clovis converted to catholicism, as opposed to the arian christianity that was common among germanic peoples, because his wife, the burgundian clotilde, was a catholic. he was baptized in the cathedral of reims. this act was very important in the following history of france and western europe in general, because he expanded his reign over almost all of the old roman province of gaul (roughly modern france). he is considered to be the founder both of france (which his state closely resembled geographically at his death) and the merovingian dynasty, which ruled the franks for the next two centuries.