Clovis I
Clovis I (Chlodowech) (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 lower Rhine area (the actual Belgium). In 486 he defeated Syagrius, the last Roman governor in Gaul, at Soissons, Picardie, extending Frankish rule to most of the area north of the Loire.
 |
| Undated, but much later French coin with the obverse legend, Clovis - King of France |
After his marriage (493) to the Burgundian princess Clotilde, he converted in 496 to her Catholic faith, aligning his monarchy with the powerful religious establishment in Rome against the rival Arian beliefs of other Germanic kings.
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.
His defeat of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse at Vouillé (507) brought most of Gaul under his rule, but at his death his realm was divided among his four sons, (Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, 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.
Further successes established Clovis I the sole ruler in Gaul, and he chose Paris, in a strategic location on the River Seine, as his capital in 509. Clovis I died in 511 and is interred Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France.
See also: Merovingian Dynasty -- Franks -- History of France