• The two events described by Gregory of Tours took place about ten years apart: the incident of the vase at Soissons in 486, and Clovis's conversion in 496. In the meantime, Clovis married Clotilde, a Christian princess who soon gave him a son. Despite the fact that he had rejected Christianity himself, Clovis allowed her to have the infant baptized in a Christian church—and when the boy died, the king took this as a bad sign from the gods. They had another son, Chlodomir (KLOH-doh-mur), and again Clotilde arranged to have him baptized. This son, too, fell ill, and Clovis told her that Chlodomir would die as well; but according to Gregory, "his mother prayed, and by God's will the child recovered." Soon after the recovery of Chlodomir, Clovis converted to Christianity.
•Based on Gregory's account, it appears that long before his conversion, Clovis respected Christian leaders. Thus he sent back word to the bishop who requested that he return his vase that "... I will do what the bishop desires." This respect may have been the result of his wife's influence; on the other hand, "barbarian" kings were often noted for the admiration they had for religious figures— regardless of the religion.
•The priest who formally led Clovis to accept Christianity was Remigius (ruh-MEE-gee-us), bishop or leading church official for the town of Reims (RAM; also Rheims), which is in northern France.
•Christian baptism symbolizes Christ's death and rebirth: by being immersed in water and rising again, a believer symbolically ends one life and begins another. It is an important sacrament, or religious ceremony, though in Clovis's case the event became a particularly large celebration: he was king, and as a result of his conversion, his kingdom was converting as well. Though Gregory, using language taken from the Bible, wrote that "the power of
God went before" Clovis, who gained his subject's support for the conversion to Christianity, it is doubtful his subjects had much choice in the matter. Clovis was a powerful and severe man—the same king who had earlier crushed a rebellious soldier's head.
Pillaged: Looted or robbed.
Idolatry: Worshiping a statue of a god; Gregory was referring to Clovis's belief in the old pagan gods.
Borne: Carried.
Bishop: A figure in the Christian church assigned to oversee priests and believers in a given city or region.
Vessels: Vases.
Lot: Lottery or drawing.
Booty: Loot or spoils of war.
Valiant: Brave.
Discerning: Wise or thoughtful.
Impetuous: Overly quick to take action.
Aloft: Into the air.
Just: Fair.
Stupefied: Speechless with amazement.
Cherished a hidden wound:
In other words, held a grudge.
Breast: Heart.
Campus Martius: Military base.
Show their arms in brilliant array: In other words, the army was to appear dressed for battle, with all their weapons in order, for a review by the king.
World History
