Clovis I Clovis ( Latin " Chlodovechus " ; reconstructed Frankish " Chlodowig " ; c . 466 – c . 511 ) , was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler , changing the form of leadership from a group of royal chieftains to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs . Clovis was the son of Childeric I , a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks , and Basina , Queen of Thuringia . He succeeded his father in 481 , at the age of fifteen . He is considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty , which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries . He conquered the remaining rump state of the Western Roman Empire at the Battle of Soissons ( 486 ) , and until his death in 511 went on to conquer much of the northern and western parts of what used to be Roman Gaul . He is important in the historiography of the French Republic as " the first king of what would become France " . His name , a Germanic name composed of the elements " hlod " " fame " and " wig " " combat " , is the origin of the later French given name Louis , borne by 18 kings of France . Frankish consolidation . Numerous small Frankish kingdoms existed during the 5th century . The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes that occupied the area west of the lower Rhine known as Toxandria , between the Meuse and Scheldt ( in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium ) . Their power base began to the southwest around Tournai , capital of the kingdom , along the modern frontier between France and Belgium . Childeric I , Clovis ' father , became king of the Salian Franks in 457 upon the death of his father , Merovech , ruling over lands he had received as a " foederatus " of the Romans . In 463 he fought in conjunction with Aegidius , the magister militum of northern Gaul , to defeat the Visigoths in Orléans . Childeric died in 481 and was buried in Tournai ; Clovis succeeded him as king . Under Clovis , the Salian Franks came to dominate their neighbours , initially aided by the association with Aegidius . Historians believe that Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum . Clovis turned against the Roman commanders , however , defeating the Gallo - Roman ruler , and son of Aegidus , Syagrius in the Battle of Soissons ( 486 ) , considered the end of Western Roman rule outside of Italy . Clovis then had the Frankish king Chararic imprisoned and executed . A few years later , he killed Ragnachar , the Frankish king of Cambrai , along with his brothers . Another victory followed in 491 over a small group of Thuringians to the east . By this time Clovis had conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of the River Maas , except for the Ripuarian Franks . He secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king , Theodoric the Great . With the help of the other Frankish sub - kings , he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496 . He made Paris his capital and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine . In 500 Clovis fought a battle with the Burgundian kingdom at Dijon but was unable to subdue them . He gained the support of the Armoricans ( Alans , Gallo Romans , Britons ) in the following years , for they assisted him in defeating the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507 , eliminating Visigothic power in Gaul . The battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis ' kingdom and resulted in the death of the Visigothic King Alaric II . According to Gregory of Tours , following the Battle of Vouillé , the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I granted Clovis the title of consul . Since Clovis ' name does not appear in the consular lists , it is likely he was granted a suffect consul ship . Gregory of Tours recorded the systematic campaigns following Vouillé to eliminate the other Frankish " " reguli " " , or sub - kings , including Sigobert the Lame and his son Chlodoric the Parricide ; Chararic , another king of the Salian Franks ; Ragnachar of Cambrai , his brother Ricchar , and their brother Rignomer of Le Mans . Clovis became the first king of all Franks in 509 , after he had conquered Cologne , capital of the Ripuarian Franks . Baptism . Clovis converted to Catholicism at the instigation of his wife , Clotilde , a Burgundian princess who was a Catholic in spite of the Arianism that surrounded her at court . He was baptized on Christmas Day , 496 , in a small church in the vicinity of the subsequent Abbey of Saint - Remi in Reims ; a statue of him being baptized by Saint Remigius can still be seen there . Clovis and his wife were buried in the Abbey of St Genevieve ( St . Pierre ) in Paris ; the original name of the church was the Church of the Holy Apostles . The followers of Catholicism believe that God , Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three persons of one being ( consubstantiality ) , as opposed to Arian Christianity , whose followers believed that Jesus , as a distinct and separate being , was both subordinate to and created by God . While the theology of the Arians was declared a heresy at the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD , the missionary work of the bishop Ulfilas converted the pagan Goths to Arian Christianity in the 4th century . By the time of the ascension of Clovis , Gothic Arians dominated Christian Gaul , and Catholics were the minority . The king ' s Catholic baptism was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general , for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of Gaul . Previously , Clovis had adamantly refused to convert from his pagan religion to Christianity . Clotilde had wanted her son to be baptized , but Clovis refused to allow it , so Clotilde had the child baptized without Clovis ' s knowledge . Shortly after his baptism , their son died , and his death further strengthened Clovis ' s resistance to conversion . Clotilde also had their second son baptized without her husband ' s permission , and this son got very ill and nearly died after his baptism . Yet Christianity did offer certain advantages to Clovis as he fought to distinguish his rule among many competing power centers in Western Europe . His conversion to the Roman Catholic form of Christianity served to set him apart from the other Germanic kings of his time , such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals , who had converted from pagan beliefs to Arian Christianity . His embrace of the Roman Catholic faith may have also gained him the support of the Catholic Gallo - Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths , which drove them from southern Gaul in 507 and resulted in a great many of his people converting to Catholicism as well . Nevertheless , Bernard Bachrach has argued that his conversion from Frankish paganism alienated many of the other Frankish sub - kings and weakened his military position over the next few years . In the " " interpretatio romana " , " Saint Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods , such as Jupiter and Mercury . Taken literally , such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture , which they may have embraced as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century . William Daly , more directly assessing Clovis ' allegedly barbaric and pagan origins , was obliged to ignore the Gregory of Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources , a sixth - century " " vita " " of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and Theodoric . Roman Law . Under Clovis , the first codification of the Salian Frank law took place . The " Roman Law " was written with the assistance of Gallo - Romans to reflect the Salic legal tradition and Christianity , while containing much from Roman tradition . The " Roman Law " lists various crimes as well as the fines associated with them . Later years and death . Shortly before his death , Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the Church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate . This was the First Council of Orléans . Thirty - three bishops assisted and passed 31 decrees on the duties and obligations of individuals , the right of sanctuary , and ecclesiastical discipline . These decrees , equally applicable to Franks and Romans , first established equality between conquerors and conquered . Clovis I is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511 ; however , the " Liber Pontificalis " suggests that he was still alive in 513 . After his death , Clovis was laid to rest in the Abbey of St Genevieve in Paris . His remains were relocated to Saint Denis Basilica in the mid - to late - 18th century . When Clovis died , his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons , Theuderic , Chlodomer , Childebert , and Clotaire . This partition created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims , Orléans , Paris and Soissons , and inaugurated a tradition that would lead to disunity lasting , with brief interruptions , until the end of the Merovingian dynasty in 751 . Legacy . Clovis is remembered for three main accomplishments : By the first act , he assured the influence of his people beyond the borders of Gaul , something no regional king could accomplish . By the second act , he has claim of being the first Christian king over what would later become the France ( actually the western portion of the greater Carolingian Empire of the 9th century . By the third act , he made himself the ally of the papacy and its protector as well as that of the people , who were mostly Catholics . Detracting , perhaps , from this legacy , is his aforementioned division of the state . This was done not along national or even largely geographical lines , but primarily to assure equal income amongst his sons after his death . While it may or may not have been his intention , this division was the cause of much internal discord in Gaul . This precedent led in the long run to the fall of his dynasty , for it was a pattern repeated in future reigns . Clovis did bequeath to his heirs the support of both people and Church such that , when the magnates were ready to do away with the royal house , the sanction of the Pope was sought first . The name Louis , a later form of Clovis , was borne by 18 kings of France .