Saint Anstrudis (Anstrude, Austru, or Austrude) (b. unknown - 688) was the daughter of Saint Blandinus and 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 ...

, the founder of the Abbey of St. John at Laon. She was also the sister of Saint .

Background

In Merovingian Gaul, founding a monastery was a noble family's way of expressing and reinforcing its power. The founder gave the land, and retained the right to appoint the abbot or abbess, but also guaranteed its protection. Regine Le Jan describes it as part of the family's ''honor''. The ruling abbot/abbess was frequently a family member and controlled access to the premises, a matter of some importance during a time of recurrent feuds and power struggles between neighboring families. They served as a power base for families, and as such were not exempt from the political disturbances of the time.

Life

When St. Sadalberga withdrew from the world to become abbess at the convent, Anstrudis went with her. Sadalberga died in 655. Before her death, in order to ensure the stability of the abbey, Sadalberga determined to turn over its direction to her daughter as soon as Anstrudis reached the age of twenty. Anstrudis was then consecrated abbess. She was noted for the care for her sisters, her all-night vigils, and her self-imposed austerities. Except on Sundays and on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

she never took any nourishment but one moderate refection at three o’clock in the afternoon, and on fast-days after sunset.Butler, Alban. ''Lives of the Saints'', Vol.X (1866)
/ref> Her tenure as abbess was marked by the unsettled political conditions of the period. Anstrudis was caught up in the dynastic struggle 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 ...

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...

and

Ebroin Ebroin (died 680 or 681) was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the aut ...

, mayor of the place of

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It later ...

, who supported

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 ...

.Fox, Yaniv. ''Power and Religion in Merovingian Gaul'', Cambridge University Press, 2014
Her brother Baldwin was treacherously assassinated while attempting to negotiate a settlement of some dispute regarding the convent. She herself was accused of wrongdoing by Ebroin. However, he was at length softened by her intrepid constancy and virtue and innocence, and from a persecutor became her patron and friend. Pepin, when Mayor of the palace, declared himself her strenuous protector. Anstrudis died in 688 of natural causes. Her feast day is celebrated on 17 October. Anstrudis is remembered in the Gallican and Benedictines calendars. The ten-petaled sunflower, which blooms in late summer or early fall is identified with Anstrudis.Whitaker, Joseph. ''An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord'', 1886, p. 436
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anstrudis 688 deaths 7th-century Frankish saints Year of birth unknown Christian female saints of the Middle Ages Colombanian saints