Blaesilla was the daughter of Paula

Saint Paula

Saint Paula was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest "senatorial" families which frivolously claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli...

, and sister of Eustochium

Eustochium

Saint Eustochium . Born Eustochium Julia at Rome, she was the daughter of Saint Paula and is also venerated as a saint and was an early Desert Mother. She was the third of four daughters of the Roman Senator Toxotius, for whom Jerome made a lot of fanciful claims of ancestry. After the death of...

, from one of the Senatorial

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 families of Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

. Blaesilla died young, under the influence of Jerome

Jerome

Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...

. She, and her sister and mother (and Jerome), are accorded Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

hood by the Roman Catholic church.

Blaesilla, as a young girl, showed a strong zest for life. Her mother Paula, however, had joined one of Jerome's women's groups, and begun to adopt his aescetic practices, encouraging Blaesilla and her siblings to do the same. Blaesilla preferred to continue enjoying herself.

In 384, Blaesilla suffered a near-fatal illness, but gradually recovered. Upon recovery she adopted Jerome's aesceticism, but her weakened body collapsed under the stress, and four months later she was dead. Much of the Roman populace blamed Jerome for her death. Her mother, Paula, was devastated, but Jerome complained that Paula's grief was excessive, and he insisted that Blaesilla should not be mourned. Jerome's actions were widely seen as heartless, polarising Roman opinion against him, and he was soon expelled from Rome on the official charge of having had "improper relations" with Paula.

See also

• Jerome
  Jerome
  Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
  
  
• Saint Paula
  Saint Paula
  Saint Paula was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest "senatorial" families which frivolously claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli...
  
  
• The Wife of Bath's Tale (which is partly based on the relationship between Jerome and Paula)