Montaine

Montaine (Saint Montaine) is a saint honored in the Sologne in France, said to have been an abbess in the 8th century. She is commemorated on 1 October. She is venerated in the Western Church.

According to some traditions she was a daughter of Pepin the Short, according to others a farm girl. Going to the fountain for water, she dropped her jug, which broke; her mistress forced her to fetch water in baskets. Montaine managed to bring water that way, and the fountain was considered miraculous. She is patron of the Sologne.

The commune of Sainte-⁠Montaine, near Aubigny-⁠sur-⁠Nère in the Cher, bears her name. The village church keeps the saint's head in a silver reliquary of the 16th century. A local pilgrimage honors her on Whit Monday. A chapel was built beside the spring; the spring, abundant, gives rise to the stream Boute Vive, a tributary of the Grande Sauldre.

The account rests on local tradition, and the sources give no historical details.