A Dictionary of Saintly Women

Aagot

St. Aagot, .

Ab

St. Ab, .

Abba

St. Abba or , May 7, M. in Africa, with an immense number of others, of whom about 90 are named. AA.SS. Boll, from the Mart. of St. Jerome.

Abbatissa

B. Abbatissa, first abbess of the Order of the Holy Ghost at Salamanca, about 11th century. Guénebault, Dic. Iconographique.

Abbreviations

ABBREVIATIONS

AA.SS. | Acta Sanctorum.

A.R.M. | Appendix to Roman Martyrology.

B. | Blessed.

c. | circa.

M. | Martyr, martyred.

Mart. | Martyrology.

O.S.A. | Order of St. Augustine.

O.S.B. | Order of St. Benedict.

O.S.D. | Order of St. Dominic.

O.S.F. | Order of St. Francis.

Præter. | Prætermissi.

RM. | Roman Martyrology.

Ven. | Venerable.

V. | Virgin.

||Died.

Abda

St. Abda, March 31, M. in Africa. Mart. Rhinoviense. AA.SS.

Abdela

St. Abdela (, ), 13th century. Princess of Bohemia. Abbess of Gerenrhoda. Half-sister of St. of Bohemia. Daughter of Premislaus Ottocar I., king of Bohemia (1198-1230), by his wife Abdela or Adela, daughter of Otto, margrave of Meissen. The queen was divorced, either on the ground of consanguinity or on account of her siding with her brother in a quarrel with the king. She then became a Cistercian nun at Wassenburg, in Meissen, leaving besides Abdela, two daughters and a son. Fabricius, Origines Saxonum, numbers St. Abdela among the saints of Saxony. Chanowski, Bohemia Pia. Dlugosch, Hist. Polonica, ii. 640. Palacky, Geschichte von Böhmen, ii., Genealogical Table.

Abia

St. Abia, otherwise . See .

Abiata

St. Abiata, V. M. See .

Abundantia1

St. Abundantia (1), Jan. 29, called in French or . A widow who lived at Spoleto, and buried St. Gregory and other martyrs there, during tho persecution by Diocletian, c. 300. Jacobilli, Santi Dell' Umbria.

Abundantia2

St. Abundantia (2), V. Jan. 19 and July 15. † 804. Represented as a child, before the image of the Virgin Mary, receiving a golden apple from the Infant Jesus. Born at Spoleto, of parents who had long been childless. Her birth was announced by the spontaneous ringing of tho bells of the town. At her baptism lamps were lighted without human hands. One day, when about eight years of age, she was seized with a longing for a golden apple she saw in the hand of an image of the Infant Christ in His mother's arms. He gave it to her. She ran to fetch Him a bouquet in return, and although it was mid-winter, she found plenty of beautiful flowers, which she gathered and presented to the Holy Child. Majolo, or Nicholas, abbot of St. Mark's, at Spoleto, undertook her education. He took her to Palestine, where she remained some years. She spent five years as a recluse in the cave of St. Onuphrius, and then, as her father kept constantly asking to have her home again, she returned to Spoleto. At her father's death she gave all her inheritance to the poor. The same mysterious ringing of bells which hailed her birth was also heard at her death, in 804; and where her funeral passed, leaves and flowers burst forth in January, and angels wore heard to sing Veni sponsa Christi. She performed miracles of healing in life and after her death. Ferrarius, Catalogus, Jan. 19. Bucelinus, Men, Ben., July 15. Guérin, Dec. 25. Cahier, Caractéristiques, "Images." Pétin, Dic. Hag.

Abyce

St. Abyce or , Aug. 24, prioress in England, according to Guérin and Pétin. Perhaps a mistake for St. , who is honoured on this day.

Acacia

St. Acacia, March 29 (, , , ), M. at Antioch, with about 250 others. Boll. AA.SS. from old MS. Martyrologies.

Acapis, Cionia, and Herene

SS. Acapis, Cionia, and Herene, with , Saturninus, and Secundus, April 1. Mentioned in Mart. of Reichenau. The first three appear to be , , and .

Achachildis

St. Achachildis or . 11th century. Supposed to be a sister of St. , the empress. Achachildis is represented: (1) presenting five infants to her husband; (2) performing various charitable miracles. She had five children at a birth, after which she and her husband took a vow of celibacy. She passed her life as a benefactor of the poor. Her tomb was found, in 1447, at Wendelstein, near Schwabach. On the stone was an inscription, calling her a holy woman and founder of the parish church of the place. After the discovery of the grave, many miracles of healing occurred, especially on behalf of children, and gifts of wax and many other offerings were made in consequence. The place afterwards became protestant, and the worship ceased. Stadler und Heim, Heiligen Lexikon.

Achartio

St. Achartio, .

Achatia

St. Achatia, .

Achatio

St. Achatio, .

Achia

St. Achia, .

Acrabonia and Askama

St. Acrabonia and Askama, June 29, otherwise and , wives of Agrippa, who were converted by St. Peter from a sinful life to virtue and Christianity. Honoured in the Abyssinian Church. Papebroch, in AA.SS.

Acrosia

St. Acrosia, June 29, a disciple of St. Peter the apostle. Honoured in the Abyssinian Church. Boll. AA.SS. Pétin, Dic. Hag.

Acteie

St. Acteie, June 26, at Rome. Mart. of Reichenau.

Actinea and Græciniana

St. Actinea and Græciniana, VV. MM., June 16. Time of Diocletian and Maximian. Their bodies were discovered in the monastery of SS. Justus and Clement at Volterra in 1140, by persons who were excavating in search of the body of St. Clement, a Camaldolese monk. Boll. AA.SS.

Acuta1

St. Acuta (1), Jan. 3, M. in Africa. AA.SS.

Acuta2

St. Acuta (2), April 15, M. in Mesopotamia. AA.SS.

Acuta3

St. Acuta (3), May 6, M. at Milan, supposed in the time of Maximian. Mentioned this day, among many others, in the MS. Martyrology of Epternac and others. St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan (4th century), in a sermon on the festival of SS. Nazarius and Celsus, says, "Other cities boast if they have the relics of one Martyr, but Milan possesses a population of Martyrs." Boll. AA.SS.

Acutina

St. Acutina or , April 12, one of 79 martyrs, commemorated together in the Martyrology of St. Jerome. Henschenius, Boll. AA.SS.

Ada

St. Ada, Dec. 4 (, , , , , ), 6th or 7th century. Abbess. Niece or granddaughter of St. Engelbert, bishop of Le Mans (Nov. 7). She was a nun at Soissons, and Engelbert promoted her to be abbess there, and afterwards transferred her as abbess to the monastery of Pré (St. Julian de Prato) at Le Mans. Bucelinus, Men. Ben. Pétin, Dic. Hag. Dic. des Abbayes. Gynecæum.

Ada (name)

Ada. The following are among the variants of the names commonly written Ada, Alice, Adelaide:—, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , etc.

Adalasenda

St. Adalasenda, Dec. 25, June 30 (, ), V. Daughter of St. , and nun under her at Marchiennes. Died very young, but had already attained to great perfection in holiness. One of a family of saints. Butler, Lives. Pétin, Dic. Hag., says, Nun, under her sister, St. , at Hamay.

Adalinda

St. Adalinda, the Empress .

Adaloja

St. Adaloja, , abbess of Kitzingen.

Adalsendis

St. Adalsendis or , .

Adausia

St. Adausia or , Aug. 29, M. at Rome. Boll. AA.SS.

Addula

St. Addula, of Pfalzel.

Adela1

B. Adela (1), Nov. 23. c. 630 or 664. Of the blood of the dukes of Austrasia. Mother of St. Tron, or Trudo, or Truyen, priest. Buried on her own estate at Zeleem, near Dist, in Brabant. Some of Adela's bones are preserved in the Benedictine monastery founded by her son, at the place since called St. Trond. He died in 693. Le Mire, Fasti Belg. Butler, Lives of the Fathers, "St. Tron," Nov. 23. Gynecæum.

Adela2

St Adela (2), Dec. 24 (, , and perhaps ), founder and abbess of Pfalzel (Palatiolum), † c. 734. St. of Horres and St. Adela of Pfalzel were daughters of Dagobert II., king of Austrasia, sometimes called Saint, and honoured Dec. 23. Adela married Alberic, and had several children. About 700, being a widow, she took the veil in a monastery built for her by Dagobert and St. Modwald, or Rodoald, archbishop of Treves, at Pfalzel on the Moselle. The archbishop's sister, St. , was the first abbess, and was succeeded by Adela. She is probably that Adolena to whom St. wrote to bespeak her kindness and hospitality for another English abbess on her way to Rome, supposed to be B. . St. Boniface visited her convent on his way from Frisia to Thuringia, about 722. She had at the time a grandson, named Gregory, staying with her, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, who read aloud from the Holy Scriptures while the nuns and their guest were at dinner. St. Boniface remarked that he read very well, and bade him explain the passage. This the boy could not do, and Boniface took up the subject and preached to the whole community with so much eloquence and impressiveness that Gregory told his grandmother he must go with the holy man and become his pupil. Adela objected to let her darling go and travel in heathen lands and unexplored wilds; but he feared no danger, and far from listening to any dissuasion, he said if his grandmother would not give him a horse, as became the grandson of a king, he would follow the missionaries on foot. Adela saw in the earnestness of the child a divine call, and furnished him with what was necessary for the expedition. From that day Gregory never left St. Boniface, until he witnessed his martyrdom at Docking, or Dockum, in Friesland.

Achéry and Mabillon give a copy of Adela's will, in which she leaves everything to her convent, except an estate which she bequeaths to her son Alberic. They call her "pious" rather than "saint," as her worship seems uncertain. She is commemorated in the French Martyrology, Dec. 24, and honoured with her sister Irmina in several martyrologies.

Wion, Lignum Vitæ, p. 520, calls her "Saint Athela." Vies des Saintes de France. Lelong, Bibl. Hist de France. Achéry and Mabillon, AA.SS. O.S.B., II. 498, Sæc. iii. pars. i. p. 531, etc. Pétin, Dic. Hag. Brower, Sidera. Ceillier, Auteurs sacrés, Adela, Irmina. and Clotilda form one of the Triads, who were probably heathen tribal goddesses. The pilgrimages to their shrines and the rites there observed retain traces of paganism. Eckenstein.

Adela3

St. Adela (3), Jan. 8 (, ). † 1071. Princess of France. Countess of Flanders. Abbess of Meesene. The countess-queen. Daughter of Robert the Pious, king of France, 996-1031. Sister of Henry I. 1031-1060. Wife of Baldwin V. (of Lille), count of Flanders, 1034-1067. Mother of Baldwin VI. Mother-in-law of William the Conqueror. This appears to be the same princess who was married in her infancy to Richard, duke of Normandy. Whether Baldwin of Lille was her first or second husband, she was married to him in her childhood, and was taken by his father, Baldwin IV., to Flanders, to be brought up in his own family. The town of Corbie was her dowry. Baldwin rebelled against his father, stirred up, says Sismondi, by the pride of his wife, who, being a king's daughter, thought she ought to have the first place in the house of a count. Finding the fortune of war against him, and no help coming from the king of France, he craved mercy and pardon. A reconciliation was made, on Baldwin swearing, in presence of the Flemish bishops and barons and of the bodies of SS. , , and other famous patron saints of Flanders, to submit to the count's authority and keep the peace. In the same year, 1031, Robert, king of France, Adela's father, died, and was succeeded by his son Henry I. In 1036 died count Baldwin IV., Belle Barbe, after a long and prosperous reign. He left his country at peace, both with the Emperor and the king of France—a circumstance which had seldom, if ever, occurred before. Adela's husband succeeded as Baldwin V. He was constantly at war, either refusing to do homage to the Emperor or to the king of France for his possessions, or punishing others for refusing to acknowledge his suzerainty. Nevertheless, he was considered the best prince of his time, and was loved by his subjects and respected by his neighbours. On the death of his brother-in-law Henry I. of France (1060), he was chosen regent of France and guardian of the young king Philip I., the Fair, Adela's nephew, then only eight years old. His letter of foundation to the church of St. Peter at Lille says—

"I Baldwin, marquis of the Flemings, Count, regent of France, guardian of King Philip...considering that by building a house of God on earth, I prepare for myself a dwelling in heaven,...and acquiescing in the good advice of my wife Adela, and my son Baldwin...have founded a college of canons to implore day and night the clemency of God for...my soul, the souls of my predecessors, my wife and children, and all faithful souls....

"Done at Lille, in the Basilica of St. Peter, in the presence of Philip king of France, in the seventh year of his reign."

King Philip also signed the deed.

Baldwin and Adela built the Benedictine monastery of Meesene. Several grants by them, to Meesene and other churches, are to be found in Le Mire's Notitia Ecclesiarum Belgii. They rebuilt the monastery of Einham, or Iham, on the Scald, and gave it to the Benedictines in 1063. Baldwin made the Fossé neuf, a great canal between Flanders and Artois. In 1069 he gave his whole attention to his approaching death and the completion of his pious works. His last public act was the dedication of his new church of St. Bavo, on the site of the former one, at Ghent. (See .) He died Sept. 1, 1069, and was buried in the church of St. Peter at Lille, where his tomb and epitaph were to be seen in the 18th century. After his death, Adelaide chose the monastery of Meesene as her residence, that she might spend the remainder of her life in silent prayer. She wished to receive the religious veil from the hands of the Pope, and for that purpose went to Rome. She travelled in a car, covered with a curtain, to protect her from wind and rain, that her prayers might not be interrupted on the journey. She obtained from the Pope some of the relics of St. Sidronius, as well as the veil and the papal blessing. She then returned to Meesene, and remained there until her death in 1071.

Her children were Baldwin VI. of Mons (the Good), Robert the Frisian, Henry, Matilda (married William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, and king of England), Judith (married, 1st, Tosti, brother of Harold, king of England; 2nd, Guelph, duke of Bavaria, founder of the younger line of the house of Guelph, from whom the present royal family of England are descended). Baldwin VI. was a good prince; in his time, doors were left open, and people could go about without sticks or daggers. His secretary, Thomellus, a monk, has left an account of the youth of his master, valuable as illustrating the manners of the time.

A story of the wooing of Matilda by William of Normandy has often been rejected by modern writers as incredible; but Le Glay thinks it not at all inconsistent with what is known of the times and the people, and says it is related in some very old chronicles. The account is as follows:—

William, duke of Normandy, sent a message to Baldwin, count of Flanders, to ask the hand of his daughter Matilda. Baldwin was pleased with the offer, but when he told Matilda of it, she answered that she would never marry a bastard. Baldwin made the most polite excuses he could for his refusal. A considerable time passed before William heard what the young lady had said. He was extremely sensitive on the subject of his birth, and bitterly resented any slight or insult grounded on that misfortune. When Matilda's answer was told to him, he went to Lille; rushed, unannounced, into Adela's apartment, where her daughters were sitting with her; seized Matilda by her long plaits, dragged her through the room, threw her down, and kicked her; then, disappearing as suddenly as he had entered, mounted his horse and rode away to his own dominions. Very soon after this strange incident, the young people were reconciled and betrothed. As Pope Leo IX. raised objections to the marriage, on the ground of consanguinity, there was some delay; they were married, nevertheless, at Eu, in 1050, and afterwards obtained a dispensation, on condition that each should build a church. William built the abbey of St. Etienne, at Caen, and Matilda that of the Holy Trinity, in the same town. Matilda had a great deal of influence over her husband, which she always used for good.

Miræus (Le Mire), Annales Belgici and Notitia Ecclesiarum Belgii, Biografia Ecclesiastica (Madrid, 1848). Pétin, Dic. Hag. L'Art de Vérifier lea dates. Le Glay, Hist. des Comtes de Flandre. Sismondi, Hist. des Francois. Freeman, Norman Conquest, iii. 657. Palgrave, History of Normandy and England, iii. 137, 264. Biographie Universelle. Lappenberg, Saxon Kings of England, ii.

Adela4

St. Adela (4), of Bohemia, .

Adelaide1

St. Adelaide (1), June 9, 27, of Bergamo. Wife of St. Lupo, prince of that city, a virtuous ruler though a heathen. They had a daughter, St. , who was the first of the three to become a Christian. He built a church, and was baptized there, with many of his subjects; he lived fifteen years more, and was buried in his church. Adelaide and Grata were widows for many years, and built several churches. Legend places the lives of these three saints in the time of Diocletian, but Henschenius, AA.SS., thinks it more likely that they lived in the 7th, 8th, or 9th century. The mother and daughter are commemorated together June 9; and separately, Adelaide, June 27; and Grata, Aug. 25.

Adelaide2

St. Adelaide (2), Feb. 2. Abbess of Kitzingen, .

Adelaide3

St. Adelaide (3), Dec 16, 12, and 17. 992. Empress. Queen of Italy. Queen of Germany. Called "the Happy" and "the Mother of the Kings." The richest woman in Europe. For variants of her name, see . Adelaide, daughter of Rudolph or Ralph II., king of Burgundy, and his wife Bertha of Suabia, was born about 931. At sixteen she was married at Milan, to Lothaire, who soon afterwards succeeded her father as king of Italy. Pavia was given to Adelaide as a dowry. In 950 Lothaire died. His death was attributed to poisoned wine, given to him during a feast at Turin, by Berengarius, who immediately proclaimed himself king, as Berengarius II. He sought to strengthen his position by marrying his son Adelbert to Lothaire's widow. But Adelaide indignantly answered that if she ever married again it should be a man who could avenge her husband's death. She was besieged in Pavia, and in spite of the devotion of her people, and the heroism and generosity with which, when provisions failed, she shared everything with them, a traitor was found to open the gates, and before the queen knew that the town was taken, the enemy stood before her. At first Berengarius and Villa, his wife, treated her well; but as she persisted in her refusal to marry Adelbert, she was imprisoned at Como, where she was subjected to all kinds of insults from Villa, who is described by Liutprand as the very worst of all the many very bad women in Italy. In vain, when words of flattery and of abuse alike failed, did Villa cuff and kick Adelaide, and drag her by her hair, to induce her to become her daughter-in-law. From Como she was transferred to a castle on the lake of Garda, and only allowed the attendance of her chaplain, Martin, and one maidservant. Both were, however, devoted to her; and Adelhard, bishop of Reggio, having promised to receive her into a place of safety, if she could manage to escape, Martin succeeded in making a hole in the wall of Adelaide's room, through which she and her maid crept in men's clothes. After enduring many fatigues, and narrowly escaping recapture, they succeeded in reaching the town of Canossa, a strong fortress on a steep rock at the foot of the hills close to Garda, and held by Azo, Adelaide's uncle, as a fief of Reggio. From there she wrote to Otho, emperor of Germany (936-973), imploring help; and, at the same time, the Pope, Agapetus II., applied to him to settle the disturbances in Italy.

The beauty and accomplishments of the young queen, combined with her misfortunes and wrongs, aroused the sympathy and indignation of civilized Europe. The princes whose lands bordered on the kingdom of Italy took a double interest in her cause, as there was always the hope of acquiring for themselves some little slice of that pleasant land. Among these were Henry, duke of Bavaria, the brother of Otho; and Rudolph, the Emperor's son by his first wife, B. of England. Otho was touched by the sad fate of Adelaide, and resolved to help her, and, at the same time, to turn the present crisis to his own advantage. He immediately sent promises of help and proposals of marriage. The knight who carried the despatches, unable to make his way into Canossa, watched as it was by the enemy's soldiers, fastened the Emperor's letter to an arrow and shot it over the wall. As soon as possible, Otho hastened to Pavia, whose gates opened at his approach, and there he was proclaimed king of the Franks and Lombards. At the same time, he sent a strong force to Canossa to escort Adelaide to Pavia. She was received at the gate of the city by the Emperor and his two brothers, Henry, duke of Bavaria, and St. Bruno, archbishop of Cologne. In 951 Adelaide, who little more than a year ago had left Pavia a prisoner, re-entered it, amid the acclamations of the people, as the bride of the Emperor. Otho, although nearly twenty years older than Adelaide, was still in the prime of life, a man of gigantic strength and great beauty, with long fair hair and blue eyes of extraordinary brilliancy, and to these personal advantages he added barbaric splendour of dress. Moreover, he was by far the ablest king who had reigned in Germany since Charlemagne. Throughout Germany the new empress was hailed as an angel of peace, and the events of after-years justified the good impression she had made on the people.

Adelaide and Otho sent missionaries to convert the Sclavonians, and induced the Pope to appoint bishops in the countries now called Prussia and Poland. St. Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg, was sent, in 961, to the Rugi, or Rani, a people living in Pomerania, between the rivers Oder and Wipper; but when the bishop and his companions arrived, the people massacred some and sent the others out of the country. The Rugi continued heathen for two centuries longer.

In course of time Berengarius broke an agreement which had been made with Otho, but was soon defeated, and sent as a prisoner to Bamberg; his wife, Villa, who had taken refuge in the citadel of St. Julias, in the midst of the lake of Orta, was obliged to surrender, and, loaded with chains, was brought before Adelaide. When the empress mildly remonstrated with her on her crimes, the prisoner replied, "The only crime with which I reproach myself is that I did not kill you when I had you in my power." Adelaide instantly had her fetters struck off, and sent her in safety to her husband. Their son Adalbert had to cede his possessions to the bishop of Modena, but Adelaide adopted his two daughters, and brought them up at her court.

On Feb. 2, 962, the long-deferred coronation of Otho and Adelaide took place at Rome, whither they were invited by John XII.; but, before leaving Germany, Otho had his young son, Otho, crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. The next year, at the instance of a council of bishops, the Emperor deposed Pope John, on account of his crimes, and appointed instead his own secretary, a layman, as Leo VIII. In 973 Otho died at Memleben, universally and heartily regretted, having been king of Germany thirty-six years, and Emperor nearly eleven. He was buried at Magdeburg by the side of his first wife, Edith of England, and Adelaide spent much of her time there in religious retirement. He was succeeded by his son, Otho II., who, under the influence of his wife, Theophanie, banished his mother from court. Adelaide went to her native land. The empire, however, did not prosper in her absence; the people were anxious for her return; and a reconciliation having been effected by St. Majolus, Adelaide kept the Easter festival of 981 at Rome, with her son and his wife.

Otho died at Rome in 983, leaving Theophanie regent for his son, Otho III., then nine years old. Adelaide and Theophanie, although not always in perfect harmony, agreed in bestowing an excellent education on the young king, who, for his beauty and acquirements, was called "the Wonder of the World." One of his tutors was a Frenchman, Gerbert d'Aurillac, a man so learned that he was accused of using magic arts. He was made archbishop of Rheims, and ultimately Pope Sylvester II. The empresses quarrelled, and Theophanie boasted that, if she lived a year, Adelaide should not have a foot of ground left in her possession. It seemed probable at the moment that her life had not one, but many years to run, but in one month it was cut off, and Adelaide ruled alone. Her love for her grandson kept her at court when she had grown weary of its splendour; and for his sake she continued to employ herself in worldly affairs and politics when their yoke had grown irksome. In 986 the two greatest crowned heads in Europe were her grandsons, namely, Otho III, the Emperor, and Louis V., king of France; and this circumstance led Sylvester II. (Gerbert) to style her "the Mother of the Kings." About this year, if at all, occurred the extraordinary incident of the crime and punishment of the empress Mary. It rests on no contemporary authority, but is spoken of as a fact by accredited historians who lived within half a century of the events.

Historians do not record the marriage of Otho III., but the legend, which is very ancient, has it that he was married to Mary of Aragon. Mary had fallen in love—as Isolde with Tristram—with Count Emmeran, when he was the Emperor ambassador to bring her from her father's court. As Emmeran was devoted to his own wife, and loyal to his master, he ignored the empress's preference, until her love changed to vindictive hatred, and she determined that he should pay for his coldness with his life. She accused him to her husband. Otho, in his distress, sought counsel of that wisest of women, his grandmother. She advised him to make no scandal. "Let it not be known," said she, "that any one mistook the empress for a woman who could be disloyal." Mary stood in awe of the old empress, who had sometimes gently reproached her for a certain lack of circumspection; she kept quiet for a time, but her vengeance suffered her not to rest; she so wrought on Otho's feelings that he charged Emmeran with the crime. Emmeran would not tell the real circumstances; he thought it nobler to bear the unjust imputation than to dis her, and wreck the young king's happiness by disclosing the real occurrences, so he kept silence, and was beheaded. The court was now at Modena; and the Emperor, in accordance with immemorial custom, sat in the hall to hear complaints and redress wrongs. Round him stood many knights and nobles, but he was sad for the loss and the supposed treachery of one of his best and bravest companions, and as he sighed and mused, there entered a pale lady in a long black cloak, and she cried

—"Justice, my lord king!"

—"What is your complaint, lady?"

—"My husband has been cruelly slain, and I crave vengeance on his murderer."

—"You shall have it. But who was your husband?"

Anna produced from under her cloak the ghastly head of Emmeran, and demanded to prove his innocence by "the judgment of God."

Here, two forms of the story diverge. The Golden Legend, which does not give the name of Emmeran, but calls him "the governor of Modena," says Anna walked barefooted and uninjured over nine red-hot ploughshares, which proved, to the satisfaction of every one, that her cause was just, and that she spoke the simple truth when she said her husband was innocent. Otho confessed himself guilty of the unjust death of his knight, and said he was ready to submit to be beheaded, but the nobles and prelates gave him a delay of ten days, in which to investigate the matter; these being ended, they gave him seven days more, then six more, by which time all were convinced that the real criminal was the empress Mary. Then Otho "dyde do brenne his wyfe all quycke," and gave four castles as were-geld to the widow of Emmeran. According to another and probably older tradition, the ordeal consisted of plunging her arms into molten lead. She did not, indeed, take them out uninjured, but she bravely held them there, with unmoved countenance, keeping her eyes fixed on the empress Mary, who gazed at her in horrible fascination. Anna died with her arms in the boiling lead and eyes fixed on the queen, who, seized by an impulse beyond her own control, threw herself at the Emperor's feet and confessed her crime. She was at once pronounced guilty of the death of Emmeran and Anna, and of untruth to her husband, and was then and there condemned to be burned alive. The sentence being executed the next day, Otho declared his own life forfeited for having condemned an innocent man; but his nobles and the great ecclesiastics unanimously granted him a reprieve of seven years, at the end of which it would doubtless have been further extended he lived.