Adalbert I of Ostrevent was a 7th-century Frankish nobleman of the court of King Clovis II of France. He is recognized as a saint, and is commemorated on both 2 February and 2 May.
Life
Adalbald was the son of Gerberga, daughter of the magister militumRichomer and Gertrude of Hamage, who founded a nunnery at Wandignies-Hamage near Douai. According to Alban Butler, Adalbald had two brothers, Sigefrid, count of Ponthieu, and Archenald, Mayor of the Palace to Clovis II, son of Dagobert, to whom they were related. His relationship with Merovingian King Dagobert has been proposed to have been through his mother Gerberga, and her putative sister Bertrude. However, Karine Ugé argues that the connection between Adalbald and Erchinoald is a fiction developed by the canons of Saint-Amé at Douai to enhance a connection with Rictrude. Adalbald was a leading noble and claimed lordship of Douai. He was a disciple of Amand of Maastricht. In 630, Adalbald founded Marchiennes Abbey. During a military expedition in Gascony, he met and married Rictrude of Marchiennes, daughter of Ernoldo, lord of Toulouse, despite the opposition of both families. Although her parents approved, others opposed a marriage to a Frank. The marriage was said to be happy. They had four children: Maurant, abbot of Breuil ; :fr:Eusébie |Eusebia of Douai , abbess of Hamage Abbey near Arras; Adalsinda, a nun at Hamage ; and Clotsinda. All are venerated as saints. The couple opened their castle to the poor and disadvantaged. The hermit-monk Richarius was a family friend. Adalbald's wife made Marchiennes Abbey a double monastery in 643. Adalbard was assassinated in obscure circumstances around 652, near Périgueux during a subsequent expedition to Aquitaine, probably by his wife's relatives still bitter about the marriage to an enemy of her people. His body was returned to Flanders and buried at Saint-Amand Abbey where he was venerated as a martyr, as his death had taken place in a region which largely had not yet adopted Christianity. His name, however, is not currently mentioned in the liturgical calendars of Cambrai and Lille. After the death of Adalbald, his brother Archenald rebuilt the castle of Douai and founded the church of Our Lady, now dedicated to Saint Amatus.
