Saint Begga OF LANDEN (615-693)

	Saint Begga of Landen

Individual Events and Attributes

Marriage

	A scupulture of Saint Clotilde, Notre-Dame de Corbeil, 12th century

Individual Note 1

Saint Begga (also Begue, Begge) (615–December 17, 693) was the daughter of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and his wife Itta. On the death of her husband, she took the veil, founded several churches, and built a convent at Andenne on the Meuse River (Andenne sur Meuse) where she spent the rest of her days as abbess. She was buried in Saint Begga's Collegiate Church in Andenne.

Some hold that the Beguine movement which came to light in the 12th century was actually founded by St. Begga; and the church in the beguinage of Lier, Belgium, has a statue of St. Begga standing above the inscription: St. Begga, our foundress. The Lier beguinage dates from the 13th century. More than likely, however, the Beguines derived their name from that of the priest Lambert le Begue, under whose protection the witness and ministry of the Beguines flourished.[1][2]

She is commemorated as a saint on her feast days, September 6 and December 17.

She married Ansegisel, son of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, and had three children:

Pepin of Heristal

Martin of Laon

Clotilda of Heristal, who was married to Theuderic III of the Franks

NOTES:

1 J. A. Ryckel ab Oorbeeck, Vita S. Beggae Ducissae Brabantiae Andetennensium, Begginarum et Beggardorum fundatricis vetus (Louvain, 1631)

2 McDonnell, Beguines and Beghards, pp. 179, n. 51 and 430-31

SOURCES:

Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993; ISBN 0140513124

Les ancętres de Charlemagne, 1989, Christian Settipani

Excerpt from Butler's lives of the saints

Saint Begga profile

History of Andenne, Belgium

A. Dunbar, A Dictionary of Saintly Women (London, 1904), I, pp. 111–12

F. Baix, "Begge," in Dictionnaire d'histoire et de gdographie ecclesiastiques, VII, ed. A. Baudrillart (Paris, 1934), cols. 441-48

F. Rousseau, "Le monastere merovingien d'Andenne", A travers I'histoire de Namur, du Namurois et de la Wallonie. Recueil d'articles de Felix Rousseau (n.p., 1977), pp. 279–313

Genealogiae ducum Brabantiae, Ed. J. Heller, MGH SS, XXV, pp. 385–413, ref Genealogia ampliata, 1270

A dictionary of saintly women, vol. 1, by Agnes Baillie Cunninghame Dunbar²

Individual Note 2

Begga was the daughter of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace, and St. Itta. She married Ansegilius, son of St. Arnulf of Metz, and their son was Pepin of Herstal, founder of the Carolingian dynasty of rulers in France. On the death of her husband in the year 691, she built a church and convent at Andenne on the Meuse River and died there. Her feast day is December 17th.³

Sources