Dympna (fl. 650)

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Dympna (fl. 650)

Martyr and saint. Name variations: Dimpna. Born the dau. of a pagan Irish, British or Armorican king and a Christian princess.

The dau. of a pagan king and a Christian princess, was baptized and instructed in the Christian faith before mother died when Dympna was still young; because she resembled her mother and the king had idolized his wife, is said to have invoked an incestuous lust in her father as she grew up; fled to Antwerp with St. Gerebernus, her confessor; built a site that is now the town of Gheel, and prepared to live as solitaries; discovered by the king, refused to return with him; was beheaded by father. Patron saint of mental illness, epilepsy, possession by the devil, and sleepwalkers.

See also Women in World History.