SaintSome sources refer to him as ''blessed'' or '' Beatus'' rather than ''Saint''. Se
saints.sqpn.com
an
santiebeati.it
/ref> Idesbald (''Idesbaldus'') (c. 1100–1167) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monk and abbot of Ten Duinen Abbey.

Life

As a youth Idesbald was a courtier and page to the

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...

. It is believed that he was related to or proceeded from the noble family of Van der Gracht, lords of Moorsel. He became a

canon priest A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

at Veurne in 1135. In 1150, he became a

monk at the abbey of Our Lady of the Dunes (Ten Duinen), serving as abbot of this foundation from 1155 to 1167.

Veneration

Idesbald was buried in the abbey in a lead

coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

. In 1577, the

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 ...

plundered the abbey, and the monks transported Idesbald's relics to a monastic grange at Bogaerde. On 13 November 1623 his coffin was opened in the presence of several witnesses so that the relics could be inspected and authenticated; the body was reported to be incorrupt. For days, the body was shown to visitors. In 1625, during Infanta

Isabella Clara Eugenia Isabella Clara Eugenia ( es, link=no, Isabel Clara Eugenia; 12 August 1566 – 1 December 1633), sometimes referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia, was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France with ...

's progress through Flanders, the body was displayed to the Infanta and her court, including Ambrogio Spinola, Cardinal de la Cueva, and the papal nuncio. Idesbald's relics were translated again, this time to Bruges, in 1796 to avoid having them destroyed by

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

troops. In 1830, the relics were placed in a chapel associated with the abbey of Our Lady of the Potteries. Idesbald's cult was officially approved in 1894 by a decree issued by the

Diocese of Bruges The Diocese of Bruges (in Dutch Bisdom Brugge) 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-Brussels, which ...

. In 2015 the lead coffin thought to contain his remains was opened. Both the carbonised lead of the coffin and the skeletal remains inside were radiocarbon-dated. The dates reveal that the remains are not those of St Idesbald, as they date to the later 15th or early 16th century. It is hypothesised that the coffin and skeleton represent the burial of a later abbot The village of Saint-Idesbald, which gained fame as an artists' quarter, takes its name from him.

Notes

References

External links

Idesbald

Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune
{{Authority control 1100s births 1167 deaths 12th-century Christian saints Belgian Cistercians Belgian Roman Catholic saints Incorrupt saints People from Koksijde People from Veurne Abbots of Dunes 12th-century people from the county of Flanders