- Prætextatus (Bishop of Rouen)
Infobox Saint
name= Saint Prætextatus
birth_date=
death_date=586 AD
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venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize= 250px
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death_place=Rouen
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issues= Saint Prætextatus (died25 February 586 ), also spelled "Praetextatus", "Pretextat(us)", and known as Saint Prix, was the bishop of Rouen inNormandy from 549 until his assassination in 586.He was present at the councils of
Paris (557), where marriages within certain degrees ofconsanguinity were declared incestuous, and atTours (566). However, he is less remembered for his ecclesiastical involvement than for his political connections. He wed the loversMerovech , son of KingChilperic I ofNeustria , andBrunhilda , widow of KingSigebert I ofAustrasia , in order to prevent their affair from scandalising them, their families, and his city. This, however, led to his downfall. Merovech had risen against his father and Chilperic called the bishop to a council at Paris in the church of St Peter. There he was charged withhigh treason and with distributing gifts to enemies of the king to instigate revolt. His friend, the greatGregory of Tours , came to his defence, but eventually, persuaded by Chilperic's men, he pled guilty and confessed to joining the revolt because Merovech had been his godson. He was promptly banished toJersey (577). Incidental to his exile was his responsibility for transferring ecclesiastical administration of theChannel Islands from thediocese of Dol to thediocese of Coutances , where it remained until theReformation .In 584, upon Chilperic's death,
Guntram ,king of Burgundy , assumed the regency for Chilperic's son,Clotaire II . Guntram returned Prætextatus to his old see. In 585, he was at the council ofMâcon , where he tried to reform the rules for clerical discipline which had served him so poorly. In 586, he was assassinated by order ofFredegund , the mother of Clotaire, who, resident in Rouen, he had often reproved for her wicked conduct: including the murders of Sigebert her brother-in-law, Chilperic her husband, Clovis her stepson, and Merovech, Prætextatus' godson. He died at his altar on25 February and has beencanonised by theRoman Catholic Church .ources
*Dahmus, Joseph Henry. "Seven Medieval Queens". 1972.
*Gregory of Tours. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html History of the Franks: Books I-X] at Medieval Sourcebook: see especially V.18; VII.16.
*"Balleine's History of Jersey", Marguerite Syvret and Joan Stevens (1998) ISBN 1860770657
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