The ''Vita Sadalbergae'' (English ''Life of Sadalberga'') is an anonymous

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 ...

biography of Saint

Sadalberga Sadalberga (or Salaberga) (c. 605 – c. 670) was the daughter of Gundoin, Duke of Alsace and his wife Saretrude. Sadalberga founded the Abbey of St John at Laon. She is the subject of a short hagiography, the '' Vita Sadalbergae''. Life Gundoin ...

, founder of the

Abbey of St John, Laon The Abbey of St. John, Laon (french: Abbaye Saint-Jean de Laon) was a Benedictine monastery in Laon, France, from 1128 to 1766, which replaced a nunnery founded in 641. The prefecture of the department of Aisne now occupies the site. History In ...

. Its author claims to be writing at the behest of Sadalberga's daughter and successor as abbess,

Anstrude Saint Anstrudis (Anstrude, Austru, or Austrude) (b. unknown - 688) was the daughter of Saint Blandinus and Saint Sadalberga, the founder of the Abbey of St. John at Laon. She was also the sister of Saint . Background In Merovingian Gaul, foundi ...

, but the date and reliability of the ''Vita'' are disputed by scholars. The ''Vita'''s 19th-century editor, Bruno Krusch, argued that it was a forgery of the 9th century and of no historical value. He claimed that it invented numerous details, such as Sadalberga's forced marriage and children, and believed that only reliable source for the saint's life was her contemporary, Jonas of Bobbio, author of the ''Vita sancti Columbani''.J. A. McNamara, J. E. Halborg, E. G. Whatley, eds. ''Sainted women of the Dark Ages'' (Duke University Press, 1992), p. 176. More recently, Hans Hummer has argued that it was written in the late 7th or early 8th century, within a lifetime of the events it describes.P. J. Fouracre, (2008), "Forgetting and Remembering Dagobert II: The English Connection", in ''Frankland: The Franks and the World of the Early Middle Ages'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press), p. 73. Jamie Kreiner places it around 680, a decade or so after Sadalberga's death. The author of the ''Vita'' had access to the writings of Jonas on Sadalberga. He embellished this material without falsifying the basic outline. His vivid narrative gives the impression of an eyewitness. Since there is no evidence of a cult of Sadalberga at Laon, it is not clear who would have sponsored or profited from the production of a literary forgery in the 9th century. The ''Vita'' is the only source for the civil war between

Dagobert II Dagobert II ( la, Dagober(c)tus; ang, Dægberht; died 679) was a Merovingian king of the Franks, ruling in Austrasia from 675 or 676 until his death. He is one of the more obscure Merovingians. He has been considered a martyr since at least the ni ...

(676–79) and

Theuderic III Theuderic III (or Theuderich, Theoderic, or Theodoric; french: Thierry) (c. 651–691) was the king of Neustria (including Burgundy) on two occasions (673 and 675–691) and king of Austrasia from 679 to his death in 691. Thus, he was the king of ...

(675–91). Since the family and its monastic foundations suffered during the war, the ''Vita Sadalbergae'' along with the ''

Vita Anstrudis Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vita ...

'' may have been composed in the immediate aftermath as part of an effort to restore the reputation of both.H. J. Hummer, ''Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm, 600–1000'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 41.

References

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Editions

*Bruno Krusch, ed
"Vita Sadalbergae abbatissae Laudunensis"
in ''Monumenta Germaniae Historicae, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum'', 5 (Hanover: Hahn, 1910), pp. 40–66. **Translated in Jo Ann McNamara, John E. Halborg, E. Gordon Whatley, eds. ''Sainted women of the Dark Ages'' (Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 176–194.

References

Editions

Further reading