Saxons) settling the decaying Roman Empire, a series of monumental changes took place within these Germanic societies. Among the most important of these are their conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity, the emergence of a new political system, centered on kings, and a continuing process of emerging mutual unintelligibility of their various dialects. Specific [[File:Clovis crop.jpg|thumb|left|The conversion of the Frankish king Clovis to Christianity would have great significance in helping shape the identity of the future Dutch people.<ref>"Clovis' conversion to Christianity, regardless of his motives, is a turning point in Dutch history as the elite now changed their beliefs. Their choice would way down its way on the common folk, of whom many (especially in the Frankish heartland of Brabant and Flanders) were less enthusiastic than the ruling class." Taken from , part I: till 1648. Page 203, 'A new religion', by Pieter Geyl. 1959.</ref>]] The general situation described above is applicable to most if not all modern European ethnic groups with origins among the Germanic tribes, such as the Frisians, Germans, English and the North-Germanic (Scandinavian) peoples. In the Low Countries, this phase began when the Franks, themselves a union of multiple smaller tribes (many of them, such as the Batavi, Chauci, Chamavi and Chattuarii, were already living in the Low Countries prior to the forming of the Frankish confederation), began to incur the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire. Eventually, in 358, the Salian Franks, one of the three main subdivisions among the Frankish alliance, settled the area's Southern lands as foederati; Roman allies in charge of border defense. Linguistically Old Frankish gradually evolved into Old Dutch,Encyclopædia Britannica Online; entry 'West Germanic languages'. 10 May. 2009;restructured Frankish—i.e., Dutch; which was first attested in the 6th century, whereas religiously the Franks (beginning with the upper class) converted to Christianity from around 500 to 700. On a political level, the Frankish warlords abandoned tribalism and founded a number of kingdoms, eventually culminating in the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne. However, the population make-up of the Frankish Empire, or even early Frankish kingdoms such as Neustria and Austrasia, was not dominated by Franks. Though the Frankish leaders controlled most of Western Europe, the Franks themselves were confined to the Northwestern part (i.e. the Rhineland, the Low Countries and Northern France) of the Empire. Eventually, the Franks in Northern France were assimilated by the general Gallo-Roman population, and took over their dialects (which