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In the Late Antique
Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world: generally from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century to the Islamic conquests and the re-organization of the Byzantine Empire under...
 period, two states in the area of modern-day northwest France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 were termed the Domain of Soissons
Soissons

Soissons is a Communes of the Aisne department in the Aisne Departments of France in Picardie in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about 100 kilometres northeast of Paris....
. This area is often incorrectly called the Kingdom of Soissons or the Kingdom of Syagrius
Syagrius

Syagrius was the son of Aegidius, the last Roman magister militum per Gaul. Syagrius preserved his father's rump state between the Somme and the Loire around Domain of Soissons after the collapse of central rule in the Western Empire, the so-called "Kingdom" of Syagrius, as Gregory of Tours understood it, applying the Frankish term for...
. In reality however it was neither ruled by a king (although Syagrius was sometimes called Rex Romanorum
King of the Romans

King of the Romans was the title used by the Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus prior to his imperial coronation performed by the Pope, ....
 (Latin: King of the Romans), nor was it considered by its citizens as anything other than a separated province of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
.






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In the Late Antique
Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world: generally from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century to the Islamic conquests and the re-organization of the Byzantine Empire under...
 period, two states in the area of modern-day northwest France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 were termed the Domain of Soissons
Soissons

Soissons is a Communes of the Aisne department in the Aisne Departments of France in Picardie in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about 100 kilometres northeast of Paris....
. This area is often incorrectly called the Kingdom of Soissons or the Kingdom of Syagrius
Syagrius

Syagrius was the son of Aegidius, the last Roman magister militum per Gaul. Syagrius preserved his father's rump state between the Somme and the Loire around Domain of Soissons after the collapse of central rule in the Western Empire, the so-called "Kingdom" of Syagrius, as Gregory of Tours understood it, applying the Frankish term for...
. In reality however it was neither ruled by a king (although Syagrius was sometimes called Rex Romanorum
King of the Romans

King of the Romans was the title used by the Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus prior to his imperial coronation performed by the Pope, ....
 (Latin: King of the Romans), nor was it considered by its citizens as anything other than a separated province of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
. The term "domain" is instead used by scholars.

Roman Soissons (c.457–486)

Its origins were in the reign of the Western Emperor Majorian
Majorian

Julius Valerius Maiorianus , commonly known as Majorian, was Western Roman Emperor .He had distinguished himself as a general by victories over the Franks and Alamanni, and six months after the deposition of Avitus he was declared emperor by the regent Ricimer, which created problems with Emperor Leo I in Constantinople who declared...
 (457
457

Events...
–461
461

Events...
). During that time, Majorian appointed Aegidius
Aegidius

Aegidius was a Gallo-Roman promoted as magister militum in Gaul under Flavius A?tius around 450. He was an ardent supporter of Majorian, whom he helped to gain power....
 to be magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
 of the Gallic provinces
Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
. The only remaining Roman territory in Gaul was in the northwest, with a small strip connecting it to Italy
History of Italy during Roman times

This is an overview of the history of Italy during Roman times....
. During Majorian's reign, that corridor was annexed by the Germanic tribes now occupying Gaul, thus effectively cutting off Aegidius and his citizens from the Empire.

Aegidius was allied to Childeric I
Childeric I

File:CHILDERICI REGIS.jpgChilderic I was the Merovingian king of the Salian Franks from 457 until his death, and the father of Clovis I.He succeeded his father Merovech as king, traditionally in 457 or 458....
, King of the Salian Franks
Salian Franks

File:Seal_of_Childeric_I_Tournai tomb.jpgThe Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the coastal area above the Rhine River in the northern Netherlands, where today there still is a region called Salland....
, and helped him defeat the Visigoths at Orleans
Orléans

Orl?ans is a city in north-central France, about 130 km southwest of Paris. It is the capital of the Loiret Departments of France and of the Centre R?gion in France....
 in 463
463

Events...
. The Romano-British
Romano-British

Romano-British culture is that of the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure from Britain....
, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain
Roman departure from Britain

The Roman departure from Britain was completed by 410. The archaeological records of the final decades of Roman rule show undeniable signs of decay....
, may have requested military assistance from Aegidius (see Groans of the Britons
Groans of the Britons

The Groans of the Britons is the name of the final appeal made by the post-Roman Romano-British population of Sub-Roman Britain for assistance against foreign invasion....
). At any rate, the Romano-British settlements in Armorica
Armorica

Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire River rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast....
 bordered Soissons to the west, and there was certainly trade between them, especially as they were the last outposts of Roman civilization in that part of the world.

Aegidius continued to govern until his death in 464
464

Events...
, which may have been murder at the hands of an agent of one of Childeric's enemies. At that point his son, Syagrius
Syagrius

Syagrius was the son of Aegidius, the last Roman magister militum per Gaul. Syagrius preserved his father's rump state between the Somme and the Loire around Domain of Soissons after the collapse of central rule in the Western Empire, the so-called "Kingdom" of Syagrius, as Gregory of Tours understood it, applying the Frankish term for...
, took his place. Syagrius governed using the title of dux
Dux

Dux is Latin for leader and for duke, and in Ancient Rome could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders....
 (a provincial military commander), but the neighboring Germanic tribes referred to him as "King of the Romans
King of the Romans

King of the Romans was the title used by the Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus prior to his imperial coronation performed by the Pope, ....
;" hence, the name of his enclave. Even after the fall of the Western Empire in 476
476

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, Syagrius continued to maintain the pretense that he was merely governing a Roman province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
.

Childeric had since died, and his son Clovis I
Clovis I

Clovis was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Franks under one king. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481 as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an...
 was now the Frankish king. Clovis made continual war against Syagrius, and in 486
486

Events...
, had conquered the last of the Roman territory Syagrius had governed. Syagrius sought refuge with the Visigothic king Alaric II
Alaric II

File:Alaric II 484 507 gold 1470mg reverse.jpgAlaric II, also known as Alarik, Alarich, and Alarico in Spanish language and Portuguese language or Alaricus in Latin succeeded his father Euric in 485 and became eighth king of the Visigoths....
, but was betrayed, captured, and sent to Clovis, who executed him in 487
487

EventsBirths*Xiao BaoyinDeaths*Syagrius, "King of the Romans" in Soissons*Gao Yun ...
.

Frankish Soissons (511-613)

Clovis I ruled the Franks until his death in 511
511

Events...
. When he died, the Frankish realm was divided into four kingdoms, one for each of his sons. Clotaire I
Clotaire I

Chlothar I , called the Old , King of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis I. He was born about 497 in Soissons .On the death of his father in 511, he received, as his share of the kingdom, the town of Soissons, which he made his capital; the cities of Laon, Noyon, Cambrai, and Maastricht; and the lower course of the Meuse...
 received the area formerly ruled by Syagrius (Clotaire himself had been born in Soissons a decade after Syagrius' death). Due to a combination of skillful diplomacy, warmongering, and murder of his relatives, Clotaire became the king of all Gaul by 555
555

Events...
.

When Clotaire died in 561
561

Events...
, the Frankish realm was divided into three kingdoms, one for each son. The western kingdom of Neustria
Neustria

The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities....
 continued to be governed from Soissons until all Franks were once more unified under the Neustrian king Clotaire II
Clotaire II

File:Clothaire II 584 628.jpgChlothar II , called the Great or the Young , King of Neustria, and, from 613 to 629, King of the Franks, was not yet born when his father, King Chilperic I died in 584....
 in 613
613

Events...
. Except for the period of 639
639

Events...
-673
673

Events...
, when a division between Neustria and Austrasia
Austrasia

Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands....
 occurred, the Franks remained unified until the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun

In the Treaty of Verdun-sur-Meuse of 843 the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's grandsons, divided his territories, the Frankish Empire, into three kingdoms....
 in 843
843

Events...
.

List of Lords of Soissons

457-464 Aegidius
Aegidius

Aegidius was a Gallo-Roman promoted as magister militum in Gaul under Flavius A?tius around 450. He was an ardent supporter of Majorian, whom he helped to gain power....
 464-486 Syagrius
Syagrius

Syagrius was the son of Aegidius, the last Roman magister militum per Gaul. Syagrius preserved his father's rump state between the Somme and the Loire around Domain of Soissons after the collapse of central rule in the Western Empire, the so-called "Kingdom" of Syagrius, as Gregory of Tours understood it, applying the Frankish term for...
 486-511 Clovis I
Clovis I

Clovis was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Franks under one king. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481 as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an...
 (in personal Union) 511-561 Clotaire I
Clotaire I

Chlothar I , called the Old , King of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis I. He was born about 497 in Soissons .On the death of his father in 511, he received, as his share of the kingdom, the town of Soissons, which he made his capital; the cities of Laon, Noyon, Cambrai, and Maastricht; and the lower course of the Meuse...
 561-584 Chilperic I
Chilperic I

File:Chilperic I & Fredegunde00.jpgChilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of Clotaire I, sole king of the Franks, and Aregund....