Clovis << KLOH vihs >> I (466?-511), a Frankish king, became the first powerful ruler of the Merovingian dynasty, the founders of the French state. In 481, when Clovis inherited the royal title, he was only one of several Frankish kings. Then, in 486, he defeated the last great Roman army in Gaul. In one campaign after another, he defeated the Alemanni, the Visigoths, and the Burgundians. By 507 he ruled over most of Gaul, western Germany, and the Low Countries of northwestern Europe. He died on Nov. 27, 511.
Clovis was the first Germanic king to become an orthodox Christian. Most Germanic rulers either became Arian heretics or remained pagans. By his conversion to Christianity, Clovis won the support of his Catholic subjects, including the clergy.
