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PLECTRUDIS, WIDOW - 11 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 11th August

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PLECTRUDIS, WIDOW


Plectrudis (Plicthrudis, Pleihtrut), daughter of Duke Grimoald of Bavaria, was the first and lawful wife of the Frankish majordomo [Mayor of the Palace] Pepin of Heristal. When he divorced her to marry his concubine Albiz (Algais), Saint Lambert of Liège became a martyr for the sanctity and unity of marriage. After her husband's death in 714, she briefly continued his office and held her stepson Charles Martel prisoner. However, he managed to escape from imprisonment and assume his father's dignity, whereupon Plectrudis settled permanently at Saint Mary's of the Capitol (St. Maria vom Capitol) in Cologne, which church she built and endowed. She is also (Rettb. I. 306) the founder of the Süsteren monastery in the Meusegau (anno 711) and probably also of Andoin in the Ardennes.

Her son Grimoald, until then majordomo in Burgundy, was murdered in April of 714 while praying at the tomb of Saint Lambert in Liège. Besides him, she bore two sons to Pepin of Heristal, Drogo, who died in 708, and Silvinus, the latter of whom many believe to be the holy Bishop of Toulouse of the same name. Saint Noitburgis is said to have been her daughter. A Pilitrudis is occasionally mentioned as her second daughter, with whom she is said to have lived for some time in Bavaria after Charles's elevation. She spent her last years in quiet prayer, which is why some call her "Saint Plectrudis" and others "blessed." However, since she never received ecclesiastical veneration anywhere, not even in Cologne, where her tomb and image are located near Saint Mary's on the Capitol. The Bollandists* list Plectrudis among the praetermissi. The year of her death is unknown, but she is certain to have passed away after 717. In portraits, she carries a rosary or a small church (model), sometimes also a memorial with an inscription.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, p. 947)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

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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