- Bertha of Kent
Infobox Saint
name=Saint Bertha of Kent
birth_date=c. 539
death_date=c. 612
feast_day=
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church ;Anglican Communion
imagesize=
caption=
birth_place=Neustria (now northernFrance )
death_place=Canterbury ,Kent ,England
titles=Queen and Confessor
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=Pre-Congregation
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=Queen holding a model ofSt Martin's Church, Canterbury
patronage=
major_shrine=St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury ,Kent (destroyed)
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=Saint Bertha or Saint Aldeberge (539 – c. 612) was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of
Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England.Bertha was the daughter of
Charibert I, King ofParis [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html#book4] . When she married the pagan KingÆthelberht of Kent , she brought her chaplain,Liudhard , with her toEngland [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_History_of_the_English_People/Book_1#25] . She restored a Christian church inCanterbury , which dated from Roman times, dedicating it to SaintMartin of Tours . The present St Martin's at Canterbury occupies the same site.Augustine of Canterbury , who was sent byPope Gregory I to preach theGospel inEngland in 596, owed much of his favorable reception there to the influence of Bertha.St Bertha seems to have had two children:
*Eadbald of Kent
*Æthelburg of Kent External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02519a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "Bertha"]
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