Clovis' involvement in the council Clovis was not present at the council, but the attending bishops wrote a letter to him following the council to inform him of the proceedings and seek his approval. The letter references ‘all the bishops’ that Clovis ordered to be present, indicating that Clovis controlled attendance. Further, the letter references ‘headings’ that Clovis gave the bishops to discuss, indicating that Clovis had some influence on the proceedings of the council. Clovis’ convocation of the council was partially an act of imitatio imperii following in the Constantinian tradition, Constantine having called the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Precedent of Agde However, there was also the more immediate precedent of the Council of Agde, convoked by Alaric in 506. Although Alaric was an Arian, he had assembled Roman bishops together. Clovis, as a Nicene Christian, was aware of this and thus the need to call a Frankish synod. Agde and Orléans shared both attendees and legislative concerns. Halfond has argued that issues from Agde were raised at Orléans with the specific aim of addressing concerns of the Aquitanian bishops who were new to Frankish rule. Context of Vouillé and the Visigothic defeat Clovis convened the First Council of Orléans shortly before his death in 511, in the context of his recent defeat of the Visigoths in 507 at the Battle of Vouillé. Alaric II’s territory in Aquitaine was thus taken over by Clovis. This created the practical issue of integrating the Visigothic episcopate. There has been historiographical debate over the impact the Visigothic defeat had on Clovis’ convocation of the council. Daly has argued against the importance of the Visigothic wars, arguing that the council did not have an ‘Aquitanian focus’. Wallace-Hadrill questions the importance of Vouillé, considering that the council did not occur until four years after the Visigothic defeat. However, he contends that the primary purpose of the council was to deal with property of the Aquitanian churches following the Frankish conquest. Historical consensus attributes some degree of significance to the Visigothic context, Halfond and James both proposing that the council was focused on the regulation of episcopal affairs in light of the expanded Frankish territory. Creed The thirty-one decrees of the First Council of Orléans addressed ecclesiastical and royal concerns, although their respective concerns often intersected. The first ten canons, but specifically 4-7, are likely an answer to the royal questionnaire. The council