Brewer's: Fides

The goddess of Faith, etc.

Fides

(2 syl.). Mother of John of Leyden. Not knowing that her son was the “prophet” and ruler of Westphalia, but thinking that the prophet had caused his death, she went to Munster to curse the new-crowned monarch. The moment she saw him she recognised him, but the “prophet-king,” surrounded by his courtiers, pretended not to know her. Fides, to save her son annoyance, declared she had made a mistake, and was confined in the dungeon of the palace at Munster, where John visited her and was forgiven. When her son set fire to his palace, Fides rushed into the flames and perished with him. (Meyerbeer's opera of Le Prophète.)

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