Statue représentant saint Gontran sur la partie gauche du porche d'entrée de la basilique sainte Clotilde à Paris, VIIème arrondissement.
Saint Gontran
Petit-fils de Clovis et roi de Bourgogne en 561, il connut cette époque féroce et cruelle où lui-même multiplia les crimes. Il tenta de se racheter par ses grandes libéralités envers les pauvres, qui le surnommèrent "le bon roi Gontran" et les églises. Reclus à la fin de sa vie au monastère Saint-Marcel de Chalon, il fut proclamé saint par son peuple. Saint Grégoire de Tours relate plusieurs miracles qu’il aurait opérés avant et après sa mort (en 593) et dont il fut lui-même témoin.
Saint Gontran et Childebert II, Grandes Chroniques de France.
Gontran, roi de Bourgogne
Né vers 525, fils du roi Clotaire Ier et petit-fils de Clovis, Gontran hérita du royaume de Burgondie en 561 ; son lot comprenait aussi l’Orléanais, le Berry, Arles et Marseille et sera augmenté, à la mort de son frère Caribert, en 567, de l’Avranchin, des villes de Saintes, Angoulême, Périgueux, Agen et Nantes, et encore d’une part de Paris… Ces partages ne pouvaient que susciter convoitises et violences. Le règne fut donc émaillé de luttes fratricides mais autant d’oeuvres charitables et pieuses. Gontran réunit plusieurs conciles à Lyon, Chalon, sa capitale et à Mâcon, se portant garant des canons (lois ecclésiastiques) édictés. Il remit Luxeuil à saint Colomban, donna de nombreux biens aux abbayes, fit construire diverses églises dont celle de Saint-Marcel où il fut enterré. Thaumaturge, c’est-à-dire qui guérit de façon miraculeuse, le « bon roi », ainsi que le surnomme son contemporain l’historiographe Grégoire, évêque de Tours, fut honoré comme un saint dans l’église chalonnaise et inscrit au calendrier liturgique jusqu’en 1765, à la date anniversaire de sa mort, le 28 mars 592.- MCB
SOURCE : http://celebrations-de-bourgogne.org/561-gontran-roi-de-bourgogne/
Un pauvre averti Gontran et Frédégonde ordonne la mutilation d'Olericus. Royal 16 G VI f. 69. Livre III, chapitre 23. Paris
Saint Gontran
Roi de Bourgogne (+ 592)
Confesseur.
Petit-Fils de Clovis et roi de Bourgogne, il connut cette époque féroce et cruelle où la reine Frédégonde fit assassiner sa sœur, son beau-frère, son mari et l'évêque Prétextat. Clotaire II fit périr Brunehaut, reine d'Austrasie, en l'attachant à un cheval au galop. Lui-même, saint Gontran fit bien quelques écarts dans la fidélité conjugale, répudia sa femme, en vint à tuer son médecin, crimes qu'il ajoutait à bien d'autres. Et puis, il se convertit, pleura ses péchés pendant le reste de sa vie, racheta ses fautes par ses grandes libéralités envers les pauvres, qui le surnommèrent "le bon roi Gontran". Vers la fin de sa vie, il entra au monastère Saint Marcel de Chalon sur Saône. Peu après sa mort, il fut proclamé saint par son peuple.
À Chalon-sur-Saône, en 592, le trépas de saint Gontran, roi de Bourgogne, qui expia ses fautes dans la pénitence et la piété et multiplia les dons en faveur des pauvres, des églises et des monastères.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/876/Saint-Gontran.htmlGontran ( mort en
592 )
Gontran est roi de
Bourgogne (ou Burgonde) de 561 à 592 année de sa mort Il est le fils de
Clotaire Ier et d'Ingonde. A la mort de son père, Gontran, est âgé de 30 ans
environ, il reçoit en héritage l'ancien royaume Burgonde (que l'on commence à
appeler la Bourgogne), augmenté au nord jusque Melun, du Berry, de l'Orléanais,
quelques régions provençales : Arles et Marseille. Il fait d'Orléans sa
capitale, qu'il transfère ensuite à Chalon-sur-Saône. Lors du décès de son
frère Caribert, le 18 novembre 567, il peut acquérir Nantes, l'Avranchin et
quelques cités d'Aquitaine, mais Paris reste dans l'indivision entre Sigebert
Ier, Chilpéric Ier et lui. Gontran souffre de crises de violence soudaine ce
qui explique peut-être son caractère instable (il tient tantôt avec l'un ou
l'autre de ses frères). Mais il est considéré comme un bon roi et même le
premier thaumaturge. Après l'assassinat de Galswinthe, il prend le parti de
Sigebert contre Chilpéric. 571, nouvelle invasion Lombarde en Gaule. Le chef
des armées de Gontran, Momble, les bat à Chamousse. 573, Gontran aide son frère
Sigebert contre Chilpéric, lequel occupe les cités de Tours et de Poitiers,
données à Sigebert lors du partage de 567. Chilpéric est battu. Gontran et
Sigebert se fâchent. Gontran fait volte-face et se rapproche de Chilpéric qui
reprend la lutte contre Sigebert, et réoccupe Tours et Poitiers. 575, Sigebert
est tué, son fils Childebert, mineur, devient roi d'Austrasie, son oncle
Gontran, dont les fils légitimes et illégitimes sont morts, décide de l'adopter
et d'en faire son héritier. L'alliance entre l'oncle et le neveu a lieu en 577
à Pompierre, près de Neufchâteau. 579, Gontran et Childebert II réclament à
nouveau à Chilpéric la restitution de l'Aquitaine, celui-ci fait la sourde
oreille. L'alliance de l'oncle et du neveu ayant échouée, Childebert abandonne
Gontran et se fait adopter par Chilpéric ! 582, Childebert réclame à Gontran la
moitié de la ville de Marseille, qu'il lui a donnée à la mort de son père.
Gontran la lui rend. 582, Chilpéric cherche à enlever à Gontran le Berry, après
s'être déjà emparé de l'Agenais et du Périgord. 583, l'armée de Chilpéric et de
Childebert attaque celle de Gontran à Châteaumeillant, mais est battue. 584,
septembre, Chilpéric meurt en laissant un enfant de 4 mois, Clotaire,
Frédégonde gouverne en son nom. Gontran reste seul, les autres fils de Clotaire
étant morts, il peut agir en souverain surtout que Frédégonde, en automne est
venue se mettre sous sa protection, Childebert, roi d'Austrasie, n'a que 14
ans. Gontran use de diplomatie pour sceller une alliance entre la Bourgogne et
l'Austrasie, mais il doit s'opposer à Egidius (évêque de Reims) et au duc
Gontran- Boson (duc austrasien au pouvoir, intrigant, ami de Mérovée, fils
rebelle de Chilpéric. Il pousse Gondovald à mener une expédition contre la
Gaule, puis l'abandonne. Il est hostile à Brunehaut et se réfugie auprès
d'Agéricus, évêque de verdun. Il est condamné à mort.) Les Grands d'Austrasie
essaient d'éliminer Gontran et proclament en décembre 584, un aventurier
Gondovald qui se prétend le fils de Clotaire Ier ( il avait été recueilli par
Caribert puis Sigebert, puis s'enfuit en Italie en 561). Gondovald s'empare de
Périgueux, Angoulême, Toulouse et Bordeaux. 585, janvier, Gontran renouvelle
avec son neveu Childebert II, qui vient d'avoir sa majorité, l'accord de
Pompierre, l'incite à reconquérir son royaume aquitain contre Gondovald et
l'exhorte à se débarrasser du parti austrasien. Gontran et Childebert battent
Gondovald à Saint- Bertrand de Commines et l'exécutent. Ils envahissent la
Septimanie afin de venger la mort de Herménégild. 587, l'armée de Gontran,
dirigée par le chef Austrevald, échoue dans la lutte contre les Basques. Le 28
novembre Gontran et Childebert se rencontrent à Andelot, près de Chaumont, aux
confins de la Bourgogne et de l'Austrasie, en présence de Brunehaut, les deux
rois signent un traité par le quel, ils s'engagent à donne r leur royaume au
survivant et une mutuelle assistance. 588 Lors de son expédition contre les
Wisigoths d'Espagne, Gontran s'empare de Carcassonne, mais doit se retirer. La
Septimanie reste aux Wisigoths. 592, le 28 mars, Gontran, roi de Bourgogne,
meurt et suivant les accords d'Andelot, Childebert II hérite du royaume de son
oncle. Il n'y a plus que deux royaumes : la Neustrie (gouvernée par
Frédégonde), l'Austrasie et la Bourgogne réunis (gouvernés par Childebert II).
Gontran est inhumé à l'abbaye de Saint Marcel, près de Chalon-sur-Saône.
SOURCE : http://www.histoirdefrance.fr/histoire/gontran.htm
Chilpéric
Ier, Charibert Ier, Gontran et Sigebert Ier. Grandes chroniques de France,
Livre II, Chapitre 23. Ms. 536, 24r. XVe siècle
Saint Gontran
Gontran était le
petit-fils de Clovis et de Clotilde. Il hérite du royaume mérovingien qui, à
partir d'Orléans, comprenait la Bourgogne, le Berry et une partie de la
Provence. Dans les annales du 6e siècle, on trouve des pages très sombres,
pleines de sang et de crimes. Les autres frères de Gontran étaient Charibert,
Chilpéric et Sigebert, cruels et féroces ainsi que leurs épouses : il suffit de
nommer Frédégonde. Dans ce milieu terrible, le roi Gontran montrait un coeur
bon et généreux. Comme l'atteste l'historien réputé de cette époque Grégoire de
Tours, il conserva toujours la pureté de sa foi. Il avait surtout à se
préserver de ses proches : la politique de cette époque était celle de la
"liquidation" réciproque !
Le "bon roi
Gontran" réorganise son royaume en faisant de Chalon-sur-Saône sa
capitale. Il contribue à la fondation de plusieurs monastères, dont l'abbaye de
Luxeuil avec saint Colomban, et jusqu'en Suisse à Agaune dans le Valais.
Gontran fut artisan de paix et de réconciliation, non seulement dans l'exercice
difficile de la politique mais aussi dans le pardon héroïque ; ainsi envers
ceux qui, pour le priver d'héritiers, avaient supprimé ses enfants au berceau.
Plein de compassion pour les malheureux, le roi Gontran le manifeste notamment
en 580, quand ses États furent ravagés par une dysenterie contagieuse appelée
"feu de saint Antoine". Il s'impose alors des jeûnes rigoureux, fait
le sacrifice de sa vie pour ses sujets et organise les secours. Il termina sa
vie à Chalon le 28 mars 592.
Gontran est un nom d'origine germanique ; il vient de gund = guerre
et de Ans, nom d'une divinité teutonne.
Rédacteur: Frère Bernard
Pineau, OP
SOURCE : http://www.lejourduseigneur.com/Web-TV/Saints/Gontran
Gontran,
roi de Bourgogne, devant Childebert II. (FR 2813) fol. 50v. Grandes Chroniques
de France. France, Paris, XIVème siècle (6,5 x 6,5).
Saint Gontran
Gontran est à
l’origine du diocèse de Maurienne. C’est sous son règne que sainte Thècle
apporte les reliques de Saint Jean-Baptiste
Son histoire :
Né en 525, Gontran est le
second fils de Clotaire Ier et donc le petit fils de Clovis et de sainte
Clotilde. A la mort de Clotaire en 561, le royaume des Francs est partagé entre
ses quatre fils ; Gontran reçoit la Bourgogne et plusieurs territoires
dont la Savoie. Sa capitale est Chalon-sur-Saône.
Gontran a été mêlé à
toutes les luttes d’influence entre ses frères, chacun voulant réunifier le
domaine franc à son profit. Très généreux envers les évêchés et les monastères,
il fait aussi d’importantes donations aux abbayes. D’après une veille tradition,
lors d’un voyage à Rome, il trouve un trésor en vallée d’Aoste et s’en sert
pour restaurer de nombreuses églises valdotaines détruites par les Barbares.
Mais surtout Gontran est à l’origine du diocèse de Maurienne. C’est sous son
règne que sainte Thècle apporte les reliques de saint Jean Baptiste. A cette
époque les Lombards ont pénétré en Italie ; ils occupent toute la plaine
du Pô et menace la province cottienne (capitale Suse) dont fait partie la
Maurienne. En 574, Gontran, victorieux des Lombards, rattache cette province à
son royaume et fonde un évêché en Maurienne sur le versant français des Alpes
plus facile à protéger contre les Lombards : le nouvel évêque est Felmase,
qui porte le titre d’évêque de Suse et de Maurienne.
Son culte :
Grégoire de Tours (mort
en 594) fait l’éloge de son contemporain le bon roi Gontran, généreux envers
l’Eglise et envers les pauvres. Gontran meurt le 28 mars 592 ; enterré à
Chalon-sur-Saône, il est vénéré très tôt, dès le VIIe siècle, comme un saint à
qui on attribue de nombreux miracles. En vallée d’Aoste, il est mentionné dès
le XIIIe siècle dans le martyrologe de la cathédrale, où il y a encore une
belle statue ; sa fête était solennellement célébrée jusqu’en 1967.
La Maurienne lui voue un
culte particulier. Saint Gontran est représenté sur un vitrail et sur un haut
dossier des stalles de la cathédrale de Saint-Jean, qui possédait jusqu’à la
Révolution un de ses bras. Dans le Bréviaire de 1512, la litanie des saints
porte une invocation à saint Gontran. Supprimé à partir de la Révolution, la
fête de saint Gontran est rétablie en 1858 par Mgr Vibert ; elle figure
toujours au Propre des diocèses de Savoie à la date du 28 mars.
Autrefois, saint Gontran
était vénéré à Villargondran par une fête solennelle, approuvée en 1721 par Mgr
de Masin. Une vieille tradition prétendait que cette paroisse proche de
Saint-Jean aurait été fondée par Gontran, qui avait donné son nom au village.
En fait, l’éponyme de ce village est Gondran, nom assez répandu au moyen-âge,
qui se retrouve en Maurienne dans un lieu-dit près de Saint-Jean et dans un
hameau de La Chapelle. En Bretagne, une commune s’appelle Saint-Gondran ;
aucun saint n’est appelé Gondran et son éponyme est Gordien (santus Gordianus dans
les anciens cartulaires).
SOURCE : http://paroissecathedralemaurienne.com/Saint-Gontran
Maître de Fauvel. Saint Gontran et des soldats, Grandes Chroniques de France. vers (1316-1321). Paris. Français 2615, folio 40.
Also known as
Contran
Gontram
Gontran
Gontrano
Gontranno
Gunthrammus
Gunthramnus
Guntram
Guntrammo
Profile
Grew up without the faith. Son
of King Clotaire
and Saint Clothildis.
Brother of King Charibert
and King Sigebert. King of
Orleans and Burgundy in 561. Married to
Mercatrude. Peacemaker.
He divorced Mercatrude;
some time later she became seriously ill,
and when her physician could
not cure her,
he had the doctor murdered.
Upon his conversion to Christianity he
was so overcome with remorse for the acts of his prior life, he devoted his
energy and fortune to building up the Church.
Protector of the oppressed, care-giver to the sick,
tender parent to his subjects, open with alms, especially
during plague and famine.
He strictly and justly enforced the law without respect to person, yet forgave
offenses against himself, including two attempted assassinations.
buried in
the church of Saint Marcellus, which he had founded
his skull is now
kept in a silver reliquary
declared a saint by
his subjects almost immediately upon his death
king finding
treasure and giving it to the poor
king with
three treasure chests, one of which has a globe and cross
Additional Information
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MLA Citation
“Saint Guntramnus“. CatholicSaints.Info. 26 May
2020. Web. 27 March 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-guntramnus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-guntramnus/
Guntramnus, King (RM)
(also known as Contran,
Gontran, Gontram, Gunthrammus)
Died March 28, 592. Saint
Guntramnus, son of King Clotaire and Saint Clothildis, was crowned king of
Orléans and Burgundy in 561, while his brothers Charibert reigned in Paris and
Sigebert at Metz. In general, his life was that of a peacemaker. He protected
his nephews against the wickedness of the dowager queens, Sigebert's Brunehault
and Chilperic's Fredegonde.
But he had a period of
intemperance. He divorced his wife, Mercatrude, and hastily ordered the
execution of his physician. He was overcome with remorse and lamented these
sins for the rest of his life, both for himself and for his nation. In
atonement, he fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to the God he had
offended.
Throughout the balance of
his prosperous reign he gave examples of how the maxims of the Gospel could be
rendered into effective policy. He was the protector of the oppressed,
care-giver to the sick, and the tender parent to his subjects. He was
open-handed with his wealth, especially in times of plague and famine. He
strictly and justly enforced the law without respect to person, yet was ever
ready to forgive offenses against himself, including two attempted assassins.
Guntramnus munificently
built and endowed many churches and monasteries. Saint Gregory of Tours relates
many miracles performed by the king, both before and after his death, some of
which he witnessed himself. At the time of his death, Guntramnus had reigned
for 31 years. Almost immediately he was proclaimed a saint by his subjects. He
was buried in the church of Saint Marcellus, which he had founded. The
Huguenots, who scattered his ashes in the 16th century, left only his skull
untouched in their fury. It is now kept there in a silver case (Attwater2,
Benedictines, Husenbeth)
In art, Saint Guntramnus
is depicted as a king finding treasure and giving it to the poor. Sometimes
there may be three treasure chests before him, a globe, and cross on one
(Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0328.shtml
Jean Fouquet (1420–1480). Entretien entre
saint Gontran et Childebert II. Trahison de Mummol, Grandes Chroniques de
France, enluminées par Jean Fouquet, Tours, vers 1455-1460. Paris, BnF,
département des Manuscrits, Français 6465, fol. 45v. (Quatrième Livre)
Entretien entre saint Gontran et Childebert II Devant les dignitaires de sa
cour, Gontran, sans héritier, s'adresse à son neveu Childebert qu'il vient de
nommer son successeur. Trahison de Mummol (en arrière-plan) Lors du siège de
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges par le roi Gontran, Mummol trahit et livre le
prince franc Gondevald.
March 28
St. Gontran, King and
Confessor
HE was son of King
Clotaire, and grandson of Clovis I. and St. Clotildis. Being the second son,
whilst his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Austrasia,
residing at Metz, he was crowned King of Orleans and Burgundy in 561, making
Challons on the Saone his capital. When compelled to take up arms against his
ambitious brothers and the Lombards, he made no other use of his victories,
under the conduct of a brave general called Mommol, than to give peace to his
dominions. He protected his nephews against the practices of the wicked dowager
queens, Brunehault of Sigebert, and Fredegonde of Chilperic, the firebrands of
France. The putting to death the physicians of the queen at her request, on her
death-bed, and the divorcing his wife Mercatrude, are crimes laid to his
charge, in which the barbarous manners of his nation involved him: but these he
effaced by tears of repentance. He governed his kingdom, studying rather to
promote the temporal happiness of others than his own, a stranger to the
passions of pride, jealousy, and ambition, and making piety the only rule of
his policy. The prosperity of his reign, both in peace and war, condemns those
who think that human policy cannot be modelled by the maxims of the gospel,
whereas nothing can render a government more flourishing. He always treated the
pastors of the church with respect and veneration, regarding them as his
fathers, and honouring and consulting them as his masters. He was the protector
of the oppressed, and the tender parent of his subjects, whom he treated as his
children. He poured out his treasures among them with a holy profusion;
especially in the time of a pestilence and famine. He gave the greatest
attention to the care of the sick. He fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself
to God night and day, as a victim ready to be sacrificed on the altar of his
justice, to avert his indignation, which he believed he himself had provoked,
and drawn down upon his innocent people. He was a severe punisher of crimes in
his officers and others, and, by many wholesome regulations, restrained the
barbarous licentiousness of his troops; but no man was more ready to forgive
offences against his own person. He contented himself with imprisoning a man
who, through the instigation of Queen Fredegonde, had attempted to stab him,
and he spared another assassin sent by the same wicked woman, because he had
taken shelter in a church. With royal magnificence he built and endowed many
churches and monasteries. St. Gregory of Tours relates many miracles performed
by him, both before and after his death, to some of which he was an
eye-witness. This good king, like another penitent David, having spent his life
after his conversion, though on the throne, in the retirement and penance of a
recluse, (as St. Hugh of Cluny says of him, exhorting King Philip I. to imitate
his example,) died on the 28th of March, in 593, in the sixty-eighth year of
his age, having reigned thirty-one and some months. He was buried in the church
of St. Marcellus, which he had founded. The Huguenots scattered his ashes in
the sixteenth century: only his skull escaped their fury, and is now kept there
in a silver case. He is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology. See St. Gregory of
Tours, Fredegarius, and Baillet.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume III: March. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/3/283.html
The Frankish kingdom in 561. Second inset from plate
20 of Professor G. Droysens Allgemeiner Historischer Handatlas, published by R.
Andrée. 1886
The
kingdom of France in 587. Third inset from plate 20 of Professor G. Droysens
Allgemeiner Historischer Handatlas, published by R. Andrée. 1886
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Gontran, King
Article
Saint Gontran was son of King Clotaire, and grandson
of Clovis I. and Saint Clotildis. Being the second son, whilst his brothers
Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Austrasia, residing at Metz, he was
crowned king of Orleans and Burgundy in 561, making Chalons his capital. When
compelled to take up arms against his ambitious brothers and the Lombards, he
made no other use of his victories, under the conduct of a brave general called
Mommol, than to give peace to his dominions. The crimes in which the barbarous
manners of his nation involved him he effaced by tears of repentance. The
prosperity of his reign, both in peace and war, condemns those who think that
human policy cannot be modelled by the maxims of the Gospel, whereas nothing
can render a government more flourishing. He always treated the pastors of the
Church with respect and veneration. He was the protector of the oppressed, and
the tender parent of his subjects. He gave the greatest attention to the care
of the sick. He fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to God night and day
as a victim ready to be sacrificed on the altar of His justice, to avert His
indignation which he believed he himself had provoked and drawn down upon his
innocent people. He was a severe punisher of crimes in his officers and others,
and, by many wholesome regulations, restrained the barbarous licentiousness of
his troops; but no man was more ready to forgive offences against his own
person. With loyal magnificence he built and endowed many churches and monasteries.
This good king died; on the 28th of March, in 593, in the sixty-eighth year of
his age) having reigned thirty-one years and some months.
Reflection – There is no means of salvation more
reliable than the practice of mercy, since Our Lord has said it: ” Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall find mercy.”
MLA Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea. “Saint Gontran, King”. Pictorial Lives of the Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
6 February 2014. Web. 28 March 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-gontran-king/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-gontran-king/
Saint Gontran,
King and Confessor
March 28, 2018 by Editor Staff
March 28
Today is the feast day of Saint Gontran. Ora pro
nobis.
Saint Gontran also called
(Gontrand, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn,
and Guntramnus) was son of King Clotaire, and grandson of Clovis I and St.
Clotilda. Being the second son, while his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris,
and Sigebert in Austrasia, residing at Metz, he was crowned King of Orleans and
Burgundy in 661, making Challons on the Saone his capital. When compelled to
take up arms against his ambitious brothers and the Lombards, he made no other
use of his victories, under the conduct of a brave general called Mommol, than
to give peace to his dominions.
He protected his nephews against the practices of the
wicked dowager queen, Brunehault of Sigebert, and Fredegonde of Chilperic, the
firebrands of France. The putting to death of the physicians of the queen at
her request, on her death-bed, and the divorcing of his wife Mercatrude, are
crimes laid to his charge, in which the barbarous manners of his nation
involved him : but these he effaced by tears of repentance. He governed his
kingdom, studying rather to promote the temporal happiness of others than his
own, a stranger to the passions of pride, jealousy, and ambition, and making
piety the only rule of his policy. (2)
The prosperity of his reign, both in peace and war,
condemns those who think that human policy cannot be modeled by the maxims of
the gospel, whereas nothing can render a government more flourishing. He always
treated the pastors of the church with respect and veneration, regarding them
as his fathers, and honoring and consulting them as his masters. He was the
protector of the oppressed, and the tender parent of his subjects, whom he
treated as his children. He poured out his treasures among them with a holy
profusion; especially in the time of a pestilence and famine. He gave the
greatest attention to the care of the sick. He fasted, prayed, wept, and
offered himself to God night and day, as a victim ready to be sacrificed on the
altar of his justice, to avert his indignation, which he believed he himself
had provoked, and drawn down upon his innocent people. He was a severe punisher
of crimes in his officers and others, and, by many wholesome regulations,
restrained the barbarous licentiousness of his troops; but no man was more
ready to forgive offenses against his own person. He contented himself with
imprisoning a man who, through the instigation of Queen Fredegonde, had
attempted to stab him, and he spared another assassin sent by the same wicked
woman, because he had taken shelter in a church. (2)
This good king died on the 28th of March, in 593,
in the sixty-eighth year of his age, having reigned thirty-one years and some
months. (1)
The Huguenots scattered his ashes in the sixteenth century: only his skull escaped their fury, and is now kept there in a silver case. He is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology. (3)
Research by REGINA
Staff
http://gardenofmary.com/march-28-st-gontran-king/
http://www.nobility.org/2014/03/27/gontran-nobility/
http://www.bartleby.com/210/3/283.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entretien_entre_saint_Gontran_et_Childebert_II.jpg
SOURCE : https://www.reginamag.com/saint-gontran-king-and-confessor/
Tiers de sou de Gontran frappé à Chalon-sur-Saône (561-592). BNF, monnaies, médailles et antiques.
Avers : Buste diadémé,
drapé et cuirassé à droite. Revers : Victoire debout de face tenant une
croix courte et une couronne.
San Gontranno (Guntramno) Re dei Franchi
525 - Chalon-sur-Saone, 28 marzo 592
Gontrano era un re francese del VI secolo. Figlio di
Clotario I, era nato intorno al 525. Morto il padre, ereditò parte del suo
regno (spartito con due fratelli), comprendente Borgogna, Marsiglia e Arles.
Governò con saggezza (e anche con il pugno di ferro), soffocando le pretese dei
nobili. Fu munifico con la Chiesa, ricoprendo di doni comunità e monasteri.
Visse in semplicità e morì nel 592 nella sua residenza di
Chalon-sur-Saone. (Avvenire)
Emblema: Corona, Scettro
Martirologio Romano: A Châlon-sur-Saône in
Burgundia in Francia, deposizione di san Guntramno, re dei Franchi, che
distribuì i suoi tesori alle chiese e ai poveri.
Figlio di Clotario I, nato nel 525, Gontranno divise coi suoi fratelli il regno paterno. Egli ebbe il regno di Orléans e di Borgogna, il Berry e una parte della Provenza. Questo nipote di Clodoveo e di s. Clotilde era per natura furbo, violento, amante del piacere e della buona tavola. La sua vita sarebbe poco edificante se non avesse manifestato una fede solida, un sincero pentimento delle sue colpe e se non avesse compiuto molte buone azioni che dimostravano in lui la volontà di praticare le virtù della giustizia e della religione. Si sposò tre volte con ancelle, ma non ebbe figli.
Questo personaggio fu nondimeno assai presto venerato come un santo, perché, in tutta la sua vita mostrò una reale volontà di mettere la propria condotta in accordo con la sua fede e questo rude figlio di barbari che si civilizza diventando cristiano, fu in qualche modo un simbolo della forza e dell'opera della grazia. Gontranno si tenne fuori dalle lotte e dalle questioni che divisero continuamente i suoi fratelli e i suoi nipoti e intervenne solo come moderatore. Verso il 567-70 scelse come capitale del suo regno Chalon-sur-Saòne e si preoccupò dell'evangelizzazione dei suoi territori, in particolare delle montagne del Giura. Fondò nei sobborghi della sua capitale l'abbazia dei SS. Pietro e Paolo divenuta poi S. Marcello. Inviò religiosi di S. Benigno di Digione a fondare case a Pontarlier e a Salins, poi ne inviò altri nell'abbazia di Agauno (St-Maurice-en-Valais). In questo stesso periodo (570-575) accolse s. Colombano ad Annegray prima di donargli Luxeuil, una ventina di anni dopo. A Gontranno si attribuisce anche la fondazione del monastero di Baume-les-Dames e dì altre abbazie, e si dice che dotasse anche generosamente quelle che esistevano qua e là nel suo regno: S. Sinforiano di Autun, S. Benigno di Digione, Cestre, N. D. di Sales a Bourges e S. Maurizio di Agauno, che ricostruì, senza contare i monasteri di Chalon e di Macon, S. Marcello e S. Clemente. Fece inoltre donazioni ad Agauno e S. Benigno, perché vi si potesse celebrare la salmodia perpetua, anzi, sembra che volesse porre alle dipendenze di Agauno un certo numero di monasteri. Fece costruire la chiesa di S. Pietro a Ginevra; a Moriana fondò una chiesa nel 565 per conservarvi reliquie di s. Giovanni Battista, portate da Alessandria e vi istituì poi un seggio episcopale che esiste ancor oggi. Gontranno fu anche il protettore dei vescovi e si mostrò sempre molto reverente nei loro confronti; sottopose a un concilio le divergenze che egli aveva avuto con alcuni vescovi e con suo fratello Sigeberto; volle anche riparare alle violenze commesse da Chilperìco a detrimento delle chiese e dei poveri. Convocò sei concili in circa venti anni nelle principali città del suo stato: Lione, Chalon, Macon, Valence e si mostrò rispettoso dei canoni per le nomine episcopali e il diritto d'asilo. Ebbe sempre cura del suo popolo e volle sollevare le miserie dovute ai flagelli naturali e al tempo stesso, nella penitenza e nel digiuno, offriva se stesso a Dio come vittima per i suoi sudditi, secondo quanto riferiscono i cronisti.
Morì il 28 marzo 592 e fu sepolto a S. Marcello di Chalon, dove si credette per molto tempo che si fosse fatto monaco. La sua pietà e generosità hanno fatto sì che, a partire dal sec. VII, fosse considerato come un santo. Il suo nome figura in qualche ms. del Martirologio Geronimiano. Il suo corpo restò a Chalon ed il culto si sviluppò dopo che, nel 1435, Giovanni Rolin, vescovo di Chalon e priore di S. Marcello, ebbe restaurato la sua tomba. La Chiesa di Chalon ne ha celebrato la festa, come le diocesi di Moriana, Orléans, Besancon e Losanna; oggi figura nel Proprio di molte diocesi francesi. Nel sec. XVI gli Ugonotti devastarono la sua tomba e dispersero le reliquie; solo il capo fu salvato ed è conservato in un reliquiario d'argento. A Mo-riana è stato anche conservato un braccio, da epoca imprecisata fino al 1793. Il Martirologio Romano, dopo il Martirologio Geronimiano, celebra la sua memoria il 28 marzo.
Autore: Claude Boillon
