Gertrude of Aldenberg [SEP] father
Gertrude of Aldenberg
Gertrude of Aldenberg, O.Praem., (c. October 1227 – 13 August 1297) was the daughter of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, T.O.S.F., and of Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia. She became a Premonstratensian canoness regular at the Abbey of Aldenberg, near Wetzlar, in the Diocese of Trier, where she spent much of her life leading the community as its abbess. She is honored as a "blessed" of the Order, on Aug. 13.
Life.
Gertrude was the youngest of
Louis and Elizabeth's three children. Her father died while on his way to the Holy Land, shortly before she was born. Gertrude was scarcely two years old when her mother left her in the care of the canonesses of the Abbey of Aldenberg, where she later entered the community. In 1248, only 21 years old, she was elected abbess and ruled over the monastery for the next 49 years.
With an inheritance she received from her uncle, Dietrich I, Margrave of Meissen, Gertrude erected a church and