Gertrude of Nivelles

Who they were

Gertrude, daughter of Pepin of Landen, refused at ten to marry a duke's son, saying Christ alone would be her bridegroom. After her father's death her mother founded a double monastery at Nivelles and made her its first abbess.

She welcomed Irish monks and gave them land for a monastery. She foretold that she would die during Mass the next day, and did so, on 17 March 659. She was venerated as a saint at once.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

A young abbess who chose Christ alone.

Connected on this site

• Begga Saint Brother or sister
• Itta of Metz Saint Mother, Parent
  “After his death, Itta founded the Abbey of Nivelles as a double monastery for both monks and nuns, where she became a Benedictine along with her daughter, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles.” — Wikipedia
• Pepin of Landen Saint Father, Parent
  “Gertrude, daughter of Pepin of Landen, refused at ten to marry a duke's son, saying Christ alone would be her bridegroom.” — this site's research
• Saint Bavo Saint Brother or sister
• Kakwkylla Saint
  “In Sweden, where Columba was not widely venerated nor Gertrude of Nivelles associated with rats, Kakwkylla appears to have played a more independent role.” — Wikipedia
• Vulfetrude Saint
  “She entered the monastery of Nivelles, and she succeeded her aunt Saint Gertrude of Nivelles as abbess in 659 AD.” — Wikipedia