St. Agnes of Poitiers is a French saint and abbess, who was "recognized for her holiness and intelligence" and called "model of the conventual life".
She served as abbess of
Holy Cross convent in
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
, France until her death in 586.
Agnes was raised in court and was the adopted and "spiritual"
daughter of
St. Radegund, a
Thuringian
Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon spo ...
princess and
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
queen who founded Holy Cross, a
double monastery
A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East a ...
that housed 200 nuns and was known as a place of learning, in 557.
Agnes and Radegund visited Arles to study the Rule of
St. Caesarius in circa 570; the rule was eventually adopted at Poitiers.
Scholar Brian Brennan stated that Agnes and Radegund were "virtually forced" to accept St. Caesarius' rule because they did not have the support of the local bishop.
Agnes is remembered for her connection and friendship with the poet and hymn writer
St. Venantius Fortunatus, who visited Holy Cross and settled nearby for the remainder of his life.
She and Radegund became his patrons; they sent him gifts and "mountains of food",
[Brennan, p. 341] and he wrote them "highly-stylized verse letters," including greetings to Agnes on the anniversary of her installation as abbess. According to Brennan, "the tone of these personal poems ls light-hearted and jocular suggesting a close and familiar relationship between the poet and his patronesses".
[Brennan, pp. 341–342] The intimacy displayed in Venantius' correspondences to Agnes were construed as "close to being love poems";
[Brennan, p. 342] the intimacy displayed in them resulted in a "malicious rumor among Venantius' contemporaries".
He had to write Agnes assuring her that he only thought of her in a "fraternal or spiritual way",
and the nuns excluded him from the monastery for a time.
Agnes' relics are preserved in the
Church of Saint Radegund; her tomb is a popular pilgrimage in the area.
Her feast day is 13 May.
References
Works cited
* Brennan, Brian, 1985. "St. Radegund and the early development of her cult at Poitiers". ''Journal of Religious History'', 13(4), pp. 340-354.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes of Poitiers, Saint
6th-century Frankish nuns
6th-century Christian nuns
Frankish abbesses
6th-century Christian saints
Female saints of medieval France
586 deaths
Year of birth unknown