Non-fiction is a starting point for me as well, but particularly in the case of [I]The Ax and the Vase[/I], there is a very personal connection indeed which brought me to reading about Clovis I in the first place. Clovis was the Romanized form of the name Hludovechus, and through history the name has never gone out of use, with forms across multiple languages. "Clovis" gave us Louis, Lewis, Ludwig, and dozens of variants, and the name spent a very great deal of time on the throne in France; he is considered the first king of what became France, after all.
My own middle name is Louise, and I had never heard of Clovis before I was past thirty. This is the first king of France, the first Catholic king in Europe, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty. Clovis brought the Franks and Gallo-Romans into one people, set down the Salic law, accepted the tenet of Divine Right - his queen, Clotilde, was sainted for her persuasions in bringing this powerful king into the Church - and, having ousted (and executed) the last Roman governor in Gaul, Clovis then built the foundations for Rome to assert its dominion in the form of Christendom, in the form - no longer of the Empire - but of the Church.
This guy did a few interesting things, and I could not bear his not being present in, at least, American fiction, with so many other fascinating royals so well represented indeed.
So, yeah. First it was vanity (the connection with my own name; I have a great affinity for the power and meaning of my names) - then it was outright, almost bewildered, fascination. :)
Hee.
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