The Latin Life of *Sadalberga (abbess of Laon, ob. 671/8, S02434) records the saint's life, miracles, and death. Written perhaps at Laon (north-east Gaul), c. 680.
E06493
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
The Life of the Holy Abbess Sadalberga (Vita sanctae Sadalbergae abbatissae, BHL 7463)
Summary
(Prologue) The author dedicates the work to Omotarius, 'both pope and priest' (papae necnon et sacerdoti) and Abbess Anstrude.
(1-3) On the mission of *Eustasius (second abbot of Luxeuil, ob. 629, S02255), 'man of God' (uir Dei) and disciple of the 'man... flourishing with sanctity' (uir... sanctitate pollens) *Columbanus (monk and missionary in Ireland, Gaul and Italy, ob. 615, S01983), to the Bavarians, as related by Jonas (Life of Columbanus, 2.8: E07615).
(4) How he met the nobleman Gundoin at Meaux, and healed his daughter Sadalberga of blindness, (5) and from a 'flow of blood' (fluxum sanguinis).
(6) How Sadalberga was later betrothed against her will to Richramn, who died after only two months of marriage.
(7-8) On Eustasius' later work at Luxeuil, and his succession by Waldebert, in whose time many monasteries began to appear across Gaul, following the rules of the 'blessed fathers' (beati patri) *Benedict (of Nursia, monastic founder, ob. 547, S01727) and Columbanus.
(9-10) How after two years as a widow, Sadalberga's plans to enter the monastic life were thwarted by her parents and King Dagobert, who joined her in marriage to the famous Blandinus/Baso, a royal courtier.
(11) How she prayed at the basilica of *Remigius (bishop of Reims, ob. c. 533, S00456), 'who has lit up the city of Reims and the Champagne with sacred miracles and wonders' (qui urbem Remorum Campaniaeque tellurem uirtutibus sacris et mirabilibus illustrabat) that she might have offspring, whom she vowed to consecrate to God. How she later had five children: Saretrude, Ebana, Ansetrude, Eustasius and Baldwin.
(12) How Sadalberga took the religious habit, and with the counsel (consilium) of Waldebert and consent (conniuentia) of her husband, founded a monastery for women in the suburb of Langres, 'close to the borders of Austrasia but nevertheless in Burgundy, a little less than forty miles from Luxeuil' (licet Austrasiorum finibus immineret uicinus, tamen Burgunsiae erat, distans Luxovio monasterio paulo minus milibus quadraginta): there she installed over one hundred women, both free nobles and those in her own service (tam ex nobilibus liberis quam ex proprio officio puellis).
(13-14) How, concerned for their safety, she transferred with Waldebert's counsel her nuns to the city of Laon, where she was welcomed by Bishop Attila.
(15) On the beasts which miraculously fled the city upon her arrival.
(16) How pagan rites had still been celebrated there within living memory.
(17) On the foundation of the new monastery at Laon, and the three hundred women who lived there under the model of the monks of (Saint-Maurice d')Agaune and Habendum (Remiremont), with the psalms sung ceaselessly day and night.
(18) How the noblewoman Odila and her husband Bodo/Leuduinus converted to the Lord and came to Laon, and how the latter, once tonsured, took up the monastic office, before soon becoming bishop of Toul, and then dying not long after.
'Here ends the Life' (explicit uita).
'Here begins the death of the same Abbess Sadalberga' (incipit obitus eiusdem Sadlabergae abbatissae)
(19) Miracle stories. How: an epileptic nun was healed by the abbess' prayers; (20) a cask of beer became fully filled; (21) the ceiling of the nuns' workshop (officina) caved inwards so that a laundry vessel could reach the low fire, as observed by the priest Italus, the prior (praepositus) of the monastery; (22) the gardener Landefrid heard the abbess whispering from a distance, telling him to bring some lettuce; (23) the archdeacon Basinus heard a voice telling him the abbess was cooking, and brought an enormous fish as a gift; (24) the abbess perceived two circling wings growing from her back (duae alae a dorso meo uenientes girabant), protecting her from evil spirits (teterrimi spiritus), when she fell ill.
(25) How Sadalberga imitated *Melania (the Elder, aristocrat of Rome, monastic founder in Jerusalem, ob. 410, S01185), *Paula (the Elder, follower of Jerome, ob. 404, S01510), and *Helena (empress and mother of Constantine, ob. 328, S00185).
(26) On Sadalberga's vision of a descending tabernacle; and how Bishop Anseric of Soissons showed her the gates of Paradise and the City of God (ualuas paradisi... ostendit ciuitatem Dei), telling her that "a place has been prepared for you, but because the eyes of the blessed *Mary (mother of Christ, S00033) are so full of tears, and she cannot bear the prayers of the sisters who still need you, she has pleaded with her Son that you might quickly go back there from the heavens, and later possess the rewards conferred upon you by God" (tibi locus praeparatus est. Sed quia beatae Mariae ingemmati sunt oculi et preces sororum ferre non potest, quia adhuc eis ncessaria es, deprecata est filium suum, ut a superis celerius illuc reuertaris, praemia possessura tibi a Domino collata).
(27) On her vision of an angel in the form of Waldebert, who commanded her to sing the psalter for the hundred days remaining to her.
(28) How Sadalberga became bedridden twenty days before her death.
(29) How her brother Bodo, who had hitherto 'retained by illicit usurpation' the charters for certain villas he had donated to the monastery (aliquas uillas, quas per cartarum seriem ad ipsum condonauerat coenobium, illicita usurpatione retinebat), hurried to her bedside, where they confirmed each others' deeds, which are 'still' valid (cartarum sanctio inuicem roborata, hactenus rata perdurat). How the priest Italus came to her side and performed the funerary rites, whereupon she died, joining the company of the saints (sanctorum aggregata coetibus), (30) on the 10th of the kalends of October (22 September), 'the day on which the holy passion is celebrated for *Maurice of Agaune, Duke of the Thebans' (S00339) (qua die sancta Thebaeorum Mauricio duce Acauno celebratur passio). How her relics were buried in that same place (reliquiae quque eius in eodem conduntur loco), where miracles have flourished after her death (ad cuius poliandrum clarae post obitum patuerunt uirtutes).
Text: Krusch 1910.
Summary: B. Savill.
Saint’s feast
Dating by saint’s festival
Cult PlacesCult building - monastic
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityVow
Explicit naming of a child, or oneself, after a saint
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Prayer/supplication/invocation
MiraclesMiracle during lifetime
Miracle after death
Miracles experienced by the saint
Miracle with animals and plants
Healing diseases and disabilities
Fertility- and family-related miracles (infertility, marriages)
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Assumption/otherworldly journey
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Children
Family
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Relatives of the saint
Monarchs and their family
Aristocrats
Slaves/ servants
Angels
Source
The Life of Sadalberga survives in five manuscripts of the 12th to 14th centuries. Its text is generally thought to be an authentic Merovingian composition, probably dating to only shortly after the abbess' death (Berschin 1988, 24-5), during what may have been a phase of political turmoil for her wider family (Fox 2014, 83-7). The Life's dedicatee Abbess Anstrude (ob. 710?) – Sadalberga's daughter and successor – would go on to become a cult figure in her own right: although her 9th-century Life (BHL 556) may in fact be a rewritten Merovingian text (Heinzelmann 2010), it nevertheless still post-dates 700, and so remains too late for inclusion in our database.Discussion
The Life is notable for its absence of specific posthumous miracles, but this may be explained in part by its early composition. Later evidence indicates that the monastery of Laon was originally dedicated to Mary, but the Life gives no concrete indication of this, notwithstanding a vision of her interceding with Christ in Heaven on the sisters' behalf (chapter 26).Bibliography
EditionKrusch, B., MGH, scr. mer. V (1910), 49-66.
Further reading
Berschin, W., Biographie und Epochenstil im lateinischen Mittelalter, vol. 2 (Stuttgart, 1988).
Fox, Y., Power and Religion in Merovingian Gaul: Columbanian Monasticism and the Frankish Elites (Cambridge, 2014).
Heinzelmann, M., "L'hagiographie mérovingienne: panorama des documents potentiels," in: M. Goullet, M. Heinzelmann, and C. Veyrard-Cosme (eds.), L'hagiographie mérovingienne à travers ses réécritures (Ostfildern, 2010), 27-82.
Benjamin Savill
19/10/2021
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S00185 | Helena, empress and mother of Constantine, ob. 328 | Helena augusta | Certain | S00339 | Theban Legion, commanded by Maurice, martyrs of Agaune, Gaul | Thebaeorum Mauricius | Certain | S00456 | Remigius, bishop of Reims, ob. c. 533 | Remigius | Certain | S01185 | Melania the Elder, aristocrat of Rome, monastic founder in Jerusalem, ob. 410 | Melania... Marcellini quondam consulis filia | Certain | S01510 | Paula, the elder, follower of Jerome, ob. 404 | Paula | Certain | S01727 | Benedict of Nursia, monastic founder, ob. 547 | Benedictus | Certain | S01983 | Columbanus, monk and missionary in Ireland, Gaul and Italy, ob. 615 | Columbanus | Certain | S02255 | Eustasius, second abbot of Luxeuil (eastern Gaul), ob. 629 | Eustasius | Certain | S02434 | Sadalberga, abbess of Laon, ob. 671/8 | Sadlaberga | Certain |
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