Biography
Bertilia
About Bertilia
Bertilia is remembered as a charitable woman near Arras who later lived as a hermit at Mareuil. The church account names Goutland as her husband and says that they assisted poor and sick people together.
After his death, she withdrew to a cell beside a church dedicated to Amandus. She had arranged for that church to be built and was buried there after her death, placed around 687.
The account records the enshrinement of her relics in 1081 and their relocation in 1288. These later acts of veneration explain the survival of her name beyond the brief traditions about her life.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.