Noble family. At age 16 she and other Christians fled Spain for Gaul (modern France) to escape the persecutions of Emperor Aurelian. They were located, however, and imprisoned. Legend says that while she was in prison, one of the jailers tried to rape her; a bear that was being used at a nearby amphitheatre attacked the guard and rescued her. However, she and the rest of the group were later martyred.
Tradition says that almost immediately upon her death a blind man named Aubertus asked for her intervention and had his sight restored. His first act was to run to her execution site and give her body a decent burial. A chapel was soon built at the grave, followed later by the Abbey of Sens. Other churches in France have borne her name, and in times past she had a strong devotion. This inevitably led to her association with pious fictions and legend.