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Childeric I (died 481 AD) was a Franks leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin rex), both on his Roman-style seal ring, which was buried with him, and in fragmentary later records of his life. He was father of Clovis I, who acquired effective control over all or most Frankish kingdoms, and a significant part of Roman Gaul.
Childeric's father is recorded by several sources to have been Merovech, after whom the dynasty is named.Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II.9. Later medieval sources do not always agree, and it has been suggested for example that Childeric descended from Merovech on his mother's side. See Étienne Renard (2014). " Le sang de Mérovée. 'Préhistoire' de la dynastie et du royaume mérovingiens". Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire 92–94 pp. 999–1039. Gregory (II.9) says that Merovech was reputed by some to be a descendant of Chlodio, an earlier Frankish king who had conquered Gaulish areas first in the Silva Carbonaria, then in Tournai, Cambrai and as far south as the River Somme. This is roughly the definition of the Roman province of Belgica Secunda (approximately the "Belgium" defined by Julius Caesar centuries earlier, the region stretching from north of Paris to the Flemish coast); later, a letter of Saint Remigius to Childeric's son Clovis I implies that Childeric had been its administrative chief.
Childeric himself is mainly associated with Roman military actions around the Loire River involving the Gallo-Roman general Aegidius. According to Gregory (II.12), Childeric was exiled to "Thuringia" for eight years due to Frankish distaste for his debauchery and his seduction of his subjects' daughters."Thuringia" is a term which surviving manuscripts of Gregory used in this section to describe the region on the Roman side of the Rhine where Chlodio's original fort was. It may refer to the region of Tongeren. On the other hand many modern authors are encouraged by the find of a spoon in Weimar with the name Basina, showing that the name was used for the region we now call Thuringia. In the meantime, according to Gregory, Aegidius himself took up the title of king of the Franks. Upon his return from exile, Childeric joined his host's wife, Queen Basina, who bore their son Clovis.Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II.12.
Guy Halsall connects the story to Roman politics, Aegidius being an appointee of Majorian:
Halsall (p. 269) speculates that Childeric probably began a Roman military career in the service of Flavius Aetius who defeated Attila in Gaul, and he points out that much of his military career appears to have played out far from the Frankish homelands. Ulrich Nonn (map p. 37, and pp. 99–100), following his teacher Eugen Ewig, believes that the exile story reflects a real sequence of events whereby Childeric was a leader of "Salian" or "Belgian" Franks based in the Romanized areas conquered by Chlodio, who were allies under the lordship of Aegidius, but eventually able to take over his power when he and his imperial patron died. (Childeric's son Clovis I later fought Aegidius' son Syagrius who was remembered as a King of Romans, and who had control of Soissons in the south of Belgica Secunda.)
In a passage normally considered to have come from a lost collection of annals, Gregory (II.18) gives a sequence of events which are very difficult to interpret. In 463 Childeric and Aegidius successfully repelled the Visigoths of Theodoric II from Orléans on the Loire. After the death of Aegidius soon after, Childeric and a comes ("count") Paul are recorded defending the Loire region from Saxon raiders, who were possibly coordinating with the Goths now under Euric. Childeric and Paul fought Saxons under the command of a leader named "Adovacrius" (sometimes given by modern authors in either an Anglo-Saxon spelling form, Eadwacer, or in a spelling the same as used for his contemporary the future King of Italy Odoacer, with whom he is sometimes equated). The origin of these "Saxons" is however unclear, and they are described as being based upon islands somewhere in the Loire region.
Soon after this passage, Gregory of Tours (II.19) reports that Childeric coordinated with "Odovacrius", this time normally assumed to be the King of Italy, against Allemanni who had entered Italy. While some authors interpret these Allemani to be Alans, a people established in the Loire region in this period. There is no consensus on this however, because the reference in this case is not apparently to events near the Loire.
Childeric is generally considered to have died in 481 or 482 based on Gregory's reports that his son Clovis died in 511 and had ruled 30 years.James p.79
On the night of November 5–6, 1831, the treasure of Childeric was among 80 kg of treasure stolen from the Library and melted down for the gold. A few pieces were retrieved from 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.
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