Born ‎± 638 at Moselle, Lorraine, France, died ‎ 685 at Monastere De Chelles, Isle-De-France, France‎, approximately 47 years, buried ‎ UNKNOWN at Abbaye De Chelles, Isle-De-France, France
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Note: English girl captured by pirates and sold as a slave.
Bathildis, OSB, Queen Widow (RM)
(also known as Bathild, Baldechilde, Baldhild, Bauteur)
Died January 30, 680; canonized by Pope Nicholas I; Roman Martyrology
sets her feast as January 26.
Bathild, like Saint Patrick, had been a slave. An Anglo-Saxon by birth,
in 641 she was captured by Danish raiders and sold to Erchinoald, the
chief officer (mayor) of the palace of Clovis II, King of the Franks. She
quickly gained favor, for she had charm, beauty, and a graceful and
gentle nature. She also won the affection of her fellow-servants, for she
would do them many kindnesses such as cleaning their shoes and mending
their clothes, and her bright and attractive disposition endeared her to
them all.
The officer, impressed by her fine qualities, wished to make her his
wife, but Bathild, alarmed at the prospect, both by reason of her modesty
and of her humble status, disguised herself in old and ragged clothes,
and hid herself away among the lower servants of the palace; and he, not
finding her in her usual place, and thinking she had fled, married
another woman.
Her next suitor, however, was none other than the king himself, for when
she had discarded her old clothes and appeared again in her place, he
noticed her grace and beauty, and declared his love for her. Thus in 649,
the 19-year-old slave girl Bathild became Queen of France, amidst the
applause of the court and the kingdom. She bore Clovis three sons:
Clotaire III, Childeric II, and Thierry III--all of whom became kings. On
the death of Clovis (c. 655- 657), she was appointed regent in the name
of her eldest son, who was only five, and ruled capably for eight years
with Saint Eligius as her adviser.
She made a good queen and ruled wisely. Unlike many who rise suddenly to
high place and fortune, she never forgot that she had been a slave, and
did all within her power to relieve those in captivity. We are told that
"Queen Bathild was the holiest and most devout of women; her pious
munificence knew no bounds; remembering her own bondage, she set apart
vast sums for the redemption of captives." Bathild helped promote
Christianity by seconding the zeal of Saint Ouen, Saint Leodegardius, and
many other bishops.
At that time the poorer inhabitants of France were often obliged to sell
their children as slaves to meet the crushing taxes imposed upon them.
Bathild reduced this taxation, forbade the purchase of Christian slaves
and the sale of French subjects, and declared that any slave who set foot
in France would from that moment be free. Thus, this enlightened women
earned the love of her people and was a pioneer in the abolition of
slavery.
A contemporary English writer, Eddius (the biographer of Saint Wilfrid),
asserts that Queen Bathild was responsible for the political
assassination of Bishop Saint Annemund (Dalfinus) of Lyons and nine other
bishops. What actually happened is obscure, and it is unlikely that
Bathild was guilty of the crime.
She also founded many abbeys, such as Corbie, Saint-Denis, and Chelles,
which became civilized settlements in wild and remote areas inhabited
only by prowling wolves and other wild beasts. Under her guidance forests
and waste land were reclaimed, cornland and pasture took their place, and
agriculture flourished. She built hospitals and sold her jewelry to
supply the needy. Finally, when Clotaire came of age, she retired to her
own royal abbey of Chelles, near Paris, where she served the other nuns
with humility and obeyed the abbess like the least of the sisters.
She died at Chelles before she had reached her 50th birthday. Death
touched her with a gentle hand; as she died, she said she saw a ladder
reaching from the altar to heaven, and up this she climbed in the company
of angels.
Her life was written by a contemp