St Leodegarius of Autun, also known as Leodegar or Leger, was the Bishop of Autun, France in the 7th century.
He was born in 615 AD in Autun, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France and died as a martyr on October 2 679 AD in Sarcing, Somme, France.
We celebrate his feast day on October 2 every year in the Catholic Church.
St Leodegarius of Autun Biography | |
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Date of Birth | 615 AD |
Place of Birth | Autun, Burgundy, France |
Profession | Bishop of Autun, France |
Place of Work | Autun, France |
Date of Death | October 2 679 AD |
Place of Death | Sarcing, Somme, France |
Feast Day | October 2 |
Canonization | Pre-congregation |
Patron Saint of |
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St Leodegarius of Autun Life History
St Leodegarius was the son of the nobles Bobilo and Saint Sigrada and a brother of Saint Gerinus. He was raised in the court of King Clotaire.
Leodegarius of Autun studied in Poitiers, France under the guidance of his uncle, the bishop of Poitiers. He was working in diocesan administration. He became a monk at Maxentius Abbey in 650 AD.
He became an abbot in 651 AD, a position he held for six years during which he placed the abbey under the Benedictine Rule.
He became an advisor to Queen Saint Bathild, and tutor to her children, in 656 AD.
He became the bishop of Autun in 663 AD where he brought about many reforms like fighting Manichaeism, reforming the secular clergy, enforcing discipline in religious houses, adopting the Creed of Saint Athanasius, and stressing the administration of the sacraments, especially baptism.
Leodegarius’s work and support of Childeric II over Ebroin for the throne incurred the anger of many powerful entrenched rulers and groups.
He was exiled to Luxeuil, France in 675 AD, but later returned to Autun at the request of Theodoric III after the death of Childeric.
At the time the city was attacked, Leodegarius arranged a surrender to avoid the Autun‘s destruction but unluckily fell into the hands of Ebroin.
Ebroin instructed that Leodegarius’s eyes be gouged out and the sockets cauterized, his lips cut off, and his tongue pulled out.
Sometime later this same Ebroin accused him of instigating the murder of Childeric II, had him imprisoned for two years at Fecamp monastery in Normandy, regularly tortured, crippled, and finally executed.
St Leodegarius of Autun was murdered on October 2 679 in the forest near Sarcing, Somme, France. In 782 AD, his relics were translated to the abbey of Saint Maxentius.
Later on, they were translated to Rennes, and then to Ebreuil, which was renamed Saint-Leger. Finally, the relics were translated to the cathedral of Autun and to Soissons, France.
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