This volume highlights the heretofore largely neglected Battle of Vouillé in 507 CE, when the Frankish King Clovis defeated Alaric II, the King of the Visigoths. Clovis’ victory proved a crucial step in the expulsion of the Visigoths from Francia into Spain, thereby leaving Gaul largely to the Franks. It was arguably in the wake of Vouillé that Gaul became Francia, and that “France began.” The editors have united an international team of experts on Late Antiquity and the Merovingian Kingdoms to reexamine the battle from multiple as well as interdisciplinary perspectives. The contributions address questions of military strategy, geographical location, archaeological footprint, political background, religious propaganda, consequences (both in Francia and in Italy), and significance. There is a strong focus on the close reading of primary source-material, both textual and material, secular and theological.
Author(s): Ralph W. Mathisen, Danuta Shanzer
Series: Millennium-Studien / Millennium Studies
Publisher: De Gruyter
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 242
City: Berlin
9781614510994
9781614510994
Foreword
The Political and Military Dimension
The First Franco-Visigothic War and the Prelude to the Battle of Vouillé
Vouillé and the Decisive Battle Phenomenon in Late Antique Gaul
Vouillé, Voulon, and the Location of the Campus Vogladensis
Vouillé 507: Historiographical, Hagiographical, and Diplomatic Reconsiderations and Fortuna
Clovis, Anastasius, and Political Status in 508 C.E.: The Frankish Aftermath of the Battle of Vouillé
The Battle of Vouillé and the Restoration of the Roman Empire
The Role of Religion
Arians, Catholics, and Vouillé
Vouillé, Orleans (511), and the Origins of the Frankish Conciliar Tradition
Ravenna, Saint Martin, and the Battle of Vouillé
The Material Remains
Has Anyone Seen the Barbarians? Remarks on the Missing Archeology of the Visigoths in Gaul
General Index
