Radegund

Saint Radegund
Radegund retires to the monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Born	~520
Died	August 13, 586
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	9th century
Feast	August 13
Patronage	Jesus College, Cambridge

Radegund (also spelled Rhadegund, Radegonde) (ca. 520–586) was a 6th century Frankish princess, who founded the monastery of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. Canonized in the 9th century, she is the patron saint of several English churches and of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Contents 1 Life history 2 Literary connections 3 Later history 4 References 5 References 6 External links

Life history

Radegund was born about 520 to Bertachar, one of the three kings of the German land Thuringia. 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. Together they defeated Hermanfrid and conquered his kingdom. Clotaire I also took charge of Radegund, taking her back to Merovingian Gaul with him and making her his wife.

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). She bore him no children, and, after Clotaire I had her brother assassinated, she turned to God, founding a nunnery in Poitiers.

Literary connections

Radegund was extensively written about and to by the poet Venantius Fortunatus and the bishop, hagiographer, and historian Gregory of Tours. She wrote Latin poems to him on tablets that have been lost. The three of them seem to have been close and Fortunatus' relations with Radegund seem to have been based on friendship. There are two poems written in the voice of Radegund, De Excidio Thoringiae and Ad Artachin. While it has been proposed that Venantius wrote them, recent historians see her as the author.^[1]

Another hagiography was authored by the nun Baudovinia. Radegund was also a close friend of Junian of Maire; Junian and Radegonde are said to have died on the same day, on August 13, 586.^[2]

Radegund's funeral, at which Venantius Fortunatus and Gregory of Tours attended, was three days later.

Later history

Five English parish churches are dedicated to her, and she had a chapel in the old St Paul's Cathedral, as well as in Gloucester, Lichfield, and Exeter Cathedrals. Saint Radegund's Abbey, near Dover, was founded in her honour in 1191. She is also the patron saint of Jesus College, Cambridge, which was founded on the site of the 12th century nunnery of Saint Mary and Saint Radegund.

The St Radegund public house in Cambridge is named in her honour.

There are many places named Sainte-Radegonde in France.

References

References

• Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Confessors, translation by R. Van Dam (Liverpool, 1988)
• Jane Stevenson (2005). Women Latin poets: language, gender, and authority, from antiquity to the Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press. 
• Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, translation by L. Thorpe (Penguin, 1974: many reprints)
• Venantius Fortunatus, The Life of the Holy Radegund, translation by J. McNamara and J. Halborg
• History of St Radegund from the Jesus College, Cambridge, web site. St Radegund is the College's patron saint.
• Julia M.H. Smith, "Radegundis peccatrix: authorizations of virginity in late antique Gaul," in Philip Rousseau and Emmanuel Papoutsakis (eds), Transformations of late antiquity: essays for Peter Brown Vol. 2 (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2009), 303-326.

External links

• Other Women's Voices Useful guide to some of the works on Radegund including links to on-line materials.
• A biography of St Radegund at the Jesus College, University of Cambridge. St Radegund is the College's patron saint.
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Radegunda, St". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Persondata
Name	Radegund
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	520
Place of birth
Date of death	586
Place of death