Our Lady of Vendôme (), also known in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

as Our Lady of Porto or Our Lady of Porto of the Eternal Salvation, is a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, of particular historical veneration in the city of

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, of which she is the patroness saint. As a sign of this devotion, Our Lady of Vendôme features in the coat of arms of Porto.

History

The devotion to Our Lady of Vendôme has its origins in the period of the ''

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

'', and is associated with an historical episode popularly known as the Army of the Gascons (). Around the year 990, nobleman Munio Viegas led an army of knights from

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

that had disembarked on the mouth of the

Douro River The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...

to fight the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

who at the time ruled

. With the knights came a French prelate, Nonegus (often referred to as a "Bishop of Vendôme", although that city was never the seat of an episcopal see) who had brought along a stone image of Our Lady that had originally been in the city of Vendôme. Following the Christian victory over the Moors, as an act of thanksgiving for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin in the battle, the city was dedicated to the Virgin Mary as ''Civitas Virginis'' (the city of the Virgin), and put under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of Our Lady of Vendôme. Munio Viegas and the Gascons are credited with having rebuilt the city walls: the image of Our Lady of Vendôme was placed over one of its main gates, which was christened the Door of Vendôme (). The image was venerated by the city's population throughout the centuries, and was particularly invoked during

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s. The original image of Our Lady of Vendôme is now in the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady,

. The Door of Vendôme (which location shifted to the city centre as Porto grew through the centuries) was demolished in 1855.

References

{{Subject bar , portal1= Portugal , portal2= Catholicism , portal3= Christianity Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus History of Catholicism in Portugal