Bertha
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(n.) A kind of collar or cape worn by ladies.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
is a name common to several other saints.
1. Martyr and abbess at AVENAY, lived in the 7th century, and belonged to a noble family. She was at first married to St. Gumbert, but by mutual consent they separated, and built the abbey at Avenay near Rheims. She was killed by her step-sons. See Majoret, Vie de Sainte Berthe' (Rheims, 1700); Bolland, Acta Sanctorum, Maji, i, 112; 7:539.
2. OF BARDI, was born about the beginning of the 12th century, of a noble family. In 1153 she was sent as superior to Cavriglia in the diocese of Fiesole, in order to reform the monastery there. She died in 1163. See Soldan, Relazione della Vita di S. Berta de Bardi (Florence, 1730); Bolland, Acta Sanctorum, Mart. 3, 492.
3. OF MARLAIS, widow of the count de Molenbais,was the first abbess of the monastery of Marquette in Flanders, and died in 1247. See Hist. Litt. Franc. 21:585.
4. OF HASSEL, who lived in the 13th century at Fahr, predicted count Rudolph of Hapsburg's election to the imperial throne, when he gave his horse to the priest. See Stadler, Heiligen-Lexikon, 1, 470; Kaulen, in Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchenlexikon, s.v. (B. P.)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [3]
Goddess in the S. German mythology, of the spinning-wheel principally, and of the household as dependent on it, in behalf of which and its economical management she is often harsh to idle spinners; at her festival thrift is the rule.
