'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''.
About every European language in has developed his own spelling of his name. ''Louis'' (French), ''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".
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.
[ Iron Age Braumeisters of the Teutonic Forests ] 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 embraced the rival
Arian beliefs.
Christian king
Saint Remigius baptizes Clovis.
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
[2] 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.
Perhaps surprisingly, Gregory of Tours wrote that the beliefs that Clovis abandoned were in Roman gods, such as
Jupiter and
Mercury, rather than their
Germanic equivalents. If Gregory's account is accurate it suggests a strong affinity of Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they must have embraced as allies and
federates of the Empire during the previous century.
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 confined the Visigoths to
Spain and added most of
Aquitaine to Clovis' 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 is the ''Tour Clovis'', a Romanesque tower which now lies within the grounds of the prestigious ''Lycée Henri IV'', just east of
The Panthéon. (After its founding, the abbey was renamed in honor of Paris' patron saint,
Geneviève. It was demolished in 1802.)
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.
Medal with obverse legend "Clovis Roy de France."
Death and succession
Clovis I died in
511 and is interred in
Saint Denis Basilica,
Paris, France, 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
Reims,
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
Gaul after Clovis' death.
The legacy of Clovis is well-established on three very large acts: 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.
[3] 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
1. The date is arrived at by counting back from the Battle of Tolbiac, which Gregory of Tours places in the fifteenth year of Clovis' reign.
2. Daly, William M. Daly, "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" ''Speculum'' '69'.3 (July 1994, pp. 619-664
3. 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.
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