Died at Canterbury, England, c. 600. Frankish Saint Liudhard was
chaplain to Queen Bertha of Kent, who agreed to marriage with the pagan
King Ethelbert on the condition that she be free to practice her
religion and bring her bishop with her. Liudhard was that bishop. He is
said to have played an important part in the conversion of the king to
Christianity; however, there are no letters extant from the prolific
writer Pope Saint Gregory to him. There is one (dated to 601) to Queen
Bertha, which reproaches her for her failure to achieve her husband's
conversion. Liudhard restored an ancient
Romano-British church for her at Canterbury. He was buried in the abbey
of SS. Peter and Paul (now St. Augustine's) in Canterbury. In the 11th
century, Goselin wrote a short vita of Liudhard, but seems to have
confused him with Saint Liephard, whose feast is kept at Cambrai and who
is called
archbishop of Canterbury and martyr.
Liudhard was neither
(
Benedictines,
Farmer).