9th century. Saints Judith and Salome are said to have been English
women of royal blood, perhaps close relatives. They were anchorites at
the monastery of Oberaltaich in Bavaria, Germany.
Although the tradition is late, it has been suggested that Salome is
Edburga, the beautiful, but rather shocking, daughter of King Offa of
Mercia. She mistakenly poisoned her husband, King Beorhtric of the West
Saxons, instead of an enemy. She was driven out of England for having
committed this outrage. The Emperor Charlemagne gave her a rich
monastery to govern, but he soon deposed her because of her scandalous
behaviour.
Thereafter she wandered about Europe with her maidservant begging for
alms at Pavia (Patavium), Italy, or Passau (Patavia), Germany. If Asser
made a mistake in his record and she was found in Passau, there is a
link between Edburga and Salome, because her biographer said that the
saint came to the monastery from Passau. Thus, the princess may have
repented by submitting to the penitential life of a hermit. Reputedly
Judith, her aunt, was sent to find her and joined her in the monastery.
Another version of the story expands on the above. It relates that only
the repentant Salome was an exiled Anglo-Saxon princess and that Judith
was a Bavarian widow who befriended her.
It is evident that the story is highly uncertain, though the saints are
real. Sometimes Judith is the princess, at other times Salome, and
still others both are of royal blood
(
Attwater2,
Benedictines,
Coulson,
Encyclopaedia,
Farmer).