The name Franke means "free man." It is derived from the name of an independant Teutonic tribe called the Franks. (Whereas in English the word "Franks" is the plural form of Frank, in German the plural form is "Franke".) The Franks were a barbaric tribe who emerged in the Rhine region of Germany at about a.d. 241.

In the fifth century, the Franks invaded the western Roman Empire and dominated what is now western Germany, Belgium and northern France. In fact, the name France is actually derived from the Franks. By the turn of the ninth century, the kingdom also included Switzerland, The Netherlands, half of Italy, and parts of Austria and Spain.

Perhaps the most notable of the Franks was Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who established a central government over Western Europe and was its undisputed ruler. On Christmas day in 800, Pope Leo III surprised the king with a golden crown while he knelt in prayer at St. Peter's in Rome.

For extensive information about the Franks, click here.
(Note: Charlemagne was the son of Pepin, with whom the above article ends.)
For even more extensive information, visit http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html.
For Frankish art history and photographs, visit http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/ujg/ujgf.html.
The family tree of Charlemagne is available at http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Rulers/charlemagne.html.