Other Forms FormsEmbet, Embede, Einbeth, Einbet, Ambeth
Meaning & History
The name of one of the three Beten (or Bethen, Beden), a German group of three saints. They are adored in minor churches and chapels in South Tyrol (Italy), Upper Bavaria, Baden and the Rhineland. Although the cult of the ''Three Virgins' is known since the late Middle Ages, it is only distributed regionally and not contained in the official lists of saints of the Catholic church. St. Einbeth (Embeth) is known in Strasbourg already in the second half of the 12th century. In the second half of the 14th century she is accompanied by Wilbeth and Borbeth. The origin of the three names is unknown. In the time of Romanticism in the 19th century speculation arose that the Three Virgins could be some kind of Christianized pagan Germanic, Celtic or Roman goddesses. Some theorize three saints are from a Germanic or Indo-European Triple Goddess, similar to the Fates of Greece.