Clovis: Arian Christian before Roman Catholic?

[guy]

I am enjoying the latest book by Charles Freeman, A.D. 381.This book deals with Theodosius' making the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unquestionable Christian orthodoxy. This ended tolerance toward Pagan beliefs and "heretical" Chrisitan views such as Arianism--the anti-trinitarian view advanced by the Bishop from Alexandria named Arius.

 

 

I was jarred, however, by the sentence (p. 177): "The Frankish king Clovis converted from Arianism to Catholicism at the end of the fifth century."

 

 

 

I was taught that Clovis and the other Francs were the first of the Germanic tribes that converted dirrectly to Roman Catholicism from paganism. The other Germanic tribes were either Pagan or anti-trinitarian Arian Christians.

 

Freeman's statement was made without evidence or explanation.

 

I found this interesting quote from Britannica Online:

 

 

Over the centuries much has been made of Clovis

[Caesar CXXXVII]

I was taught that Clovis and the other Francs were the first of the Germanic tribes that converted dirrectly to Roman Catholicism from paganism. The other Germanic tribes were either Pagan or anti-trinitarian Arian Christians.

 

 

well, I have found this -

 

"As Clovis worked his way south, Catholic Christianity apread throughout the tribes that had been Arian . Consequently, because of Clovis, Arianism began to die out in the western part of the empire." (A Popular History of the Catholic Church‏, Carl Koch, 1997) .

 

But - "...Clovis sister Lenteildis, who had apparently recieved Arian baptism before converting to Catholicism. From these sources, Wood marshals evidence to suggest that Clovis had been an Arian Christian before his baptism as a Catholic". (Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples‏, Carole M. Cusack, 1998).

 

From other books I came to the conclusion that Clovis converted to Catolicism with a possibility of an early Arianism . That is the hypothesis, some accepts and others rejects .

[tk421]

I didn't know he was an Arian Christian. I thought he had only converted to Christianity as depicted in most historical texts on the matter.