Hildegund (widow)

Saint Hildegund, O.Praem. (c. 1130–1183) was a Praemonstratensian abbess. Born to nobility, her father was Count Herman of Lidtberg and her mother Countess Hedwig.^[1] She was married to Count Lothair of Meer (now Meerbusch), in the modern region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Together they had three children, one of whom did not survive into adulthood. When her husband died, Hildegund took a pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by her daughter, Hedwig. Upon their return to Germany in 1178, despite the opposition of her family, she took vows as a nun of the Premonstratensian Order. She converted her castle into a monastery, serving as its first abbess.^[2]

Her daughter Hedwig also embraced the monastic life and was a part of the community founded by her mother. She came to be given the status of "Blessed".^[3] Her son, Hermann Joseph, declared a saint as well, had already entered that same Order (whose members also known as Norbertines) at the age of twelve, and had become a canon regular of the Abbey of Steinfeld, where he developed a great reputation as a mystic.

She should not be confused with another Hildegund of the same era, who lived her life disguised as a man, and was considered by some as a saint.

References