LIBERATA, saint. — Unknown to the oldest hagiographic tradition, she was nevertheless greatly venerated in the Middle Ages; her existence is much debated and problematic. She appears to be one of the many names under which the hypothetical s. Wilgefortis (v.) was venerated in the northern regions of Europe.
There is, however, a twofold tradition, which makes L. either a Spanish martyr or an Italian nun and virgin. According to the Spanish legend, L. was the daughter of a pagan king, Catellius, whose wife, Calsia, gave birth to nine girls in a single delivery, including L. Fearing her husband, Calsia made the girls disappear, entrusting them to various nurses, who brought them up as Christians. When persecution later broke out, the girls were arrested and brought before their father’s tribunal. He recognized them and tried to make them renounce the faith in order to save their lives, but in vain. He then granted them some time so that they could reflect, but the girls took advantage of it to flee. They were nevertheless found and killed. L.’s body was transferred to Siguenza; there she is venerated on 20 July. According to the Italian tradition, on the other hand, L. was the daughter of a certain Giovanni, lord of Mont Cenis. One day, seeing, together with her sister Faustina, a poor widow inconsolable over the loss of her husband, she decided to renounce marriage and consecrate herself to God. L. and Faustina fled from home and, accompanied by a monk, went to Como, where the bishop Agrippinus welcomed them among the virgins of the new Benedictine community. They are said to have died after a holy life, respectively on 18 and 15 January 580.
BIBL. BHL. 7042 sqq. and Suppl.: Acta SS. Ianuarii, II, Paris 1863, p. 560 sqq.; Acta SS. Iulii, V, ibid. 1868, pp. 50–70; H. Delchaye, Les légendes hagiographiques, 3rd ed., Brussels 1927, p. 103 sqq.