Paulina of Thuringia
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Paulina of Thuringia or Pauline von Arnstadt (died 13 March 1107) was a pious and wealthy noblewoman of the Holy Roman Empire who founded the double monastery of Paulinzella.[1] She is recognized as a saint in the Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church. Her feast day is March 14.[1][2]
Paulina was born around 1050 in Calw to a nobleman named Moricho, who himself became a lay brother of Hirsau Abbey. She was twice married and twice widowed. After the death of her second husband, Ulrich von Scharplan, she retired to establish a hermitage in the forest which became Paulinzella. Her daughter and her son Werner joined her.[3]
Paulina became famous for her needlework.[4] She "had no superior and scarcely any equal in the province of Thuringia where she lived, in the making of gold borders and stoles."[5] Her nuns, too, practised needlework and weaving to support the foundation.[3]
Paulina went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and also to Rome. During the latter trip she received the approval of the pope for Paulinzella.[6] On her return journey, she fell from her horse and broke her arm.[6] It never fully healed and she died at Münsterschwarzach Abbey while on her way to Hirsau to escort her monks to their newly built cloisters.[1][6] She was immediately hailed as a saint by the people.[5] She was interred in her basilica at Paulinzella in 1122.[6] The main source for her life is her Latin biography, Vita Paulinae, written by her confessor, Sigeboto, around 1150.[3]