Honorific Prefix: | Blessed |
Hadewych | |
Honorific Suffix: | O.Praem. |
Death Date: | 14 April, |
Venerated In: | Roman Catholic Church |
Birth Place: | Germany |
Hadewych, O.Praem., (– 14 April,) a.k.a. Hadewig or Hedwig, was abbess of the Premonstratensian monastery of Meer, (now part of Meerbusch) in modern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Hadewych was the daughter of Count Lothair of Meer and Hildegund. Her brother was Hermann Joseph. After her father's death, she accompanied her mother on a pilgrimage to Rome. Upon their return, about 1178, they both took religious vows as nuns and converted the family castle into a monastery. Hadewych became part of the community founded by her mother. She succeeded her mother as abbess in 1183.[1]
Hadewych died on April 14, about the year 1200; devotion to her quickly spread among the Norbertine community.[2] She, as well as her mother and her brother, are venerated as "Blessed" by the Catholic church.[1]