Clovis

A king in medieval Gaul whose name was Clovis, was losing a battle against a tribe called the Alemanni. Clovis in desperation prayed to God that if he would give him the victory he would be baptized. Nearly immediately the tide of the battle turned against the Alemanni and Clovis won the battle. Who was Clovis and why did he decide to pray to God instead of his pagan gods?

Clovis was born in 465 A.D. and was born to the king of the Franks. He became leader of his tribe in 481 A.D. at 16 years old. Even though he was only 16 Clovis decided to drive the Romans out of Gaul. The area of Gaul that was controlled by the Romans was governed by a Roman general named Syagrius. Clovis led an army against the Romans at the city of Soissons where Syagrius was currently at. Clovis asked to meet with Syagrius to see if he would surrender, Syagrius refused to surrender but did come to meet with Clovis. While there Syagrius said “A Boy! A boy has come to fight me! With a boy to lead them, the Franks have come to fight the Romans.” Clovis was angered by this and said. “Aye, but the boy will conquer you!” With that the sides began to get ready for a fight. Every time the Romans charged the Franks they were forced to retreat. Clovis fought in the battle and tried to find Syagrius but the general had seemed to become terrified of the Franks and had left the battle early on. After beating the Romans, Clovis conquered the other Frankish tribes and was soon the king of all of the Franks. Clovis would marry a women named Clotilde. Clotilde was part of the reason Clovis would turn to Christianity as she was a devout Christian. After the battle against the Alemanni Clovis did become a Christian and many of his people did as well. Clovis would make his capital at Paris and would die there in 511 A.D.