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Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge
1media/BoHNBackgroundf11r.jpg2020-10-08T11:31:47-07:00Micaela Rodgers4f64ed17cdc860d24de738ffbad6fc87bc98886f354885plain2020-10-08T12:13:34-07:00Micaela Rodgers4f64ed17cdc860d24de738ffbad6fc87bc98886fSaint Amalberga of Maubeuge (601 – 690), also known as Amalia, or Amelia of Lobbes or Binche, was a Merovingian nun and saint who lived in the 7th century.
Amalberga was born in Saintes (canton of Saintes, arrondissement of Saintes, Charente-Maritime). She is said to have been the sister or niece of Pepin of Landen and she married Count Witger, Duke of Lorraine. In her biography she is presented as the mother of five saints: Emebert, Reineldis, Pharaildis, Ermelindis and Gudula. She and her husband withdrew from the world; he becoming a monk, and she a nun, joining the monastic community at Maubeuse Abbey after the birth of her youngest daughter Gudula. She received the veil from Saint Willibrord of Echternach.
She is celebrated as a saint in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
She died in 690 (Maubeuge, canton of Maubeuge, arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Nord), and her relics have been in Saint Peter's abbey church in Ghent, Belgium since 1073. She is known to protect people against arm pain, bruises, and fever.
In art she is represented holding a palm and an open book with a crown at her feet, standing on a giant sturgeon or other fish. (According to legend, she once crossed a lake by riding on the back of a giant sturgeon, which led to her representation on or with a fish.).
Amalberga of Maubeuge is not to be confused with the virgin Amalberga of Temse (venerated in Ghent, Temse, and Munsterbilzen, who died in 772, and whose feast day is July 10 or October 27.
1media/BoHNBackgroundf11r.jpg2020-03-14T15:36:14-07:00Physical Description Book of Hours Use of Netherlands9plain2020-10-09T11:37:06-07:00A beautifully illuminated, complete manuscript, with calendar, wide margins, more than a hundred 2-line illuminated initials, and 6 illuminated full-page miniatures, encircled by richly decorated and colored borders consisting of flowers and leaves. Inside the book cover’s back board, contemporary manuscript annotations state that the book belonged to Grietken Baeckx, who lived in “Groot Begijnhof” in Ghent. The calendar also points to Ghent, since Saints Amant (February), Amelberga (July), and Bavo (October) are emphasized in red.
The Latin is influenced by Dutch vernacular, and the large script also points to the Netherlands. The miniatures are made for the main devotions and have blank versos. They are professionally painted with life-like, long-stretched figures, engaged in different ceremonies, and often showing part of a landscape in the background (sometimes through a window, demonstrating early signs of perspective.
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1media/Screen Shot 2020-10-08 at 12.12.08 PM_thumb.png2020-10-08T12:12:17-07:00Book of Hours Use of Netherlands Calendar, July1Image by USC Digital Librarymedia/Screen Shot 2020-10-08 at 12.12.08 PM.pngplain2020-10-08T12:12:17-07:00