Kingdom of Soissons

[Conal]

Did it really exist?

[Agraes]

It wasn't a kingdom per-se, yet the domain of Soissons did exist as a separate political entity under Syagrius, whom wasn't recognised by the last western emperors, and finally was defeated in 486 AD by Clovis, after the fall of the west. Syagrius was himself the heir of Aegidius who was if Im correct magister militum. Syagrius is only called rex romanorum by Gregory of Tours.

[Robert Vermaat]

Guy Halsall is of the opinion that it did never exist at all, but that it was an area ruled by Romans but under suzeranity of Childeric. He sees Childeric as a person like Aetius, as the main power in the region, under whom other generals and 'kings' ruled in their sub-territories.

[Agraes]

Léon Fleuriot thought Syagrius actually fought against Childeric, possibly with the alliance of Riothamus. He argued that for a quite long period of time we don't heard at all of Childeric in what tells us Gregory of Tours. No defeats, but no victory either. One of the main problems come from a part of Gregory's chronology in relation with the Saxons beeing expelled from the Loire region in 464. It is not very clear whom fought against whom, and if the count Paul fought alongwith him or against him when he was killed.
At least Syagrius seems to have not acknowledge Clovis authority and fought against him, and when he was killed, the Armoricans kept fighting against the Franks until Clovis finally allied them circa 500.

[Conal]

Certainly Clovis did not inherit any powerbase in the areas supposedly ruled by Aegidius and his son as he spent a few decaides fighting to gain access to those lands.

[aligern]

I thought it more likely that Clovis was actually 'made' by defeating the Soissons Romans and that taking in the wealth and presumably the warbands of that area propelled him from being one among many Frankish subreguli to being the one with the most warriors who could then clean up on the Allamans, Burgundians, Visigoths and eventually kill or force to submit all the other Frankish rulers.
So Soissons is an important player for a while and in some ways parallels the Roman provincial resistance to barbarian rule that is found in Spain and most successfully in Britannia.

Roy

[Epictetus]

This question spurred one of Gibbon's gloriously dry, but telling, footnotes:

I may observe that Fredegarius, in his Epitome of Gregory of Tours, has prudently substituted the name of Patricus for the incredible title of Rex Romanorum.