Wivina

Wivina (1103–1168) was a Benedictine abbess. Born in Oisy, France, she refused all offers of marriage, becoming, aged 23, a hermitess at Groot-Bijgaarden, near Brussels. She later accepted land from Count Godfrey of Brabant and built a convent and served as its first abbess.

A Fleming of noble birth, as a young woman she decided to be a nun: one of her suitors called Richard fell ill when she refused him. Restored to health by her prayers and counsel, he went his way, while at the age of twenty-three she became a hermit in a wood near Brussels called Grand-Bigard, with one companion...