According to the 16th-century Spanish historian Ambrosio de Morales, Gaudiosa was born about 695 in Cosgaya, Cantabria.

She married Pelagius of Asturias[2] after they met at an annual fair for the buying and selling of cattle and horses.

Some of the Muslim soldiers fled the battlefield to Liébana, where Gaudiosa was residing, and legend claims that she rallied the townspeople to defend the town.

[4] After her husband died in 737, Gaudiosa became a nun at the Church of Santa Cruz, Cangas de Onis, which had been founded by her son.

[4] Gaudiosa and her husband had two children:[4] Gaudiosa's remains were transferred by King Alfonso X of Castile to the Santa Cueva de Covadonga (Holy Cave of Covadonga), Asturias,[7][8] along with her husband's remains and those of her sister-in-law Adonsina.