Saint Bertha of Artois or Saint Bertha of Blangy (mid 7th century – 4 July 725) was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

and

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

of noble blood.

Life

Saint Bertha was the daughter of Count

Rigobert Rigobert (died c. 743) was a Benedictine monk and later abbot of the Abbaye Saint-Pierre d'Orbais who subsequently succeeded Saint Rieul as bishop of Reims in 698. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Rigobert baptized Charles Ma ...

, the Mayor of the Palace under King

Clovis II Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her deat ...

prior to

Ebroin Ebroin (died 680 or 681) was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the aut ...

. Her mother Ursana, was the daughter of the King of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

(in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). At the age of twenty Bertha married Siegfried or Sigfrid, a relation of the king."Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year," p. 254 When her husband Siegfried died in 672, after nearly twenty years of marriage and five daughters, Bertha was determined to become a

Religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

. In the year 682 or 685 Bertha had founded a convent at Blangy,

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...

(now

Blangy-sur-Ternoise Blangy-sur-Ternoise (, literally ''Blangy on Ternoise'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography Situated some 9 miles(15 km) northwest of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Saint-Pol ...

). She retreated there with her two eldest daughters, Deotila and Gertrude."Married Saints and Blesseds: Through the Centuries," Ferdinand Holbock, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2002, p. 114 Later, her daughter Deotila succeeded her as Abbess, when Bertha retired to live the life of a

recluse A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...

, solely devoted to prayer. St Bertha died at an advanced age of natural causes on 4 July 725. Her

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is celebrated on 4 July. (See "Ste. Berthe et son Abbaye de Blangy", Lille, 1892).

Hagiography

Two buildings which Bertha constructed had fallen down, but an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

in a vision guided her to another spot, and there after many difficulties a nunnery was built, which she entered with her two eldest daughters, Deotila and Gertrude. A still later legend represents Gertrude as much persecuted by the attentions of a great noble, Roger, who wished to marry her by force, but she was saved from his violence by her mother's firm courage and trust in God. Some time before her death Bertha is said to have resigned her office of abbess and to have shut herself up in a little cell built against the church wall. The whole story of St Bertha, as her biographers agree, is of a very late date but not entirely legendary.

References

External links

Catholic Online-Saints & Angels: ''St. Bertha''Saint of the Day, July 4: ''Bertha of Blangy''
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertha Of Artois 725 deaths Frankish abbesses Christian female saints of the Middle Ages Angelic visionaries 7th-century Frankish nobility 8th-century Frankish saints 7th-century Frankish nuns 8th-century Frankish nuns Year of birth uncertain

Life

Hagiography

References

Further reading

External links