Ida of Boulogne, Bl.

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IDA OF BOULOGNE, BL.

Noblewoman; b. Bouillon, Belgium, c. 1040; d. April 13, 1113. Ida, daughter of Duke Godfrey II, of Lower Lorraine, and niece of Pope stephen ix, married Eustace II, count of Boulogne, c. 1057. She was the mother of godfrey of bouillon and King baldwin of jerusalem. A correspondent of anselm of canter bury, Ida practiced the highest Christian virtues. She built the church of Notre Dame of Boulogne, founded several monasteries, and was especially generous to saint-bertin and affligem. She ceded her domains in Brabant to the convent of Nivelles. She was buried at the Abbey of saint-vaast, where shortly after her death a monk of the abbey wrote her life. Her relics were brought to Paris in 1669 and transferred to Bayeux during the reign of Napoleon I, a small relic being given to Arras.

Feast: April 13 (Dioceses of Arras and Bayeux).

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum April 2:139150. La Vie de la bienheureuse Ide, tr. d. haignerÉ (Boulogne 1852). a. leroy, Biographie nationale de Belgique, 28 v. (Brussels 18661944) 10: 34. f. ducatel, Vie de sainte Ide (Brussels 1900). g. marsot, Catholicisme 5:117172. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 2:85.

[É. brouette]