Biography
Reineldis of Saintes
About Reineldis of Saintes
Reineldis, known locally as Renelde, is honored as the patron of Saintes. Her memory remains closely connected with its church, relics and annual procession.
The narrative of her life survives in a work written at Lobbes in the eleventh century, several centuries after the period in which she is traditionally placed. The author was a monk, but his identity is uncertain. The account therefore requires the caution appropriate to a later saint’s Life.
That Life portrays Reineldis as a woman who rejected marriage, fed and clothed people in need, and sought to give her property to Lobbes. When she arrived with her sister Gudule, the monks refused entry because they admitted no women. Gudule left; Reineldis remained in prayer. The story says the doors opened miraculously, and the monks found her praying inside. She then gave the abbey Saintes and five estates.
The author next describes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and her return to Saintes. When invaders approached, she refused to flee and remained with Grimoald, a cleric, and Gondulf, an attendant. They were killed in the church. The narrative tells of her beating and beheading, followed by the deaths of her companions and their burial by returning villagers. It later describes healings at her tomb.
Her cult is visible in the church dedicated to her at Saintes. Its furnishings include a carved altarpiece recounting her life, a sixteenth-century genealogy, and a reliquary preserving elements of older devotional art. The local Catholic account gives her feast as July 16.
On Trinity Sunday, mounted participants accompany her relics around Saintes and Bierghes. The procession follows a route of about thirty kilometers, using a horse-drawn cart dating from 1773. Pilgrims also visit the well bearing her name, where water is traditionally sought for skin and eye ailments. These healing associations express devotional belief. The Tour has been recognized as part of the oral and intangible heritage of Belgium’s French Community.
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