Wiborada's Origins in the Leading Nobility of Jonschwil: A Historical Investigation Based on the St Gall Charters and the Vitae

New findings concerning the St Gall charters make it possible to identify the origins of Saint Wiborada (d. 926) more precisely. The redating of two charters written by her brother Hitto, undertaken by Peter Erhart, archivist of the Abbey of St Gall, directly links her family to Jonschwil, an important centre of aristocratic lordship in the Thurgau around 900. This study reconstructs Wiborada’s familial and social environment through an examination of the vitae, contemporary charters, and regional patterns of landownership. It argues that she originated from the leading nobility of Jonschwil and investigates the possible location of her parental home in the Rindal area to the south. A manor (curtis) documented there in 849, together with the description of the route to church in the earlier vita, supports this localisation. The precise location of the manor and the possible identification of her father remain hypotheses.