Saints celebrated on the 1st of June
ERMENGARDA, DUCHESS AND WIDOW
Ermengarda, Duchess of Brittany, born in Angers in A.D. 1057, was a daughter of Count Fulk of Anjou. She married Duke Alan (Alanus) of Brittany, by whom she had a son, Prince Conon.
Her husband, in 1095, went on a crusade to Palestine, where he stayed for six years. Widowed about the year 1118, she built a convent near Redon, where her husband's grave was. Ermengarda retired thither with some pious women. Together they devoted themselves to the practice of Christian virtues.
In 1125 she accompanied her brother to Palestine, as he was about to marry the daughter of King Baldwin of Jerusalem, named Melisinde. During the nine years of her stay there she built the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on the spot where Christ converted the Samaritan woman.
She then returned to Brittany at the request of her son Conon and subsequently placed herself under the guidance of Saint Bernard. On his advice she founded the Cistercian monastery of Buzay. Ermengarda died saintly at an advanced age and was buried at Saint Salvator in Nedon. Of the existing letters of Saint Bernhard two are addressed to Ermengarda. (Mg.)
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 84-85)
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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