Rictrude

Rictrude (also called Rictrudis, Rictrudes, Richtrudis, Richrudis) (b. ; d. ) was a saint and abbess of Marchiennes Abbey, in Flanders. The main source for her life is the , commissioned by the abbey, and written in 907 by Hucbald. She married Saint Adalbard, despite the opposition of her family. They had four children, all of whom were later named saints. Soon after the death of their youngest child, Adalbard was assassinated. Rictrude eventually entered the religious life, even though the king opposed her decision to not remarry. She is seen as an example of the practice of medieval women embracing the religious life to ensure the "royal centralization of land and power out of the reach of secular politics" and a representation of "a systematic family strategy of diverting wealth and women away from the predatory king and his ambitious courtiers".

Rictrude died at Marchiennes at the age of 74, between 676 and 691. Her feast day is May 12.

Life Rictrude was born around 612 in Gascony during a series of Basque raids in France and at the time of the reign of Clothar II, At a young age, Rictrude's spiritual advisor was St. Amandus, the bishop and missionary, who had been exiled to Gascony by Dagobert I. The calls Adalbard "a fully worthy man who would take the worthy Rictrude in marriage" despite the "violent opposition of her parents". The describes Rictrude, by contast, "as an exception who was predestined to sancity" because she was from a pagan region. Rictrude and Adalbard married during a military expedition in Gascony; he was a saint, a nobleman, and a "loved and honored" member of the court of Dagobert I and Clovis II. According to scholar Karine Uge, the children were "baptized by the most prestigious people of their time". Maurontius was baptized by the Frankish hermit and monk St. Richarius, and Clotsendus by Saint Amandus. Nanthild, wife of Dagobert, was Eusebia's godmother. Adalsinda died at a young age, before Rictrude's death. Rictrude's claims that Rictrude and Adalbard had a "devout and joyful life". Ritrude's claims that she mourned his death. She was advised by Amandus, who had become her spiritual advisor, to found an abbey and a monastery at Marchiennes. At one point, she "carefully staged a dramatic demonstration of her determination to resist the king's will and to follow her religious aspirations". She hosted a banquet with the king and his court in her villa in Boiry, and in the middle of the feast, she stood up, and instead of toasting her guests, she covered her head with the veil blessed by Amandus to "display her desire to enter the religious life". The king left the banquet in anger, but Amand eventually mediated a reconciliation between them, and Clovis II permitted her to move into Marchiennes Abbey, which was a double monastery.

Scholar Jo Ann McNamara states that Dagobert's demand that Rictrude remarry must be placed within the political context at the time. McNamara adds, "Noble women, sometimes in family teams, embraced the religious life and endowed lasting establishments in the north and east of the kingdom". The practice, supported by artistocrat appointments as bishops, encouraged the "royal centralizaton of land and power out of the reach of secular politics". McNamara says, in a footnote in her discussion about Rictrude, that it also represented "a systematic family strategy of diverting wealth and women away from the predatory king and his ambitious courtiers" and reflected "a practice of deploying women in religious service involving both administrative and, above all, charitable activities". She was also an important figure in the movement to the "ultimate replacement of the Merovingian dynasty in the mid-eighth century".

Rictrude died at Marchiennes at the age of 74, between 676 and 691. Her daughter, Clotsendus, succeeded her as abbess in 635. Rictrude performed miracles after her death described in her , including healing blindness, muteness, paralysis, high fevers, and various illnesses. Her body is emtombed at Marchiennes, and several churches in Flanders have been dedicated to her. According to McNamara, Rictrude is still venerated in modern Belgium. Her feast day is May 12.