Bilihildis

Bilihildis (also spelled Bilihilt, Bilhild, Bilehild; died 734) was a Frankish noblewoman, remembered as the founder and abbess of the monastery of Altmünster near Mainz, and venerated locally as a saint.

The biography of Saint Bilihildis is difficult to establish; firm evidence of her existence only goes back to the 12th century, according to Andreas Meier. Her vitae date from after 1060 and, in the absence of other evidence, form the basis for her biography. There are five distinct vitae, the most important of which are:

Brigitte Flug considers the short Latin prose version (written in the Merovingian style) to be the earliest, though she denies it could have been written within living memory.

Bilihildis was born in the 7th century in Hocheim, typically identified as modern-day Veitshöchheim near Würzburg, Bavaria, the child of Count Jberin and his wife Mathilda. According to Alfred Wendehorst, however, what is meant is probably Hochheim am Main, with the location in Würzburg and its East-Frankish connections a later "explanation" for the monastery's foundation. Her 11th-century hagiography reports that she was forced to flee the invading Huns and was moved to Würzburg, where she was raised as a Christian. Though she wanted to devote her life to Christ, her parents forced her to marry a pagan Frankish duke named Hetan around 672, whom she loved but was unable to convert. It is not clear whether this is Hedan I or Hedan II. Hetan was called to battle and was killed; during his absence Bilihild saw an opportunity for a religious life and traveled by ship to Mainz, where she asked for and received permission from the local bishop, her uncle Sigibert (a misreading for Rigibert, bishop of Mainz), to start a foundation for religious women. She started this foundation using her considerable wealth (having sold her possessions in Hochheim) to support it. This was the beginning of the Altmünster monastery of which she was the first abbess. She was baptized later in life. She died on 27 November 734 and was buried in the abbey church; her grave soon gave off a sweet aroma and many miracles happened there.

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