Sainte Radegonde
Reine des Francs, moniale
au monastère Sainte-Croix de Poitiers (+ 587)
Fille du roi de Thuringe, elle avait treize ans quand les fils de Clovis s'entendirent pour assassiner son père et s'emparer de son pays, en 531.
Elle échut comme butin de guerre à Clotaire, alors roi de Soissons qui voulut l'épouser. Elle s'enfuit, mais, rejointe, elle devint reine durant une vingtaine d'années, épouse d'un mari brutal et débauché. Elle ne tremblait pas devant lui, le laissant s'empiffrer et s'enivrer, tandis qu'à la même table elle mangeait sobrement ses lentilles et son pain sec.
En 555, les Thuringeois s'étant révoltés, Clotaire tua son frère et elle obtint d'entrer en religion. Il avait alors peur de l'enfer. Il lui construisit un monastère à Poitiers où elle se retira, le monastère de la Sainte Croix, selon les règles monastiques de saint Césaire d'Arles. Elle y passa trente années de bonheur et de paix.
Plus de deux cents jeunes filles de la noblesse franque l'y rejoignirent, recevant ainsi le même bonheur et la même paix dans un monde encore brutal. Elle leur donna une abbesse en la personne d'une de ses amies, elle-même gardant des tâches humbles comme la vaisselle ou le balayage.
Sur le site Internet du diocèse de Poitiers - la page 'église sainte Radegonde' donne des informations sur la vie de cette sainte.
A voir aussi: Poitiers - fête sainte Radegonde le 13 août 2012 - Homélie du père Yves-Marie Blanchard.
Sainte Radegonde, princesse de la maison royale de Thuringe, fondatrice de l’abbaye Sainte-Croix de Poitiers où elle mourut en 587... (liste des Saints et Bienheureux du Diocèse de Luçon)
Un internaute Guide conférencier nous précise: "Elle est Patronne de Poitiers et Patronne secondaire de la France. Saint Fortunat fut son confident et futur évêque de Poitiers et composa le 'Vexilla Régis' et d'autres hymnes chantées dans la liturgie romaine. Son monastère, l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix, existe toujours depuis 552. C'est le plus vieux monastère féminin ayant une histoire continue depuis plus de 14 siècles.
Il est construit autour d'une relique insigne de la Croix. Sainte Radegonde est
vénérée par les catholiques, les orthodoxes et les luthériens. Ses litanies,
très proches de celle de la Vierge, avec toutefois des éléments poitevins,
l'invoquent principalement comme 'Reine de la Paix'. Le Christ dans une vision
lui a dit: 'Pourquoi te faire tant souffrir? sache que tu es une des plus
belles perles de mon diadème'. On peut voir dans cette parole un appel de
l'Amour miséricordieux vers tous les humains."
Voir aussi les
Saints parisiens sur le site du diocèse de Paris.
À Poitiers, en 587, sainte Radegonde, reine des Francs. Du vivant même de son
époux, le roi Clotaire, elle demanda à saint Médard, évêque
de Noyon, de la consacrer à Dieu. Elle reçut le voile sacré et servit le
Seigneur, sous la Règle de saint Césaire d’Arles, au monastère de la
Sainte-Croix, que le roi Clotaire avait fait construire pour elle.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1665/Sainte-Radegonde.html
Radegonde menée auprès du roi Clotaire. Vie de sainte Radegonde, XIe siècle. Bibliothèque municipale de Poitiers
Santa Radegonda VI condotta da re Clotario. Vita
di santa Radegonda, XI secolo. Biblioteca municipale di Poitiers.
Sainte Radegonde
Reine de France
(519-587)
Radegonde, fille d'un roi
de Thuringe, fut prise par Clotaire, roi des Francs, dans une guerre entre la
Thuringe et la France. Clotaire traita la jeune captive avec beaucoup d'égards,
la fit instruire dans la religion chrétienne et lui fit conférer le saint
Baptême.
Elle eût voulu consacrer
à Dieu sa virginité; mais elle dut épouser le roi qui avait massacré sa famille
vaincue. Radegonde profita des richesses du trône pour orner les églises,
assister les pauvres. Six années passées sur le trône n'avaient point fait
renoncer Radegonde à l'espérance de la vie du cloître. L'assassinat de son
frère par le roi son époux lui fournit une occasion favorable; Clotaire,
fatigué de ses larmes, lui permit de partir.
Elle se rendit d'abord à
Noyon, et, comme l'évêque hésitait à recevoir ses voeux, elle se coupa les
cheveux elle-même, revêtit la bure des religieuses, déposa ses ornements royaux
sur l'autel, et fut consacrée au Seigneur. De là, Radegonde se rendit aux
environs de Poitiers et se livra à tous les exercices d'une vie austère; elle
ne vivait que de pain de seigle et d'orge, d'herbes et de légumes, et ne buvait
pas de vin.
Son vêtement était un
cilice, son lit de la cendre; elle servait les pauvres de ses mains, pansait
elle-même les malades atteints de la gale et de la teigne, lavait les plaies
des lépreux et souvent délivrait les malheureux de leurs infirmités par des
miracles. Un cierge reçu d'elle et allumé près d'un malade suffisait à le
guérir; en passant par ses mains, les fruits et les aliments prenaient une
vertu dont l'effet merveilleux ne tardait pas à se faire sentir. Elle mourut en
587, à l'âge de 68 ans. C'est une des Saintes les plus populaires de la France.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/sainte_radegonde.html
Sainte Radegonde en costume de reine à la table du roi Clotaire. Scènes de la vie de sainte Radegonde (en haut : les noces de Radegonde. Radegonde en prière ; en bas : Radegonde en prière prosternée à côté du lit conjugal.) Vie de sainte Radegonde, XIe siècle, bibliothèque municipale de Poitiers
Sainte Radegonde
(Livre IX 2)
La même année (587) la
très bienheureuse Radegonde quitta ce monde. Elle laissa de grands regrets dans
le monastère qu'elle avait fondé. Moi aussi je fus présent à sa sépulture. Elle
décéda le sixième mois (août) et le treizième jour du mois ; elle fut
ensevelie au bout de trois jours. Je me suis appliqué à décrire plus
complètement dans le livre des Miracles (chapitre CIV) les miracles
qui se produisirent le jour même dans ce lieu et comment elle fut enterrée.
Saint Grégoire de Tours
Saint
Radegonde. Life of Saint Radegonde, 11th century. Poitiers Municipal Library.
Sainte Radegonde. Vie de sainte Radegonde, XIème siècle. Bibliothèque municipale de Poitiers.
L'approche de sa mort avait
été annoncée à sainte Radegonde par une apparition de Notre-Seigneur qui se
montra jeune et merveilleusement beau pour lui dire : Pourquoi, enflammée
de désirs, me pries-tu avec tant de larmes et me cherches-tu en gémissant ?
Pourquoi te répands-tu en supplications et t'infliges-tu de si cruelles
tortures, pour moi qui suis toujours auprès de toi. Tu es une pierre précieuse,
et sache bien que tu es un des plus beaux joyaux de ma couronne. On dit
que le pied de Jésus s'imprima dans la pierre.
Fille de Berchaire, roi
de Thuringe, Radegonde, née vers 520, devint, en même temps que son frère,
captive des Francs qui avaient ravagé son pays et massacré presque toute sa
famille (531)[1]. Convoités par les rois Thierry[2] et Clotaire[3], Radegonde et son frère furent tirés au sort
et échurent à Clotaire qui les fit élever dans la villa royale d’Athie
(Picardie) où ils furent instruits de la religion chrétienne. Radegonde se
convertit de tout son cœur et, menant une vie sainte, entourée de clercs,
apprit le latin et le grec. Lorsqu’elle apprit, après la mort de la reine
Ingonde (538), que Clotaire voulait l’épouser, elle s’enfuit d’Athie, en pleine
nuit, avec quelques unes de ses femmes. Les troupes de Clotaire, lancées à sa
poursuite, la rattrapèrent et la ramenère résignée à Soissons où elle épousa le
Roi. Pendant une douzaine d'années elle s'adonna aux œuvres de miséricorde, à
l'aumône notamment, et mena une vie ascétique.
Le roi ayant assassiné le
frère de Radegonde, celle-ci, vers 550, se sépara de son mari et voulut se
faire consacrer diaconesse par saint Médard[4], évêque de Noyon. Connaissant la cruauté
implacable de Clotaire, saint Médard refusa, mais Radegonde revint devant lui,
revêtue de l’habit monastique : « Pontife du Seigneur, si tu
diffères encore de me consacrer à Dieu, si la menace des hommes a plus d'empire
sur toi que la crainte du Ciel, je te cite au tribunal du Pasteur des âmes et
tu répondras de la brebis, que tu auras refusé de recevoir dans ton
troupeau. » Saint Médard après lui avoir imposé les mains, reçut les vœux
de Radegonde. Clotaire, à qui elle n'avait point donné d'enfant, connaissant le
sentiment profond de son épouse, ne crut pas devoir s'opposer formellement à sa
volonté. Il lui donna le domaine de Saix, qui se trouvait en limites de l'Anjou
et de la Touraine. Elle quitta Athie, toujours accompagnée de quelques femmes,
et vint s'embarquer à Orléans pour descendre la Loire jusqu'à Tours où elle fit
le pèlerinage au tombeau de saint Martin. Après quelques jours, elle reprit le
chemin fluvial jusqu'à Candes, au confluent de la Vienne, pour se rendre au
monastère où Martin était mort, et elle y resta quelque temps en prière. Puis,
ayant fait don d'une grande partie des biens qu'elle avait emportés, elle
rejoignit Saix, qui n'était qu'à quelques lieues de là (au sud de Fontevrault).
Une fois installée,
Radegonde mena une vie vouée à la prière. Si elle était dure envers elle-même,
portant des cilices et jeunant fréquemment, elle employait la plupart de son
temps à soulager la souffrance des autres. Elle s'occupait des malades, faisait
leur toilette, lavait leur linge. Aucune tâche ne la rebutait. Elle avait même
fait installer un lieu spécial pour les lépreux, qu'elle soignait et
réconfortait de son mieux. Elle ne craignait point de les embrasser pour leur
procurer un peu d'affection, alors que ses compagnes s'en écartaient,
terrorisées. Elle distribuait si largement les biens qu'elle possédait qu'on
pouvait s'étonner que la source n'en fût pas tarie depuis longtemps. La
réputation de sa bonté, de sa sainteté, même, se répandait au loin. Déjà, l'on
parlait de miracles accomplis par son intercession. Cependant, cette sérénité
fut brusquement brisée lorsqu'elle apprit que Clotaire désirait la reprendre
pour épouse. Pour détourner le danger, elle redoubla de mortifications et de
prières et fit même demander celles d'un célèbre ermite de Chinon, Jean.
Apprenant l'arrivée prochaine de Clotaire, elle résolut de partir en direction
de la mer, vers Poitiers. C'est alors que l'évêque de Paris, saint Germain,
réussit à persuader Clotaire de s'arrêter à Tours et provoqua chez lui un
revirement complet. Non seulement, le roi renonça définitivement à Radegonde,
mais encore il lui ouvrit largement ses trésors afin qu'elle édifie un
monastère.
Installée à Poitiers, elle y fonda, entre 552 et 557, à l'intérieur de Poitiers, un monastère dont on connaît l'emplacement et les proportions comme ceux de la cellule de Radegonde et de l’oratoire qui la jouxtait. Avant 561, une autre église, la future collégiale Sainte-Radegonde, fut édifiée hors les murs pour la sépulture des moniales. On suivait, dans ce monastère, la règle d'Arles, sous la houlette d'Agnès, élue abbesse en 561.
Simple moniale, Radegonde
fit venir des religieuses des lieux saints de Palestine et, vers 569, obtint de
Justin II et de l'impératrice Sophie des parcelles de la vraie Croix, prélevées
sur la grande relique conservée au palais de Constantinople. Pour accompagner
la procession du bois précieux, Venance Fortunat[5] composa le « Pange lingua »
et le « Vexilla regis », mais l'évêque, Marovée, peu favorable au
monastère, refusa d'accueillir l'insigne relique, qu'il aurait sans doute
voulue pour sa cathédrale. L'église de la Sainte-Croix fut alors achevée et
aussitôt affluèrent les pèlerins.
Vers 570-573, Radegonde
et Agnès se rendirent en Arles pour consulter Liliole, abbesse de Saint-Jean, sur
les rapports de celle-ci avec son évêque, et pour vivre quelque temps la règle
de saint Césaire avec cette abbesse et ses religieuses. Puis on alla à Metz
chez Sigebert[6], pour lui demander de protéger le monastère
de Poitiers contre les entreprises de l'évêque.
Le but de la règle
d'Arles qui devait rester en vigueur à Sainte-Croix, au moins jusqu'au IX°
siècle, est l'union au Christ par la prière perpétuelle dans l'attente de
sa venue eschatologique. Les principales observances sont : la
clôture à vie, la désappropriation des biens personnels, la communauté
d'existence, matérialisée par le dortoir commun, la pauvreté du vêtement, le
travail manuel ; l'effort se porte avant tout sur la prière liturgique, la
méditation, la lectio divina et le jeûne ; ce qui inclut pratique des
vertus, notamment le pardon mutuel et l'obéissance. L'abbesse, elle doit
veiller au salut de ses sœurs, se préoccuper des biens nécessaires à leur subsistance,
accueillir les visiteurs avec bonté et répondre aux lettres de tous les
fidèles. Elle doit aussi faire observer la discipline et les moindres articles
de la règle. Les moniales, elles, éliront à l'unanimité comme abbesse une
personne sainte et spirituelle, capable de faire respecter la règle du
monastère et apte à adresser la parole aux visiteurs.
A Sainte-Croix la clôture
fut très stricte. Fortunat lui-même n'était reçu au parloir que les jours des
grandes fêtes, et seule sa qualité de clerc lui permettait d'accéder aux
oratoires. Radegonde y suivait à la lettre la règle d'Arles. Elle remit tous
ses biens à l'abbesse ; elle filait la laine, tissait les vêtements,
participait au roulement hebdomadaire des travaux ménagers. L'Opus
Dei était au centre de la vie et, dès minuit, elle se rendait à matines
avec la communauté. Selon la moniale Baudonivie, sa biographe, elle disait
souvent aux sœurs : « Je vous ai choisies pour mes filles, vous ma
lumière, vous ma vie, vous mon repos et toute ma félicité, vous ma jeune plantation.
Agissez avec moi en ce siècle afin que, dans le monde futur, nous vivions dans
la joie. »
Radegonde était pourvue
d'une solide culture biblique et patristique ;
sa prédication aux moniales fut d'autant plus nécessaire que, de 569
à 587, l'évêque de Poitiers ne vint jamais à Sainte-Croix. La reine devait donc
y jouer le rôle qu'avaient rempli, à Arles, Césaire et sa sœur Césarée, et
assurer la direction spirituelle de ses filles. Elle avait pour secrétaire et
messager Fortunat dont les moniales appréciaient l'humilité et la générosité.
Pour elles, il composa des vies de saints, obtint des livres pour leur
bibliothèque, et accomplit des voyages pour leur rendre service. Enfin il leur
consacra le livre IX de ses poèmes. Et toujours il considéra Radegonde comme sa
mère spirituelle.
La guerre civile
s'étendait. La reine priait pour la patrie franque, faisait jeûner et prier ses
sœurs en faveur de la paix, tout en pressant les rois d'en finir avec leurs
luttes fratricides. Elle n'obtiendra une paix solide qu'après sa mort lorsque,
en décembre 587, Gontran, Childebert et Brunehaut conclueront le traité
d'Andelot, dont les effets furent durables.
Vers 585, Radegonde
adressa « à tous les évêques » une lettre testamentaire sous forme de
supplique. Elle y rappela la fondation du monastère qu'elle avait doté, soumis
à la règle d'Arles et confié à sa disciple Agnès. Si quelqu'un, fût-ce l'évêque
du lieu, vient troubler la tranquillité de Sainte-Croix et la pratique de la
règle, imposer une abbesse de son choix ou s'approprier les biens du monastère,
« il encourt le jugement de Dieu. puisqu'il est voleur et spoliateur des
pauvres. » A la fin de cette longue supplique aux évêques et aux rois,
elle demandait à être ensevelie dans la basilique Sainte-Marie, qu'elle avait
commencée.
Radegonde attachait une
grande importance à l'écrit. Pour la première fois, un document du VI° siècle
en Gaule exprime le désir de confier une lettre aux archives ecclésiastiques.
Le ton de celle-ci est celui d'une reine, messagère de la volonté divine qui,
dans l'image finale, s'identifie au Christ pour confier son monastère,
personnifié par Marie, aux évêques, comparés à saint Jean.
Le mercredi 13 août 587,
Radegonde rendit son âme à Dieu. L'approche de sa mort avait été annoncée à
sainte Radegonde par une apparition de Notre-Seigneur qui se montra jeune et
merveilleusement beau pour lui dire : « Pourquoi, enflammée de désirs, me
pries-tu avec tant de larmes et me cherches-tu en gémissant ? Pourquoi te
répands-tu en supplications et t'infliges-tu de si cruelles tortures, pour moi
qui suis toujours auprès de toi. Tu es une pierre précieuse, et sache bien que
tu es un des plus beaux joyaux de ma couronne. » On dit que le pied de
Jésus s'imprima dans la pierre.
L'évêque du lieu étant
absent, Grégoire de Tours s'empressa d'arriver. Selon la moniale Baudonivie, il
affirma que, « lorsqu'il était parvenu au lieu où gisait le saint
corps, il avait vu le visage d'un ange sous les apparences d'un visage humain :
la face de la sainte avait l'éclat de la rose et du lis. De sorte que cet homme
pieux, plein de Dieu, se mit à trembler, frappé de crainte, comme s'il s'était
senti en présence de la mère du Seigneur. »
Autour du lit funèbre,
les deux cents moniales se frappaient la poitrine avec des pierres, et elles
épanchaient leur douleur à la manière antique. L'évêque de Poitiers, Marovée,
n'assista pas aux funérailles et ce fut Grégoire de Tours, qui, pressé par les
notables poitevins, se résigna à consacrer l'autel du tombeau, en la basilique
Sainte-Marie-hors-les-Murs. Il laissa cependant à Mérovée la charge juridique
de clore le sarcophage, afin d'attester que Radegonde reposait bien en ce
tombeau.
Les moniales de Poitiers[7], conservent pieusement quelques objets
datant de sainte Radegonde. D'abord la staurothèque, reliquaire de la
sainte Croix. Il se présente comme une petite plaque émaillée sur fond d'or
(5,7 cm sur 6 cm) qui est découpée au centre pour laisser apparaître, cerné par
des émaux verts transparents, cloisonnés d'or et portant la découpure du champ
émaillé, le Bois sacré. Cinq parcelles accolées forment une croix à double
traverse. Sur le champ de la plaque émaillée, d'un bleu profond, de minces
rinceaux d'or, d'où sont issues des goutelettes d'or, enserrent des émaux
multicolores. Un émail turquoise ponctue la courbe de certains rinceaux, sur
lesquels s'attachent des fleurons vert sombre à trois pétales. Parmi les
gouttes rouges disséminées sur la plaque, quatre clous rouges sont posés près
du pied de la croix. Ils reproduisent les clous de la crucifixion, chantés par
Fortunat. C'est parce que bois et clous sont imprégnés du sang de l'Agneau
qu'ils donnent au fidèle la force et le bienfait de leur présence. C'était le
sentiment de tous les chrétiens au VI° siècle. Quant à la disposition des
parcelles de la relique en forme de croix à double traverse, elle constitue ici
un des plus anciens exemples connus. Cette plaque d'émail était autrefois
cachée dans un petit boitier qui disparut en 1792, de même que la grande châsse
d'or qui le contenait. Le monastère conserve aussi un appui-tête,
dit pupitre de sainte Radegonde, qui représente l'Agneau pascal entre deux
hautes tiges feuillues inégales. Cet appui-tête fut sans doute sculpté sur les
instructions de Radegonde. Autre vestige de la sainte : une croix de bronze
dite de Radegonde (0,113 m sur 0,110 m). Les contours de cette croix
mérovingienne, furent ensuite usés par le frottement des mains. On l'a souvent
placée au chevet des malades, à Poitiers, comme ayant appartenu à la sainte et
comme chargée, disait-on, de grâces et de bénédiction.
[1] Bechaire
partageait le royaume de Thuringe avec ses deux frères, Baderic et Hermanfried.
Hermanfried attaqua Berchaire, le tua et s'empara de ses possessions mais
recueillit cependant les deux orphelins que son frère laissait. Hermanfried qui
voulait encore conquérir la part qui restait à Baderic, craignant une forte
résistance, eut recours aux Francs. Son plus proche voisin, le roi Thierry, qui
avait hérité de toute la partie orientale du royaume jusqu'au Rhin, accepta de
lui venir en aide, bien que les Thuringiens fussent considérés par les Francs
comme des ennemis, parce que Hermanfried lui avait promis : « Si tu
le tues, nous partagerons par moitié ce pays. » Baderic fut vaincu et tué,
après quoi Hermanfried s'empressa d'oublier sa promesse. Thierry demanda le
secours de son frère Clotaire pour châtier la félonie d'Hermanfried. Après une
lutte terrible, au cours de laquelle Hermanfried s'enfuit, les Francs, ayant
écrasé leurs ennemis, perpétrèrent un épouvantable massacre.
[2] Thierry
I°, fils de Clovis, né avant le mariage de celui-ci avec Clotilde, eut (511)
pour royaume l’Austrasie (les pays du Rhin, de la Moselle et de la Marne, et le
tribut des peuples germaniques soumis par Clovis) à quoi il ajouta Sens et
Auxerre à la mort de Clodomir et de ses fils (524). Il mourut en 533 ; son
fils Thibert lui succéda.
[3] Clotaire
I° (né vers 498), dernier fils de Clovis, eut (511) pour royaume le vieux
pays franc, dit la Neustrie (Soissons, Laon, Noyon, Arras, Cambrai, Tournai,
Thérouanne). Il y ajouta Tours et Poitiers à la mort de Clodomir et de ses fils
(524), Grenoble et Valence après la victoire définitive des Francs sur les
Burgondes (534), et Sisteron, Gap, Embrun et Carpentras après l'éviction des
Ostrogoths (536). Avec ses frères, il participa à la soumission de la Thuringe
et de la Saxe, mais ne gagna rien à une expédition en Espagne (542). A la mort
de Thibaud (555), petit-fils de son frère aîné Thierry, il prit pour lui tout
le royaume de celui-ci (les pays du Rhin, de la Moselle et de la Marne, avec
l'Auvergne et le Limousin). A la mort de son frère Childebert (558), il reçut
son royaume (de la Somme à la Bretagne, avec Paris). Ayant ainsi réuni un
royaume plus vaste que celui de Clovis, il dut réprimer deux rébellions de son
fils Chramne, qu'il fit mettre à mort (560). A sa mort (Compiègne, décembre
561) le royaume franc fut de nouveau divisé entre ses quatre fils survivants.
[4] Saint Médard,
né à Salency (Oise) dans une grande famille franque à la fin du V° siècle, fut
prêtre et évêque de Saint-Quentin (vers 525-530) dont il transféra le siège à
Noyon vers 531. On prétend qu'il fut aussi vers 532 évêque de Tournai et qu'il
unit Noyon à ce dernier siège. La « Vie » la plus ancienne de saint
Médard, rédigée vers 600, raconte que, très jeune, il avait une prédilection
marquée pour l'aumône et comment il reçut parmi les diaconesses et consacra à
Dieu Radegonde, l'épouse de Clotaire. Après avoir extirpé du diocèse les
derniers restes du paganisme, il mourut vers 560 et fut inhumé à Soissons. Sur
son tombeau, le roi Sigebert (561-575) fit élever une abbaye qui devait prendre
son nom et connaître une grande renommée.
[5] Venantius
Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, connu sous le nom de Venance Fortunat,
naquit à Duplavilis, aujourd'hui Valdobbiadene sur le Piave près de Trévise,
vers 530. Il grandit à Aquilée qu’il quitta (vers 552) pour Ravenne, où il
acheva ses études : il apprit ainsi la grammaire, la rhétorique et un peu
de droit. Guéri miraculeusement, vers 565, grâce à l'intervention de saint
Martin, il résolut d'aller en pèlerinage à Tours. Son voyage dura longtemps et
fut coupé d'incidents variés. Il était à Metz lors du mariage du roi
d'Austrasie Sigebert avec la fille du roi des Ostrogoths, Brunehaut, et composa
à cette occasion un épithalame qui est surtout rempli par un dialogue entre
Cupidon et Vénus. Il profita encore ailleurs d'une généreuse hospitalité qu'il
payait à l'occasion par des vers. Il finit par arriver à Tours, où il fut
accueilli par l'évêque Euphrone. Il visita ensuite le sud de la Gaule. Ce fut à
Poitiers qu'il mit un terme à ses pérégrinations. Il y rencontra en effet
Radegonde et sa fille spirituelle, Agnès, avec les compagnes qui s'étaient
retirées en même temps qu'elles au monastère de Poitiers, et il s'installa à
demeure auprès de ces pieuses femmes. Il devint d'abord leur intendant, puis,
après avoir reçu l'ordination sacerdotale, leur aumônier. Il n'en continua pas
moins à écrire des poésies sur des sujets variés. Il entretint des relations
cordiales avec l'évêque Grégoire de Tours qui l'admirait beaucoup. A la fin de
sa vie, vers 597, il fut élu évêque de Poitiers. Sainte Radegonde était alors
morte depuis une dizaine d'années. Il mourut au début du siècle suivant.
[6] Sigebert
I°, fils de Clotaire I°, fut roi d’Austrasie à la mort de son père (561). Il
épousa en 566 Brunehaut, fille du roi des Wisigoths, et ce beau mariage excita
la jalousie de son frère et rival Chilpéric I°, roi de Neustrie, qui épousa
aussitôt la sœur de Brunehaut, Galswinthe, mais la laissa assassiner par sa
maîtresse Frédégonde. Ce crime provoqua une furieuse lutte entre Brunehaut et
Frédégonde. Engageant la guerre contre son frère, Sigebert lui enleva presque
tous ses Etats et le réduisit à s'enfermer dans Tournai. Les Neustriens se
décidèrent alors à le reconnaître pour roi, mais Sigebert tomba, frappé de
couteaux empoisonnés par deux émissaires de Frédégonde, alors que ses nouveaux
sujets l'élevaient sur le pavois (Vitry, 575).
[7] Aujourd'hui
à la Cossonnière, commune de Saint-Benoît-de-Quinçay, à six kilomètres de leur
ancienne abbaye.
Radegonde
souhaite se retirer dans un monastère. Vie de sainte Radegonde, XIème siècle.
Bibliothèque municipale de Poitiers.
Les moniales de Poitiers
(aujourd'hui à la Cossonnière, commune de Saint-Benoît-de-Quinçay, à six
kilomètres de leur ancienne abbaye), conservent pieusement quelques objets
datant de sainte Radegonde.
D'abord,
le reliquaire - la staurothèque - de la sainte
Croix. Il se présente comme une petite plaque émaillée sur fond d'or ( 5,7
cm sur 6 cm ). Elle est découpée au centre pour laisser apparaître, cerné par
des émaux verts transparents, cloisonnés d'or et portant la découpure du champ
émaillé, le Bois sacré.
Cinq parcelles accolées
forment une croix à double traverse. Sur le champ de la plaque émaillée, d'un
bleu profond, de minces rinceaux d'or, d'où sont issues des goutelettes d'or,
enserrent des émaux multicolores. Un émail turquoise ponctue la courbe de certains
rinceaux, sur lesquels s'attachent des fleurons vert sombre à trois pétales.
Parmi les gouttes rouges disséminées sur la plaque, quatre clous rouges sont
posés près du pied de la croix. Ils reproduisent les clous de la crucifixion,
chantés par Fortunat.
C'est parce que bois et
clous sont imprégnés du sang de l'Agneau qu'ils donnent au fidèle la force et
le bienfait de leur présence. C'était le sentiment de tous les chrétiens au VI°
siècle. Quant à la disposition des parcelles de la relique en forme de croix à
double traverse, elle constitue ici un des plus anciens exemples connus. Cette
plaque d'émail était autrefois cachée dans un petit boitier qui disparut en
1792, de même que la grande châsse d'or qui le contenait.
Le monastère conserve
aussi un appui-tête, dit pupitre de sainte Radegonde, qui représente
l'Agneau pascal entre deux hautes tiges feuillues inégales. Cet appui-tête fut
sans doute sculpté sur les instructions de Radegonde.
Autre vestige de la
sainte : une croix de bronze dite de Radegonde ( 0,113 m x
0,110 m ). Cette croix est mérovingienne, et la reine a dû longuement la
contempler. Ses contours en furent ensuite usés par le frottement des mains. On
l'a souvent placée au chevet des malades, à Poitiers, comme ayant appartenu à
la sainte et comme chargée, disait-on, de grâces et de bénédiction.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/08/13.php
Sainte Radegonde
L’année liturgique donne
les leçons suivantes, tirées d’un office bénédictin (4 leçons au lieu de 3 pour
le second nocturne).
Cinquième leçon.
Radegonde était fille de Berthaire, roi des Thuringiens. A dix ans, elle fut
emmenée captive par les Francs dont les rois se la disputèrent pour son insigne
et royale beauté. Le sort la donna à Clotaire de Soissons qui confia son
éducation à d’excellents maîtres. Plus que toutes sciences l’enfant reçut
avidement les notions de la foi chrétienne, et abjurant le culte des fausses
divinités qu’elle avait reçu de ses pères, elle résolut d’observer non
seulement les préceptes de l’Évangile, mais aussi ses conseils. Lorsqu’elle eut
grandi, Clotaire, dont c’était depuis longtemps l’intention, la voulut pour
épouse. Malgré son refus, malgré ses tentatives de fuite, elle fut donc aux
applaudissements de tous proclamée reine. Élevée aux honneurs du trône, la
dignité royale dut se plier à ses charités, à ses continuelles oraisons, à ses
veilles fréquentes, à ses jeûnes, à ses autres macérations, si bien que, par
dérision pour une telle piété, les courtisans disaient d’elle que c’était, non
une reine, mais une nonne que le roi avait épousée.
Sixième leçon. Les dures
épreuves, les chagrins de plus d’une sorte que lui infligeait le prince, firent
briller grandement sa patience. Mais ayant un jour appris que son frère germain
venait d’être par ordre de Clotaire injustement mis à mort, elle quitta
aussitôt la cour, du consentement du roi lui-même, et se rendant auprès du
bienheureux évêque Médard, elle le supplia instamment de la consacrer au
Seigneur. Or les grands s’opposaient vivement à ce que le pontife donnât le
voile à celle que le roi s’était solennellement unie. Elle donc aussitôt
pénétrant dans la sacristie, se revêt elle-même du vêtement monastique, et de
là se rendant à l’autel interpelle ainsi l’évêque : « Si vous différez de me
consacrer, craignant plus un homme que Dieu, il y aura quelqu’un pour vous
demander compte de mon âme ». Médard, ému de ces paroles, mit le voile sacré
sur la tête de la reine, et par l’imposition de la main la consacra diaconesse.
Elle alla ensuite à Poitiers, où elle fonda un monastère de vierges qui fut
plus tard appelé de Sainte-Croix. L’éclat de ses vertus éminentes y attira,
pour embrasser la vie de la sainte religion, des vierges presque innombrables.
A cause des témoignages singuliers de la divine grâce qui était en elle, le
désir de toutes la mettait à la tête ; mais elle aimait mieux servir que
commander.
Septième leçon. Bien que
la multitude de ses miracles, eût répandu au loin sa renommée, cependant
oublieuse de la première dignité, elle ambitionnait les plus vils et les plus
abjects offices. Le soin des malades, des pauvres, des lépreux surtout, faisait
ses principales délices ; souvent ils étaient miraculeusement guéris par elle.
Telle était sa piété envers le divin sacrifice de l’autel, qu’elle faisait de
ses mains les pains à consacrer, et en fournissait diverses églises. Mais si
parmi les délices royales elle s’était toute adonnée à mortifier sa chair, si
dès son adolescence elle avait brûlé du désir du martyre : maintenant qu’elle
menait la vie monastique, de quelles rigueurs ne devait-elle pas affliger son
corps ? Ceignant ses reins de chaînes de fer, elle allait jusqu’à poser ses
membres sur des charbons ardents pour les mieux tourmenter, à fixer
intrépidement sur sa chair des lames incandescentes, pour qu’ainsi cette chair
elle-même fût à sa manière embrasée par l’amour du Christ. Clotaire ayant résolu
de la reprendre et de l’enlever à son cloître, étant même déjà en marche pour
venir à Sainte-Croix, elle sut si bien l’en détourner par des lettres adressées
à saint Germain évêque de Paris, que le prince, prosterné aux pieds du saint
prélat, le supplia d’implorer de la pieuse reine pardon pour son roi et son
époux.
Huitième leçon. Elle
enrichit son monastère de reliques saintes apportées de divers pays. Ayant même
envoyé dans ce but des clercs à l’empereur Justin, elle en obtint une partie
insigne du bois de la Croix du Seigneur, qui fut reçue en grande solennité par
la ville de Poitiers, le clergé et le peuple entier tressaillant d’allégresse.
On chanta en cette occasion les hymnes composées à la louange de la Croix
auguste par Venance Fortunat, qui fut depuis évêque, et jouissait alors de
l’intimité sainte de Radegonde, dont il administrait le monastère. Enfin la
très sainte reine étant mûre pour le ciel, peu de jours avant qu’elle ne sortit
de cette vie, le Seigneur daigna lui apparaître sous les traits d’un jeune
homme éclatant de beauté, et elle mérita d’entendre de sa bouche ces mots : «
Pourquoi ce désir insatiable de jouir ? Pourquoi te répandre en tant de
gémissements et de larmes ? Pourquoi ces supplications répétées à mes autels ?
Pourquoi sous tant de travaux briser ton pauvre corps ? Quand je te suis uni
toujours ! Ma noble perle, sache qu’entre les pierres sans prix du diadème de
ma tête tu es une des premières ». L’année donc 587, elle exhala son âme très
pure dans le sein du céleste Époux qu’elle avait uniquement aimé. Elle fut
ensevelie, selon son désir, dans la basilique de la bienheureuse Marie par
saint Grégoire de Tours.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Jamais butin n’égala
celui que l’expédition de Thuringe valut, vers l’an 530, aux fils de Clovis.
Recevez cette bénédiction des dépouilles de l’ennemi [1], pouvaient-ils dire en
présentant aux Francs l’orpheline recueillie à la cour du prince fratricide
qu’ils venaient de châtier. Radegonde voyait Dieu se hâter de mûrir son âme. Après
la mort tragique des siens, était venue pour son pays l’heure de la ruine ;
longtemps après, la mémoire en restait toute vive au cœur de l’enfant d’alors,
suscitant chez la reine et la sainte des retours d’exilée que l’amour seul du
Christ-Roi pouvait dompter : « J’ai vu les morts couvrir la plaine, et
l’incendie ravager les palais ; j’ai vu les femmes, l’œil sec d’effroi, mener
le deuil de la Thuringe tombée ; moi seule ai survécu pour pleurer pour tous »
[2].
Près des rois francs,
dont la licence sauvage rappelait trop celle de ses pères, la captive rencontra
cependant le christianisme qu’elle ne connaissait point encore. La foi eut pour
cette âme que la souffrance avait creusée de quoi remplir ses abîmes. En la
donnant à Dieu, le baptême consacra sans les briser les élans de sa fière
nature. Affamée du Christ [3], elle eût voulu aller à lui par le martyre, elle
le cherchait sur la croix de tous les renoncements, elle le trouvait dans ses
membres souffrants et pauvres ; du visage des lépreux, qui était pour elle la
face défigurée de son Sauveur, elle s’élevait à l’ardente contemplation de
l’Époux triomphant dont la face glorieuse illumine l’assemblée des Saints.
Quelle répulsion quand,
lui offrant les honneurs de reine, le destructeur de sa patrie prétendit
partager avec Dieu la possession d’un cœur que le ciel seul avait pu consoler
et combler ! La fuite d’abord, le refus de plier ses mœurs aux convenances
d’une cour où tout heurtait pour elle aspirations et souvenirs, l’empressement
à briser au premier jour des liens que la violence avait seule noués,
montrèrent bien si l’épreuve avait eu d’autre effet, comme dit sa Vie, que de
tendre son âme [4] toujours plus à l’objet de son unique amour.
Cependant, près du
tombeau de Martin, une autre reine, la mère du royaume très chrétien, Clotilde
allait mourir. Malheur aux temps où les personnages de la droite du Très-Haut,
disparaissant, ne sont pas remplacés sur la terre, où le Psalmiste s’écrie dans
son juste effroi : Sauvez-moi, à Dieu, parce qu’il n’y a plus de Saint [5] !
Car si au ciel les élus prient toujours, ils ne fournissent plus dans leur
chair le supplément qui manque aux souffrances du Seigneur pour son corps qui
est l’Église [6]. La tâche commencée au baptistère de Reims n’était pas achevée
; l’Évangile, qui régnait par la foi sur notre nation, était loin d’avoir
encore assoupli ses mœurs. A la prière suprême de celle qu’il nous avait donnée
pour mère, le Christ qui aime les Francs ne refusa point la consolation de
savoir qu’elle allait se survivre ; Radegonde, délivrée juste à temps pour ne
point laisser vaquer l’œuvre laborieuse de former à l’Église sa fille aînée,
reprenait avec Dieu dans la solitude la lutte de prière et d’expiation
commencée par la veuve de Clovis.
La joie d’avoir rompu un joug
odieux rendit le pardon facile à sa grande âme [7] ; dans son monastère de
Poitiers, elle manifesta pour ces rois qu’elle tenait à distance un dévouement
qui ne devait plus leur faire un seul jour défaut. C’est qu’à leur sort était
lié celui de la France, cette patrie de sa vie surnaturelle où l’Homme-Dieu
s’était révélé à son cœur, et qu’à ce titre elle aimait d’une partie de l’amour
qu’elle portait au ciel, l’éternelle patrie. La paix, la prospérité de cette
terre natale de son âme occupaient jour et nuit sa pensée. Survenait-il quelque
amertume entre les princes, disent les récits contemporains, on la voyait
trembler de tous ses membres a la seule crainte des dangers du pays. Elle
écrivait selon leurs dispositions diverses à tous et chacun des rois, les
adjurant de songer au salut de la nation ; à ses démarches pour écarter la
guerre elle intéressait les principaux leudes. Elle imposait à sa communauté
des veilles assidues, l’exhortant avec larmes à prier sans trêve ; quant à
elle-même, les tourments qu’elle s’infligeait dans ce but sont inexprimables
[8].
L’unique victoire
ambitionnée de Radegonde était donc la paix entre les rois de la terre ; quand
elle l’avait remportée dans sa lutte avec le Roi du ciel, son allégresse
redoublait au service du Seigneur [9], et la tendresse qu’elle ressentait pour
ses auxiliaires dévouées, les moniales de Sainte-Croix, trouvait à peine
d’expression suffisante : « Vous les filles de mon choix, répétait-elle, mes
yeux, ma vie, mon doux repos, ma félicité, vivez avec moi de telle sorte en ce
siècle, que nous nous retrouvions dans le bonheur de l’autre » [10]. Mais
combien cet amour lui était rendu !
« Par le Dieu du ciel,
c’est la vérité que tout en elle reflétait la splendeur de l’âme » [11]. Cri
spontané et plein de grâce de sa fille Baudonivie, auquel fait écho la voix
plus grave de l’évêque historien, Grégoire de Tours, attestant la permanence
jusque dans le trépas de la surnaturelle beauté de la sainte [12] ; éclat d’en
haut qui purifiait autant qu’il retenait les cœurs, qui fixait l’inconstance
voyageuse de l’italien Venance Fortunat [13] appelait sur son propre front
l’auréole des Saints avec l’onction des Pontifes, et lui inspirait ses plus
beaux chants.
Comment n’eût-elle pas
réfléchi la lumière de Dieu, celle qui, tournée vers lui dans une contemplation
ininterrompue, redoublait de désirs à mesure que la fin de l’exil approchait ?
Ni les reliques des Saints, qu’elle avait tant recherchées parce qu’elles lui
parlaient de la vraie patrie [14], ni son plus cher trésor, la Croix du
Seigneur, ne lui suffisaient plus : c’était le Seigneur même qu’elle eût voulu
ravir au trône de sa majesté, pour le faire habiter visiblement ici-bas [15].
Faisait-elle diversion à
ses soupirs sans fin, c’était pour exciter dans les autres les mêmes
aspirations, le même besoin du rayon céleste. Elle exhortait ses filles à ne
rien négliger des divines connaissances, leur expliquant avec sa science
profonde et son amour de mère les difficultés des Écritures. Comme elle
multipliait dans le même but pour la communauté les lectures saintes : « Si
vous ne comprenez pas, disait-elle, interrogez ; que craignez-vous de chercher
la lumière de vos âmes [16] ? » Puis, insistant : « Moissonnez, moissonnez le
froment du Seigneur ; car, je vous le dis en vérité , vous n’aurez plus
longtemps à le faire : moissonnez , car l’heure approche où vous voudrez
rappeler à vous ces jours qui vous sont donnés présentement, et vos regrets ne
les ramèneront pas » [17].
Et la pieuse narratrice à
qui nous devons ces détails d’une intimité si vivante et si suave, poursuit en
effet : « Il est venu trop tôt ce temps dont notre indolence d’alors écoutait
si tièdement l’annonce. L’oracle s’est réalisé pour nous, qui dit : Je vous
enverrai la famine sur la terre, famine non du pain ni de l’eau, mais de la
divine parole [18]. Car bien qu’on nous lise encore ses conférences
d’autrefois, elle s’est tue cette voix qui ne cessait pas, elles sont fermées
ces lèvres toujours prêtes aux sages conseils, aux douces effusions. Quelle
expression, quels traits, ô Dieu très bon, quelle attitude vous lui aviez
donnés ! Non, personne ne pourra jamais le décrire. Vrai supplice, que ce
souvenir ! Cet enseignement, cette grâce, ce visage, ce maintien, cette
science, cette piété, cette bonté, cette douceur, où les chercher maintenant
[19] ? »
Douleur touchante, toute
à l’honneur des enfants et de la mère, mais qui ne pouvait retarder pour
celle-ci la récompense. Le matin des ides d’août de l’année 587, au milieu des
lamentations qui s’élevaient de Sainte-Croix, un ange avait été entendu, disant
à d’autres dans les hauteurs : « Laissez-la encore, car les pleurs de ses
filles sont montés jusqu’à Dieu ». Mais ceux qui portaient Radegonde avaient
répondu : « Il est trop tard, elle est déjà en paradis » [20].
L’exil a pris fin ;
l’éternelle possession succède au désir ; le ciel entier resplendit des feux de
la pierre précieuse qui vient d’enrichir le diadème de l’Époux. O Radegonde, la
Sagesse de Dieu, qui récompense vos travaux à cette heure, vous a conduite par
des voies admirables [21]. Votre héritage devenu, selon l’expression du
prophète, comme le lion de la forêt semant autour de vous la mort [22], votre
captivité bientôt loin du sol natal : qu’était-ce que les moyens de l’amour
vous retirant des cavernes des lions, des retraites des léopards [23], où les
faux dieux avaient retenu vos premiers ans ? L’épreuve devait vous suivre aussi
sur la terre étrangère ; mais la lumière d’en haut, révélée à votre âme,
l’avait stabilisée. En vain un roi puissant voulut vous faire partager avec lui
son trône ; vous fûtes reine, mais pour le Christ dont la bonté daignait
confier à votre maternité ce royaume de France qui est à lui avant d’être à nul
prince. Pour lui vous l’avez aimée, cette terre devenue vôtre par le droit de
l’Épouse à qui le sceptre de l’Époux appartient ; pour lui cette nation, sur
laquelle vous présagiez ses desseins glorieux, a eu sans compter vos travaux,
vos indicibles macérations, vos prières et vos larmes.
O vous qui, comme le
Christ est toujours notre Roi, restez aussi toujours notre Reine, ramenez à lui
le cœur des Francs que de néfastes errements ont découronné de leur gloire, en
faisant que leur glaive ne soit plus celui du soldat de Dieu. Gardez entre
toutes votre ville de Poitiers, qui vous honore d’un culte si spécial en la
compagnie de son grand Hilaire. Bénissez vos filles de Sainte-Croix, toujours
fidèles à vos grands souvenirs, toujours prouvant la puissance de la tige
féconde [24] qui, par delà tant de siècles et de ruines, n’a point cessé de
produire ses fleurs et ses fruits. Montrez-nous à chercher le Seigneur, à le
rencontrer dans son Sacrement, dans les reliques de ses Saints, dans ses
membres souffrants sur terre ; que tout chrétien apprenne de vous à aimer.
[1] I Reg. XXX, 26.
[2] De excidio
Thuringiae, I, V. 5-36, Fortunatus ex persona Radegundis.
[3] Fortunatus, Vita
Radegundis, 6.
[4] Baudonivia, Vita
Radegundis, 2.
[5] Psalm. XI, 2.
[6] Col. I, 24.
[7] Baudonivia, 7.
[8] Ibid. 11.
[9] Baudonivia, 11.
[10] Ibid. 8.
[11] Ibid. 16.
[12] Greg. Turon. De
gloria Confessorum, CVI.
[13] Fortunat.
Miscellanea, VIII, I, II, etc.
[14] Baudonivia, 14.
[15] Ibid. 17.
[16] Baudonivia, 9.
[17] Ibid. 24.
[18] Amos. VIII, 11.
[19] Baudonivia, 24.
[20] Ibid. 26.
[21] Sap. X, 17.
[22] Jerem. XII, 8.
[23] Cant. IV, 8.
[24] Sanctarum monialium
mater et radix antiquissima, ora pro nobis. La preuve historique des Litanies
de sainte Radegonde, p. 293, édition D. H. Beauchet-Filleau.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/Sainte-Radegonde-reine-veuve
Also
known as
Radegonda
Radegund
Rhadegund
Radegonde
Radigund
Radegundes
Profile
Princess of
Thuringia. Queen of France.
Daughter of the pagan king Berthachar
of Thuringia. She was given at age 12 to Clotaire I as a hostage after
he conquered her father‘s army in 531.
The girl converted to Christianity during
her captivity,
and 540 she
was married against
her will to Clotaire who then badly mistreated her,
partly for being childless. In 555 she
finally left him and took the veil from Saint Medard. Deaconess at Noyon, France.
She founded the convent of
the Holy Cross, Poiters, France;
among the many relics in
its chapel was
a piece of the True Cross. She placed the house under the Rule of Saint Caesarius
of Arles, and lived there her remaining 30 years; it became a center of
scholarship. Spiritual student of Saint John of
Chinon. Friend of Saint Fortunatus,
who composed his hymn Vexilla
Regis in her honor. She was very active in the affairs of the Church and
civil politics, and gained a repuation as a peacemaker. Jesus College in
Cambridge was originally dedicated to her.
Born
13 August 587 in Poitiers, France of
natural causes
relics burned by Calvinists in 1562
receiving an apparition
of Our Lord
Additional
Information
A
Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints, by John Dawson Gilmary Shea
The
Life of Saint Radegund, Queen of the Franks, by A Secular Priest
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
Medieval Women’s Latin Letters
New International Encyclopaedia
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
“Saint Radegunde“. CatholicSaints.Info.
11 March 2022. Web. 21 March 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-radegunde/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-radegunde/
August 13
St. Radegundes, Queen of
France
SHE was daughter of
Bertaire, a pagan king of part of Thuringia, in Germany, who was assassinated
by his brother Hermenfred. Theodoric, or Thierry, king of Austrasia, or Metz,
and his brother Clotaire I., then king of Soissons, fell upon Hermenfred,
vanquished him, and carried home a great booty. Among the prisoners,
Radegundes, then about twelve years old, fell to the lot of King Clotaire, who
gave her an education suitable to her birth, and caused her to be instructed in
the Christian religion, and baptized. The great mysteries of our holy faith
made such an impression on her tender soul, that, from the moment of her
baptism, she gave herself to God with her whole heart, abridged her meals to
feed the poor, whom she served with her own hands, and made prayer,
humiliations, and austerities her whole delight. It was her earnest desire to
serve God in the state of perpetual virginity; but was obliged at length to
acquiesce in the king’s desire to marry her. Being by this exaltation become a
great queen, she continued no less an enemy to sloth and vanity than she was
before, and she divided her time chiefly between her oratory, the church, and
the care of the poor. She also kept long fasts, and during Lent wore a
hair-cloth under her rich garments. Clotaire was at first pleased with her
devotions, and allowed her full liberty in them; but afterwards, by ambition
and other passions, his affections began to be alienated from her, and he used
frequently to reproach her for her pious exercises, saying, he had married a
nun rather than a queen, who converted his court into a monastery. His
complaints were unjust, for she made it one of the first points of her devotion
never to be wanting in any duty of her state, and to show the king all possible
complaisance. She repaid injuries only with patience and greater courtesy and
condescension, doing all the good in her power to those who were her declared
enemies in prepossessing her husband against her. Clotaire at length caused her
brother to be treacherously assassinated, that he might seize on his dominions
in Thuringia. Radegundes, shocked at this base act of inhumanity, asked his
leave to retire from court, which she easily obtained. Clotaire himself sent
her to Noyon, that she might receive the religious veil from the hands of St.
Medard. The holy prelate scrupled to do it for some time, because she was a married
woman; but was at length prevailed upon to consecrate her a deaconess. 1
Radegundes first withdrew
to Sais, an estate which the king had given her in Poitou, living wholly on
bread made of rye and barley, and on roots and pulse, and never drinking any
wine; and her bed was a piece of sackcloth spread upon ashes. She employed
almost her whole revenue in alms, and served the poor with her own hands. She
wore next her skin a chain which had been given her by St. Junian, a holy
priest in that country, whom she furnished with clothes worked with her own
hands. St. Radegundes went some time after to Poitiers, and there, by the
orders of King Clotaire, built a great monastery of nuns, in which she procured
a holy virgin, named Agnes, to be made the first abbess, and paid to her an
implicit obedience in all things, not reserving to herself the disposal of the
least thing. Not long after, King Clotaire, repenting that he had consented to
her taking the veil, went as far as Tours with his son Sigebert, upon a
religious pretence, but intending to proceed to Poitiers, and carry her again
to court. She was alarmed at the news, and wrote to St. Germanus of Paris,
desiring him to divert so great an evil. The bishop having received her letter,
went to the king, and throwing himself at his feet before the tomb of St.
Martin, conjured him, with tears, in the name of God, not to go to Poitiers.
The king, at the same time, prostrated himself before St. Germanus, beseeching
him that Radegundes would pray that God would pardon that wicked design, to
which he said he had been prompted by evil advice. The same lively faith which
made the saint pass with joy from the court to a cloister, and from the throne
to a poor cell, filled her with alarms when she heard of her danger of being
called again to a court. Her happiness seemed complete when she saw herself
securely fixed in her solitude.
Being desirous to
perpetuate the work of God, she wrote to a council of bishops that was
assembled at Tours in 566, entreating them to confirm the foundation of her
monastery, which they did under the most severe censures. She had already
enriched the church she had built with the relics of a great number of saints;
but was very desirous to procure a particle of the true cross of our Redeemer,
and sent certain clerks to Constantinople, to the Emperor Justin, for that
purpose. The emperor readily sent her a piece of that sacred wood, adorned with
gold and precious stones; also a book of the four gospels beautified in the
same manner, and the relics of several saints. They were carried into Poitiers,
and deposited in the church of the monastery by the Archbishop of Tours in the
most solemn manner, with a great procession, wax tapers, incense, and singing
of psalms. It was on that occasion that Venantius Fortunatus composed the
hymn, Vexilla regius produent. 2 St.
Radegundes had invited him and several other holy and learned men to Poitiers;
was herself a scholar, and read both the Latin and Greek fathers. She
established in her monastery of the Holy Cross the rule of St. Cæsarius of
Arles, a copy of which she procured from Cæsaria II., abbess of St. John’s, at
Arles. She probably took that name from St. Cæsaria, sister of St. Cæsarius,
first abbess of that house, who died in 524. She was her worthy successor in
all her great virtues, no less than in her dignity, and her admirable sanctity
is much extolled by Fortunatus. 3 She
excelled particularly in holy prudence, which, as St. Ambrose remarks, must be,
as it were, the salt to season all other virtues, which cannot be perfect or
true without it. St. Cæsaria sent to St. Radegundes, together with the copy of
this rule, an excellent letter of advice, most useful to all superiors and
others, which has been lately published by Dom. Martenne. 4 In
it she says, that persons who desire sincerely to serve God, must apply
themselves earnestly to holy prayer, begging continually of God that he be
pleased to make known to them his holy will, and direct them to follow it in
all things; that they must, in the next place, diligently hear, read, and
meditate on the word of God, which is a doctrine infinitely more precious than
that of men, and a mine which can never be exhausted; that they must never
cease praising God, and giving him thanks for his mercies; that they must give
alms to the utmost of their abilities, and must practise austerities according
to the rule of obedience and discretion. She prescribes that every nun shall
learn the psalter by heart, and be able to read; and she gives the strictest
caution to be watchful against all particular fond friendships or familiarities
in communities. St. Radegundes, not satisfied with these instructions, took
with her Agnes, the abbess of her monastery, and made a journey to Arles, more
perfectly to acquaint herself with the obligations of her rule. Being returned
to Poitiers, she assisted Agnes in settling the discipline of her house.
In the year 560,
Clotaire, who was the fourth son of Clovis the Great, became sole king of
France, his three brothers and their sons being all dead. In the last year of
his reign he went to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours, carrying with him very
rich gifts. He there enumerated all the sins of his past life, and with deep
groans, besought the holy confessor to implore God’s mercy in his behalf. He
founded St. Medard’s abbey at Soissons, and gave great marks of a sincere
repentance. Yet, during his last illness, he showed great alarm and disturbance
of mind at the remembrance of the crimes he had committed, and said in his last
moments: “How powerful is the heavenly king, by whose command the greatest
monarchs of the earth resign their life!” He died in 561, having reigned fifty
years. His four sons divided his kingdom: Charibert, who reigned at Paris, had
the isle of France, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Poitou, Guienne, and Languedoc.
Chilperic resided at Soissons, and enjoyed Picardy, Normandy, and all the Low Countries.
Gontran was king of Orleans, and his dominions were extended to the source of
the Loire, and comprised also Provence, Dauphiné, and Savoy. Austrasia fell to
Sigebert, and comprehended Lorrain, Champagne, Auvergne, and some provinces in
Germany. Charibert lived but a short time; and the civil wars between Sigebert,
married to Brunehault, and Chilperic, whose concubine was the famous
Fredegonda, distracted all France. Childebert, son of Sigebert and Brunehault,
after the death of his father, and two uncles Chilperic and Gontran, became
sovereign of Austrasia, Orleans, and Paris, and continued, as his father had
always been, a great protector of St. Radegundes, and her monastery of the Holy
Cross, in which she had assembled two hundred nuns, among whom were several
daughters of senators, and some of royal blood. The holy foundress, amidst all
the storms that disturbed the kingdom, enjoyed a perfect tranquillity in her
secure harbour, and died in the year 587, the twelfth of King Childebert, on
the 13th of August, on which day the church honours her memory. St. Gregory,
archbishop of Tours, went to Poitiers upon the news of her death, and, the
bishop of Poitiers being absent, performed the funeral office at her interment.
The nun Baudonivia, who
had received her education under St. Radegundes, and was present at her burial,
relates that during it a blind man recovered his sight. Many other miracles
were performed at the tomb of this saint. Her relics lay in the church of our
Lady at Poitiers till they were dispersed by the Huguenots, together with those
of St. Hilary, in 1562. See her life written by Fortunatus of Poitiers, her
chaplain; and a second book added to the same by the nun Baudonivia, her
disciple. See also St. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Fr. l. 3, c. 4, 7, &c., and
l. de Glor. Conf. c. 23. On her life compiled by Hildebert, bishop of Mans,
afterwards archbishop of Tours, who died in 1134, see Mabillon, Anal. t. 1, p.
298. Hildebert has borrowed every part of this history from Fortunatus and
Baudonivia, but given a more elegant turn to the style. Obscure passages
he has passed over.
Note 1. Posterior
canons forbid any married person to enter into holy orders, or a religious
state, unless their consort likewise renounces the world by embracing either
orders or the state of religion: (cap. 18, de Convers. conjug.) but, before the
aforesaid law of the church, this might be done by the free consent of the
other party, who, nevertheless, could not marry again during her or his
life. [back]
Note 2. Venantius
Fortunatus was born in Italy, not far from Treviso, had studied at Ravenna, and
was, for that age, a good grammarian, rhetorician, and poet. He made a visit of
devotion to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours, and wrote the life of that saint
in four books, in acknowledgment of the cure of a distemper in his eyes, which
he received by rubbing them with the oil of a lamp lighted before the sepulchre
of that saint. Being invited by St. Radegundes to Poitiers, he was ordained
priest of that church about the year 565, and was afterwards chosen bishop of
that city.
He had an uncommon
natural genius, was very ready at his pen, and an original writer in every
subject that he handled. His prose falls much short of his verse, which is
harmonious and animated, though he alters the original quantities of many Latin
words. He composed many poems to the honour of several saints. That on the Cross,
which begins with the words Pange lingua, is ascribed to him by Du
Pin and some others, but seems rather to have been written by the priest
Claudius Mammertus, as Ceillier shows. He wrote verse with wonderful ease. He
also left us the lives of several saints, and a considerable number of
epistles. Some of his works are published in the Bibliotheca Patrum of Lyons
and Cologn; but a complete edition of them is wanting. [back]
Note 3. Fortun. l.
48, c. 4. [back]
Note 4. Anecdot. t.
1, p. 36. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume VIII: August. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/8/133.html
Radegundis, St.,
born in 519, queen of Clotaire I. and founder of the nunnery of Sainte-Croix,
at Poictiers. Her father was a Thuringian prince named Bertharius. Her austerities
were so incessant that it was commonly said the king had wedded a nun (Venant.
Fort. Acta S. Rad. c. i.). Abhorring the married state from the
first, she seems to have finally decided to escape from it upon her husband's
treacherous murder of her brother. Withdrawing to Noyon on the pretext of some
religious observance, her urgency overcame the hesitation of bp. Medardus to
make her a deaconess. She then escaped from her husband's territory to the
sanctuary of St. Martin of Tours, and thence to St. Hilary's at Poictiers. Here
she founded her monastery within a mile or two of the city; finally, with the
consent of Clotaire, clerks were sent to the East for wood of the true cross to
sanctify it, and the rule of SS. Caesarius and Caesaria of Arles was adopted.
Here the rest of her life was spent, first as abbess, then as simple nun under
the rule of another. We have full information about the beginnings of this
institution from the two Lives of Radegund, one by Venantius Fortunatus, her
intimate friend (Patr. Lat. lxxii. 651), the other by one of her nuns
called Baudonivia (ib. 663); and also from the fact that in Gregory's
time, after Radegund's death, the attention of all France was drawn to the spot
by the scandalous outbreak of a body of the nuns, headed by Chrodieldis, a
natural daughter of king Charibert I. After a residence of about 37 years she
died Aug. 13, 587, and was buried by Gregory of Tours (de Glor. Conf. c.
cvi.).
[S.A.B.]
Wace, Henry; Piercy, William C., eds. (1911). "Radegundis, St" . Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century (3rd ed.). London: John Murray.
The Life of Saint Radegund, Queen of
the Franks, by A Secular Priest
“And Grief, too, held her
vigil there;
With unrelenting sway
Breaking my airy visions down,
Throwing my flowers away –
I owe to her fond care alone
That I may now be all Thine own.”
Radegund, a princess of
Thuringia – Becomes the captive of Clotaire I, king of the Franks – afterwards
his queen – They separate – Her convent at Poitiers – Hymn Vexilla – Her
illness and death – Story of Saint Junian – Charles VII of France
Thuringia, the native
country of Saint Radegund, embraced the territory beyond the Rhine, lying
between the Weser and the Oder. At the death of king Basinus, it was divided
among his three sons. Hermanfried, the most powerful and the most ambitious of
the three, coveted the possessions of his brothers. Goaded on by the taunts of
his unscrupulous queen, a niece of the Gothic sovereign, Theodoric, he
assassinated his brother Berthaire, and only waited for a good opportunity of
putting Balderic, the survivor, out of the way. At that time, Thierry, the
eldest son of Clovis, king of the Franks, reigned at Metz, over the territory
now comprehended in Lorraine, Champagne, Belgium, and the Rhenish provinces of
Prussia. Hermanfried entered into an alliance with Thierry, for the infamous
purpose of wresting the remaining portion of Thuringia from his brother,
Balderic, by the sword. Their wicked project succeeded; but, as often happens
among unprincipled men, when associated for an evil object, Hermanfried
overreached his ally in the bargain they had struck, about the territory which
Thierry was to acquire as the price of his co-operation. The Frank king
dissembled his indignation, and his purpose of revenge, until the death of
Theodoric, the king of the Goths, with whom he wished to avoid a collision
(526). Thierry then called his brother, Clotaire I, from Soissons to his aid;
they entered Thuringia together, and inflicted a cruel chastisement on the
perfidious Hermanfried; devastating the country with fire and sword, and
carrying off much valuable booty and many prisoners of war.
Clotaire obtained, as
part of his share in the adventure, a young prince and princess, the orphan
children of Berthaire. Radegund and her little brother, after seeing their home
made desolate by their wicked uncle, were now torn from their native country,
and carried to Soissons, as captives and slaves of the Frank king, Clotaire
(531).
Though tall of her age,
Radegund was still a child. The horrors she had already passed through had
stamped on her beautiful face an expression of wild and of bitter sorrow,
rarely seen in one so young. Clotaire admired her childish beauty, and with the
desire of educating her for his future, queen, sent her to reside at Athie, in
Picardy, his country seat on the Somme. In this retired and genial spot, the
little princess soon made rapid progress in her studies, under competent
instructors, and by degrees became more reconciled to the sad vicissitudes of
her life; the light of the gospel, too, began slowly to dispel the heathen darkness
of her childhood. The day of her baptism was to her the beginning of a new and
a nobler life, in which the imitation of Jesus Christ seems to have always
formed the guiding principle of her conduct.
Time glided insensibly
away, and young Radegund reached her nineteenth year (538). A message from
Clotaire then summoned her to Vitry, in Belgium, to become his queen. The
licentious man was not worthy of her. His private life was defaced by the worst
vices of his yet half-savage race. But his will was absolute law for his
dependents; and in spite of her aversion, the young Thuringian princess was
compelled to assume the rank of queen-consort to this wicked man. She was
already no novice in the practice of submission to the roughest discipline; but
all her past training was necessary to support her in the life of trial now
before her. The love of prayer, of austerities, and of the poor, which she had
learnt at Athie, stood her in good stead now. Yet, with all her endeavours, she
failed to secure the love of her lawless husband, who used to declare that she
turned his court into a cloister. His courtiers encouraged these unjust
reproaches of the king; violent scenes ensued, from which the patience of the
unhappy queen afforded her no protection; her only friend in that courtly
circle, her brother, fell a victim to the cruelty of Clotaire; and his death
filled up the measure of our saint’s heavy trials.
Radegund had now passed
six years of anxious struggle. Worn out with the contest, she solicited
permission to retire from court, and assume the habit of a nun. (Note – The
mutual abandonment of conjugal duties and rights, although sometimes permitted,
cannot be said to be encouraged by the Church. Since the age of our Saint, new
safeguards have been interposed. Not only must the consent of both parties be
given, as, indeed, was necessary then, but both parties must now embrace the
religious life, with the option to the husband of entering into holy orders.)
Clotaire was only too glad to get rid of her on such easy terms. It was
arranged that she should commence her new life at Noyon, under the sanction of
Saint Medard, the bishop. She afterwards retired in her religious character to
Saix, one of the royal residences in Poitou, where she at once adopted a
severely penitential course of life. In no long time, however, the danger which
naturally impends over such an arrangement as she had recently made, actually
happened: Clotaire repented the dismissal of his beautiful queen, and news
reached her that he was on his way to Saix to reclaim her. She escaped with her
companions to Poitiers, and, from the church of Saint Hilary, wrote a letter to
the king, imploring him to regard her for the future as dead to him. She
prevailed, and soon after laid the foundation of a convent at Poitiers. A
second time the king altered his mind, and insisted on Radegund’s returning to
his court. It required all the influence of Germanus, bishop of Paris,
supported by threats of the vengeance of Saint Martin, whom the Franks had
learnt from the Gauls to revere, to make the king change his purpose. He
ultimately died in possession of the entire kingdom of his father, and not
before he had an opportunity of making such amends as were possible for his
licentious life (561).
The Council of Tours,
(566) formally placed the young convent of Saint Radegund under its protection.
By and by it assumed the name of Saint Croix, in honour of a relic of the Holy
Cross, which the emperor Justin sent to the convent at the request of the
queen. Her friend, Venantius Fortunatus, afterwards bishop of Poitiers,
composed on the occasion the hymn Vexilla regis prodeunt, nearly in the form in
which it is still found in the Breviary, on Passion Sunday.
The latest incident in
our Saint’s active life was a journey to Aries, undertaken for the purpose of
more complete initiation into the Rule which she had adopted for her nuns. At
the feet of the illustrious abbess Caesaria, Radegund acquired the necessary
instruction; and returned to Poitiers, to put the finishing touches to the work
of her life.
As our Saint approached
its termination, and saw her task on earth accomplished in the permanent
establishment of her nuns, she often begged our Lord to call her to Himself.
One day, while she was praying in her oratory more fervently than usual, a
youth of glorious appearance stood before her, and, shewing her his pierced
hands and feet, from which issued rays of light more dazzling than the sun’s,
thus addressed her – “soul which I have redeemed, what is it that you ask of
me? Why so many tears, and sighs, and prayers? See! I am always by your side,
and very soon you shall know what the joys of heaven are, for you are a pearl
of great price, and one of the most precious jewels in My crown.”
“But why, my Lord,”
rejoined the weeping saint, “do you bestow such a favour as this on me who am
so unworthy?”
“Do not speak so, my
child,” answered her Lord; “I grant My favours to whom I will, and to whom I
know it to be best to do so. To doubt this, would be to offend against faith
and hope.”
All through the first
half of the year 587, Saint Radegund lost strength daily, and her nuns plainly
perceived that they must soon lose their beloved mother. Yet, to the last, she
continued her practices of severe penance, she discharged, as usual, the most
menial duties in the house, and she deprived her poor body of food and of
sleep. On the 12th of August, nature gave way, and the dying saint was unable
to rise from the couch of sackcloth and ashes on which she usually snatched a
little repose. Her nuns gathered about her, to pay her the last offices of
love, and to learn how a saint could die. She bade them be comforted for her
departure, and promised that in heart and in thought she would still remain
with them. She received with overflowing devotion the last sacraments of the
dying; and after the rite, she lay in profound meditation till the evening;
when all at once she began to discourse to her spiritual children with singular
fluency and abundance, in words of the tenderest piety, chiefly supplied by her
memory from her daily reading in the Gospels, in the Psalms of David, and in
the writings of the holy fathers.
At night the saint
relapsed into silence; but her eyes, and every portion of her countenance was
eloquent with joy, and a sense of victory achieved. Heaven was so near her, and
so attractive, that she had not one look of regret to spare for what she was leaving
behind. As morning dawned she spoke once more: “I feel no more pain. – May God
bless you all. – May Mary, our mother and our advocate, protect you. – Imitate
her humility and her obedience. – Despise wealth, and value poverty above
everything that is precious in the world. – I am leaving my exile for my home;
my labour for eternal rest in God. – See! the angels are coming to attend me to
the marriage-feast of the immaculate Lamb. – The Spouse calls me away. – Gloria
in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.” With these
concluding words she gently bowed her head, and all was over. So radiant was
the sunset of her cloudy and dark day. (Note – Within these few years a pious
lady, reduced by illness to the last extremity of weakness, suddenly raised
herself in her dying bed, and stretching out her arms, with a beaming
countenance exclaimed, “I see the sceptre of His love! Take me to Him! take me
to Him!” and, sinking back, expired.)
A singular incident is
related in connexion with Saint Radegund’s death. A pious hermit of the name of
Junian, between whom and Saint Radegund there subsisted a holy friendship, had
arranged with her, many years before, that whichever of them survived should
receive the very earliest intelligence of the death of the other, that the
survivor might pray for the departed. The moment that our saint expired, a
messenger was despatched with the news to a place called Chaunay, a favourite
resort of Saint Junian. Exactly half way between Chaunay and Saint Croix, the messenger
from Saint Croix met a messenger from Chaunay, on his way to communicate to
Saint Radegund the news of Saint Junian’s death. A priory, called La Troussaie,
was afterwards erected on the spot where the messengers met.
The bishop of Poitiers
was absent on a journey when the abbess of Saint Croix expired. Saint Gregory
was therefore invited from Tours by her nuns to come and assist them in laying
her in the tomb. He has left in writing an affecting narrative of the whole
ceremony, in which the natural grief of all who were present was strangely
mingled with supernatural attestations of the beatitude of the departed soul.
Crowds came to visit her tomb, out of devotion to her memory, and to supplicate
for temporal and spiritual blessings; and none of her clients seem to have left
the place with a wish unfulfilled. To the saint’s intercession, the recovery of
Anjou and Maine, of Normandy and of Guienne from the English, in the middle of
the 15th century, used to be ascribed by Charles VII of France, quite as much
as to the imbecility of the English government.
Saint Radegund is now
venerated at Poitiers as the patroness of the town. Her biography has been
written by the illustrious Fortunatus, her contemporary and friend; by
Baudonivia, one of her nuns; and by Hildebert, archbishop of Tours, from the
archives of her convent. Saint Gregory of Tours, who highly esteemed her, from
personal knowledge, has inserted her panegyric in several of his works.
The tomb of the saint was
violated, and her bones burnt by the French Calvinists (1569), but her convent,
after sustaining various losses in the great revolution, still survives.
A convent bearing her
name once stood on the site of Jesus College, Cambridge; a row of houses in the
neighbourhood is still called Radegund Buildings.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-life-of-saint-radegund-queen-of-the-franks-by-a-secular-priest/
Chalandray, église Notre-Dame, vitrail Sainte Radegonde
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Radegundis, Queen of France
Article
Radegundis, the holy spouse
of King Clotaire of France, was born a princess of Thuringia, but, having been
made prisoner in her tenth or eleventh year, she was taken to France, as the
French army had devastated her home. Her beauty and other remarkable gifts,
which, at that tender age, already gave great promise for the future,
interested King Clotaire in her and induced him to give her an education
suitable to her rank. Radegundis made great progress in all feminine arts, but
still greater in the wisdom necessary to salvation, which she learned from
devout books, the reading of which gave her the greatest pleasure. Besides her
angelic modesty, her fervor in prayer, her love for the poor, and her other
virtues, she had already begun, at that time, to mortify her tender body by abstaining
from all delicacies, by rigorous fasts and other penances. She esteemed
virginal chastity more than the crown, and when she afterwards heard that the
king intended to take her as his wife, she endeavored to save herself by
flight. Being brought back, she was obliged to yield to his wishes, but made
the resolution to serve God most zealously and to labor for the salvation of
her soul in the exalted station in which she was placed against her desire. She
kept her word. The splendors of royalty could neither blind her, nor make her
depart, in the least, from the path of virtue, in which she had always walked.
She had her appointed time for prayers, devout reading and other pious
exercises; she was extremely kind and tender towards the poor and sick, but very
severe towards herself. Beneath her royal garments she wore a rough penitential
robe. Even when sitting at a most sumptuously spread table, she always took the
plainest food, and very little of it, but was careful to hide this abstinence
from all present. She kept Lent more strictly than any religious in a convent,
and on fast days ate only of one dish, and this either at noon or in the
evening. Clotaire was at first greatly pleased with the virtuous conduct of his
queen, but afterwards blamed her for it, at the instigation of those to whose
licentiousness the queen’s piety was a constant reproach. They at last
succeeded so well by their slanders, that the king lost his affection for her
and frequently wounded her deeply by his injustice. She plainly perceived the
king’s growing aversion to her, and when she found that he had caused her
brother to be assassinated, she begged his permission to leave the court and
retire into a convent. She readily obtained leave, and full of joy went to
Saint Medard, bishop of Noyon, whom she acquainted with her intention. She then
made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Martin, and proceeded to Sais, an estate
the king had given her, and thence Poictiers, where, with the permission of the
king and of the presiding bishop, she built the Convent of the Holy Cross, one
of the most famous in France. In this convent she led even a more holy life
than before, and, refusing to become abbess, she bestowed this dignity on one
of her former maids of honor, named Agnes, to whom she submitted in perfect
obedience as one of the last of the community. The most menial and tiresome
work, she begged as a favor, might be reserved for her, and hence allowed no
one else to sweep the house or serve the sick, but executed all such work with
untiring energy. Towards herself she was more severe than ever. Her whole
sustenance was bread and water and roots, and her bed a rush-mat spread over
boards. She seldom slept more than two hours. Besides the rough-hair garments,
which she never laid aside, she wore a sharp-pointed girdle, which at last grew
into her flesh and had to be cut out, causing great pain. All this did not
satisfy her desire to suffer, which the sight of her crucified Saviour
augmented more and more. She once pressed on her bare breast an iron crucifix,
which had been made red-hot. She often wished she might be tortured like the
holy martyrs and envied them their happiness in being able so effectually to
prove their love for Christ. While the holy queen practiced these and other
virtues, the former affection for his wife returned to the heart of the king.
He regretted having given her leave to go to the convent, and he resolved to
take her back to the court. For this purpose, he made a pilgrimage to the tomb
of Saint Martin, with the intention of going to Poitiers, and carrying the
queen back with him, before informing her of his design. God decreed, however,
that she should be apprised of his coming. She most fervently prayed that the
Almighty would prevent the loss of the holy peace she enjoyed, by her returning
to the dangers of the world. Offering renewed penances to heaven for this end,
she also requested many other servants and handmaids of the Lord to pray for
her. Her prayers were heard; the king, persuaded by Saint Germanus, bishop of
Paris, changed his mind and, allowed Radegundis to remain undisturbed in the
convent. For this mercy she gave humble thanks to God, and continued to serve
Him until her 66th year.
Our Lord Himself
announced her approaching death to her, in a vision, and the joy she felt was
seen in her countenance. She desired to be strengthened with the Sacraments,
and received them with deep humility, reverence, and love. Taking her crucifix
in her hand, and fixing her eyes upon it, she poured forth sighs of devotion,
until her soul took its flight to Heaven, in the year of Our Lord, 587, on the
13th of August. Saint Gregory of Tours, to whom the great virtues of this holy
queen were known, performed the funeral rites with great solemnity. Her holy
body, with other sacred relics, was burnt by the heretics, in 1562, after God
had, for many centuries, honored her tomb with many miracles.
Practical Considerations
The life of the holy
Queen Radegundis presents a wonderful example of austerity, mortification and
penance. To sleep only two hours, to wear a rough penitential garment and a
pointed iron girdle, to abstain from all delicate food, to observe Lent more
strictly than we are obliged, to live on bread, water and undressed roots, and
to practice other similar penances, are, in truth, especially in a tenderly
reared princess and a great queen, acts which should cover our faces with the
blush of shame. To advise you to imitate them, would, of course, be useless;
but could you not, for the love of your Saviour, or out of a desire to atone
for your sins, sometimes deny yourself some pleasure? Could you not shorten
your sleep? Could you not sometimes refuse yourself certain food or drink?
Could your body not endure some discomfort in the service of God, in the depth
of winter or the heat of summer? Take courage. Try to conquer yourself. You can
do much more than you think. “Practice self-denial in small things. Refuse your
flesh that which it desires inordinately, and choose that which it loathes;”
thus speaks Saint Francis Xavier. Saint Cyprian writes: “They, who thus deny
themselves, force an entrance into Heaven.”
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Radegundis, Queen of France”. Lives
of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
9 April 2018. Web. 21 March 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-radegundis-queen-of-france/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-radegundis-queen-of-france/
A Garner of Saints – Saint Radegund
Article
Born in 519, the daughter
of Bertaire, king of Thuringia, who was assassinated by his brother Hermenfried.
Thierry, king of Austrasia, and Clotaire, king of Soissons, then warred upon
the murderer and completely defeated him. Radegund, at this time only twelve
years of age, was carried off by Clotaire, who instructed her in the Christian
religion and afterwards married her. She became a devout Christian, but her
piety displeased her husband who thought it excessive. Her sanctity was so
great that even at this time some prisoners at Peronne. castle were released by
an angel when they prayed to Radegund. The breach with her husband finally came
when Clotaire assassinated her brother in order to take possession of his
estates. Radegund left the court and received the veil from Saint Medard,
bishop of Noyon. Clotaire however pursued her and she fled to Sais. On the way
she passed a yeoman who was sowing oats. Turning to him she said that if any
men came up and asked for a person of her appearance, he should say that she
had passed at the time when he was sowing his field. Shortly afterwards the
king came up with his men, but on receiving the yeoman’s reply, they returned
home, for the crops were already fully grown. Soon afterwards Radegund went to
Poitiers, founding a nunnery there, making a holy virgin named Agnes the abbess
over herself. But Radegund became noted for acts of piety and the miracles
which she wrought. A sick man was healed by taking a bath and by the saint
pouring a sweet smelling oil over his head. She would wash the feet of poor
beggars and care for their wounds, not disdaining to touch them, however filthy
and loathsome they might be. One night, when visiting her monastery, her
attention was directed to some goats which were jumping on the walls. She at
once understood.that they were devils, but on her making the sign of the cross,
they disappeared. On one occasion she revived a still-born child brought to her
by its father, by wrapping it in the horse skin rug on which she knelt at her
devotions. She healed a demoniac woman by putting her foot on the sufferer’s
head, upon which the devil immediately issued from her body. One day she sent a
man named Flerejus to fish with two companions. They were caught in a fearful
storm, but on appealing to Radegund, the storm ceased. A girl of wealthy and
noble family being attacked by a fever, made a wax candle to Saint Radegund,
and as the candle burned down, the fever left her. Her acceptability to Heaven
was shown by a special manifestation of the Virgin and Child Jesus to her one
day as she was praying. Clotaire at one time thought of taking her back to him
by force, but she wrote to Saint Germain of Paris, who went to the king and
dissuaded him. After a life of tranquillity and Christian devotion, Radegund
died in the year 587. 13th
August.
Attributes
The royal crown; prisoner
with broken fetters at her feet.
MLA
Citation
Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
“Saint Radegund”. A Garner of Saints, 1900. CatholicSaints.Info.
26 April 2017. Web. 21 March 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/a-garner-of-saints-saint-radegund/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/a-garner-of-saints-saint-radegund/
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Radegundes, Queen
Article
Saint Radegundes was the
daughter of a king of Thuringia who was assassinated by his brother; a war
ensuing, our Saint, at the age of twelve, was made prisoner and carried captive
by Clotaire, King of Soissons, who had her instructed in the Christian religion
and baptized. The great mysteries of our faith made such an impression on her
tender soul that she gave herself to God with her whole heart, and desired to
consecrate to him her virginity; she was obliged at last, however, to yield to
the king’s wish that she should become his wife. As a great queen, she
continued no less an enemy to sloth and vanity than she was before, and divided
her time chiefly between her oratory, the Church, and the care of the poor. She
also kept long fasts, and during Lent wore a hair-cloth under her rich garments.
Clotaire was at first pleased with her devotions, and allowed her full liberty
in them, but afterward used frequently to reproach her for her pious exercises,
saying he had married a nun rather than a queen, who converted his court into a
monastery. Seeing that Clotaire was inflamed by bad passions, our Saint asked
and obtained his leave to retire from court. She went to Noyon, and was
consecrated deaconess by Saint Medard. Radegundes first withdrew to Sais, and
some time after she went to Poitiers, and there built a great monastery. She
had a holy virgin, named Agnes, made the first abbess, and paid to her an
implicit obedience in all things, not reserving to herself the disposal of the
least thing. King Clotaire, repenting of his evil conduct, wished her to return
to court, but, through the intercession of Saint Germanus of Paris, she was
allowed to remain in her retirement, where she died on the 13th of August, 587.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint Radegundes, Queen”. Pictorial Lives of the
Saints, 1922. CatholicSaints.Info.
13 December 2018. Web. 21 March 2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-radegundes-queen/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-radegundes-queen/
Pfullendorf,
Stadtkirche St. Jakob
Südl.
Seitenschiff, Gotischer Flügelaltar, um 1450: linker Innenflügel, Hl. Benedikt und Hl.
Radegundis
Champions
of Catholic Orthodoxy
Adapted from The
Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger
Saint Radegonde, Queen of
the Franks († 587; Feast – August 13)
Never was such a booty won as that obtained by the
sons of King Clovis in their expedition against Thuringia towards the year
530. Receive this blessing from the spoils of the enemy (1
Kings 30: 26) might they well say on presenting to the Franks the orphan
brought from the court of the fratricide prince whom they had just
chastised. (St. Radegonde was born about 520 to Berthaire, one of the three
kings of Thuringia. St. Radegonde's uncle, Hermanfried, killed Berthaire in
battle, and took Radegonde into his household. After allying with the Frankish
King Theuderic, Hermanfried defeated his other brother Baderic. However, having
crushed his brothers and seized control of Thuringia, Hermanfried reneged on
his agreement with Theuderic to share sovereignty. In 531, Theuderic returned
to Thuringia with his brother Clothaire I. Together they defeated Hermanfried,
conquered his kingdom, and took St. Radegonde under their care.)
God seemed in haste to
ripen the soul of Radegonde. After the tragic death of her relatives followed
the ruin of her country. So vivid was the impression made in the child's heart,
that long afterwards the recollection awakened in the Queen and the Saint a
sorrow and homesickness which naught but the love of Christ could overcome.
"I have seen the plain strewn with the dead and palaces burnt to the
ground; I have see women, with eyes dry from very horror, mourning over fallen
Thuringia; I alone have survived to weep over them all."
The licentiousness of the
Frankish kings was as unbridled as that of her own ancestors; yet in their land
the little captive found Christianity, which she had not hitherto known. The
Faith was a healing balm to this wounded soul. Baptism, in giving her God,
sanctified, without crushing, her high-spirited nature. Thirsting for Christ,
she wished to be martyred for Him; she sought Him on the cross of
self-renunciation; she found Him in His poor suffering members; looking on the
face of a leper, she would see in it the disfigured countenance of her Savior,
and thence rise to the ardent contemplation of the triumphant Spouse, whose
glorious face illumines the abode of the saints.
What a loathing,
therefore, did she feel when, offering her royal honors, the destroyer of her
own country sought to share with God the possession of a heart that Heaven
alone could comfort or gladden! First flight, then the refusal to comply with
the manners of a court where everything was repulsive to her desires and
recollections, her eagerness to break, on the very first opportunity, a bond
which violence alone had contracted, prove that the trial had no other effect,
as her biographer Baudonivia says, but to bend her soul more and more to the
sole object of her love.
Meanwhile, near the tomb of St. Martin, another
Queen, St. Clotilde, the mother of the most Christian kingdom, was about
to die. Unfortunate
are those times when the men after God's own heart, at their departure from
earth, leave no one to take their place; as the Psalmist cried out in a just
consternation: Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint! (Ps. 11:
2) For though the elect pray for us in Heaven, they can no longer fill up
those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in their flesh, for
His body, which is the Church (Col. 1: 24). The work begun at the
Baptistery of Rheims (the baptism of Clovis) was not yet completed;
the Gospel, though reigning by faith over the Frankish nation, had not yet
subdued its manners. Christ, Who loved the Franks, heard the last prayer of the
mother He had given them, and refused her not the consolation of knowing that
she should have a successor. St. Radegonde was set free, just in time to
prevent an interruption in the laborious work of forming the Church's eldest
daughter; and she took up in solitude the struggle with God, by prayer and
expiation, begun by the widow of Clovis.
In the joy of having cast
off an odious yoke, forgiveness was an easy thing to her great soul; in her
monastery at Poitiers she showed an unfailing devotedness for the kings whose
company she had fled. The fortune of France was bound up with theirs; France
the cradle-land of her supernatural life, where the Man-God had revealed
Himself to her heart, and which she therefore loved with part of the love
reserved for her heavenly country. The peace and prosperity of her spiritual
fatherland occupied her thoughts day and night. If any quarrel arose among the
princes, say the contemporary accounts, she trembled from head to foot at the
very thought of the country's danger. She wrote, according to their different
dispositions, to each of the kings, imploring them to consider the welfare of
the nation; she interested the chief vassals in her endeavors to prevent war.
She imposed on her community assiduous watchings, exhorting them with tears to
pray without ceasing; as to herself, the tortures she inflicted on herself for
this end are inexpressible.
The only victory, then,
that St. Radegonde desired was peace among the princes of the earth; when she
had gained this by her struggle with the King of Heaven, her joy in the service
of the Lord was redoubled, and the tenderness she felt for her devoted helpers,
the nuns of Sainte-Croix, could scarcely find utterance: "You, the
daughters of my choice," she would say, "my eyes, my life, my sweet
repose, so live with me in this world, that we may meet again in the happiness
of the next." And they responded to her love. "By the God of Heaven
it is true that everything in her reflected the splendor of her soul."
Such was the spontaneous and graceful cry of her daughter Baudonivia; and it
was echoed by the graver voice of the historian-Bishop, St. Gregory of Tours,
who declared that the supernatural beauty of the Saint remained even in death;
it was a brightness from Heaven, which purified while it attracted hearts,
which caused the Italian St. Venantius Fortunatus to cease his wanderings, made
him a saint and a Bishop, and inspired him with his most beautiful poems.
The light of God could
not but be reflected in her, who, turning towards Him by uninterrupted
contemplation, redoubled her desires as the end of her exile approached.
Neither the relics of the Saints which she had so sought after as speaking to
her of her true home, nor her dearest treasure, the Cross of her Lord, was
enough for her; she would fain have drawn the Lord Himself from His Throne, to
dwell visibly on earth. She only interrupted her sighs to excite in others the
same longings. She exhorted her daughters not to neglect the knowledge of
divine things; and explained to them with profound science and motherly love
the difficulties of the Scriptures. As she increased the holy readings of the
community for the same end, she would say: "If you do not understand, ask;
why do you fear to seek the light of your souls?" And she would insist:
"Reap, reap the wheat of the Lord; for, I tell you truly, you will not
have long to do it. Reap, for the time draws near when you will wish to recall
the days that are now given you, and your regrets will not be able to bring
them back." And the loving chronicler to whom we owe these sweet intimate
details continues: "In our idleness we listened coolly to the announcement;
but that time has come all too soon. Now is realized in us the prophecy which
says: I will send forth a famine into the land: not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst of water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord (Amos 8: 11). For
though we still read her conferences, that voice which never ceased is now
silent; those lips, ever ready with wise advice and sweet words, are closed. O
most good God, what an expression, what features, what manners Thou hadst given
her! No, no one could describe it. The remembrance is anguish! That teaching,
that gracefulness, that face, that mien, that science, that piety, that
goodness, that sweetness, where are we to seek them now?"
Such touching sorrow does
honor to both mother and daughters; but it could not keep back the former from
her reward. On the morning of the Ides of August 587, while Sainte-Croix was
filled with lamentations, an Angel was heard saying to others on high:
"Leave her yet longer, for the tears of her daughters have ascended to
God." But those who were bearing St. Radegonde away replied: "It is
too late; she is already in Paradise."
Let us read the
liturgical account, which will complete what we have said:
St. Radegonde was the
daughter of Berthaire, King of Thuringia. When ten years old she was led away captive
by the Franks; and on account of her striking and queenly beauty their kings
disputed among themselves for the possession of her. They drew lots, and she
fell to the share of Clothaire, King of Soissons. He entrusted her education to
excellent masters. Child as she was, she eagerly imbibed the doctrines of the
Christian Faith, and renouncing the worship of false gods which she had learned
from her fathers, she determined to observe not only the precepts, but also the
counsels of the Gospels. When she was grown, Clothaire, who had long before
chosen her, took her to wife, and in spite of her refusal, in spite of her
attempts at flight, she was proclaimed Queen, to the great joy of all. When
thus raised to the throne, she joined charity to the poor, continual prayer,
frequent watching, fasting and other bodily austerities to her regal dignity,
so that the courtiers said in scorn that the king had married not a Queen, but
a nun.
Her patience shone out brightly in supporting many
grievous trials caused her by the king. But when she heard that
her own brother had been unjustly slain by command of Clothaire, she instantly
left the court with the king's consent, and going to the Blessed Bishop Medard,
she earnestly begged him to consecrate her to the Lord. The nobles strongly
opposed his giving the veil to her whom the king had solemnly married. But she
at once went into the sacristy and clothed herself in the monastic habit. Then,
advancing to the altar, she thus addressed the Bishop: "If you hesitate to
consecrate me because you fear man more than God, there is One Who will demand
an account of my soul from you." These words deeply touched Medard; he
placed the sacred veil upon the Queen's head, and imposing his hands upon her,
consecrated her a deaconess. [In the early Church, before the foundation
of the great Religious Orders, a woman could be consecrated to God in two ways:
if she were a young maiden, by the Consecration of a Virgin; if she were a
widow, or an older marred woman with consent of her husband, by the
Consecration of a Deaconess. The title meant merely that she was dedicated to
the service of the Church; it had nothing to do with the Sacrament of Holy
Orders.] She proceeded to Poitiers, and there founded a monastery of
virgins, which was afterwards called “of the Holy Cross.” The splendor of her
virtues shone forth and attracted innumerable virgins to embrace a religious
life. On account of her extraordinary gifts of divine grace, all wished her to
be their superior; but she desired to serve rather than to command.
The number of miracles
she worked spread her name far and wide; but she herself, forgetful of her
dignity, sought out the lowest and humblest offices. She loved especially to
take care of the sick, the needy, and above all the lepers, whom she often
cured in a miraculous manner. She honored the Divine Sacrifice of the Altar
with deep piety, making with her own hands the bread which was to be
consecrated, and supplying it to several churches. Even in the midst of the
pleasures of a court, she had applied herself to mortifying her flesh, and from
her childhood she had burned with desire of martyrdom; now that she was leading
a monastic life she subdued her body with the utmost rigor. She girt herself
with iron chains, she tortured her body with burning coals, courageously fixed
red-hot plates of metal upon her flesh that it also might, in a way, be
inflamed with love of Christ. King Clothaire, bent on taking her back and
carrying her off from her monastery, set out for Holy Cross; but she deterred
him by means of letters which she wrote to St. Germanus, Bishop of Paris; so
that, prostrate at the holy prelate's feet, the king begged him to beseech his
pious Queen to pardon him, who was both her sovereign and her husband.
St. Radegonde enriched her monastery with relics of
the Saints brought from different countries. She also sent some
clerics to the Emperor Justin and obtained from him a large piece of the wood
of Our Lord's Cross. It was received with great solemnity by the people of
Poitiers, and all, both clergy and laity, sang exultingly the hymns composed by
Venantius Fortunatus in honor of the Blessed Cross (Vexilla Regis and
Pange Lingua, which form part of the Office of Passiontide). This poet was
afterwards Bishop of Poitiers; he enjoyed the holy friendship of St. Radegonde
and directed her monastery. At length the holy Queen, being ripe for Heaven,
was honored a few days before her death by an apparition of Christ under the
form of a most beautiful youth; and she heard these words from His mouth:
"Why art thou consumed by so great a longing to enjoy My presence? Why
dost thou pour out so many tears and sighs? Why comest thou as a suppliant so
often to My altars? Why dost thou break down thy body with so many labors, when
I am always united to thee? My beautiful pearl! Know that thou art one of the
most precious stones in My kingly crown." In the year 587 she breathed
forth her pure soul into the bosom of the heavenly Spouse who had been her only
love. St. Gregory of Tours buried her, as she had wished, in the church of St.
Mary.
Thine exile is over,
eternal possession has taken the place of desire; all Heaven is illumined with
the brightness of the precious stone that has come to enrich the diadem of the
Spouse. O St. Radegonde, the Wisdom Who is now rewarding thy toils led thee by
admirable ways. Thy inheritance, become to thee as a lion in the wood
(Jer. 12: 8) spreading death around thee, thy captivity far from thy
native land; what was all this but love's way of drawing thee from the dens
of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards (Cant. 4: 8), where idolatry
had led thee in childhood? Thou hadst to suffer in a foreign land, but the
light from above shone into thy soul, and gave it strength. A powerful king
tried in vain to make thee share his throne; thou wert a Queen but for Christ,
Who in His goodness made thee a mother to that kingdom of France, which belongs
to Him more than to any prince. For His sake thou didst love that land become
thine by the right of the Bride who shares the scepter of her Spouse; for His
sake, that nation, whose glorious destiny thou didst predict, received without
limit all thy labors, thy unspeakable mortifications, thy prayers and thy
tears.
O thou, who art ever
Queen of France, as Christ is ever its King, bring back to Him the hearts of
its people, for in their blind error they have laid aside their glory, and
their sword is no longer wielded for God. Protect, above all, the city of
Poitiers, which honors thee with a special devotion together with its great St.
Hilary. Teach us to seek Our Lord, and to find Him in His Holy Sacrament, in
the relics of His Saints, in His suffering members on earth; and may all
Christians learn from thee how to love.
SOURCE : http://www.salvemariaregina.info/SalveMariaRegina/SMR-185/Radegonde.htm
Page from Life of St. Radegund, illuminated by the Master of St. Radegund, 1496-1498, 26 x 180, vellum
St. Radegunde: A patron saint against drowning
Thomas J. Craughwell
St. Radegunde (518-587)
Feast day: Aug. 13
Not long after St.
Radegunde died in 587, one of her servants was deep-sea fishing when a storm
came up suddenly and giant waves swamped his boat. Before the poor man even had
a chance to start bailing, his boat filled with water and sank. As the
terrified fisherman went under, he invoked St. Radegunde. A moment later he and
his boat bobbed to the surface, the storm vanished, the sky was clear and the
sea was calm.
Radegunde lived in the
first years after the Roman Empire’s final collapse, when the barbarian tribes
were in ascendancy. Like many Christians of this time she identified with Roman
civilization, and so she made her Convent of the Holy Cross in Poitiers,
France, an island of piety, beauty, education and refinement in a sea of
ignorance and violence. Even her chaplain was a Roman gentleman, St. Venantius
Fortunatus, a priest who wrote Latin poetry in the classical style.
Although she identified
with the Romans, Radegunde was herself a member of a barbarian tribe, the
Thurginians, who settled in eastern Germany around present-day Erfurt. She had
been born a pagan, the daughter of a prince. When she was a little girl her
uncle murdered her father. Then the Franks conquered Thurginia and carried off
12-year-old Radegunde as a prize. In France she became a Christian, but she was
still essentially a captive. At age 18 the king of the Franks, Clothaire,
forced her to marry him. Although the king was nominally a Christian, it was
probably a bigamous relationship since Clothaire had gone through at least five
wives by this time, and it is unlikely that they had all died or that the
church had granted him five annulments.
It was a wretched
marriage. No matter how many wives he had Clothaire was always on the lookout
for his next conquest. He was violent and beat Radegunde, blaming her because
they had no children. The antagonism between the royal couple came to a head in
550 when Clothaire murdered Radegunde’s brother. She ran away, took vows as a
nun, and sent St. Germanus, the bishop of Paris, to convince Clothaire to leave
her in peace. Clothaire, who had always complained that he felt he was married
to nun rather than a queen, was happy to let Radegunde go. He even sent parting
gifts to her convent.
Women looking for a
secure, serene escape from the violence of their age flocked to Holy Cross;
many of them were from noble families, and a significant number were royalty.
Radegunde designed a routine of prayer, contemplation, study, silence,
austerity and works of charity.
As the name of her
convent suggests, she had a deep devotion to the Holy Cross and longed to have
a fragment of the True Cross to venerate in her church. In 569 the Byzantine
Emperor Justin II sent her a relic of the Holy Cross set in a reliquary of gold
studded with jewels. To commemorate the arrival of so important a relic
Venantius wrote a poem, “Vexilla regis prodeunt,” (The banners of the King go
forth). The poem was set to music and is one of the loveliest hymns in the
repertoire of Gregorian chant.
Craughwell is the author
of This Saint Will Change Your Life and Saints Behaving Badly.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/st-radegunde-a-patron-saint-against-drowning/
Перенесение
частицы Креста Господня из Константинополя в Пуатье. Фреска Добрыниных Я. и Г.
в православном монастыре прп. Антония Великого (Дром, Франция).
Translation
de la relique de la Sainte Croix à Poitiers. Saint Radegonde, Saint Euphrone et
Saint Venance Fortunat. Fresque par Y.
et G. Dobrynine au monastère orthodoxe Saint Antoine le Grand (Drôme, France).
Radegund of Thuringia
Title
social-status:
Queen of the Franks, nun
of Poitiers
Biography:
Radegund was the daughter of a king of Thuringia, Berthachar. After the Franks conquered Thuringia in 531, killing most of the royal family and capturing Radegund, the Frank king Clothar won her by lot from his brothers. Clothar, whose mother Clothild was revered as a saint, had four other wives. Before he married Radegund in 540, he sent the child to his villa of Athies in Picardy for several years. But when he had her brother murdered she fled the marriage.
The bishop of Soissons tried to avoid consecrating her because he had been threatened by her husband’s men, but Radegund threatened him with divine vengeance if he let her soul escape the church, so he made her a deacon, an old position which did not require virginity or widowhood. When Clothar finally accepted the fact that she would not return to the world, he underwrote what JoAnn McNamara describes as “the first large-scale female monastery that we know about among the Franks” (Sisters in Arms, 98). Radegund established Sainte-Croix of Poitiers in 550, adopting Caesarius’ Rule for Nuns, and appointing Agnes the first abbess; Radegunde remained there for over thirty years.
Gregory of Tours suggests that by adopting Caesarius’ Rule, she meant to tie Sainte-Croix to the diocese of Arles rather than Poitiers, whose bishop Maroveus she had poor relations with. Maroveus refused to install her relics, among them a piece of the True Cross, which she had sent for and collected at some expense from Constantinople. Radegunde wrote to King Sigibert, who sent the bishop of Tours to install them, and Fortunatus wrote a major hymn for the occasion, “Vexilla regis prodeunt.” Maroveus also refused to conduct her funeral, which was attended by Gregory of Tours.
Fortunatus exchanged poems frequently with Radegund and Agnes and after her death wrote a life of the saint. Baudonivia, a nun of Poitiers wrote another life adding to what Fortunatus had said.* Gregory of Tours also included many details of her life in his History of the Franks and cites some of the letters in her correspondence; he describes her miracles in his Book of Miracles.
Though we know from Fortunatus that he and Radegund exchanged gifts and poems,
only his are extant. But we do have three of her epistolary poems, one on the
destruction of her land and people to her cousin Hamalafred, to whom she had
been close as a child and whose absence she feels most strongly, one to her
nephew Artachis, which begins with a lament for her fallen land and her dead
father and uncles, and one praising the emperor Justinus and the empress Sophia
who had sent her the relics of the cross. The poems have been attributed to
Fortunatus but since we know she wrote poems and she inscribes her name in
these, there seems no good reason to deny her authorship.
Biographical notes:
* Jo Ann McNamara gives a
translation of Fortunatus' and Baudonivia’s lives in Sainted Women of the
Dark Ages, ed. and trans. by McNamara and John Halborg (Durham, NC: Duke
University, 1992). The Latin lives can be found in the MGH, Scriptores
rerum merowingicarum 2.
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20161221022434/https://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/woman/89.html
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912). Venantius
Fortunatus Reading
His Poems to Radegonda VI, 1862, Dordrechts
Museum
Fortunatus
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus
A Christian poet of the sixth century, b. between 530 and 540 in Upper Italy, between Ceneda and Treviso.
He received his literary education at Ravenna. Here he first manifested his poetical ability by a poem celebrating the dedication of a church to St. Andrew by the bishop, Vitalis. He appears to have left Ravenna in 565, crossing the Alps and a part of Southern Germany and reaching in the autumn the banks of the Moselle. The stages of his journey may be traced in his poems. They were: Mainz, where he celebrated the construction of the baptistery and church of St. George (II, 11 and 12), and in which he compliments the bishop, Sidonius (IX, 9); Cologne, where he accepted the hospitality of Bishop Carentinus (III, 14); Trier, where he praises Bishop Nicetius (III, 11) who had built a castle on the Moselle (III, 12); Metz, which he describes (III, 13). He then made a journey on the Moselle, of which he gives a humorous account (IV, 8). But the principal event of his sojourn at Metz was his presentation at the court of King Sigebert, where he arrived at the time of the king's marriage with Brunehild (566), for which occasion he wrote and epithalamium (VI, 1). Shortly afterwards Brunehild renounced Arianism for Catholicism and Fortunatus extolled this conversion (VI, 1a). He won the favour of the courtiers by his eulogies, notably that of Gogo and Duke Lupus, the latter one of the most remarkable men of the time, a real survival, amid barbarian surroundings, of Roman culture and traditions. Fortunatus soon resumed his journey. New poems repaid the hospitality of the Bishops of Verdun (II, 23) and Reims (III, 15); at Soissons he venerated the tomb of St. Medardus (II, 16), and finally arrived at Paris, where he praised the clergy for their zeal in reciting the Divine Office (II, 9). His description of the chanting of the Office on the eve of a feast accompanied by an orchestra is a curious document. He made the acquaintance of King Caribert, whom he compares to Solomon, Trajan, and Fabius, and whose Latin eloquence he praises highly (VI, 2). From Paris he went to Tours, which was probably his original destination, for while at Ravenna he had been miraculously cured of a disease of the eyes through the intercession of St. Martin. He worshipped at the tomb of the saint and gave thanks to the bishop, Euphronius (III, 3), whom he afterwards came to know more intimately.
From Tours Fortunatus went to Poitiers, attracted, no doubt, by the renown of St. Radegunde and her monastery. This circumstance had a decisive influence on the remainder of his life. Radegunde, daughter of the King of Thuringia, had been taken prisoner by Clotaire I, the son of Clovis, after the defeat of her uncle, Hermanfried, and the conquest of her country (531). Hermanfried had slain her father. She became, against her will the wife of Clotaire. Her brother having been put to death by the Franks, she sought refuge with St. Medardus, Bishop of Vermandois (St-Quentin and Soissons), who caused her to take the veil, and she remained at Poitiers. The monastery of Poitiers was very large and contained about 200 religious. At first they lived without a definite rule, but about 567 Radegunde accepted that of St. Cæsarius of Arles. At this time, which was previous to the death of Caribert (568), she caused the consecration as abbess of her beloved adoptive daughter Agnes. It was at the same period that Fortunatus became the friend of the two women and took up his residence at Poitiers, where he remained till the death of Radegunde, 13 Aug., 587, Agnes, doubtless, having died shortly before. The closest friendship sprang up between them, Fortunatus calling Radegunde his mother and Agnes his sister. It was one of those tender and chaste friendships between ecclesiastics and pious women; similar, for example, to the relations between St. Jerome and the Roman ladies, delicate friendships enhanced by solid piety, confirmed in peace by a mutual love of God, and which do not exclude the charming child's play usually making feminine friendship. In this instance it brought about a constant interchange of letter in which the art and grace of Fortunatus found their natural vent. He was an epicure, and there were sent to him from the convent, milk, eggs, dainty dishes, and savoury meats in the artistic arrangement of which the cooks of antiquity exercised their ingenuity. He did not allow himself to be outdone and sent to his friends at one time flowers, at another chestnuts in a basket woven by his own hands. The little poems which accompanied them are not included in the works published by Fortunatus himself; it is probable that many of them are lost, no great importance being attached to them. Circumstances provided him with the graver subjects which necessitated the production of more serious works. About 568 Radegunde received from Emperor Justin a particle of the True Cross, to which the monastery had been dedicated, and Fortunatus was commissioned to thank the emperor and empress for their gift. This religious event led him to write a series of poems (II, 1-6); two, the "Vexilla Regis Prodeunt" and the "Pange Lingua" (II, 6, 2), have been adopted by the Church. The vigorous movement of these poems shows that Fortunatus was not lacking in strength and seriousness. Two of this series are "figurate" poems, i.e. the letters of each verse, being arranged with due regularity, form artistic designs. It was one of the least happy inventions of this period of literary decadence.
Radegunde was in constant communication with Constantinople, for Amalafried, a cousin whom she dearly loved, had found refuge in the East where he was in the service of the Empire. Through Fortunatus Radegunde bewailed the sad lot of her country and her family; this long elegy, full of life and movement, and addressed to Amalafried, is one of the poets best and most celebrated works (Appendix, I). Another elegy deplores the premature death of Amalafried (Appendix, 3). The death of Galeswintha was also the occasion of one of those elegies in which Fortunatus shows himself at once so profound and so natural. This princess, the sister of Brunehild, was married to Chilperic, and had just been put to death by the order of her husband (569 or 570). Shortly before this Fortunatus had seen her arrive from Spain and pass through Poitiers in a silver chariot, and it was on this occasion she had won the heart of Radegunde. In recalling these things and in his portrayal of the mother of the unhappy young woman and their heart-breaking farewell, he succeeded, despite many rhetorical artifices, in depicting true grief. Other poems written at Poitiers deal with religious subjects. Fortunatus explained to his "sister" Agnes that his love was wholly fraternal (XI, 6), and devoted 400 lines to the praise of virginity (VIII, 3). While abounding in Christian sentiments he develops in a singularly realistic style the inconveniences of marriage, especially the physiological sufferings it imposes upon woman. It is probably an academic theme. Fortunatus also took part in ecclesiastical life, assisting at synods, being invited to the consecration of churches, all of which occasions were made the pretext for verses. He was especially associated with Gregory of Tours, who influenced him to make and publish a collection of his verses, with Leontius of Bordeaux, who sent him many invitations, and with Felix of Nantes, whom he praised, especially for the rectifying of a watercourse (III, 10). Fortunatus was now a celebrated man and a much-sought-for guest. Rendered more free by the death of his friends, he visited the Court of Austrasia, where he was received with greater evidence of regard than on a former occasion when he had arrived from Italy poor and unknown. To this period belongs his account of a journey on the Moselle which is full of graceful details (X, 10). He celebrates the completion of the basilica of Tours in 590 (X, 6), and in 591 the consecration of Plato, the new Bishop of Poitiers, an archdeacon of Gregory (X, 14). His predecessor Maroveus, whose barbarous name indicates that he was a person lacking in culture, had been entirely neglected by the Roman Fortunatus and his refined friends. This date is the last known to us, but some time before the end of the sixth century he succeeded to the See of Poitiers. In the episcopal list of that city he follows Plato and may have become bishop about 600. He was already dead when, shortly after this time, Baudonivia, a nun of the monastery of the Holy Cross, added a second book to Venantius' life of Radegunde.
The poems of Fortunatus comprise eleven books. The researches of Wilhelm Meyer* have established the fact that Fortunatus himself published successively Books I-VIII, about 576; Book IX in 584 0r 585; Book X after 591. Book XI seems to be a posthumous collection. A Paris manuscript has happily preserved some poems not found in the eleven-book manuscripts. These poems form an appendix in Leo's edition. Apart from these occasional poems Fortunatus wrote between 573 and 577 a poem in four books on St. Martin. He follows exactly the account of Sulpicius Severus, but has abridged it to such an extent as to render his won work obscure unless with the aid of Sulpicius Severus. He wrote in rhythmic prose the lives of several saints, St. Albin, Bishop of Angers, St. Hilary and Pascentius, Bishops of Poitiers, St. Marcellus of Paris, St. Germanus of Paris (d. 576), his friend Radegunde, St. Paternus, Bishop of Avranches, and St. Medardus. The poetical merit of Fortunatus should not be overestimated. Like most poets of this period of extreme decadence, he delights in description, but is incapable of sustaining it; if the piece is lengthy his style runs into mannerisms. His vocabulary is varied but affected, and while his language is sufficiently exact, it is marred by a deliberate obscurity. These defects would render him intolerable had he not written in verse; poetic tradition, Boissier well says, imposed a certain sobriety. The prose prefaces which Fortunatus adds to each of his works exhibit a command of bombastic Latin scarcely inferior to the "Hisperica famina". His versification is monotonous, and faults of prosody are not rare. By his predilection for the distich he furnished the model for most Carlovingian poetry. Fortunatus, like a true Roman, expresses with delicate sincerity the sentiments of intimacy and tenderness, especially when mournful and anxious. He interprets with success the emotions aroused by the tragic occurrences of surrounding barbarian life, particularly in the hearts of women, too often in those times the victims of brutal passions. In this way, and by his allusions to contemporary events and persons, and his descriptions of churches and works of art, he is the painter of Merovingian society. His entire work is an historical document. Fortunatus has been praised for abstaining from the use of mythological allegory, despite the fact that his epithalamium for Sigebert is a dialogue between Venus and Love. Occasionally on encounters in his works the traditional academic themes, but in general he refrains from these literary ornaments less through disdain than through necessity. Every writer of occasional verse is perforce a realist, e.g. Statius in the "Silvæ", Martial in his epigrams. In his portrayal of the barbarian society of Gaul Fortunatus exhibits the manner in which contemporary Christian thought and life permeated its gross and uncultured environment. Leaving aside the bishops, all of them Gallo-Romans, it is the women of the period, owing to native intuition and mental refinement, who are most sensitive to this Christian culture. They are the first to appreciate delicacy of sentiment and charm of language, even refined novelties of cookery, that art of advanced civilizations and peoples on whose hands time hangs heavily. From this point of view it may be said that the friendship of Fortunatus with Radegunde and Agnes mirrors with great exactness the life of sixth-century Gaul.
The best edition of Fortunatus is that of F. Leo and B. Krusch; the former edited the poems, the latter the prose writings in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Acut." (Berlin, 1881-85), IV.
Sources
Hamelin, De vitâ et operibus V. Fortunati (Rennes, 1873); Meyer, Der Gelegenheitdichter V. Fortunatus (Berlin, 1901); Leo, Venantius Fortunatus in Deutsche Rundschau (1882);, XXXII, 414-26; Bardenhewer, Patrology, tr. Shahan (Freiburg im B., St. Louis, 1908), 647-50.
Lejay, Paul. "Fortunatus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 21 Mar. 2023 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06149a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Dan Clouse. In memoriam, Elizabeth Grieg Lund.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06149a.htm
_16_07_2019_03.jpg)
Santa Radegonda VI, Cappella Palatina, Palermo
Santa Radegonda Regina
di Francia
m. 13 agosto 587
Radegonda nacque nel 518
e fu regina di Francia. Quando nel 531 Clotario I, re di Francia, sconfisse
Ermenfrido, l'usurpatore del regno di Turingia, portò con sé Radegonda, giovane
figlia del re deposto e ucciso, Bertario. La inviò agli studi così Radegonda
ricevette un'educazione adatta al suo alto rango e un'istruzione letteraria di
grande rilievo, cosa unica per una donna dei suoi tempi. E dopo otto anni,
intorno al 540, la sposò nonostante Redegonda non fosse consenziente. Clotario
mostrò ben presto la sua indole violenta, che Radegonda sopportò fin quando fù
possibile. Poi, ottenuto il consenso dal vescovo Medardo, si fece consacrare e
si ritirò nel monastero di Tours, dove già viveva la regina Clotilde,
intristita dalle gesta del figlio, ma contenta per l'arrivo della nuora. Passò
quindi nel convento di Saix e, infine, per 30 anni visse in penitenza nel monastero
di Poiters " dai lei stessa fatto edificare ", dove morì il 13 agosto
587. (Avvenire)
Martirologio Romano: A
Poitiers in Aquitania, in Francia, santa Radegonda, che, regina dei Franchi,
prese il sacro velo mentre suo marito, il re Clotario, era ancora in vita e
visse nel monastero di Santa Croce a Poitiers da lei stessa costruito sotto la
regola di san Cesario di Arles.
La società romana e
imperiale intorno agli anni 500 – 600, sembrava ormai come un cadavere posto in
piedi, bastò che i barbari nel loro passaggio lo toccassero che cadde
sfasciato.
Anche in quei tempi bui e tristi, la Provvidenza non mancò di accorrere in
soccorso della Cristianità, facendo sorgere in mezzo a quella spaventosa
confusione, figure di Santi che con la loro vita, le loro idee, la loro fede
rappresentarono e difesero il pensiero cristiano, sempre vitale e soccorrevole.
Fra questi, nella Francia, ‘primogenita della Chiesa’, vi fu prima Clotilde
regina e poi Radegonda sua nuora che gli succedette sul trono; donne egualmente
ammirabili e sante.
Radegonda aveva già vissuto fino a quasi dodici anni varie tragedie familiari,
il padre Bertario venne ucciso dal fratello Ermenfrido il quale poi fece
uccidere anche l’altro fratello Baderico per impadronirsi del trono.
Il regno di Turingia, nel 531 venne sconfitto da Clotario I re di Francia e
Radegonda, appena dodicenne seguì i prigionieri di guerra in Neustria, dopo
aver visto morire uccisi gli altri parenti.
Ma la sua straordinaria bellezza e la distinzione del suo grado attrassero
l’attenzione di Clotario, il quale già pensando di farne una futura moglie, la
inviò agli studi nella villa reale di Athies. Ricevette un’educazione adatta al
suo alto rango e un’istruzione letteraria di grande rilievo, forse unica per
una donna dei suoi tempi.
Intorno al 540, Clotario la volle come sposa, benché non fosse consenziente;
per lunghi anni dovette sopportare con infinita pazienza il carattere collerico
e brutale del marito, il suo umore instabile e i continui tradimenti, condusse
a corte una vita da perfetta cristiana, quasi da monaca pur senza trascurare i
suoi doveri di sovrana.
Ma quando anche l’amato fratello Clotacario venne ucciso a tradimento da
Clotario, già responsabile della morte di tutti i suoi familiari, Radegonda
disse al Re che per lei non vi era più posto in quella reggia e ottenuto il suo
consenso, si fece consacrare diaconessa e si ritirò nel monastero di Tours, lì
dove già viveva la regina Clotilde, intristita dalle gesta infami del figlio,
ma consolata per la venuta della diletta nuora.
Da lì passò poi nel chiostro di Saix ove stette per sei anni, dedicandosi ad
ogni cura per il sollievo della povera gente del luogo, accudendo gli ammalati
specie quelli più ributtanti per le malattie, a cui all’epoca non vi erano
rimedi, come la lebbra.
Appena poté, entro nel nuovo monastero di s. Maria poi chiamato di s. Croce a
Poitiers da lei fatto edificare,
In breve duecento vergini popolarono il sacro luogo ma Radegonda non volle
avere il titolo di badessa che diede invece a s.Agnese, sua figlia adottiva
(lei non aveva avuto figli) a cui si sottomise secondo la regola di s. Cesario
d’Arles, come una semplice novizia.
Clotario tentò, non riuscendovi, di farla tornare con lui infrangendo i voti,
ma davanti alla sua fermezza si ritirò pentito, ed è la prima volta che si vede
in lagrime un uomo che grondava sangue per i numerosi delitti; comunque un anno
dopo questo tentativo, egli morì, i suoi quattro figli avuti da altra moglie,
favorirono il convento, con continue e generose elargizioni, anzi il più
giovane inviò alla veneranda regina il poeta Venanzio Fortunato il quale
profuse il suo zelo per aiutarla nei rapporti specie epistolari che lei aveva
con il papa, vescovi e re d’Occidente e anche d’Oriente.
Nei 30 anni che stette a Poitiers, senza uscirne mai, assisté a pestilenze,
inondazioni, terremoti in tutto il regno e l’assalto dell’infuriata Fredegonda
a Poitiers, il cui vescovo s. Pretestato venne sgozzato sull’altare.
Radegonda, morì il 13 agosto 587 circondata dal rimpianto di tutti.
S. Gregorio di Tours, che l’aveva assistita nelle sue ultime ore, vedutone il
corpo giacente nella bara, lasciò scritto: “aveva in viso serbata tale una
freschezza da vincere al paragone i gigli e le rose”.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90194
Grave
of st Radegunde in Poitiers
Graf
van Radegundis in Poitiers
Le pèlerinage à Radegonde connaissant un regain de ferveur , la crypte est réaménagée tout au long du XIXe siècle. Pour faciliter circulation autour du tombeau, un escalier d'accès à la crypte est aménagé sous le chœur. Il s'accompagne d'un rehaussement du sol du chœur et un allongement de la voûte de la crypte.
Statue en marbre-blanc attribuée à Nicolas Le Gendre.
Grave tomb of Radegonde
Tombeau de Sainte-Radegonde
Den hellige Radegunde av
Poitiers (~518-587)
Minnedag: 13.
august
Skytshelgen for Poitiers; for Jesus College i
Cambridge pottemakere og vevere, fanger og skomakere; mot feber hos barn, mot
spedalskhet, byller og skabb; mot flomfare
Den hellige Radegunde
(Radegund, Radegunda, Rathecunda, Ranicunda, Radicunda, Rhadegund; fr:
Radégonde, lat: Radegundis) ble født mellom 518 og 520 i Erfurt i Thüringen i
Tyskland. Hun var datter av den lokale hedenske kong Bertakar (Berthachar,
Berthar, Berthaire, Berthier, Bertharius) av Thüringen, som var sønn av kong
Basinus og som siden rundt 500 hadde hersket i Thüringen sammen med sine brødre
Baderik (Baderich) og Hermenefrid (Hermenefred, Hermenefried, Herminafried,
Hermannfrit, Erminafried, Irminfried). Rundt 528 overfalt Hermenefrid Bertakars
borg Isenstein etter råd fra sin hustru Amalberga, en niese av ostrogoterkongen
Theoderik, myrdet kongen og tok hans barn til fange. Nyere forskning mener
imidlertid at Bertakar ble drept først ved et første mislykket frankisk
invasjonsforsøk i 528/29. Også Radegundes mor døde åpenbart tidlig.
Radegunde og hennes yngre
bror som vi ikke kjenner navnet til, ble brakt til borgen Seithungi
(Burgscheidungen), hvor Radegunde ble nær venn av Hermenefrids sønn Amalfred
(Amalafried). Litt senere overfalt Hermenefrid sin bror Balderik sammen med
frankerkongen Theoderik I (Theoderic, Theuderic, Theuderich, Theoderich,
Theodoric fr: Thierry) av Reims [Austrasia] (511-34), myrdet ham og rev hans
rike til seg, men uten å gi Theoderik den lovete andelen.
Da grunnleggeren av det
frankiske merovingerdynastiet, Klodvig I (481-511), var blitt overtalt av sin
hellige hustru Klothilde til
å motta kristendommen, lot han seg døpe av den hellige biskop Remigius av Reims.
Det skjedde etter tradisjonen i 496, men det kan godt ha vært i 498. Etter
legenden brakte en Guds engel en liten oljeflaske fra himmelen til hans dåp, og
de tre paddene i det kongelige våpen forvandlet seg til tre liljer. Nesten hele
hoffet og en stor del av folket fulgte sin herskers eksempel, i alt 3000
mennesker. Det var første gang en germansk stamme hadde antatt den katolske
tro. Denne julefesten i år 496 kalles den egentlige fødsel for den kristne
middelalder. Deretter gikk frankernes kristning bemerkelsesverdig raskt. Ved
Klodvigs død i 511 ble riket delt mellom hans fire sønner Theoderik, Klodomir,
Kildebert og Klotar, men Klotar skulle komme til å samle det igjen. Han
utbredte frankernes velde over hele Frankrike og tvang de germanske stammene
som var bosatt der, til å gå over fra arianismen til den katolske tro.
Klotar (Chlothar,
Chlotar, Clothar, Chloderic, Chlothachar, Chlotochar, Hlothar; fr: Clotaire),
kalt «den gamle» (le Vieux), ble født i 597 og var fjorten år gammel da
han ble konge. Hans rike besto av byen Soissons, som han gjorde til sin
hovedstad, byene Laon, Noyon, Cambrai og Maastricht og nedre del av elva Meuse.
Men han var svært ambisiøs og søkte å utvide sitt område.
I 523-24 dro brødrene på
en ekspedisjon mot Burgund, muligens tilskyndet av moren Klothilde, Som var
ivrig etter å hevne sin nevø, som var drept av den hellige kong Sigismund av
Burgund. Kong Klodomir (Clodomer; fr: Clodomir) av Orléans (511-24) fikk Sigismund
og hans sønner Gisald og Gondebaud myrdet den 1. mai 524. Deretter ledet han en
ny ekspedisjon mot burgunderne, men ble drept samme vår eller sommer av kong
Gondemar av Burgund (524-34), Sigismunds bror og etterfølger, i slaget ved
Vézeronce.
Etter Klodomirs død tok
Klothilde til seg sine forviste barnebarn, hans tre sønner Theodebald
(Théobalde, Théobald) (f. 520), Gunther (Gonthier, Gontaire) (f. 523) og den
hellige Klodewald (Clodoalde, Chlodoald) (f. 522), og hun oppdro dem i Paris
mens deres kongerike Orléans ble styrt av deres onkel, kong Kildebert I
(Childebert, Hildebert) av Paris (511-58). Klotar giftet seg i 525 med
Klodomirs enke Gunteuka (Guntheuca, Gontheuque, Gondioque).
Men Klothilde kunne ikke
forhindre at de tre guttene ble brikker i maktkampen. Rundt 532 begynte hans
onkler Kildebert og Klotar å legge planer om å bli kvitt guttene og dele deres
territorier mellom seg. En av Kildeberts bødler ble sendt til Klothilde for at
hun skulle velge om guttene skulle drepes eller om de med makt skulle motta
tonsuren og stenges inne i et kloster. Han forvrengte hennes svar så det virket
som om hun valgte døden for dem, og Klotar stakk straks selv ned den eldste,
Theodebald (12), med kniv. Den andre broren, Gunther (9), flyktet i skrekk til
Kildebert, som i avsky mot brorens fremferd prøvde å beskytte ham. Men Klotar
foraktet en slik bløtaktighet, tok gutten og drepte ham. Den eneste som ved et
under unnslapp, var den yngste, Klodewald, som venner brakte til et trygt sted,
muligens i Provençe. Onklene erobret Orléans, og Klotars andel av byttet var
byene Tours og Poitiers. Deretter beseiret og drepte de kong Gondemar og
kongeriket Burgund ble i 534 innlemmet i frankernes rike. Klotar fikk Grenoble,
Die og noen nabobyer. Da ostrogoterne avsto Provençe til frankerne, fikk Klotar
byene Orange, Carpentras og Gap.
I 542 marsjerte Klotar
sammen med sin bror Kildebert I mot visigoterne i Spania. Da hans grandnevø
Theodebald I (Theudebald; fr: Théodebald) av Reims (548-55) døde i 555,
annekterte Klotar hans territorier. Da Kildebert I av Paris døde i 558, ble
Klotar frankernes enekonge og hele riket var samlet igjen.
Klotars halvbror Theoderik I var snytt for sin avtalte
del av Thüringen, men han våget ikke å gjøre noe med saken før etter at
ostrogoterkongen Theoderik døde i 531. Da slo han seg sammen med
Klotar og sammen marsjerte de mot Thüringen. De beseiret kong Hermenefrid i
slaget ved Burgscheidungen ved elva Unstrut og Thüringens selvstendighet ble
knust. Hermenefrid ble tributtpliktig til frankerne, borgen Seithungi gikk opp
i flammer og Klotar tok med seg Radegunde og hennes bror som gisler til det
frankiske hoffet. Senere (533/534) lot Theoderik ved et besøk i Zülpich
Hermenefrid kaste utfor bymuren. Hans hustru Amalberga rømte med Amalfred til
Bysants.
Radegunde og broren ble
brakt til det kongelige godset Athies nær Péronne ved elva Somme. Hun kan ha
vært kristen fra før, eller hun ble undervist og døpt da hun kom til
frankerriket. Der lærte hun latin, leste kirkefedrene og dikt og viet seg til
pleie og undervisning av fattige barn. Da hun vokste opp, viste hun allerede
den tro og nestekjærlighet, vennlighet og ydmykhet som preget henne hele livet.
Hennes lærer var den hellige Medardus av Noyon.
Kong Klotar I var også
den som gjorde polygami til maktsymbol i den merovingiske klanen. Han var gift
i alle fall seks ganger, og i tillegg hadde han flere konkubiner. Rekkefølgen
på hustruene og varighetene av de ulike ekteskapene er svært omstridt i
kildene. Men her er en liste:
Rundt 516 giftet han seg
med Ingundis (Ingonde) (ca 499-546), og i 524 giftet han seg med Gunteuka, enke
etter sin bror Klodomir. I 533/34 giftet han seg med Ingundis' søster Aregunda
(Aregund; fr: Arégonde, Arnegonde) (ca 515-73), og rundt 340 giftet han seg med
Radegunde. Hans femte hustru het Chunsina (Chunsene, Gunsine, Gunsinde). Da
hans grandnevø Teodebald I av Reims (Austrasia) (548-55) døde i 555, giftet
Klotar seg med hans enke Waltrada (Walderada, Waldrada, Waldrade, Walrade,
Vulderade, Vuldetrade, Vultradade, Vultradae) (531-72), datter av
langobardkongen Wacho (ca 510-39). Klotar var onkel til Theodebalds far
Theodebert I (534-48), bror til hans bestefar Theoderik I (511-34). Men Klotars
biskoper protesterte mot dette ekteskapet, så han overlot i 556 Waltrada til
hertug Garibald I av Bayern, og de ble foreldre til den hellige Theodelinda av
Lombardia. Noen lister opererer med en syvende hustru, enten navnløs eller
gitt navnet Grinsinde, muligens mor til tronpretendenten Gundovald (Gundowald,
Gundoald, Gondovald, Gondevald (fr: Gombaud, Gondebaud) (ca 530-85), som Klotar
ikke anerkjente som sønn. Andre kilder sier at Gundovald hevdet å være sønn av
Klotar og Gunteuka.
Det mest vellykkede
ekteskapet var med Ingundis, som fødte ham en datter og fem sønner, hvorav tre
overlevde ham: datteren Klodosinda som giftet seg med langobardkongen Alboin
(ca 565-572/73), de to sønnene Gonthier og Kildebert/Kilderik som døde før ham,
samt de tre sønnene Karibert (ca 517-67), Guntram (ca 525-92) og Sigebert
(535-75). Med Aregunda fikk han sønnen Kilperik (ca 539-84) og med Chunsina
fikk han sønnen Chramnus (ca 530-560).
Den ryggesløse kong
Klotar I var kristen i navnet og grunnla klostre, og det blir sagt at det var
han som fikk lært opp Radegunde i den kristne tro og fikk henne døpt. Klotar
ble tiltrukket enten av hennes dyder eller av hennes skjønnhet og valgte henne
til å bli sin dronning. Hun ønsket ikke å gifte seg, men et fluktforsøk var
mislykket, så i 536 eller 538, da hun var atten år gammel, ble bryllupet holdt
i Vitry i Artois.
Radegunde utførte sine
plikter som dronning, men levde også ved hoffet i Soissons svært asketisk. Hun
ga sine gullvevde klær til kirkene som alterdekker, og ved bordet lot hun
kjøttfatene passere og nøyde seg med bønner eller linser. Ofte kom hun for sent
til måltider fordi hun fortsatt befant seg i kirken. Når kongen utallige ganger
var Radegunde utro og hånte henne for hennes barnløshet, søkte hun trøst i
fromhetsøvelser og velgjørende arbeid. Hun engasjerte seg for de fattige, de
syke og fanger og grunnla et sykehus for spedalske, hvor hun selv pleide
pasientene. Det er sagt at hun kysset deres spedalske legemer, men dette er
trolig en overdrivelse fra overentusiastiske biografer. Hun engasjerte seg også
for opphevelse av dødsdommer og ga rike gaver til Kirken. Klotar ignorerte
først hennes fromhet, men etter hvert ble den en prøvelse for ham, og folkene
ved hoffet spottet ham med at han hadde «giftet seg med en nonne», ikke en
dronning, og han selv bemerket at hun gjorde hoffet om til et kloster.
Rundt 550 skjedde det en oppstand i Thüringen, og som
gjengjeldelse myrdet kongen Radegundes yngre bror. Men
da hadde dronningen fått nok og forlot hoffet etter et nesten femten år langt
smertefullt ekteskap. Hun dro til Noyon ikke langt fra Paris, hvor hun ba
biskop Medardus om å la henne få bli nonne. Biskopen ville imidlertid ikke
tirre den notorisk brutale kongen, så han nektet. Men Radegunde møtte opp i
kirken med nonneslør, og da bestemte han for å gjøre henne til diakonisse.
Dermed løste han henne fra hennes ekteskapelige løfter og Klotar hadde ikke
lenger noe krav på henne. Hun overlot sine kongelige klær til kirken i Noyon og
brakk opp sitt gullbelte og delte ut bitene til de fattige.
Hun trakk seg tilbake til
Tours, hvor hun grunnla et munkekloster, deretter til Candes og så til sitt
gods Saix i grenseområdet mellom Touraine (Tours) og Poitou (Poitiers), som var
en del av Klotars morgengave til henne ved bryllupet. Der grunnla hun et fritt
fellesskap av kvinner for pleie av syke og nødlidende. Men da hun hadde vært
der i bare seks måneder, dukket kongens jegere opp for å hente den bortløpne
dronningen tilbake. Radegunde flyktet på nytt, denne gangen til Poitiers. Der
grunnla hun rundt 552 et kvinnekloster foran bymuren, som først fikk
navnet Sainte-Marie-hors-les-Murs (St. Maria utenfor Murene). Klotar
ble opprørt over dette og planla å bortføre henne igjen. Hun skrev da til den
hellige Germanus
av Paris om hjelp. Han besøkte Klotar og overtalte ham til å la henne
være i fred. Det synes som om kongen var så imponert at han ga sitt samtykke og
til og med dro til Poitiers for å be Radegunde om tilgivelse og gi gaver til
klosteret. I dette klosteret tilbrakte Radegunde sine siste tretti år. Hun
gjorde sin pleiedatter Agnes til abbedisse, en nær venn siden hennes barndom i
Athies, og i kommuniteten ble hun selv et lydig, men utvilsomt innflytelsesrikt
medlem. Men hun søkte seg til de laveste oppgavene: å hente ved, å passe ilden
med blåsebelg og tang, å hente vann i brønnen og å rense og vaske grønnsaker.
Ofte overtok hun også sykepleien utenom tur. Hennes åndelige veileder var den
hellige Johannes
av Chinon.
Etter Klotars død i
desember 561 i Compiègne ble hans kongerike delt mellom hans sine fire sønner.
Karibert I fikk Paris (561-67), Guntram fikk Burgund (561-92), Sigebert I fikk
Austrasia (561-75) og Kilperik I fikk Soissons (senere Neustria) (561-84). I
567 døde kong Karibert av Paris. Det brøt da ut en borgerkrig om hans arv, og
den ble skjerpet av den bitre familietvisten mellom de to brødrene Sigebert og
Kilperik.
Radegundes kloster i
Poitiers var et svært tidlig dobbeltkloster for menn og kvinner og ble et
senter for kunnskap og kultur. Kvinnene som samlet seg rundt Radegunde, var ikke
bare fromme, men også intelligente og kultiverte. Noen av dem var fra
senatorfamilier, mens andre hadde kongelig blod. Nonnene tilbrakte to timer
daglig med studier. Klosteret ble et senter for Radegundes ulike fredsskapende
aktiviteter. Det ble sagt at hun mislikte krig og vold sterkt, og hun skal ha
sendt brev med råd om fred til mulige kamphaner straks det begynte å gå rykter
om konflikt. Men denne holdningen til vold gjaldt ikke hennes egen kropp, som
hun straffet med botsøvelser som det da var vanlig blant entusiastiske
ordensfolk. Men hun var også ivrig etter svært varme bad, noe som var
usedvanlig på den tiden, men som hun anbefalte for de syke. Hun fikk en gang en
svært syk nonne til å ligge i det varme badet i to timer, og hun var da
fullstendig helbredet. Dette ble regnet som mirakuløst. To dager i uken samlet
hun de fattige og syke i klosterets badehus.
Den hellige Venantius Fortunatus (d.
609), romersk gentleman med kresen smak, en litterær dandy som skrev
utsøkte dikt, vakre hymner og behagelige leilighetsvers, reiste i 565 til
Gallia. Han endte sine vandringer rundt 567 i Poitiers, for Radegundes
siviliserte kloster var den havn han hadde lett etter. Han slo seg ned i nærheten
og ble Radegundes livslange venn og rådgiver. Hun og abbedisse Agnes presset
Fortunatus til å bli presteviet, og deretter ble han nonnenes kapellan,
rådgiver, forretningsmann og sekretær frem til Radegundes død. Han var uvanlig
følsom overfor problemene til kvinner, som virkelig spilte en betydelig rolle i
utviklingen av kristne verdier i den merovingiske verden. Gjennom brev og reiser ivaretok han klosterets
interesser overfor konger og dignitærer.
Nonnene skjemmet virkelig bort sin kapellan ved å
sende ham kjøttretter med rike sauser, smør, frukt og vin til hans bolig. Når
han besøkte klosteret, var det sølv og krystall på bordet og skåler med roser.
Han skrev sjarmerende brev og dikt til Radegunde og abbedissen Agnes og kalte
dem sin «mor» og «søster» (mater honore mihi, soror autem dulcis amore).
Hans brev til den mye eldre Radegunde er retorisk lekende og følelsesladede:
«Selv om skyene er borte og himmelen er klar, er dagen uten sol når du er
borte». Han forteller henne at han ville sende henne roser og liljer om han
kunne skaffe dem.
Senere kommentatorer som
har vurdert disse relasjonene, har aldri funnet dem annet enn uskyldige. I et
samfunn som ofte var både rått og grusomt, måtte nærværet av en urban og dannet
romersk poet som kunne produsere avslepne vers og visste å fornøye, ha vært et
verdifullt tilskudd til kommunitetslivet. Fortunatus kjente alle de store
kirkemennene og de høye tjenestemennene og kunne gi Radegunde og abbedissen råd
i spørsmål om kirkelig politikk. Det var tider da klosteret var i fare, enten
fra krigerske konger eller usympatiske biskoper, og han hjalp dem til å bevare
sin levemåte.
På denne tiden begynte et kappløp etter relikvier i Frankrike. Det var et område som hadde hatt relativt få egne martyrer og hvor relikvier hadde fått lite oppmerksomhet. Radegunde ble en ivrig samler av relikvier av første klasse og beriket sin kirke med relikvier av mange helgener. Hun ba den bysantinske keiseren Justinos II (565-78) om en relikvie av den kappadokiske martyren Mamas av Caesarea, og patriarken av Jerusalem ga til slutt sin tillatelse til overføringen av helgenens høyre lillefinger fra Jerusalem til Poitiers.
Men hun var ivrig etter å
få en del av den udiskutabelt største relikvien av dem alle, Det sanne kors som
Kristus døde på. Mellom 560 og 570 sendte hun utsendinger østover for å finne
deler av korset til sitt kloster. I 569 fikk hun av den bysantinske keiseren
Justinos II og hans keiserinne Sophia en stor korsrelikvie, utsmykket med gull
og edelsteiner. Den ble fulgt av en evangeliebok dekorert på samme måte i
tillegg til en rekke større relikvier av viktige helgener. Kong Sigebert I av
Austrasia (561-75) ga den hellige erkebiskop Eufronius av Tours til å levere
samlingen til klosteret den 19. november 569. Klosteret skiftet da navn fra St.
Maria til «Klosteret for Det hellige Kors», Abbaye [Monastère] de la
Sainte-Croix.
Ankomsten av
korsrelikvien inspirerte Venantius Fortunatus til å skrive den berømte
prosesjonshymnen Vexilla Regis prodeunt, som fortsatt synges ved
korsfester i den latinske ritus. Den ble senere sunget i pasjonstiden, og det
samme ble Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis (Crux fidelis),
som var skrevet til ære for den samme relikvien, og noen av de andre hymnene
han skrev i Poitiers. Han skrev også en rekke lange epitafer for å trøste
Radegunde og andre når venner og slektninger døde. Han skrev også et
lovprisende dikt til det bysantinske keiserparet. Samtidig skrev han et
rundskriv til alle verdslig og åndelig dannete og ba om bøker til klosteret.
Det er bevart en rekke
dikt fra Venantius til Radegunde: Hilsningsdikt og lykkeønskninger til
fødselsdager og kirkelige fester, unnskyldning for å ha avlyst et besøk på
grunn av dårlig vær, en formaning til Radegunde om å drikke vin ved bordet,
slik som den hellige apostelen Paulus anbefalte Timotheos, og takk for
kunstferdige matretter. Han takker også for vers fra henne, men disse er ikke
bevart. Han sendte sitt dikt om Thüringens undergang til Amalfred i Bysants,
men som svar fikk Radegunde vite at hennes elskede fetter Amalfred i
mellomtiden var død. Det finnes også et annet dikt av Venantius Fortunatus
rettet til en av hennes slektninger: «Til Artakis» (Ad Artachin),
sannsynligvis en sønn av hennes bror som Klotar fikk myrdet. Et annet dikt av
Venantius priser jomfrueligheten fremfor hustruenes lidelser og oppfordrer
jenter til å tre inn i hans venninne Radegundes kloster.
I anledning en reise til Arles sammen med Agnes i 570
lærte Radegunde å kjenne regelen til den hellige Caesarius av Arles (d. 542), den fremste fremmer av det sørgalliske
klostervesenet. Caesarius hadde skrevet regelen til
klosteret Saint-Jean, som ble ledet av hans søster, den hellige abbedisse Caesaria.
Radegunde reformerte deretter sitt eget kloster i henhold til denne regelen for
å møte maktkravene fra biskop Maroveus av Poitiers, som motarbeidet klosteret
på alle måter.
Radegunde tilbrakte sine
siste år i fullstendig og streng klausur. Hun døde fredelig i Poitiers onsdag
den 13. august 587 omgitt av sin kommunitet på 200 personer. Den høytidelige
begravelsen i krypten i klosterkirken (senere Sainte-Radégonde) ble foretatt av
den hellige biskop Gregor av Tours,
som også beskriver begravelsen,1 etter
at biskop Maroveus av Poitiers nektet å foreta begravelsen. Abbedisse Agnes
døde omtrent samtidig med henne. Gregor av Tours forteller at i 589 var
klosteret blitt et stridens sted hvor kommuniteten ble splittet i rivaliserende
grupper. Dette skyldtes delvis at biskop Maroveus nektet å utføre sin kirkelige
plikt til å veilede det. Til slutt gjorde en del av nonnene opprør, og det
førte til at et konsil av biskoper ble sammenkalt for å undersøke
beskyldningene som nonnene kom med. Mange av disse ble funnet å være grunnløse,
men Maroveus ble beordret til å ta seg av klosterets åndelige behov.
Venantius Fortunatus
skrev en biografi om Radegunde (Vita Radegundis) allerede rundt 590.
Han skrev også elegien «Om Thüringens undergang» (De excidio Thuringiae),2 hvor
han etter Radegundes anvisninger skildrer frankernes overfall i hennes
ungdomstid. Litt senere skrev en nonne ved navn Baudonivia, som selv var
oppdratt av Radegunde, en praktfull biografi (Vita Radegundis) (609-14).
Hun skildrer Radegunde som omvender av frankerne og klosterets grunnlegger og
åndelig leder, som med sine prekener for nonnene fullstendig overså kvinners
læreforbud. De minnet om harmonien i Radegundes tid og avslørte de miraklene
som de hevdet var blitt utført allerede mens hun levde. Baudonivia husket
helbredelsen av en blind mann i Radegundes begravelse.
Radegundes legeme var
gravlagt utenfor bymurene i Poitiers et stykke fra klosteret. Det ble snart
meldt om mirakuløse helbredelser ved graven, og hennes minne og eksempel ble
brukt i kampen mot hedenske avgudsdyrkere. På 800-tallet ble både Radegunde og Moder
Agnes helligkåret. Kapellet med Radegundes grav ble senere erstattet av den
større romansk/gotiske kirken Sainte-Radégonde, som fortsatt er et
valfartssted. Ved åpningen av graven i 1012 skal hennes legeme ha blitt funnet
intakt. I mai 1562 ble hennes grav brutt opp av hugenotter og plyndret, og en
del av hennes knokler ble brent på bålet sammen med korbøker og kirkelige
dokumenter. De troende reddet en del av relikviene og la dem i et blyskrin som
senere ble lagt tilbake i steinsarkofagen.
Radegunde finnes i
martyrologiene siden den hellige Beda den Ærverdiges
tid,3 og
derfra hos Rabanus
Maurus,4 Wandalbert
av Prüm,5 Usuard6 og Notker Balbulus.7 Hennes
fest ble feiret i Frankrike, spesielt i Tours, fra 800-tallet og tidligere.
Hennes navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. Hennes minnedag er dødsdagen 13.
august, men hun har også en minnedag den 28. januar, som kalles Sainte-Radégonde
d'hiver («St. Radegunde om vinteren»).
Kulten bredte seg særlig i Frankrike, derfra til
England, Sør-Tyskland og Østerrike. Dem engelske sognekirker
er viet til henne, og det var kapeller viet til henne i den gamle St. Paul's
Cathedral og katedralene i Gloucester, Lichfield og Exeter. Saint Radegund's
Abbey nær Dover ble grunnlagt i 1191. Hun er også skytshelgen for Jesus
College i Cambridge, som ble grunnlagt på stedet for nonneklosteret Saint
Mary and Saint Radegund fra 1100-tallet. Et av glassmaleriene i Jesus College
Chapel fremstiller scener fra Radegundes liv.
Radegunde fremstilles som
abbedisse og nonne med en krone ved føttene, bok og pisk ved siden av seg, mens
to ulver representerer frankerriket og kong Klotar. Hun fremstilles også som
grunnleggerske med kirkemodell. I Tyskland kalles hun Radegunde av Thüringen.
Hun var en av de mange kvinnene som spilte en fremtredende rolle i det kristne
liv og tenking i merovingernes Gallia.
Hun ble skytshelgen for
fanger fordi hun selv ble tatt til fange, for skomakere fordi hun pusset de
andre nonnenes sko og pottemakere fordi hun vasket opp i klosteret. Hun er også skytshelgen for Poitiers, Jesus College i
Cambridge, vevere, mot flomfare, spedalskhet, byller og skabb, mot feber hos
barn.
1 Gregor
av Tours (d. 594), De gloria confessorum 104, Migne, PL 71, 905-907
2 Migne,
PL 88, 427-436
3 J.-P.
Migne (ed.), Patrologia Latina (PL), 94:1005
4 Migne,
PL 110:1163
5 Migne,
PL 121:607
6 Migne,
PL 124:357
7 Migne,
PL 131:1140
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Butler (VIII), Benedictines, Bunson,
Schauber/Schindler, Melchers, Gorys, Dammer/Adam, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN,
Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon, en.wikipedia.org, de.wikipedia.org, mdr.de,
muehlberg-online.de, the-orb.net, diocese-poitiers.com.fr,
mittelalter-genealogie.de, jesus.cam.ac.uk - Kompilasjon og oversettelse:
p. Per Einar
Odden - Opprettet: 1998-06-05 20:56 -
Sist oppdatert: 2007-06-15 17:48
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/radegund
