Saint Bertha of Kent /Queen Berthe de Francia

Saint Bertha of Kent, or Queen Berthe de Francia, is largely credited as having brought Christianity to England, sharing a key likeness to her great-grandmother, Saint Clotilde (feast day 4th June), who persuaded her own husband, King Clovis of Francia, to convert to Christianity. 

 

Bertha was a Frankish Princess of the Merovingian dynasty of Paris, in Francia. She was raised near Tours and was the daughter of King Charibert I of Francia and his wife, Ingoberga. Bertha was the youngest of three or four children of her parents, having at least one sister and one brother.

 

The young Princess had a deeply pious nature which would last all the way throughout her life. However, the same cannot be said for her father, whose scandalous marital lifestyle during Bertha's childhood caused her much distress.

King Charibert was married to Bertha's mother, Ingoberga, but he quickly became infatuated with two of her young ladies who waited upon her. The ladies in question were Merofleda and her sister, Marcovefa, who were the daughters of a wool-worker in the royal household. Charibert's fascination with these young women did not go unnoticed by Queen Ingoberga, who grew jealous of her lusty husband's wandering gaze. Ingoberga hatched a plan to remind her husband of the girls' lowly status in society and set their father to work, before summoning her husband, the King, to watch. Unfortunately for Queen Ingoberga, things did not quite go according to her plan and Charibert, outraged, repudiated their marriage, taking Merofleda as his new wife in her place.

The displacement of her mother may have caused Bertha upset enough, but her father was not quite finished.

Charibert soon grew tired of his new wife and cast her off as well, marrying next her sister, Marcovefa, whom he would go on to have two daughters with, before she died around 567.

This marriage was against church law, due to Marcovefa being seen as his own sister under the eyes of the church, so the couple were excommunicated.

Though Bertha remained a child of the church, seeing her father, and the King of her homeland, excommunicated must have been a devastating blow for the pious girl.

Marcovefa's marriage was also repudiated before her death, as there is evidence that Charibert had a fourth wife, Theudechild, by 566, and by whom he had two sons, though one died in infancy.

 

It is possible that Bertha herself was already married by this point, in a union that would prove to last far longer than that of her parents. Certainly, by her father's death in 567, she was living in Kent and a married woman, though the date of her marriage is nowhere recorded. She would have been roughly 28 by the time of her father's death and, given the average lifespan of people in the 6th century, it is rather likely that she was married for at least a few years prior to this.

 

Bertha's husband was King Æthelberht of Kent, a pagan King in England. For Æthelberht, Bertha was a most excellent match as she came from the strong and prestigious royal Merovingian house in Francia. For Bertha, the match made her a Queen, and that was the highest a woman in the Low Middle Ages could aspire to, if they were not bound for a life in the nunnery.

Bertha's Christina faith was a matter of utmost importance to her and was also a key feature in the marital negotiations. It was agreed that she would wed King Æthelberht only on the condition that she be allowed to practise her own faith safely in his land. This promise was extracted from the Kentish King prior to the wedding, and to his credit, Æthelberht  kept his word.

 

Bertha sailed to Kent to wed the English King, taking with her, her personal chaplain, Bishop Liudhard. Together, they would set the stage for the conversion of England to Christianity.

Once the new Queen had landed in Kent, King Æthelberht gifted her an old Roman temple to convert into a chapel. The new church was located just outside of Canterbury and was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours.

This is one of the few Anglo-Saxon buildings that is still standing today and open to visitors. The current church is a Grade I listed building and forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is classed as the oldest surviving church in the English-speaking world.

Though the chapel was for Bertha and Bishop Liudhard's private use, the Queen allowed anyone who wished access to the building and set about trying to convert the nation. Bertha saw it as her holy duty to bring Christianity to the pagan lands of Briton and worked tirelessly to convert the King.

 

Bertha's mother, Ingoberga, died in 589, but unfortunately there are no surviving records for Bertha's reaction to her mother's death, or indeed any evidence that she was ever told at all.

 

In 596, Pope Gregory, having heard of Queen Bertha's self-given mission, sent a few monks and a certain (future Saint) Augustine to England, in the hopes of bringing the English peoples into the folds of the church. Due to Bertha's influence in Kent, the Pope saw this as the ideal location for the landing party to begin their conversions.

However, King Æthelberht, while he had allowed his wife to practise her religion unhindered, was highly suspicious of Christianity. When he learned of the missionaries arrival in Kent, he sent word to them immediately to remain where they had landed until he could decide how to proceed. A gracious host, he ensured the churchmen had all the necessities they required while they were forced to wait for him. 

When he finally agreed to meet with Augustine, it was likely a decision influenced by his wife.

 

At first, King Æthelberht allowed the missionaries safe passage throughout his lands and Queen Bertha was only too happy to offer them the use of her private chapel to preach, perform Mass and baptise any who wished to convert.

In 597, Augustine had the chapel enlarged and it is likely that he formed a secure congregation to house inside.

Finally, after much deliberation, King Æthelberht came to be baptised himself, by Augustine, in the church he had gifted to his wife all those years ago. This would have thoroughly please Bertha and would have been considered a huge victory in her cause.

 

We do not have any records of the state of Bertha and Æthelberht's domestic relationship but it is probable that they were at least content with each other. This can be drawn from the fact that Æthelberht, a man who had once been deeply suspicious of his wife's religion, freely allowed others to practise and be converted, before being converted himself.

The pair had two surviving children, one son, who would go on to succeed his father, and one daughter.

 

Queen Bertha did not cease in her goal of converting the entirety of Briton and at some point around the turn of the century, Pope Gregory wrote to her personally to encourage her efforts. The Pope offered her a variety of compliments on both her dedication to her faith and her knowledge of letters. The latter seems to suggest that Bertha was not only literate, but could write as well, which was rare for a woman of the time, even those born into royalty.

In his letter, the Pope told Bertha that "we are confident that the mercy of God is operating among the people of the Angles" and instructed her to continue in her conversion endeavours.

 

Little else is known of Bertha after this and her death date is not recorded, though it is believed to be around 612. What is known is that she predeceased her husband by some years. This is evident in the fact that by the time of his death in 616, Æthelberht had remarried, something which his choice of burial location would suggest would not have happened had Bertha still lived. This fact again suggests that they were able to enjoy a happy marriage together.

Bertha was buried in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Canterbury, in Kent, and when Æthelberht died, he was laid to rest beside her.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was built as a monastery of the strict Benedictine order for Augustine and his monks in 598, on land gifted to them by the King. In 978, Saint Dunstan rebranded the abbey as St. Augustine's Abbey, in honour of its founder.

 

Bertha's children continued her faith in England, with her daughter following a path much like her own. Æthelburh was married off to King Eadwine of Northumbria and was responsible for the conversion of Northumbria to Christianity. After her death, she became a Saint, with the feast day of 5th April.

Bertha's son, Eadbald, however, when he succeeded Æthelberht as King of Kent, initially shunned his mother's religion for between 1-8 years. He married his step-mother and lived as a pagan. However, he too as eventually converted to Christianity and baptised, repudiating his "incestuous" marriage  and marrying an Austrasian or Frankish Princess instead.

 

Though there is very little information on her, Queen Bertha will always be remembered for her prominence in the conversion of England to Christianity. After her death she was made a Saint, with the feast day of 1st May. Regardless of individual views on religion, Bertha can be seen as a strong and independent woman, who realised her own purpose in life and had the initiative to see it through.