Clovis I (Chlodwig) Mérovingiens

1. CHILDERICH (-Tournai [481/82], bur Tournai).
m ([464]%29 as her second husband, BASINA, formerly wife of BASINUS King of Thuringia, daughter of -. King Childerich & his wife had four children:

a) CHLODOVECH [Clovis] ([464/67]-Paris [27 Nov] 511, bur Paris, basilique des Saints-Apôtres [later église de Sainte-Geneviève]). Gregory of Tours names Clovis as son of Childerich & Basina[26]. He succeeded his father in [481/82] as CLOVIS I King of the Franks. CHLODOVECH [Clovis], son of CHILDERICH I King of the Franks & his wife Basina --- ([464/67]-Paris [27 Nov] 511, bur Paris, basilique des Saints-Apôtres [later église de Sainte-Geneviève]). Gregory of Tours names Clovis as son of Childerich & Basina[37]. The Liber Historiæ Francorum names "Childerico" as father of "Chlodovecho rege"[38]. He succeeded his father in [481/82] as CLOVIS I King of the Franks. He defeated Syagrius, ruler at Soissons, in 486. The Liber Historiæ Francorum records that "Chlodovechus" expanded his kingdom "usque Sequanam" and afterwards "usque Ligere fluvio"[39]. He remained a pagan after his marriage to a Catholic wife, but converted to Christianity in [496] allegedly having vowed to do so if successful in a battle against the Alamans[40]. He allied with Godegisel against Gondebaud King of Burgundy in [500][41]. He defeated and killed Alaric II King of the Visigoths at the campus Vogladensis[42], probably Voulan, near Poitiers, athough this is popularly known as the battle of Vouillé[43], in 507. Gregory of Tours records that Clovis took control of the territory of Sigebert King of the Franks of the Rhine, after persuading Sigeric's son Chloderic to kill his father and then killing Chloderic, as well as the territory of Chararic King of the Salian Franks[44]. Gregory of Tours records the death of King Clovis in Paris "five years after the battle of Vouillé" and his burial in the church of the Holy Apostles, which he and Queen Clotilde had built[45]. Gregory of Tours records that Queen Clotilde became a nun at the church of St Martin at Tours after her husband died, and in a later passage records her death in Tours and burial in Paris next to her husband in the church which she had built[53]. She was canonised by the Catholic church, feast day 3 Jun[54]. MEDLANDS
[m firstly] ---, daughter of --- [of the Franks of the Rhine]. According to Gregory of Tours, the mother of Theoderich was one of King Clovis's concubines not his first wife[46]. Settipani[47] suggests that Theoderich’s mother was a Frank from the Rhine region, based on the inheritance of Austrasia by Theoderich and the roots "Theode-" and "-rich" in his name, possibly transmitted through his mother from Theodemer and Richomer who were both 4th century Frankish kings. MEDLANDS King Clovis & his first [wife/concubine] had one child:

1. THEODERICH ([485]-end 533, bur Metz).

m [secondly] (492) CHROTECHILDIS [Clotilde/Rotilde[48]] of Burgundy, daughter of CHILPERICH King of Burgundy & his wife --- ([480]-Tours, monastery of Saint-Martin 544 or 548, bur Paris, basilique des Saints-Apôtres [later église de Sainte-Geneviève]). Gregory of Tours names "Clotilde" as the younger daughter of Chilperich, recording that she and her sister were driven into exile by their paternal uncle King Gundobad, but that the latter accepted a request for her hand in marriage from Clovis King of the Franks[49]. Fredegar states that she was driven into exile to Geneva by her uncle, after he allegedly murdered her father, and that King Clovis requested her hand in marriage as a means of controlling Gundobad's power[50]. A charter dated 2 Oct [499], classified as spurious in the collection, of "Clodoveus rex Francorum" names "uxoris meæ Chrochildis…patris Chilperici regis Burgundiorum"[51]. Gregory of Tours records Clotilde's lack of success in converting her husband to Christianity until the fifteenth year of his reign, when he and his people were baptised by St Rémy Bishop of Reims[52]. Gregory of Tours records that Queen Clotilde became a nun at the church of St Martin at Tours after her husband died, and in a later passage records her death in Tours and burial in Paris next to her husband in the church which she had built[53]. She was canonised by the Catholic church, feast day 3 Jun[54]. King Clovis & his second wife had [six] children:MEDLANDS & http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BURGUNDY%20KINGS.htm#ChrotechildisO...

2. INGOMER (b and d 493).
3. CHLODOMER ([494/95]-killed in battle Vézeronce 21 Jun 524).
4. CHILDEBERT ([497]-23 Dec 558, bur Paris, Saint-Germain des Prés).
5. CHLOTHACHAR [Clotaire/Lothar] ([501/02]-Soissons [30 Nov/31 Dec] 561, bur Soissons, basilique Saint-Médard).
6. THEODECHILDIS ([492/501]-576). A charter dated 2 Oct [499], classified as spurious in the collection, of "Clodoveus rex Francorum" purports to be written when "filia mea…Theodechildis" was becoming a nun[133]. As noted above, the editor of the Monumenta Germaniæ Scriptores series assumes that this charter refers to the daughter of King Theoderich[134]. Another charter, classified as spurious, in the name of "Theodechildis filia Chlodoveo" purports to record a donation to the monastery of St Peter at Sens dated Sep 569[135]. She founded the monastery of Mauriac in Auvergne[136]. m ---, king.]
7. CHROTHIELDIS [Clotilde] ([502/11]-531, bur Paris, basilique des Saints-Apôtres [later église de Sainte-Geneviève]).
8. [daughter . The Gesta Episcoporum Mettensis names "Agiulfus" as sixth bishop of Metz, stating that "patre ex nobili senatorum familia orto, ex Chlodovei regis Francorum filia procreatus", and that "nepos ipsius…Arnoaldus" succeeded him as bishop[140]. This is the only reference so far found to this supposed daughter of King Clovis, whose existence should presumably therefore be treated with caution. The reference to her supposed grandson Arnold suggests some confusion with the sources which allege the existence of Bilichildis, possible daughter of King Clotaire I (see below). m --.]

b) LANDECHILDIS [Lantilde].
c) AUDOFLEDIS .
d) ALBOFLEDIS (-after 496).

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/MEROVINGIANS.htm#ClovisIB

Settipani (1989) is the main authority on the genealogy of the Merovingian and Carolingian Kings of France, and the pedigree shown here in Lineage 1, is from his work. Settipani's research was preceded by Kelley (1947), who utilized a ninth-century genealogy of Charlemagne to research a possible connection between Charlemagne and the Gallo-Roman rulers of Gaul, known as the Syagrii, who preceeded the Merovingian Kings. Settipani (1989, 2000) also investigated this connection, and his revision of it, with which Kelly concurs, is the basis for the hypothetical pedigree shown here in Lineage 2.

Unfortuntately, there are few contemporary documents against which to confirm these lineages. The main source is the History of the Franks, written in the late 6th century by Gregory of Tours. In addition, there is a mid-7th century document known as Chronicle of Fredegar that deals with the genealogy of the Merovingian kings, but the earlier generations appear to be based almost exclusively on Gregory of Tours. Furthermore, all subsequent chroniclers, in particular the oft-quoted 8th-century Liber Historiae Francorum, clearly draw from Gregory of Tours for the Merovingian parts of their pedigrees.
http://www.mikesclark.com/genealogy/descent%20from%20antiquity.html

Considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty.
The name Clovis would later evolve into the name "Louis," the most popular name for French kings.

- - - - - - - - - - - - '''This is Clovis the Great (died 511). Do not confuse him with [Clovis "the Riparian", King of the Franks Clovis the Riparian] (died 428).'''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

Clovis (c. 466–511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul (France). He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. In 481, when he was fifteen, he succeeded his father.[1] The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in an area known as Toxandria, between the Meuse and Scheldt (in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium). Clovis's power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium. Clovis conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established himself as sole king of the Salian Franks before his death. The small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint-Remi, and a statue of him being baptized by Saint Remigius can be seen there. Clovis and his wife Clotilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris. An important part of Clovis's legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Roman ruler Syagrius in the famous battle of Soissons.[2]

Clovis was converted to Catholicism, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Goths who ruled most of Gaul at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilde, a Burgundian Gothic princess who was a Catholic in spite of the Arianism which surrounded her at court. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

Name

In primary sources Clovis's name is spelled in a number of variants: the Frankish form Chlodovech was Latinized as Chlodovechus, from which came the Latin name Ludovicus, which evolved into the French form Louis. Clovis ruled the Franks from 481 to 511 AD. The name features prominently in subsequent history: three other Merovingian Kings have been called Clovis, while nine Carolingian rulers and thirteen other French kings and one Holy Roman Emperor have been called Louis. Nearly every European language has developed its own spelling of his name. Louis (French), "Chlodwig" and Ludwig (German), Lodewijk (Dutch), Людовик (Russian), Luis (Spanish), Luigi (Italian), and Lewis (English) are just seven of the over 100 possible variations. Scholars differ about the exact meaning of his (first) name. Most believe that Chlodovech is composed out of the Germanic roots Chlod- and -vech. Chlod- = (modern English) loud, with its oldest connotation praised. -vech = "fighter" (modern English). Compare in modern Dutch luid (hard sound or noise), luiden (verb - the oldest meaning is: to praise aloud) and vechten (verb - to fight). Chlodovech means "praised fighter".[3]

[edit] History

[edit] Frankish consolidation

In 486, with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons in present-day Picardie.[4] This victory at Soissons extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire. After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of the Frankish territories. Later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac.

[edit] Christian king

Clovis had previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic faith. Conversion to Trinitarian Christianity set Clovis apart from the other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who had converted from heathen beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507).

Clovis was baptised at Rheims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[5] The conversion of Clovis to Catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors. Nevertheless, Bernard Bachrach has argued that this conversion from his Frankish paganism alienated many of the other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few years. William Daly, in order more directly to assess Clovis's allegedly barbaric and pagan origins,[6] was obliged to ignore the bishop Saint Gregory of Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century "vita" of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and Theodoric.

In the "interpretatio romana", Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and Mercury.[7] Taken literally, such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they may have embraced as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century.[citation needed]

Though he fought a battle at Dijon in the year 500, Clovis did not successfully subdue the Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the Arvernians in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé (507) which eliminated Visigothic power in Gaul and confined the Visigoths to Hispania and Septimania; the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis's kingdom.[4] He then established Paris as his capital,[4] and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. Later it was renamed Sainte-Geneviève Abbey, in honor of the patron saint of Paris.[8]

According to Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, granted Clovis the title of consul. Since Clovis's name does not appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship.

[edit] Campaigns of Clovis

Gregory of Tours recorded Clovis's systematic campaigns following his victory in Vouillé to eliminate the other Frankish "reguli" or sub-kings. These included Sigobert the Lame and his son Chlodoric the Parricide; Chararic, another king of the Salian Franks; Ragnachar of Cambrai, his brother Ricchar, and their brother Rignomer of Le Mans.

[edit] Later years and death

Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate. This was the First Council of Orléans. Thirty-three bishops assisted and passed thirty-one decrees on the duties and obligations of individuals, the right of sanctuary, and ecclesiastical discipline. These decrees, equally applicable to Franks and Romans, first established equality between conquerors and conquered.

Clovis I is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511; however, the Liber Pontificalis suggests that he was still alive in 513.[9] After his death, he was put to rest in Pantheon in Paris who he let build as a gravethomb for the rulers of France, he was later moved to Saint Denis Basilica, in Paris.Here lies Aall the frenvh Kings exept for 3 of them.

Upon his death his realm was divided among his four sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partitioning created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons and inaugurated a period of disunity which was to last, with brief interruptions, until the end (751) of his Merovingian dynasty.

[edit] Legacy

Clovis is remembered for three main accomplishments:

  1. his unification of the Frankish nation,

2. his conquest of Gaul, and
3. his conversion to Christianity.
By the first act, he assured the influence of his people beyond the borders of Gaul, something no petty regional king could accomplish. By the second act, he laid the foundations of a later nation-state: France. Finally, by the third act, he made himself the ally of the papacy and its protector as well as that of the people, who were mostly Catholics.

Detracting perhaps, from this legacy, is his aforementioned division of the state. This was done not along national or even largely geographical lines, but primarily to assure equal income amongst his sons after his death. While it may or may not have been his intention, this division was the cause of much internal discord in Gaul. This precedent led in the long run to the fall of his dynasty, for it was a pattern repeated in future reigns.[10] Clovis did bequeath to his heirs the support of both people and church such that, when the magnates were ready to do away with the royal house, the sanction of the Pope was sought first.

Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity.

He was the son of Childeric I and Basina.

At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481.

The small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint Remy, and a statue of him being baptized by Remigius can be seen there. Clotiar I and his son Sigebert I were both buried in Soissons, St Waast.

Clovis himself and Clothilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris.

An important part of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Roman ruler Sygrius in the famous battle of Soissons.[2]

Clovis was converted to Western Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilda, a Burgundian. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

Clovis is remembered for three main accomplishments:

  1. his unification of the Frankish nation,

2. his conquest of Gaul, and
3. his conversion to the Roman Catholic Faith.
Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481[1] The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in an area known as Toxandria, between the Meuse and Scheldt. Clovis' power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, Clovis conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established himself as sole king of the Salian Franks before his death. The small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint Remy, and a statue of him being baptized by Remigius can be seen there. Clotiar I and his son Sigebert I were both buried in Soissons, St Waast. Clovis himself and Clothilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris. An important part of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Roman ruler Sygrius in the famous battle of Soissons.[2]

Clovis was converted to Western Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilda, a Burgundian. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

Clovis had previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic faith. Conversion to Christianity set Clovis apart from the other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who had converted from heathen beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507).

Clovis was baptised at Reims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[5] The conversion of Clovis to catholic Christianity.

Sources:

   * Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum, 69:3 (1994), 619–664.

* James, Edward. The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians, 500–1000. Macmillan, 1982.
* Kaiser, Reinhold. Das römische Erbe und das Merowingerreich. Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 26. Munich: 2004.
* Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
* Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Long-haired Kings. London: 1962.

Clovis I (c. 466 – 27 November 511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481[1] as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. Clovis conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death.

He converted to Roman Catholicism, as opposed to the Arianism common among Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, the Burgundian Clotilda, a Catholic. He was baptized in the Cathedral of Rheims, as most future French kings would be. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of France and Western Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder both of France (which his state closely resembled geographically at his death) and the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

In 486, with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons in present-day Picardie.[2] This victory at Soissons extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire. After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of the Frankish territories. Later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac. He had previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, following his victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Trinitarian Catholic faith. This set Clovis apart from the other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who had converted from heathen beliefs to Arian Christianity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

Chlodovech I (Frans Clovis, maar de naam is gelijk aan Lodewijk) ((Doornik, 465 - Parijs, 27 november 511) was koning der Franken. Hij was zoon van Childerik I,[1] een generaal van de Salische Franken, die vermoedelijk diende onder de Romeinse legeraanvoerder Aegidius en de West-Romeinse keizer Majorianus. Zijn moeder wordt door Gregorius van Tours Basina genoemd.[2]

Clovis I (c. 466 – 27 November 511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481[1] as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. Clovis conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death.

He converted to Roman Catholicism, as opposed to the Arianism common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, the Burgundian Clotilda, a Catholic. He was baptized in the Cathedral of Rheims, as most future French kings would be. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of France and Western Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder both of France (which his state closely resembled geographically at his death) and the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clodoveo_I

Clodoveo I (en francés Clovis) fue el rey de todos los francos del año 481 al 511. El nombre Clodoveo proviene del franco (antiguo alto-alemán) Hlodowig, compuesto por las raíces hlod ("reconocido, famoso, ilustre") y wig ("combate"), quiere decir "Ilustre en el combate" o "Ilustre en la batalla", el equivalente en español moderno sería Luis, nombre de la mayoría de los reyes de Francia, y en alemán Ludwig, también latinizado como Ludovico.

Frecuentemente utilizada por los Merovingios, la raíz hlod da también el origen a nombres como Clotario (y Lotario), Clodomir y Clotilde.

A finales del siglo V, Galia se encuentra dividida bajo la autoridad de varios pueblos bárbaros, constantemente en guerra los unos contra los otros, buscando extender sus influencias y sus posesiones:

   * Los francos, establecidos en el noreste, habían sido aliados del Imperio Romano, controlando la frontera renana.

* Los burgundios establecidos por Roma en Saboya y en el Lyonesado.
* Los visigodos, pueblo poderoso, establecido al sur del río Loira, en Languedoc, sobre todo en el valle del Garona.
Una multitud de poderes locales o regionales de origen militar habían ocupado el vacío dejado por la deposición del Emperador Romano de Occidente en 476. Entre estos se encontraba aún el reino de un tal Siagrio, establecido en la región de Soissons.

En 481, Clodoveo, hijo del rey Childerico I y de la princesa Basina de Turingia, accedió al trono del reino franco salio, situado en la región de Tournai en la actual Bélgica. El título de rey no era nuevo, pues este era dado a los jefes de guerra de las naciones bárbaras al servicio de Roma. Así los francos, antiguos servidores de Roma, no eran nada menos que germanos, bárbaros paganos, alejados del modo de vida de los galos romanizados durante más o menos cinco siglos de dominación e influencia romana.

Clodoveo tenía solo quince años cuando se convirtió en el jefe de su tribu, su coronamiento dio inicio a la primera dinastía de reyes de Francia, los Merovingios, los cuales tomaron su nombre del abuelo de Clodoveo, el gran Meroveo.

El reino de Clodoveo se inscribe más bien en la continuidad de la antigüedad tardía que en la alta edad media según numerosos historiadores. No obstante contribuye formar el carácter original de este último período, dando inicio a una primera dinastía de reyes cristianos, y gracias a la aprobación de las elites galo-romanas, crea un poder central en Galia.

Sucesión [editar]

El 27 de noviembre de 511, muere en París a la edad de 45 años. Tras haber unificado prácticamente toda Francia, al morir, dejó sus estados repartidos entre sus cuatro hijos (Teodorico I, Childeberto I, Clodomiro I y Clotario I), siguiendo la norma del derecho privado.

Su reino pudo entonces ser dividido en cuatro partes consecuentes, tres similares y una cuarta más grande, que ocupaba más o menos el tercio de la Galia franca, para su hijo mayor, Teodorico, nacido de una unión pagana antes de 493. Clodoveo fue inhumado en la Basílica de los Santos Apóstoles.

ID: I5466Cl11a

Name: Clovis "Magnus" Merovingian , I

Given Name: Clovis "Magnus", I

Surname: Merovingian

Sex: M

Birth: 0466A?

Death: 0511A Nov 27

Note:

SOURCES:

- EB1986

"Merovingian dynasty" | "Childebert I" | "Clotilda, Saint" | "Clodomir" | "Merovech" |" Theodebald" | "Theodebert I" | "Theodoric I [Merovingian dynasty]"

- O'Hart1923 "The Lineal Descent of King Philip V., of Spain":p#42-3

- Gregory0594

- Thompson1937

- wGx/Bacher

- wGx/JaSt

-

wPhilip5

- wUE

-

PKD RUO-5466Cl11a 2001De02

Copyright (c) 2009 Paul K Davis [paulkdavis@earthlink.net] Fremont CA

Father: Childeric Merovingian , I b: 0437A

Mother: Basina -

Marriage 1 Clotilda Burgundian,the

Children

-1. Clodomir Merovingian b: abt 0496A

-2. Chlotar Merovingian , I b: abt 0497A
-3. Childebert Merovingian , I
-4. Clotilda Merovingian , II
-5. Ingomer Merovingian
Marriage 2 Spouse Unknown

Children

-1. Theodoric Merovingian , I

Forrás / Source:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=pkd&id=I5...

Clovis I

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Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481.[1] The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in an area known as Toxandria, between the Meuse and Scheldt. Clovis' power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, Clovis conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established himself as sole king of the Salian Franks before his death. The small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint Remy, and a statue of him being baptized by Remigius can be seen there. Clotiar I and his son Sigebert I were both buried in Soissons, St Waast. Clovis himself and Clothilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris. An important part of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Roman ruler Sygrius in the famous battle of Soissons.[2]

Clovis was converted to Western Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilda, a Burgundian. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

Contents [hide]

1 Name

2 History

2.1 Frankish consolidation

2.2 Christian king

2.3 Clovis' campaigns

2.4 Later years and death

2.5 Legacy

3 See also

4 References

[edit] Name

In primary sources Clovis' name is spelled in a number of variants: The Frankish form Chlodovech was Latinized as Chlodovechus, from which came the Latin name Ludovicus, which evolved into the French form Louis. Clovis ruled the Franks from 481 to 511 AD. The name features prominently in subsequent history: Three other Merovingian Kings have been called Clovis, while nine Carolingian rulers and thirteen other French kings and one Holy Roman Emperor have been called Louis. Nearly every European language has developed its own spelling of his name. Louis (French), "Chlodwig" and Ludwig (German), Lodewijk (Dutch), Людовик (Russian), Luis (Spanish), Luigi (Italian), and Lewis (English) are just seven of the over 100 possible variations. Scholars differ about the exact meaning of his (first) name. Most believe that Chlodovech is composed out of the Germanic roots Chlod- and -vech. Chlod- = (modern English) loud, with its oldest connotation praised. -vech = "fighter" (modern English). Compare in modern Dutch luid (hard sound or noise), luiden (verb - the oldest meaning is: to praise aloud) and vechten (verb - to fight). Chlodovech means "praised fighter".[3]

[edit] History

[edit] Frankish consolidation

In 486, with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons in present-day Picardie.[4] This victory at Soissons extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire. After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of the Frankish territories. Later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac.

[edit] Christian king

Clovis had previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic faith. Conversion to Christianity set Clovis apart from the other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who had converted from heathen beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507).

Clovis was baptised at Rheims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[5] The conversion of Clovis to catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors. Nevertheless, Bernard Bachrach has argued that this conversion from his Frankish paganism alienated many of the other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few years. William Daly, in order more directly to assess Clovis' allegedly barbaric and pagan origins,[6] was obliged to ignore the bishop Saint Gregory of Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century "vita" of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and Theodoric.

In the "interpretatio romana," Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and Mercury.[7] Taken literally, such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they may have embraced as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century.[citation needed]

Though he fought a battle at Dijon in the year 500, Clovis did not successfully subdue the Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the Arvernians in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé (507) which eliminated Visigothic power in Gaul and confined the Visigoths to Hispania and Septimania; the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis' kingdom.[4] He then established Paris as his capital,[4] and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. Later it was renamed Sainte-Geneviève Abbey, in honor of the patron saint of Paris.[8]

According to Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, granted Clovis the title of consul. Since Clovis' name does not appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship.

[edit] Clovis' campaigns

[show]v • d • eCampaigns of Clovis I

Soissons – Frankish-Thuringian – Tolbiac – Dijon – Vouillé

Gregory of Tours recorded Clovis' systematic campaigns following his victory in Vouillé to eliminate the other Frankish "reguli" or sub-kings. These included Sigobert the Lame and his son Chlodoric the Parricide; Chararic, another king of the Salian Franks; Ragnachar of Cambrai, his brother Ricchar, and their brother Rignomer of Le Mans.

[edit] Later years and death

Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate. This was the First Council of Orléans. Thirty-three bishops assisted and passed thirty-one decrees on the duties and obligations of individuals, the right of sanctuary, and ecclesiastical discipline. These decrees, equally applicable to Franks and Romans, first established equality between conquerors and conquered.

Tomb of Clovis I at the Basilica of St Denis in Saint Denis.Clovis I is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511; however, the Liber Pontificalis suggests that he was still alive in 513.[9] After his death, he was interred in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris.

Upon his death his realm was divided among his four sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partitioning created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons and inaugurated a period of disunity which was to last, with brief interruptions, until the end (751) of his Merovingian dynasty.

Legacy

Clovis is remembered for three main accomplishments:

1.his unification of the Frankish nation,

2.his conquest of Gaul, and

3.his conversion to the Roman Catholic Faith.

By the first act, he assured the influence of his people beyond the borders of Gaul, something no petty regional king could accomplish. By the second act, he laid the foundations of a later nation-state: France. Finally, by the third act, he made himself the ally of the papacy and its protector as well as that of the people, who were mostly Catholics.

Detracting perhaps, from this legacy, is his aforementioned division of the state. This was done not along national or even largely geographical lines, but primarily to assure equal income amongst his sons after his death. While it may or may not have been his intention, this division was the cause of much internal discord in Gaul. This precedent led in the long run to the fall of his dynasty, for it was a pattern repeated in future reigns.[10] Clovis did bequeath to his heirs the support of both people and church such that, when the magnates were ready to do away with the royal house, the sanction of the Pope was sought first.

Forrás / Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

I. Chlodvig [szerkeszt%C3%A9s]

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I. Klodvig (Chlodvig, Chlodovech) (kb. 466–511 november 27., Párizs), a száli frank Meroving dinasztia egyik királya, apját, I. Childericet követte a trónon 481/482-ben.[1] A frankok száli törzsének területei ekkoriban a Rajna alsó folyásától nyugatra, a mai francia-belga határ mentén voltak, Tournai[2] és Cambrai központokkal.

486-ban Ragnachar segítségével Klodvig legyőzte Syagriust, Nyugat-Gallia utolsó római helytartóját,[1] akinek uralma Soisson környékére terjedt ki, azaz a mai Picardiára. E győzelemmel a Loire-tól északra fekvő területek túlnyomó része a frankok ellenőrzése alá került.[1] Helyzetét bebiztosítandó Klodvig megerősítette szövetségét a keleti gótokkal: testvérét, Audofledát feleségül adta Nagy Theodorik királyhoz. Ő maga 493-ban Clotilde burgund hercegnővel kötött házasságot.[1] 491-ben türingiaiak egy kis csoportjára mért vereséget északon, majd más frank törzsek vezetőivel közösen megverte az alemannokat a tolbiaci csatában.[forr%C3%A1s?]

497-ben[3] vagy 498-ban[1] felvette a katolikus kereszténységet,[1] szemben más germán népek (vizigótok, vandálok) királyaival, akik az ariánus hitet választották. Klodvig döntésének eredményeként megerősödött a kapcsolat a germán hódítók és a római katolikus hiten lévő meghódítottak között.[3] Bernard Bachrach ugyanakkor felhívja rá a figyelmet, hogy Klodvig katonai pozíciója ezzel meggyengült, ugyanis a frank előkelők nem nézték jó szemmel a hitüktől való eltávolodását.

A dijoni csatában (500) sikertelen kísérletet tett a burgund királyság elfoglalására,[forr%C3%A1s?] de néhány évre sikerült elnyernie a burgundok támogatását, akik később, az 507-es vouilléi csatában[1] segítségére voltak a toulouse-i vizigót királyság ellen. Győzelmével visszaszorította a vizigótokat az Ibériai-félszigetre és Aquitania nagy részét államához csatolta. Terjeszkedő birodalma székhelyének Párizst tette meg,[1] ahol a Szajna déli partján Szent Péternek és Szent Pálnak szentelt apátságot alapított. Az apátságot később Párizs védőszentjéről, Szent Genovéváról nevezték el;[1] 1802-ben lerombolták, egyedül a román stílusú Klodvig-torony (Tour Clovis) maradt meg, amely ma a IV. Henrik Líceum területén áll, a Panthéontól keletre.

A vouilléi csata után – Tours-i Szent Gergely történetíró szerint – I. Anasztáziusz bizánci császár konzuli címet adományozott Klodvignak, ám mivel neve nem szerepel a konzulok listáján, ez az adat bizonytalan. Szintén Gergely tudósít Klodvig vouilléi csata utáni hadjáratairól, melyek célja más frank vezetők eltávolítása:[forr%C3%A1s?] többek között Kölni Sigibert és fia, Chloderic; Chararic, a száli frankok egy másik vezetője, Cambrai Ragnachar, valamint testvérei, Ricchar és Le Mans-i Rigomer.

Röviddel halála előtt, Klodvig zsinatra hívta össze Gallia püspökeit Orléans-ba,[1] ahol egyházi reformokat kezdeményezett és megerősítette a korona és a püspöki kar közti köteléket. Kibocsátotta a Lex Salica-t, amely a meghódított vidéken a frank király hatalmát erősítette meg.[1]

I. Klodvig 511-ben halt meg,[1] a párizsi Saint-Denis-i apátságba temették el[1] (apja és a korábbi Meroving királyok nyughelye Tournai). Halála után négy fia (Theuderic, Chlodomer, Chidebert, Chlotar) felosztotta egymás közt a birodalmat: Reims, Orléans, Párizs és Soissons központtal új politikai egységeket hoztak létre. Ezzel kezdetét vette a szétdaraboltság korszaka, mely – rövid kivételektől eltekintve – a Meroving-dinasztia uralmának végéig (751) fennállt.

A francia hagyomány a frankokat tartja az ország megalapítóinak, s mivel Klodvig volt az első, aki a majdani Franciaország területének túlnyomó részét elfoglalta, őt nevezik az első francia királynak.

Forrás / Source:

http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._Chlodvig

Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also brought them Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father in 481[1] as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. Clovis conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death.

He converted to Catholic Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, the Burgundian Clotilda, a Catholic. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

In primary sources Clovis' name is spelled in a number of variants: The Frankish form Chlodovech was Latinised as Chlodovechus, from which came the Latin name Ludovicus, which evolved into the French form Louis. Clovis ruled the Franks from 481 to 511 AD. The name features prominently in subsequent history: Three other Merovingian Kings have been called Clovis, while nine Carolingian rulers and thirteen other French kings and one Holy Roman Emperor have been called Louis. Nearly every European language has developed its own spelling of his name. Louis (French), "Chlodwig" and Ludwig (German), Lodewijk (Dutch), Luis (Spanish), Luigi (Italian), and Lewis (English) are just six of the over 100 possible variations. Scholars differ about the exact meaning of his (first) name. Most believe that Chlodovech is composed out of the Germanic roots Chlod- and -vech. Chlod- = (modern English) loud, with its oldest connotation praised. -vech = "fighter" (modern English). Compare in modern Dutch luid (hard sound or noise), luiden (verb - the oldest meaning is: to praise aloud) and vechten (verb - to fight). Chlodovech means "praised fighter".[2]

In 486, with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons in present-day Picardie.[3] This victory at Soissons extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire. After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of the Frankish territories. Later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac. He had previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic faith. This set Clovis apart from the other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who had converted from heathen beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507).

Clovis was baptised at Reims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[4] The conversion of Clovis to catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors. Nevertheless, Bernard Bachrach has argued that this conversion from his Frankish paganism alienated many of the other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few years. William Daly, in order more directly to assess Clovis' allegedly barbaric and pagan origins,[5] was obliged to ignore the bishop Saint Gregory of Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century "vita" of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and Theodoric.

In the "interpretatio romana," Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and Mercury.[6] Taken literally, such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they may have embraced as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century.[

Though he fought a battle at Dijon in the year 500, Clovis did not successfully subdue the Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the Arvernians in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé (507) which eliminated Visigothic power in Gaul and confined the Visigoths to Hispania and Septimania; the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis' kingdom.[3] He then established Paris as his capital,[3] and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. Later it was renamed Sainte-Geneviève Abbey, in honor of the patron saint of Paris.[7]

According to Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, granted Clovis the title of consul. Since Clovis' name does not appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship. Gregory also records Clovis' systematic campaigns following his victory in Vouillé to eliminate the other Frankish "reguli" or sub-kings. These included Sigobert the Lame and his son Chlodoric the Parricide; Chararic, another king of the Salian Franks; Ragnachar of Cambrai, his brother Ricchar, and their brother Rignomer of Le Mans.

Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate. This was the First Council of Orléans.

Clovis I is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511; however, the Liber Pontificalis suggests that he was still alive in 513.[8] After his death, he was interred in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris. Upon his death his realm was divided among his four sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partitioning created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons and inaugurated a period of disunity which was to last, with brief interruptions, until the end (751) of his Merovingian dynasty.

Clovis is remembered for three main accomplishments : his unification of the Frankish nation, his conquest of Gaul, and his conversion to the Roman Catholic Faith. By the first act, he assured the influence of his people beyond the borders of Gaul, something no petty regional king could accomplish. By the second act, he laid the foundations of a later nation-state: France. Finally, by the third act, he made himself the ally of the papacy and its protector as well as that of the people, who were mostly Catholics.

Detracting perhaps,from this legacy, his above mentioned division of the state, not along national or even largely geographical lines, but primarily to assure equal income amongst his sons on his death, which may or may not have been his intention, was the cause of much internal discord in Gaul. This precedent led in the long run to the fall of his dynasty, for it was a pattern repeated in future reigns.[9] Clovis did bequeath to his heirs the support of both people and church such that, when finally the magnates were ready to do away with the royal house, the sanction of the Pope was sought first.

Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum, 69:3 (1994), 619–664.

James, Edward. The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians, 500–1000. Macmillan, 1982.

Kaiser, Reinhold. Das römische Erbe und das Merowingerreich. Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 26. Munich: 2004.

Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.

Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Long-haired Kings. London: 1962.

Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481.

Clovis was converted to Western Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilda, a Burgundian. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

Clovis had previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic faith. Conversion to Christianity set Clovis apart from the other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who had converted from heathen beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507).

Clovis was baptised at Reims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[5] The conversion of Clovis to catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors.

Upon his death his realm was divided among his four sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partitioning created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons and inaugurated a period of disunity which was to last, with brief interruptions, until the end (751) of his Merovingian dynasty.

Sources:

   * Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum, 69:3 (1994), 619–664.

* James, Edward. The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians, 500–1000. Macmillan, 1982.
* Kaiser, Reinhold. Das römische Erbe und das Merowingerreich. Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 26. Munich: 2004.
* Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
* Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Long-haired Kings. London: 1962.

Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481.[1] The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in an area known as Toxandria, between the Meuse and Scheldt (in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium). Clovis' power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, Clovis conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established himself as sole king of the Salian Franks before his death. The small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint Remy, and a statue of him being baptized by Remigius can be seen there. Clotiar I and his son Sigebert I were both buried in Soissons, St Waast. Clovis himself and Clothilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris. An important part of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Roman ruler Syagrius in the famous battle of Soissons.[2]

Clovis was converted to Western Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilda, a Burgundian. He was baptized in a small church which was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French kings would be crowned.

Sources:

  * Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum, 69:3 (1994), 619–664.

* James, Edward. The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians, 500–1000. Macmillan, 1982.
* Kaiser, Reinhold. Das römische Erbe und das Merowingerreich. Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 26. Munich: 2004.
* Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
* Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Long-haired Kings. London: 1962.

Clovis (c. 466-511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481.[1] The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in an area known as Toxandria, between the Meuse and Scheldt (in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium). Clovis' power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, Clovis conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established himself as sole king of the Salian Franks before his death. The small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint Remy, and a statue of him being baptized by Remigius can be seen there. Clotiar I and his son Sigebert I were both buried in Soissons, St Waast. Clovis himself and Clothilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris. An important part of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating the Roman ruler Syagrius in the famous battle of Soissons.[2]

Clovis was converted to Western Christianity, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, Clotilda, a Burgundian.

Clovis I is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511; however, the Liber Pontificalis suggests that he was still alive in 513.[9] After his death, he was interred in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris.

References

   * Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum, 69:3 (1994), 619–664.

* James, Edward. The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians, 500–1000. Macmillan, 1982.
* Kaiser, Reinhold. Das römische Erbe und das Merowingerreich. Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 26. Munich: 2004.
* Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
* Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Long-haired Kings. London: 1962.

baptized 496 with sisters

Clovis I

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clovis I (c. 466 – 27 November 511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481[1] as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. Clovis conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death.

He converted to Roman Catholicism, as opposed to the Arianism common among Germanic peoples, at the instigation of his wife, the Burgundian Clotilda, a Catholic. He was baptized in the Cathedral of Rheims, as most future French kings would be. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of France and Western Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder both of France (which his state closely resembled geographically at his death) and the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.

Name

In primary sources Clovis' name is spelled in a number of variants: The Frankish form Chlodovech was Latinised as Chlodovechus, from which came the Latin name Clovis, which evolved into the French name Louis.

The name features prominently in subsequent history: Three other Merovingian Kings have been called Clovis, while nine Carolingian rulers and thirteen other French kings and one Holy Roman Emperor have been called Louis.

Nearly every European language has developed its own spelling of his name. Louis (French), "Chlodwig" and Ludwig (German), Lodewijk (Dutch), and Lewis (English) are just four of the over 100 possible variations.

Scholars differ about the meaning of his name. Chlodovech is composed out of the Germanic roots Chlod- and -vech, which are usually associated with "glow" and "soldier". His name thus might have meant "illustrious in combat" or "glorious warrior".

Frankish consolidation

In 486, with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman official in northern Gaul, who ruled the area around Soissons in present-day Picardie.[2] This victory at Soissons extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire. After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths, through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of his territories. Later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, he defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac. He had previously married the Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and, following his victory at Tolbiac, he converted (traditionally in 496) to her Trinitarian Catholic faith. This was a significant change from the other Germanic kings, like the Visigoths and Vandals, who had embraced the rival Arian beliefs.

Christian king

The conversion of Clovis to Catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors. However, Bernard Bachrach has argued that this conversion from his Frankish paganism alienated many of the other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few years. William Daly, in order more directly to assess Clovis' allegedly barbaric and pagan origins,[3] was obliged to ignore the bishop Gregory of Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century vita of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and Theodoric.

In the familiar literary convention called interpretatio romana, Gregory of Tours gave the gods that Clovis abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and Mercury.[4] Taken literally, such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they may have embraced as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century.[citation needed]

Though he fought a battle in Dijon in the year 500, Clovis did not successfully subdue the Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the Arvernians in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé (507) which eliminated Visigothic power in Gaul and confined the Visigoths to Hispania; the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis' kingdom.[2] He then established Paris as his capital,[2] and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. Later the abbey was renamed in honor of Paris' patron saint, Geneviève.[5]

According to Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, granted Clovis the title of consul. Since Clovis' name does not appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship. Gregory also records Clovis' systematic campaigns following his victory in Vouillé to eliminate the other Frankish reguli or sub-kings. These included Sigobert the Lame and his son Chlodoric the Parricide; Chararic, another king of the Salian Franks; Ragnachar of Cambrai, his brother Ricchar, and their brother Rignomer of Le Mans.

Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate. This was the First Council of Orléans.

Death and succession

Clovis I died in 511 and is interred in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, whereas his father had been buried with the older Merovingian kings in Tournai. Upon his death his realm was divided among his four sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. This partitioning created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims, Orléans, Paris and Soissons and inaugurated a period of disunity which was to last, with brief interruptions, until the end (751) of his Merovingian dynasty.

Legacy

The legacy of Clovis is well-established on three heads: his unification of the Frankish nation, his conquest of Gaul, and his conversion to Roman Catholicism. By the first act, he assured the influence of his people in wider affairs, something no petty regional king could accomplish. By the second act, he laid the foundations of a later nation-state: France. Finally, by the third act, he made himself the ally of the papacy and its protector as well as that of the people, who were mostly Catholics.

Detracting, perhaps, from these acts of more than just national importance, his division of the state, not along national or even largely geographical lines, but primarily to assure equal income amongst the brothers on his death, which may or may not have been his intention, was the cause of much internal discord in Gaul and contributed in the long run to the fall of his dynasty, for it was a pattern constantly repeated.[6] Clovis did bequeath to his heirs the support of both people and church such that, when finally the magnates were ready to do away with the royal house, the sanction of the pope was sought first.

Notes

^ The date 481 is arrived at by counting back from the Battle of Tolbiac, which Gregory of Tours places in the fifteenth year of Clovis' reign.

^ a b c Iron Age Braumeisters of the Teutonic Forests. BeerAdvocate. Retrieved on 2006-06-02.

^ Daly, William M. Daly, "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum 69.3 (July 1994:619-664)

^ Edward James, Gregory of Tours Life of the Fathers (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1985), p. 155 n. 12.

^ The abbey was demolished in 1802. All that remains is the Tour Clovis, a Romanesque tower which now lies within the grounds of the Lycée Henri IV, just east of The Panthéon.

^ "The Rise of the Carolingians or the Decline of the Merovingians?" (pdf)

Sources

Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum 69.3 (July 1994, pp. 619-664.

James, Edward. The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000. Macmillan, 1982.

Kaiser, Reinhold. Das römische Erbe und das Merowingerreich. München 2004. (Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 26)

Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. Rivingtons: London, 1914.

Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Long-haired Kings. London, 1962.

The Oxford Merovingian Page.

In English:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I

Suomeksi:

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klodvig

På svenska:

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klodvig_I

Titles: King of the Franks (Roi des Francs)

Consul, Augustus [after 507]

Reign: 481 - November 27, 511

Consecration: Gregory of Tours mentioned some sort of consecration on occasion of accepting the title of consul from Emperor Anastasias (507, Tours)

End of reign: November 27, 511, died

Clovis was the son, and probably the only son, of Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks of Tournai, and Basina. He succeeded his father in 481.

At Soissons, in 486, Clovis defeated Syagrius, the last Roman ruler in Gaul. This opened to him the whole area of the Somme and the Seine. Clovis established his power at least as far south as Paris between the years 487 and 494. The Armoricans of western Gaul and the Germanic peoples of the Rhineland offered serious opposition; and at the Loire he made contact with the Visigoths, protégés of Theodoric, the ruler of Ostrogothic Italy. In 496, he was baptized at Reims by Saint Remy.

In 507, Clovis turned against the Visigoths of Gaul south of the Loire and defeated them at Vouillé, near Poitiers. Though he penetrated as far south as Bordeaux and sent his son, Thierry (Theodoric), to capture the Visigoth capital of Toulouse, he did not expel the Goths from Septimania or turn southern Gaul into a settlement area for his people. According to Gregory of Tours (1), in 507 Clovis "received an appointment to the consulship from the emperor Anastasius, and in the church of the blessed Martin (in Tours) he clad himself in the purple tunic and chlamys, and placed a diadem on his head... and from that day he was called consul or Augustus." After he defeated other Frankish chiefs, Ragnachar, Sigibert, Chloderic, Chararic and others, Clovis virtually became the sole ruler of the Franks by 509. He summoned a church council at Orléans and also promulgated Lex Salica.

Clovis died at the age of 45 and was buried in the Church of the Apostles, but his grave has never been found.

Son of Childeric, King of the Salic Franks; born in the year 466; died at Paris, 27 November, 511. He succeeded his father as the King of the Franks of Tournai in 481. His kingdom was probably one of the States that sprang from the division of Clodion's monarchy like those of Cambrai, Tongres and Cologne. Although a Pagan, Childeric had kept up friendly relations with the bishops of Gaul, and when Clovis ascended the throne he received a most cordial letter of congratulation from St. Remigius, Archbishop of Reims. The young king early began his course of conquest by attacking Syagrius, son of Aegidius, the Roman Count. Having established himself at Soissons, he acquired sovereign authority over so great a part of Northern Gaul as to be known to his contemporaries as the King of Soissons. Syagrius, being defeated, fled for protection to Alaric II, King of the Visigoths, but the latter, alarmed by a summons from Clovis, delivered Syagrius to his conqueror, who had him decapitated in 486. Clovis then remained master of the dominions of Syagrius and took up his residence at Soissons. It would seem as if the episode of the celebrated vase of Soissons were an incident of the campaign against Syagrius, and it proves that, although a pagan, Clovis continued his father's policy by remaining on amicable terms with Gaulish episcopate. The vase, taken by the Frankish soldiers while plundering a church, formed part of the booty that was to be divided among the army. It was claimed by the bishop (St. Remigius?), and the king sought to have it awarded to himself in order to return it intact to the bishop, but a dissatisfied soldier split the vase with his battle-axe, saying to this king: "You will get only the share allotted you by fate". Clovis did not openly resent the insult, but the following year, when reviewing his army he came upon this same soldier and, reproving him for the the defective condition of his arms, he split his skull with an axe, saying: "It was thus that you treated the Soissons vase." This incident has often been cited to show that although in time of war a king has unlimited authority over his army, after the war his power is restricted and that in the division of booty the rights of the soldiers must be respected.

After the defeat of Syagrius, Clovis extended his dominion as far as the Loire. It was owing to the assistance given him by the Gaulish episcopate that he gained possession of the country. The bishops, it is quite certain mapped out the regime that afterwards prevailed. Unlike that adopted in other barbarian kingdoms founded upon the ruins of the Roman Empire, this regime established absolute equality between the Gallo-Roman natives and their Germanic conquerors all sharing the same privileges. Procopius, a Byzantine writer has given us an idea of this agreement, but we know it best by its results. There was no distribution of Gaulish territory by the victors; established in the Belgian provinces, they had lands there to which they returned after each campaign. All the free men in the kingdom of Clovis, whether they were of Roman or of Germanic origin, called themselves Franks, and we must guard against the old mistake of looking upon the Franks after Clovis as no more than Germanic barbarians.

Master of half of Gaul, Clovis returned to Belgium and conquered the two Salic kingdoms of Cambrai and Tongres (?), where his cousins Ragnacaire and Chararic reigned. These events have been made known to us only through the poetic tradition of the Franks which has singularly distorted them. According to this tradition Clovis called upon Chararic to assist him its his war against Syagrius, but Chararic's attitude throughout the battle was most suspicious, as he refrained from taking sides until he saw which of the rivals was to be victorious. Clovis longed to have revenge. Through a ruse he obtained possession of Chararic and his son and threw them into prison; he then had their heads shaved, and both were ordained, the father to the priesthood and the son to the diaconate. When Chararic bemoaned and wept over this humiliation his son exclaimed: "The leaves of a green tree have been cut but they will quickly bud forth again; may he who has done this perish as quickly!" This remark was reported to Clovis, and he had both father and son beheaded.

Tradition goes on to say that Ragnacaire King of Cambrai, was a man of such loose morals he hardly respected his own kindred, and Farron, his favourite, was equally licentious. So great was the king's infatuation for this man that, if given a present, he would accept it for himself and his Farron. This filled his subjects with indignation and Clovis, to win them over to his side before taking the field, distributed among them money, bracelets, and baldries, all in gilded copper in fraudulent imitation of genuine gold. On different occasions Ragnacaire sent out spies to ascertain the strength of Clovis's army, and upon returning they said: "It is a great reinforcement for you and your Farron." Meanwhile Clovis advanced and the battle began. Being defeated, Ragnacaire sought refuge in flight, but was overtaken; made prisoner, and brought to Clovis, his hands bound behind him. "Why", said his conqueror have you permitted our blood to be humiliated by allowing yourself to be put in chains? It were better that you should die." And, so saying, Clovis dealt him his death-blow. Then, turning to Richaire, Ragnacaire's brother, who had been taken prisoner with the king, he said: "Had you but helped your brother, they would not have bound him", and he slew Richaire also. After these deaths the traitors discovered that they had been given counterfeit gold and complained of it to Clovis, but he only laughed at them. Rignomir, one of Ragnacaire's brothers, was put to death at Le Mans by order of Clovis, who took possession of the kingdom and the treasure of his victims.

Such is the legend of Clovis; it abounds in all kinds of improbabilities, which cannot be considered as true history. The only facts that can be accepted are that Clovis made war upon Kings Ragnacaire and Chararic, put them to death and seized their territories. Moreover, the author of this article is of opinion that these events occurred shortly after the conquest of the territory of Syagrius, and not after the war against the Visigoths, as has been maintained by Gregory of Tours, whose only authority is an oral tradition, and whose chronology in this matter is decidedly misleading. Besides Gregory of Tours has not given us the name of Chararic's kingdom; it was long believed to have been established at Therouanne but it is more probable that Tongres was its capital city, since it was here that the Franks settled on gaining a foothold in Belgium.

In 492 or 493 Clovis, who was master of Gaul from the Loire to the frontiers of the Rhenish Kingdom of Cologne, married Clotilda, the niece of Gondebad, King of the Burgundians. The popular epic of the Franks has transformed the story of this marriage into a veritable nuptial poem the analysis of which will be found in the article on Clotilda. Clotilda, who was a Catholic, and very pious, won the consent of Clovis to the baptism of their son, and then urged that he himself embrace the Catholic Faith. He deliberated for a long time. Finally, during a battle against the Alemanni--which without apparent reason has been called the battle of Tolbiac (Zulpich)--seeing his troops on the point of yielding, he invoked the aid of Clotilda's God, promised to become a Christian if only victory should be granted him. He conquered and, true to his word was baptized at Reims by St. Remigius, bishop of that city, his sister Albofledis and three thousand of his warriors at the same time embracing Christianity. Gregory of Tours, in his ecclesiastical history of the Franks has described this event, which took place amid great pomp at Christmas, 496. "Bow thy head, O Sicambrian", said St. Remigius to the royal convert "Adore what thou hast burned and burn what thou hast adored." According to a ninth-century legend found in the life of St. Remigius, written by the celebrated Hincmar himself Archbishop of Reims, the chrism for the baptismal ceremony was missing and was brought from heaven in a vase (ampulla) borne by a dove. This is what is known as the Sainte Ampoule of Reims, preserved in the treasury of the cathedral of that city and used for the coronation of the kings of France from Philip Augustus down to Charles X.

The conversion of Clovis to the religion of the majority of his subjects soon brought about the union of the Gallo-Romans with their barbarian conquerors. While in all the other Germanic kingdoms founded on the ruins of the Roman Empire the difference of religion between the Catholic natives and Arian conquerers was a very active cause of destruction, in the Frankish kingdom, on the contrary, the fundamental identity of religious beliefs and equality of political rights made national and patriotic sentiments universal and produced the most perfect harmony between the two races. The Frankish Kingdom was thenceforth the representative and defender of Catholic interests throughout the West, while to his conversion Clovis owed an exceptionally brilliant position. Those historians who do not understand the problems of religious psychology have concluded that Clovis embraced Christianity solely from political motives, but nothing is more erroneous. On the contrary, everything goes to prove that his conversion was sincere, and the opposite cannot be maintained without refusing credence to the most trustworthy evidence.

In the year 500 Clovis was called upon to mediate in a quarrel between his wife's two uncles, Kings Gondebad of Vienne and Godegisil of Geneva. He took sides with the latter, whom he helped to defeat Gondebad at Dijon, and then, deeming it prudent to interfere no further in this fratricidal struggle, he returned home, leaving Godegisil an auxiliary corps of five thousand Franks. After Clovis's departure Gondebad reconquered Vienne, his capital in which Godegisil had established himself. This reconquest was effected by a stratagem seconded by treachery, and Godegisil himself perished on the same occasion. The popular poetry of the Franks has singularly misrepresented this intervention of Clovis, pretending that, at the instigation of his wife Clotilda, he sought to avenge her grievances against her uncle Gondebad (see CLOTILDA) and that the latter king, besieged in Avignon by Clovis, got rid of his opponent through the agency of Aredius, a faithful follower. But in these poems there are so many fictions as to render the history in them indistinguishable.

An expedition, otherwise important and profitable was undertaken by Clovis in the year 506 against Alaric II, King of the Visigoths of Aquitaine. He was awaited as their deliverer by the Catholics of that kingdom, who were being cruelly persecuted by Arian fanatics, and was encouraged in his enterprise by the Emperor Anastasius, who wished to crush this ally of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths. Despite the diplomatic efforts made by the latter to prevent the war, Clovis crossed the Loire and proceeded to Vouille, near Poitiers, where he defeated and slew Alaric, whose demoralized troops fled in disorder. The Franks took possession of the Visigoth Kingdom as far as the Pyrenees and the Rhone, but the part situated on the left bank of this river was stoutly defended by the armies of Theodoric, and thus the Franks were prevented from seizing Arles and Provence. Notwithstanding this last failure, Clovis, by his conquest of Aquitaine, added to the Frankish crown the fairest of its jewels. So greatly did the Emperor Anastasius rejoice over the success attained by Clovis that, to testify his satisfaction, he sent the Frankish conqueror the insignia of the consular dignity, an honour always highly appreciated by the barbarians.

The annexation of the Rhenish Kingdom of Cologne crowned the acquisition of Gaul by Clovis. But the history of this conquest, also, has been disfigured by a legend that Clovis instigated Chloderic, son of Sigebert of Cologne, to assassinate his father, then, after the perpetration of this foul deed, caused Chloderic himself to be assassinated, and finally offered himself to the Rhenish Franks as king, protesting his innocence of the crimes that had been committed. The only historical element in this old story, preserved by Gregory of Tours, is that the two kings of Cologne met with violent deaths, and that that Clovis, their relative, succeeded them partly by right of birth, partly by popular choice. The criminal means by which he is said to have reached this throne are pure creation of the barbarian imagination.

Master now of a vast kingdom, Clovis displayed the same talent in governing that he had displayed in conquering it. From Paris, which he had finally made his capital, he administered the various provinces through the agency of counts (comites) established in each city and selected by him from the aristocracy of both races, conformably to the principle of absolute equality between Romans and barbarians, a principle which dominated his entire policy. He caused the Salic Law (Lex Salica) to be reduced to written form, revised end adapted to the new social conditions under which his fellow barbaricans were subsequently to live. Acknowledging the Church as the foremost civilizing force, he protected it in every way possible, especially by providing for it the National Council of Orleans (511), at which the bishops of Gaul settled many questions pertaining to the relations between Church and state. Hagiographic legends attribute to Clovis the founding of a great many churches and monasteries throughout France, and although the accuracy of this claim cannot be positively established, it is nevertheless certain that the influence of the council in this matter must have been considerable. However, history has preserved the memory of foundation which was undoubtedly due to Clovis: the church of the Apostles, later of Sainte-Geneviève, on what was then Mons Lucotetius, to the south of Paris. The king destined it as a mausoleum for himself and his queen Clotilda, and before it was completed his mortal remains were there interred. Clovis died at the age of forty-five. His sarcophagus remained in the crypt of Sainte-Geneviève until the time of the French Revolution, when it was broken open by the revolutionists, and his ashes scattered to the winds, the sanctuary of the beautiful church being destroyed.

The history of this monarch has been so hopelessly distorted by popular poetry and so grossly disfigured by the vagaries of the barbarian imagination as make the portrayal of his character wellneigh impossible. However, from authentic accounts of him it may be concluded that his private life was not without virtues. As a statesman he succeeded in accomplishing what neither the genius of Theodoric the Great nor that of any contemporary barbarian king could achieve: upon the ruins of the Roman Empire he built up a powerful system, the influence of which dominated European civilization during many centuries, and from which sprang France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, without taking into account that northern Spain and northern Italy were also, for a time, under the civilizing regime of the Frankish Empire.

Clovis left four sons. Theodoric, the eldest, was the issue of union prior to that contracted with Clotilda, who was, however, the mother of the three others, Clodomir, Childebert, and Clotaire. They divided their father's kingdom among themselves, following the barbarian principle that sought promotion of personal rather than national interests, and looked upon royalty as the personal prerogative of the sons of kings. After the death of Clovis his daughter Clotilda, named after her mother, married Amalric, king of the Visigoths. She died young, being cruelly abused by this Arian prince, who seemed eager to wreak vengeance on the daughter of Clovis for the tragic death of Alaric II.

AKA: Chlodovech,

King Clovis I "the Great" AKA King of the Salic Franks (481-511), King of France.

Clovis I (or Chlodowech, modern French "Louis") (c.466 - November 27 , 511 at Paris ), a member of the Merovingian dynasty, succeeded his father Childeric I in 481 as King of the Salic Franks , a Germanic people occupying the area west of the lower Rhine , with their own center around Tournai and Cambrai , along the modern frontier between France and Belgium , in an area known as Toxandria

In 486 , with the help of Ragnachar, Clovis defeated Syagrius , the last Roman official in northern Gaul , whose rule covered the area around Soissons , in present-day Picardie . This victory extended Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire . After this, Clovis secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths , through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great . He followed this victory with another in 491 over a small group of Thuringians east of his territories, then later, with the help of the other Frankish sub-kings, defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac . He had previously married the Burgundian princess Clotilde (493), and following his victory at Tolbiac he converted in 496 to her Catholic faith. This was a significant change from the other Germanic kings, like the Visigoths and Vandals , who embraced the rival Arian beliefs.

The conversion of Clovis to Roman Catholic Christianity , the religion of the majority of his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects and their Germanic conquerors. However, Bernard Bachrach has argued that this conversion from his Frankish pagan beliefs alienated many of the other Frankish sub-kings, and weakened his military position over the next few years.

He fought a battle in Dijon in the year 500, but did not successfully subdue the Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the Armoricans in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse at Vouillé (507), a victory that confined the Visigoths to Spain , adding most of Aquitaine to his kingdom. He then established Paris as his capital, and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. All that remains of this great abbey (later named in honour of Paris' patron saint, Geneviève, it was demolished in 1802) is the Tour Clovis, a Romanesque tower which now lies within the grounds of the prestigious Lycèe Henri IV, just east of The Panthéon .

Following the Battle of Vouillé , according to Gregory of Tours , the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I , granted Clovis the title of consul . Since Clovis' name does not appear in the consular lists , it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship. Gregory also records Clovis' systematic campaigns following his victory at Vouillé to elimate the other Frankish reguli or sub-kings: these included Sigibert of Cologne and his son Chloderic; Chararic another king of the Salian Franks; Ragnachar of Cambrai , his brother Ricchar, and their brother Rigomer of LeMans .

Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet at Orleans to reform the church and create a strong link between the crown and the Catholic episcopate.

Clovis I died in 511 and is interred Saint Denis Basilica , Paris, France , whereas his father had been buried with the older Merovingian kings at Tournai. Upon his death, his realm was divided among his four sons, (Theuderic_I_of_Austrasia, Chlodomer , Childebert _I, Chlothar ) creating the new political units of the Kingdoms of Reims , Orléans , Paris and Soissons , inaugurating a period of disunity which was to last with brief interruptions until the end (751 ) of his Merovingian dynasty.

Popular tradition, based on French royal tradition, holds that the Franks were the founders of the French nation, and that Clovis was therefore the first King of France.

He reigned from 481 to 511. His wife led him to embrace Christianity and 3000 of his followers were baptised in a single day. When he first listened to the story of Christ's crucifixion, he was so moved that he cried "If I had been there with my valiant Franks I would have avenged Him." (Came to throne at about age 15.

. Chlodovech (aka Clovis) acceded 481 - King of Tournai. 2. Excerpt from "The Franks" by Godefroi Kurth, Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler, from "The Catholic Encyclopedia", Volume VI, Copyright (c) 1909 by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition Copyright (c) 1999 by Kevin Knight, Nihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York (full text in Clodian's notes): When Clovis (Chlodovech I) began to reign in 481, he was, like his father, King of Tournai only, but at an early date he began his career of conquest. In 486 he over threw the monarchy that Syagrius, son of Aegidius, had carved out for himself in Northern Gaul, and set up his court at Soissons; in 490 and 491 he took possession of the Salian Kingdoms of Cambrai and Tongres; in 496 he triumphantly repelled an invasion of the Alamanni; in 500 he interposed in the war of the Burgundian kings; in 506 he conquered Aquitaine; and at length he annexed the Ripuarian Kingdom of Cologne. Henceforth Gaul, from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, was subject to Clovis (Chlodovech I), with the exception of the territory in the southeast, i.e. the kingdom of the Burgundians and Provence. Established at Paris, Clovis (Chlodovech I) governed this kingdom by virtue of an agreement concluded with the bishops of Gaul, according to which natives and barbarians were to be on terms of equality, and all cause of friction between the two races was removed when, in 496, the king was converted to Catholicism. The Frankish kingdom thereupon took its place in history under more promising conditions than were to be found in any other state founded upon the ruins of the Roman Empire. All free men bore the title of Frank, had the same political status, and were eligible to the same offices. Besides, each individual observed the law of the people among whom he belonged; the Gallo-Roman lived according to the code, the barbarian according to the Salian or Ripuarian law; in other words, the law was personal, not territorial. If there were any privileges they belonged to the Gallo-Romans, who, in the beginning were the only ones on whom the episcopal dignity was conferred. The king governed the provinces through his counts, and had a considerable voice in the selection of the clergy. The drawing up of the Salian Law (Lex Salica), which seems to date from the early part of the reign of Clovis (Chlodovech I), and the Council of Orléans, convoked by him and held in the last year of his reign, prove that the legislative activity of this king was not eclipsed by his military energy. Although founder of a kingdom destined to such a brilliant future, Clovis (Chlodovech I) did not know how to shield it against a custom in vogue among the barbarians, i.e. the division of power among the sons of the king. This custom originated in the pagan idea that all kings were intended to reign because they were descended from the gods. Divine blood flowed in the veins of all the king's sons, each of whom, therefore, being a king by birth, must have his share of the kingdom. This view, incompatible with the formation of a powerful, durable monarchy, had been vigorously rejected by Genseric the Vandal, who, to secure the indivisibility of his kingdom, had established in his family a certain order of succession. Either because he died suddenly or for some other reason, Clovis (Chlodovech I) took no measures to abolish this custom, which continued among the Franks until the middle of the ninth century and, more than once, endangered their nationality. After the death of Clovis (Chlodovech I), therefore, his four sons divided his kingdom, each reigning from a different centre: Thierry (Theuderic I) at Metz, Clodomir (Chlodomer) at Orléans, Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire (Chlotar) at Soissons. They continued the career of conquest inaugurated by their father, and, in spite of the frequent discords that divided them, augmented the estates he had left them. The principal events of their reign were: * The destruction of the Kingdom of Thuringia by Thierry (Theuderic I) in 531, which extended Frankish power into the heart of what is now Germany; * the conquest of the Kingdom of the Burgundians by Childebert and Clotaire (Chlotar I) in 532, after their brother Clodomir (Chlodomer) had perished in a previous attempt to overthrow it in 524; * the cession of Provence to the Franks by the Ostrogoths in 536, on condition that the former would assist them in the war just declared against them by Emperor Justinian. But instead of helping the Ostrogoths, the Franks under Theudebert, son of Thierry (Theuderic I), taking shameful advantage of this oppressed people, cruelly pillaged Italy until the bands under the command of Leuthar and Butilin were exterminated by Narses in 553.

Other SOURCES: Founder of the Empire of the Franks "Rulers of the World" by R.F.Tapsell Born: circa 466, son of Childeric I, King des Francs and Basine Andovera de Turinge , Clovis I became King between the Summer of 481 and Autumn of 482. According to Gregoire de Tours, he was only about 15 years of age at the time. In any case he was quite young as he was called "juvenis". Timelines here are bound to be fraught with error since the custom of counting years from the time of Jesus Christ was not established until the 8th. Century. Thus, both the Larousse and the History of France assert a birth date circa 466 whereas Stuart's "Royalty for Commoners" claims Clovis I was alive in the year 420! That date is necessary to claim that Sigebert I is the son of Childebert, son of Clovis, since Stuart claims Sigebert I was King of the Salic Francs from 481 to 511. Significant-Other: Evochilde before 486 - Evochilde was a concubine. Note - between 486 and 507: King of the Franks, Clovis I vanquished the Romans at Soissons in 486. Syagrius, the "Roman King" takes refuge in Toulouse under the protection of the King of the Wisigoths, Alaric [who had just become King in 484] . By the end of the year, Clovis I forced Alaric to give up Syagrius, and Clovis I secretly has Syagrius put to death. From 487 to 490, Clovis I extended his kingdom all the way to the Loire River, however, he respects the border of the Wisigoths to the South and of the Burgundians to the South-West, as well as that of the riparian Francs to the East. From 490 to 495, Clovis is occupied with the liquidation of the Salic Franc dynasty North of Gaule. King Chararic of Tongres is decapitated, and King Ragnacaire of Cambrai is executed. Upon the request for aid from the Riparian Francs, Clovis I defeats the Alamans (Germans) at the Battle of Tolbiac in 496 thus bringing Champagne under his jurisdiction. In 500, he wages war against Gondebaud, King of Burgundy defeating him near Dijon. Gondebaud retreats to Avignon. In 502, on the Cure and the Cousin, Clovis I and Gondebaud seal an alliance. From April to June 507, the French Army attack the Wisigoths, whose Kingdom extends from the Mediterranean to the ocean, and cross the Loire, going up the Valley of Calin toward Poitiers and encounter the Visigoth Army in the plain of Vouille, 15 km West of Clain. Alaric II, King of the Visigoths is killed and the Wisigoths thus are defeated. by 507, thanks to the efforts of his son, Thierry, the entire Meridional Gaule falls into Clovis I's control. In 508, the Franc Army lays siege on Arles in order to secure Provence. Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, occupies Provence, and his general, Ibbas, crosses the Alps to deliver Arles from Clovis I's clutch. Theodoric conquers the Burgundians at Avignon and Orange and makes Amalaric, his grandson and son of Alaric II, King of the Wisigoths. Clovis I loses the Bas-Languedoc, then called Septimania. Around 510, Clovis has Cloderic, King of the Riparian tribes who had fought in his support at Vouille, assassinated, and proclaims himself King of the Riparians. Thus, the Kingdom extends from the Pyrenees, to the ocean to beyond the Rhine. Upon his death, according to Frankish custom, his kingdom was divided among his four sons: Thierry, Clodomir, Childebert and Clotaire. Married circa 493: Sainte Clotilde de Bourgogne , daughter of Chilperic, King de Bourgogne and N?; Clotilde was a Merovingien. By the time Clovis I married her, he already had a son through his concubine. Clotilde contributed to the conversion of Clovis to Christianity. After his death, she retired to the monastery of Saint-Martin in Tours (France). Her Feast Day is 3 June. Baptized: on 25 December 496; When the Queen, Clotilde, convinced Clovis I to have their son Ingomer baptized, he relented. Shortly afterwards, the son died, and Clovis I scolded Clotilde indicating that had Ingomer been consecrated to his gods, the neonate would not have died. When Clotilde had Clodomir, she again prevailed on Clovis I to have his son baptized. The child fell seriously ill shortly after, and again Clovis I blamed Clotilde's gods. While at war with the Alamans, it looked like Clovis I's army might be defeated, and Clovis I in desperation, swore to God and to Jesus Christ that he would have himself baptized and adhere to the Faith, if only he would be granted victory. Thereupon, the Allemans, fled and their King was killed. The Allemans surrendered. Scolars disagree on the date of the baptism and some indicate it was in 497 or propose the year 498 and perhaps even in 506.

Clovis Continued: Clovis I was baptized by Remi, Bishop of Reims, with the intercession of the Queen. Clovis I's army of 3,000 also was baptized, as well as Clovis I's sister, Alboflede. Unfortunately, she died shortly thereafter. Another sister of Clovis I, Lantilde, also was baptized from the Arian faith into Christianity. Died: on 27 December 511 in Paris, Gaul, Clovis I's body was burried at the basilica on the hill South of the Isle of the City on the left bank, where Saint Genevieve's body also reposes. Epitaph, written by Cardinal de La Rochfoucauld in 1621: CODOVEO MAGNO REGNUM FRANCORUM PRIMO CHRISTIANO HUJUS BASILICAE FUNDATORI SEPULCRUM VULGARI OLIM LAPIDE STRUCTUM ABBAS ET CONVENTUS IN MELIOREM OPERE CULTUQUE FACIEM RENOVARUNT ANNO CHRISTI 1621

Note: Salic Law, or the Law of the Salic Francs, th