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Name:Radegund (Latin: Radegunda; also spelled Rhadegund, Radegonde, or Radigund [1]
Radegund of Thuringia was born in Erfurt in the year 518. [2]
She was the daughter of Berthechar (Bertaire), King of the Thuringians.[2]
Gregory of Tours names Radegund as the orphaned daughter of Berthar. [2]
The Vitæ Sanctæ Radegundis names "Radegundis natione barbare de regione Thoringa" and her "avo rege Bessino, patruo Hermenfredo, patre rege Bertechario". [2]
Wikitree states that Radegund was born about 520 [1]
Radegund was born about 520 to Bertachar, one of the three kings of the German land Thuringia. [1]
Radegund's uncle, Hermanfrid, killed Bertachar in battle, and took Radegund into his household. After allying with the Frankish King Theuderic, Hermanfrid defeated his other brother Baderic.
However, having crushed his brothers and seized control of Thuringia, Hermanfrid reneged on his agreement with Theuderic to share sovereignty.
In 531, Theuderic returned to Thuringia with his brother Clotaire I (also known as Chlothar). Together they defeated Hermanfrid and conquered his kingdom. Clotaire I also took charge of Radegund, taking her back to Merovingian Gaul with him.
In a later passage, Gregory records that, after the Frankish invasion of Thuringia, Radegund formed part of the booty taken home by Clotaire I King of the Franks, who later married her. [2]
Clotaire sent the child to his villa of Athies in Picardy for several years, before marrying her in 540. [1]
In 531 she became the second wife of Merovingian Clotaire (Chlothachar), King of the Franks (501/2 - 30 Nov/31 Dec 561) who later repudiated her. [2]
Radegund was one of Clotaire I’s six wives or concubines (the other five being Guntheuca who was the widow of his brother Chlodomer, Chunsina, Ingund, Ingund’s sister Aregund and Wuldetrada the widow of Clotaire's grand-nephew Theudebald). [1]
She bore him no children. [1]
There were no issue of the marriage.[2]
By 550 Radegund's brother was the last surviving male member of the Thuringian royal family. Clotaire had him murdered. [1]
Radegund fled the court and sought the protection of the Church, persuading the bishop of Noyon to appoint her a deaconess;[1] founding the monastery of Sainte-Croix in Poitiers circa 560, where she cared for the infirm. She ate nothing but legumes and green vegetables: neither fruit nor fish nor eggs. Radegund was widely believed to have the gift of healing.[3] [1]
Living under the Rule for Virgins of Caesarius of Arles, the nuns were required to be able to read and write, and to devote several hours of the day to reading the scriptures and copying manuscripts, as well as traditional tasks such as weaving and needlework.[4] This Rule strictly enclosed women, to the point that nuns of Sainte-Croix were unable to attend Radegund's funeral. [1]
Her abbey was named for the relic of the True Cross that Radegund obtained from the Byzantine Emperor Justin II. Although the bishop of Poitiers Maroveus refused to install it in the abbey, at Radegund's request king Sigebert sent Eufronius of Tours to Poitiers to perform the ceremony. To celebrate the relic and its installation into Sainte-Croix, Venantius Fortunatus composed a series of hymns, including the famous Vexilla Regis, considered to be one of the most significant Christian hymns ever written, which is still sung for services on Good Friday, Palm Sunday, as well as the Exaltation of the Holy Cross [1]
Radegund was a close friend of Junian of Maire; Junian and Radegund are said to have died on the same day, August 13, 587.[5] [1]
The testament of Radegund dated to 584/587 survives. [2]
She died 13 August 587 (aged 66–67) at the Abbey of the Holy Cross, Poitiers, Aquitaine, Kingdom of the Franks. [1]
Gregory of Tours records the death of St Radegund on 13 Aug. [2]
Radegund died 13 August 587 in Poitiers and was buried in the basilique Sainte-Marie-hors-les-Murs. [2]
Radegund's funeral, which Venantius Fortunatus and Gregory of Tours attended, was three days after her death. She was buried in what was to become the Church of St. Radegonde in Poitiers. Her tomb can still be found in the crypt of that church, which remains the center of devotion to her. In the 1260s a church decoration program included stained-glass windows depicting Radegund's life. These were later largely destroyed by Huguenots. [1]
Radegund was noted for her almsgiving. [1]
She was canonised, her feast day is 13 Aug. [2]
As a saint, she is venerated in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The major shrine is the Church of St. Radegonde, Poitiers, Vienne, France [1]
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