Theudechild (daughter of Theuderich I)

Theudechild (also: Théodechilde , Thichilde , Theut-hild ; died according to various sources after 571, before 579 or on June 28, 598 ) was a Franconian princess, warning queen and abbess. She was canonized.

Life

Theudechild was the daughter of the Frankish King Theuderich I and granddaughter of Clovis I. Her life was represented in hagiography by Venantius Fortunatus , among others . All documents that mention Theodechild's name have only survived as copies. The authenticity of several of these documents has been doubted by historians; In addition, a presumed sister of Theuderich also had the same name.

Prokopios of Caesarea reported that a sister of Theudebert I, unknown by name, was married to the warning king Hermegisclus in her first marriage and to his son Radigis in her second marriage and later returned to her homeland after Radigis had separated from her. From Theuderich's marriage to Suavegotho , only one son and one daughter have come down to us, so Theudechild is adopted as this sister. This also agrees with the hagiographic tradition according to which Theudechild was the granddaughter, daughter, sister and wife of kings.

Queen Theudechild also became known for generous donations to the Church of Reims , which she founded with her soul's salvation. She was the (according to church tradition, a virgin) founder of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif near Sens , of which she also became the first abbess. The priory of Mauriac is said to have been founded by them.

She died before 579 and was buried in the monastery church built under her in Saint-Pierre-le-Vif.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Detlev Schwennicke : European Family Tables Volume I.1 (2005) Table 1–2
2. ^ Settipani: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (Volume II), 1993, p. 63
3. ↑ Martina Hartmann , The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , Stuttgart 2009
4. ↑ DNB: Link to a not identical saint of the same name, who was the abbess of Jouarre .
5. ↑ ^{a b} Maurice Prou: Étude sur les chartes de fondation de Saint-Pierre-le-Vif p. 31 ff ( digitized version ( memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. )