Midevil Times

In the perspective of Bishop Gregory of Tours, the rewards given to Clovis due to his conversion came in the form of supernatural aid and political success. During Gregory’s explaining of Clovis’ conversion he tells of rewards given to help him achieve political success. Sometimes the rewards were given in the form of supernatural aid. Two instances that Gregory tells of Clovis being helped in a supernatural form is when he went to war with the Alamanni and while he was arranging to go to war with Alaric. In order for Clovis to achieve political success Gregory explains the eliminating of his relatives.

Gregory’s explaining of Clovis’ conversion tells how Clovis was a Pagan and a firm believer of his gods. His wife Clotilda tries to persuade him to convert to Christianity but he is not influenced by her or her beliefs. When Clovis goes to the final battle with the Alamanni, Gregory tells of this event being the cause of his conversion. The Alamanni were defeating Clovis’ army and he finally surrendered to Christ with the thought of his gods failing him in this war. He called upon Christ with tears in his eyes and began to bargain. If Christ replied he would be the only god that he believed in fully. The Alamanni fled, their king was killed and they fell under the rule of Clovis. After the battle, when Clovis was secretly summoned by the holy bishop Remi, said would convert but was afraid of his followers rejecting his beliefs. To his surprise his followers accepted his conversion. Gregory takes this as another reward from God, as if he put it into their hearts to accept Clovis’ conversion to Christianity. He was then baptized and from this event he was considered a “new Constantine”. In both situations where it is seems as if Christ stepped in, it is taken in Gregory’s eyes as a type of supernatural aid.

Due to religious motives Clovis headed out to Poitiers where Alaric was and he ordered his soldiers not to take anything from St. Martin as they passed through out of respect. He stated that the only thing they were able to take were grass and water. One of his soldier’s had taken hay from a poor man knowing it was not grass. When Clovis was informed of what his soldier had done he took it upon himself to kill the soldier because he felt that the act had offended the blessed Martin. He then sent his army to the church of St. Martin bearing gifts and asking for forgiveness. When they came close to the entrance of the church they were met with the singing of a psalm and took it as a sign of Christ forgiving them and also an omen of victory ahead.

As Clovis and his men made their way towards the Visigoths they were met with the dilemma of where to cross at the river of Vienne. The river had been over flooded due to rainfall. Clovis prayed to God to help guide him and his men toward the way of passage. In the morning the men were met with the sign from God as to where they should cross. When Clovis and his men reached Poitiers they witnessed a ball of fire coming from the church of Saint Hilarius. Gregory tells of this being a statement as if to say that with the light of the blessed confessor Hilarius, he should be able to conquer the Visigoths which he did in fact do. After his victory he was appointed consulship and dressed himself in a purple tunic and chlamys, and placed a diadem on his head while he gave out gold and silver to his followers. By defeating the Visigoths he gets a big boost of confidence. Gregory uses this circumstance as another example of the supernatural aid that Clovis experienced during his reign in power.

In Cambrai a king named Ragnachar who was from the Merovingian family was in power. All the Merovingians had royal status which meant that they were a threat to Clovis. Due to the family being royalty Ragnachar and his heirs have a claim to Clovis’ kingdom

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