Wilgefortis

Wilgefortis (Liberata, Livrade, Kümmernis, Uncumber) is not a historical person but a legendary folk saint, whose story arose in the 14th century. Her distinguishing feature is a large beard. She has not been canonized, and her veneration is of popular tradition; she is commemorated, according to the record, on 20 July.

The legend, set in Portugal and Galicia, says that she was a noblewoman whom her father had promised in marriage to a Moorish king. To thwart the unwanted wedding she had taken a vow of virginity and prayed to become repulsive. Her prayer was answered, she grew a beard, and the engagement was broken. In anger, her father had her crucified. Her name is thought to derive from the Latin virgo fortis, "courageous virgin". In England she was called Uncumber, in Dutch Ontkommer, in German Kümmernis ("grief"), in Poland Frasobliwa, in the Czech lands Starosta. She was sometimes confused with a female martyr called Liberata in Italy and Librada in Spain, whose feast is on 10 July; Liberata is crucified, beardless and usually crowned, while Wilgefortis is always shown with a beard.

Scholars point to the artistic origin of the legend: the Holy Face of Lucca, an old wooden crucifix of the 11th century, showed a bearded crucified Christ in a long tunic, which north of the Alps seemed to people an androgynous figure; to explain it, the story of a saint was born. Some older images of the crucified Christ were repurposed as Wilgefortis. She is recorded here as a figure of legend, not as a historical person.