2.2 Franks

2.2.1 The Establishment of a Frankish Kingdom in Gaul

Let us now turn to the Merovingian Franks to provideanother example of a culture that grew more powerful in western Europe as the Roman empire based in Rome itself grew weaker. There is no shortage of documentary evidence, but a key source is undoubtedly The History of the Franks,written in ten books by Gregory of Tours shortly before his death in AD 594, at which time he had been bishop of the city for more than twenty years. Gregory’s Historymakes use of some of the other material. The first book, as was common at the time, started with the Creation and continued to the death of St. Martin, bishop of Tours, in the second year of the reignsof Honorius (in the west) and Arcadius (in the east). Gregory dated that as AM (E) 5596 (corresponding to AD 396). Generally consistent with that, Hydatius and Prosper both noted the spreading fame of bishop Martin in entries in their chronicles whose dates corresponded to a time around 15 years earlier.

Taking material from a history written by Renatus Frigeridus in the fifth century, Gregory went on togive an account of Valentinian III becoming emperor in the west, at a time when Theodosius II was emperor in the east, and then told of the subsequent murder of Valentinian, who was succeeded (briefly) by Avitus. As mentioned above, events in western Europe during this period are also recorded in the chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine (which terminated in AD 455), the Gallic Chronicle of 452 (which terminated in AD 451), the Gallic Chronicle of 511 (which continued up to that AD date), the chronicle of Hydatius (which covered the period from the reign of Theodosius I, the father of Honorius and Arcadius, to AD 468) and the chronicle of Marius of Avenches (which extended the chronicle of Prosper to AD 581). These give generally consistent accounts, with Valentinian III coming to the throne in the west during the reign of Theodosius II in the east, and then being killed during the reign of Marcian, the successor of Theodosius.

Around this time, on the heels of Visigoths, Vandals and other Barbarian tribes, Franks began to move into western Europe, settling in the first instance in northern Gaul, in the region north of the Somme. According to Gregory, in The History of the Franks, the Frankish people had previously migrated from Pannonia into various districts east of the Rhine, each becoming an independent state, ruled by a king with long hair (a characteristic mark of office, which the Franks maintained for several more centuries). Clodio, whose capital was Duisburg in Thuringia was the first Frankish king to cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. The Franks were pagans and were entering territory that was predominantly Catholic for, at that time, the Romans still held control of western Gaul north of the Loire. The region south of the Loire was largely under the control of the Arian Visigoth kingdom, and to the east of this, in the region bordering the Rhône, lived the Burgundians, whose kings were related to the Visigoths and also Arian. Clodio and his Franks seized the town of Cambrai from the Romans and, from there, expanded their territory as far as the Somme. Clodio was an ancestor (possibly even the father) of a later king, Merovech (after whom the Merovingian dynasty was named, the Merovingian kings maintaining the tradition of having long hair).

Gregory gives only a brief mention of these two kings. His history of the Franks really begins with the accession to the throneof Childeric, sonof Merovech, when Eustochius was bishop of Tours (Eustochius, according to Gregory, became bishop 47 years after the death of St. Martin, and died in the 17th year of his episcopate). Gregory says that, shortly before Childeric became king, Attila the Hun invaded Gaul, captured Metz, and began to devastate the region in which the Franks were living. He then headed southwest, but was confronted near Orleans by Romans led by Aëtius and by Visigoths under king Theodoric I. In the ensuing battle, during which Theodoric was killed, the Visigoths and Romans, aided by the Franks, defeated Attila, and forced him to retreat from Gaul. (Prosper of Aquitaine and Cassiodorus both date this battle to the year when Marcian and Adelphius were consuls, corresponding to AD 451; Hydatius dates the battle to Spanish Era 490, the 1st year of the 308th Olympiad, and (indirectly) to AM (E) 5653, which is generally consistent with that.)

When Childeric succeeded his father as one of several Frankish kings in northern Gaul (which was the situation by this time), Gregory reports that his eagerness to seduce young women soon led to threats against his life, so he fled for safety to Thuringia. The Roman general Aegidius then became involved. Following the seizure of the imperial throne from Avitus by Majorian (in Spanish Era 495, i.e. AD 457, according to Hydatius), Aegidius had been sent to Gaul by the new emperor as magister militum (and remained in Gaul after Majorian’s death, operating in a largely independent fashion). As related by Gregory, Aegidius was invited by Chilperic’s subjects to assume direct authority over them in the absence of their king, an arrangement which lasted until it was deemed safe for Childeric to return. Childeric then fought a major battle at Orleans and, not long afterwards, Aegidius died. Gregory gives no further details but, taking into account information from various other sources, it seems that Childeric partnered Aegidius in confronting a Visigoth army led by Frederic, brother of king Theodoric II. The Visigoths were defeated, and Frederic was killed. Marius of Avenches writes that this battle took place in the year when Basilius and Vivianus were consuls (corresponding to AD 463). Consistent with the above, Hydatius says that both the battle and the death of Aegidius occurred during the reign of Libius Severus as western emperor, the former event in Spanish Era 501, i.e. AD 463, and the latter a year later. Hydatius adds that the departure of Aegidius from the scene made Gaul vulnerable to subsequent attacks by the Visigoths. Indeed, Gregory continues his account by describing how the next Visigoth king, Euric, soon began to cause havoc in Gaul (as we have already noted from the history by Isidore of Seville). After the death of Aegidius, Gaul was also subjected to attacks by Saxon marauders, led by Odoacer. However, Gregory says that Childeric eventually formed an alliance with Odoacer and together they drove back the Alamanni, who had invaded the northern part of Italy.

Few of the specific details about Childeric given by Gregory or the writers of other early sources are verifiable, but there seems no reason to doubt his existence. A tomb was found during rebuilding work in 1653 at the church of Saint-Brice in the Belgian city of Tournai, which is believed to have been Childeric’s capital, and amongst the valuable objects found associated with the tomb was a ring inscribed “Childerici Regis”, i.e. “of king Childeric”.

According to Gregory, Childeric was succeeded by his son Clovis, who was 15 years-old on his accession and went on to rule for 30 years, dying 112 years after St. Martin (which would place the death of Clovis in the year corresponding to AD 508, and hence his accession to AD 478). Gregory tells how Clovis, in the 5th year of his reign, formed an alliance with his relative, Ragnachar, king of another group of Franks (based around Cambrai), and attacked Soissons, where Syagrius, son of Aegidius, was trying to maintain the last vestiges of a Roman presence in Gaul. The army of Syagrius was annihilated, and Syagrius himself fled to seek refuge with the Visigoth king, Alaric II, in Toulouse. Clovis then advanced to the south and forced Alaric to hand over Syagrius, whom he subsequently killed. Thus the region between the Somme and the Loire fell under the control of the Franks. Clovis, like most of the Franks of his day, was a pagan, and his troops plundered the Christian churches around Soissons. Further military victories followed and, in the 10th year of his reign, Clovis invaded Thuringia and brought more people under his rule.

By this time, Clovis had fathered a son, Theuderic, by a concubine, but was still without a wife. So, when an envoy returned from Burgundy, and mentioned seeing there an elegant and intelligent princess called Clotild, Clovis decided to ask for her hand in marriage. Clotild was the daughter of Chilperic who together, with his brothers Gundobad, Gundomar and Godigisel, had split the Burgundian kingdom between them on the death of their father, Gundioc, a relative of Athanaric the Visigoth. Gundobad had recently murdered Chilperic, leaving the fate of the victim’s daughter in his hands, but, fearful of Clovis, he allowed him to take Clotild as his wife. Chilperic had raised Clotild as a Catholic, having renounced the Arianism of his father and brothers, and she attempted to convert Clovis to Catholicism, but he resisted her efforts. However, he agreed to her requests that their children could be baptised into the Catholic faith. They subsequently had four sons, Ingomer (who died in infancy), Chlodomer, Childebert and Chlothar, and a daughter, Clotild, who subsequently married Amalaric the king of the Visigoths. Gregory also records that Audofleda, the sister of Clovis, married the Ostrogoth, Theodoric the Great, king of Italy.

In the 15th year of his reign, Clovis won an unexpected victory over the Alamanni after calling upon the name of Christ at a crucial point in the battle. In consequence, and with further encouragement from his wife, Clotild, he was baptised as a Catholic by Remigius, bishop of Rheims. Correspondence between Clovis and Romigius has been preserved, as has a letter to Clovis from Avitus, bishop of Vienne, which refers to his conversion.

Godigisel, who then shared the Burgundian kingdom with his brother Gundobad (Godigisel ruling from Vienne and Gundobad from Lyons) made overtures to Clovis about a possible alliance, saying he would pay a tribute to the Frankish king if he would help him defeat Gundobad and unify the kingdom under his own rule. Clovis and Godigisel subsequently defeated Gundobad in battle near Dijon, and Clovis pursued him to Avignon, where he took refuge. Gundobad sent out an envoy, Aridius, who pointed out to Clovis that Avignon was too well-fortified to fall to the Franks without a lengthy siege, so proposed an arrangement by which the Franks would go home, in return for the payment of a substantial tribute by Gundobad. Clovis agreed, and took his army out of Burgundy. Gundobad soon recovered his strength, and marched his army against Godigiel, besieging him in the city of Vienne. Eventually he broke in and killed his brother, together with one of his bishops, in an Arian church. Gundobad, now king of the whole of Burgundy, then made peace with the Franks. (Marius of Avenches says that these events took place in the year when Patricius and Hypatius were consuls, which corresponds to AD 500.) According to Gregory, Gundobad became a convert to Catholicism, but kept that a secret from his subjects.

Following his own conversion, Clovis became angry that Arian Visigoths occupied part of Gaul. Theodoric the Great (in letters preserved in the variae epistolae of Cassiodorus) tried to persuade Clovis to avoid conflict with the Visigoth king, Alaric II, and vice versa, but to no effect. Gregory reports that Clovis confronted his army near Poitiers. Alaric was killed during the ensuing battle, and the Visigoths were driven back into their Spanish territories, leaving the Franks in control of cities such as Toulouse and Angoulême. (Isidore dates these events to Spanish Era 544, corresponding to AD 506.) Shortly afterwards, Clovis received a letter from the emperor in the east, Anastasius, conferring on him a consulate (presumably of an honorary nature). Clad in a purple tunic and the military mantle, Clovis crowned himself with a diadem in the church of St. Martin in Tours. He then travelled to Paris, where he established the seat of his government.

Gregory goes on to tell how Clovis put a great deal of effort into defeating the other Frankish kings who held parts of northern Gaul and areas in the vicinity of the Rhine. He persuaded Chloderic, son of king Sigibert, who ruled in Cologne, to murder his father, and when that had been accomplished, Clovis arranged for Chloderic to be killed. Thus Clovis assimilated Sigibert’s kingdom into his own. He then marched west and overcame king Chararic and his son, symbolically removing their royal status by cutting their hair short, and ordering them to become priests. When he subsequently heard that they were growing their hair long again, he had their heads cut off. After that, he took possession of Chararic’s kingdom. Clovis then advanced on Cambrai, to confront his relative, Ragnachar. When Ragnachar saw the strength of Clovis’s forces, he and his brother Ricchar attempted to slip away, but were captured by their own men and brought before Clovis, who killed them both with an axe. Clovis then ordered the death of another brother, Rignomer, in Le Mans, and he also killed other Frankish kings whom he saw as potential rivals. In each case, Clovis took over their kingdoms, and their treasure. Thus he became king of all the Franks, and his kingdom stretched throughout Gaul.

Details given by Gregory about events in the time of Clovis are generally consistent with entries in the Gallic Chronicle of 511, the chronicle of Marius of Avenches and the histories of Isidore of Seville and of Jordanes.

2.2.2 Chlothar I and his Brothers

When Clovis died (in Paris, in the 11th year of Licinius as bishop of Tours), his kingdom was divided between his four sons, Chlothar I,Chlodomer, Childebert I and Theuderic I. The region was rarely at peace. Gregory tells us that Theuderic, whose kingdom included territory to the northeast of those of his half-brothers, was soon enticed by Hermanfrid, who ruled half of Thuringia, to help him depose his brother Baderic, who ruled the other half, on the promise that, if this plot was successful, Baderic’s kingdom would be divided equally between Hermanfrid and Theuderic. Baderic was indeed killed during the joint invasion of his territory, but Hermanfrid failed to keep his promise to Theuderic.Meanwhile, Queen Clotild called her sons together and urged them to invade Burgundy, to avenge the murder of her father, Chilperic, by Gundobad, whose son, Sigismund, was now king. (Marius of Avenches says Sigismund became king when Peter was consul, which corresponds to AD 516.) Sigismund, who had married a daughter of Theodoric the Great the Ostrogoth, was taken prisoner by Chlodomer and eventually killed, but his brother Godomer escaped. In a subseqent battle, the Burgundian army took flight, pursued by the headstrong Chlodomer, who became isolated from his own troops and was lured into a trap by the retreating enemy. Chlodomer’s head was severed from his shoulders. (Marius of Avenches said this occurred in the year when Justin and Opilio were consuls, the 2nd indiction, corresponding to AD 524.)

Following Chlodomer’s death, his three young sons were put in the care of Queen Clotild in Paris. Childebert became concerned that she was lavishing too much attention on them, possibly indicating a preparation for kingship. He sent a message to his brother Chlothar, suggesting that he came with him to Paris to resolve the situation. When they arrived, they sent a messenger to Clotild, asking her if she would be willing to send the princes into a monastery, as an alternative to them being killed. Her response was that she would sooner see them dead, rather than with short hair. So, the two kings entered the rooms where the boys were staying, and Chlothar stabbed the eldest, Theudovald, to death. The second boy, Gunthar, held on to Childebert and pleaded for mercy. Childebert was moved by his pleas, but Chlothar pointed out that the plot had been Childebert’s idea, and threatened to kill his brother unless he let go of the boy. So, Childebert pushed Gunthar away, allowing Chlothar to murder him. The third boy, Chlodovald, escaped, protected by his guards. He had no wish for kingship, and cut his hair short with his own hands, before becoming a priest. Childebert and Chlothar then divided Chlodomer’s lands between them.

Soon afterwards, Childebert received a message from his sister Clotild, the wife of the Visigoth king, Amalric, saying she was being appallingly treated because of her insistence on retaining her Catholic faith. Childebert set out to help her, the strength of his army causing Amalric to flee. The Visigoth king made plans to escape by boat, but first went to Barcelona to pick up treasure he had stored there. His own soldiers blocked his path and, as he tried to take refuge in a church, one of them killed him. Childebert set off back to Paris, his capital, with his sister and much plunder, but Clotild died on the journey, and was buried in Paris alongside her father, Clovis.