\b0 Born around 446 and dying in 511, Clovis succeeded his father Childerich as the leader of the Salia
n Franks. At the age of only fifteen, he displayed a ruthless energy and, using a combination of force and diplomacy, extended his sway over practically the whole of Gaul. He drove back the Alemanni at Tolbiac in 496 and crushed the Visigoths at VoillΘ i
n 507. His conversion to Christianity won him the support of the clergy. The first barbarian ruler to belong to the Catholic faith, this descendant of Merovaeus founded the dynasty of the Merovingians that reigned until 751.\par
