Saint Bathilde: A Catholic Cinderella

Every once in a while I happen upon a story that simply must be told. All other plans for the blog were put on hold as soon as I heard the story of St. Bathilde. Her humility and generosity are inspiring, and the story of her life reads like a fairy tale, but one that is true and Catholic.

St. Bathilde was born around 625 AD. The details of her early life are unclear, but it is likely that she was born in Britain to a Christian family, possibly of noble Anglo-Saxon lineage. As a girl she was captured by Danish raiders and sold as a slave in France. There she served as a lady’s maid to the wife of Erchinoald, who was mayor of the palace to King Clovis II of Neustria and Burgundy.  Bathilde quickly gained the affection of the other slaves and the household staff for her cheerfulness and kindness. She often helped to clean their shoes and mend their clothes, in addition to fulfilling her own duties.

After Erchinoald’s wife died, he decided to marry again, and impressed by Bathilde’s physical beauty, as well as her virtues, he declared his intentions to marry her. Bathilde did not return his feelings of affection and had no desire to become his wife, so she hid herself among the lowest kitchen slaves and disguised herself with old rags and dirt. After she failed to appear at her usual post of cupbearer for some time, Erchinoald chose another woman to become his wife. Bathilde happily set aside her disguise and returned to her former place in the household.

Now, at the age of seventeen, she came to the attention of King Clovis II. His father had died when he was five years old, and his mother had ruled as his regent until her own death five years later. So at the age of ten Clovis became the ruler of a vast kingdom, and the powerful nobles, especially those holding the title of mayor of the palace, quickly exerted their influence over him so that he had virtually no real power. Clovis, like all those who saw Bathilde, was struck by her beauty, grace, and goodness. He asked for her hand in marriage, and Bathilde did not refuse. (Whether this was because she had no real choice in the matter, we do not know. She may have been presented to him as a gift by Erchinoald out of his desire to gain yet more influence over the king.)

The pink region was that controlled by King Clovis II.

They were married, and Bathilde quickly began using her new position to do as much good as possible. Where Clovis had formerly been dominated by greedy nobles, Bathilde now used her influence with him to help their people. She could now practice charity on a much larger scale than she could have ever dreamed. After seven years of marriage, King Clovis II died, leaving Bathilde as regent until their eldest son, Clotaire, became old enough to rule. (Their three sons, Clotaire, Childeric, and Theuderic all became kings, although they sadly seem to have followed their father’s example more than their mother’s, and they allowed themselves to be dominated by their advisors.)

During Bathilde’s eight years as regent, her main efforts were to abolish Christian slavery in the kingdom. She was able to abolish the slave trade entirely, and in addition she bought and freed as many slaves as possible, especially children. She lowered taxes so that families would not need to resort to selling their children into slavery to make ends meet. Bathilde also recognized the growing problem of simony among the clergy (selling church offices), and made laws to repress the practice. She built hospitals, founded cloisters and monasteries, and sold many of her jewels so that she could better help the poor. Bathilde recognized that there was much land that was uninhabitable or unusable for farmland, so she ordered areas with wild and dangerous animals be cleared and that waste lands be drained, tilled, and improved so that they could be used for planting crops.

When Clotaire was able to assume the role of king, Bathilde joyously embraced a new role for herself. She entered the royal abbey of Chelles, one of the many she had established during her reign, and handed over her royal seal, taking on in exchange the duties of the lowest nun. Bathilde delighted in her new obscurity, continuing her life-long work of helping others, and never once regretting the royal life she had left behind. After about fifteen years in the convent, she died near the age of fifty.

St. Bathilde, in this season of Lent, help us practice those virtues in which you so excelled. Teach us by your example how to practice humility and charity in any state of life in which we may find ourselves. Intercede for us, that we may become valiant women.