Iduberga, Bl.

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IDUBERGA, BL.

Widow; b. c. 592; d. Nivelles, May 8, 652. Iduberga (Ida or Itta) was the daughter of a count of Aquitaine, was married to Bl. Pepin of Landen, the mayor of the palace, and was the mother of SS. begga and gertrude of ni velles. As a widow, she was advised by St. amandus to found an abbey at Nivelles (Belgium). She dedicated herself and all her property to this monastery, whose first nuns came from Ireland. Five years before she died Iduberga arranged for her daughter Gertrude to succeed her as superior at Nivelles; she was buried in St. Peter's, Nivelles. Later her relics were placed in a reliquary that is carried in a procession each year with the relics of the other saints of Nivelles.

Feast: May 8.

Bibliography: Life. Acta Sanctorum March 2:594600. Monumenta Germaniae Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (Berlin 1825) 2:447474. Literature. b. delanne, Histoire Nivelles (Nivelles, Belgium 1944). É. de moreau, Histoire de l'église en Belgique (2d ed. Brussels 1945) v.1. j. j. hoebanx, L'Abbaye de Nivelles (Brussels 1952). g. marsot, Catholicisme 5:117273.

[É. brouette]