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All of the classes and ranks of people were:

nobles

peasants

tradesmen

All of these classes were severely affected by the rulings of the church.

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Peasant Women were expected to help their husbands with the daily chores, and they would have to help them attend to provisions along with cooking daily meals.

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Noblewomen are women who belong to a noble class. They had specific roles in the Medieval community; however, they could not make decisions of importance.

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A troubadour was a French medieval lyric poet composing and singing in Provencal in the 11th to 13th centuries, especially on the theme of courtly love.

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Expectations, Training, and Actions of a Knight

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Expectations, Training, and Actions of a Knight

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Expectations - In order to be a knight, you had to be wealthy. You had to have very expensive armor, and you also had to know how to ride horseback.
Training: The training to become a knight started at the young age of 7. They were normally the sons of noblemen or other knights.
Actions: The actions of knights were to fight for their country, and they would defend the people of their empires.

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When Charlemagne died, he left behind 18 kids, and they divided the empire up unto all of the children. By the late 800's, the empire had completely dissolved. Soon after the amazing leader died, he became a legendary figure that was awarded with mythical qualities.

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Charlemagne's Early Years

Charlemagne-sometimes referred to as Charles the Great-was born around 742, the son of Bertrada of Laon (d.783) and Pepin the Short (d.768), who became king of the Franks in 751.

Charlemagne's exact birthplace is unknown, although historians have suggested Liege in present-day Belgium and Aachen in modern-day Germany as possible locations. Similarly, little is known about the future ruler's childhood and education, although as an adult, he displayed a talent for languages and could speak Latin and understand Greek, among other languages.

Did you know? Charlemagne served as a source of inspiration for such leaders as Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who had visions of ruling a unified Europe.

After Pepin's death in 768, the Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman. The brothers had a strained relationship; however, with Carloman's death in 771, a 24-year-old Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franks.

Charlemagne Expands his Christian Empire

Once in power, Charlemagne sought to unite all the Germanic peoples into one kingdom, and convert his subjects to Christianity. In order to carry out this mission, he spent the majority of his reign engaged in military campaigns. Soon after becoming king, he conquered the Lombards (in present-day northern Italy), the Avars (in modern-day Austria and Hungary) and Bavaria, among others.

Charlemagne waged a bloody, three decades-long series of battles against the Saxons, a Germanic tribe of pagans, and earned a reputation for ruthlessness. In 782 at the Massacre of Verden, Charlemagne reportedly ordered the slaughter of some 4,500 Saxons. He eventually forced the Saxons to convert to Christianity, and declared that anyone who didn't get baptized or follow other Christian traditions be put to death.

Charlemagne's Family

In his personal life, Charlemagne had multiple wives and mistresses and perhaps as many as 18 children. He was reportedly a devoted father, who encouraged his children's education. He allegedly loved his daughters so much that he prohibited them from marrying while he was alive.

Einhard, a Frankish scholar and contemporary of Charlemagne, wrote a biography of the emperor after his death. In the work, titled "Vita Karoli Magni (Life of Charles the Great)," he described Charlemagne as "broad and strong in the form of his body and exceptionally tall without, however, exceeding an appropriate measure...His appearance was impressive whether he was sitting or standing despite having a neck that was fat and too short, and a large belly."

Holy Roman Emperor

In his role as a zealous defender of Christianity, Charlemagne gave money and land to the Christian church and protected the popes. As a way to acknowledge Charlemagne's power and reinforce his relationship with the church, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans and first ruler of the vast Holy Roman Empire on December 25, 800, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

As Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne proved to be a talented diplomat and able administrator of the vast area he controlled. He promoted education and encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of renewed emphasis on scholarship and culture.

Charlemagne also instituted economic and religious reforms, and was a driving force behind the Carolingian minuscule, a standardized form of writing that later became a basis for modern European printed alphabets.

Carolingian Empire

Charlemagne ruled from a number of cities and palaces throughout the Carolingian Empire, but spent significant time in Aachen. His palace there included a school, for which he recruited the best teachers in the land.

In addition to learning, Charlemagne was interested in athletic pursuits. Known to be highly energetic, he enjoyed hunting, horseback riding and swimming. Aachen held particular appeal for him due to its therapeutic warm springs.

He was also no stranger to elegant indulgence: According to Einhard, "On great feast-days Charles made use of embroidered clothes, and shoes bedecked with precious stones. His cloak was fastened by a golden buckle, and he appeared crowned with a diadem of gold and gems."

Charlemagne's Death and Succession

Einhard wrote that Charlemagne was in good health until the final four years of his life, when he often suffered from fevers and acquired a limp. However, as the biographer notes, "Even at this time...he followed his own counsel rather than the advice of the doctors, whom he very nearly hated, because they advised him to give up roasted meat, which he loved, and to restrict himself to boiled meat instead."

In 813, Charlemagne crowned his son Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, as co-emperor. Louis became sole emperor when Charlemagne died in January 814 at the age of 72, ending his reign of more than four decades. At the time of his death, his empire encompassed much of Western Europe.

Charlemagne was buried at the cathedral in Aachen. In the ensuing decades, his empire was divided up among his heirs, and by the late 800s, it had dissolved.

Nevertheless, Charlemagne became a legendary figure endowed with mythical qualities. In 1165, under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Charlemagne was canonized for political reasons; however, the Catholic Church today does not recognize his sainthood.

Charlemagne's Skull

Years after his burial in Aachen, authorities believe that pieces of Charlemagne's skull and some of his bones were exhumed for placement in church reliquaries throughout Europe. Most of his skeleton, however, is believed to have stayed at his cathedral in Aachen.

In 2014, researchers determined that Charlemagne's skull and other bones in Aachen were indeed the remains of a singularly tall, large man who died in his 70s and had bony deposits in the knee and heel bones, giving credence to the story of Charlemagne's limp. The top of the skull remains visible in an ornate golden bust securely housed in the cathedral.

Sword of Charlemagne

Another remnant from Charlemagne's reign has achieved near-mythic status: La Joyeuse, or "the Joyous," a medieval sword, is believed by some authorities to be the sword Charlemagne carried into battle.

Armory experts debate whether the sword - a 38-inch weapon with a gold hilt - is actually the sword of Charlemagne, or a later creation that was used primarily for ceremonies. Currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the sword had been used for the coronations of French kings since Philip the Bold was crowned in 1270.

Sources

Charlemagne lived on. Route Charlemagne Aachen.
Charlemagne in Aachen 2014. Medieval Histories.
Charlemagne's Bones Are Likely Authentic, Scientists Say. LiveScience.com.
The Sword of Charlemagne. MyArmoury.com.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Charlemagne: Facts, Empire & Holy Roman Emperor - HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was a medieval king who established a vast Carolingian empire and was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope.

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Charlemagne was a emperor of the Romans. In which, he encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance. And died in 814.

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Charlemagne's Early Years

Charlemagne-sometimes referred to as Charles the Great-was born around 742, the son of Bertrada of Laon (d.783) and Pepin the Short (d.768), who became king of the Franks in 751.

Charlemagne's exact birthplace is unknown, although historians have suggested Liege in present-day Belgium and Aachen in modern-day Germany as possible locations. Similarly, little is known about the future ruler's childhood and education, although as an adult, he displayed a talent for languages and could speak Latin and understand Greek, among other languages.

Did you know? Charlemagne served as a source of inspiration for such leaders as Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who had visions of ruling a unified Europe.

After Pepin's death in 768, the Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman. The brothers had a strained relationship; however, with Carloman's death in 771, a 24-year-old Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franks.

Charlemagne Expands his Christian Empire

Once in power, Charlemagne sought to unite all the Germanic peoples into one kingdom, and convert his subjects to Christianity. In order to carry out this mission, he spent the majority of his reign engaged in military campaigns. Soon after becoming king, he conquered the Lombards (in present-day northern Italy), the Avars (in modern-day Austria and Hungary) and Bavaria, among others.

Charlemagne waged a bloody, three decades-long series of battles against the Saxons, a Germanic tribe of pagans, and earned a reputation for ruthlessness. In 782 at the Massacre of Verden, Charlemagne reportedly ordered the slaughter of some 4,500 Saxons. He eventually forced the Saxons to convert to Christianity, and declared that anyone who didn't get baptized or follow other Christian traditions be put to death.

Charlemagne's Family

In his personal life, Charlemagne had multiple wives and mistresses and perhaps as many as 18 children. He was reportedly a devoted father, who encouraged his children's education. He allegedly loved his daughters so much that he prohibited them from marrying while he was alive.

Einhard, a Frankish scholar and contemporary of Charlemagne, wrote a biography of the emperor after his death. In the work, titled "Vita Karoli Magni (Life of Charles the Great)," he described Charlemagne as "broad and strong in the form of his body and exceptionally tall without, however, exceeding an appropriate measure...His appearance was impressive whether he was sitting or standing despite having a neck that was fat and too short, and a large belly."

Holy Roman Emperor

In his role as a zealous defender of Christianity, Charlemagne gave money and land to the Christian church and protected the popes. As a way to acknowledge Charlemagne's power and reinforce his relationship with the church, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans and first ruler of the vast Holy Roman Empire on December 25, 800, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

As Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne proved to be a talented diplomat and able administrator of the vast area he controlled. He promoted education and encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of renewed emphasis on scholarship and culture.

Charlemagne also instituted economic and religious reforms, and was a driving force behind the Carolingian minuscule, a standardized form of writing that later became a basis for modern European printed alphabets.

Carolingian Empire

Charlemagne ruled from a number of cities and palaces throughout the Carolingian Empire, but spent significant time in Aachen. His palace there included a school, for which he recruited the best teachers in the land.

In addition to learning, Charlemagne was interested in athletic pursuits. Known to be highly energetic, he enjoyed hunting, horseback riding and swimming. Aachen held particular appeal for him due to its therapeutic warm springs.

He was also no stranger to elegant indulgence: According to Einhard, "On great feast-days Charles made use of embroidered clothes, and shoes bedecked with precious stones. His cloak was fastened by a golden buckle, and he appeared crowned with a diadem of gold and gems."

Charlemagne's Death and Succession

Einhard wrote that Charlemagne was in good health until the final four years of his life, when he often suffered from fevers and acquired a limp. However, as the biographer notes, "Even at this time...he followed his own counsel rather than the advice of the doctors, whom he very nearly hated, because they advised him to give up roasted meat, which he loved, and to restrict himself to boiled meat instead."

In 813, Charlemagne crowned his son Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, as co-emperor. Louis became sole emperor when Charlemagne died in January 814 at the age of 72, ending his reign of more than four decades. At the time of his death, his empire encompassed much of Western Europe.

Charlemagne was buried at the cathedral in Aachen. In the ensuing decades, his empire was divided up among his heirs, and by the late 800s, it had dissolved.

Nevertheless, Charlemagne became a legendary figure endowed with mythical qualities. In 1165, under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Charlemagne was canonized for political reasons; however, the Catholic Church today does not recognize his sainthood.

Charlemagne's Skull

Years after his burial in Aachen, authorities believe that pieces of Charlemagne's skull and some of his bones were exhumed for placement in church reliquaries throughout Europe. Most of his skeleton, however, is believed to have stayed at his cathedral in Aachen.

In 2014, researchers determined that Charlemagne's skull and other bones in Aachen were indeed the remains of a singularly tall, large man who died in his 70s and had bony deposits in the knee and heel bones, giving credence to the story of Charlemagne's limp. The top of the skull remains visible in an ornate golden bust securely housed in the cathedral.

Sword of Charlemagne

Another remnant from Charlemagne's reign has achieved near-mythic status: La Joyeuse, or "the Joyous," a medieval sword, is believed by some authorities to be the sword Charlemagne carried into battle.

Armory experts debate whether the sword - a 38-inch weapon with a gold hilt - is actually the sword of Charlemagne, or a later creation that was used primarily for ceremonies. Currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the sword had been used for the coronations of French kings since Philip the Bold was crowned in 1270.

Sources

Charlemagne lived on. Route Charlemagne Aachen.
Charlemagne in Aachen 2014. Medieval Histories.
Charlemagne's Bones Are Likely Authentic, Scientists Say. LiveScience.com.
The Sword of Charlemagne. MyArmoury.com.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Charlemagne: Facts, Empire & Holy Roman Emperor - HISTORY

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Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was a medieval king who established a vast Carolingian empire and was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope.

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Monasteries were places where build. They were also places reserved for prayer and could also be used as a chapel or church.

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Medieval monasteries were based on 6th century rules set up by St. Benedict. A medieval monastery was a building or a complex of several buildings where Monks or Nuns lived. They lived there alone or in communities depending upon the type of monastery. Monks and Nuns took a vow of poverty, chastity and remained loyal to their leaders. Medieval Monasteries mostly consisted of a praying area in the form of a church, temple or chapel whereas vast monastery complexes had several buildings which included a library, dormitory, infirmary, cloister and refectory. These monasteries also had areas to provide service to the community and facilitate self-sufficiency.

What were Medieval Monasteries?

Medieval monasteries were the places where monks and nuns lived in order to worship for the world. These were small or large depending on their type. Small monasteries mostly had worship place and living place, whereas large monastery complexes consisted of a large number of buildings dedicated for different purposes like worshipping, studying, living and helping the poor people. In order to live a monastic life, Monks had to make many vows like spending their lives in service of God, giving away their properties to others, obeying the Abbot at all the times, staying in the monasteries all their lives and remaining celibate.

History of the Medieval Monastery

The history of Medieval Monasteries started around the 5th century, when the Saint Saba organised the monks of an area close to Bethlehem in a monastery. Then in the 6th century the Monastery of Monte Cassino was founded by Saint Benedict of Nursia. It was the basis of the Order of Saint Benedict & the Roman Catholic monasticism. Initially the Monks were hermits living a solitary life but due to it's difficult nature most of them failed and returned to their normal lives. Later monks started to live close to each other for mutual support and for common services on Sundays. St. Pachomios gave the idea that Monks should live and worship together under one roof. Historically, another reason of establishment of medieval Monasteries was to Christianise Pagan Europe.

Medieval Monastery Types

Medieval Monasteries were of three types and were categorised mostly on the basis of their size: "Cenobiums", "ketes" and "hermit" were the three types. A cenobium was a monastic community where monks lived together, worked together and prayed together. Large monasteries could hold thousands of monks and were called Lavras. The Monks followed the orders of an abbot and elder monks. The second type of monastic establishment was comparatively small and called a kete that consisted of mostly one elder and a couple of disciples. Whereas, third type was a hermit, who did not live as a part of a monastic community and lived in total solitude.

What was the Purpose of Medieval Monasteries?

The purpose of Medieval Monasteries was to provide self contained place for monks and nuns so that they could worship and ask for forgiveness without having any interference from the outside world. As monks and nuns separated themselves from the rest of the world and devoted their lives to religion, hence it was thought that they should live in communities inside the monasteries. These monasteries worked to preserve the message provided by religion and spread that message across the world. Monasteries played their vital role in the Christianisation of Pagan Europe. During medieval times these monks were some of the only people who could read and write. They wrote many books and also provided education to many people in different parts of the world.

Who lived in Medieval Monasteries?

Monks or Nuns lived in Medieval Monastries, who were mostly from twelve to two hundred in number. Their primary purpose was services and prayers. There was an Abbot that was Christ's representative on earth. Then there were novices who also lived there for training purpose. There were Lay brothers and the estate workers for help and support and different types of obedientiaries who worked as servants. These obedientiaries were men whose main responsibility was to manage day to day activities of a monastery and to make sure everything was taking place accordingly to the rules and regulations. Among these there was a cellar who was responsible for provisions, a fraterniser who was responsible for crockery and lavatorium, the chamberlain was responsible for beds and clothing, the almoner was responsible for charitable goods for the poor, the precentor was responsible for organisation of church services whereas the sacrist was responsible for the church furnishings. These people all lived in a medieval monastery and helped it function correctly.

Famous Medieval Monasteries

There were many medieval monasteries that became famous for different reasons. Some were famous because they had monks that were famous scholars and led exemplary lives whereas others were famous for their architecture and beauty.

Monte Cassino, Italy

Saint Benedict built this monastery in the 6th Century BC on the top of a mountain in Italy. It was famous for its arts and treasures that were donated by the devoted Christian visitors. It also had big library that had several ancient rare books by respected scholars. During the middle ages, it was destroyed several times by the earthquakes and wars, but was rebuilt every time as it was the main Benedict monastery.

St. Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai Egypt

Roman ruler Justinian built this monastery between the years 527 and 567 at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt. The Christians living in that area believed that on this mountain God spoke to a prophet named Moses. The monastery had a huge library that had many unique books.

Alcobaca Monastery

This monastery was established by Afonso Henriques, the first Portuguese King, in the 12th Century BC. It was built in the town of Alcobaca in Portugal and was of prime importance for the Kings of Portugal throughout Medieval History. The monastery opened a public school in 13th century BC and also contributed in the agricultural area of the Kingdom. Many Kings were buried inside its premises which shows how important this monastery was during Medieval times.

Summary of Medieval Monasteries

Apart from providing shelter and a secluded place for the monks and nuns of the medieval period, monastery also served its purpose of educating people and monks were part of the lucky few in medieval society who could read and write. Different types of monasteries had different sizes and layouts. Some were very small and consisted of a living area and a place of worship, whereas others were big complexes with several buildings.

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Medieval monasteries were based on 6th century rules set up by St. Benedict. A medieval monastery was a building or a complex of several buildings where Monks or Nuns lived. They lived there alone or in communities depending upon the type of monastery.

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Gregory the Great was one of two popes that served during the difficult times of the barbarian invasions in Italy.

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Christian History | Learn the History of Christianity & the Church

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Part Two: Europe

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Part One: Europe

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Clovis was a kind, and also a ruler of the Franks. He helped turn the whole Roman Empire around. He helped them believe in Christianity, and he also helped build the Empire.

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Clovis I, (born c. 466-died November 27, 511, Paris, France), king of the Franks and ruler of much of Gaul from 481 to 511, a key period during the transformation of the Roman Empire into Europe. His dynasty, the Merovingians, survived more than 200 years, until the rise of the Carolingians in the 8th century. While he was not the first Frankish king, he was the kingdom's political and religious founder.

Clovis was the son of the pagan Frankish king Childeric and the Thuringian queen Basina. He succeeded his father in 481 as the ruler of the Salian Franks and other Frankish groups around Tournai (now in Belgium). Although the chronology of his reign is imprecise, it is certain that by the time of his death in 511 he had consolidated the Franks and expanded his influence and rule to include the Roman province of Belgica Secunda in 486 and the territories of the Alemanni (in 496), the Burgundians (in 500), and the Visigoths (in 507). Clovis's kingdom began in the region encompassing modern Belgium and northeastern France, expanded south and west, and became the most powerful in Gaul. He was the most important Western ally of the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I. The Pactus Legis Salicae (Law of the Salian Franks), a written code combining customary law, Roman written law, Christian ideals, and royal edicts, likely originated during Clovis's reign and had a long history of emendation and influence. Clovis married the Catholic Burgundian princess Clotilda and had five children with her. A son, Theuderic, was born prior to the marriage; his mother is unknown.

Clovis, like his father, dealt politically and diplomatically with the Catholic bishops of Gaul. These powerful figures had no qualms about working with Germanic kings, as a letter to Clovis from Bishop Remigius of Reims, written early in the king's reign, makes clear. The bishops saw themselves as the king's natural advisers, and, even before his conversion to Catholic Christianity and his baptism at Reims (now in France) by Remigius, Clovis apparently recognized their rights and protected their property. In a letter written to Clovis at the time of his baptism, Avitus of Vienne (now in France) praises his faith, humility, and mercy. Significantly, in the year of his death, Clovis summoned the bishops to a church council at Orléans.

Much was written about Clovis by Gregory of Tours in his Histories (often called the History of the Franks), which appeared more than 50 years after Clovis's death. Interpreting him from a Christian perspective, Gregory tells stirring stories about Clovis and portrays him as a single-minded warrior. He uses florid rhetoric to describe the arguments with which Clotilda attempted to persuade her husband to abandon paganism. When Clovis finally converted, he becomes for Gregory a "new Constantine," the emperor who Christianized the Roman Empire in the early 4th century. In both cases, an unexpected victory in battle led a king to trust the power of the Christian God and to submit to baptism. Gregory places Clovis's baptism in 496 and characterizes his subsequent battles as Christian victories, particularly the engagement with the Visigoths in 507 that has long been identified with Vouillé but now is believed to have occurred at Voulon near Poitiers, France. Gregory portrays the Visigothic war as a campaign against Arian heresy. His account indicates that prior to the battle, Clovis gave gifts to the church and made appeals to St. Martin of Tours, for which he was rewarded with victory, blessed with miracles, and honoured with an imperial consulship by Anastasius I.

Recent scholarship has revealed flaws in Gregory's account of Clovis and raised questions about the ultimate purpose of the Histories. Gregory elevated the Franks to equivalency with the ancient Hebrews, the chosen people, and Clovis to the stature of their great king David. Even more important, he held Clovis up as a model for his own contemporary Frankish kings, Clovis's grandsons. In Gregory's estimation, unlike their grandfather, they did not maintain unity and peace within the kingdom nor adequately respect the advice of bishops. While the Histories provides broad background and engaging stories about the early Frankish world, the Clovis of the Histories is more a literary fiction than a historical reality.

However, Gregory and other contemporary authors were not wholly wrong in describing Clovis, a warrior king, as a religious figure. His life illustrates a crucial series of ideological and cultural transformations that took place throughout the Western Roman Empire as it gave way to Germanic kingdoms. Clovis's father, Childeric, died a pagan and was buried in Tournai in a tomb surrounded by barbarian horse burials. Thirty years later Clovis was buried next to his contemporary St. Geneviève in the Church of the Holy Apostles that he built in Paris, and he was joined years later by his wife, St. Clotilda.

Over the centuries much has been made of Clovis's conversion to Catholicism. One of the first Germanic kings to do so, he did, in fact, convert to Catholicism, but recent analysis of the contemporary sources that describe his reign-especially of a letter written by Avitus of Vienne congratulating him on his baptism-suggests that Clovis did not convert to Catholicism directly from paganism. Prior to accepting Catholicism, he was interested in the Christian heresy Arianism, sympathetic with it, and perhaps even leaning toward adopting it. According to Avitus, it is also likely that Clovis was baptized rather late in life, possibly at Christmas in 508, only three years before his death.

If this sequence of events is correct, it reflects the intellectual and religious climate of late 5th- and early 6th-century Gaul. The Arian heresy was the form of Christianity to which most Germanic peoples initially converted. It understood the godhead in hierarchical terms. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was a created being who did not share the eternal nature of God the Father but who was superior to God the Holy Spirit. Orthodox Catholicism understood the godhead as comprising three "coequal," "coeternal" members. These two Christian belief systems represent a theological power struggle within the Christian community during the transformation period. The Catholics won by ecclesiastical and imperial decree in the 4th century, making Arianism a heresy, but Arianism remained an important force in parts of Europe as late as the 6th century.

Pagans, Arians, and Catholics shared the Gaul of Clovis and the Franks. Clovis personally illustrates the juxtaposition of these three belief systems. He was born into paganism, two of his sisters were Arians (one married the Arian Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great), and his wife, Clotilda, like her sister, was Catholic but from a Burgundian royal family that included Arians. His conversion to Catholicism was that of one man and not of his kingdom, but it can be seen as pivotal in Frankish history.

Clovis's life as a religious man illustrates the challenges then faced by the Catholic bishops and illuminates their concerns with evangelism. They combatted paganism and the ancient traditions that it embodied, stamped out heresy, and attempted to convert Gaul's Jewish communities. The powerful advocacy of Catholicism that resonates in Gregory's Histories is, perhaps, a response to the difficulty of conversions of those like Clovis, who was not baptized until at least 15 years into his reign. This advocacy may also reflect a deep-seated communal memory of a religiously diverse kingdom and the daunting task of converting it.

Upon Clovis's death, he divided his kingdom among his four surviving sons. Only Chlotar, who outlived his brothers, ruled a united kingdom, but he in turn divided it among his sons. It was not until the reign of Clovis's great-grandson Chlotar II in the early 7th century that the Merovingians experienced long-lasting political unity. The kingdom which Clovis established, however, superseded its occasional individual parts and remained intact for centuries.

The historical Clovis remains a shadowy figure: a warrior who solidified a kingdom, corresponded with bishops, and converted to Catholic Christianity. Within decades of his death, he had become a hero and was held up as a model king. A millennium and a half later he remains significant. For the French, he was the founder of France, and a derivation of his name, Louis, became the principal name of its kings. His baptism is considered one of the formative dates in French history. For Catholics, he was the first major Germanic Catholic king, and Pope John Paul II celebrated a mass in Reims in 1996 in honour of the 15th centenary of his baptism.

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Clovis I | Biography, Significance, & Facts

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Clovis I, king of the Franks and ruler of much of Gaul from 481 to 511, a key period during the transformation of the Roman Empire into Europe. His dynasty, the Merovingian, survived more than 200 years. While he was not the first Frankish king, he was the kingdom's political and religious founder.