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Saint Gudula was born in the
pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geogra ...
of Brabant (in present-day
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
). According to her 11th-century biography ( Vita Gudilae), written by a monk of the abbey of
Hautmont Hautmont () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is southwest of the centre of Maubeuge, and has 14,500 residents. On August 3, 2008, a narrow but strong F4 tornado swept through the town, as well as Maubeuge, Neuf-Mesn ...
between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a
duke of Lotharingia The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of t ...
called Witger and
Amalberga of Maubeuge Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge (also Amalia, or Amelia of Lobbes or Binche) was a Merovingian nun and saint who lived in the 7th century. Narrative Amalberga's father was Saint Geremarus. She was born in Brabant. She is said to have been the n ...
. She died between 680 and 714. Her name is connected to several places: *
Moorsel Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a '' deelgemeente'' of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighbouring villages, which call themselves the ''Faluintjesgemeenten''. Moorsel is ...
(where she lived) *
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
(where a chapter in her honour was founded in 1047) *
Eibingen Eibingen, now a part of Rüdesheim am Rhein, Hesse, Germany is the location of Eibingen Abbey, the Benedictine monastery founded by Hildegard of Bingen in 1165 (replacing an Augustine foundation of 1148). Eibingen preserves the treasure of relics ...
(where the relic of her skull is conserved). In Brabant she is usually called ''Goedele'' or ''Goule''; ( la, Gudila, later ', nl, Sinte Goedele, french: Sainte Gudule).


Life

The mother of Gudula, Saint Amalberga, embraced the religious life in the abbey of Maubeuge. She received the veil from the hands of St. Aubert,
Bishop of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...
(d. about 668). Gudula had two sisters, St.
Pharaildis Saint Pharaildis or Pharailde ( nl, Veerle) is an 8th-century Belgian saint in Roman Catholicism, and patron saint of Ghent. Her dates are imprecise, but she lived to a great age and died on January 5 at ninety.Engelbert, Omer. ''The Lives of ...
and St.
Reineldis Reineldis (also Reinhild, Reinaldes, Rainelde among others; ''c.'' 630 – ''c.'' 700) was a saint of the 7th century, martyred by the Huns. Life Reineldis was born in a place called ''Condacum'' (which is identified with either Condé-sur-l'Esc ...
, and one brother, Saint Emebertus.Van der Essen, Léon. "St. Gudula." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 11 May 2018
Gudula was educated in the abbey of Nivelles by her godmother,
Gertrude of Nivelles Gertrude of Nivelles, OSB (also spelled ''Geretrude'', ''Geretrudis'', ''Gertrud''; c. 628 – 17 March 659) was a seventh-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles, now in Belgium. Life Family and childhood The ea ...
. When Gertrude died, she moved back to her home at
Moorsel Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a '' deelgemeente'' of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighbouring villages, which call themselves the ''Faluintjesgemeenten''. Moorsel is ...
, spending her time in good works and religious devotion. She frequently visited the church of Moorsel, situated about two miles from her parents' house. Gudula died and was buried at Hamme (Flemish Brabant). Later her
relic 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 ...
s were removed to the church of St. Salvator in Moorsel, where the body was interred behind the altar. During the reign of
Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine Charles (953 – 22 June 992×995) was the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 977 until his death. Life Born at Reims in the summer of 953, Charles was the son of Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony and the younger brother of King Lothair. He wa ...
(977–992), the body of the saint was transferred to
Saint Gaugericus Saint Gaugericus, in French Saint Géry (also known as Gorik, Gau; in Walloon, Djèri) ( 550 – August 11, 619) was a bishop of Cambrai, France. Biography He was born to Roman parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola, at ''Eposium'' (present Ca ...
' chapel in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
Lambert II, Count of Leuven Lambert II (died Tournai, 19 June 1054) was count of Leuven between 1033 and 1054. Lambert was the son of Lambert I of Louvain (d. 1015). According to thVita Gudilae(recorded between 1048–1051) he followed his brother Henry I of Louvain. Lamb ...
, (d. 1054) founded a chapter in 1047 in honour of Saint Gudula. Bishop Gerardus I of Cambrai (d. 1051) led the translation of her relics to the church of Saint Michael in Brussels. The church later became the famous
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula nl, Kathedraal van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele , native_name_lang = , image = Saints-Michel-et-Gudule Luc Viatour.jpg , imagesize = 200px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape ...
. On 6 June 1579, the collegiate church was pillaged and wrecked by the Protestant ''
Geuzen Geuzen (; ; french: Les Gueux) was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen (; ; frenc ...
'' ("Beggars"), and the relics of the saint were disinterred and scattered.


Veneration

* Along with St. Michael, Gudula is a patron saint of Brussels.Cathedrale St. Michel
/ref> * The feast of Saint Gudula is generally celebrated on 8 January (the day she died according her hagiography). However, in the
diocese of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel ...
(where Moorsel is situated) her feast is held on 19 January. *
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
made donations to the
convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
of Moorsel in her honour. * The flower called ''tremella deliquescens'', which bears fruit in the beginning of January, is known as ''Sinte Goedele's lampken'' (St. Gudula's lantern). * The woodcarvers who produced statues of the saints born in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
, often depicted St. Gudula with a taper in her hand, but this originates probably out of confusion with the Paris Saint Geneveva tradition. * The skull of St. Gudula is conserved in the Catholic Church of St. Hildegard in
Eibingen Eibingen, now a part of Rüdesheim am Rhein, Hesse, Germany is the location of Eibingen Abbey, the Benedictine monastery founded by Hildegard of Bingen in 1165 (replacing an Augustine foundation of 1148). Eibingen preserves the treasure of relics ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.


Iconography

* Gudula is often pictured holding a lantern. She is depicted on a seal of the Church of St. Gudula of 1446 holding in her right hand a
candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...
, and in her left a lamp, which a
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
tries to extinguish. This refers to the legend that the saint went to church before cock-crow. The demon, wishing to stray her off the right way, extinguished the candle, but the saint obtained from God that her lantern should be rekindled.Fernando Lanzi, Fernando and Gioia, "Gudula of Brussels, Virgin", ''Saints and Their Symbols'', Liturgical Press, 2004
p. 127


See also

* Saint Gudula, patron saint archive


References


Sources

*


Primary sources

* Vita prima sanctae Gudilae auctore anonymo on the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...
* Vita ampliata sanctae Gudilae auctore Huberto on the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...
* Bollandus J., Henschenius G., ''De S. Gudila Virgine Bruxellis in Belgio'', Acta Sanctorum Januarii I (1643) 524–530.


Secondary sources

* Bonenfant, P., 'La charte de foundation du chapitre de Sainte-Gudule à Bruxelles', ''Bulletin de la Commission Royale d'Histoire'' 115 (1950) 17–58. * Podevijn, R., 'Hubert, l'auteur de la vita Gudulae', '' Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire'' 15 (1936) 489–496. * Podevijn, 'Etude critique sur la Vita Gudulae', ''Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire'' 2 (1923) 619–641. * Lefèvre, P., 'Une conjecture à propos de la date et de l'auteur du "Vita Gudile"', '' Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis'' 14/1 (Brussel 1935) 98–101. * van der Essen, L., 'Etude critique et littéraire sur les vitae des saints Mérovingiens', ''Recueil de travaux publiées par les membres des conférences d'histoire et de philologie'' 17 (Leuven 1907) 296–311. * Riethe, P., 'Der Schädel der heiligen Gudula aus der Pfarrkirche von Eibingen. Eine historisch-anthropologische Studie', ''Nassauische Annalen Jahrbuch des Vereins für nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung'' Band 67 (1956) 233. * Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Paltsgraaf Wigerik van Lotharingen, inspiratiebron voor de legendarische graaf Witger in de Vita Gudilae', ''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 93 (2010) 113–136.
* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Kritisch onderzoek naar de interacties tussen de Vita S. Gudilae en de Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium.', ''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 95 (2012) 311–346.
* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Onulfus van Hautmont (ca. 1048), auteur van de Vita S. Gudilae anonymo', ''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 95 (2012) 595–643.
* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
Nova miracula de exemplis veteribus (2016)


External links


St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, Brussels

Pfarrei St. Hildegard, Eibingen with Information of the Church and the shrine of saint Gudula
{{Authority control 7th-century births 8th-century deaths Belgian Roman Catholic saints 7th-century Frankish women 8th-century Frankish saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages People from Aalst, Belgium