The Conversion of Clovis
The conversion of Clovis I is the achievement with which Clotilde is most closely associated. Sources record that she urged him toward Catholic Christianity from early in their marriage. She had their first son baptized without his consent; when the child died soon after, Clovis's resistance hardened. She likewise had their second son baptized, and he became gravely ill.
According to tradition the turning point came at the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni around 496: with his army losing, Clovis appealed to his wife's God, vowing to accept the Christian faith if he won. He was afterward baptized by Saint Remigius at Reims, along with roughly three thousand Franks. Scholars debate the year of the Christmas-Day baptism, placing it somewhere between 498 and 506. The account of Gregory of Tours, set down in the sixth century, is the main historical source for Clotilde's influence on the conversion.
Widowhood, Foundations, and Charity
After Clovis died in 511, Clotilde spent her last thirty-four years at Tours near the shrine of Saint Martin, withdrawn from the power struggles of the Frankish court and giving generously to the poor. These years brought heavy grief: her eldest son Clodomir died in battle, her grandsons were killed by her sons Childebert and Clotaire, and her daughter died after being rescued from a cruel Visigothic husband.
She founded several monastic institutions, including a Monastery of Saint Mary at Les Audelys in Touraine, Chelles Abbey for nuns in honor of Saint George (later restored by Saint Bathilde), and a convent at Les Andelys in 511 for noble girls. She built churches at Rouen, Lyon, and Les Andelys. Together with Clovis she began the Basilica of the Holy Apostles — later the Church of Sainte-Geneviève — as a mausoleum honoring Saint Genevieve, patroness of Paris; Clotilde completed it after his death.
Reputation and Sources
Gregory of Tours is described by the historian David Hugh Farmer as the principal source for Clotilde's life. Later scholarship has defended her memory: Godefroid Kurth disputed claims that she incited her son against her cousin Sigismund out of a desire for revenge, calling such accounts a defamation contrary to her character, and Butler's scholarship is said to have vindicated her from charges of ferocity and vindictiveness.
She is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lutheranism. Her feast is kept on June 3 (June 4 in France).
Relics & Shrines
Clotilde was buried in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles at Paris, alongside Clovis and her older children. Her relics survived the French Revolution and, as of 1997, are kept at the Church of Saint Louis of France in Paris.
Miracles & Traditions
Traditional Accounts: A legend attached to the building of the convent at Les Andelys relates that, when the workers complained of heat and thirst, Clotilde prayed and the water of a nearby fountain took on the strength and taste of wine for them. The spring afterward became known for healing diseases of the skin.
