Born around 466 - Died in Paris, 511.
King of the Salian Franks from 481 to 511. If the chronology of Clovis, that is to say Louis, remains rather imprecise (it is hardly known to us except through the History of Grégoire de Tours, written much later , circa 577).
The historical importance of Clovis cannot be exaggerated. His father Childéric, his ancestor Chlodion, whose name he bore, had seized part of Second Belgium during the 5th century and had extended their supremacy in the north of Gaul, to the approaches to the Somme. They had nevertheless remained simple chiefs of tribes whose main center was Tournai.
Clovis succeeds Childeric in 481 and gives the task of bringing together all the Salian Franks under his authority. He has the skill to attack first the Roman general Syagrius who still defends the Roman idea in the north of Gaul. He triumphed over him in 486 at Soissons, which he made his capital. This victory earned him such prestige that the king of the Visigoths, Alaric II, did not dare refuse to deliver Syagrius to him, who was put to death. During the following years, which remain very obscure, Clovis works to take possession of the region from the Meuse and the Moselle to the middle and lower course of the Loire, if necessary by removing some of his too troublesome relatives. He submits the Thuringians and the Franc Ripuaires and succeeds above all in prevailing over the Alamans who, of all the barbarian people who occupy Gaul, are the most dangerous rivals for him. He routed it, probably in 506, and not in 496, as Gregory of Tours asserts. This victory consecrates his hegemony in northern Gaul.
But his real masterstroke was his conversion to Catholicism, under the influence of his wife Clotilde, a Burgundian princess herself a Catholic. If we are to believe Gregory of Tours, Clovis would have stubbornly refused to yield to the prayers of his wife and would have made a vow to adopt the faith of the Christians, if their God gave him victory, only during the battle against the Alamanni. , at a time when he feared disaster. His baptism was in any case celebrated shortly after this decisive success, on December 25, 506, in Reims by Bishop Remi. 3,000 men from his army receive him at the same time as him. This capital event now makes him the champion of orthodoxy when the other barbarian rulers are all Arians. He assured him of the support of the clergy, essential for his domination, and rallied the Gallo-Roman population to him. Gregory of Tours compares the new protector of the Church to the Emperor Constantine.
Bringing his support to Godesigel in the fight between him and his brother Gondebaud, he led an expedition to Burgundy. Gondebaud was defeated in a battle fought under Dijon but nevertheless managed to save his heritage, and the two sovereigns ended up being reconciled. They even made an alliance in 507 against the king of the Visigoths, Alaric II, who was beaten and killed at the battle of Vouillé. After this overwhelming success which gave him Aquitaine, Clovis would have, still according to Grégoire de Tours, received in Tours, from the hands of the ambassadors of the Eastern Emperor Anastasius, the insignia of consul, that is to say a consecration of its power by the legitimate authority, that of the Roman emperor residing in Constantinople. But this account by Grégoire de Tours must be welcomed with the greatest reservations.
After the fall of the Visigoth kingdom, Clovis left Belgium, where his predecessors had fought and resided for a century, to settle permanently in Paris, his new capital. He finally became the only king of the Franks by probably having the old king of the Ripuaries, Sigebert, and his son Chioderic assassinated (around 509), while other branches of the Frankish trunk more or less voluntarily recognized his hegemony. The last great act of his reign was the meeting in Orleans, in 511, of a general council which reorganized the Church of Gaul. Although only half of the bishops of the States of Clovis went there, this council is nevertheless the first general council of France and truly marks the alliance of the throne and the altar.
When Clovis died in 511, the Franks were masters of Gaul, with the exception of Burgundy, and the hegemony of the Salian chiefs, who would direct the destinies of the "Nation of the Franks" for two centuries was firmly established. His four sons Thierry, Clodomir, Childebert and Clotaire will share his kingdom.