Born: c436
Father: Merovich? Spouse: Bassina
Children:
Image from OIH p70 ===>> |  "Childeric [I]'s grave was discovered in 1653, and much of its wealth is now lost. A plaster cast survives of his seal ring, inscribed CHILDERICI REGIS, showing him in Roman armor, and with the long hair which was to be a distinguishing mark of his successors, the Merovingian kings of France" |
From Meroving.html: Childeric I b. c436 r458-81 (HBHG King of Yssel 458-96, grave discovered at Tournai in 1653, see interesting tie-in w/King Arthur in DOKA).
Note: Merovee I and II, Childeric I followed the pagan cult of 'Diana of the Ardennes' (HBHG? p248). Clovis I converted to Christianity.
From Gibbon's DFRE: RE Majorian died 461, probably orchestrated by powerful Count Ricimer (Goth?), who then ruled through his puppet Libius Severus. "During that period the govt was in the hands of Ricimer alone; and although the modest barbarian disclaimed the name of king, he ... ruled Italy with the same independent and despotic authority which was afterwards exercised by Odoacer and Theodoric. But his domains were bounded by the Alps; and 2 Roman generals, Marcellinus and Aegidius, maintained their allegiance to the republic, by rejecting with disdain the phantom which he styled an emperor ... Aegidius [essentially ruled Gaul] ... The Franks, who had punished with exile the youthful follies of Childeric, elected [Aegidius] for their king; his vanity rather than his ambition was gratified by that singular honor; and when the nation at the end of 4 yrs repented of the injury which they had offered to the Merovingian family, he patiently acquiesced in the restoration of the lawful prince. The authority of Aegidius ended only with his life, and the suspicions of poison and secret violence, which derived some countenance from the character of Ricimer, were eagerly entertained by the passionate credulity of the Gauls" (Gibbon's DFRE pp580-1 '461-7 [AD] Ricimer reigns under the Name of Severus, Revolts of Marcellinus in Dalmatia, Aegidius in Gaul'). "The narrow limits of [Childeric's] kingdom [at his death] were confined to the island of the Batavians, with the ancient dioceses of Tournay and Arras; and at the baptism of Clovis the number of his warriors could not exceed 5K" (609).
From HoF: "Childeric, King of the Franks, whose private life was one long debauch, began to seduce the daughters of his subjects. They were so incensed about this that they forced him to give up his throne. He discovered that they intended to assassinate him and he fled to Thuringia. He left behind a close friend of his who was able to soothe the minds of his angry subjects with his honeyed words. Childeric entrusted to him a token which should indicate when he might return to his homeland ... Childeric then set out for Thuringia and took refuge with King Bisinus and his wife Basina. As soon as Childeric had gone, the Franks unanimously chose as their king ... Aegidius ... [8 yrs later, at his friend's signal, he returned] and was restored to his throne. Now that Bisinus and Childeric were both kings, Queen Basina ... deserted her husband and joined Childeric ... [saying] 'I know that you are a strong man and I recognize ability when I see it ...' This pleased Childeric very much and he married her. She became pregnant and bore a son whom she called Clovis. He was a great man and became a famous soldier" (128-9). Later, Childeric fought a battle at Orleans [year?]. Odovacar [Odoacer? Goth?] with his Saxons penetrated as far as Angers. A great pestilence caused the death of many people. Aegidius died [464] and left a son called Syagrius [who governed Gaul until his defeat in 486 by Clovis]. After the death of Aegidius, Odovacar took hostages from Angers and other places. The Bretons were expelled from Bourges by the Goths and many were killed at Bourg-de-Deols. Count Paul, who had Roman and Frankish troops under his command, attacked the Goths and seized booty from them. Odovacar reached Angers, but King Childeric arrived there on the following day: Count Paul was killed and Childeric occupied the city ... [at this time] a great war was waged between the Saxons and the Romans. The Saxons fled and many ... were cut down by the Romans ... Their islands [i.e. in the Loire between Saumur and Angers, piratical hideouts] were captured and laid waste by the Franks ... In the 9th month of that year [?] there was an earthquake. Odovacar made a treaty with Childeric and together they subdued the Alamanni, who had invaded a part of Italy" (132). Later, "When Bishop Namatius died in Clermont-Ferrand, Eparchius succeeded him. He was a most saintly and devout man" (HoF 133). "When Eparchius died he was succeeded by Sidonius Apollinaris, one-time Prefect of the City, a man of most noble birth ... one of the leading Senators of Gaul, so noble indeed that he married the dau of RE Avitus ... [Eparchius] was a very saintly man" (134). Shortly after the death of Bishop Sidonius [year?], "rumors of the approach of the Franks [led by ?] were being repeated on all sides in these regions and everyone looked forward with great excitement to the moment when they would take over the govt" (137, hmmm, probably Clovis, after he became Christian?, no, looks like Childeric, see below, later "At the same time Euric, King of the Goths, crossed the Spanish frontier and began a terrible persecution of the Christians in Gaul" 138, "Soon afterwards the persecutor [Euric] died, struck down by the vengeance of God" 139, so when did Euric die? "The next thing that happened ... Childeric died [481]" 139).
'The great classicist Theodor Mommsen wrote: 'In the development of Christianty, Africa plays the first part. If it arose in Syria, it was in and thru Africa that it became the religion of the world'. Latin Christian traditions developed in Carthage rather than Rome, and Africa was the home of such great early ldrs as Tertullian [160-225], Cyprian [d258] and Augustine [354-430]. By the late 5C N Africa had 5-600 bishoprics, while monasteries were a familiar part of the local social landscape. Even after long struggles between rival Christian sects, N Africa in the century after 560 was a potent center of spiritual, literary and cultural activity ... Yet w/in 50yrs of the completion of the Arab conquest in 698' (LHC p228) it had collapsed.
After the 381 Council of Constantinople, disputes over the relation of the divine and human in Jesus Christ disrupted the [Greek] East ... As Bishop of Constaninople 428-31, Nestorius objected to the Latin [RCC] habit of calling Mary Theotokos or 'Mother of God' ... but Cyril of Alexandria and the Egyptian monks opposed Nestorius. Both sides appealed to Rome, which in 430 voted against Nestorius, and in 431 the Council of Ephesus summoned by the RE (name?) deposed him, sending him back to Antioch, condemning his books in 435 and exiling him to Upper Egypt 436 ... Nestorius apparently believed in 2 different natures and persons of Christ, with conjunction v. union between them. He championed the humanity of Christ in opposition to the later Monophysites. The controversy raged on until the 451 Council of Chalcedon opposed both Nestorianism and Monophysitism by declaring '1 Person, 2 Natures w/each nature preserving its own characteristics w/o diminution' (HCW p95-6).
When I read about the early Middle Ages, I sometimes wonder, 'was anyone really a Christian?' Christian ideas became [i.e. were used as mere] tools to unite Empires. Kings claimed to be Christians, yet some of them mercilessly looted and slaughtered. Were people simply ignorant? Was their faith false? I don't know. What I do know is that God preserved a kingdom for God's own glory (the 'City of God') amid the darkness of human failure and greed (the 'City of Man'). One way that God preserved the church was by calling Christians to retreat to religious communities (e.g. St Benedict in AD 520, fnds Monte Cassino, CHME p44).
Beginning after Vortigern d. c455 ('the dominant figure in Britain c425-50' ASA p13), Arthur becomes war-ldr of the Celtic Britons, fighting '12 + 1 Battles' (cf br-doka p67, also wiki) to hold off the invading Saxons, including:
- 1 mouth of river Glein (Glen in Lincoln? Scotland?)
- 2-5 upon the river Dubglas (Douglas) in district Linnuis (Lindsey? S of Deira)
- 6 upon the river Bassas
- 7 Caledonia Wood (region NW of Hadrian's Wall)
- 8 Fort Guinnion
- 9 City of the [Roman] Legion (Caerleon? Chester?)
- 10 on the shore of the river Tribruit
- 11 Agned Mountain
- 12 Mt Badon (Bath? c496)
- 13 Camlann (Camelot c518, Arthur's 'last battle' in which he was mortally wounded)
See Roman
