Oda of Brabant (1134-1158) went to extreme measures to avoid an arranged marriage: she cut off her own nose.

Oda of Brabant (1134-1158) went to extreme measures to avoid an arranged marriage: she cut off her own nose. Her family then allowed her to pursue the religious vocation she desired. She eventually became a prioress in Belgium and although revered as a saint, she was never officially canonized.

From her vita: ‘Having closed the door she began to pray to God for help; she seized the sword … and hurried to cut off her nose. But her hand was shaking and she had not been trained to strike with a sword, and her feminine blow was not enough to cut through the greater hardness of the nerves. Indignantly she said, “Oh sword that is considered sharp, how is it that your biting sharpness does not wish to destroy the beauty of my face?!” Saying this, she lifted it up to herself again, and pressing the blade harder, cut off her nose with a sideways stroke and caught the precious river of rosy blood in a basin; and thus she fully destroyed the beauty of her cheeks and face.’

Image source: Jean de Caumont, Blessed Oda detail, stained glass from Park Abbey, Leuven, c. 1638. Photo: Ellen Shortell.