St Uncumber’s Day July 20th

My jaw literally dropped when I first came across a reference to St Wilgerfortis.  She is also known as St Uncumber. The stories of early Catholic martyrs, particularly female ones, are often so bizarre that I’m surprised I can be surprised.  But let’s uncumber the story.

Her Portuguese father promised her in marriage to a Moorish King or in other versions, a Sicilian King.  She had made a vow of virginity.  She prayed to God to make her repulsive so that the marriage would not go ahead.  God heard her prayers and she grew a beard.  The marriage was cancelled.  But her angry dad had her crucified. 

She is normally shown on a cross in female attire with a prominent beard. She is the patron saint of people who are trapped in unwanted or abusive relationships. So those who need to uncumber themselves from an unsuitable partner.  Wilgerfortis’s name is thought to derive from Latin “virgo fortis” meaning “courageous virgin”.  She goes under different names in different parts of Europe.  For instance, in France she is known as Débarras meaning “riddance”.

The cult was suppressed in the 16th Century but continued in some areas into the 19th Century.  The location of a statue to her in Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey suggests she had some influence in England late into the medieval period.

The obvious trans aspects of her story gives her contemporary resonance.  Her status as protector of those wanting to uncumber themselves from unsuitable relationships has interesting discontinuities with traditional catholic theology.  I would love to hear a medieval Catholic discussion about her role.

She is both woman and man, and by being crucified both human and divine.  She is often shown with only one shoe on.  One explanation of this is that a fiddler played at her feet to comfort her during he death agonies.  So she dropped a silver shoe to reward the fiddler.  Others propose that the shoe is a symbol of female genitalia. One shoe on, one off can, therefore, be a symbol of shared male and female genitalia?

For a modern discussion on her role read this article; https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/7/616

How the cult developed is not known but a suggestion is made that early medieval icons of the crucifixion were dressed in gowns that were confused with female attire.  And it caught on providing comfort for people the image talked to. 

Perhaps, she shows the power of Art to break down traditional values.  There above you on the Church wall, the image evokes Christ, But both female and yet male. Human and Divine. And graphical condemning male violence against women. So a Saint who is non-binary, existing in the gaps between the normative?

Click here to see my post on St Agatha.

First published July 2025