Background
Bertha was a Frankish princess, the daughter of Charibert I and his wife Ingoberga, granddaughter of the reigning King Chlothar I and great-granddaughter of Clovis I and Saint Clotilde. Her father died in 567, her mother in 589.
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Bertha Kent
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She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history. Bertha had been raised near Tours. She brought her chaplain, Liudhard, with her to England.
Bertha restored a Christian church in Canterbury, which dated from Roman times, dedicating it to Saint Martin of Tours.
lieutenant was the private chapel of Queen Bertha before Augustine arrived from Rome. The present Street Martin"s at Canterbury continues in the same building as the oldest church in the English-speaking world and is part of the Canterbury World Heritage site.
Augustine of Canterbury, whose Gregorian mission was sent by Pope Gregory I to preach the Gospel in England in 596, owed much of his favorable reception to the influence of Bertha. Without her support, monastic settlements and the cathedral would likely have developed elsewhere.
In 601, Pope Gregory addressed a letter to Bertha, in which he complimented her highly on her faith and knowledge of letters.
Anglo-Saxon records indicate that Saint Bertha had two children: Eadbald of Kent, and Æthelburg of Kent. She is named in the genealogies of various of the medieval accounts of the "Kentish Royal Legend". The date of her death is disputed.
The city of Canterbury celebrates Queen Bertha in many ways.
The Bertha trail, consisting of 14 bronze plaques set in pavements, runs from the Buttermarket to Street Martin"s church via Lady Wootton"s Green. In 2006 bronze statues of Bertha and Ethelbert were installed on Lady Wootton"s Green as part of the Canterbury Commemoration Society"s "Ethelbert and Bertha" project
There is a wooden statue of Bertha inside Street Martin"s church.
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Born
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Died
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Nationality
Kingdom of Kent Francia -
Religion
Catholic Church