The Battle of Vouillé (from Latin ''Campus Vogladensis'') was fought in the northern

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

of Visigothic territory, at Vouillé, near

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

(

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

), around Spring 507 between the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, commanded by Clovis, and the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

, commanded by

Alaric II Alaric II (, , 'ruler of all'; ; – August 507) was the King of the Visigoths from 484 until 507. He succeeded his father Euric as King of the Visigoths in Toulouse on 28 December 484; he was the great-grandson of the more famous Alaric I, who ...

. The Franks' victory resulted in their conquest of

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a list of Roman provinces, province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, wher ...

and the death of Alaric II. Clovis tue Alaric II

Background

After Clovis's victories over the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

east of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and over the

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

in the Rhone Valley, the Franks' growing power posed a threat to Alaric II's territory in

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

and

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

. Despite

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

'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 (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Alaric, his army, and a force of Auvergnants militia commanded by Apollinaris of Clermont marched north and met the Frankish army in

Battle

Clovis's army was slowed by a rain-swollen Vienne River, 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 known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

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 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 Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

, 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 ( , , ; ; ; 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 Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, 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''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

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: ''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 Schoo ...

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