The conversion of Clovis was an event of the first importance. He and his Franks naturally embraced the orthodox Catholic faith, which was that of his wife, instead of the Arian form of Christianity, which had been accepted by almost all the other Germanic invaders. Thus, by what seems the merest accident, Catholicism, instead of Arianism, became the religion of a large part of western Europe. More than this, the conversion of Clovis gained for the Frankish king and his successors the support of conversion the Roman Church. The friendship between the popes and the Franks afterwards ripened into a close alliance which greatly influenced European history. THE EARLIER MEROVINGIAN KINGS The descendants of Clovis are called Merovingians. [10] They occupied the throne of the Franks for nearly two hundred and fifty years. The annals of their reigns form an unpleasant catalogue of bloody wars, horrible murders, and deeds of treachery without number. Nevertheless, the earlier Merovingians were strong men, under whose direction the Frankish territory continued to expand, until it included nearly all of what is now France, Belgium, and Holland, besides a considerable part of Germany. CHARACTER OF THE FRANKISH CONQUESTS The Frankish conquests differed in two important respects from those of the other Germanic peoples. In the first place, the Franks did not cut themselves off completely from their original homes. They kept permanently their territory in Germany, drawing from it continual reinforcements of fresh German blood. In the second place, the Franks steadily added new German lands to their possessions. They built up in this way what was the largest and the most permanent of all the barbarian states founded on the ruins of the Roman Empire. 105. THE FRANKS UNDER CHARLES MARTEL AND PEPIN THE SHORT THE LATER MEROVINGIAN KINGS After the middle of the seventh century the Frankish rulers, worn out by violence and excesses, degenerated into weaklings, who reigned but did not rule. The actual management of the state passed into the hands of officers, called "mayors of the palace." They left to the kings little more than their title, their long hair,--the badge of royalty among the Franks,--and a scanty allowance for their support. The later Merovingians, accordingly, are often known as the "do-nothing kings." CHARLES MARTEL The most illustrious of these mayors was Charles, surnamed Martel, "the Hammer," from the terrible defeat which he administered to the Mohammedans near Tours, in central France. [11] Charles Martel was virtually a king, but he never ventured to set aside the Merovingian ruler and himself ascend the throne. This step was taken, however, by Charles's son, Pepin the Short. PEPIN THE SHORT BECOMES KING OF THE FRANKS, 751 A.D.