Engratia

Holy Martyr Engratia of Braga (also known as Encratis, Engratia of Carbajales or of Badajoz) was a virgin martyr of the 11th century. She was born around 1030 at Braga, in what is now Portugal, or, according to other authors, at Badajoz, and died around 1050 near Carbajales, close to Zamora in the kingdom of León.

According to the traditional account, when she was about twenty her parents betrothed her to a Moorish noble (or a Christian one, depending on the author); she firmly refused the marriage, since she had taken a vow of perpetual chastity and wished to dedicate her life to God, and she fled. The betrothed, feeling insulted, pursued her and found her in the mountains of Carbajales; in a rage he resolved to kill her and cut off her head, sometimes said to be while she was praying. Her body was thrown into a nearby lake, and her head was carried off by the betrothed as a trophy. Almost all authors link the event to the reign of Ferdinand I of León, around 1050.

Hermits of the region, devoted to Saint Augustine, found her body and laid it in a chapel; later it was moved to the monastery at Carbajales. Her head was, it is said, thrown by the betrothed into the river Guadiana near Badajoz and found by a shepherd, then carried to the cathedral; the Church of Badajoz has venerated her solemnly since 1580. Her liturgical feast is on 17 February, by the Western calendar (new style). She is not to be confused with Saint Engratia of Saragossa, who lived centuries earlier.