Description
The Queen Bertha statue in Canterbury is just one example of the many statues and historical sites in this Cathedral city. Queen Bertha of Kent is one of history’s enigmas and more of her is known than her male family members.
She was a Frankish princess, born in the early 560s and the daughter of Charibert I, King of Paris, and a woman named Ingoberga, whose parentage is unknown.
Little is know about Betha’s marriage to King Æthelberht of Kent, but it seems that historian Bede, writing some 150 years later, implies that during her marriage she should be allowed to practice her Christian faith used the church of St Martin in Canterbury, which had existed since Roman times, and where St Augustine and his companions as their base of operations. St Augustine, a monk from Rome was sent by Pope Gregory the Great on a mission to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, beginning with the kingdom of Kent. King Æthelberht gave Augustine freedom to preach and reside in Canterbury, and he did ultimately convert to Christianity.
Like her birth and marriage, little is known of her death, and she is thought to be buried under the steps of St Martin’s church.
Pick up a leaflet from the tourist office and take this walk starts outside Canterbury Cathedral and that encompasses the Queen Bertha statue, St Augustine's Abbey and St Martin’s Church.
Picture Credit: © English Heritage.
