Françoise Bette (1593–1666) was, from 1637 to 1666, the 26th abbess of Forest Abbey. She was born in Lede, in the

county of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

, the daughter of Adrian Bette, knight, and Agnes de Merode de Rummen. Her cousin,

Guillaume de Bette Guillaume de Bette, 1st Marquess of Lede ( 1600– 23 June 1658), Baron of Péronne, Lord of Impe, Knight of Santiago, was a military commander and diplomat from the Spanish Netherlands. Life Bette was born at Lede around the beginning of the 17 ...

, 1st

Marquess of Lede The Marquess of Lede () was a Flemish title in use during the Ancien Régime. Lede, Belgium, Lede is a city in Flanders, Belgium. History Jacques, son of Adrian Bette, Lord of Angrelles inherited the Heerlijkheid of Lede, of his father in law ...

, was a knight of the Order of Santiago with links to the Habsburg court. As abbess she faced financial strains, which she attempted to meet by selling off part of the abbey's land. She also attempted to reform the monastery, which had acquired a reputation for loose discipline. She was not notably successful in either effort. In 1644 she commissioned a precious

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style to house the relics of

Saint Alena Alena, also known as Alène
Accessed 2012-05-10. or Alina,

. This was probably paid for by her family. It is now in the parish church of Forest, Belgium.Bart Fransen, "Recherches historiques / Historisch onderzoek", ''Bulletin'' of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, 32 (2006-2008), pp. 95-101.

References

1593 births 1666 deaths Benedictine abbesses Nuns from the Spanish Netherlands Belgian Benedictines Belgian nobility {{Europe-noble-stub