Clovis (465–511)

Merovingian king of the Franks (481–511), who extended his realm from a small area around Tournai to encompass most of modern France and parts of modern Germany. He succeeded his father Childeric I as king of the Salian (western) Franks; defeated the Gallo-Romans (Romanized Gauls) near Soissons; and defeated the Alemanni, a confederation of Germanic tribes, near Cologne. He embraced Christianity and subsequently proved a powerful defender of orthodoxy against the Arian Visigoths, whom he defeated at Poitiers. He made Paris his capital.

At the age of 15 he succeeded his father Childereic, inheriting the leadership of the Salian Franks who were settled in what is now Flanders. In 486 he moved against the Gallo-Roman warlord Syagrius, defeating him near Soissons and incorporating the area north of the river Loire into his kingdom. He then moved east to intervene in a Burgundian dynastic dispute, but failed to bring the Burgundians under his rule. He waged a long war against the Alamanni, eventually extending the boundaries of his kingdom east of the Rhine, and he succeeded in conquering most of the Visigothic possessions in France. He maintained his power through strength of personality and playing rivals off against each other. When necessary he would not hesitate to use treachery or brutality.

In 493 Clovis married Clotilda, daughter of the Burgundian Chilperic II. Clotilda was a Catholic and exerted a great influence over him. She is said to have inspired him to convert to Christianity at a critical moment in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496. Whatever the truth, he and 3,000 of his followers were baptized as Catholics at Rheims at Christmas 496. Clovis seized the banner of Catholicism to rally support and undermine the other Germanic kingdoms. In 507 he moved against the Visigoths. His victory at Vouillé was decisive and Clovis became ruler of most of what is now France. By now he ruled over a vast area and several peoples. The Eastern emperor Anastasius granted him an honorary title of ‘consul’ , no doubt seeing him as a counterweight to Theodoric the Great in Italy. Clovis moved his capital to Paris and laid the foundations for what was eventually to become the French nation. He died unexpectedly in 511 and his kingdom was divided up amongst his four sons.

Clovis

City in Fresno County, central California, USA, in the San Joaquin Valley, 11 km/7 mi northeast of downtown Fresno; population (1990) 50,300. A trade and processing centre for a region producing lumber, vegetables, grapes, and other fruit, it is now a booming suburb, having quadrupled in population since 1970.

Clovis

City in the High Plains of eastern New Mexico, USA, 16 km/10 mi west of the Texas border and 151 km/94 mi southwest of Amarillo; seat of Curry County; population (2000) 32,700. Settled as a railroad town in the early 1900s, it is surrounded by irrigated farms and ranches and is a livestock auction centre. Still a railway town, Clovis is in an agricultural area producing wheat, sugar beet, and alfalfa.

For a long time, Clovis was considered the oldest settlement site in North America, following the 1932 discovery of spear points dated to 9200 BC. The city consequently gave its name to the widespread Clovis culture (before 9000 BC). Since the 1970s, earlier settlements have been discovered dating from 15,000 BC at Meadowcroft, Pennsylvania, and 16,000 BC at Cactus Hill, Virginia. The Clovis Culture is exhibited at the Blackwater Draw Museum at Portales, 16 km/10 mi southwest of Clovis and 8 km/5 mi south of the actual site.

The town of Clovis was founded in 1906 and incorporated in 1909, and grew rapidly after becoming the site of offices and workshops for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. The Santa Fe Passenger Depot, which is on the national register of historic places, is now a model train museum. Other register entries include the city hall (1908), fire station, hospital, courthouse, church, hotel, and post office. Norman Petty Recording Studios, where Buddy Holly recorded, were a noted 1950s popular music centre.

Other attractions include the Lyceum Theatre, a rodeo, and the Curry County Fair held in August. The Ned Houk Memorial Park, 9 km/6 mi north of Clovis, contains an old homestead museum. Hillcrest Park in the town has a sunken garden and a zoo. The town is the site of Clovis Community College, and the Cannon Air Force Base is just to the west.