Ida of Lorraine (also referred to as Blessed Ida of Boulogne) () was a saint and noblewoman. She was the daughter of

Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine Godfrey III ( 997 – 1069), called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. Biography Disputed succession By inheritance, Godfrey was Count of Verdun and he became Margrave of Antwerp as a vassal ...

and his wife Doda. Ida's grandfather was

Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine Gothelo (or Gozelo) ( 967 – 19 April 1044), called the Great, was the duke of Lower Lorraine from 1023 and of Upper Lorraine from 1033. He was also the margrave of Antwerp from 1005 (or 1008) and count of Verdun. Gothelo was the youngest son ...

and Ida's brother was

Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine Godfrey IV (died 26 or 27 February 1076), known as the Hunchback, was Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1069 until his death in 1076, succeeding his father Godfrey the Bearded. In the year of his accession, he married Margravine Matilda of Tuscany, da ...

Family

In 1049, she married

Eustace II, Count of Boulogne Eustace II, (), also known as Eustace aux Grenons ("Eustace with long moustaches"),Heather J. Tanner, 'Eustace (II), count of Boulogne (d. c.1087)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. was Count of Boulogne fro ...

. They had three sons: * Eustace III, the next Count of Boulogne *

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...

, first ruler of

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establish ...

* Baldwin, second ruler of Kingdom of Jerusalem A daughter, Ida of Boulogne, has also been postulated. She was married first to Herman von Malsen and second to

Conon, Count of Montaigu Conon (also Cono or Cuno; died 1 May 1106) was a Lotharingian nobleman and military leader of the First Crusade. He was one of the most prominent lords of the Ardennes, being the count of Montaigu, lord of Rochefort and advocate (defender) of th ...

. Ida shunned the use of a wet-nurse in raising her children. Instead, she breast-fed them to ensure that they were not contaminated by the wet-nurse's morals, i.e. her mode of living. When her sons went on the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

, Ida contributed heavily to their expenses.

Life

Ida was always religiously and charitably active, but the death of her husband provided her wealth and the freedom to use it for her projects. She founded several monasteries: *Saint-Wulmer in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

*Our Lady of the Chapel, Calais *Saint-Bertin *Abbey of Cappelle *Abbey of Le Wast She maintained a correspondence with Anselm of Canterbury. Some of Anselm's letters to Ida have survived. She became increasingly involved in church life. However, current scholarship feels that she did not actually become a Benedictine Nun, but that she was a "Secular Oblate of the Benedictine Order".

Death and burial

Ida died on 13 April 1113, which is the date she is honoured. Traditionally, her burial place has been ascribed to the monastery of Le Wast. Her remains were moved in 1669 to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and again in 1808 to Bayeux. Her life story was written by a contemporary monk of the monastery of Le Wast. She is venerated in Bayeux.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ida of Lorraine 1040s births 1113 deaths 11th-century French people 11th-century French women 12th-century French people 12th-century French women Medieval French saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 11th-century Christian saints Countesses of Boulogne House of Ardenne–Verdun