General Notes

King of Franks (558-561)
King of Soissons (511), King of Orleans, King of France

SOURCES:
"Rulers of the World" by R.F.Tapsell
Clotaire = Clothar I, King de Soissons (Paul, Nouveau Larousse Universel.) (Rosamond, Frankish kingdom under Carolingians.)
(Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 216, Line 303-50.) (Andre Castelot, Histoire de La France, Tome 1, Pages 200 - 208, 214).

AKA: Clotaire I, King d'Orleans. AKA: Clotaire I, King d'Austrasie. Born: in 497, son of Clovis I, King des Francs and Sainte Clotilde de Bourgogne.

Married between 510 and 515: Ingonthe who was Clotaire I's first wife. She gave him a daughter and five sons, three of whom survived. Married circa 516: Aregonde); Radegonde was Clotaire I's second legitimate wife. Note - between 523 and 560: In accordance with Salic Law, upon Clovis I's death, his four sons [Thierry, the eldest and born from an unknown concubine before Clovis was married, and the other three, Clodomir, Childebert and Clotaire, divided the kingdom not unlike a cake, but with unequal parts. Clotaire, the youngest, received the most primitive lands, extending from the charbonniere forest [the North of Gaule] to the Somme River and beyond to include Noyon, Soissons and Laon. Soissons was its capital. The brothers constantly engaged in bloody fights in order to augment their holdings. In 523, three of Clovis I's sons, Clotaire, Childebert and Clodomir, launch their first campaign against the Burgundians. They catch Sigismond=Zygmund, out of the Monastery of Agaune, as well as his wife and his children. They are given to the custody of Clodomir. He has the entire family murdered by throwing them into a well at Saint-Peravy-la-Coulombe [near Patay] . Clotaire I became King of Orleans in 526 and King of Austrasie in 555. He was known for his cruelty and plotted and implemented the murder of his brother's (Clodomir) sons with Childebert, his other brother. In July through December 524, two of Clodomir's sons thus are murdered. Clodomir himself had died at the Battle of Vezeronce [in Isere] on 25 June 524. Clotaire gets Tours and Poitiers. In 531 Thierry and Clotaire I are occupied in battle against the Thuringians. Their King, Hermanefried died in combat by falling from a rempart in Tolbiac [with a little push] . His mother, Radegonde, who is among the captives, becomes Clotaire's third wife. In 532, Clotaire and Childebert begin their third campaign against the Burgundians. This time, they take Autun. Upon Thierry;s death in 534, his lands are divided, and Clotaire gets the entire southern portion of Thierry's holdings including Grenoble, Die and neighboring cities.

In 536, Clotaire obtains the northern part of Provence encompassing Orange, Carpentras and Gap from Vitiges, King of the Ostrogoths. When Theobald dies in 555, Clotaire gives the Auvergne to his son, Chramne. The next year, Clotaire would fail in his campaign against the Saxons, but they will continue to pay him an annual tribute of 500 cows. Chramne rebels and fights against his father. Upon Childebert's death 23 December 558, he reunited all parts of the Frankish kingdom, and Clotaire becomes sole King of the Francs. The following year, his son, Chramne again rebels, but has to seek refuge with the Count of Brittany, Conober who is established in Vannes. In 560, they lose to Clotaire and Chramne, his wife and their children are burnt alive on the orders of Clotaire. Married circa 547: Radegonde, Princess de Turinge , daughter of Hermanefried, King de Turinge (8164) and N? ; The Thuringians had been submitted to the Francs. Clotaire and his half-brother Thierry had led a brutal campaign against them and had crushed them on the banks of the Saale in 531. Among Clotaire's share of the bounty was a beautiful young girl, the Christian Princess Radegonde. Radegonde was Clotaire I's third legitimate wife, and fifth mate. Clotaire I was about 50 years old.