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E02369: Gregory of Tours, in his Histories (9.42), quotes the letter that *Radegund (former queen, and monastic founder, ob. 587, S00182) wrote in 560/561 in defence of her monastery in Poitiers (western Gaul), setting it under the protection of the Holy Cross, *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), *Hilary (bishop of Poitiers, ob. 367, S00183) and *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050); in the same letter Radegund asks to be buried in the church of Mary that she is building within the monastery. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 589/594.
online resource
posted on 2017-02-12, 00:00 authored by kwojtalikGregory of Tours, Histories (Historiae) 9.42
Radegund, in a long letter addressed to the bishops of her time, asks them to defend the rights and properties of her foundation. In the middle of the letter she invokes the support of some named saints:
Quod si, quod absit, contra Dei mandatum et auctoritatem regum aliquis de suprascriptis condicionibus vobis coram Domino et sanctis eius praecabiliter conmendatis agere aut de persona aut substantiam minuenda voluerit aut memoratae sorore meae Agnite abbatissae molestias aliquas inferre temptaverit, Dei et sanctae Crucis et beatae Mariae incurrat iudicium, et beatus confessores Helarium et Martinum, quibus post Deum sorores meas tradidi defendendas, ipsos habeat contradictores et persecutores.
'If any person whatsoever, in defiance of the will of God and of the king’s authority, thus contravening the conditions here set out and before our Lord and His Holy Saints commended in my prayers to your protection, shall do aught to harm any individual or to despoil any property, which God forbid, or shall attempt in any way to harass the aforesaid Abbess Agnes, my sister, may he incur the wrath of God and of the Holy Cross and of the Blessed Mary, and may he be assailed and pursued by Saint Hilary and Saint Martin, to whose especial care, after God, I have entrusted these nuns, who are my sisters.'
Towards the end of the letter, she asks to be buried in the church of Mary, Mother of Christ, that she has begun to build within the monastery:
Illud quoque vos sanctos pontifices et praecellentissimos domnos reges et universum populum christianum coniuro per fidem catholicam, in qua baptizati estis et ecclesias conservatis, ut in basilica, quam in sanctae Mariae dominicae genetrices honore coepimus aedificare, ubi etiam multae sorores nostrae conditae sunt in requie, sive perfecta sive inperfecta, cum me Deus de hac luce migrare praeceperit, corpuscolum meum ibi debeat sepeliri.
'I also beseech you, saintly bishops, and you, lords and kings omnipotent, and the whole Christian people, by that Catholic faith in which you are baptized, that, when God shall ordain the time has come for me to die, my poor body shall be buried here, in this church which I have begun to build in honour of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, where so many of my nuns have been laid to rest, no matter whether that church is finished or not.'
Text: Krusch and Levison 1951, 472. Translation: Thorpe 1974, 537-8.
Radegund, in a long letter addressed to the bishops of her time, asks them to defend the rights and properties of her foundation. In the middle of the letter she invokes the support of some named saints:
Quod si, quod absit, contra Dei mandatum et auctoritatem regum aliquis de suprascriptis condicionibus vobis coram Domino et sanctis eius praecabiliter conmendatis agere aut de persona aut substantiam minuenda voluerit aut memoratae sorore meae Agnite abbatissae molestias aliquas inferre temptaverit, Dei et sanctae Crucis et beatae Mariae incurrat iudicium, et beatus confessores Helarium et Martinum, quibus post Deum sorores meas tradidi defendendas, ipsos habeat contradictores et persecutores.
'If any person whatsoever, in defiance of the will of God and of the king’s authority, thus contravening the conditions here set out and before our Lord and His Holy Saints commended in my prayers to your protection, shall do aught to harm any individual or to despoil any property, which God forbid, or shall attempt in any way to harass the aforesaid Abbess Agnes, my sister, may he incur the wrath of God and of the Holy Cross and of the Blessed Mary, and may he be assailed and pursued by Saint Hilary and Saint Martin, to whose especial care, after God, I have entrusted these nuns, who are my sisters.'
Towards the end of the letter, she asks to be buried in the church of Mary, Mother of Christ, that she has begun to build within the monastery:
Illud quoque vos sanctos pontifices et praecellentissimos domnos reges et universum populum christianum coniuro per fidem catholicam, in qua baptizati estis et ecclesias conservatis, ut in basilica, quam in sanctae Mariae dominicae genetrices honore coepimus aedificare, ubi etiam multae sorores nostrae conditae sunt in requie, sive perfecta sive inperfecta, cum me Deus de hac luce migrare praeceperit, corpuscolum meum ibi debeat sepeliri.
'I also beseech you, saintly bishops, and you, lords and kings omnipotent, and the whole Christian people, by that Catholic faith in which you are baptized, that, when God shall ordain the time has come for me to die, my poor body shall be buried here, in this church which I have begun to build in honour of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, where so many of my nuns have been laid to rest, no matter whether that church is finished or not.'
Text: Krusch and Levison 1951, 472. Translation: Thorpe 1974, 537-8.
History
Evidence ID
E02369Saint Name
Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033 Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, ob. 368 : S00183 Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours (Gaul), ob. 397 : S00050 Radegund, queen of the Franks, ob. 587 : S00182Saint Name in Source
Maria Helarius MartinusRelated Saint Records
- https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Mary_Mother_of_Christ/13729186
- https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Radegund_former_queen_of_the_Franks_and_monastic_founder_ob_587/13729615
- https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Martin_ascetic_and_bishop_of_Tours_ob_397/13729234
- https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Hilarius_Hilary_bishop_of_Poitiers_ob_367/13729618