Scholastica

Scholastica was born at Nursia (Norcia) around 480, and died on 10 February 543 near Monte Cassino.

Gregory the Great calls her Benedict’s sister. A tradition from the ninth century makes her his twin; the checked article says it is unclear whether ‘twin’ means biological, spiritual or both.

In Gregory’s account Scholastica prayed and a violent storm began, so Benedict could not return to his monastery and they spent the night in discussion. Three days later he saw her soul rise to heaven as a white dove.

The article says she is traditionally regarded as the foundress of the Benedictine nuns, and that she established a hermitage about five miles from Monte Cassino, described as the first convent of Benedictine nuns. It notes she may have lived there with one or two other women rather than in a single hermitage.

Venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. Feast 10 February.

Patron of Benedictine nuns, of education and of convulsive children; invoked against storms and rain (checked article).

These stories are part of how Scholastica has been remembered, but they are not established biography. Each is labelled with when it first appears in writing.

• Twin sisterNinth-century tradition

  Gregory calls her Benedict’s sister. The twin relationship first appears in a ninth-century tradition; the workbook’s ‘twin sister’ is that later account.