Chlothar I

Chlothar I
Silver coin of Chlothar I, marked:
d·n· chlothaharivi rex
King of Soissons
Reign511–558
PredecessorClovis I
SuccessorChilperic I
King of Orléans
Reign524–558
PredecessorChlodomer
SuccessorSt. Guntram
King of Reims
Reign555–558
PredecessorTheudebald
SuccessorSigebert I
King of Paris
Reign558
PredecessorChildebert I
SuccessorCharibert I
King of the Franks
Reign558–561
PredecessorVacant (last held by Clovis I)
SuccessorVacant (next held by Clotaire II)
Bornc. 500 (?)
DiedDecember 561 (aged c. 60)
Compiègne
SpouseGuntheuc
Radegund
Ingund
Aregund
Chunsina
IssueGunthar
Childeric
Charibert
St. Guntram
Sigebert
Chilperic
Chlothsind
Chram
DynastyMerovingian
FatherClovis I
MotherClotilde
ReligionChalcedonian Christianity

Chlothar I[a], sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died c. December 561)[b] also anglicised as Clotaire,[2] was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I.

With his eldest brother Theuderic (c. 485 – 533/34) being the son of Clovis I and his first wife, Chlothar followed his two elder brothers Chlodomer (495–524) and Childebert I (496–558) as third surviving son of Clovis I and his second wife Queen Clotilde, lastly followed by their sister Clotilde (500–531). The name 'Chlothar' means "glory".[3]

In 511, Clothar I and his three brothers Theuderic, Chlodomer and Childebert inherited their shares of their father's kingdom. Chlothar spent most of his life in a campaign to expand his territories at the expense of his relatives and neighbouring realms in all directions.

His brothers avoided outright war by cooperating with Chlothar's attacks on neighbouring lands in concert or by invading lands when their rulers died. The spoils were shared between the participating brothers. By the end of his life, Chlothar had managed to reunite Francia by surviving his brothers and seizing their territories after they died. But upon his own death, the Kingdom of the Franks was once again divided between his own four surviving sons. A fifth son had rebelled and was killed, along with his family.


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  1. ^ Levison, Wilhelm (1910). "Das Nekrologium von Dom Racine und die Chronologie der Merowinger". Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde. 35: 15–53 (37–39).
  2. ^ Hare, Augustus John Cuthbert (1895). North-western France (Normandy and Brittany). G. Allen. p. 68.
  3. ^ Jean-Louis Fetjaine, The Purple Queens: The Robes of Fredegonde. Chap 1, Belfond, Paris, 2006, p. 14.