Rue Amalberge - Street

Rue Amalberge

Municipality not set
Christian hermit nun
Patron saint of the church of Rodange
Name
Amalberge
of Temse
Birth year
690 or 741
Year of death
772
Places of residence
Rodange - Luxembourg ¦ Temse - Belgium

Who is she?

Little is known about the life of Saint Amalberge and information about her is contradictory. The oldest biographical sources are limited to two writings, written more than a century after the supposed time of her life, thus leaving much room for the personal interpretations of the authors. Amalberge was born at an uncertified date (in 690 or 741) in a 'Villa Rodingi' in the Ardennes. According to some hypotheses, it was Rodange. Her parents were wealthy nobles of royal stock. Amalberge was orphaned at an early age and lived with her brother Rodin on the parents' estate near the river Scheldt. The provincial king falls in love with her and tries to convince her to marry him. Amalberge refuses, but the suitor tries to drag her away by force and breaks her arm. Amalberge enters a convent in Munsterbilzen and is, according to some sources, educated there by her aunt, the abbess Landrada. Many visions and miracles are attributed to her. She died around 772 in Temse. Her relics were transferred to St Peter's Abbey in Ghent.

Saint Amalberge was declared patron saint of the church of Rodange in 1880.

Sources:
● Joseph Colette: L'apport du Luxembourg dans l'hagiographie et le culte de Sainte Amalbergue, in: 175e Anniversaire de la Paroisse Sainte Amalbergue à Rodange, Luxembourg, 1981, pp. 149-196.
● Ekkart Sauser: Amalberga von Gent, in: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Band XV, Verlag Traugott Bautz, 1998, Spalten 15-16.
● Die Fenster der Pfarrkirche in Differdingen (XII), in: Déifferdang Magazin, N°3/2004, Luxembourg 2004, p.14

Streets overview