Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge (also Amalia, or Amelia of

Lobbes Lobbes (; wa, Lôbe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Lobbes had a total population of 5,499. The total area is 32.08 km² which gives a population density of 171 inhabitants per k ...

Binche Binche (; wa, Bince; Dutch: ''Bing'') is a city and municipality from Wallonia, in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Since 1977, the municipality consists of Binche, Bray, Buvrinnes, Épinois, Leval-Trahegnies, Péronnes-lez-Binche, Ressaix, an ...

) was a

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

and saint who lived in the 7th century.

Narrative

Amalberga's father was Saint Geremarus. She was born in Brabant. She is said to have been the niece of

Pippin of Landen Pepin I (also Peppin, Pipin, or Pippin) of Landen (c. 580 – 27 February 640), also called the Elder or the Old, was the Mayor of the palace of Austrasia under the Merovingian King Dagobert I from 623 to 629. He was also the Mayor for Sig ...

and married Count Witger,

Duke of Lorraine The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of t ...

. In her biography she is presented as the mother of five saints:

Emebert Emebert was an early Bishop of Cambrai, often identified with Bishop Ablebert of Cambrai (early 8th century). According to the unreliable ''Vita S. Amalbergae viduae'', Emebert was the son of Duke Witger of Lotharingia and Saint Amalberga of M ...

Reineldis Reineldis (also Reinhild, Reinaldes, Rainelde among others; ''c.'' 630 – ''c.'' 700) was a saint of the 7th century, martyred by the Huns. Life Reineldis was born in a place called ''Condacum'' (which is identified with either Condé-sur-l'Esc ...

Pharaildis Saint Pharaildis or Pharailde ( nl, Veerle) is an 8th-century Belgian saint in Roman Catholicism, and patron saint of Ghent. Her dates are imprecise, but she lived to a great age and died on January 5 at ninety.Engelbert, Omer. ''The Lives of ...

, Ermelindis and

Gudula Saint Gudula was born in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium). According to her 11th-century biography ( Vita Gudilae), written by a monk of the abbey of Hautmont between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia call ...

. Sometime after the birth of their youngest child, Gudula, Witger decided to become a Benedictine in Lobbes; Amalberga joined the Benedictine nuns of Maubeuge. Her feast is celebrated on July 10. The translation of her

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s from Lobbes to Binche in the 15th century is celebrated on June 10. Amalberga of Maubeuge is not to be confused with the virgin

Amalberga of Temse Amalberga of Temse (c. 741 – 10 July 772) was a Lotharingian noblewoman from the Frankish royal house of the Pippinids who is celebrated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. She is especially venerated in ...

(venerated in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

Temse Temse (; french: Tamise ) is a municipality in East Flanders, Belgium. The name Temse is derived from the Gallo-Roman/Gaul Tamisiacum or Tamasiacum. This is also reflected in the French name for the town, Tamise. The main sights include the Ch ...

and

Munsterbilzen Bilzen () is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg. In 2021, Bilzen had a total population of 32,536. The total area is 75.90 km� ...

) who died in 772, and whose feast day is July 10 or October 27.

Hagiography

The biography of Amalberga of Maubeuge ( :s:la:Vita S. Amalbergae viduae) is probably written by Abbott Hugo of Lobbes (1033–1063) between 1033 and 1048. Apart from a few Merovingian details, her genealogy was copied from another 11th-century hagiography, namely the Martyr story of Catherine of Alexandria. The biographical profile of her legendary husband, duke Witger of Lotharingia, is based on an historical figure from the 10th century,

Wigeric of Lotharingia Wigeric or Wideric (german: Wigerich; french: Wigéric or ; died before 923) was a Frankish nobleman and the count of the Bidgau (''pagus Bedensis'') and held the rights of a count within the city of Trier. He received also the advocacy of the Abb ...

. It is largely considered legendary and unreliable.Borrelli, Antonio. "Sant' Amalberga di Maubeuge", Santi e Beati, November 20, 2002
/ref>

References

Literature

* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Paltsgraaf Wigerik van Lotharingen, inspiratiebron voor de legendarische graaf Witger in de Vita Gudilae', ''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 93 (2010) 113-136.
* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Hugo van Lobbes (1033-1053), auteur van de Vita Amalbergae viduae, Vita S. Reinildis en Vita S. Berlendis', ''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 94 (2011) 367-402.
* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Kritisch onderzoek naar de interacties tussen de Vita S. Gudilae en de Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium.', ''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 95 (2012) 311-346.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amalberga of Maubeuge 7th-century births 690s deaths Belgian Roman Catholic saints Benedictine nuns Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 7th-century Frankish saints 7th-century Frankish nuns