CHILDERIC I
(ca. 436–482). The father of Clovis I and the first fully historical figure of the
Merovingian dynasty, Childeric I was one of several chieftains of the tribes of the Salian
Franks of northern Gaul, with his power based on Tournai, in modern Belgium. He made
his group of Salian Franks important in the affairs of northern Gaul and set the stage for
the greater career of his son.
Childeric’s own career is poorly known, but in broad terms it prefigures that of Clovis.
He came to power by 463 and appears to have been a loyal federate of the Roman
Empire. He supported Roman military operations in northern Gaul all the way to the
Loire—fighting under Aegidius against the Visigoths at Orléans in 463 and under Count
Paul against the Saxons at Angers in 469. He also opposed the Alani at Orléans. He may
have held Roman authority in the province of Belgica Secunda, and Frankish legends also
report an eight-year exile that he may have spent in Thuringia. Childeric left a good
reputation among the Christians of northern Gaul.
What was probably his grave was discovered outside the walls of Roman Tournai in
- Reflecting the mixed nature of his career, the grave produced a signet ring bearing
his name and the Latin title rex, the remains of the uniform of a Roman official, and
Frankish weapons. Most of the items were stolen in 1831.
Steven Fanning
[See also: FRANKS; MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY]
Gregory of Tours. History of the Franks, trans. Lewis Thorpe. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
James, Edward. The Franks. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988.
Martindale, J.R. “Childericus I.” In Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. London:
Cambridge University Press, 1980, Vol. 2: A.D. 395–527, pp. 285–86.
Wood, Ian. The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751. London: Longman, 1994.
Zöllner, Erich. Geschichte der Franken bis zur Mitte des sechsten Jahrhunderts. Munich: Beck,
CHILDHOOD
. In medieval France, people defined childhood according to the Roman categories of the
Ages of Man: early childhood ended at age seven, and puberty was legally established at
age twelve for girls, fourteen for boys. A great deal of legal capacity and responsibility
was already attributed to children and adolescents in medieval France. A child of seven
could be engaged to be married, enter minor clerical orders, hold a benefice without cure
of souls, and sometimes be held responsible for crimes. On reaching puberty, an
individual might marry, confirm a religious vocation, hold a benefice with cure of souls,
be a witness in civil cases, and consistently be held responsible for crimes. Yet a person
was not considered to have reached full adulthood until the age of twenty-five, and the
word adolescens might qualify men as old as thirty.
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