A Cultural Biography of Queen Balthild of Neustria, France (c.626-80)

FAIN: FT-264928-19

Isabel Moreira
University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9049)

Completion of a biography of Queen Balthild of northern France (c.626-680), who was born an Anglo-Saxon slave, married King Clovis II, was regent to her sons, and after her death was venerated as a saint at the French convent she founded.

By means of a biography of an exceptional woman, this book is an investigation of the life and times of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon slave who became a queen of Neustria (northern France), and eventually was venerated as a saint. A biography of this exceptionally well documented woman illuminates the power and limitations of female power in the seventh century, the opportunities for social mobility in a slave culture, and the way this woman and her supporters preserved an account of her activity in politics and religion, at a time when the slave trade was a reality for those living in the late Roman Mediterranean world.