View source for Clovis I

==Baptism==
[[File:Clovis 1er.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Clovis I at the [[Basilica of St Denis]] in [[Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis)|Saint Denis]]]]

Clovis was born a pagan but later became interested in converting to [[Arianism|Arian Christianity]], whose followers believed that Jesus was a distinct and separate being from [[God the Father]], both subordinate to and created by him. This contrasted with [[Nicene Creed|Nicene Christianity]], whose followers believe that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three persons of one being ([[consubstantiality]]). While the theology of the Arians was declared a heresy at the [[First Council of Nicea]] in 325, the missionary work of Bishop [[Ulfilas]] converted a significant portion of the [[Germanic paganism|pagan]] Goths to Arian Christianity in the 4th century. By the time of the ascension of Clovis, Gothic Arians dominated Christian Gaul, and Nicene Christians were the minority.

Clovis's wife [[Clotilde]], a [[Burgundians|Burgundian]] princess, was a Nicene Christian despite the Arianism that surrounded her at court.<ref>Ian Wood, ''The Merovingian Kingdoms'', (Longman, 1994), 45.</ref> Her persistence eventually persuaded Clovis to convert to Nicene Christianity, which he initially resisted. Clotilde had wanted her son to be baptized, but Clovis refused, so she had the child baptized without Clovis's knowledge. Shortly after his baptism, their son died, which further strengthened Clovis's resistance to conversion. Clotilde also had their second son baptized without her husband's permission, and this son became ill and nearly died after his baptism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Geary|first=Patrick|title=Readings in Medieval History: Gregory of Tours History of the Franks|year=2003|publisher=Broadview Press Ltd.|location=Canada|pages=145–146}}</ref> Clovis eventually converted to Nicene Christianity (Catholicism) on Christmas Day, though the exact year is a matter of debate with plausible suggestions by scholars being 498–506.<ref name=":4"/><ref>James Muldoon, (ed.) (1997). ''Gender and Conversion in the Merovingian Era'', Cordula Nolte, ''Varieties of Religious Conversion in the Middle Ages'', University of Florida Press, p. 88</ref> in a small church in the vicinity of the subsequent [[Abbey of Saint-Remi]] in [[Reims]]; a statue of his baptism by [[Saint Remigius]] can still be seen there. The details of this event have been passed down by [[Gregory of Tours]], who recorded them many years later in the 6th century.

The king's Nicene baptism was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, as Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of Gaul. Catholicism offered certain advantages to Clovis as he fought to distinguish his rule among many competing power centers in Western Europe. His conversion to the Nicene form of Christianity served to set him apart from most other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the [[Visigoths]] and the [[Vandals]], who had converted from Germanic paganism to Arian Christianity. However, he was not the first Germanic king to convert to [[Nicene Creed|Nicene Christianity]], that distinction belonging to the [[Suevi]]c [[Kingdom of Galicia|king of Gallaecia]] [[Rechiar]], whose conversion predates Clovis's baptism by half a century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=Edward |title=Visigothic Spain: new approaches [papers read at |date=1980 |publisher=Clarendon press |others=Visigothic Colloquy. [1. 1975, Dublin.] |isbn=978-0-19-822543-0 |location=Oxford}}</ref> Nevertheless, Clovis's embrace of the 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=J.H.|title=Readings in European History|year=1905|location=Boston|pages=51–55}}</ref>

On the other hand, [[Bernard Bachrach]] has argued that his conversion from Frankish [[Frankish mythology#Paganism|paganism]] alienated many of the other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few years. In the {{lang|la|[[Interpretatio graeca#Roman version|interpretatio romana]]}}, [[Gregory of Tours|Saint Gregory of Tours]] gave the [[Common Germanic deities|Germanic gods that Clovis abandoned]] the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] and [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]].<ref>James, Edward (1985) ''Gregory of Tours: Life of the Fathers''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press; p. 155 n. 12</ref> William Daly, more directly assessing Clovis's allegedly barbaric and pagan origins,<ref>Daly, William M., "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" ''Speculum'' '''69'''.3 (July 1994:619–664)</ref> ignored the Gregory of Tours version and based his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century {{lang|la|"vita"}} of [[Saint Genevieve]] and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops (now in the {{lang|la|[[Epistolae Austrasicae]]}}) and [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]].

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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Geary|first=Patrick|title=Readings in Medieval History: Gregory of Tours History of the Franks|year=2003|publisher=Broadview Press Ltd.|location=Canada|page=153}}</ref>