Bearded woman; depicted crucified, often shown with a small fiddler at her feet, and with one shoe off[2]
Patronage
Relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated from abusive husbands[3]
Wilgefortis (Portuguese: Vilgeforte) is a female folk saint whose legend arose in the 14th century,[4] and whose distinguishing feature is a large beard. According to the legend of her life, set in Portugal and Galicia, she was a teenage noblewoman who had been promised in marriage by her father to a Moorish king. To thwart the unwanted wedding, she had taken a vow of virginity, and prayed that she would be made repulsive. In answer to her prayers she sprouted a beard, which ended the engagement. In anger, Wilgefortis' father had her crucified.
Her name is thought to have derived from the Latin "virgo fortis" ("courageous virgin").[5] In England her name was Uncumber, and in Dutch Ontkommer (meaning one who avoids something, here specifically other people from suffering).[6]
In German lands she was known as Kümmernis ("grief" or "anxiety"). In Poland she was called Frasobliwa ("sorrowful"). She was sometimes confused with a female martyr saint known as Liberata in Italy and Librada in Spain ("liberated") whose feast day is on July 10; while Saint Liberata is a crucified, beardless female usually with a crown, Wilgefortis is always depicted with a beard and generally crownless. In France Wilgefortis is known as Débarras ("riddance"). The confusion between the martyr Saint Liberata and Wilgefortis extended to places such as Sigüenza, Spain, where Liberata was widely venerated.[7]
While venerated by some Catholics, Wilgefortis was never officially canonised by the church, but instead was a popular intercessor for people seeking relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated ("disencumbered") from abusive husbands.
^https://academic.oup.com/hwj/article/doi/10.1093/hwj/dbad005/7146513 St Wilgefortis and Her/Their Beard: The Devotions of Unhappy Wives and Non-Binary People Oxford Academic
^https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/07/21/beards/ Paying Tribute to Saint Wilgefortis The Paris Review
^Friesen (2001), p. 15.
^More, Alison (2018). Fictive orders and feminine religious identities, 1200–1600. Oxford University Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0198807698.
^Levin, Carole (2000). "St. Frideswide and St Uncumber: Changing images of female saints in Renaissance England". In Mary Burke (ed.). Women, writing, and the reproduction of culture in Tudor and Stuart Britain. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. pp. 223–237. ISBN 978-0-8156-2815-6.
female usually with a crown, Wilgefortis is always depicted with a beard and generally crownless. In France Wilgefortis is known as Débarras ("riddance")...
The Crucifixion of Saint Wilgefortis is a c. 1497 triptych by the Early Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch. The subject of the painting has been uncertain...
but escape condemnation. The legend also became part of the cult of Wilgefortis, the alter ego of the Holy Face. Images showing the legend normally feature...
of the bearded Mary Topographia Hibernica written by Gerald of Wales Wilgefortis Helena Antonia Magdalena Ventura, portrait by Jusepe de Ribera (1631)...
Petronilla Afra George Januarius Philomena Vincent of Saragossa Behnam Lucy Wilgefortis Lawrence of Rome Cecilia Catherine of Alexandria Vitus the Martyr Pelagia...
stripped naked, tortured, and ultimately crucified on an X-shaped cross. Wilgefortis was venerated as a saint and represented as a crucified woman, however...
Strobl's legend appears to be based on the popular medieval cult of Saint Wilgefortis. A princess named Solicitous was very devoted to her religion and vowed...
November 2016. Friesen, Ilse E. (2001). The female crucifix images of St. Wilgefortis since the Middle Ages. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press...
(romance) A related tale to this cycle of stories is type ATU 706D, "St. Wilgefortis and her Beard". In some variants, the protagonist is a male musician...
Award finalist, transgender nonfiction Through Grace Lutheran Church and Wilgefortis Press, Rohrer has written a number of books for children in the Good...
of these. The earliest reported sufferer of anorexia mirabilis is St. Wilgefortis, an uncanonized, legendary, Catholic princess who reportedly lived sometime...
Japan Gerard Way American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer Wilgefortis a bearded female folk saint depicted crucified, whose legend arose in...
(1st and 2nd centuries) Theotonius (1088–1166) Verissimus (3rd century) Wilgefortis (folk saint) Alexandrina of Balasar (1904–1955) Amadeus of Portugal (1420–1482)...
female martyr-saints such as Perpetua, Catherine, and Joan of Arc". Wilgefortis – a fictitious female folk saint Bynum, Caroline Walker (1984). Jesus...
ISBN 978-0-8923-6943-0 Friesen, Ilse. The Female Crucifix Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press...
(Vienna, c. 1482) The Hermit Saints (c. 1493) The Crucifixion of Saint Wilgefortis (c. 1497) Adoration of the Magi (Madrid, c. 1485–1500) Triptych of the...
Neufahrn b.Freising Municipality Pilgrimage Church of Saint Wilgefortis Coat of arms Location of Neufahrn b.Freising within Freising district Neufahrn...
Cathedral, Soreda depicted Saint Librada, whose cult was confused with Wilgefortis’ cult. The most famous work by Soreda is depiction of Saint Pelagius...
The Korean Martyrs) Margaret the Virgin Thorlac (relic translation) Wilgefortis (cult suppressed) July 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Día del Amigo...
Venezuela Venezuelan chief of both the Teques and Caracas tribes Saint Wilgefortis (known as Librada) Western Europe and some parts in Latin America Sigüenza...
Vitalis and Agricola 4th century Vitus 303 Volusianus of Tours 5th century Wilgefortis of Lusitania 2nd century Xanthippe 1st century ? Xenia the Righteous...
the Memlingmuseum. Ilse E. Friesen, The Female Crucifix: Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 2006 p. 55 (in Dutch)...
interpretations in detail Friesen, Ilse E., The Female Crucifix: Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-88920-365-2...
date to 1513: Das Wunder der Heilige Wilgeffortis (The Miracle of Saint Wilgefortis), and a sheet from Maximilian's Weißkunig entitled Kaiser Maximilian...
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