Pharamond, also spelled Faramund, is a legendary early king of the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, first referred to in the anonymous 8th-century '' Liber Historiae Francorum'', which depicts him as the first king of the Franks.

Historical sources and scholarship

Pharamond first appears in the '' Liber Historiae Francorum'', commonly dated to 727. After relating the legendary Trojan origin of the

(which is copied in main from the Chronicle of Fredegar), the ''Liber'' reports that after the death of the Frankish leader Sunno, his brother Marcomer proposed to the Franks that they should have one single king, contrary to their tradition. The ''Liber'' adds that Pharamond, named as Marcomer's son, was chosen as "long-haired" (''crinitus'') king. When he died, his son Chlodio was raised up as the next king. Because there is no reference to Pharamond in any source prior to this work, scholars generally consider him a legendary rather than historical figure. In contrast to his depiction as a sole king, several sources, for example

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

, attest multiple Frankish rulers in his time (that is, before ca. 428). The first king to unite all Franks was actually

Clovis I Clovis (; reconstructed Old Frankish, Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first List of Frankish kings, king of the Franks to unite all of the Franks under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a ...

. According to

Rosamond McKitterick Rosamond Deborah McKitterick (born 31 May 1949) is an English medieval historian. She is an expert on the Frankish kingdoms in the eighth and ninth centuries AD, who uses palaeographical and manuscript studies to illuminate aspects of the pol ...

, the emphasis of the ''Liber'' was upon "construct nga specific past for a particular group of people." As first king of the Franks, Pharamond was also associated with establishing the

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

, as noted, for example in the ''Gesta Francorum'' (c.1100), chapter 8. Later sources, such as the universal chronicle of Sigebert of Gembloux, list Pharamond as King of the Franks between Marcomer and Chlodio:

In literature

A Pharamond appears as the king of France in the Prose ''Tristan'' and later Arthurian works. In

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' Henry V'', Pharamond is mentioned as the originator of the

, especially its banning women from succession to the throne of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, '' Henry V'', Act I, Scene 2. He appears as the title character in the opera '' Faramondo'' by

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

. A character named Pharamond appears in the '' Sandman'' and '' Lucifer'' comics series.

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's novel '' The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' mentions Pharamond after Jehan Frollo's arrow pierces the left arm of Quasimodo the hunchback: "This no more disturbed Quasimodo than a scratch would have bothered King Pharamond." (Cobb translation) Faramund is the faction leader of the Franks and a playable character in the PC video game '' Total War: Attila'' when beginning a Grand Campaign, with a begin date of 395 AD. He is the son of the former deceased faction leader Marcomer. A descendant of the French kings, named Pharamond after his ancestor ("first king of France"), is the main character in Jean Raspail's novel '' Sire.''

References

Literature

*'' Liber Historiae Francorum'', translated by Bernard S. Bachrach. Coronado Press, 1973. *

. ''Historia Francorum''. *McKitterick, Rosamond. History and Memory in the Carolingian World. 1st Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. *Wood, Ian. ''The Merovingian Kingdoms''. Pearson Education, 1994. {{Authority control Frankish warriors Frankish kings 5th-century Frankish people Year of birth uncertain