Saint Alèthe

Alèthe de Montbard or Aleth, Alette (1070–1107) also known as Alix or Alice, is a saint and mother of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Her feast day is celebrated on 4 April. Alèthe is a variant of the Greek name "Alethea," meaning "truth" or "reality". Alèthe was the daughter of the first Count Bernard I de Montbard (1040–1103) in Burgundy. She spent her childhood at the Château de Montbard and was the sister of André de Montbard, one of the nine founders of the Order of the Knights Templar and fifth Grand master of the order. It seems that Alèthe had initially planned (or her parents had planned for her) to enter a convent, but at the age of fifteen, Tescelin came forward and requested her hand in marriage. This information is gleaned from the Vita Quarta, possibly through Bernard's cousin Robert. In 1085, Alèthe, aged 15, married Tescelin le Roux (also called Tescelin de Fontaine and Tescelin Sorus), a knight and the lord of Fontaine-lès-Dijon, from Châtillon-sur-Seine and vassal of Duke Eudes I of Burgundy. Alèthe hailed from the uppermost ranks of nobility, whereas her husband belonged to a more modest, yet still honorable, noble lineage. Tescelin's parents are not known, but he was related to Josbert de la Ferté, vicomte of Dijon and seneschal of Hugh, Count of Champagne. Josbert played a central role in the foundation of Clairvaux. Together, Alèthe and Tescelin had six sons and a daughter at the Château de Fontaine-lès-Dijon, including Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Gérard, and Saint Ombeline. The room where St Bernard was born, on the ground floor of one of the castle's towers, was converted into a chapel in the 15th century and entrusted to the congregation of the Feuillants (reformed Cistercians) of Dijon. The castle is now part of a group of buildings in Fontaine-lès-Dijon, France, known as Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard (Saint Bernard's Convent and Basilica) which include a convent, basilica and church set in a public park.