Bathild of Chelles—Evangelist to the French—Is Crowned Queen, March 2, 649
idnapped, crowned and credited with helping to reestablish Christianity in the region of France after the fall of the Roman Empire, Bathild of Chelles’ life rivals that of her great-great-great-grandson Charlemagne in its effect on western culture. Ages before France developed enlightened notions of propping up liberty, egality and fraternity as gods of the state, Bathild of Chelles enriched the country by her example of those Christian disciplines of justice, mercy and humility which bring prosperity and order to the darkest of regions.
Map of the Merovingian kingdoms at their height, c. 481–751
France—or “The Kingdom of the Franks” and its scattered Frankish and Celtic tribes, as it was then comprised of—was a barbaric place in the 600s. The ruling dynasty were the Merovingians, once generals in the Roman armies of occupation. Since the fall of the Empire, they capitalized on the newly-formed power vacuum left, and filled it themselves. By 509 the Merovingians had united all the Franks and northern Gallo-Romans under their rule, defeated the Visigoths (507) and the Burgundians (534), and also extended their rule into parts of modern-day Germany. Their realm was broad, feared and deeply pagan until the conversion of one their kings, a man named Clovis, who was led to Christ by his wife, Clothild, in the 480s.
The baptism of King Clovis I from The Great Chronicles of France, c. 1375-1380
And artist’s fanciful portrayl of King Clovis I (c. 466-511) being pointed heavenward by his Christian wife, Queen Clothild (c. 474-545)
Despite these earlier influences of Christianity, the various Frankish kingdoms under the rule of the Merovingians retained much of their pagan ways, or returned to them fully for lack of shepherding and devotion. They continued their entrenched folkways of abortion, slavery, murder and piracy despite the nominal presence of a corrupt Catholic clergy.
Sainte Bathilde sold in Erchinoal—an 18th Century interpretation of Bathilde being sold into slavery, having been captured by Frankish slave traders
As a young Anglo-Saxon girl living in Christian England, Bathild became the victim of these Frankish pirates, being stolen and carried off by them across the channel and sold into slavery in France. The narrative of her life—written shortly after her death by nuns who knew her personally in her later life at the convent of Chelles—write that, because of her beauty and education, she was bought on the mainland by a man named Erchinoald. By the good will of Providence, Erchinoald was majordomo of the palace, holding the responsibility of administrator for much of the kingdom. Erchinoald soon elevated Bathild to a position of his housekeeper and cupbearer, a station in which she was noted for retaining her humility, even making a queer habit of washing the feet of her master’s guests. Smitten by such beauty coupled with capability, Erchinoald set his heart on marrying her, but rather than wed a pagan lord, Bathild is said to have hid herself in a pile of rags while being searched for to be brought to him.
Clovis II (633 – 657) became king of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy at the age of 6, after the death of his father, Dagobert I in 639
While we have such specific detail of her avoidance in marrying one of her captors, we have no such insight into how she came to be wed shortly after to the king himself. Whether the Frankish King of Neustria—yet another Clovis—noticed her before in the palace while she served his deputy, or whether she appealed to him after fleeing the deputy’s proposal, we do not know. Whatever the case, she escaped marriage from one pagan only to enter into it with another of higher standing. An eighth century history of Frankia describes Clovis II as a most repugnant mate, lecherous, debauched and a drunk—a heavy price for the crown placed on Bathild’s head in 649.
Another 18th Century engraving on the life of Bathild: King Clovis II buys Bathilde to make her the Queen of the Franks
She bore the king three living sons, all raised by her in the way of the Gospel and all made kings over their pagan father’s land by the merciful will of God in due time. Upon the death of her husband in 657, Bathild was elevated even further by becoming regent of the nation, her son and heir, Clothar, being too young to rule in his own right at the time. Her biographer paints a picture of an active and involved regent: she prohibited the practice of simony (paying for church office), suppressed the widespread practice of infanticide, and donated large amounts of money and land to the poor and to the church. Bathild banned the sale of Christian slaves, both to “outsiders” and within the borders of the Frankish kingdom, ordering in addition that “many captives should be ransomed, paying the price herself”. This effectively blocked the slave trade, of which she herself had been a victim.
Bathilde, widow of Clovis II, returns freedom to young slaves, engraved in 1814
The dormitory at Chelles Abbey—the Abbey itself was destroyed in 1796 during the French Revolution
Bathild made herself the patron of the monasteries under her domain—including that at Chelles—which served as both church and school to the general populace. Controversially she also began personally appointing ecclesiastical leaders to oversee these establishments, individuals often chosen from amongst her close circle of friends at court. This was understandable, as these were Christian men she could trust to practice orthodox behavior and steward their communities with probity. Its affect, however, was an extreme centralization of power vested in the monarchy and an invasion of its reach into the church and all kingdom affairs. She lost a son to this endeavor, murdered by a disgruntled bishop.
Ruins of The Old Watermill of Chelles, Seine-et-Marne, France
It was an amalgamation of power in the crown such as the tyrannical kings before her could never achieve—and this was bemoaned by the aristocracy of the time who preferred a loose confederacy of nations, ruled by themselves under the king, rather than the rigidly unified kingdom that Bathild began to coalesce. What glories and accomplishments that future, fully-centralized kingdom of France would go on to achieve for Europe and the cause of Christendom could not have been dreamt of at the time by her detractors.
An aged Queen Bathild with her three kingly sons
Upon resigning from the regency, Bathild retired to the monastery at Chelles, not without protest by her people who wished her to continue her administrations and moderations between the various warring factions in the kingdom. Some even suggest she was forcibly shunted off to the convent by political factions rather than seeking it out herself. Either way, we know she took her well-earned rest there at the convent she built after many delays, having in her time as regent completely institutionalized Christianity in both the ecclesiastical and domestic spheres by example and will. Her biographers repeatedly compare her storied life to that of the Biblical Queen Esther, and not without good reason.
Memorial statue of Queen Bathild (c. 626-680), in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris
Bathild lived at Chelles for many years, where the nuns protected her from intrusions by the public, and she in turn served alongside them, even in the most menial of tasks. She remained a diplomatic link between France and England even in this secluded place, fostering good relations between the two Christian kingdoms. Indeed, many early evangelists to Anglo-Saxon England, such as Hilda of Whitby, came from Queen Bathild’s Abbey at Chelles.
Image Credits: 1 John Bunyan (wikipedia.org) 2 Bunyan Day Celebration (wikipedia.org) 3 Window Detail (wikipedia.org) 4 Pilgrim’s Progress from Ligonier (wikipedia.org) 5 Wax Figure (wikipedia.org) 6 Stained Glass (wikipedia.org) 7 Evangelist (wikipedia.org) 8 Reading (wikipedia.org) 9 Ill-favored Ones (wikipedia.org) 10 Crossing the River (wikipedia.org) 11 Four Villains (wikipedia.org) 12 Map (wikipedia.org) 13 Bronze Doors (wikipedia.org) 14 “And I saw in a dream…”