Saint Leodegarius of Autun; Patron Saint of the blind

Saint Leodegarius of Autun; Patron Saint of the blind

Leodegarius was the son of a high-ranking Burgundian nobleman, Bodilon and St. Sigrada of Alsace, who later became a nun in the convent of Sainte-Marie at Soissons.

He spent his childhood in Paris at the court of Clotaire II, King of the Franks, and was educated at the palace school. When he grew up, he was sent to Poitiers to study under his maternal uncle, Desiderius, Bishop of Poitiers. Leodegarius became archdeacon when he was twenty.

Shortly afterwards, Leodegarius became a priest, and in 650, with the bishop's permission, became a monk at the monastery of St Maxentius in Poitou. He was soon elected abbot, and initiated reforms including the introduction of the Benedictine rule.

In 659, he was installed as Bishop at the see of Autun, in Burgundy; he undertook the work of reform and held a council at Autun in 661. The council denounced Manichaeism. Leodegarius made reforms among the secular clergy and in the religious communities and had three baptisteries erected in the city.

Leodegarius became one of the leaders of the opposition against Ebroin, mayor of the palace in Neustria. Ebroin accused him before King Clothar III. However, the king died in 673 and Ebroin installed Clothar's next-eldest brother, Theoderic III, as king.

The nobles of Neutria and Burgundy, who were denied access to the king by Ebron, called in his youngest brother, Childeric II, who had been king of Austrasia since 662. Thus, Childeric II assumed rule over Neustria and Burgundy as well.

Leodegarius, who had supported this change, soon ran into conflict with the new king as the latter surrounded himself with advisors from Austrasia. The bishop also criticized the king for his uncanonical marriage to his first cousin Bilichild. After finding himself on the losing side in a hereditary dispute, the king banished Leodegar to Luxeuil.

When Childeric II was murdered at Bondi in 675, Theoderic III was installed as king in Neustria, making Leudesius his mayor. However, Ebroin had Leudesius murdered and became mayor once again.

In 675, the Duke of Champagne, the Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne and the Bishop of Valence attacked Autun at the instigation of Ebroin. Leodegarius fell into their hands and at Ebroin's insistence, his eyes were gouged out, the sockets cauterized, and his tongue was cut out.

After some years, Ebroin persuaded the king that Childeric had been assassinated at the instigation of Leodegarius. The bishop was seized again, and, after a mock trial, was degraded and condemned to further exile, at Fécamp, in Normandy. Near Sarcing, he was led out into a forest on Ebroin's order and beheaded.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Beregisius
2. Saint Eleutherius of Nicomedia
3. Saint Gerinus
4. Saint Theophilus
5. Saint Thomas of Hereford

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