Bridget

Bridget, St. 1. An Irish saint (453-523). She entered a convent at 14, and during her life founded four monasteries. She is one of the three renowned saints of Ireland, and was also much honoured in Scotland, especially by the Douglases, of whom she was the patron saint. Her name in its form of St. Bride is also to be found in England, e.g. Bridewell (q.v.).

2. A Swedish saint (1302-1373). She was of the Swedish royal blood, and married young. With her husband she made pilgrimages to St. Olaf at Drontheim, and to St. Iago of Compostella. In 1344 her husband died, and she devoted herself to the religious life. She founded a new Order (Augustinian) with some additions of her own, and there were 74 monasteries of this order established in Europe. In 1349 she established a hospice for Swedes in Rome, and after a pilgrimage to Palestine she returned to Rome, where she died. She was canonised in 1391.