Sadalberga

Sadalberga was a French abbess, and saint. She came from a noble family during the reigns of Chlothar II and Dagobert I. Her life story was recounted in two sources: in the vita of the Irish missionary, St. Columbanus, written by Jonas of Bobbio, and a vita by an anonymous writer (680), entitled Vita Sadalbergae. She was sanctified as a nun at a young age. She was able to escape her family's plans to "force her into marriage, but only after two marriages, at her father's and the king's insistence". Her first husband died after two months of marriage; she remained a consecrated widow for two more years before marrying a man named Blandius. They had five children, all of whom entered the religious life, including her daughter, Saint Anstrudis, who succeeded her as the abbess of the Abbey of St. John in Laon, a double monastery that Sadalberga founded, with funds from her inheritance. When her children were old enough, she persuaded her husband to "allow her to take up the monastic calling once more"; they mutually agreed to separate and enter monastic life. According to her vita, she performed many miracles and had many visions during her lifetime.