LIBERATA, Saint. - Unknown to the earliest hagiographic tradition, she was nevertheless much venerated in the Middle Ages; her existence is much debated and problematic. It seems that she is one of the many names under which the hypothetical St. Wilgefortis (v.) was venerated in the northern regions of Europe.
There exists, in any case, a twofold tradition, which makes L. either a Spanish martyr or an Italian virgin nun. In the Spanish legend, L. was the daughter of a pagan king Catellius, whose wife Calsia in a single childbirth gave birth to nine girls, among them L. Out of fear of her husband, Calsia made the girls disappear, entrusting them to various nurses, who educated them in the Christian faith. When the persecution later broke out, the girls were arrested and brought precisely before their father's tribunal. He recognized them and sought to make them renounce the faith so that he might save them: but in vain. He then granted them a little time to reflect, but the maidens took advantage of it to flee. They were, however, found again and killed. The body of L. was transferred to Sigüenza; there she is venerated on July 20. 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 received them among the virgins of the new Benedictine family. They are said to have died after a holy life on January 18 and 15 respectively, in the year 580.