Gudula
Encyclopedia
Saint Gudula was born in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium
). According to her 11th-century biography (Vita Gudilae), written in Lobbes Abbey
between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia called Witger and Amalberga of Maubeuge
. She died between 680 and 714.
Her name is connected to several places:
In Brabant she is usually called Goedele or Goule; .
, embraced the religious life in the abbey of Maubeuge. She received the veil from the hands of St. Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai (d. about 668). Gudula had two sisters, St. Pharaildis
and St. Reineldis
, and one brother, Saint Emebertus
(often confused with the bishop Ablebertus and Englebertus of Cambrai).
Gudula was educated in the abbey of Nivelles by her cousin, Gertrude of Nivelles
. When Gertrude died, she moved back to her home at Moorsel
, 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
s were removed to the church of Sint-Salvator in Moorsel, where the body was interred behind the altar. Under Duke Charles of Lotharingia
(977-992), the body of the saint was transferred to the chapel of Saint Gaugericus
at Brussels
. Lambert II, Count of Leuven
, (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 St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral.
In 1330, indulgence
s were granted to all who assisted in the decoration and completion of the church of St. Gudula at Brussels.
On 6 June 1579 the collegiate church was pillaged and wrecked by the Protestant Geuzen
(Beggars), and the relics of the saint disinterred and scattered.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
). According to her 11th-century biography (Vita Gudilae), written in Lobbes Abbey
Lobbes Abbey
Lobbes Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Lobbes in Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey played an important role in the religious, political and religious life of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, especially around the year 1000.-Foundation:...
between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia called Witger and Amalberga of Maubeuge
Amalberga of Maubeuge
Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge was a Lotharingian saint who lived in the 7th century. She is said to have been the sister or niece of Pippin of Landen. She married Count Witger, Duke of Lotharingia and Count of Brabant. She was the mother of Saint Emebert, Saint Reineldis, Saint Pharaildis and Saint...
. She died between 680 and 714.
Her name is connected to several places:
- MoorselMoorselMoorsel 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 neighboring villages, which call themselves the Faluintjesgemeenten...
(where she lived) - BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(where a chapter in her honour was founded in 1047) - EibingenEibingenEibingen, now a part of Rüdesheim am Rhein, Hessen, Germany is the location of Eibingen Abbey, the Benedictine monastery founded by Hildegard of Bingen in 1165 ....
(where the relic of her skull is conserved).
In Brabant she is usually called Goedele or Goule; .
Life
The mother of Gudula, Saint AmalbergaAmalberga of Maubeuge
Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge was a Lotharingian saint who lived in the 7th century. She is said to have been the sister or niece of Pippin of Landen. She married Count Witger, Duke of Lotharingia and Count of Brabant. She was the mother of Saint Emebert, Saint Reineldis, Saint Pharaildis and Saint...
, embraced the religious life in the abbey of Maubeuge. She received the veil from the hands of St. Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai (d. about 668). Gudula had two sisters, St. Pharaildis
Pharaildis
Saint Pharaildis , patron saint of Ghent, was married against her will at a young age with a nobleman, even after having made a private vow of virginity. Her husband insisted that she was married to him, and her sexual fidelity was owed to him, not God. She was therefore physically abused for her...
and St. Reineldis
Reineldis
Reineldis was a saint of the 7th century, martyred by the Huns.-Life:...
, and one brother, Saint Emebertus
Emebert
Saint Emebert, often identified with bishop Ablebert of Cambrai . He would have been the son of Duke Witger of Lotharingia and Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge. His siblings include four other saints, Ermelinde, Gudula, Pharaildis and Reineldis. According the Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensis he was buried...
(often confused with the bishop Ablebertus and Englebertus of Cambrai).
Gudula was educated in the abbey of Nivelles by her cousin, Gertrude of Nivelles
Gertrude of Nivelles
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Nivelles, in present-day Belgium.She was a daughter of Pepin I of Landen and Saint Itta, and a younger sister of Saint Begga, Abbess of Andenne, Saint Bavo and Grimoald I.One day, when she was about ten years of age, her father...
. When Gertrude died, she moved back to her home at Moorsel
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 neighboring villages, which call themselves the Faluintjesgemeenten...
, 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
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s were removed to the church of Sint-Salvator in Moorsel, where the body was interred behind the altar. Under Duke Charles of Lotharingia
Lotharingia
Lotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855, of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...
(977-992), the body of the saint was transferred to the chapel of Saint Gaugericus
Gaugericus
Saint Gaugericus, in French Saint Géry was a bishop of Cambrai. He was born to Roman parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola, at Eposium...
at Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Lambert II, Count of Leuven
Lambert II, Count of Leuven
Lambert II was count of Leuven between 1033 and 1054. Lambert was the son of Lambert I of Leuven .According the he followed his brother Henry I of Leuven....
, (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 St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral.
In 1330, indulgence
Indulgence
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...
s were granted to all who assisted in the decoration and completion of the church of St. Gudula at Brussels.
On 6 June 1579 the collegiate church was pillaged and wrecked by the Protestant Geuzen
Geuzen
Geuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
(Beggars), and the relics of the saint disinterred and scattered.
Veneration
- The feast of Saint Gudula is generally celebrated on 8 January (the day she died according her hagiography). However in the bishopry of GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
(where Moorsel is situated) her feast is held on 19 January. - CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
made donations to the conventConventA convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of Moorsel in her honour. - Although St. Michael is the patron of Brussels, St. Gudula is certainly the most venerated patronessPatron saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
. She is already depicted on a seal of the Church of St. Gudula of 1446 holding in her right hand a candleCandleA candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
, and in her left a lamp, which a demonDemoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
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. - 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 EmpireHoly Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, 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 EibingenEibingenEibingen, now a part of Rüdesheim am Rhein, Hessen, Germany is the location of Eibingen Abbey, the Benedictine monastery founded by Hildegard of Bingen in 1165 ....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Primary sources
- Vita Gudilae on the LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
WikisourceWikisourceWikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has... - Bollandus J., Henschenius G., De S. Gudila Virgine Bruxellis in Belgio, Acta Sanctorum Januarii I (1643) 524-530.
Literature
- Bonenfant, P., 'La charte de fondation 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.