General Notes

Source: Microsoft (R) Encarta.
The first Merovingian ruler was Clovis I, grandson of Merovech. Clovis
became king of both the Salian and Ripuarian Franks. In addition, throu
an aggressive policy of conquest supported by the church, Clovis enlarg
his kingdom until it included most of present-day France and part of
Germany. After his death in 511 the kingdom was divided among his four
sons into Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy, and Aquitaine.
The Carolingians held the office of mayor of the palace and after 639
were kings in all but name. In 751 the Carolingian mayor of the palace
deposed the reigning king, Childeric III (reigned about 743-52), and
assumed royal power himself as Pepin the Short, putting an end to the
Merovingian dynasty.
Overthrew Gallo-Roman colony governed by Syagrius, near Soissons (486);
defeated the Alamanni at Tolbiacum (Zuelpich) near the Rhine (496);
baptized en masse with 3,000 soldiers (498); fixed his court at Paris
(507); defeated Visigoths at Vouille(507); promulgated Lex Salica;
succeeded in unifying northern Frankish tribes; just before his death
divided his newly organized realm among four sons.  Clovis II (c.634-65
and  Clovis III (682-695) were descendants of Clovis in the Merovingian
dynasty and kings of Neustria and Burgundy (639-657 and 691-695,
respectively).
Clovis I, in German, Chlodwig (circa 466-511), king of the Franks
(481-511) and first important ruler of the Merovingian dynasty. He
succeeded his father, Childeric I, as king of the Salian Franks. His
career focused largely on forging the Salian Franks on the northern Rhi
River and the Ripuarian Franks on the lower Rhine into a single dominio
He began with a victory in 486 over Syagrius, the last Roman governor in
northern Gaul. By 493, when he married the Burgundian princess Clotilda
(later canonized as St. Clotilda), Clovis had defeated many petty princ
whose territories had surrounded his capital at Soissons. He next came
into conflict in 496 with the confederation of Germanic tribes known as
the Alamanni, who inhabited land east of his domains. He continued to
fight the Alamanni, who were completely conquered by 506; the next year
the Visigoths were decisively defeated when their king, Alaric II, was
killed by Clovis in a battle near Poitiers. Clovis made Paris the capit
of the Frankish kingdom, which at that time included most of present-day
France and southwestern Germany. According to Salian custom, he divided
his kingdom among his four sons.