The Long-Haired Kings of the Franks: "Like So Many Samsons?"

As the paradigm of Germanic sacral kingship is losing its appeal, historians have begun to rethink the concept of Merovingian kingship. Most of the arguments that once supported its Germanic character have now been refuted. This article focuses on the long hair of the Merovingians, their chief royal attribute. In spite of its archaic origins, the Merovingian hairstyle took up Christian meaning shortly after the conversion of the Merovingian kings, presenting them in the image of the biblical Samson. Consequently, a Christian character of Merovingian kingship would place them on a par with their Carolingian successors, once held to be so ideologically distinct.