- Sigismund of Burgundy
: "For other nobles of the same name, please see
Sigismund "Infobox Saint
name= Saint Sigismund of Burgundy
birth_date=
death_date=524 AD
feast_day=
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize= 225px
caption= Fresco by Piero della Francesca
birth_place=
death_place=Orléans
titles=
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=
patronage=Czech Republic
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=Sigismund (died 524) was king of the
Burgundians from 516 to his death. He was the son of kingGundobad , whom he succeeded in 516. Sigismund and his brotherGodomar were defeated in battle byClovis ' sons and Godomar fled. Sigismund was taken byChlodomer , King ofOrleans , where he was kept as a prisoner. Godomar then rallied the Burgundian army and won back his kingdom. Meanwhile, Chlodomer ordered the death of Sigismund and marched with his brotherTheuderic I , King of Metz, onBurgundy in 524.Sigismund was a student of
Avitus of Vienne , the Catholicbishop of Vienne who converted Sigismund from the Arian faith of his Burgundian forebears. Sigismund was inspired to found a monastery dedicated toSaint Maurice at Agaune inValais in 515. The following year he became king of the Burgundians.The 6th century king's difficulties began shortly thereafter. Sigismund's son opposed him in 517, and insulted his new wife, so Sigismund had him strangled. Then, overcome with remorse, Sigismund retreated to the monastery that he had founded.
In 523, he led the Burgundians against the invading
Franks ofChildebert I ,Clotaire I andTheodebert I . Though he put on a monk's habit and hid in a cell near his abbey, he was captured by Clotaire, taken toOrléans and put to death. Afterwards, he was honoured by the Burgundians as amartyr . His bones were recovered from the well atCoulmiers where his body had been thrown, and a shrine developed near Agaune. Eventually Sigismund was canonized.Correspondence has survived between Avitus, who was a poet and one of the last masters of the classical arts, and Sigismund.
Veneration
In the 14th century,
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor , transferred Sigismund'srelic s toPrague , hence he has become apatron saint of theCzech Republic .Family and Issue
He married Ostrogotha, the illegitimate daughter of
Theodoric the Great and a concubine in 494 as a part of Theodoric's negotiation for an alliance with Sigimund and the Burgundians. Both had the following issue:* Sigeric (494/95 - 522, murdered by his own father
* Suavegotha (495/96 - ?) She was married toTheuderic I , son ofClovis I .
Gallery
External Link/Source
* [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BURGUNDY%20KINGS.htm#Sigismunddied523 FMG on Sigimund, King of Burgundy]
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