Editing Clotilde (section)

=== Later life and marriage ===
Shortly after Caretena's death, Clotilde and [[Clovis I]], the first [[List of Frankish kings|king of the Franks]], were married, in 492 or 493.<ref name="cathencyclopedia" />{{Sfn|Butler|1995|p=462}} As Farmer put it, Clovis was "impressed by her beauty and wisdom".<ref name="farmer" /> Their marriage, from the 6th century on, "was made the theme of epic narratives, in which the original facts were materially altered".<ref name="farmer" /> Clotilde's story fascinated later generations because it was "the centerpiece of a struggle between the old Catholic, Roman population against the [[Arianism]] of the Germanic tribes",{{Sfn|McNamara|Halborg|Whatley|1992|p=39}} although there is no evidence that Clovis was an Arian sympathizer before his marriage and conversion to Catholicism.{{Sfn|Dunbar|1904|p=192}} Clotilde had influence over Clovis and actively encouraged him to convert to Catholicism.{{Sfn|Butler|1995|p=462}}<ref name="farmer" /> He allowed the baptism of their oldest son, Ingomir, who died in infancy, and of their next son, Clodomir, but he blamed their oldest child's death on Clotilde's faith and resisted her attempts to convert him.<ref name="farmer" />{{Sfn|Butler|1995|p=462}} Clodomir also became ill, but recovered and they had five children in all: four sons, Ingomir; and Clodomir, Childebert, and Clotaire, who all became kings; and one daughter, named Clotilde after her mother.<ref name="cathencyclopedia" /> Clotilde's ''vita'' describes her daughter's life, who married a [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] man named Amalaric, who she unsuccessfully tried to convert to Catholicism{{Sfn|McNamara|Halborg|Whatley|1992|p=38}} and who "cruelly treated".{{Sfn|Butler|1995|p=462}} Little is known about her mother during Clovis' lifetime and about their marriage, but she might have been involved with his intervention of the quarrel between the Burgundian kings at the time and Clovis' support of [[Gundobad|Gondobad]].<ref name="cathencyclopedia" />{{Sfn|Butler|1995|p=462}}<ref name="farmer" /> Historian Godefroid Kurth said, about Clotilde, that she was "saddened by cruel trials".<ref name="cathencyclopedia" />

Clovis was baptized by [[Saint Remigius|St. Remigius]] at [[Reims]] in 496, along with 3,000 of the Frankish people, after a battle with the [[Alemanni]]. His army was losing, but he appealed to his wife's God for help, promising that if he won, he would accept the Christian faith.<ref name="cathencyclopedia" />{{Sfn|Butler|1995|p=29}}<ref name="farmer" />{{Sfn|Baring-Gould|1897|p=24}} According to tradition, while Clotilde was in prayer and as Clovis began to win the battle, an angel brought her three white lilies; Clovis later substituted lilies for the three frogs on the insignia on his battle shield.{{Sfn|Dunbar|1904|p=192}} Sabine Baring-Gould considers Clovis' conversion sincere and that it was not due to political considerations. Baring-Gould also did not believe that Clotilde did not influence Clovis to fight this war or others in order to revenge her family's death.{{Sfn|Baring-Gould|1897|p=25}} Clovis' subsequent military achievements against the Burgundians and Visigoths also do not seem to have been associated with Clotilde.<ref name="farmer" /> The Franks, due to Clotilde's influence, were Catholics for centuries.<ref name="cathencyclopedia" />

Clovis died in 511;{{Sfn|McNamara|Halborg|Whatley|1992|p=40}} Clotilde buried him at the [[Abbey of Saint Genevieve|Basilica of the Holy Apostles]], which later became the Church of Sainte-Geneviève, which they built together as a mausoleum honouring [[Genevieve|Saint Genevieve]], the patron saint of Paris. Genevieve might have been the first to suggest that Clovis build a church honouring [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]], which he built in deference to Clotilde's wishes; she completed the church after his death.<ref name="cathencyclopedia" /><ref>"Genovefa (423-502)". ''Sainted Women of the Dark Ages''. Edited and translated from ''Acta Sanctorum'' by McNamara, Jo Ann; Halborg, John E. Durham; with Whatley, E. Gordon, England: Duke University Press. 1992. p. 36. ISBN 0-8223-1200-X</ref>

[[File:Sainte Clotilde - gradient background 01.jpg|thumb|Statue of Saint Clotilde by [[Jean-Baptiste Claude Eugène Guillaume|Eugène Guillaume]] and [[Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle]]]]