections.

[Maciamo]

Several Germanic dialects/languages directly descended from the Old Frankish language are still spoken nowadays in the Frankish homeland, like Letzebuergesch (Luxembourg; Mosel Frankish dialect), Kölsch (Ripuarian Frankish dialect) and of course Dutch itself (Salian Frankish dialect).

It could be that Wallonia adopted French because it was the heartland of Frankish rulers and nobility, which dropped Frankish for Latin since the Merovingian period. The region of Liege/Luik/Lüttich presumably has the highest number of descendents of Frankish royalty and nobility.

In the same way, the English aristocracy spoke French while the populace spoke Middle English (a close cousin of Frisian, Frankish and Saxon languages). The difference is that the two languages eventually merged in England because of intermarriages and closer contact between the nobility and the rest of the population, while on the continent the elite continued to speak French until the 20th century. Wallonia became predominantly French-speaking as it was the first region were Vulgar Latin/Old French became spoken widely, due to the high density of noblemen and children (legitimate or not) of Frankish monarchs.

Let's also note that 16 out of 28 Holy Roman Emperors since Charlemagne (800-814) until the rise of the Habsburgs in the mid-15th century, were of Frankish descent (Carolingian, Salian Frankish, and Luxembourg dynasties), and thus with roots in the modern Benelux. After them, all the emperors were emperor-elect, and all Habsburgian but one, until Napoleon disolved the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 (see list of Holy Roman Emperors).

Here is a map of modern languages and dialects in France, Belgium and Rhineland combined with the borders of Europe in the 6th century, when Germanic tribes invaded the Roman Empire. The birthplace of French language correspond roughly to the area in shades of Greens, which extended into the yellow, then orange. Other colours are not descended from the langue d'oil of the Franks. The blue dote is Tournai, the Merovingian capital during the late Roman period and until Clovis' conquest of Roman Gaul. Merovingian kings before Clovis are buried in Tournai. The two red dots indicate Liege (cradle of the Carolingian dynasty) to the left and Aachen (capital of Charlemagne's new Empire) to the right. They are only 40km apart from each others.