Editing Clovis I (section)

==Chronology==
The sole source for the early Frankish period is [[Gregory of Tours]], who wrote around the year 590. His chronology for the reign of Clovis is almost certainly fabricated, often contradicting itself and other sources.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=Mathisen |first1=Ralph W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v58cU1TLQrkC&pg=PR13 |title=The Battle of Vouillé, 507 CE: Where France Began |last2=Shanzer |first2=Danuta |date=2012 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-099-4 |pages=xiii-xv }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Halsall |first=Guy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_lfeMT-PgEC&pg=PA170 |title=Cemeteries and Society in Merovingian Gaul: Selected Studies in History and Archaeology, 1992-2009 |date=2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-17999-8 |pages=170–173 }}</ref> Gregory often divides Clovis' life in spans of 5 years: he became king at age 15, [[Battle of Soissons (486)|defeated Syagrius]] in the 5th year of his reign, [[Battle of Tolbiac|defeated the Alamanni]] in his 15th year, [[Franco-Visigothic Wars|defeated the Visigoths]] in his 25th year, and died at the age of 45, in the 5th year after [[Battle of Vouillé|his victory at Vouillé]], having reigned 30 years.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":5">[[Gregory of Tours]], [https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/gregory-hist.asp#book2 Book II]</ref> The exact date on which Clovis became "king of all Franks" is not known, but it happened sometime after the [[Battle of Vouillé]], which is securely dated to 507.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mathisen |first1=Ralph W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v58cU1TLQrkC&pg=PA43 |title=The Battle of Vouillé, 507 CE: Where France Began |last2=Shanzer |first2=Danuta |date=2012 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-099-4}}</ref> After this battle, Clovis made Paris his capital, converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], and orchestrated the murders of Frankish kings [[Sigobert the Lame|Sigobert]] and [[Ragnachar]], uniting all Franks under his rule.<ref name=":5" />{{rp|38–43}} Clovis' baptism, traditionally dated to December 496 on the account of Gregory, is now believed to have taken place in December 508 according to Clovis' correspondence with the then Bishop of Vienne, [[Avitus of Vienne]], which also indicates that he leaned toward Arianism before converting to Catholicism rather than paganism.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heiks |first=Heidi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBRV72orm_EC&pg=PR25 |title=AD 508 Source Book |date=2011 |publisher=TEACH Services, Inc. |isbn=978-1-57258-631-4 |pages=xv-xxx }}</ref><ref name=":02" /> The election of Paris as capital must have also happened around 508.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Boucheron |first1=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7r9kDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |title=France in the World: A New Global History |last2=Gerson |first2=Stéphane |date=2019 |publisher=Other Press, LLC |isbn=978-1-59051-942-4 |pages=81–86 }}</ref> Given that the hostilities between Ragnachar and Clovis began after his conversion,{{sfn|Bachrach|1972|p=9}} it can be inferred that their confrontation took place shortly after, in 509.{{sfn|Bachrach|1972|p=31}}

Clovis I is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511.<ref name=":3" /> The day is found in one medieval calendar and two [[missal]]s now in the [[Sainte-Geneviève Library|Library]] of the [[Abbey of Saint Genevieve]] (which was founded by Clovis). However, two [[Obituary|obituaries]] in the abbeys of Saint Genevieve and [[Abbey of Saint Denis|Saint Denis]] date his death to 29 November and 3 January, respectively.<ref name=":6">[[Auguste Molinier]] (1902). ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k59033/f19.item Obituaires de la province de Sens]''. '''I''', p. xiv, 306, 631.</ref> The latter date may be a confusion with the feast of [[Genevieve]], which also falls on 3 January. Gregory of Tours states that Clovis died on the fifth year after the [[Battle of Vouillé]],<ref name=":5" />{{rp|43}} which gives 511 using [[inclusive counting]]. However, he also states that he died on the 11th year of the episcopate of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours|Licinius of Tours]] (AD 518) and on the 112th year after the death of [[Martin of Tours]] (AD 508).<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":5" /> The ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' records that Clovis' crown was sent to [[Pope Hormisdas]] ({{Reign}}514–523), which could imply a later date.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buccellati |first=Graziella |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=It8LAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Cloduveum+christianum+donum+beato+Petro+apostulo%22 |title=The Iron Crown and Imperial Europe |date=1999 |publisher=G. Mondadori |isbn=978-88-374-1465-8 |pages=231 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJRKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA449 |title=Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000 |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-137-01428-3 |pages=449 }}</ref> Clovis is last attested in an official document dated to 11 July 511, on the [[First Council of Orléans]], and it is generally accepted that he died shortly after.<ref name=":6" />