![S](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/S._Bilhiltis.jpg)
Bilihildis (also spelled Bilihilt, Bilhild, Bilehild; died 734) 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 ...
noblewoman, remembered as the founder and abbess of the monastery of
Altmünster near Mainz, and venerated locally as a
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
, on Nov. 27.
Biography
The biography of Saint Bilihildis is difficult to establish; firm evidence of her existence only goes back to the 12th century, according to Andreas Meier. Her ''
vitae'' date from after 1060 and, in the absence of other evidence, form the basis for her biography.
[ There are five distinct ''vitae'', the most important of which are:
*a short, Latin version in prose, preserved in two manuscripts from the 13th and the 14th century
*a longer prose version likewise preserved in two manuscripts, from the 14th and the 15th century (possibly modeled on hagiographical texts on Frankish queen and saint ]Radegund
Radegund ( la, Radegundis; also spelled ''Rhadegund, Radegonde, or Radigund''; 520 – 13 August 587) was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patron saint of several churches ...
, and certainly indebted to ''vitae Kiliani'')
*a group of locally preserved texts in the vernacular
*a metrical (Latin) version, the ''Vita metrica auctore Herbelone'', first printed at the end of the 18th century and based on a now-lost manuscript.
Brigitte Flug considers the short Latin prose version (written in the 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 ...
style) to be the earliest, though she denies it could have been written within living memory.[Flug 47.]
Hagiography
Bilihildis was born in the 7th century in ''Hocheim'', typically identified as modern-day Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim is a municipality in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Main, northwest of Würzburg. Veitshöchheim has a population just under 10,000. It includes two villages: Veitshöchheim ...
near Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
, Bavaria, the child of Count Jberin and his wife Mathilda.[ According to Alfred Wendehorst, however, what is meant is probably ]Hochheim am Main
Hochheim am Main (; Old English: Hockamore) is a town in the Main-Taunus district of the German state of Hesse. It is located near the right bank of the river Main three miles above its confluence with the Rhine, as well as on the German Timber- ...
, with the location in Würzburg and its East-Frankish connections a later "explanation" for the monastery's foundation. Her 11th-century hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
reports that she was forced to flee the invading Huns and was moved to Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
, where she was raised as a Christian. Though she wanted to devote her life to Christ, her parents forced her to marry a pagan Frankish duke named Hetan around 672, whom she loved but was unable to convert.[Werner 374–77.] It is not clear whether this is Hedan I or Hedan II
Heden, Hedan, or Hetan II (died 741), called the Younger, was a Duke of Thuringia, one of the "older" stem duchies (''Stammesherzogtums''), from around 700 until his death. He may have been the Hedan who married Saint Bilihild.
One of the chief ...
.[Schäfer.] Hetan was called to battle and was killed; during his absence Bilihild saw an opportunity for a religious life and traveled by ship to Mainz,[Flug 45.]
where she asked for and received permission from the local bishop
An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws.
Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...
, her uncle Sigibert (a misreading for Rigibert, bishop of Mainz), to start a foundation for religious women. She started this foundation using her considerable wealth (having sold her possessions in Hochheim) to support it. This was the beginning of the Altmünster monastery of which she was the first abbess. She was baptized later in life. She died on 27 November 734 and was buried in the abbey church; her grave soon gave off a sweet aroma and many miracles happened there.
Commentary
This account, which is based on the short Latin prose version, is embellished with various details in other versions; the German version adds local geographical and historical detail. Such additional detail includes her maiden name, ''Mathildis'', and the gift of a ''sudarium
A ''sudarium'' (Latin) was a "sweat cloth", used for wiping the face clean. Small cloths of various sorts, for which ''sudarium'' is a general term, played a role in Ancient Roman formal manners and court ceremonial, and many such uses transferre ...
'' ("sweat cloth"), supposedly a cloth used to cover Jesus's face after the crucifixion. This ''sudarium'' was given by a queen Imnechild (in a different redaction, Kunegundis) and has been venerated in Altmünster since the 15th century.
Bilihildis's hagiography follows a traditional (Merovingian) scheme common for saints like her since the 6th century: the saint is religious from an early age, exhibits humility and abstinence, is forced into marriage, flees, and ends up founding an abbey. Sainthood is proven by the sweet odor of the dead body and the miracles after death. Flug does not deny the possibility that Bilihildis was already considered a saint during life or shortly thereafter, but considers it unlikely that a ''vita'' was written so early, considering mistakes such as the bishop's name; Flug proposes that the author did not know Bilihildis and her life, and probably misread the name in the foundational deed for the monastery.
As for "Hetan", identification with Hedan I ("the elder") is difficult given the time frame; since he died (according to Hubert Mordek
Hubert Mordek (8 May 1939, Namslau - 17 March 2006, Karlsbad-Langensteinbach) was a German historian.
Biography
Mordek studied history, Latin, and philosophy at the University of Kiel, the University of Würzburg, and the University of Tübing ...
) after 676, which would mean the founding of the abbey took place when Bilihildis was in her seventies, an unlikely proposition. For Hedan II the problem is that he was Christian and had a wife, who was proven to exist in 704 and in 716/717.
Historical traces and legacy
The word/name "bilihilt" occurs in a 5th/6th manuscript containing texts by Priscillian
Priscillian (in Latin: ''Priscillianus''; Gallaecia, - Augusta Treverorum, Gallia Belgica, ) was a wealthy nobleman of Roman Hispania who promoted a strict form of Christian asceticism. He became bishop of Ávila in 380. Certain practices of his f ...
, which is identified with the Bilihildis who founded Altmünster. A 16th-century missal
A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a pries ...
from Mainz (containing a calendar with Rhenish saints) has a "Mass from the feast of Saint Bilhildis"; the manuscript was acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...
in 1986. German poet Alois Henninger
Alois (Latinized ''Aloysius'') is an Old Occitan form of the name Louis. Modern variants include ''Aloïs'' ( French), ''Aloys'' (German), ''Alois'' (Czech), ''Alojz'' ( Slovak, Slovenian), ''Alojzy'' (Polish), '' Aloísio'' (Portuguese, Spanish, ...
, a prolific writer of religious narrative poems, dedicated a lengthy poem to Bilihildis in his ''Nassau in seinen sagen, geschichten und liedern fremder und eigner dichtung'' (1845); consisting of eighteen six-line stanzas, it praised her eternal beauty and steadfast devotion to God.
German Protestant theologian Johannes Heinrich August Ebrard
Johannes Heinrich August Ebrard (18 January 1818 – 23 July 1888) was a German Protestant theologian.
Biography
Born at Erlangen, he was educated in his native town and at Berlin, and after teaching in a private family became ''Privatdozent'' a ...
wrote a biography of Bilihildis, which was translated (or, "retold") in English by Julie Sutter and published by the Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society was a British evangelical Christian organization founded in 1799 and known for publishing a variety of popular religious and quasi-religious texts in the 19th century. The society engaged in charity as well as commerci ...
, with a particular focus on the influence of Iroscottish Christianity.
References
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilihildis
7th-century births
734 deaths
8th-century Christian saints
Benedictine abbesses
8th-century Frankish nuns