The Battle of Vouillé (from Latin ''Campus Vogladensis'') was fought in the northern marches of Visigothic territory, at Vouillé, near

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...

(

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

), in the spring of 507 between the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

, commanded by Clovis, and the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...

, commanded by Alaric II. The Franks' victory resulted in their conquest of

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gal ...

and the death of Alaric II. Clovis tue Alaric II

Background

Clovis's earlier victories over the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

east of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

and over the

Burgundians The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...

in the Rhone Valley made the Franks' growing power begin to pose a threat to Alaric II's territory in Aquitaine and

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hi ...

. Despite

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...

's attempts to broker a peace between the factions, Clovis began a campaign to seize Aquitaine and Alaric's center of power in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

. Alaric, his army, and a force of Auvergnants militia commanded by

Apollinaris of Clermont Apollinaris (died 515) was a count of Auvergne who led a auvergnat army for the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouillé, and was bishop of Clermont for four months before his death. Life Apollinaris was the son of the aristocrat and poet Sidonius A ...

marched north and met the Frankish army in

Battle

Clovis's army was slowed by a rain-swollen

Vienne River The Vienne (; oc, Vinhana, ) is a major river in south-western France. It is long. It is a significant left tributary of the lower Loire. It supports numerous hydroelectric dams, and it is the main river of the northern part of the Nouvelle-Aq ...

, yet his forces were able to engage the Visigoths south of Vouillé.Bernard S. Bachrach, ''Merovingian Military Organization, 481-751'' (University of Minnesota Press, 1972), 11 With his missile troops stationed at the rear of his army, Clovis sent the rest of the army forward to fight hand-to-hand with the Visigoths. Despite being in a superior army in size and equipment, Alaric's soldiers wavered as all of the Auvergnat commanders except Apollinaris were killed. During the melée Clovis allegedly killed the Visigothic king Alaric, whereupon the Visigothic army broke and fled. Clovis's army proceeded south and plundered Alaric's treasure at Toulouse.

Aftermath

After Clovis's success in this battle,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Emperor Anastasius made him an honorary consul and patrician.''Clovis, Anastasius, and the Political Status 508 CE: The Frankis Aftermath of the Battle of Vouillé'', Ralph W. Mathisen, The Battle of Vouillé, 507 CE: Where France Began, ed. Ralph W. Mathisen and Danuta Shanzer, (Walter de Gruyter Inc., 2012), 88. The battle forced the Visigoths to retreat to

Septimania Septimania (french: Septimanie ; oc, Septimània ) is a historical region in modern-day Southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septim ...

, which they continued to hold, and the Franks' success at Vouillé allowed them to control the southwestern part of France and to capture

. Alaric's illegitimate son Gesalec tried to organise a counterstrike at

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

, but he was deposed and ultimately killed when Narbonne was taken by Burgundian allies of the Franks. Clovis eventually drove the Goths out of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins ...

and his son, Theuderic I, defeated the Goths in Hispania.

Notes

References

* Bernard S. Bachrach, ''Merovingian Military Organization, 481-751'', University of Minnesota Press, 1972. * ''Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation'', ed.Michael Frassetto, ABC-CLIO, 2003.

Literature

Eugen Ewig Eugen Ewig (May 18, 1913 – March 1, 2006) was a German historian who researched the history of the early Middle Ages. He taught as a professor of history at the University of Mainz and the University of Bonn. In the second half of the 20th centu ...

: ''Die Merowinger und das Frankenreich'', Stuttgart u.a. 1993. *

Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Sc ...

: ''Die Goten'', München 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Vouille 500s conflicts Vouille 507 Vouille 507 Battles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Vienne 507 6th century in Francia