Saint Guglielma | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13th century Bohemia or Italy |
| Died | c. 1279-1282 Chiaravalle, Milan, Holy Roman Empire (now Italy) |
| Venerated in | Folk Catholicism |
| Patronage | Brunate (unofficially) |
Guglielma or Wilhelmina of Bohemia (Italian: Guglielma Boema; Czech: Vilemína or Blažena; 1210 – 24 October 1281) was an Italian noblewoman, possibly of Czech/Bohemian origin, according to her own assertions the daughter of king Ottokar I of Bohemia. She practiced and preached an alternative, feminized version of Christianity in which she predicted the end of time and her own resurrection as the Holy Spirit incarnate. She is now the unofficial patron saint of Brunate. A painting from ca. 1450 depicting Guglielma blessing Abbess Maddalena Albrizzi and an unknown donor hangs in the Church of San Andrea in Brunate. Barbara Newman has attempted to identify the kneeling figures in the painting as Guglielma's followers, Sister Maifreda da Pirovano and Andrea Saramita, but this is contested.[1]