Balthild of Francia: Anglo-Saxon Slave, Merovingian Queen, and Abolitionist Saint (Women in Antiquity)

This book tells the remarkable life of Balthild of Francia (c. 633-80), a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon slave who became a queen of France. Described in contemporary sources as beautiful and intelligent, she rose to power though her marriage to the short-lived King Clovis II. As regent for her young son, she promoted social and political reforms in Francia that included the rescue and rehousing of Christian slaves who, like Balthild herself, had been caught up in the human-trafficking practices of the mid-seventh century. Implicated in the violent politics of the era, Balthild spent the remainder of her life in the convent of Chelles where a unique cache of surviving relics and personal items, including her hair, were protected and dispersed as relics over the following centuries. In the nineteenth century, Balthild's anti-slave trade policies were recalled for new audiences when she was adopted as an icon for the cause of the abolition of the slave trade and installed as one of the twenty illustrious women whose statues are situated in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Although critical to her age, because of the remote time period and the specialized nature of the sources, Balthild is little known today. This book will correct this oversight by shining a light on a fascinating and courageous figure whose legacy long outlived the era to which she belonged. Cover Balthild of Francia: Anglo-Saxon Slave, Merovingian Queen, and Abolitionist Saint Copyright Maps CHLOTHAR II Contents Acknowledgments Preface A Note on Names, Dates, and Ages A Note on Terminology and Concepts Abbreviations List of Figures 1: Finding her Story Balthild’s Saintly Tale Reconstructing a Lost Childhood 2: Trafficked Slave What Was Balthild’s Status? Personal Appearance 3: Marriage Makes a Queen Neustria Queenship through Marriage Mayors of the Palace Clovis II’s Parents: Dagobert and Nantechild Marriage to a Young King What Kind of Man Was Clovis? Balthild Cultivates Relationships at the Neustrian Court Life in Paris and at the Royal Villas Dress, Food, and Abundance: The Splendor of a Merovingian Court The People of a Merovingian Court How Prepared Was Balthild for her Role? Balthild’s Sons Grimoald’s Coup 4: Regent, Reformer, and Rescuer of Slaves “A Great Award Awaits Her”: Balthild’s Social and Religious Projects Freeing Captives and Slaves The Council of Chalon-sur-Saône Balthild’s Prohibition and Plan Balthild and Eligius of Noyon Housing Slaves in Monastic Communities Slaves Who Pray Further Social Reforms Prohibition of Infanticide Burying the Uncared-for Dead Simony Irish Monasteries and Benedictine Basilicas Balthild’s Monastic Foundations Founding the Convent at Chelles Church Councils and Reform in the 650s Gifts to Rome Finding Balthild’s Own Policies and Actions 5: Life and Death at the Convent of Chelles Entering the Convent Was Balthild a Nun? Meanwhile . . . Outside the Convent Walls Like Other Holy Queens Relic Collecting at Chelles Sickness, Health, and Diet Balthild Envisions her Death Death, Lamentation, and Burial Exhumation and Expectations A Holy Packet Clothing in the Grave The Making of a Saint The Viking Invasions 6: Mother, Mutilator—and Murderer? A Woman of Contradictions Dynastic Mothering Murderer of Nine Bishops “Mère sans merci”: Balthild, Medieval Romance, and Hamstrung Justice 7: Abolitionist Icon Chelles “la Noble” Balthild in Print The Last Abbesses of Chelles Balthild the Abolitionist Abolitionism in the 1840s King Louis-Philippe’s Project Victor Thérasse Undertakes a Commission The Pleasures of Light Reading Devotional Reading Histories and Critical Editions Christian Cult and Relics after the French Revolution Balthild in Modern Art and Memorialization APPENDIX: The Baldehildis Seal Matrix Endnotes Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Appendix Bibliography 1. Primary Sources and Pre-Modern Works 2. Modern Sources Index