The fifth century was marked by invasions, notably those led by Attila and the Huns, who destroyed Gaul but did not touch the Parisian Basin (then making up an independent Gallo-Roman state). Legend has it that Paris was saved thanks to the courage of a small shepherdess called Geneviève. She even became the patron saint of the city.
Although the Huns spared Paris, it finally came under the yoke of the Franks. Paris became the capital of the kingdom of Clovis, and his successors had numerous churches and basilicas built there (notably the Abbaye Sainte Geneviève as a tribute to the patron saint of Paris, the Église Saint Germain des Prés, and the Palais Royal.). The town now spread onto both banks.