Rictrude (also called Rictrudis, Rictrudes,[1] Richtrudis, Richrudis) (b. c. 612 – c. 614;[2][3] d. c. 676 – c. 691[4]) was a saint and abbess of Marchiennes Abbey, in Flanders. The main early source for her life is the Vita Rictrudis, commissioned by the abbey, and written in 907 by Hucbald.[5]
Rictrude of Marchiennes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 612 – c. 614 Gascony |
| Died | c. 676 – c. 691 Marchiennes |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Feast | 12 May |
Her feast day is May 12.
Life
editRictrude was born around 612 in Gascony during the reign of Clothar II and a series of Basque raids in France,[2][1] to "a noble and devout family",[3] most likely of the Gascon nobility. Her father was Ernold, and her mother was Lichia.[6] At a young age, Rictrude's spiritual advisor was St. Amandus, the bishop and missionary, who had been exiled to Gascony by Dagobert I.[2][3] Rictrude was the subject of a hagiography entitled Vita sanctae Rictrudis, written by Hucbald, a Benedictine monk who resided at Saint-Armand Abbey in 907.[2][7]
According to Rictrude's Vita, "A certain Frank—born Adalbard, child of a just and noble stock, saw her, loved her and chose her for his own".[8] The Vita calls Adalbard "a fully worthy man who would take the worthy Rictrude in marriage"[9] despite the "violent opposition of her parents".[10] The Vita describes Rictrude, by contast, "as an exception who was predestined to sancity" because she was from a mostly pagan region.[11] Rictrude and Adalbard married during a military expedition in Gascony; he was a saint, a nobleman, and a "loved and honored"[11] member of the court of Dagobert I and Clovis II.[10] Scholar Jo Ann McNamara places their marriage in the context of the Frankish settlement in France and the internal turbulence of the time.[2] They were married from 629 to 632 and lived in Marchiennes, where he owned land. They had four children, all of whom were later named saints:[1] a son named Maurontus of Douai, who became a court official, and later, a priest and abbot; and three daughters, Clotsendus, who succeeded her mother as abbess, Eusebia of Hamage, who was also an abbess at Hamay, and Adalsinda of Hamage, who was a nun at Hamay.[1][12][13][14] According to scholar Karine Uge, the children were "baptized by the most prestigious people of their time".[14] Maurontius was baptized by the Frankish hermit and monk St. Richarius, and Clotsendus by Saint Amandus. Nanthild, wife of Dagobert, was Eusebia's godmother.[15] Their youngest daughter, died at a young age, before Rictrude's death.[16][17] Rictrude's Vita claims that Rictrude and Adalbard had a "devout and joyful life".[3]
Soon after the birth of their youngest child, Adalbald was assassinated on his way from Marquette-en-Ostrevant to Gascony, perhaps by his father-in-law,[15][3] "who was offended by the fact that his daughter had married an enemy of his people".[18] Ritrude's vita claims that she mourned his death.[19] She was advised by Amandus, who had become her spiritual advisor, to found an abbey and a monastery at Marchiennes.[1][3] Amandus also advised her, after her son Maruontus came of age, to enter the monastery, which she governed for 40 years.[3] However, the king, who is not named in the Vita but was probably Dagobert I, was determined that she marry one of his officials.[20][15][1] At first, the king tried to persuade her with gifts and flattery, but when that did not work, he threatened her. She pretended to go along with his demands, but she "remained constant in her proposed vows to serve God" while Amandus promised to use his influence to obtain the king's agreement.[21] At one point, she "carefully staged a dramatic demonstration of her determination to resist the king's will and to follow her religious aspirations".[15] She hosted a banquet with the king and his court in her villa in Boiry, and in the middle of the feast, she stood up, and instead of toasting her guests, she covered her head with the veil blessed by Amandus to "display her desire to enter the religious life".[15] The king left the banquet in anger, but Amand eventually mediated a reconciliation between them, and Clovis II permitted her to move into Marchiennes Abbey, which was a double monastery.[22][15]
Scholar Jo Ann McNamara states that Dagobert's demand that Rictrude remarry must be placed within the political context at the time. McNamara adds, "Noble women, sometimes in family teams, embraced the religious life and endowed lasting establishments in the north and east of the kingdom".[12] The practice, supported by artistocrat appointments as bishops, encouraged the "royal centralizaton of land and power out of the reach of secular politics".[12] McNamara says, in a footnote in her discussion about Rictrude, that it also represented "a systematic family strategy of diverting wealth and women away from the predatory king and his ambitious courtiers" and reflected" a practice of deploying women in religious service involving both administrative and, above all, charitable activities".[12] She was also an important figure in the movement to the "ultimate replacement of the Merovingian dynasty in the mid-eighth century".[23]
Rictrude died at Marchiennes at the age of 74, between 676 and 691.[4] Her daughter, Clotsind, succeeded her as abbess in 635.[4][24] Rictrude performed miracles after her death described in her Vita, including healing blindness, muteness, paralysis, high fevers, and various illnesses.[25] Her body is emtombed at Marchiennes, and several churches in Flanders have been dedicated to her.[1] According to McNamara, Rictrude is still venerated in modern Belgium.[12] Her feast day is May 12.[1][3]
Clotsinda
editBorn around 638, Clotsinda was a younger daughter of Rictrude and Adalbard duke of Douai,[26] In 688, she succeeded her mother as the second abbess of the double monastery of Marchiennes Abbey.[27] She died around 714.[28] Her siblings Maurontius, Adalsinda and Eusebia are also honored as saints.
Her feast day is of May 5; Closinda is especially venerated in Douai.[29] In the Orthodox faith, she is commemorated on June 30.[30]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Butler, Alban (1866). "St. Rictrudes, Abbess". The Lives of the Saints. Vol. 10. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 195.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Santa Rictrude: Spouse, Abbess". Santie Beati (in Italian). n.d. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 Uge 2005, p. 108.
- ↑ Karine Ugé, The Legend of Saint Rictrude, pp. 283-4, in John Gillingham, Anglo-Norman Studies 23: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2000 (2001)
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 200.
- ↑ Uge 2005, p. 98.
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 202
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 204
- 1 2 Wasselvnck, René (1 November 2008). "Saint Adalbald the Martyr". Santie Beati (in Italian). Retrieved 19 June 2026.
- 1 2 Uge 2005, p. 121.
- 1 2 3 4 5 McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 196.
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, pp. 203–204
- 1 2 Uge 2005, p. 100.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Uge 2005, p. 101.
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 210
- ↑ Uge 2005, p. 123.
- ↑ Wasselvnck, Rene (1 November 2008). "Saint Adalbaldo the Martyr". Santi Beati (in Italian). Retrieved 26 June 2026.
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 204
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 205
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 205
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, pp. 205–207
- ↑ McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 197.
- ↑ "Saint Clotsinde". Nominis (in French). n.d. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
- ↑ Vita, translated in McNamara, Halborg & Whatley 1996, p. 219
- ↑ Matthew Bunson, Stephen Bunson, Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints (2003), p. 214.
- ↑ Cristiani, Léon. "Liste chronologique des saints de France, des origines à l'avènement des carolingiens", Revue d'histoire de l'Église de France, 1945, p. 76
- ↑ "Sainte Clotsinde", Nominis
- ↑ "Litany from Douai 14th century". Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- ↑ "30 Juin", Orthodoxie
Works cited
edit- McNamara, Jo Ann; Halborg, John E.; Whatley, E. Gordon (1996). "Rictrude, Abbess of Marchiennes". In McNamara, Jo Ann; Halborg, John E.; Whatley, E. Gordon (eds.). Sainted Women of the Dark Ages. Duke University Press. pp. 195–219. ISBN 0-8223-1200-X.
- Uge, Karine (2005). Creating the Monastic Past in Medieval Flanders. Woodbridge, U.K.: York Medieval Press. ISBN 1-903153-16-6.