Margaret of Roskilde, St.

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MARGARET OF ROSKILDE, ST.

Local Danish saint; d. Ølse, near Køge, Denmark, Oct. 25, 1176. She was of the great Sjaelland noble family of Skjalm the White and thus a relative of Abp. abs alon of lund. Her husband Herlog strangled her and so hung her body as to simulate suicide. But when she was buried on the beach of Køge in unconsecrated ground, a miraculous light shone on her tomb and caused people to believe in her sanctity. After an investigation ordered by Absalon, Herlog confessed his crime. The archbishop had Margaret's body transferred to the Cistercian Abbey for nuns of Our Lady of Roskilde on July 19, 1177. Her cult remained purely local, limited to the Island of Sjaelland (Zealand), being especially popular at Køge, where a chapel was built in her honor. She was never officially canonized.

Feast: Oct. 25.

Bibliography: Vitae sanctorum Danorum, ed. m. c. gertz (new ed. Copenhagen 190812) 387390. e. jo/rgensen, Helgendyrkelse i Danmark (Copenhagen 1909).

[l. musset]

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Margaret of Roskilde, St.

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Margaret of Roskilde, St.