Clotilde (floruit 673)
Encyclopedia
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
673) was the founder of the abbey of Bruyères-le-Châtel
Bruyères-le-Châtel
Bruyères-le-Châtel is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.-History:A nunnery was founded at Bruyères-le-Châtel by a noblewoman named Clotilde...
. Her charter is one of only eight known original manuscripts to survive from 7th century Francia, among which it is the only private charter. It is a parchment
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
, which is unusual in that most surviving Merovingian documents of the 7th century were written on papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
. As a result, it has been the object of detailed analysis over many years.
Clotilde, notes Levillain, was evidently a very important woman. It is supposed that she was in some way related to the Merovingian kings, but the exact relation is uncertain. Her name and its variants, male and female, are common ones among the Merovingians, perhaps due to the memory of Clotilde
Clotilde
Saint Clotilde , also known as Clothilde, Clotilda, Clotild, Rotilde or Chroctechildis, was the second wife of the Frankish king Clovis I...
wife of Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
. Clovis and Clotilde had a daughter of the same name. This Clotilde
Clotilde (died 531)
Clotilde was the daughter of King Clovis I of the Franks and Queen Clotilde.In 511 she was married to the Visigothic King Amalaric. Clotilde was a Catholic, while Amalaric and his fellow-Visigoths were Arians...
was unhappily married to the Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
ic king Amalric
Amalric
Amalric is a personal name derived from the tribal name Amal and ric meaning "ruler, prince".* Amalaric, King of the Visigoths from 526 to 531* Malaric, King of the Suevi 585...
. King Guntram
Guntram
Saint Guntram was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son of Chlothar I and Ingunda...
had a daughter named Clotilde, and Clotilde the Proud, daughter of King Charibert I
Charibert I
Charibert I was the Merovingian King of Paris, the second-eldest son of Chlothar I and Ingund. His elder brother was Gunthar, who died sometime before their father's death....
, was a famously disobedient nun whose story is recounted by Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
. Clotilde's charter also suggests a link to the Merovingians as it requires the nuns to pray for the stability of the kingdom and success for the king, a requirement found elsewhere only in royal charters.
From the terms, derived from Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
, which Clotilde uses to describe the lands she is granting to the nunnery, it appears that these had belonged to her son who had died without heirs. The term Deo devota used to describe her is read as meaning that Clotilde herself will become a nun in her new foundation. The vir inluster Charicard who is to have a life interest in Fontenay-lès-Briis
Fontenay-lès-Briis
Fontenay-lès-Briis is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Fontenay-lès-Briis are known as Fontenois.-History:...
is presumed to be Clotilde's husband for the legal terms used suggest that she was not a widow.
The charter was first published in 1681 by Jean Mabillon
Jean Mabillon
Jean Mabillon was a French Benedictine monk and scholar, considered the founder of palaeography and diplomatics.-Early career:...
in his De Re diplomatica. As the document long predates the general adoption of Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
dating, there was initially a dispute over whether it belonged to the reign of King Chlothar II or King Chlothar III. Modern historians confidently date it to the sixteenth year of the reign of Chlothar III, from which the Anno Domini date of 673 is deduced. This dating had cast doubt on the authenticity of the charter as the reign of Chlothar III was presumed to have been only fifteen years prior to the 19th century.
The content of the charter is simple. Clotilde grants a number of properties to the Virgin Mary and to the nunnery which she is founding. The nunnery is to be led by her niece Mummola. Half of an additional estate at Fontenay-lès-Briis is promised to the monastery after Clotilde and Charicard have both died. Clotilde sets out the rule that the nuns shall follow, based on that of Luxeuil, and how Mummola's successors shall be elected. She calls down the wrath of the Holy Trinity on any who oppose the provisions of her charter.
The charter was issued at Lamorlaye
Lamorlaye
Lamorlaye is a town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...
, a Merovingian palace north of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The date and location suggest that Clotilde chose to have the charter witnessed on an occasion when important persons were at Lamorlaye for other reasons, perhaps the annual muster and review of warriors, rather than having convoked the meeting herself.
Ecclesiastical witnesses include the bishop of Paris Agilbert
Agilbert
Agilbert was the second Bishop of the West Saxon kingdom and later Bishop of Paris. Son of a Neustrian noble named Betto, he was a first cousin of Audoin and related to the Faronids and Agilolfings, and less certainly to the Merovingians...
, abbot Chrodecar, a lawyer named Rigobert. One Ermenric, who signs immediately after Agilbert, and is thus the chief layman present, is tentatively identified with the man of the same name who had been intendant of the royal domain under Clovis II
Clovis II
Clovis II succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639 as King of Neustria and Burgundy. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her death in her early thirties in 642...
. Two counts who witness, Vaning and Robert, had been close allies of the mayor of the palace
Mayor of the Palace
Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....
Ebroin
Ebroin
Ebroin was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681...
. The following witness is named Ghislemar, probably the son of Waratton
Waratton
Waratton, Waratto, or Warato was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy on two occasions, owing to the deposition he experienced at the hands of his own faithless son. His first term lasted from 680 or 681 to 682, when his son Gistemar deposed him and took over the office...
, another mayor of the palace.