SOISSONS 486 - v1.1
By Chris Jackson

SYMBOL SET REQUIRED - Master 1

Dec 10/98: changes from v1.0 - used revised symbol set to fix unit facings.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The first important battle to take place after the final destruction of the Roman Empire in 476,
and therefore the first important battle of the medieval age, was Soissons in 486. Like most
early medieval battles, there is very little detail about Soissons. Gregory of Tours, the 
earliest biographer of the Franks, was writing in the 570s, almost a century after the fact,
and only had a couple of sentences about the battle itself. There is much debate about the
accuracy of the dates Gregory gives for events and lifespans, but I'll use Gregory's dates as
they usually appear in encyclopedias and textbooks.

 King Clovis (466-511) of the Salian Franks, succeeded his father Childeric upon his death in 
481. Clovis inherited a Merovingian Kingdom based in Tournai that already included most of the
Low Countries and the Rhineland, but that area at this time was considered as just a backwater
region without much influence.

 Sygarius, since his succession around 465, controlled the only remaining territory in Roman 
hands, between the rivers Oise, Marne and Seine. This Gallo-Roman region was based at Soissons, 
which since the 3rd century had been an important garrison at the crossroads to Reims,
Paris and Laon. 

 In 486 Clovis and his ally Ramnachar, who used to rule the area, led the Salian Franks to the
main city of Soissons, and challenged Sygarius to battle. The two armies met on a field outside
the city on the banks of the Aisne, and Clovis was victorious. Sygarius fled to the Visigoth 
kingdom at Toulouse, but Clovis had Alaric II hand him over. Sygarius was executed and the last
trace of Roman rule in the West was stamped out forever. From the old order Clovis now began
to carve out a new land that would eventually become France as it is known today. 
Clovis spent the next eight years consolidating his gains, putting down resistance in cities
like Paris, which he would make his new capital.
 His pagan army looted many churches, and it is from this time that the legend of the vase of 
Soissons as recounted by Gregory takes place - a particular Frank arguing about rightful shares
of booty smashed a stolen vase, probably from Reims, to prevent Clovis from returning it to the
Bishop who was desperate to get it back. Clovis returned it in its broken state anyway, and did
nothing until one year later when he recognized the Frank at an assembly. Rebuking the warrior 
for the state of his weapons, he threw his axe to the ground. As the Frank bent over to retrieve
it, Clovis cleaved his skull with his own axe, exclaiming "thus you treated the vase at 
Soissons". This account of Clovis' avenging of both himself and the church, as well as Clovis'
own fearsome character, has been retold to generations of French schoolchildren in modern times.
    
 In 493 Clovis married the exiled Burgundian princess Chrodechildis (better known as Clotilda,
c.474-545) a devout Catholic. Despite his wife's urgings for conversion and his rulership 
over an ex-Roman province still overseen by many influential bishops, Clovis is said to have
continued his pagan practices until his conversion, supposedly on the the battlefield of 
Tolbiac in 496.   

SOURCES

"Clovis". Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 3, p. 401. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1995.

Gregory of Tours. "History of the Franks". New York: Octagon Books, 1965.

James, Edward. "The Franks". New York: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1988.

James, Edward. "The Origins of France - from Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000". London: MacMillan
     Education, Ltd., 1982.
     
Wood, Ian. "The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751". New York: Longman Group, UK Ltd., 1994


BATTLE NOTES

 Due to the lack of information about the battle, I just standardized a map based on the region
(the city gates of Soissons would be just off screen to the south) and and order of battle for
it. Sygarius' army would have consisted only of armed slaves with neither the experience 
nor the motivation of the Franks, although Clovis was probably outnumbered as he would be in 
almost every battle of his career. The Franks were fearsome warriors with high morale that
charged unarmoured into battle, throwing hand axes just before closing ranks with the enemy - 
this seems to come off pretty well in the scenario. I made Sygarius the lone leader for the 
Gallo-Roman side since I doubt his men would be very disciplined outside of his influence. 
This tends to cause a strategy where he stands at the hub of a circle of men that swing
 back and forth engaging the Franks, then pulling back to let fresh men take take their place.
 Surviving that shower of throwing axes is the first challenge....


This was my first scenario for Medieval and I hope to make many more. Comments and questions are 
always welcome.      

- Chris Jackson, September 19, 1998
  jackson@nornet.on.ca

