Chlodio Merovingian Dynasty

Chlodio was born about 0380, the son of Theodomir Merovingian Dynasty but his mother is unknown. The place is not known.

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Chlodio Merovingian Dynasty (c0380->0450)	Theodomir Merovingian Dynasty (c0360-c0428)	Richomer Merovingian Dynasty (0335-0393)	Teutomer Merovingian Dynasty (c0310-?)
		Richomer Merovingian Dynasty (0335-0393)
		Ascyla (c0335-0428)
		Ascyla (c0335-0428)

Events

Notes

Note 1

!StyleName: Merovingian Dynasty, Chlodio “the Hairy”, King of Salian Franks [428-451] [~380 - >450]

Clodion , known as " the Hairy ", called in primary sources Cloio or Chlogio , born around 390 and died around 450, is a leader of the Salian Franks , one of the Germanic peoples who constitute the League of the Franks . He is mainly known for being the oldest king of the Merovingian dynasty whose existence is certain. Clodion is known only by two brief mentions, which makes it difficult for historians to establish a biography .

Around the middle of the 5th century , Clodion entered Roman territory with his army and seized Cambrésis and southern Artois . He thus founded a small Frankish kingdom which was inherited by his descendant Clovis I and which would be the embryo of the future kingdom of France .

Clodion is known only from two contemporary sources, the Panegyric of Majorian by Sidonius Apollinaris in 458 and the History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours in 592 1 :

"When he [Majorian] defended Tours, which feared war, you [Aetius] were not there: a short time later, you fought together in the open plains of Artois , which the Frank Clodion had invaded. There is a crossroads at this place where the roads meet at a narrow path; the narrow causeway, placed on piles, crosses at the end of a long distance the town of Helena dominated by the arch of a bridge and at the same time a watercourse. It was there that you had taken up position and Majorian on horseback was fighting at the very foot of the bridge. By chance, on a hill near the bank, a barbarian marriage was being noisily celebrated and in the midst of Nordic dances the new bride was united with a husband as fair as herself. Majorian, it is said, made them bite the dust; his helmet resounded under the blows and his breastplate, opposing its scales to the shock of the lances, diverted the wound from him, until the moment when the beaten enemy turned his back.

— Sidonius Apollinaris , Panegyric of Majorian , 458 - translation by André Loyen .

"It is also reported that Clodion, who was then a capable man and very noble in his nation, was king of the Franks; he lived in the fortress of Dispargum, which is in the territory of the Thuringians . In these regions, but to the south the Romans lived as far as the river Loire . Beyond the Loire the Goths dominated. The Burgundians who also followed the sect of Arius lived on the other side of the Rhone which flows near the city of Lyons . As for Clodion , he sent scouts to the city of Cambrai , and when everything was explored, he himself followed them; he crushed the Romans and seized the city where he resided only a short time, then he occupied the country as far as the river Somme . Some claim that from his line came King Meroveus, of whom Childeric was the son."

— Gregory of Tours , History of the Franks , book II , IX , 592 - translation Robert Latouche .

Before the advent of Clodion, since 342 the Salian Franks were established as federates within the Roman Empire , in the North of Gaul, in Toxandria 2 , between the Mosan marshes , north of present-day Maastricht , and the Charbonnière forest 3 . Since theJanuary 17, 395, the Roman Empire was divided into two parts : the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire 4 . From 407, several Germanic peoples entered Gaul and settled there. The Visigoths founded a kingdom in Aquitaine , the Alans took up residence near Orléans , the Burgundians and the Alamanni settled along the Rhine 5 . During the reign of Clodion, it was Valentinian III who ruled the western part of the Roman Empire 6 .

According to the historian Etienne Renard, Cloio or Chlogio comes from the Germanic hluda and means "renowned or illustrious" 7 . This spelling excludes that his name is based on the Roman name Claude 7 . Generally speaking, the radical hlod is very present in the genealogy of the Merovingians , we find it in Clovis , which indicates a certain relationship with Clodion 8 but also in Clodobert, Clodomir, Clodovald, Clodoswinthe, Clotaire and Clotilde 9 , 10 .

Clodion began to reign around 428 11 , 12 . He may have succeeded the Frankish king Theodomir , although it is not known whether there were years of interregnum between the two kings Note 2 , 13 . He ruled the Salian Frankish people from his capital, the fortress of Dispargum , located east of the Rhine 14 .

Around 432-435 15 , Clodion learned that the cities of the Roman province of Belgium II were defenseless 16 . Indeed, Aetius, the Roman general in charge of the defense of Gaul , had taken many soldiers from these territories to fight in turn the Burgundians , the Alans , the Rhenish Franks , the anti-tax revolts and the Visigoths 17 . Clodion therefore decided to mount an expedition and mobilized his entire army. Crossing the Charbonnière forest , the Franks seized Tournai , took Cambrai and Arras in the first assault and reduced the entire surrounding country up to the Somme 18 , 19 . In fact, more than easy pillaging, Clodion sought to confer on his authority as a warrior king a territorial base 20 , which he wanted to see extend over the rich territory between the Rhine , the Somme , the Meuse and the North Sea 21 . The occupation lasted for a few years without Aetius trying to put an end to it. The Roman general indeed had much to do elsewhere 22 .

Around 445-448, Clodion, who was celebrating the wedding of an important member of his army in the town of Helena near Arras 23 , 24 , was attacked by the general Aetius and his lieutenant Majorian 25 . The general wanted to bring the Salian Franks , who had annexed territories without his authorization, back into line 26 , 12 . Clodion, who was not prepared for the confrontation, was forced to flee 27 . However, Aetius was aware that he did not have the military means to occupy the territory again. He therefore preferred to renegotiate with Clodion the foedus , the alliance treaty of 342 which made the Salian Franks federates fighting for Rome 28 . He allowed them to settle in the Empire, in this case in the territories they had already conquered at Tournai and perhaps also left them the territories of Arras and Cambrai 29 , 30 . Clodion also received the latter city as his capital 31 , 32 . These were the origins of the future Frankish kingdom of Clovis I 33 .

After more than twenty years of reign, Clodion died shortly before the year 451 34 . According to Frankish custom , his kingdom was divided between his sons. The eldest, probably Merovech , obtained the city of Tournai and its region 35 . A second heir may have obtained Cambrai and a third Tongres 36 .

Several elements of Clodion's biography remain obscure. Some others are still debated by historians. In particular, his place of origin, his genealogy, his historical sources and his nickname are controversial.

The only information that Gregory of Tours gives to locate Dispargum is that, at his time , this fortress was located in a territory occupied by the Thuringians Note 3 . Unfortunately, neither Gregory of Tours nor his contemporary the poet Venantius Fortunatus indicate the limits of Thuringia in the 6th century Note 4 .

In 1893, the historian Godefroid Kurth refused to look for the location of Dispargum. He also pointed out that this place could be legendary 14 . In 1896, Kurth was more affirmative. He indicated that "everything suggests that this locality only existed in poetry" 37 . In 1979, the historian Émilienne Demougeot did not formally identify Dispargum, merely placing it on the borders of Belgium and Holland 16 . In 1988, the writer Georges Bordonove indicated that the town had still not been identified 20 .

In 1720, Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont claimed that the village of Duisburg , near Brussels , should be seen as the Dispargum of Clodion 11 . This identification was taken up in particular by historians Pierre Riché and Patrick Périn in 1996 25 . Also in 1996, Michel Rouche hesitated between identifying it with Duisburg in Belgium and Duisburg in Germany 15 . In 2014, historian Etienne Renard leaned towards Duisburg 38 .

However, in 1999, in a note to his translation of Gregory of Tours ' History of the Franks , Robert Latouche indicates that Dispargum "is not identified with certainty" . He recalls that the "identifications that have been proposed - Duisburg in Belgium, Duisburg in Germany - are conjectural" 39 .

The historian Godefroid Kurth declared in 1893 that "Clodion is the oldest king that the popular songs of the Salian Franks have made known to Gregory of Tours " 40 . This data was then widely accepted by later historians 20 . On the other hand, the name of his queen and the number of his children are unknown 41 . Despite this, several historians and genealogists have developed hypotheses on Clodion's parentage based on ancient testimonies or by falsifying certain elements.

Theodomir , Meroveus and Clodovald are historical figures who are often linked to Clodion by genealogists .

In 660, the Chronicle of Fredegar indicates that King Theodomir was succeeded by his son Clodion 42 . This filiation between Theodomir and Clodion is considered by historians to be an interpolation made by Fredegar from the text of Gregory of Tours 43 , 44 , Note 2 .

Gregory of Tours writes in his History of the Franks that "some claim that from his line [that of Clodion] came King Meroveus" . From this passage, the historian Godefroid Kurth asserts that Meroveus is therefore the son of Clodion 45 . He is followed in this hypothesis by several historians 35 . However, some others like Pierre Riché and Patrick Périn are more circumspect and say only that Meroveus "was perhaps the son of Clodion" 46 or his nephew 47 .

Two genealogies from the 8th century also give Clodion's son as a certain Clodovald. These genealogies, full of errors, are generally not accepted by most contemporary historians Note 5 , notably by Godefroid Kurth 48 , Note 6 . However, the fact that they are independent of each other and that they both cite Clodovald leads some genealogists to admit his historicity 49 , 50 . Historians, however, know nothing else about this Clodovald, except that he bears the same name as another Merovingian, Clodovald better known under the name of Saint Cloud Note 7 . In 2014, the historian Etienne Renard proposed to see Clodovald as Clodion's only son. He would have united him with the granddaughter of Meroveus . From their union would have been born the future king Chilpéric 51 .

Over the centuries, the lack of genealogical information on Clodion's family was arbitrarily filled. Thus, in the 8th century , the anonymous author of the Liber historiæ Francorum gave Clodion's father as the mythical Faramund . In the 14th century , it was Jacques de Guyse in his History of Hainaut who indicated that Clodion was the father of the legendary character Aubéron 52 . Later, in the 17th century , the poet Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin attributed to Clodion in one of his works, a woman by the name of Ildegonde 53 . Finally, in the 19th century , Alexandre Lenoir , in his book Musée des monuments français , indicated that Clodion's mother was called Argote 54 .

The writer Sidonius Apollinaris was a contemporary of Clodion, which was not the case for Bishop Gregory of Tours . According to the Belgian historian Godefroid Kurth in his Poetic History of the Merovingians , the source of the Bishop of Tours would be a popular song. The historian suggests that "there therefore existed, at the time of Gregory of Tours, […] a popular song on the capture of Belgic Gaul by the Franks of Clodion. And our narrator [Gregory], faithful to his method, extracted from this document the only thing that he considered historical" 55 .

The nickname "the Hairy" comes from this sentence by Gregory of Tours about the first Frankish kings: "[The Franks] would have created above them in each country and each city hairy kings belonging to the first and, so to speak, to the noblest family of their race". Clodion would thus be the hairy king of the fortress of Dispargum Note 3 . This nickname has been used at least since 1616 56 .

This custom of differentiating men by their abundant or not abundant hair is widespread among the Germans . The Visigoths reserved it for free men, and the Vandal Hasdings had reserved it for the royal family, just like the Merovingians 57 .

Clodion is not the most important original king in the process of legitimization of the Merovingian dynasty, as shown by the symbolic interpretation of a legend concerning the birth of Meroveus . Gregory of Tours did not want to take it up again, either because it was too problematic 58 , but more surely because of its pagan character 59 , 60 . In the 7th century , the Chronicle of Fredegar gives a version 59 . The historian Godefroid Kurth summarizes it thus: "One day when the queen, wife of Clodion, was bathing in the sea, a god united with her, and from this union was born Meroveus, the eponymous hero of the Frankish dynasty." The god in question is a beast of Neptune , a Quinotaur, a five-horned anguiped river god 61 . On a purely factual level, this legend also provides an element that Gregory of Tours does not indicate: Mérovée's mother was Clodion's wife 62 .

This hierogamy is the foundation of Merovingian legitimacy, and makes Merovingian the first element of a triad of Dumézilian functions . His father being a bull from the sea, Merovingian assumes by this double symbol the function of fertility , Childeric assuming the function of violence and Clovis the sacred function 63 . This symbolic and sacred legitimation therefore excludes King Clodion . Despite all the difficulties of the Merovingians, the strength of this symbol guarantees to the Merovingians that the kings will always be chosen from their family 64 .

But, nearly a millennium later, the memory of Clodion having been passed down, he is considered one of the founders of the Frankish monarchy and the dynasties that succeeded it. Fifty-eight statues of the kings of France adorn the ceremonial hall of the palace that Philip the Fair had built on the Île de la Cité at the beginning of the 14th century , including that of Clodion. Philip the Fair's aim was to strengthen his legitimacy, both by tracing the monarchy back beyond the election of Clovis , and by recalling that the three " races " had become one whose bloods had mixed . 65

Clodion remained a legitimizing symbol until the end of the monarchy in France . Even under Louis XIV , the Franks were made the founders of the nobility, by the right of the conqueror. When in 1713 the Abbot Gabriel Daniel questioned the existence of Faramund , Clodion and Mérovée in his History of France since the establishment of the French monarchy in Gaul , he was accused of undermining the majesty of the monarchy 66 , 67 .

Theodomir is at least the last Frankish king of whom Gregory of Tours speaks before approaching Clodion. See History of the Franks , book II , IX , 592:

"We also read in the Consular Tables that Theodomir , king of the Franks, son of the late Richomer , and his mother Ascyla, were slaughtered. It is also reported that Clodion..."

Gregory of Tours only indicates in his History of the Franks that one must cross the Rhine to enter Thuringia. Venantius Fortunatus in his Poems is also vague. He only states that in 556, the Frankish prince Sigebert defeated the Thuringians near the river Naab .

Émilienne Demougeot , Georges Bordonove , Stéphane Lebecq , Pierre Riché , Patrick Périn , Michel Rouche and Jean-Pierre Leguay do not even mention it.

Godefroid Kurth rejects Clodovald, but admits that Clodion may have had several sons. The lack of documents from this period does not allow us to definitively settle the question. Moreover, Mérovée , the only truly attested son of Clodion, is cited only by a brief passage from Gregory of Tours and by one of the genealogies mentioned above.

Chlodio Merovingian Dynasty

Personal and Family Information

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Notes

Note 1