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Gudula

Saint from Brabant, now Belgium

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 6, 2025
Entity authorityQ267660 ↗
Source-derived summary

Gudula of Brabant, also known as Saint Gudula (ca. 646–712), was a Christian saint who is venerated in Catholic and Orthodox churches. In Brabant, she is usually called Goedele or Goule; (Latin: Gudila, later Gudula; Dutch: Goedele; French: Gudule). Her name is connected to several places: Moorsel (where she lived), Brussels (where a chapter in her honour was founded in 1047) and Eibingen (where the relic of her skull is conserved).

Life

Gudula was born around 646 in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium). According to her 11th-century biography (Vita Gudilae), written by Onulfus of Hautmont, a monk of Hautmont Abbey between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia called Witger and Saint Amalberga. Her mother embraced the religious life in Maubeuge Abbey. Gudula had three sisters, Saint Pharaildis, Saint Reineldis and Saint Ermelinde, and one brother, Saint Emebertus. She received the veil from the hands of Saint Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai (d. about 668).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Gudula” as saint from Brabant, now Belgium. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gudula, Saint and Brabant.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1047, 1048, 1051—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0646-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Gudula, Saint and Brabant providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Gudula”, the useful work is to connect “saint from Brabant, now Belgium” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q267660. VIAF identifies the subject as 152867322. The Library of Congress control number is no2010168465. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1047, 1048 and 1051.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gudula”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gudula primary sources, Gudula archive and Gudula research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gudula” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.