Clovis

d.511. Son of Childeric I, he became king of the Salian Franks in 481. Almost at once he extended his territories from the Somme to the Seine and the Loire at the expense of Roman power. About 492 he married the Christian Clotilda, but he became a Christian only after being convinced of intervention by Christ in a battle. His baptism on Christmas Day 496 led to the support of the Catholic bishops and Roman officials in governing the country. Subsequent conquests laid the foundations of the modern French nation. In waging war against the Visigoths he invoked God's help and killed their king, Alaric II, with his own hands at the battle of Vouille in 507. He made Paris the capital of his kingdom.