Gontran was the son of King Clotaire and Saint Clothildis. His brothers were King Charibert and King Sigebert. He himself was King of Orleans and Burgundy from 561 to 592.

He got married three times – first to Veneranda, then to Mercatrude and finally to Austerchild, who was also named Bobilla. Gontran divorced Mercatrude when he realized that she was behind the murder of Gundobad, his son from the first marriage. When Mercatrude became seriously ill and her physician could not cure her, he had the doctor murdered as he assumed that it was due to his negligence.

Upon his conversion to Christianity, he was so overcome with remorse for the wrong doings in the past. He spent the remaining years of his life in repentance and in atonement, he fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to God. Gontran devoted his energy and fortune to build up the Church. Throughout the rest of his prosperous reign, he ruled the kingdom by Christian principles.

According to St. Gregory of Tours, he was the protector of the oppressed, caregiver to the sick and the tender parent to his subjects. He was generous with his wealth, especially in times of plague and famine. He strictly and justly enforced the law, yet was ever ready to forgive offences against himself, including two attempted assassinations.

Gontran died at Chalon-sur-Saône in 592 and was buried in the Church of Saint Marcellus. The Huguenots, who scattered his ashes in the 16th century, left only his skull untouched in their fury. It is now kept there in a silver case.

Other Saints of the Day

1. Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar
2. Saint Stephen Harding
3. Saint Tutilo of Saint Gall
4. Saint Proterius of Alexandria
5. Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem

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