Saint Erentrude

Erentrude (also known as Ehrentraud, Erendrudis, Erentruy, Erndrude, Arentruda, Ariotruda and Arndruda) was a saint and abbess, born during the end of the 7th century, probably in present-day Germany or Austria. She was born into a Franconian-Merovingian royal house, and was the niece of Rupert of Salzburg. She left her home country to assist Rupert in establishing religious communities in Salzburg; in about 700, he built a convent, Nonnberg Abbey, and installed her as its first abbess. She and the nuns at Nonnberg served the poor, needy, and ill, striking a balance between living as cloistered nuns and engaging in charitable works. Erentrude died on 30 June 718. Her fame for healing miracles and intercession grew after her death, and many legends have arisen throughout the centuries since her death. In 2006, Erentrude's image appeared on the Austrian Nonnberg Abbey commemorative coin. Her feast day is celebrated on 30 June.

Life and ministry Erentrude was born at the end of the 7th century, probably in present-day Germany or Austria. The exact date and place of her birth are unknown, and little evidence about her life exists. She was from a Franconian-Merovingian royal house; one early legend states that she was born and raised in Franconia. Hagiographer Agnes Dunbar states that Erentrude lived in Worms and "was consecrated to God from her childhood". The duchess Regintrudis, wife of Thedo and a Franconian princess, was a nun at Nonnberg Abbey, the convent where Erentrude was abbess, and might have been related to her. Erentrude was the fraternal niece of Rupert of Salzburg, although hagiographer Alban Butler reports that she might have been his sister. Much of what is known about Erentrude comes from Rupert. The first biographical sketch about her was written by Caesarius, a chaplain at Nonnberg Abbey at the beginning of the 14th century, at the direction of the bishop at the time; his sources were the oldest nuns at the convent and the people in the area. According to writer Linda Kulzer, Caesarius "sketches a thoroughly loving and attractive image of Erentrude... which is the foundation of what is now the common office of the saint".

Erentrude received her education at the convent of St. Radegund in Poitiers, where she had entered to become a nun. Rupert, after preaching and founding churches for several years in Bavaria, returned to his home town of Worms, where Erentrude was serving as an abbess, to elicit assistance in his work from "devoted men and women". She left her home country to help Rupert start religious communities in Salzburg; he built a convent, Nonnberg Abbey, near Salzburg in about 700, and installed her as its first abbess. Several nuns from Worms might have come with her to Nonnberg. Kulzer reported that the wealth of convents during this era was distributed to the poor people who came to their doors daily, so the rules of claustration never prevented the nuns who lived there to minister to the poor and needy. She was buried in a grave among the rocks at Nonnberg. Kulzer reported that Erentrude's fame for healing miracles and intercession grew after she died.

In the 11th century, Emperor Henry II rebuilt the church and convent at Nonnberg, which had been burned down and plundered, as a "thank offering" for a cure from leprosy, which he attributed to Erentrude's intercession. The emperor wore a gold ring with a relic of her in it; when he lost it, the leprosy returned, but when he rebuilt her monastery, he was cured "at once and for life". According to Caesarius, when Erentrude's remains were transferred, Abbot Mazzelin of St. Peter's Abbey in Salzburg attended the ceremonies. He admired her and wanted a relic of her, so he secretly took "a particle of her body", In 1924, Erentrude's relics were examined; the examination reveled that she was short and slight in appearance. A lock of blonde hair was found, which, according to an expert, Dr. Hella Pock of Vienna, could not belong to a person of southern or central Germany. The examination also showed that Erentrude was at the most 55 years old at the time of her death.

In 2006, Erentrude's image appeared on the Austrian Nonnberg Abbey commemorative coin. The reverse side shows the crypt dedicated to Erentrude in Nonnberg Abbey, with her statue.

Saint Erentrude appears on a 2018 Austrian postage stamp.