We have already met the Franks in their home on the lower Rhine, from which they pushed gradually into Roman territory. [6] In 486 A.D., just ten years after the deposition of Romulus Augustulus, the Franks went forth to conquer under Clovis, [7] one of their chieftains. By overcoming the governor of Roman Gaul, in a battle near Soissons, Clovis destroyed the last vestige of imperial rule in the West and extended the Frankish dominions to the river Loire. Clovis then turned against his German neighbors. East of the Franks, in the region now known as Alsace, lived the Alamanni, a people whose name still survives in the French name of Germany. [8] The Alamanni were defeated in a great battle near Strassburg (496 A.D.), and much of their territory was added to that of the Franks. Clovis subsequently conquered the Visigothic possessions between the Loire and the Pyrenees, and compelled the Burgundians to pay tribute. Thus Clovis made himself supreme over nearly the whole of Gaul and even extended his authority to the other side of the Rhine. This great work entitles him to be called the founder of the French nation. THE FRANKS AND THE GALLO-ROMANS Clovis reigned in western Europe as an independent king, but he acknowledged a sort of allegiance to the Roman emperor by accepting the title of honorary consul. Henceforth to the Gallo-Romans he represented the distant ruler at Constantinople. The Roman inhabitants of Gaul were not oppressed; their cities were preserved; and their language and laws were undisturbed. Clovis, as a statesman, may be compared with his eminent contemporary, Theodoric the Ostrogoth. CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE FRANKS, 496 A.D. The Franks were still a heathen people, when they began their career of conquest. Clovis, however, had married a Burgundian princess, Clotilda, who was a devout Catholic and an ardent advocate of Christianity. The story is told how, when Clovis was hard-pressed by the Alamanni at the battle of Strassburg, he vowed that if Clotilda's God gave him victory he would become a Christian. The Franks won, and Clovis, faithful to his vow, had himself baptized by St. Remi, bishop of Reims. "Bow down thy head," spoke the bishop, as the Frankish king approached the font, "adore what thou hast burned, burn what thou has adored." [9] With Clovis were baptized on that same day three thousand of his warriors. [Illustration: Map, GROWTH OF THE FRANKISH DOMINIONS, 481-768 A.D.] SIGNIFICANCE OF CLOVIS'S CONVERSION