Aldetrude (died 696, or 526) was a Christian saint and from 684 was abbess of

Maubeuge Abbey Maubeuge Abbey (; ) was a women's monastery in Maubeuge, in the County of Hainaut, now northern France, close to the modern border with Belgium. It is best known today as the abbey founded by St. Aldegonde, still a popular figure of devotion in t ...

in the

County of Hainault The County of Hainaut ( ; ; ; ), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled the present-day border of Belgium and France. Its most important towns included Mons (), now in Belgium, ...

, now in northern France. She is also known as Aldetrude de Maubeuge, Aldetrude of Maubod, Aldetrudis and Adeltrude. She was one of the four children of Saint Waltrude, also known as Waldetrude, and Saint

Vincent Madelgarius Vincent Madelgarius, aka ''Maelceadar'', Benedictine monk, died 677. His feast day is September 20. Belgian accounts Belgian sources state that Madelgarus was born about 615 in Strépy, Belgium. The young nobleman married around 635 the dist ...

. Her siblings were Saint Landericus, a Roman Catholic Bishop of Metz; Saint

Dentelin Dentelin was a region of the Frankish Empire disputed between Austrasia and Neustria. Mentioned in the Chronicle of Fredegar, the Duchy of Dentelin included far north-eastern parts of modern France and south-western parts of Belgium. The cities ...

who died very young; and Saint Madelberta, who was also abbess of Maubeuge. Her aunt

Aldegonde Aldegund ( 639–684), also Aldegundis or Aldegonde, was a Frankish Benedictine abbess who is honored as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in France and by the Orthodox Church. Aldegund was closely related to the Merovingian royal family. H ...

, her mother's sister, was the first abbess of Maubeuge; Aldetrude was sent into her care as a girl and then succeeded her, and her sister Madelberte was the third abbess. She died and is celebrated on the 25 or 27 February. The exact year of her death is unknown though some sources say 696, and she is said to have lived to an advanced age. In ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary'' (2015), "edited ... on behalf of the Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth" it is stated that "Her extant biography is unreliable" and "The revised Roman Martyrology has her 170 years earlier", giving a death date of 526.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldetrude Year of birth missing 696 deaths Christian female saints of the Middle Ages Benedictine abbesses 7th-century Christian saints