1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Radegunda, St

RADEGUNDA, ST (d. 587), Frankish queen, was the daughter of Berthaire, king of the Thuringians. Berthaire was killed by his brother Hermannfried, who took Radegunda and educated her, but was himself slain by the Frankish kings Theuderich and Clotaire (529), and Radegunda fell to Clotaire, who later married her. Her piety was already so noteworthy that it was said that Clotaire had married a nun, not a queen. She left him when he unjustly killed her brother, and fled to Medardus, bishop of Poitiers, who, notwithstanding the danger of the act, consecrated her as a nun. Radegunda stayed in Poitiers, founded a monastery there, and lived for a while in peace. Here Venantius Fortunatus, the Italian poet, found a friendly reception, and two of the poems printed under his name are usually attributed to Radegunda. From him we gain a most pleasing picture of life at the monastery. The queen died on the 13th of August 587.