500 AD Clovis, founder of the Frankish state, conquers most of France and Belgium, converting his territories to Western Catholic Christianity.He founds the Merovingian dynasty and passes his kingdom on to his sons, who begin fighting one another for additional territory. ca. 550 AD Various tribes, among them the Franks, Alemans, Thuringians, and Saxons, are active in central Europe, an area ...