Posted on Feb 2, 2021
About Alaric II: King of the Visigoths Balti dynasty | Biography, Facts, Career, Wiki, Life
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On February 2, 506, Alaric II, king of the Visigoths, promulgated the Lex Romania Visigothorum (or Breviary of Alaric), a collection of Roman laws. From the article:
"Biography
Alaric II (c. 458/466 – August 507) — from Gothic: *Alareiks II, also known as Alarik, Alarich, and Alarico in Spanish and Portuguese or Alaricus in Latin — succeeded his father Euric as king of the Visigoths in Toulouse on December 28, 484. He established his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Vicus Julii) in Aquitaine. His dominions included not only the majority of Hispania (excluding its northwestern corner) but also Gallia Aquitania and the greater part of an as-yet undivided Gallia Narbonensis.
Reign
Herwig Wolfram opens his chapter on the eighth Visigothic king, "Alaric's reign gets no full treatment in the sources, and the little they do contain is overshadowed by his death in the Battle of Vouillé and the downfall of the Toulosan kingdom." One example is Isidore of Seville's account of Alaric's reign: consisting of a single paragraph, it is primarily about Alaric's death in that battle.
The earliest documented event in Alaric's reign concerned providing refuge to Syagrius, the former ruler of the Domain of Soissons (in what is now northwestern France) who had been defeated by Clovis I, King of the Franks. According to Gregory of Tours' account, Alaric was intimidated by Clovis into surrendering Syagrius to Clovis; Gregory then adds that "the Goths are a timorous race." The Franks then imprisoned Syagrius, and once his control over Syagrius' former kingdom was secure, Clovis had him beheaded. However, Wolfram points out that at the time "Clovis got no farther than the Seine; only after several more years did the Franks succeed in occupying the rest of the Gallo-Roman buffer state north of the Loire." Any threat of war Clovis could make would only be effective if they were neighbors; "it is nowhere written that Syagrius was handed over in 486 or 487."
Despite Frankish advances in the years that followed, Alaric was not afraid to take the military initiative when it presented itself. In 490, Alaric assisted his fellow Gothic king, Theodoric the Great, in his conquest of Italy by dispatching an army to raise Odoacer's siege of Pavia, where Theodoric had been trapped. Then when the Franks attacked the Burgundians in the decade after 500, Alaric assisted the ruling house, and according to Wolfram the victorious Burgundian king Gundobad ceded Avignon to Alaric. By 502 Clovis and Alaric met on an island in the Loire near Amboise for face-to-face talks, which led to a peace treaty.
In 506, the Visigoths captured the city of Dertosa in the Ebro valley. There they captured the Roman usurper Peter and had him executed.
Battle of Vouillé and aftermath
After a few years, however, Clovis violated the peace treaty negotiated in 502. Despite the diplomatic intervention of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and father-in-law of Alaric, Clovis led his followers into Visigothic territory. Alaric was forced by his magnates to meet Clovis in the Battle of Vouillé (summer 507) near Poitiers; there the Goths were defeated and Alaric slain, according to Gregory of Tours, by Clovis himself.
The most serious consequence of this battle was not the loss of their possessions in Gaul to the Franks; with Ostrogothic help, much of the Gallic territory was recovered, Herwig Wolfram notes, perhaps as far as Toulouse. Nor was it the loss of the royal treasury at Toulouse, which Gregory of Tours writes Clovis took into his possession. As Peter Heather notes, the Visigothic kingdom was thrown into disarray "by the death of its king in battle." Alaric's heirs were his eldest son, the illegitimate Gesalec, and his younger son, the legitimate Amalaric who was still a child. Gesalec proved incompetent, and in 511 King Theodoric assumed the throne of the kingdom ostensibly on behalf of Amalaric—Heather uses the word "hijacked" to describe his action. Although Amalaric eventually became king in his own right, the political continuity of the Visigothic kingdom was broken; "Amalaric's succession was the result of new power structures, not old ones," as Heather describes it. With Amalaric's death in 531, the Visigothic kingdom entered an extended period of unrest which lasted until Leovigild assumed the throne in 568.
His ability as a king
In religion Alaric was an Arian, like all the early Visigothic nobles, but he greatly mitigated the persecution policy of his father Euric toward the Catholics and authorized them to hold in 506 the council of Agde. He was on uneasy terms with the Catholic bishops of Arelate (modern Arles) as epitomized in the career of the Frankish Caesarius, bishop of Arles, who was appointed bishop in 503. Caesarius was suspected of conspiring with the Burgundians, whose king had married the sister of Clovis, to assist the Burgundians capture Arles. Alaric exiled him for a year to Bordeaux in Aquitania, then allowed him to return unharmed when the crisis had passed.
Alaric displayed similar wisdom in political affairs by appointing a commission headed by the referendary Anianus to prepare an abstract of the Roman laws and imperial decrees, which would form the authoritative code for his Roman subjects. This is generally known as the Breviarium Alaricianum or Breviary of Alaric.
Legacy
The Montagne d'Alaric (Alaric's Mountain) near Carcassonne is named after the Visigoth king. Local rumour has it that he left a vast treasure buried in the caves beneath the mountain.
The Canal d'Alaric (Alaric's Canal) in the Hautes-Pyrénées department is named after him."
"Biography
Alaric II (c. 458/466 – August 507) — from Gothic: *Alareiks II, also known as Alarik, Alarich, and Alarico in Spanish and Portuguese or Alaricus in Latin — succeeded his father Euric as king of the Visigoths in Toulouse on December 28, 484. He established his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Vicus Julii) in Aquitaine. His dominions included not only the majority of Hispania (excluding its northwestern corner) but also Gallia Aquitania and the greater part of an as-yet undivided Gallia Narbonensis.
Reign
Herwig Wolfram opens his chapter on the eighth Visigothic king, "Alaric's reign gets no full treatment in the sources, and the little they do contain is overshadowed by his death in the Battle of Vouillé and the downfall of the Toulosan kingdom." One example is Isidore of Seville's account of Alaric's reign: consisting of a single paragraph, it is primarily about Alaric's death in that battle.
The earliest documented event in Alaric's reign concerned providing refuge to Syagrius, the former ruler of the Domain of Soissons (in what is now northwestern France) who had been defeated by Clovis I, King of the Franks. According to Gregory of Tours' account, Alaric was intimidated by Clovis into surrendering Syagrius to Clovis; Gregory then adds that "the Goths are a timorous race." The Franks then imprisoned Syagrius, and once his control over Syagrius' former kingdom was secure, Clovis had him beheaded. However, Wolfram points out that at the time "Clovis got no farther than the Seine; only after several more years did the Franks succeed in occupying the rest of the Gallo-Roman buffer state north of the Loire." Any threat of war Clovis could make would only be effective if they were neighbors; "it is nowhere written that Syagrius was handed over in 486 or 487."
Despite Frankish advances in the years that followed, Alaric was not afraid to take the military initiative when it presented itself. In 490, Alaric assisted his fellow Gothic king, Theodoric the Great, in his conquest of Italy by dispatching an army to raise Odoacer's siege of Pavia, where Theodoric had been trapped. Then when the Franks attacked the Burgundians in the decade after 500, Alaric assisted the ruling house, and according to Wolfram the victorious Burgundian king Gundobad ceded Avignon to Alaric. By 502 Clovis and Alaric met on an island in the Loire near Amboise for face-to-face talks, which led to a peace treaty.
In 506, the Visigoths captured the city of Dertosa in the Ebro valley. There they captured the Roman usurper Peter and had him executed.
Battle of Vouillé and aftermath
After a few years, however, Clovis violated the peace treaty negotiated in 502. Despite the diplomatic intervention of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and father-in-law of Alaric, Clovis led his followers into Visigothic territory. Alaric was forced by his magnates to meet Clovis in the Battle of Vouillé (summer 507) near Poitiers; there the Goths were defeated and Alaric slain, according to Gregory of Tours, by Clovis himself.
The most serious consequence of this battle was not the loss of their possessions in Gaul to the Franks; with Ostrogothic help, much of the Gallic territory was recovered, Herwig Wolfram notes, perhaps as far as Toulouse. Nor was it the loss of the royal treasury at Toulouse, which Gregory of Tours writes Clovis took into his possession. As Peter Heather notes, the Visigothic kingdom was thrown into disarray "by the death of its king in battle." Alaric's heirs were his eldest son, the illegitimate Gesalec, and his younger son, the legitimate Amalaric who was still a child. Gesalec proved incompetent, and in 511 King Theodoric assumed the throne of the kingdom ostensibly on behalf of Amalaric—Heather uses the word "hijacked" to describe his action. Although Amalaric eventually became king in his own right, the political continuity of the Visigothic kingdom was broken; "Amalaric's succession was the result of new power structures, not old ones," as Heather describes it. With Amalaric's death in 531, the Visigothic kingdom entered an extended period of unrest which lasted until Leovigild assumed the throne in 568.
His ability as a king
In religion Alaric was an Arian, like all the early Visigothic nobles, but he greatly mitigated the persecution policy of his father Euric toward the Catholics and authorized them to hold in 506 the council of Agde. He was on uneasy terms with the Catholic bishops of Arelate (modern Arles) as epitomized in the career of the Frankish Caesarius, bishop of Arles, who was appointed bishop in 503. Caesarius was suspected of conspiring with the Burgundians, whose king had married the sister of Clovis, to assist the Burgundians capture Arles. Alaric exiled him for a year to Bordeaux in Aquitania, then allowed him to return unharmed when the crisis had passed.
Alaric displayed similar wisdom in political affairs by appointing a commission headed by the referendary Anianus to prepare an abstract of the Roman laws and imperial decrees, which would form the authoritative code for his Roman subjects. This is generally known as the Breviarium Alaricianum or Breviary of Alaric.
Legacy
The Montagne d'Alaric (Alaric's Mountain) near Carcassonne is named after the Visigoth king. Local rumour has it that he left a vast treasure buried in the caves beneath the mountain.
The Canal d'Alaric (Alaric's Canal) in the Hautes-Pyrénées department is named after him."
About Alaric II: King of the Visigoths Balti dynasty | Biography, Facts, Career, Wiki, Life
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In this video, I talk about the rule of the Visigoths in Spain and the preceding period which led the Visigoths to occupy Spain in the first place.
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on February 2, 506, Alaric II, king of the Visigoths, promulgated the Lex Romania Visigothorum (or Breviary of Alaric), a collection of Roman laws.
Visigothic Spain
The Visigothic Code only extended the aforementioned civic rights to Christianized Hispano-Romans [not all locals.] Other Iberian minorities (e.g. the Cantabrian Celts, Vascones, etc.) were intentionally denied such civic protections/duties. It would not be until the founding of the Kingdom of Asturies — shortly following the Moorish conquest of the peninsula — that the Visigoths would finally integrate the entire [non-Moorish] Iberian population under a common Hispano-Christian identity, under the sovereignty of Don Pelayo and his Gothic-Cantabrian army.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIEUCuaq5vE&t=45s
Images:
1. A ring depicting Alaric II. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
2. Alaric II (484-507) - The Eighth King of the Visigoths in Spain
3. Clovis killing Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé, 15th century miniature
Biographies
1. theodora.com/encyclopedia/a/alaric_ii.html]
2. encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/alaric-iideg
Background from {[https://www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/a/alaric_ii.html]}
ALARIC II. (d. 507), eighth king of the Goths in Spain, succeeded his father Euric or Evaric in 485. His dominions not only included the whole of Spain except its north-western corner, but also Aquitaine and the greater part of Provence. In religion Alaric was an Arian, but he greatly mitigated the persecuting policy of his father Euric towards the Catholics and authorized them to hold in 506 the council of Agde. He displayed similar wisdom and liberality in political affairs by appointing a commission to prepare an abstract of the Roman laws and imperial decrees, which should form the authoritative code for his Roman subjects. This is generally known as the Breviarium Alaricianum, or Breviary of Alaric. Alaric was of a peaceful disposition, and endeavoured strictly to maintain the treaty which his father had concluded with the Franks, whose king Clovis, however, desiring to obtain the Gothic province in Gaul, found a pretext for war in the Arianism of Alaric. The intervention of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and father-in-law of Alaric, proved unavailing. The two armies met in 507 at the Campus Vogladensis, near Poitiers, where the Goths were defeated, and their king, who took to flight, was overtaken and slain, it is said, by Clovis himself."
Background from {[https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/alaric-iideg}]
ALARIC II ° (485–507), Visigothic king. Alaric ii was a strong and prudent ruler of the Visigoths, who had established themselves in Spain and southern France on the breakdown of the western Roman Empire. The Visigoths had adopted Arian Christianity, a form which their orthodox Roman subjects hated as heretical. Probably because of this the rulers were inclined to favor their Jewish subjects, though the only known details are what can be culled from the Visigothic laws. In 506 Alaric issued a shortened compendium of the Roman Codex Theodosianus of the middle of the fifth century, known as the Breviarium Alariciense. In this the laws affecting Jews were reduced from over 50 to 10, omitting many which were contradictory. Those forbidding violence against Jews were also omitted, not from anti-Jewish feeling, but as unnecessary. Jews were still basically Roman citizens, but the exceptions to their equality with other citizens remained though no new restrictions were added. The only privilege allowed them was freedom from court action on their holy days. They were excluded from honors, but had to bear all the burdens of public life. They were refused any authority over Christians or the purchase of Christian slaves, and those they inherited they were not allowed to circumcise. They were punished if they molested a Jew who sought baptism, and their clergy enjoyed no immunities.
bibliography:
J. Parkes, Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue (1934), 317 ff., 351 ff.
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Visigothic Spain
The Visigothic Code only extended the aforementioned civic rights to Christianized Hispano-Romans [not all locals.] Other Iberian minorities (e.g. the Cantabrian Celts, Vascones, etc.) were intentionally denied such civic protections/duties. It would not be until the founding of the Kingdom of Asturies — shortly following the Moorish conquest of the peninsula — that the Visigoths would finally integrate the entire [non-Moorish] Iberian population under a common Hispano-Christian identity, under the sovereignty of Don Pelayo and his Gothic-Cantabrian army.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIEUCuaq5vE&t=45s
Images:
1. A ring depicting Alaric II. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
2. Alaric II (484-507) - The Eighth King of the Visigoths in Spain
3. Clovis killing Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé, 15th century miniature
Biographies
1. theodora.com/encyclopedia/a/alaric_ii.html]
2. encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/alaric-iideg
Background from {[https://www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/a/alaric_ii.html]}
ALARIC II. (d. 507), eighth king of the Goths in Spain, succeeded his father Euric or Evaric in 485. His dominions not only included the whole of Spain except its north-western corner, but also Aquitaine and the greater part of Provence. In religion Alaric was an Arian, but he greatly mitigated the persecuting policy of his father Euric towards the Catholics and authorized them to hold in 506 the council of Agde. He displayed similar wisdom and liberality in political affairs by appointing a commission to prepare an abstract of the Roman laws and imperial decrees, which should form the authoritative code for his Roman subjects. This is generally known as the Breviarium Alaricianum, or Breviary of Alaric. Alaric was of a peaceful disposition, and endeavoured strictly to maintain the treaty which his father had concluded with the Franks, whose king Clovis, however, desiring to obtain the Gothic province in Gaul, found a pretext for war in the Arianism of Alaric. The intervention of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and father-in-law of Alaric, proved unavailing. The two armies met in 507 at the Campus Vogladensis, near Poitiers, where the Goths were defeated, and their king, who took to flight, was overtaken and slain, it is said, by Clovis himself."
Background from {[https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/alaric-iideg}]
ALARIC II ° (485–507), Visigothic king. Alaric ii was a strong and prudent ruler of the Visigoths, who had established themselves in Spain and southern France on the breakdown of the western Roman Empire. The Visigoths had adopted Arian Christianity, a form which their orthodox Roman subjects hated as heretical. Probably because of this the rulers were inclined to favor their Jewish subjects, though the only known details are what can be culled from the Visigothic laws. In 506 Alaric issued a shortened compendium of the Roman Codex Theodosianus of the middle of the fifth century, known as the Breviarium Alariciense. In this the laws affecting Jews were reduced from over 50 to 10, omitting many which were contradictory. Those forbidding violence against Jews were also omitted, not from anti-Jewish feeling, but as unnecessary. Jews were still basically Roman citizens, but the exceptions to their equality with other citizens remained though no new restrictions were added. The only privilege allowed them was freedom from court action on their holy days. They were excluded from honors, but had to bear all the burdens of public life. They were refused any authority over Christians or the purchase of Christian slaves, and those they inherited they were not allowed to circumcise. They were punished if they molested a Jew who sought baptism, and their clergy enjoyed no immunities.
bibliography:
J. Parkes, Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue (1934), 317 ff., 351 ff.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick SGT Denny Espinosa SSG Stephen Rogerson SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see)Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. SMSgt David A Asbury MSgt Paul Connors SPC Michael Terrell SFC Chuck Martinez
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LTC Stephen F.
Images:
1. Defeat of the visigoths and death of Alaric II at the battle of Vouille in 507.
2. Alaric II King of the Visigoths (458 -507) Son of Euric and Ragnachildis. Husband to Theodogotha.
3. Imaginary portrait of Alaric II by Carlos Esquivel y Rivas. Oil on canvas (1856).
4. The Kingdom of the Visigoths under Alaric II
Background from {[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaric_II]}
Alaric II (Gothic: *Alareiks, *
1. Defeat of the visigoths and death of Alaric II at the battle of Vouille in 507.
2. Alaric II King of the Visigoths (458 -507) Son of Euric and Ragnachildis. Husband to Theodogotha.
3. Imaginary portrait of Alaric II by Carlos Esquivel y Rivas. Oil on canvas (1856).
4. The Kingdom of the Visigoths under Alaric II
Background from {[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaric_II]}
Alaric II (Gothic: *Alareiks, *
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LTC Stephen F.
If you find our videos helpful you can support us by buying something from amazon.https://www.amazon.com/?tag=wiki-audio-20Alaric II Alaric II (Gothic: *Alar...
Alaric II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YwT66AeH8I
Images
1. Alaric II (484-507) - The Eighth King of the Visigoths in Spain.
Background from {[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_vouille.html]}
The battle of Vouille (507) was a significant victory for Clovis I, king of the Franks, and allowed him to conquer Aquitaine, taking it from the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse. The Franks and Visigoths had been neighbours since Clovis's conquest of the last Roman enclave in northern Gaul (battle of Soissons, 486). The border was on the Loire, with Clovis to the north and Alaric II of the Visigoths to the south. Alaric's kingdom also included Provence, Septimania (the western part of the Mediterranean coast of Gaul) and large part of Spain. There may have been an earlier conflict between the two rulers that ended in 502, but that isn't entirely clear. Neither is the reason for the outbreak of war in 507, although Gregory of Tours states that the newly converted Catholic Clovis wanted to overthrow the Arian Visigoths.
King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths made a serious effort to prevent the outbreak of war. One set of ambassadors was sent to Alaric to try and convince him not to fight. They were then to move on to visit King Gundobar of Burgundy, in an attempt to convince him to help the peace efforts. A second set of ambassadors were sent to Clovis, but Theodoric wasn't a neutral peacemaker and in his letter to Alaric stated that 'your enemy will be mine also'.
According to Isidore of Seville Clovis was aided by the Burgundians. Gregory of Tours doesn't mention them in his account of the battle, although this may reflect his bias against the Arian Burgundians. It is also possible that the Burgundians advanced separately into Provence, while Clovis advanced further to the west. We do know that Clovis was supported by Chloderic, the son of Sigibert the Lame, king of the Ripuarian Franks
Alaric also had a mixed army, with Visigoths and Roman troops, including a contingent led by Apollinaris, the son of the Roman author and bishop Sidonius Apollinaris and others led by the leading senators of Auvergne. Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic King, had promised his support but he was delayed in Italy and wasn't able to send help until the following year.
The battle took place at Campo Vogladense - the plains of Vogladense, located at the tenth milepost outside Poitiers. This is normally considered to be Vouille, which is about the right distance to the west/ north-west of Poitiers, but other locations have been suggested.
Gregory of Tours was clearly not a fan of the Visigoths, and on more than one occasion characterised them as timid or cowardly. One example came after the battle of Soisson (486), when the defeated Roman general Syagrius fled to King Alaric seeking refuge. He was returned to Clovis, apparently because it was the 'fashion of the Goths to be terrified'. At Vouille the Goths are described as having 'fled as was their custom'. This is a rather unfair description of the Goths and one that isn't really supported by the location of the battle close to Poitiers, in the north of Alaric's extensive kingdom.
Gregory provides a rather frustrating account of the battle. One army is said to have fought from a distance while the other preferred close combat, but it isn't at all clear which army was which! The battle ended with the Goths fleeing and the death of King Alaric, probably during the pursuit. Clovis himself was nearly killed during this part of the battle when he was attacked by two lance-armed Visigoths. Clovis was saved by his coat of mail armour and fast horse, an interesting insight into the equipment of at least the very highest levels of the Frankish army.
After the battle Clovis moved south into Aquitaine, spending the winter at Bordeaux. The Visigothic capital at Toulouse was plundered, and early in 408 Angouleme was captured. Clovis then returned north to Tours, where he celebrated both his victory and the award of an honorary consulship by the Eastern Emperor Anastasius. Aquitaine became part of Clovis's kingdom, which he now ruled from Paris. Over the last few years of his life he seems to have concentrated on eliminating any rival Franks, including his allies Sigibert and Chloderic.
Although Clovis had won a major battle and killed Alaric, his victory wasn't total. The survivors of the army retreated to Narbonne, while the Spanish part of the Visigothic kingdom was never threatened. The defeat did trigger a succession dispute between two of Alaric's sons, with the army supporting Gesalic and Theoderic supporting Amalaric (Alaric's son and Theoderic's grandson).
In 508 Theodoric sent an army across the Alps, raised the Burgundian siege of Arles and expelled them from the former Visigothic lands. He then absorbed part of Provence into his kingdom, and secured the rest for Amalaric. Theodoric's men also forced Gesalic into exile, before defeating and killing him on his return to Gaul.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YwT66AeH8I
Images
1. Alaric II (484-507) - The Eighth King of the Visigoths in Spain.
Background from {[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_vouille.html]}
The battle of Vouille (507) was a significant victory for Clovis I, king of the Franks, and allowed him to conquer Aquitaine, taking it from the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse. The Franks and Visigoths had been neighbours since Clovis's conquest of the last Roman enclave in northern Gaul (battle of Soissons, 486). The border was on the Loire, with Clovis to the north and Alaric II of the Visigoths to the south. Alaric's kingdom also included Provence, Septimania (the western part of the Mediterranean coast of Gaul) and large part of Spain. There may have been an earlier conflict between the two rulers that ended in 502, but that isn't entirely clear. Neither is the reason for the outbreak of war in 507, although Gregory of Tours states that the newly converted Catholic Clovis wanted to overthrow the Arian Visigoths.
King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths made a serious effort to prevent the outbreak of war. One set of ambassadors was sent to Alaric to try and convince him not to fight. They were then to move on to visit King Gundobar of Burgundy, in an attempt to convince him to help the peace efforts. A second set of ambassadors were sent to Clovis, but Theodoric wasn't a neutral peacemaker and in his letter to Alaric stated that 'your enemy will be mine also'.
According to Isidore of Seville Clovis was aided by the Burgundians. Gregory of Tours doesn't mention them in his account of the battle, although this may reflect his bias against the Arian Burgundians. It is also possible that the Burgundians advanced separately into Provence, while Clovis advanced further to the west. We do know that Clovis was supported by Chloderic, the son of Sigibert the Lame, king of the Ripuarian Franks
Alaric also had a mixed army, with Visigoths and Roman troops, including a contingent led by Apollinaris, the son of the Roman author and bishop Sidonius Apollinaris and others led by the leading senators of Auvergne. Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic King, had promised his support but he was delayed in Italy and wasn't able to send help until the following year.
The battle took place at Campo Vogladense - the plains of Vogladense, located at the tenth milepost outside Poitiers. This is normally considered to be Vouille, which is about the right distance to the west/ north-west of Poitiers, but other locations have been suggested.
Gregory of Tours was clearly not a fan of the Visigoths, and on more than one occasion characterised them as timid or cowardly. One example came after the battle of Soisson (486), when the defeated Roman general Syagrius fled to King Alaric seeking refuge. He was returned to Clovis, apparently because it was the 'fashion of the Goths to be terrified'. At Vouille the Goths are described as having 'fled as was their custom'. This is a rather unfair description of the Goths and one that isn't really supported by the location of the battle close to Poitiers, in the north of Alaric's extensive kingdom.
Gregory provides a rather frustrating account of the battle. One army is said to have fought from a distance while the other preferred close combat, but it isn't at all clear which army was which! The battle ended with the Goths fleeing and the death of King Alaric, probably during the pursuit. Clovis himself was nearly killed during this part of the battle when he was attacked by two lance-armed Visigoths. Clovis was saved by his coat of mail armour and fast horse, an interesting insight into the equipment of at least the very highest levels of the Frankish army.
After the battle Clovis moved south into Aquitaine, spending the winter at Bordeaux. The Visigothic capital at Toulouse was plundered, and early in 408 Angouleme was captured. Clovis then returned north to Tours, where he celebrated both his victory and the award of an honorary consulship by the Eastern Emperor Anastasius. Aquitaine became part of Clovis's kingdom, which he now ruled from Paris. Over the last few years of his life he seems to have concentrated on eliminating any rival Franks, including his allies Sigibert and Chloderic.
Although Clovis had won a major battle and killed Alaric, his victory wasn't total. The survivors of the army retreated to Narbonne, while the Spanish part of the Visigothic kingdom was never threatened. The defeat did trigger a succession dispute between two of Alaric's sons, with the army supporting Gesalic and Theoderic supporting Amalaric (Alaric's son and Theoderic's grandson).
In 508 Theodoric sent an army across the Alps, raised the Burgundian siege of Arles and expelled them from the former Visigothic lands. He then absorbed part of Provence into his kingdom, and secured the rest for Amalaric. Theodoric's men also forced Gesalic into exile, before defeating and killing him on his return to Gaul.
FYI LTC John Shaw SPC Diana D. LTC Hillary Luton
1SG Steven ImermanSSG Pete FishGySgt Gary CordeiroPO1 H Gene LawrenceSPC Chris Bayner-CwikSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerMSG Tom EarleySSgt Marian MitchellSGT Michael HearnPO2 Frederick DunnSP5 Dennis LobergerCPO John BjorgeSGT Randell RoseSSG Jimmy CernichSGT Denny EspinosaMSG Fred Bucci
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