Duchess Bereswinde Of ALSACE b. Abt 652 Metz, Austrasia, France d. 744 Metz, Austrasia, France: Our Family History

Carney & Wehofer Family
Genealogy Pages

Abt 652 - 744 (~ 92 years)

Personal Information | Media | Notes | All | PDF

Father	King Siegbert III Of AUSTRASIA, b. 629, Austrasia , d. 656 (Age 27 years)
Mother	Immachilde (Chimnechild) of AUSTRASIA, b. Abt 630, Burgundy, France , d. Abt 670 (Age ~ 40 years)
Married	Abt 651	2ND Marriage
Family ID	F12512	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Duke Adalrich Eticho I of ALSACE, b. Abt 643, Alsace-Lorraine, France , d. Aft 683, France (Age ~ 41 years)

Children

	1. Odilia
	2. Duke Albert (Adalbert) Of ALSACE, b. Abt 675, Alsace-Lorraine, France , d. 5 Dec 742, Alsace-Lorraine, France (Age ~ 67 years)

Last Modified 29 Aug 2016

Family ID F12501 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Notes

When Bereswinde's husband Eticho (Adalrich) found his daughter Odilia was reputedly born blind, which Adalrich took as a punishment for some offence done to God, he tried to persuade his wife Bereswinda to kill the infant child in secret. She instead sent the child into hiding with a maid at the monastery of Palma. According to the Life of Odilia, a bishop named Erhard baptised the adolescent girl and smeared a chrism on her eyes, which miraculously restored her sight.

The bishop tried to restore the duke's relationship with his daughter, but Adalrich, fearing the effect of admitting to having a daughter hiding in poverty in a monastery would have on his subjects, refused. A son of his, ignoring Adalrich's orders, brought his sister back to Hohenburg, where Adalrich was holding court. When Odilia arrived, Adalrich, in a rage, struck a blow with his sceptre to his son's head, accidentally killing him. Disgraced, he reluctantly allowed Odilia to live in the monastery, which had no abbess, with a minimal wage under a British nun.