Aldegund (also written Adelgundis or Aldegonde) was closely related to the Merovingian (the first dynasty of Frankish kings) royal family. Her parents, honoured as St Walbert and St Bertilia, lived in Hainault in Flanders.

Pressed to marry, she chose virginity instead. She left home and received the veil from Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht. Her Lives say she then walked dry-shod across the River Sambre. This is a legend.

On its banks, at a lonely place called Malbode, she built a small convent. Under the name Maubeuge it became a famous abbey of Benedictine (monks following the Rule of St. Benedict) nuns, later replaced by canonesses. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that there are several early Lives, including one by Hucbald in the tenth century, but none by people who knew her.

Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 138 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

The blessed Aldegund was the daughter of Waldbert, Count of Hainault. Her parents, moved by her example, renounced the world, and distributed their wealth among the poor.

​Aldegundis. Saint, virgin and abbess (c. 639–684), variously written Adelgundis, Aldegonde, etc. She was nearly related to the Merovingian royal family. Her father and mother, afterwards honoured as St. Walbert and St. Bertilia, lived in Flanders in the province of Hainault. Aldegundis was urged to marry, but she chose a life of virginity and, leaving her home, received the veil from Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht. Then she walked dry-shod over the Sambre, and built on its banks a small nunnery at a desert placed called Malbode. This foundation afterwards, under the name Maubeuge, became a famous abbey of Benedictine [monks following the Rule of St. Benedict] nuns, though at a later date these were replaced by canonesses. St. Aldegundis' feast is kept on 30 January. There are several early Lives, but none by contemporaries. Several of these, including the tenth-century biography by Hucbald, are printed by the Bollandists [Jesuit scholars who since the 1600s have critically studied the lives of the saints] (Acta SS., Jan., 11, 1034–35).

Bollandists, as above; Dunbar, Dict. of Saintly Women, (London, 1905), I, 41, 42; Leroy, Histoire de Ste. Aldigonde (Paris, 1883); Chevalier, Bio-bibliogr. (2d ed.), 125, 126.