Albofledis (or Albochledis) was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

noblewoman, the daughter of the

Frankish king The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who con ...

Childeric I Childeric I (; french: Childéric; la, Childericus; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Hildirīk''; – 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''rex ...

(d. 481) and the Thuringian noblewoman Basina (d. 477). She was a sister of

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

. According to

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

, she was baptised on the same day as her brother. This event has been dated as early as 496 or as late as 509. At the time she dedicated herself to a life of perpetual

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, but she died not long after. Bishop

Remigius of Reims Remigius (french: Remi or ; – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event ...

addressed a letter of consolation to Clovis on the occasion of her death. This letter is quoted in part by Gregory, and is also included in full in the collection known as the ''

Epistolae Austrasicae The ''Austrasian Letters'' ( la, Epistulae Austrasicae) is a collection of 48 Latin letters sent from or to Austrasia between the 470s and 590s. The collection is transmitted in a single 9th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Lorsch. The collect ...

''. Although Gregory spells her name Albofledis, the scribe of the ''Epistolae'' gives Albochledis. Remigius describes her as "chosen by God", ''a deo electa''. Some historians are of the opinion that Albofledis is the same person as

Audofleda Audofleda (ca. 467 - ca. 511), was a Gothic queen of the Ostrogothic Kingdom by marriage to Theoderic the Great. She was the sister of Clovis I, King of the Franks. She married Theoderic the Great, King of the Ostrogoths (471–526), around 493 ...

and that Clovis had only two sisters, the other being

Lantechildis Lantechildis (or Lenteildis) was a Frankish noblewoman, the daughter of the Frankish king Childeric I (d. 481) and the Thuringian noblewoman Basina (d. 477). She was a sister of Clovis I. She is mentioned in Gregory of Tours and the ''Lib ...

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Sources

* * * * {{refend 5th-century Frankish women Merovingian dynasty Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions