Person Page - 181

     Fredegunde married Chilperic I King of Neustria, son of Clothaire I King of Soissons, King of Orleans, King of France.¹ Fredegunde was born in 543.¹ She died in 597.¹

     Clothaire I King of Soissons, King of Orleans, King of France was the son of Clovis I the Great, King of Salic Franks, King of France.² Clothaire I King of Soissons, King of Orleans, King of France was Crowned in 511; King of Soissons, 511; King of Orleans, 524; King of France 558-561. He died circa 539.¹ He died circa 561.

     Clovis I the Great, King of Salic Franks, King of France was born circa 466; Clovis inherited his father's kingdom in 481, at which time he unified the Salian and Ripurian Franks. In 486 he defeated the Roman general Syagrius who ruled northern Gaul out of Soissons. By 493 he married the Burgundian princess Clotilda. In 496, after defeating the Alamanni, he was baptized, thus becoming the first Christian ruler of post-Roman Gaul. By 506 the Alamanni were subdued, and the next year Clovis finished his expansion by taking Aquitaine from the weak Visigothic king Alaric II. On Clovis' death in 511, the kingdom was split between Chlodomer (Orleans), Childebert (Paris), Chlotar (Soissons), and Theuderic (Metz). The history of the Franks was written about a century after the time of Clovis by Gregory, bishop of Tours. The following extracts give some notion of this valuable source, upon which a great part of Our knowledge of the Merovingian period rests
The Incident of the Vase at Soissons
At this time [A.D. 486] the army of Clovis pillaged many churches, for he was still sunk in the errors of idolatry. The soldiers had borne away from a church, with all the other ornaments of the holy ministry, a vase of marvelous size and beauty. The bishop of this church sent messengers to the king, begging that if the church might not recover any other of the holy vessels, at least this one might be restored. The king, bearing these things, replied to the messenger: "Follow thou us to Soissons, for there all things that have been acquired are to be divided. If the lot shall give me this vase, I will do what the bishop desires."
When be had reached Soissons, and all the booty had been placed in the midst of the army, the king pointed to this vase, and said: "I ask you, O most valiant warriors, not to refuse to me the vase in addition to my rightful part," Those of discerning mind among his men answered, "O glorious king, all things which we see are thine, and we ourselves are subject to thy power; now do what seems pleasing to thee, for none is strong enough to resist thee." When they had thus spoken one of the soldiers, impetuous, envious, and vain, raised his battle-axe aloft and crushed the vase with it, crying, "Thou shalt receive nothing of this unless a just lot give it to thee." At this all were stupefied.
The king bore his injury with the calmness of patience, and when he had received the crushed vase he gave it to the bishop's messenger, but be cherished a hidden wound in his breast. When a year had passed he ordered the whole army to come fully equipped to the Campus Martius and show their arms in brilliant array - But when he had reviewed them all he came to the breaker of the vase, and said to him, "No one bears his arms so clumsily as thou ; for neither thy spear, nor thy sword, nor thy ax is ready for use." And seizing his ax, he cast it on the ground. And when the soldier had bent a little to pick it up the king raised his hands and crushed, his head with his own ax. "Thus," he said, "didst thou to the vase at Soissons."
The Conversion of Clovis to Christianity
[Clovis took to wife Clotilde, daughter of the king of the Burgundians. Now Clotilde was a Christian. When her first son was born] she wished to consecrate him by baptism, and begged her husband unceasingly, saying, I , The gods whom thou honorest are nothing they cannot help themselves nor others; for they are carved from stone, or from wood, or from some metal. The names which you have given them were of men, not of gods, - like Saturn, who is said to have escaped by flight, to avoid being deprived of his power by his son; and like Jupiter himself, foul perpetrator of all uncleanness. . . . What power have Mars and Mercury ever had ? They are endowed with magical arts rather than divine power.
"The God who should be worshiped is he who by his word created from nothingness the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that in them is; he who made the sun to shine and adorned the sky with stars; who filled the waters with creeping things, the land with animals, the air with winged creatures; by whose bounty the earth is glad with crops, the trees with fruit, the vines with grapes; by whose hand the human race was created; whose bounty has ordained that all things should give homage and service to man, whom he created."
But when the queen had said these things, the mind of Clovis was not stirred to believe. He answered: "By the will of our gods all things are created and produced. Evidently your god can do nothing, and it is not even proved that he belongs to the race of gods."
Meantime- the faithful queen presented her son for baptism. She had the church adorned with tapestry, seeking to attract by this splendor him whom her exhortations had not moved. But the child whom they called Ingomer, after he had been born again through baptism, died in his white baptismal robe. Then the king reproached the queen bitterly. , if the child had been consecrated in the name of my gods he would be alive still. But now, because he is baptized in the name of your god, he cannot live."
After this another son was born to him, and called in baptism Clodomir. He fell very ill. Then the king said: "Because he, like his brother, was baptized in the name of Christ he must soon die." But his mother prayed, and by God's will the child recovered.
The queen unceasingly urged the king to acknowledge the true God, and forsake idols. But he could not in any wise be brought to believe until a war broke out with the Alemanni. Then he was by necessity compelled to confese what he had before willfully denied.
It happened that the two armies were in battle and there was great slaughter. Clovis' army was near to utter destruction. He saw the danger; his heart Was stirred; he was moved to tears, and he raised his eyes to heaven, saying - , Jesus Christ, whom Clotilde declares to be the son of the living God, who it is said givest aid to the oppressed and victory to those who put their hope in thee, I beseech the glory of thy aid. If thou shalt grant me victory over these enemies and I test that power which people consecrated to thy name say they have proved concerning thee, I will believe in thee and be baptized in thy name. For 1 have called upon my gods, but, as 1 have proved, they are far removed4 from my aid. So I believe that they have no power, for they do not succor those who serve them. Now 1 call upon thee, and I long to believe in thee -all the more that may escape my enemies."
When he had said these things, the Alemanni turned their backs and began to flee. When they saw that their king was killed, they submitted to the sway of Clovis, saying: "We wish that no more people should perish. Now we are thine." When the king had forbidden further war, and praised his soldiers, he told the queen how he had won the victory by calling on the name of Christ.
Then the queen sent to the blessed Remigius, bishop of the city of Rheims, praying him to bring to the king the gospel of salvation. The priest, little by little and secretly, led him to believe in the true God, maker of heaven and earth, and to forsake idols, which could not help him nor anybody else.
But the king said: "Willingly will I hear thee, O father; but one thing is in the way - that the people who follow me are not content to leave their gods. I will go and speak to them according to thy word."
When be came among them, the power of God went before him, and before he had spoken all the people cried out together: " We cast off mortal gods, 0 righteous king, and we are ready to follow the God whom Remigius tells us s immortal."
These thin-s were told to the bishop. He was filled with joy, and ordered the font to be prepared. The streets were shaded with embroidered hangings ; the churches were adorned with white tapestries, the baptistery was set in order, the odor of balsam spread around, candles gleamed, and all the temple of the baptistery was filled with divine odor. . . . Then the king confessed the God omnipotent in the Trinity, and was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and was anointed with the sacred chrism with the sign of the cross of Christ. Of his army there were baptized more than three thousand.
From the accounts translated in J. H. Robinson, Readings in European History, (Boston: Ginn, 1905), pp. 51-55. He was baptized in 496; Baptism of Clobis by St. remy 496 AD;

Now a new people appeared on the scene, a pagan warrior tribe called the Franks. In the late 400's, they were led by a chief called Clovis, a pagan but married to a Christian wife, Clotilda. His wife and Bishop Remi (remember him?) spoke to him about the Christian faith, but he showed no particular signs of interest until one day when he was fighting a battle against the Alemanni, and was badly outnumbered and apparently about to lose the battle. He took a vow that if he won, he would turn Christian. The tide of battle turned, and he won. Two years later, he kept his vow and was baptized by Remi at Rheims on Christmas Day, 496, together with about 3000 of his followers. (Rheims became the traditional and "proper" place for a French king to be crowned, as we learn from the story of Joan of Arc. It remained so until the French Revolution.) Now Clovis was converted to the Athanasian (or orthodox, or catholic) faith rather than the Arian, and this fact changed the religious history of Europe. The clergy he brought to his court were catholic, and when the Franks as a whole became Christians, which did not happen overnight, they became catholic Christians, meaning in this context that they were Athanasian rather than Arian, and accepted the belief that it was God himself, and not a particularly prominent angel, who came down from heaven and suffered for our salvation. During the preceding century, the Arians had had a near-monopoly on military power, and now this was no longer true. The conversion of the Franks brought about the conversion of the Visigoths, and eventually (about 300 years later) the empire of Charlemagne and the beginning of the recovery of Western Europe from the earlier collapse of government and of city life under the impact of plague, lead poisoning, currency inflation, confiscatory taxation, multiple invasions, and the assorted troubles of the Dark Ages.


St. Remigius and the demons

As noted above, Clot(h)ilda, a Christian princess of Burgundy, married the pagan Clovis, King of the Franks, thus preparing the way for his baptism by Remi in 496, and for the conversion of the Franks. Their great-grandaughter, Bertha, married the pagan Ethelbert, King of Kent, thus preparing the way for his baptism by Augustine of Canterbury in 601, and for the eventual conversion of southeast England. Bertha and Ethelbert's daughter, Ethelburga, married the pagan Edwin, King of Northumbria, thereby preparing the way for his baptism by Paulinus in 627, and for the eventual conversion of many in the North of England. He was the son of Childeric I.² Clovis I the Great, King of Salic Franks, King of France died in 511.

     Childeric I was born circa 436.¹ He was the son of Mérovée King Salic Franks.² Childeric I was Crowned in 458; King of Franks 458-481. He died in 481.¹

     Mérovée King Salic Franks was Crowned in 448; defeated Attila "the Hun" in 451; governed the Salic Franks 448-457. He died circa 457.¹

     Bertrada (?) Merovingian Princess was the daughter of King Theoderic III.²

     King Theoderic III was the son of King Clovis II.³ King Theoderic III was Crowned; King of Burgundy 670; King of the Franks 690/691.¹ He died circa 691.¹

     King Clovis II was born circa 634.¹ He was the son of Dagobert I King of Austrasia, King of Franks.³ King Clovis II was Crowned in 656; King of the Franks, c657, King of Neustria and Burgundy from 639; King of Austrasia, c 656. He died in October 657 or November 657.¹

     Giselbert Count in the Massgau died circa 842.

     Dagobert II King of Austrasia, King of Metz was the son of Siegbert III King of Austrasia.² Dagobert II King of Austrasia, King of Metz was Crowned between 652 and 678; King of Austrasia 678-680; King of Metz.¹ He died in 678.

     Siegbert III King of Austrasia was born at 630.¹ He was the son of Dagobert I King of Austrasia, King of Franks.^2,3 Siegbert III King of Austrasia died in 656.¹

     Richard deBayley (?) of Stonyhurst, Lancaster was born circa 1358.¹ He died by 1389 at Stonyhurst, Lancaster.¹

     Alice de Plumpton was the daughter of Sir William de Plumpton of Plumpton and Christian de Mowbray.^2,3 Alice de Plumpton married Sir Richard Sherburne of Aighton in 1351 at contract dated 1351.⁴ Alice de Plumpton died after March 1400.¹

     Sir Richard Sherburne of Aighton married Alice de Plumpton, daughter of Sir William de Plumpton of Plumpton and Christian de Mowbray, in 1351 at contract dated 1351.² Sir Richard Sherburne of Aighton died in 1361.¹

     Sir William de Plumpton of Plumpton was the son of Sir Robert de Plumpton Knt.² Sir William de Plumpton of Plumpton married Christian de Mowbray before 24 February 1334.³ Sir William de Plumpton of Plumpton died in 1362.¹

     William d'Aubigny Magna Charta Surety (Lord of Belvoir) was born after 1146.³ He married Margery (?) dau. of Odinel de Umfrevile.² William d'Aubigny Magna Charta Surety (Lord of Belvoir) married Agatha Trussebut.^4,2 William d'Aubigny Magna Charta Surety (Lord of Belvoir) died on 1 May 1236.³

     Margery (?) dau. of Odinel de Umfrevile married William d'Aubigny Magna Charta Surety (Lord of Belvoir).² Margery (?) dau. of Odinel de Umfrevile died in 1182.¹

     Agatha Trussebut married William d'Aubigny Magna Charta Surety (Lord of Belvoir).^2,3 Agatha Trussebut died circa 1247.¹

     Sir William de Ros was born. He was the son of Sir William de Ros and Lucy Fitz Piers.¹ Sir William de Ros married Eustache Fitz Ralph in 1268.^1,2 Sir William de Ros died sh. bef. 28 May 1310 at bur at Grey Friars, York.^1,2

     Eustache Fitz Ralph married Sir William de Ros, son of Sir William de Ros and Lucy Fitz Piers, in 1268.^1,2 Eustache Fitz Ralph died after 1301.

     Christian de Mowbray married Sir William de Plumpton of Plumpton, son of Sir Robert de Plumpton Knt, before 24 February 1334.² Christian de Mowbray died in 1365.¹

     Sir Robert de Plumpton Knt died in 1325.¹

     Catherine Gaylard was baptized on 26 September 1576. She was the daughter of Hugh Gaylard.¹

     Elizabeth Gaylard was baptized on 30 April 1582. She was the daughter of Hugh Gaylard.¹

     George Gaylard was baptized on 20 September 1583. He was the son of Hugh Gaylard.¹

     Edmund Gaylard was the son of Hugh Gaylard.¹ Edmund Gaylard was buried on 10 November 1661.

     Richard Gaylard was baptized on 1 April 1591. He was the son of Hugh Gaylard.¹ Richard Gaylard was born on 26 March 1656.

     Nicholas Gaillard was naturalized on 16 April 1537 at in England as "From dominion of the King of France".² He died circa 1546.

     Christopher Gaillard was the son of Nicholas Gaillard. Christopher Gaillard died circa 1600.

     Edmund Gaillard was the son of Nicholas Gaillard. Edmund Gaillard died circa 1614.