Saint Berthild, also known as Bertille or Bertilla (died 692), was

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

Chelles Abbey Chelles Abbey (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame-des-Chelles) was a Frankish monastery founded around 657/660 during the early medieval period. It was intended initially as a monastery for women; then its reputation for great learning grew, and with the a ...

in France.

Life

Berthild was born into one of the most illustrious families in the territory of

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, during the reign of

Dagobert I Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dy ...

.In his seminal work, ''The Lives of Saints'',

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer. Biography Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died when ...

describes the life of St. Bertille based upon a biography written shortly after her death in

Mabillon Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics. Early life Mabil ...

, ''Act. Ben.'' t. 3. p. 21; Du Plessis, ''Hist. de Meaux'', l. 1, n. 47, 48, 50. She entered the nunnery of

Jouarre Jouarre () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Jouarre Abbey It is the site of the Jouarre Abbey, a Merovingian foundation of Abbess Theodochilde or Telchilde, traditionally in 630, ...

Brie Brie (; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern ''département'' of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white m ...

, not far from

Meaux Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris. Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...

, founded in 630 by Ado, the elder brother of Saint Ouen, who had taken the monastic habit there. Berthild was educated by Saint Thelchildis, the first abbess of Jouarre, who governed that abbey until 660. When Saint Bathildis, the wife of

Clovis II Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her deat ...

, founded the abbey of Chelles, which Saint Clotildis had first instituted near the

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

, she asked Saint Thelchildis to set up a new community there with the most experienced and virtuous nuns of Jouarre to direct the novices in the monastic order. Berthild was appointed first abbess of Chelles Abbey in 646. Berthild was known for her devotion to self-denial. She "was ambitious of

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

dom, but as no persecutors were forthcoming, she martyred herself with austerities." Saint Berthild's reputation drew several foreign princesses to the abbey. Among them was Queen Bathildis. After the death of her husband in 655, she was left regent of the kingdom during the minority of her son

Clotaire III Chlothar III (or ''Chlotar'', ''Clothar'', ''Clotaire'', ''Chlotochar'', or ''Hlothar'', giving rise to the name Lothair; 652–673) was the eldest son of Clovis II, king of Neustria and Burgundy, and his queen Balthild. When Clovis died in 657, C ...

, but as soon as he was of age to govern in 665, she retired to Chelles Abbey. Saint Berthild died in 692 after governing the nunnery for forty-six years.

Notes and references

Bibliography

* 692 deaths Frankish abbesses Year of birth unknown 7th-century Frankish saints Colombanian saints 7th-century Frankish nuns {{france-saint-stub