In the early sixth century, Clovis extended his Frankish domain by conquest to form the nucleus of France and, in the process, united his interests with those of the orthodox Church in the West, which he saved from the threat of the Arian heresy.
Early Life
Clovis, or Chlodovech (noble warrior), was born probably in 466 at or near the Frankish stronghold of Tournai, near the present-day Franco-Belgian border; he was the son of the Frankish chieftain Childeric I. The family was descended from a West German barbarian tribe, the Salian...
Military significance: A competent strategist and leader in battle, Constantine used his victories to establish Christianity as the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, to unify the empire, and to build Constantinople as his capital.
When his father, Constantius, became the senior emperor of the western part of the Roman Empire in 305, Constantine joined him in a campaign in Britain. Following his father’s death in 306, he was immediately acclaimed western emperor by the army. For the next five years, he defended his frontier against the..
