Paris (Seine), plan of early medieval
sites. After Périn et al.
present cathedral, and Notre-Dame under the chevet of the present cathedral. The
foundations of Saint-Étienne are generally said to be 6th-century, although a late 4th-
century date has recently been proposed because of the five-aisled plan and its
resemblance to similar plans found in early Christian Rome. Excavated marble columns
and a capital suggest a late 4th- or early 5th-century date, with possible Theodosian
models in Constantinople and Milan.
The most important event in the early history of Paris was the arrival of Clovis and the
Franks. Beginning shortly after his accession to the kingship in 481 or 482, Clovis began
systematically moving the power base of the Franks from Tournai to the south, first only
as far as the River Loire but later as far as Bordeaux and Toulouse. In 507 or 508, Clovis
was named consul by the emperor Anastasius and established his capital at Paris. The
first king of the Franks to adopt Roman Christianity, Clovis set about building a church to
serve as the royal necropolis. Dedicated to the Holy Apostles, in imitation of
Constantine’s burial church in Constantinople, the church later came to be known as
Sainte-Geneviève, after its most famous interee. Clovis died and was buried in the Holy
Apostles in 511; his daughter Clotilde was buried at his side in 531. His queen, Clotilde,
died at Tours in 544 but was buried in Paris at the side of her husband. Of this early
The Encyclopedia 1315