Saint Maxentia of Beauvais (french: Sainte Maxence) was a 5th-century Irish virgin and

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

who was beheaded when she refused to marry. Her feast day is 20 November.

Life

Saint Maxentia of Beauvais was born in Ireland or Scotland, but fled to France to avoid being married to a pagan chieftain. She lived beside the

Oise River The Oise ( ; ) is a river of Belgium and France, flowing for from its source in the Belgian province of Hainaut, south of Chimay. It crosses the border with France after about . It flows into the Seine at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a north-wester ...

near

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other h ...

in the

Diocese of Beauvais The Diocese of Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis ( la, Dioecesis Bellovacensis, Noviomensis et Silvanectensis; french: Diocèse de Beauvais, Noyon et Senlis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The di ...

. The pagan chieftain tracked her down, and killed her at

Pont-Sainte-Maxence Pont-Sainte-Maxence () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France, in the region of Hauts-de-France. It is named after Saint Maxentia of Beauvais, whose relics were taken here. Pont-Sainte-Maxence station has rail connections to Sain ...

when she refused to marry him.

Monks of Ramsgate account

The monks of

St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate St Augustine's Abbey or Ramsgate Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Ramsgate. It was built in 1860 by Augustus Pugin and is a Grade II listed building. It was the first Benedictine monastery to be built in England since the Reformation. In ...

, wrote in their ''Book of Saints'' (1921),

Butler's account

The hagiographer

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer. Biography Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died when ...

( 1710–1773) wrote in his ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints'', under November 20,

Horstmann's account

Carl Horstmann reproduced a ''life'' of the saint from MS. Stowe 949, written about 1615.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT: Female saints of medieval Ireland Female saints of medieval France Medieval Irish saints on the Continent 5th-century deaths