Life and Death at the Convent of Chelles

Abstract In the wake of Ebroin’s coup, Balthild was sent to live the remainder of her life at the convent of Chelles. This chapter considers what life would have been like for a queen who entered a convent. It examines the other royal models for this life-change and asks whether Balthild lived as a nun in the convent and discusses the demands of monastic rules used at the convent. The chapter discusses events taking place outside the convent walls including the murder of her son, Chilperic, her daughter-in-law, and her unborn grandchild. It examines Balthild’s acquisition of relics for her convent and examines her final year of life, her sickness and diet, and her death. It explains how she was buried and how her body was exhumed, examined, and reburied, and how her relics, including clothing, came to be held and distributed by the convent. The chapter concludes with a discussion of her nascent cult as a saint and how the Carolingians reinvested in her cult and the convent.