The History of the Heavens

Sketch of this Work,

-some, have drawn consequences that are as imaginary as that victory itself. A learned man, (b) who has bestowed upon us a discerning history of the establishment of the French Monarchy, could not, therefore, exempt himself from refuting at length the tales that seemed to give authority to those matters, in order to overturn those consequences. He shows us the French Kings very closely united with the Gauls, and established among them long before the time of Clovis Clovis I (c. 466–511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single monarch.. He points out to us that they held the most prominent military offices military offices (original: "Krygsampten"): high-ranking positions in the late Roman administrative and military hierarchy under the Romans; and gradually took advantage of the weakness of the Emperors, their masters, in order to [transition] from Governors original: "Steedehouders"; referring here to provincial administrators or lieutenants acting on behalf of the Roman central power.

(b) The Abbé Dubos. Jean-Baptiste Dubos (1670–1742) was a French historian and diplomat. In his work, he famously opposed the "Germanist" view of French history, arguing instead that the Franks did not conquer Gaul by force but were invited as Roman allies and officials.