View source for Idesbald

{{Redirect|Saint Idesbald|the hamlet|Saint-Idesbald}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Idesbald
|birth_date= c. 1100
|death_date=1167
|feast_day= 18 April
|venerated_in= [[Catholic Church]]
|image= Incorrupt body of St Idesbald.jpg
|imagesize=
|caption= [[Bernard Picart]], ''The Incorrupt Body of St Idesbald'' (1714)
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|titles= Abbot
|beatified_date= 1894
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
|major_shrine= Bruges
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}
'''Saint'''<ref group="note">Some sources refer to him as ''blessed'' or ''[[Beatification|Beatus]]'' rather than ''Saint''. See [http://saints.sqpn.com/blessed-idesbald-of-dunes/ saints.sqpn.com] and [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/49925|publisher=santiebeati.it santiebeati.it]</ref>   '''Idesbald''' (''Idesbaldus'') (c. 1100–1167) was a [[Cistercian]] monk and [[abbot]] of [[Ten Duinen Abbey]].
==Life==
As a youth Idesbald was a [[courtier]] and [[page (servant)|page]] to the [[Count of Flanders]].  It is believed that he was related to or proceeded from the noble family of Van der Gracht, lords of [[Moorsel]].<ref name="Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune">{{cite web|title=Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune|url=http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/49925|publisher=santiebeati.it|accessdate=16 May 2013}}</ref>
He became a [[canon priest]] at [[Veurne]] in 1135.  In 1150, he became a [[Cistercian]] [[monk]] at the abbey of Our Lady of the Dunes (Ten Duinen), serving as abbot of this foundation from 1155 to 1167.
==Veneration==
[[File:Duinenkerkje.bidkapel01.jpg|thumb|left|Chapel behind the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Duinenkerk, [[Ostend]], [[Belgium]], with [[stained glass]] representations of [[Saint Godelieve]] and Saint Idesbald]]
Idesbald was buried in the abbey in a [[lead]] [[coffin]]. In 1577, the [[Geuzen]] plundered the abbey, and the monks transported Idesbald's [[relics]] to a [[monastic grange]] at [[Bogaerde]].<ref name="Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune"/> On 13 November 1623 his coffin was opened in the presence of several witnesses so that the relics could be inspected and authenticated; the body was reported to be [[incorruptibility|incorrupt]]. For days, the body was shown to visitors.<ref name="Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune"/> In 1625, during Infanta [[Isabella Clara Eugenia]]'s [[royal progress|progress]] through Flanders, the body was displayed to the Infanta and her court, including [[Ambrogio Spinola]], [[Alfonso de la Cueva, 1st Marquis of Bedmar|Cardinal de la Cueva]], and the [[Giovanni Francesco Guidi di Bagno|papal nuncio]].<ref>Inscription on [[Bernard Picart]]'s engraving of the occasion.</ref>
Idesbald's [[relics]] were [[translation (relics)|translated]] again, this time to [[Bruges]], in 1796 to avoid having them destroyed by [[French Revolutionary Wars|Revolutionary]] troops.<ref name="Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune"/> In 1830, the relics were placed in a chapel associated with the abbey of Our Lady of the Potteries.<ref name="Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune"/> Idesbald's cult was officially approved in 1894 by a decree issued by the [[Diocese of Bruges]].<ref name="Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune"/>
In 2015 the lead coffin thought to contain his remains was opened. Both lead carbonate from the coffin and the skeletal remains inside were [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]]-dated. The dates reveal that the remains are not those of St Idesbald, as they date to the later 15th or early 16th century. It is hypothesised that the coffin and skeleton represent the burial of a later abbot<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Van Strydonck|first1=Mark|last2=Boudin|first2=Mathieu|last3=den Brande|first3=Tess Van|last4=Saverwyns|first4=Steven|last5=Van Acker|first5=Jan|last6=Lehouck|first6=Alexander|last7=Vanclooster|first7=Dirk|date=2016-02-01|title=14C-dating of the skeleton remains and the content of the lead coffin attributed to the Blessed Idesbald (Abbey of the Dunes, Koksijde, Belgium)|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports|volume=5|pages=276–284|doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.027|bibcode=2016JArSR...5..276V }}</ref>
The village of [[Saint-Idesbald]], which gained fame as an artists' quarter, takes its name from him.
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Saint Idesbald}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080401075723/http://saints.sqpn.com/sainti32.htm Idesbald]
*{{in lang|it}} [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/49925 Beato Idesbaldo delle Dune]
{{S-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef| before=Alberon}}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Abbot of Dunes]] | years=1155 – 1167}}
{{s-aft| after=Walter of Dikkebus}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1100s births]]
[[Category:1167 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Belgian Cistercians]]
[[Category:Belgian Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Incorrupt saints]]
[[Category:People from Koksijde]]
[[Category:People from Veurne]]
[[Category:Abbots of Dunes]]
[[Category:12th-century people from the county of Flanders]]
[[Category:12th-century Christian abbots]]