MEROVINGIAN Childeric

0436 - 0481  (~ 45 years)

• Name	MEROVINGIAN Childeric
  Birth	0436	Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
  Gender	Male
  Death	26 Nov 0481	Tournai, Hainaut, Wallonie, Belgium
  Notes	Cloderic is same as Childeric [1] Birth Childeric was born before 433[2] Childeric I is presumed to have been at least 15 years of age by the time he succeeded his father in 448. [2] Parents Childeric's parents are UNKNOWN. However, Andre Castelot states that Childerick was the son of Merovee=Merovech, Prince des Francs and N?. [2] Cawley states that his father was Merovech, but this was a legend.[3] Cawley [3] also states that Childeric's mother is unknown. 458 Reign as third King of the Franks "Childeric I became the third King of the Franks in 458. He fought with the Roman Aegidius against the Wisigoths. When Aegidius died in 464, he was succeeded by Count Paul. [4] Childeric I's army helped Count Paul push back a Saxon advance from Angers around 466. Count Paul died in 470. They had to repeat this feat around 475, since Count Paul had died and the Saxons once again had attempted to expand into Angers. [5] Childeric I (c. 440– c. 481) was the Merovingian king of the Salian Franks from 457 until his death, and the father of Clovis. Childeric I, Roi des Francs [4] He administered the province of Belgica Secunda[6] Between 458 and 480: Childeric I became the third King of the Franks in 458. He fought with the Roman Aegidius against the Wisigoths. When Agidius died in 464, he was succeeded by Count Paul. Childeric I's army helped Count Paul push back a Saxon advance from Angers around 466. Count Paul would die in 470. They had to repeat this feat around 475, after Count Paul had died and the Saxons once again had attempted to expand into Angers. [7] King of the Salian Franks 456-481, of northern Gaul in 456, during Roman times. He became infatuated with the daughters of his subjects, who were so incensed about this that they forced him to give up the throne. He discovered that they intended to assassinate him, and he fled to Thuringia, leaving a close friend and telling him to send him a message when Childeric could return to his kingdom.[8] After a battle with Odoacer, King of the Saxons (and conquerer of the Western Roman Empire, 476), at Orleans, Childeric and the Saxon king made a peace treaty and together subdued the Alamanni, who had invaded a part of Italy. In 481 Childeric died and was succeeded by Clovis, his son by Basina. Childeric I began his rule in 458. He was deposed in 459 and restored in 463. He continued to rule until 481.[8] He succeeded his father Merovech (Latinised as Meroveus or Merovius) as king, traditionally in 457 or 458. With his Frankish warband he was established with his capital at Tournai, on lands which he had received as a foederatus of the Romans, and for some time he kept the peace with his allies.[8] 463 Battle of Orleans In about 463 in Orléans, in conjunction with the Roman General Aegidius, who was based in Soissons, he defeated the Visigoths, who hoped to extend their dominion along the banks of the Loire River. After the death of Aegidius, he first assisted Comes ("count") Paul of Angers, together with a mixed band of Gallo-Romans and Franks, in defeating the Goths and taking booty. Odoacer reached Angers but Childeric arrived the next day and a battle ensued. Count Paul was killed and Childeric took the city. Childeric, having delivered Angers, followed a Saxon warband to the islands on the Atlantic mouth of the Loire, and massacred them there. In a change of alliances, he also joined forces with Odoacer, according to Gregory of Tours, to stop a band of the Alamanni who wished to invade Italy.[8] These are all the facts known about him, and they are not secure. The stories of his expulsion by the Franks, whose women he was taking; of his eight-year stay in Thuringia with King Basin and his wife Basina; of his return when a faithful servant advised him that he could safely do so by sending to him half of a piece of gold which he had broken with him; and of the arrival in Tournai of Queen Basine, whom he married, are entirely legendary and come from Gregory of Tours' Libri Historiarum (Book ii.12).[8] Marriage He married Basina of Thuringia [9] He married Basina Andovera of Thuringia. Their children included Andelfieda of Merovinga Franks, King Clovis I "the Great" "the Riparian" of Franks Childeric took refuge with Bisinus, King of the Thuringian Franks, and his wife Basina. The king elected by the Franks was cruel, and soon after Childeric was re-called to his kingdom by his friend, and was restored to the throne. Once Bisinus and Childeric were both kings, Basina deserted her husband and went to live with Childeric, who married her and had a son Clovis.[8] 481 Death and Tomb Childeric is generally considered to have died in 481 or 482 based on Gregory's reports that his son Clovis died in 511 and ruled 30 years. [8] Childeric died about 481/2[10] and was buried in Tournei (tomb discovered 1653)[10] Childeric's grave contained his signet ring, enabling his identification.[10] Between 480 and 481 Childeric I's tomb in Tournai was discovered in 1653 and contained magnificent weapons. Buried: circa 481 in Tournai, Bigorre, France. Children Chlodovich CLOVIS I "THE RIPARIAN" b: 467 in in Rheims, Marne, Loire-Atlantique, France Andelfieda AUDEFLEDE DE FRANCIE b: Abt 469 in Rheims, Marne, Loire-Atlantique, France Auberdon b: 460 Between 480 and 481 Childeric I's tomb in Tournai was discovered in 1653 and contained magnificent weapons. Buried: circa 481 in Tournai, Bigorre, France. [11] He died in 481 and was buried in Tournai, leaving a son Clovis, afterwards king of the Franks.[8] Childeric's tomb was discovered in 1653 by a mason doing repairs in the church of Saint-Brice in Tournai where numerous precious objects were found, including a richly ornamented sword, a torse-like bracelet, jewels of gold and cloisonné enamel with garnets, gold coins, a gold bull's head and a ring with the inscription CHILDERICI REGIS ("of Childeric the king"), which identified the tomb. Some 300 golden bees were also found. Archduke Leopold William, Spanish governor of the Netherlands, had the find published in Latin, and the treasure went first to the Habsburgs in Vienna, then as a gift to Louis XIV, who was not impressed with them and stored them in the royal library, which became the Bibliothèque Nationale de France during the Revolution. Napoleon was more impressed with Childeric's bees when he was looking for a heraldic symbol to trump the Bourbon fleur-de-lys. He settled on Childeric's bees as symbols of the French Empire.[8] On the night of November 5-6, 1831, the treasure of Childeric was among 80 kilos of treasure stolen from the Library and melted down for the gold. A few pieces were retrieved where they had been hidden in the Seine, including two of the bees. The record of the treasure, however, now exists only in the fine engravings made at the time of its discovery, and in some reproductions made for the Habsburgs. [8] Children Gregory of Tours, in his History of the Franks, mentions several siblings of Clovis within his narrative, meaning that the following list of children of Childeric is known. [8] Clovis I (died 511), whose mother was Basina. Audofleda, Queen of the Ostrogoths, wife of Theodoric the Great. Gregory III.31 also mentions their daughter Amalasuntha. Lanthechild. Gregory II.31 mentions she had been an Arian but converted to Catholicism with Clovis. Albofleda (died approximately 500). Gregory II.31 mentions that she died soon after being baptized with Clovis. Research Notes Chloderius is also shown as a son in some genealogies. Sources ↑ Page 212 in "Dawn of European Civilization" has Merovingian chart. It differs a little from some others ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Andre Castelot, Histoire de La France, Pages, 176, 200 ↑ 3.0 3.1 Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Merovingians. Merovech ↑ 4.0 4.1 Paul, Nouveau Larousse Universel. and Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 216, Line 303-52. ↑ From "Rulers of the World" by R. F. Tapsell: ↑ Bishop Regimus ↑ "Rulers of the World" by R.F.Tapsell ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 Wikipedia: Childeric I ↑ Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Merovingians. Basina ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Fletcher, 1997, p. 101 ↑ (Andre Castelot, Histoire de La France, Pages, 176, 200). See also: Bishop Remigius. letter. Fletcher, R. (1997). The Barbarian Conversion, (pp. 101). NY: Henry Holt and Co. Print. Wikipedia: Childeric I; NL; ES
  Person ID	I58172	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	MEROVINGIAN Merovech,   b. Abt 0415   d. Abt 0458 (Age 43 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F347061	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	THÜRINGEN Basina,   b. Abt 0438, Thüringen, Germany d. Abt 0470, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany (Age 32 years)
  Marriage	0464	Meissen,Dresden,,Germany
  Children	1. MEROVINGIAN Clovis Hlodowig,   b. 0466, Rheims, Marne, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France d. 27 Nov 0511, St Pierre Island, Biel Lake Canton, Switzerland (Age ~ 45 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F25947	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026