Carétène (also Caretena) (born died September 16, 506) was the wife of

Gundobad Gundobad (; ; 452 – 516) was King of the Burgundians (473–516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a patrician of the moribund Western Roman Empire in 472–473, three years before its collapse, suc ...

, king of the Burgundians. Unlike her husband, who was an

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

, Carétène was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. She was probably the mother of

Sigismund of Burgundy Sigismund (; died 524 AD) was List of kings of Burgundy, King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king Gundobad and Caretene. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle b ...

. According to her epitaph, Carétène was known for helping the poor, and encouraging clemency toward her husband's prisoners. She is credited with founding a monastic Church of St. Michael in Lyons. Most likely, this church is also where she was buried.

Epitaph

Source:

Sources

* Martina Hartmann: Die Königin im frühen Mittelalter.

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-la ...

, Stuttgart 2009, , S. 3f.; 11; 148; 159; 167f.; 206; 215. * Reinhold Kaiser: Die Burgunder. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, , S. 63; 118; 124; 152; 154; 159; 167. * Gerd Kampers: Caretena – Königin und Asketin. Mosaiksteine zum Bild einer burgundischen Herrscherin, in: Francia 27, 1 (2000), S. 1–32. * John Robert Martindale u. a.: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PRLE), Bd. 2, 1980, S. 260f.

References

5th-century Germanic people 6th-century Germanic people 506 deaths Year of birth unknown Queens consort of Burgundy 5th-century queens consort 6th-century queens consort 450s births {{Germany-hist-stub