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Radegund's uncle, Hermanfrid , killed Berthar in battle, orphaning her. Then, after allying with the Frankish King Theuderic , Hermanfrid defeated his other brother Baderic . However, having crushed his brothers and seized control of Thuringia, Hermanfrid reneged on his deal with Theuderic to share sovereignty.

In 531 Theuderic returned to Thuringia with his brother Clotaire I . Together they defeated Hermanfrid and conquered his kingdom. Clotaire I also took charge of Radegund, taking her back to Merovingian Gaul with him and making her his wife.

Radegund was one of Clotaire I ’s four wives (the other three being Chunsina , Ingund and Ingund’s sister Aregund ). She bore him no children, and, after Clotaire I had her brother assassinated, she turned to God , founding a nunnery in Poitiers .

She was a friend of the poet Venantius Fortunatus and a contemporary of Gregory Of Tours . She died on 13 August , 586 and her funeral, which both men attended, was three days later.

She was Canonized as a Saint by the church.


REFERENCES


  • Gregory of Tours, ''Glory of the Confessors'', translation by R. Van Dam (Liverpool, 1988)

  • Gregory of Tours, ''History of the Franks'', translation by L. Thorpe (Penguin, 1974: many reprints)