Rictrude (also called Rictrudis, Rictrudes, Richtrudis, Richrudis) (b. c. 612 – c. 614; d. c. 676 – c. 691) was a saint and abbess of Marchiennes Abbey, in Flanders. The main source for her life is the Vita Sanctae Rictrudis, commissioned by the abbey, and written in 907 by Hucbald. She married Saint Adalbard, despite the opposition of her family. They had four children, all of whom were later named saints. Soon after the death of their youngest child, Adalbard was assassinated. Rictrude eventually entered the religious life, even though the king opposed her decision to not remarry. She is seen as an example of the practice of medieval women embracing the religious life to ensure the "royal centralization of land and power out of the reach of secular politics" and a representation of "a systematic family strategy of diverting wealth and women away from the predatory king and his ambitious courtiers".
Rictrude died at Marchiennes at the age of 74, between 676 and 691. Her feast day is May 12.
Life
Rictrude was born around 612 in Gascony during a series of Basque raids in France and at the time of the reign of Clothar II, to "a noble and devout family", most likely of the Gascon nobility. Her father was Ernold, and her mother was Lichia. At a young age, Rictrude's spiritual advisor was St. Amandus, the bishop and missionary, who had been exiled to Gascony by Dagobert I. Rictrude was the subject of a hagiography entitled Vita Sanctae Rictrudis, written by Hucbald, a Benedictine monk who resided at Saint-Armand Abbey in 907.
According to Rictrude's Vita, "A certain Frank—born Adalbard, child of a just and noble stock, saw [Rictrude], loved her and chose her for his own". The Vita calls Adalbard "a fully worthy man who would take the worthy Rictrude in marriage" despite the "violent opposition of her parents". The Vita describes Rictrude, by contast, "as an exception who was predestined to sancity" because she was from a pagan region. Rictrude and Adalbard married during a military expedition in Gascony; he was a saint, a nobleman, and a "loved and honored" member of the court of Dagobert I and Clovis II. Scholar Jo Ann McNamara places their marriage in the context of the Frankish settlement in France and the internal turbulence of the time. They lived in Marchiennes, where he owned land. They had four children, all of whom were later named saints: a son named Maurontus of Douai, who became a court official, and later, a priest and abbot; and three daughters, Clotsendus, who succeeded her mother as abbess, Eusebia of Hamage, who was an abbess at Hamay, and Adalsinda of Hamage, who was a nun at Hamay. According to scholar Karine Uge, the children were "baptized by the most prestigious people of their time". Maurontius was baptized by the Frankish hermit and monk St. Richarius, and Clotsendus by Saint Amandus. Nanthild, wife of Dagobert, was Eusebia's godmother. Adalsinda died at a young age, before Rictrude's death. Rictrude's Vita claims that Rictrude and Adalbard had a "devout and joyful life".