Clovis, King of the Franks

CLODOVEO, king of the FRANKS. — He was of royal stock and belonged to the Salian Franks; b. in 446, he was already king at the age of fifteen. Brought up in the pagan religion, he converted to Christianity after a battle against the Alamanni. He was baptized by St. Remigius, bishop of Reims, on 25 December 498 or 499. The act was certainly determined, in addition to personal motives and the influence of his wife, the most devout Clotilde, by political considerations, and enabled the king to secure the support of the entire Roman population of Gaul; there was no separation between the two peoples, as elsewhere, but they enjoyed equal rights and all entered the army. Thus C. was able to carry out many conquests, especially that of the Visigothic kingdom, occupying its capital, Toulouse, as well. He obtained the title of consul from Byzantium; with Theodoric, king of the Goths residing in Italy, he had many disputes, settled with varying fortunes. C., who died in 511, was a crude, primitive, violent man; he personally killed all those who overshadowed him; he was avid for power; even in his religious sentiments he was impulsive and intolerant. Nevertheless, precisely for this reason, he expressed well the character of the new forces in society and anticipated the outcome of the medieval work, consisting in the fusion of Romans and barbarians within the Catholic Church.