1. Leodegar of Poitiers was a martyred Burgundian Bishop of Autun.
12 Facts About Leodegar
1. 2.
Leodegar was the son of Saint Sigrada and the brother of Saint Warinus.
3.
Leodegar was the son of a high-ranking Burgundian nobleman, Bodilon, Count of Poitiers and Paris and St Sigrada of Alsace, who later became a nun in the convent of Sainte-Marie at Soissons.
4.
Leodegar spent his childhood in Paris at the court of Clotaire II, King of the Franks and was educated at the palace school.
5.
Shortly afterwards Leodegar became a priest, and in 650, with the bishop's permission, became a monk at the monastery of St Maxentius in Poitou.
6.
Leodegar was elected abbot, and initiated reforms including the introduction of the Benedictine rule.
7.
Around 656, Leodegar was called to the Neustrian court by the widowed Queen Bathilde to assist in the government of the united kingdoms and in the education of her children.
8.
Leodegar made reforms among the secular clergy and in the religious communities, and had three baptisteries erected in the city.
9.
Leodegar caused the public buildings to be repaired and the old Roman walls of Autun to be restored.
10.
Leodegar, who had supported this change, soon ran into conflict with the new king as the latter surrounded himself with advisors from Austrasia.
11.
About 675 the Duke of Champagne, the Bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne and the Bishop of Valence, stirred up by Ebroin, attacked Autun, and Leodegar fell into their hands.
12.
At Ebroin's instigation, Leodegar's eyes were gouged out and the sockets cauterized, and his tongue was cut out.