Rachael Dick – S00704591
Lolene Blake – History 1100
March 16, 2012
From Humble Slave to Christian Queen
The title of my document is ‘The Life of Lady Balthild, Queen of the Franks”. Excerpted
from Paul Fouracre & Richard A. Gerberding’s work titled, ‘Late Merovingian France: History
and Hagiography’, it is a biographical piece written by an unknown author. It recounts the life
and many good works of Balthild, who lived during the Merovingian period, dying roughly
around 680. She became the Queen of the Franks by marrying King Clovis II. It would be safe to
say that the purpose of this paper is to illuminate the life and goodness of the Lady Balthild.
The author begins his story by recounting Balthild’s early life. Originally from England,
Balthild was captured and spent her adolescence serving as a slave in the household of
Erchinoald, the Neustrian palace mayor. Despite the fact that she was brought over from England
her countenance and figure were fair and it seems her Christ-like character was already formed.
The author references her to the scriptures several times, outright comparing her to Esther. In his
use of the anecdote of Balthild humbly and cheerfully washing the feet of her seniors, it can be
interpreted that he is comparing her to Christ himself. Balthild it seems was such a pleasant and
pious person that she was liked by both the master and fellow servants alike. The author
commends her virtue by recounting the story of how she hid from the mayor when he wished to
marry her by wearing rags; thereby protecting her virginity and shunning the prestige and
authority that would have come with being the mayor’s wife. Balthild it seems had the dream of
becoming the bride of Christ instead, by becoming a nun, which is, of course, one of the highest
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aspirations you could have as a devout Catholic during that time period. Balthild’s dream wasn’t
meant to be however, as she ended up marrying Clovis II.
Through the author’s language and many exclamations to the beneficence of God, the
reader gets the impression that the author firmly believes Balthild was brought to their kingdom
and saved from marrying Erchinoald, to become their great queen. I would think it’s safe to say
that this is the author’s main point. He then goes on to illustrate the reasons he believes this. He
points out that Balthild is not only a pious woman in her own right, but, that she used her
position as the King’s wife to do many good works. She took care of the poor, exhorted people to
live their lives righteously, and was also on friendly terms with the clergy and heads of state.
Since she was unable to become a nun she found other ways to help the church. One of which,
consisted of donating extensive sums of money and property to be used for the building of
churches and monasteries (including the one that she would end up inhabiting in her later years),
all the while with a joyful countenance, again in accordance with the precepts of Christianity.
However, not only did Lady Balthild promote the causes of the church, she was also a key player
in the kingdom’s political welfare as well. She put a stop to people buying positions in the
church with money, as well as stopping the killing of children which some wealthy fathers were
doing in order to avoid paying the royal exactions expected of them. It was also through her
diligent strivings that the Frankish people enjoyed peace in their lands. Three of her sons went on
to become the rulers of three conjoined regions, at least one of which was able to ascend to the
throne thanks to the gentle persuasions of his mother. After establishing her sons, Lady Balthild
was finally able to retire to a monastery as she had wanted since childhood.
Several aspects of society as a whole during that time are inadvertently revealed in the
piece. For instance, the reader can really get a sense of the role religion played in everyday life.
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All of Balthild’s character traits the author chooses to focus on are religious in nature, i.e.
elaborating on her humility, virtue, charity, piety, ability to give joyfully, etc. She is raised to
such a high standard partly because of the fact that she strove to be a nun, and partly because she
gave so freely and abundantly to the church. This theme on the greatness of a person based on
how religious they are carries on into the high regard the author has for a few earlier queens he
speaks about. All of whom are praised for their devotion to their religion, particularly where it
concerned physical donations. One woman is even praised for being so devout that she leaves her
husband (who is still alive, mind you) and decides to become a nun instead. The fact that the
author takes the time to discuss these other queens as part of the article also gives a small hint to
the role of women in society at the time. Though, I wouldn’t say they were exactly free, it seems
that they were at least given enough freedom to be able to make a difference in society. The
author also indirectly informs us of the social hierarchical structure. It’s one thing to admire and
write about an extremely righteous individual, another thing to admire and write about a woman,
and it is yet still another thing altogether to allow a slave to get legally married, and then to allow
the foreign slave to marry the King, the man who holds the highest position on the social scale. It
seems to show that the class system, at this time at least, did not hold sway over society. A piece
of a sentence also made me wonder about the percentage of illegitimate children at that time
period as well. In the section where the author is discussing how Balthild was saved for a higher
purpose, namely to marry the king and produce royal heirs, he ascertains that, “…seeing she had
refused a follower of the king, she might obtain union with the king and, from her, royal progeny
might come forth. And this has now come to pass, as it is obvious to everyone that the royal
offspring reigning now is hers.” Why did they feel it necessary to declare that it was obvious to
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anyone who saw the current ruler would know that he was her son, unless they had had issues
with illegitimate children being brought forth as supposed heirs?
I have two thoughts as to who the intended audience is: 1.) It could have been written as a
general statement for the sake of the public good, perhaps from a member of the clergy. It comes
across almost as a sermon, with the teacher holding Balthild up as a prime example of how to
live your life. It’s as if he’s saying, “See, there are no excuses. This girl who came from nothing
ended up being a co-ruler of our country, managing to never lose her humility or religious vision.
If she can do it, you should be able to as well.” Yet, the author’s very last statement made me
think again that it could have been done for another reason, which is, 2.) It could be for his, own
purposes. While talking about the death of Balthild, he throws in the comment, “Truly she reigns
in glory with Christ in heaven in everlasting joy, not unmindful, we believe, of her own faithful
friends…” a statement such as this sound like a plug. In other words he wrote this glowing
tribute to Lady Balthild in the hopes of buttering her up so that she would put in a good word for
him and thereby guarantee his own salvation.
Though the author is officially unknown, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they had
spent their life as a religious advocate in one way or another. Even in a highly religious society,
the amount of scriptural references included would be less extensive from a person who hadn’t
spent their life studying religion. The person is also obviously a scholar, since he had the time to
write this piece, and the amount of information he was able to include exhibits extensive
research. I believe he used his information well and effectively. Through his use of anecdotes, he
was able to accurately and sympathetically recount the great goodness of Lady Balthild and
showcase a few of her enumerable good deeds.
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