Clotaire I

Chlothar I
Silver coin of Chlothar I
King of Soissons
Reign	511–558
Predecessor	Clovis I
Successor	Chilperic I
King of Orléans
Reign	524–558
Predecessor	Chlodomer
Successor	St. Guntram
King of Reims
Reign	555–558
Predecessor	Theudebald
Successor	Sigebert I
King of Paris
Reign	558
Predecessor	Childebert I
Successor	Charibert I
King of the Franks
Reign	558–561
Predecessor	Vacant (last held by Clovis I)
Successor	Vacant (next held by Clotaire II)
Born	c. 497
Died	29 November 561 Compiègne
Spouse	Guntheuc Radegund Ingund Aregund Chunsina
Issue	Gunthar Childeric Charibert St. Guntram Sigebert Chilperic Chlothsind Chram
Dynasty	Merovingian
Father	Clovis I
Mother	Clotilde
Religion	Roman Catholic

Chlothar I (c. 497 – 29 November 561), also called "Clotaire I" and the Old (le Vieux), King of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis I of the Merovingian dynasty.

Although his father, Childeric I, had united Francia for the first time, Clovis I divided the kingdom between his four sons. In 511 at the age of circa 14, Clothar I inherited two large territories on the Western coast of Francia, separated by the lands of his brother Charibert I's Kingdom of Paris. Chlothar spent most of his life in an unedifying campaign to expand his territories at the expense of his relatives and neighbouring realms in all directions.

His brothers avoided outright war by cooperating with his attacks on neighbouring lands in concert or by invading lands when their rulers died. The spoils were shared between the participating brothers. By the end of his life, Chlothar had managed to reunite Francia by surviving his brothers and seizing their territories after they died. But upon his own death, the Kingdom of the Franks was once again divided between his own four surviving sons. A fifth son had rebelled and was killed, along with his family.

Chlothar's father, Clovis I, had converted to Nicene Christianity, but Chlothar, like other Merovingians, did not consider that the Christian doctrine of monogamy should be expected of royalty: he had five wives, more from political expediency than for personal motives. Although at the instigation of his queens he gave money for several new ecclesiastical edifices, he was a less than enthusiastic Christian and succeeded in introducing taxes on ecclesiastical property.

Frankish customs of the day allowed for the practice polygamy, especially among royalty. So it was not uncommon for a king to have multiple wives and several competing heirs upon his death. This was a major deviation from the monogamy of late Roman customs, influenced by the Church. Frankish rulers followed this practice mainly to increase their influence across larger areas of land in the wake of the Roman empire's collapse. The aim was to maintain peace and ensure the preservation of the kingdom by appeasing local leaders. In the Germanic tradition succession fell, not to sons, but to younger brothers, uncles, and cousins. But under Salic law, Clovis I instituted the custom of sons being the primary heirs in all respects. However, it was not a system of primogeniture, with the eldest son receiving the vast majority of an inheritance, rather the inheritance was split evenly between all the sons. Therefore, the greater Frankish Kingdom was often splintered into smaller sub-kingdoms.