Friends And Foes—and Family - Radegund

520–86

The life of a princess—isn’t that what every girl dreams of? If so, you might want to steer your dreams clear of medieval Europe. In that chess game, even queens were pawns.

Radegund was born around 520 to a king of the Germanic land of Thuringia. He was assassinated by his brother, who then adopted Radegund. Her uncle then allied with a Frankish king to kill her other uncle, and then double-crossed his ally to take power himself. In retaliation, the uncle was killed, and the twelve-year-old Radegund was made a wife of the new Frankish king—one of six wives, actually. And you thought your family was difficult.

In the court of the king, she lived simply and humbly, giving away much of her personal wealth to monasteries and the needy. “There was no hermit who could hide from her munificence,” wrote the biographer Fortunatus. But she couldn’t hide from the continuing intrigue of high position. When her brother was killed at the king’s command, she left the court and became a nun. Later she used her resources to build a double monastery at Poitiers, which developed into a great center of learning.

A number of medieval women forsook high positions to serve in convents, but what’s noteworthy about Radegund is the quality of friendships she formed. Two historians of the period—Venantius Fortunatus and Gregory of Tours—were quite close to her. Their records indicate a number of coworkers at the convent who were also her friends. Gregory spoke at her funeral, and the whole congregation of nuns made quite a scene, clamoring, “Lord, spare us this heavy loss. You are taking our light.”

How did young Radegund learn about friendship? From her earliest years, she was caught in a whirlpool of backstabbing violence, even in her own family. Yet by the grace of God, she found a new family—people who loved the Lord and shared her commitment to him.

Maybe you’ve been blessed with a great upbringing. But even if you weren’t, just like Radegund, you can find a new family among those who share your faith and love.

Then [Jesus] pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Matthew 12:49-50