Clovis I
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Clovis I was the first Frankish king to unite the Franks, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single king, and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his he
Baptism of Clovis, ivory book cover from c. 870
Baptême de Clovis
Frankish territories at the time of Clovis's death in 511
Childeric I
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Childeric I was a 5th-century Frankish ruler in what is now northern France, during the period when this part of Roman Gaul became permanently disconnected from the central Roman government, and the l
Clovis I
…figure in the history of France. According to Charles de Gaulle, he was "the first king of what would become France." Clovis succeeded his father, Childeric I, as a king of the Salian Franks in 481, and eventually came to rule an area extending from what is now the southern Netherlands to northern France…
Copy of the signet ring of Childeric (original stolen in 1831) from his tomb at Tournai. Inscription CHILDIRICI REGIS ("of king Childeric"). (Monnaie de Paris).
Detail of golden bees with garnet insets
Golden bee or fly jewellery from the tomb of Childeric I in Tournai. Drawn by Jacob van Werden and engraved by Cornelis Galle the Younger
Theodebert I 534 548 king of Metz