Bililda

This name derives from the Ancient Germanic “Bilhild,” composed of two elements: from the West Germanic “*billo,” from the Proto-Germanic “*bilją” (sword or other bladed weapons, apparently having two edges) plus “*hildiz” (battle, fight). The element “*billo” was any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword. Later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th-centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff. St. Bilhild was a Benedict and the widow of the Duke of Thuringia. Bilhild founded the convent of Altenmunster in Mainz, Germany, and was later the wife of the Frankish king of Neustria and Burgundy, Childeric II. The two were married in 668 despite the opposition of such an important man as Bishop Leodegar.