Matilda de Bailleul aka Maud (c.1132 – 14 December, 1212) was a Flemish abbess of the English

Wherwell Abbey Wherwell Abbey was an abbey of Benedictine nuns in Wherwell, Hampshire, England. Foundation The nunnery was founded about 986 by Ælfthryth, the widow of King Edgar. She retired there to live a life of penance for her part in the murders of ...

. She arrived in 1173 and transformed the abbey that had few nuns following damage done by

William of Ypres William of Ypres ( nl, Willem van Yper; 1090 – 24 January 116524 January 1164 O.S., 1165 N.S.) was a Flemish nobleman and one of the first mercenary captains of the Middle Ages. Following two unsuccessful bids for the County of Flanders, ...

years before. She annotated and then gifted an illuminated

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

to her successors which is known as the Saint Bertin psalter.

Life

She was born in about 1132. Matilda de Bailleul came from a noble family. Her father Baldwin and her brother also Baldwin were

castellans A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant of ...

of Bailleul,

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

, and

Oudenburg Oudenburg (; french: Audembourg ; vls, Oednburg; la, Aldenburgensis) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenburg itself and the towns of Ettelgem, Roksem and We ...

. Her mother Euphemia was a grand daughter of a Castellan of St Omer and her family had included the founding Knight Templar

Godfrey de Saint-Omer Godfrey of Saint-Omer (also known as Gaufred, Godefroi, or Geoffrey de St Omer, Saint Omer) was a Flemish knight and one of the founding members of the Knights Templar in 1119. He is said to have come from the family of the Lords of Saint-Omer (in ...

Samuel anointing David illumination of Psalm 26 from the Saint Bertin Psalter

In about 1173, Matilda de Bailleul arrived from Flanders at Wherwell. She made good on the damage done by

during

the Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...

in 1141. The damage had been done despite the fortifications added by

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

. King Stephen's troops burnt the abbey after Matilda's men retreated into it. de Bailleul organised a funding system for the abbey.

Thomas a Beckett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

had been murdered in 1173 and after he died the abbey had a silver goblet and a gilded chalice that were noted because they had been used by Thomas a Beckett. As the abbey had no

relics 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 ...

it is speculated that these drinking vessels were used to attract funding. Matilda is said to have installed lighting as well as ornaments in the abbey. On 21 May 1194 the pope

Celestine III Pope Celestine III ( la, Caelestinus III; c. 1106 – 8 January 1198), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 March or 10 April 1191 to his death in 1198. He had a tense relationship with several monarchs, ...

wrote to de Bailleul and the nuns at the Abbey. He acknowledged the reversal in the abbey's fortunes and he required others to respect the achievement and the Abbey. By 1200, she had a psalter in her personal possession which is believed to have been made by scribes and an artist associated with

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

in Hertfordshire. It is not clear how it came into her possession or who it was made for. It may have been made for her maternal great uncle, Osto of Saint-Omer. She added details to the psalter of her relatives obituaries and prayers.

Death and legacy

She died in 1212 and by that time the number of nuns had grown from not many to forty. The psalter was passed down to her spiritual successors who also added annotations. The psalter is now in the possession of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. Matilda was succeeded by Euphemia de Walliers. Euphemia was Matilda's niece and she also came from Flanders. She would serve as Abbess until 26 April 1257.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailleul, Matilda de 1212 deaths 13th-century English nuns Benedictine abbesses 12th-century women from the county of Flanders 12th-century people from the county of Flanders Flemish diaspora Nobility of the county of Flanders