Battle of Vouillé

{{refimprove|date=November 2010}} {{Battles of Clovis I}} The '''Battle of Vouillé''' or '''Vouglé''' (from Latin '''Campus Vogladensis''') was fought in the northern [[marches]] of Visigothic territory, at [[Vouillé, Vienne]] near [[Poitiers]] ([[Gaul]]), in the spring of [[507]] between the [[Franks]] commanded by [[Clovis I|Clovis]] and the [[Visigoths]] of [[Alaric II]], the conqueror of Spain. Clovis and [[Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire|Anastasius I]] of the [[Byzantine Empire]] agreed that each would attack the [[Goths]] from their own side. The Franks crossed the [[Loire river]]. Clovis himself killed [[Alaric II]]. It may have been that huge defections in the field, from optimates and Gothic nobles, was the cause of defeat, as increased royal power in the clan of the [[Balti dynasty|Balths]] was eroding the other clans' independence.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} High ranking families from the Goths had been sifting away to "distant" and derelict Spanish regions across the Pyrenees, according to [[Jordanes]], where land tenure was up for grabs in the depopulated high plains of Castile and the draft in military duties was easier to dodge. The battle forced the Goths to retreat to [[Septimania]], which they continued to hold. The success at Vouillé allowed the Franks to control the southwestern part of [[France]], and capture Toulouse. Alaric's illegitimate son [[Gesalec]] tried to organize a counterstrike at [[Narbonne]], but he was deposed and ultimately killed when Narbonne was taken by Burgundian allies of the Franks, who held it until 511. The Franks might have pushed farther, had [[Theodoric the Great]] of the Ostrogoths not intervened. Frankish [[Aquitaine]], formerly linked to Hispano-Roman trade routes and territories, drifted into a role as an isolated outpost, to judge from the lack of trade items in its 7th and 8th century archaeology. Its Frankish kings resided at [[Toulouse]]. Clovis, the Frankish king, is an excellent example of the change of warfare that occurred at that time: wars were no longer about the conquest of territory with the view to its long term expansion; they provided immediate profit in the form of plunder. His very name meant 'glory by combat' and his successes in battle and his conversion to Christianity brought him Roman recognition. After his success in this battle the [[Byzantine]] emperor, [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius]], made him a consul. ==Literature== * [[Eugen Ewig]]: ''Die Merowinger und das Frankenreich'', Stuttgart u.a. 1993. * [[Herwig Wolfram]]: ''Die Goten'', München 2001. {{coord missing|France}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Vouille}}