Gertrude of Aldenberg
Encyclopedia
Blessed Gertrude of Aldenberg (c. October 1227 – 13 August 1297) was abbess of the Premonstratensian
convent of Altenberg, near Wetzlar
, in the Diocese of Trier. She was the daugther of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
She was scarcely two years old when her mother brought her to the convent of Aldenberg, where she afterwards became a nun. In 1248, only twenty-one years old, she was elected Abbess, and ruled over the convent for forty-nine years.
With the inheritance she received from her uncle, Dietrich I, Margrave of Meissen, she erected a church and a poorhouse. She took personal charge of the inmates of the poorhouse and led a life of extreme mortification
. When Pope Urban VI
published a crusade against the Saracens, Gertrude and her nuns took the cross.
In 1270 she began to observe the feast of Corpus Christi in her convent, being one of the first to introduce this feast into Germany. Pope Clement VI
permitted the ecclesiastical celebration of her feast to the convent of Aldenberg and granted some indulgences to those who visited her relics.
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
convent of Altenberg, near Wetzlar
Wetzlar
Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of...
, in the Diocese of Trier. She was the daugther of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
Life
She was the youngest of three children of Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, and his wife St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Gertrude's father died on his way to Palestine shortly before she was born, which led her mother in distress.She was scarcely two years old when her mother brought her to the convent of Aldenberg, where she afterwards became a nun. In 1248, only twenty-one years old, she was elected Abbess, and ruled over the convent for forty-nine years.
With the inheritance she received from her uncle, Dietrich I, Margrave of Meissen, she erected a church and a poorhouse. She took personal charge of the inmates of the poorhouse and led a life of extreme mortification
Mortification
Mortification can refer to:*Mortification , theological doctrine*Mortification of the flesh, religious practice of corporal mortification...
. When Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
published a crusade against the Saracens, Gertrude and her nuns took the cross.
In 1270 she began to observe the feast of Corpus Christi in her convent, being one of the first to introduce this feast into Germany. Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
permitted the ecclesiastical celebration of her feast to the convent of Aldenberg and granted some indulgences to those who visited her relics.