Leodegar of Poitiers ( la, Leodegarius; french: Léger; 615 – October 2, 679 AD) was a martyred Burgundian Bishop of Autun. He was the son of Saint Sigrada and the brother of

Saint Warinus Warinus of Poitiers (also ''Warin, Guerin, Gerinus, Varinus''; died 677 AD) was the Franco-Burgundian Count of Poitiers and Count of Paris. He was from an established noble family. He opposed Ebroin's efforts to expand Neustrian power and was kille ...

. Leodegar was an opponent of Ebroin, the Frankish Mayor of the Palace of

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...

, and the leader of the faction of Burgundian nobles. His torture and death made him a martyr and saint.

Early life

Leodegar was the son of a high-ranking Burgundian nobleman, Bodilon,

Count of Poitiers Among the people who have borne the title of Count of Poitiers (or '' Poitou'', in what is now France but in the Middle Ages became part of Aquitaine) are: *Bodilon * Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon * Hatton (735-778) Carolingian Counts ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and St. Sigrada of Alsace, who later became a nun in the convent of Sainte-Marie at

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital o ...

. His brother was Warinus. He spent his childhood in Paris at the court of

Clotaire II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the r ...

, King of the Franks and was educated at the palace school. When he was older he was sent to Poitiers, where there was a long-established cathedral school, to study under his maternal uncle, Desiderius (Dido), Bishop of Poitiers. When he was twenty, his uncle made him an archdeacon. Shortly afterwards Leodegar became a priest, and in 650, with the bishop's permission, became a monk at the monastery of St Maxentius in

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...

. He was soon elected abbot, and initiated reforms including the introduction of the

Benedictine rule The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

Career

Around 656, Leodegar was called to the Neustrian court by the widowed Queen Bathilde to assist in the government of the united kingdoms and in the education of her children. Then in 659, he was installed at the see of Autun, in Burgundy; he again undertook the work of reform and held a council at Autun in 661. The council denounced

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

. He made reforms among the secular clergy and in the religious communities, and had three baptisteries erected in the city. The church of Saint-Nazaire was enlarged and embellished, and a refuge established for the indigent. Leodegar also caused the public buildings to be repaired and the old Roman walls of Autun to be restored.MacErlean, Andrew. "St. Leodegar". The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 October 2017 His authority at Autun placed him as a leader among the Franco-Burgundian nobles. Leodegar became one of the leaders of the opposition against Ebroin, mayor of the palace in Neustria. Ebroin accused Leodegar before King Clothar III. but the king then died in 673, while the trial was still going on. Ebroin now installed Clothar's next-eldest brother, Theoderic III, as king. As the mayor denied the nobles of Neutria and Burgundy access to the king, they called in the youngest brother,

Childeric II Childeric II (c. 653 – 675) was the king of Austrasia from 662 and of Neustria and Burgundy from 673 until his death, making him sole King of the Franks for the final two years of his life. Childeric was the second eldest son of King Clovis ...

, who had been king of Austrasia since 662 and now assumed rule over Neustria and Burgundy as well. Ebroin was interned at

Luxeuil Luxeuil-les-Bains () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. History Luxeuil (sometimes rendered Luxeu in older texts) was the Roman Luxovium and contained many fine buildings ...

and Theoderic sent to St. Denis.Eugen Ewig, "Die frankischen Teilreiche im 7. Jahrhundert (613-714)", ''Trierer Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kunst des Trierer Landes und seiner Nachbargebiete'' 22(1953), 85-144 (Nachdruck in Eugen Ewig, ''Spätantikes und fränkisches Gallien. Gesammelte Schriften (1952-1973)'', Band 1 (Beihefte der Francia 3,1), Zürich/München 1976, S. 172-230), S. 127-129. Leodegar, who had supported this change, soon ran into conflict with the new king as the latter surrounded himself with advisors from Austrasia. The bishop also criticized the king for his uncanonical marriage to his first cousin Bilichild. After finding himself on the losing side in a hereditary dispute, the king banished Leodegar to Luxeuil as well. When Childeric II was murdered at Bondi in 675, by a disaffected Frank, Theoderic III was installed as king in Neustria, making Leudesius his mayor. Ebroin took advantage of the chaos to make his escape from Luxeuil and hasten to the court. In a short time Ebroin had Leudesius murdered and became mayor once again, still Leodegar's implacable enemy. Leger dutchms 500

About 675 the Duke of Champagne, the

Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and the Bishop of Valence, stirred up by Ebroin, attacked Autun, and Leodegar fell into their hands. At Ebroin's instigation, Leodegar's eyes were gouged out and the sockets cauterized, and his tongue was cut out. Some years later Ebroin persuaded the king that Childeric had been assassinated at the instigation of Leodegar. The bishop was seized again, and, after a mock trial, was degraded and condemned to further exile, at

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is aroun ...

, in Normandy. Near Sarcing he was led out into a forest on Ebroin's order and beheaded. A dubious testament drawn up at the time of the council of Autun has been preserved as well as the Acts of the council. A letter which he caused to be sent to his mother after his mutilation is likewise extant. In 782, his relics were translated from the site of his death, Sarcing in Artois, to the site of his earliest hagiography – the Abbey of St Maxentius (Saint-Maixent) near Poitiers. Later they were removed to Rennes and thence to Ebreuil, which place took the name of Saint-Léger in his honour. Some relics are still kept in the cathedral of Autun and the Grand Séminaire of Soissons. In 1458 Cardinal Rolin caused his feast day to be observed as a holy day of obligation. For sources to his biography, there are two early (though not contemporaneous) Lives, drawn from the same lost source (Krusch 1891), and also two later ones (one of them in verse).

Cultural significance

Historically there was a custom among wealthy

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

merchants to sell in May, spend the summer outside of London, then to return on St Leger's Day. This gave rise to the saying used in regards to financial trading markets, "Sell in May and go away, and come on back on St. Leger's Day".

Notes

Sources

Primary sources

*''Liber Historiae Francorum'', edited by B. Krusch, in ''MGH SS rer. Merov.'' vol. ii. *''Passio Leudegarii I & II'', edited by B. Krusch and W. Levison, in ''MGH SS rer. Merov.'' vol v. *''Vita sancti Leodegarii'', by Ursinus, then a monk of St Maixent ( Migne, ''Patrilogia Latina'', vol. xcvi.) *''Vita metrica'' in ''Poetae Latini aevi Carolini'', vol. iii. (''Mod. Germ. Hist.'') *''Epistolae aevi Merovingici collectae 17'', edited by W. Gundlach, in ''MGH EE'' vol iii.

Secondary sources

* * *J. Friedrich, ''Zur Geschichte des Hausmeiers Ebroin,'' in the ''Proceedings of the Academy of Munich'' (1887, pp. 42–61) *

J. B. Pitra ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

, ''Histoire de Saint Léger'' (

, 1846)

External links

Patron Saints Index: Saint Leodegarius
{{Authority control 615 births 679 deaths 7th-century Burgundian bishops Bishops of Autun 7th-century Christian martyrs 7th-century Frankish saints 7th-century Frankish writers