Quotes:Clovis

Zirkoff, Boris

Clovis (Chlodovech or Hlodowig, ca. 466-511). King of the Salian Franks, son of Childerich I, whom he succeeded in 481 at the age of 15. The Salian Franks had by then advanced to the river Somme, and were centred at Tournai. Of the first few years of his reign, we know next to nothing; in 486, he defeated the Roman general Syagrius at the battle of Soissons, and extended his dominion over Belgica Secunda, of which Reims was the capital. In 493, Clovis married a Burgundian princess, Clotilda, who was a Christian. Although he allowed his children to be baptized, he himself remained a pagan until the war against the Alamanni. After subduing a part of them, Clovis was baptized at Reims by St. Remigius on Christmas Day, 496, together with a considerable number of Franks. This was an event of some importance, as from that time the orthodox Christians in the kingdom of the Burgundians and Visigoths looked to Clovis to deliver them from their Arian kings. Clovis seems to have failed in the case of Burgundy, but was more fortunate in his war against the Visigoths; he defeated their king Alaric II, 507, and added the kingdom of the Visigoths as far as the Pyrenees to the Frankish empire. The last years of 410 Clovis’ life were spent in Paris, which he made capital of the kingdom, establishing the dynasty of the Merovingian kings. He can be rightfully considered as the true founder of the Frankish kingdom, the first to arise out of the wreck of the Roman Empire. Between the years 486 and 507, he had the Salian law drawn up. Much of his success was due to his alliance with the Church, whose property he took under his protection, convoking a Council at Orleans, in 511. While protecting the church, he maintained his authority over it. He was vigorous and ambitious, and had but few scruples and not much pity, though a nobler side of his character can be detected also.

The chief source for the life of Clovis is the Historia Francorum (Book II) of Gregory of Tours.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 9, pp. 409-410