Bertha of Kent

Bertha or Aldeberge (c. 565 – d. in or after 601) was a Frankish princess who became queen of Kent. She influenced the 597 Gregorian mission, led by Augustine, which resulted in the conversion to Christianity of Anglo-Saxon England.

Life
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 Clotilde. Her father died in 567, her mother in 589. Bertha had been raised near Tours. Her marriage to the pagan Æthelberht of Kent, in 580, was on condition that she be allowed to practise her religion. She brought her chaplain, Liudhard, with her to England. A former Roman church was restored for Bertha just outside Canterbury and dedicated to Martin of Tours. It was the private chapel of Queen Bertha before Augustine arrived from Rome. The present St Martin's Church, Canterbury continues on the same site, incorporating Roman walling of the original church in the chancel. It is acknowledged by UNESCO as the oldest church in the English-speaking world where Christian worship has taken place continuously since 580. St Martin's (with Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustine's Abbey) make up Canterbury's UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pope Gregory I sent a mission led by Augustine to restore Christianity to England in 596. The mission's favourable reception upon arrival in 597 owed much to the influence of Bertha. Without her support and Æthelberht's good will, monastic settlements and the cathedral would likely have been 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 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 (possibly 606) is disputed.

Legacy
The City of Canterbury celebrates Queen Bertha in several ways.
 * The Bertha trail, consisting of 14 bronze plaques set in pavements, runs from the Buttermarket to St Martin's Church via Lady Wootton's Green.
 * In 2006, bronze statues of Bertha and Ethelbert by Stephen Melton 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 in St Martin's Church.