Note 016 Reges Crinitos [super] se creavisse de prima, et ut ita dicam, nobiliori suorum familia (Greg. Turon. l. ii. c. 9, p. 166, of the second volume of the Historians of France). Gregory himself does not mention the Merovingian name, which may be traced, however, to the beginning of the seventh century, as the distinctive appellation of the royal family, and even of the French monarchy. An ingenious critic has deduced the Merovingians from the great Maroboduus; and he has clearly proved that the prince who gave his name to the first race was more ancient than the father of Childeric. See Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xx. p. 52-90, tom. xxx. p. 557-587.

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The History Of The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire— Chapter 35