Childeric I

Childeric I was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul, and an ancestor of the Merovingian dynasty. He is described as a king (rex), both on his Roman-style seal ring, which was buried with him, and in fragmentary later records of his life. Childeric served as a military leader of Frankish forces under the Roman emperor Majorian, and after his fall, also under the Gallo-Roman military leader Aegidius. He was the father of Clovis I, who acquired effective control over all or most Frankish kingdoms, and a significant part of Roman Gaul.