Clovis, king of the Franks, had a rich, colorful family history. He was the most striking historical character of the Merovingian dynasty - the first royal dynasty that ruled the state, now embracing France and Belgium. The name Clovis, meaning "loud battle", and later modified - Louis, fell in love with his descendants and became the most popular name in Germanic and Romanesque Europe.
Historical roots of the Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingian dynasty has Frankish roots: until the 5th century, their ancestors were in German lands, but by the end of the century they went straight to Gaul, and having settled there, they founded a new state. Some historians claim that this state was called "Austrasia", with its center in the region of modern Lorraine.
Merovingian timeframe: 5th-13th centuries. The golden age of the dynasty falls on the period of the history of King Arthur, and because of this, the real history of the Merovingians is closely intertwined with Norse mythology, which makes historical analysis extremely difficult.
Direct founder of the dynasty - Merovei, grandfatherClovis, who brought Roman rules of government to the lands of Gaul, the fashion for secular education and literacy. All of his descendants were not crowned kings. Nevertheless, they were revered by the people, which was built into a kind of ritual cult. Under Merovei, the post of "mayordom" was established - a position similar to the post of chancellor. Since then, all Merovingian monarchs have performed their royal role, and managerial affairs have been shifted onto the shoulders of the mayor.
Sacred regalia and symbols of power
The distinctive imperious symbol of the Merovingians is long hair, the cutting of which was comparable to the renunciation of power. For example, Clotilde, the wife of Clovis, finding herself in a situation of choice: parting with her hair or the death of her captive grandchildren, agreed to the second option without giving up her power. Long hair was also associated with the paranormal abilities of the Merovingians, including a healing gift. Like the biblical story of Samson and the treacherous Delilah, cutting hair meant losing strength.
The sacred emblem of the dynasty - golden bees inlaid with garnets.
Bees are a sacred pagan symbol of immortality, eternal life. It was this emblem that Napoleon subsequently borrowed, believing that it would indicate the fact of the historical continuity of his power.
Mythological legend about the founder of the Merovingian dynasty
Merovei's name means "glorious fight". Gregory of Tours describes a legend according to which Merovei wasborn as a result of intercourse of his mother with a sea monster. The myth says that at the birth of her son, the mother saw the bristles of a boar on Merovei's back. Historians associate this myth with the cult of the boar, the patron saint of military affairs and the god of fertility of the ancient Franks.
According to legend, once a year this boar comes ashore from Lake Retra and bestows fertility and success in the military field on its admirers. Subsequently, in the German-Scandinavian mythology, one could observe the strengthening of the cult of the boar-leader.
What is interesting for the chroniclers of Clovis, King of the Franks. Biography of the Merovingian and the historical significance of his reign
Clovis I is the name of three Frankish kings from the Merovingian dynasty. What do historians know about him?
Clovis, king of the Franks, grandson of Merovei, son of Hilderic I and Basina, according to chronicles, was born around 466. At the age of 15, Clovis became king for a small part of the salic (i.e. sea) Franks and came to grips with expanding the borders of his territory.
Having conquered the territories of Siarpia, Clovis I and the allied kings went to war with the Goths. Disdaining neither intrigues, nor meanness, nor murders, Clovis cleared all the southwestern lands of the Goths. Already in 507, he sat on the throne of the ruler of all French lands. Historians believe that his decision to be baptized, dated December 25, 498, ensured such success. His wife Clotilde urged the king to be baptized.
During his reign, Clovis, king of the Franks, made Paris the capital of the conquered lands. And by initiatingcreation of a code of Frankish laws, he also opened a new chapter in the entire northern European history.
Clovis died in Paris in 511, leaving all his lands as a legacy to his sons.
Campaign against Siarpiya. The legend of the Soissons bowl
Having assumed the post of king, Clovis began to act according to a plan for the gradual capture of all Gallic lands. The strategy was as follows: in order to get to the Gothic and Burgundian lands, which were a tasty morsel, it was necessary to subjugate the lands of Siarpia, adjacent to the coveted territory.
It was not difficult for Clovis to seize the lands of Siarpia, and soon he was gradually moving city by city to the land of the Burgundians. The troops of Clovis did not disdain any means of quick profit. In military campaigns, churches and temples were often robbed.
The following legend is known everywhere. As a result of another raid on the church, the Franks and their king Clovis stumbled upon an extremely valuable mug. This item was so important that the bishop literally begged the king to return it to the temple. Clovis was adamant and demanded that the mug be assigned to his share of the trophies. All the king's companions were not against such a division, but one of the Franks opposed and, striking the mug with a sword, angrily told the king that he should not use his position and receive trophies in excess of the established measure.
The king pretended to forgive him this trick, and even returned the mug to the bishop, but a year later, at a review of the troops, he accused the warrior of having his weapon in poor condition, pulled it out ofhand ax and threw it to the ground, and when the warrior bent down after it, cut his skull in half.
The Baptism of Clovis: background and consequences
The prerequisites for the adoption of Christianity by Clovis was his marriage to a zealous Catholic Clotilde, Princess of Burgundy. Assuming the royal throne, Clotilde desperately tried to force her husband to accept her faith.
These attempts were unsuccessful for a very long time. No matter how Clotilde proved to Clovis the inconsistency of his gods, pointing out their similarity with ordinary, petty, vicious people, he stood his ground and answered her that he believes in his gods, and the god of Christianity is implausible, because he does not manifest himself in anything and cannot create miracles.
Strongly pushed Clovis away from the Christian faith and the fact that Clotilde's first-born died directly during baptism, in the font. Clovis at that time was sure that if the child had been given under the protection of the pagan gods, he would have been alive.
However, the water wears away the stone, and Clotilde got her way. Around 498, the Gallic king was baptized.
As the tradition of the church says, it happened at the battle with the Almandians. When Clovis began to lose the battle, he vainly called out to his gods for help, and when there was almost no hope of salvation, the king remembered the words of the prayer to Jesus the Savior, said them, and the Franks, having made a successful maneuver, defeated the Almandians.
The king was baptized in the city of Reims in 496. Conversion of Clovis and his closest subjects inthe Christian faith opened up to him wide opportunities for friendship with the Gallo-Romans, which allowed him to significantly expand his possessions.
Religious policy of the Merovingian dynasty
An interesting fact is that the newly formed state of Austrasia did not become Christian in the truest sense of the word even after the baptism of Clovis and his closest retinue. Despite all the efforts of the sincere Christian Clotilde, her husband did not come to the true faith. As before, the people were devoted to pagan customs, rituals and the Scandinavian pantheon.
Clovis from the Merovingian dynasty was not particularly worried about the fate of Christianity in his lands. After baptism, nothing changed in his public policy, so that the task of spreading the Christian faith fell on the shoulders of missionaries arriving from other parts of Europe. In the vicinity of Paris and Orleans, as well as other broad Merovingian possessions, the process of active "Catholicization" of the local population began. Interestingly, the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, did not have authority in the Austrasian lands, and a little later it was he who contributed to the overthrow of the Merovingian dynasty from the throne.
This once again proves the fact that the adoption of Christianity for Clovis, as well as for the Russian prince Vladimir, was a purely political cunning multi-move. The characteristics of Clovis, the king of the Franks, are generally very similar to the characteristics of Vladimir, the prince of Kievan Rus: both of them were baptized themselves and baptized their retinue, based on political motives, namely, for the sake of friendship with Byzantium. Also noteworthy is the similarity of the development scenarioevents after baptism: just as Gaul remained predominantly pagan after the baptism of Clovis, so Kievan Rus after the baptism of Vladimir did not at first accept the Christian faith, but remained with its pagan pantheon.
Gothic War
When Clovis, king of the Franks, was converted to Christianity, an era of success began in relations with the Gallo-Romans. Having come close to the Gothic lands, Clovis, who had already received the support of the higher clergy, began a war in the year 500 against Gundobald, the uncle of his wife Clotilde, who killed her parents and brothers for the sake of the throne. In 506, the victory was won, and the conqueror finally entered the Visigothic kingdom. Clovis, according to Gregory of Tours, was extremely worried about the fact that the Goths were oppressing some part of Gaul, so the war undertaken by him was called sacred, which was extremely pleased with the higher clergy.
Finally, Clovis struck the Goths near Poitiers, on Vouglo. Having killed Alaric, the king is ready, the conqueror was finally convinced of his power and became so proud that soon the Byzantine emperor Anastasius became agitated and sent him a letter to the consulate in order to indicate to Clovis his subordinate place and to assert the primacy of the empire over all the lands that he freed from the Goths.
Brutal strategy to kill all potential opponents
How can you describe the management under Clovis? After a successful Gallic war, he began to systematically destroy all his opponents, the Gallic leaders. Taking over their lands and destroying them allsuccessively, the king soon possessed almost all of Gaul.
The closest relatives, the brothers Rignomer and Richard, were killed personally by Clovis. The king of the Franks, whose biography is replete with many more "accidental" violent deaths of competitors, however, was not quick-tempered: not a single murder happened affectively, opponents were destroyed gradually, cunningly and imperceptibly.
In the end, Clovis killed everyone who did not please him during his reign: Hararih, the king who refused to help in the battle against Syagrius, and his son, in order to stop encroachments on the throne of his father. Clovis did the same with the leaders of the Rhine Franks: Sigibert, his ally, he killed with the hands of his own son, promising the latter his support and royal mantle for parricide. When Chloderic killed his father Sigibert, and Clovis entered the kingdom, he declared Chloderic a traitor, killed him and took the throne himself.
There is a known case when Clovis called all his people and poured out his soul to them, complaining that he had no more relatives left to support him. The whole cunning plan was to find out if the king had any more random relatives, whom he would gladly also kill.
Kingdom of Clovis as a new stage in French history
After the end of the Gothic war, Clovis made Paris the capital of all his lands and settled there. Immediately, the king ordered the construction of the Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul (now the Church of St. Genevieve). After the death of Clovis in 511, he was buried there.
In 511, just beforehis own death, Clovis initiated the first Frankish Church Council in Orleans with the aim of transforming the Gallic church. He also contributed to the establishment of the Salic Pravda, the code of laws of the Franks.
After the death of the king, his possessions were divided by his four sons. Clotilde, canonized, moved to Tours and spent the rest of her days in the Basilica of Saint Martin.
So the story of Clovis remains heroic. Even despite some negative, impartial moments of his biography. The successful reign of Clovis launched the process of formation of a kind of renewed Roman Empire - the state, the symbol of which was a mutually beneficial union between the state and the church, between the secular power of the Merovingians and the spiritual power of the Christian diocese.
