Observations placeholder
Poitiers, France 507AD - King Clovis is guided by a light in the sky
Identifier
028762
Type of Spiritual Experience
None
Background
A peculiar phenomenon took place when French king Clovis defeated the Visigoths, killing their king Alaric II, and taking over their French lands, including Aquitaine. Shortly thereafter Clovis moved the Frankish capital to Paris.
A description of the experience
Edward Gibbon - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: T. Cadell (1837), 594.
The decisive moments were wasted in idle deliberation. The Goths too hastily abandoned, perhaps, an advantageous post; and the opportunity of a secure retreat was lost by their slow and disorderly motions. After Clovis had passed the ford, as it is still named, of the Hart, he advanced with bold and hasty steps to prevent the escape of the enemy. His nocturnal march was directed by a flaming meteor, suspended in the air above the cathedral of Poitiers; and this signal, which might be previously concerted with the orthodox successor of St. Hilary, was compared to the column of fire that guided the Israelites in the desert.