Childeric I (died about 481/482 AD) 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 in 461, and the last emperor based in Italy was dethroned in 476. He is the ancestor of the early medieval Merovingian dynasty, and father of Clovis I, who would go on to acquire effective control over all or most of the small Frankish kingdoms of the time, and unite a significant part of formerly Roman Gaul under Frankish rule.
Childeric was described as a king (), both on his Roman-style seal ring, which was buried with him in Tournai, and in fragmentary later records of his life, but scholars have different interpretation of the term in northern Gaul in this period. He and the Frankish forces loyal to him seem to have coordinated with forces who fought in the name of Rome, during a period when Roman chains of command were no longer stable. According to a common, but not universally accepted interpretation of a letter written by Saint Remigius, Childeric, or at least one or more of the relatives () of Clovis, even held an official position within a Roman-style administration in northern Gaul. The family background of Childeric is uncertain but he was reputed to be a descendant of Chlodio, and as a leader of Frankish troops based within the Roman empire he may, like several Gaulish military leaders in his generation, have served when younger under the powerful Roman military leader and statesman Aëtius, who died in 454. His burial site, which has been discovered in Tournai in Belgium, contained a wide range of artefacts, including some which were Roman symbols of authority.
The only definitely near-contemporary source to mention him is the 6th-century History of the Franks of Gregory of Tours, which mentions him twice, once concerning a legend about him spending time in exile, and once in a compressed account of conflicts mainly near the river Loire, which at the time represented a zone of confrontation against the expanding power of the Visigoths in what is now southwestern France. Both of these passages associate Childeric with the Gallo-Roman general Aegidius. Two later works which drew upon Gregory also mention Childeric, the Chronicle of Fredegar, and the Liber Historiae Francorum. They are considered less reliable overall for this period, and many scholars believe they misunderstood Gregory by making Childeric and Aegidius competitors or enemies. However they added information which may reflect other sources which the authors had available. Another brief mention of Childeric which may derive from near-contemporary material is the medieval biography of Saint Genevieve of Paris, the Vita Genovefae. It mentions that Childeric had a great love for the saint, and it portrays him as someone who held military control of the countryside around the Paris region.
Ancestry and background
Gregory of Tours, whose 6th-century History of the Franks is one of the only near-contemporary sources to mention Childeric, names the father of Childeric as Merovech. The Merovingian dynasty was named after Merovech but no information about his life has survived. Gregory mentioned that some people in his time said that Merovech was descended from Chlodio, who took control of some Roman populated areas including Cambrai in the early 5th century.Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks II.9 Latin, English (Brehaut trans.)
Later medieval sources do not always agree about Childeric's ancestry, including the name of his father. In modern times it has been suggested for example that Childeric descended from Merovech on his mother's side. The Fredegar chronicle (III.10) says that Merovech was born after a sea beast attacked the wife of Chlodio while she was swimming, making it uncertain whether Chlodio or the monster was the father.
It is possible that Childeric is the young Frankish prince who Priscus Panites mentioned as visiting Rome as an ambassador in the period leading up to the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451. Priscus described the prince as just beginning to grow a beard, and as having fair hair flowing over his shoulders. The prince was involved in an inheritance dispute which Attila used as an excuse to invade Gaul. The older brother was supported by Attila, while the younger brother was supported by Rome and even adopted by Aetius, the Roman military leader who defeated Attila in the battle. citing Priscus fragment 20 (Blockley ed.) = 16 Carolla ed. There were however several Frankish kingdoms at the time, so this is not considered certain.
The Liber Historiae Francorum claims that Childeric ruled 24 years, implying based on normal assumptions about his death date in about 481, that he began his reign in the late 450s.Liber Historiae Francorum 9 However the accuracy of this source for such information is doubted by scholars.
Connection to Roman military Although there are very few records of Childeric, several associate him with his contemporary, the Gallo-Roman noble Aegidius, who was assigned as Roman military commander for Gaul () around 457, when Majorian replaced Avitus as emperor. citing Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks II.11
Childeric's grave also shows the insignia of a Roman military commander.
Further back in time, some historians such as Guy Halsall have speculated that Childeric was probably old enough to have begun a Roman military career in the service of Flavius Aetius (d. 434), who defeated Attila in Gaul in 451. Halsall notes that Childeric's military career appears to have played out far from the Frankish homelands, in areas where he was fighting for Roman interests.
Aetius died in 454, and was himself strongly associated with the Huns of Attila (died 453) both as an ally, and later as an enemy who he defeated in Gaul in 451 at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Among those who served under Aëtius were the Gallo-Roman emperors Avitus and Majorian, the king-maker Ricimer who had Majorian enthroned in 457, and Aegidius himself, who rejected the legitimacy of the new emperor in Rome after the murder of Majorian by Ricimer in 461—effectively separating northern Gaul from Italian control.
Exile legend The first and by far the largest of the two parts of Childeric's life which Gregory (II.12) reports is the story of his exile and marriage. He says that as king he was excessively wanton and began to dishonour the daughters of his fellow Franks. They ejected him from his position and wanted to kill him, and so he escaped to "Thuringia" (a term which sometimes seems to represent the Tongeren region in this part of Gregory's work). He left an ally among the Franks to try to calm them and prepare the situation for his return. He and his friend agreed that he would receive a secret signal when the time was right, and Childeric went to stay with king Basinus and his wife, Basina. According to Gregory, it was eight years before Childeric received this signal to return.Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II.12. When he left Thuringia, Basina left her husband to come with Childeric. Gregory narrates: "I know your worth," said she, "and that you are very strong, and therefore I have come to Hve with you. For let me tell you that if I had known of anyone more worthy than you in parts beyond the sea I should certainly have sought to live with him."
The Chronicle of Fredegar names the faithful friend of Childeric as "Wiomad", and says that he was a Frank who had once rescued Childeric by flight when he and his mother were being led away captive by the Huns. The Liber Historiae Francorum calls him Viomad. They tell stories about Wiomad deliberately advising Aegidius to make bad decisions which made him unpopular, so that Childeric could return.
Modern scholars are sceptical of Gregory's report that while Childeric was gone, the Franks elected the Roman commander Aegidius as their "king", in the place of Childeric, but several have speculated that the story may have reflected a memory of something real. For example, the story explains the origins of the mother of Clovis, who appeared in later genealogies.
Guy Halsall proposes that the 8 year period may reflect the span of time when Aegidius led the Roman forces of northern Gaul, from 457 until his death in 465. He also suggested that the story might be connected to the refusal of Aegidius to accept Severus as emperor after the murder of Majorian in 461, putting his Roman position in doubt. Halsall proposed that "to legitimise his position", Aegidius may have taken the Frankish title instead.
Ulrich Nonn, following his teacher Eugen Ewig, believed that the exile story reflects a real sequence of events whereby Childeric was a leader of "Salian" or "Belgian" Franks based in the Romanized areas conquered by Chlodio. They constituted a Roman allied force under the lordship of Aegidius, which he was temporarily able to take over when Chlodio and his imperial patron died.
Possible conflict with Aegidius It is generally assumed among modern scholars that Childeric had a continuing alliance with Aegidius, although there is very little historical evidence for it. In contrast to modern scholars, the Chronicle of Fredegar and Liber Historiae Francorum both reported that after his return Childeric, he and Aegidius fought battles against each other. Fredegar says that Childeric fought many battles with Aegidius and that many slaughters of Romans were carried out by him. The Liber Historiae Francorum gives the following:Liber Historiae Francorum 8In those days the Franks captured the city of Agrippina on the Rhine, and they called it Cologne, as though coloni inhabited it. They killed many of the Romans belonging to Aegidius’s party there. Aegidius himself escaped by fleeing. They then came to the city of Trier on the river Moselle, devastating those lands, and captured the city after setting it on fire. After these events Aegidius, king of the Romans, died.
In fact there are no clear source which give an exact date for the Frankish takeover of Cologne and Trier.
The Battle(s) of Orleans (probably about 463)
In a passage normally considered to have come from a lost collection of annals, Gregory (II.18-19) gave a sequence of events which are very difficult to interpret. Modern scholars consider it to be "only loosely connected to together, and ambiguous in terms of chronology and cause and effect". citing Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II.18
In the first part, Childeric is said to have been in battle at Orleans. This is generally equated to the Battle of Orléans (463), which other sources (Hydatius, Marius of Avranches, and the Gallic Chronicle of 511) all report as a battle where Frederic, the brother of the Visigothic king Theoderic II, was killed fighting Aegidius and the Franks, although none of these sources mention Childeric. It then lists several other events including the death of Aegidius which is known from other sources to have happened about 465. The passage begins as follows:Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II.18 Latin, English (Brehaut trans.). Translations above are done for Wikipedia.
|II.18. Igitur Childericus Aurilianis pugnas egit, ||Now Childeric fought battles at Orleans, |- |Adovacrius vero cum Saxonibus Andecavo venit. ||while Adovacrius came with the Saxons to Angers. |- |Magna tunc lues populum devastavit.||At that time a great plague devastated the people. |- |Mortuus est autem Egidius et reliquit filium Syagrium nomine. ||Aegidius died and left a son named Syagrius. |- |Quo defuncto, Adovacrius de Andecavo vel aliis locis obsedes accepit.||After his [Aegidius'] death, Adovacrius received hostages from Angers and from other places.