Sigismund of Burgundy
Encyclopedia
- For other nobles of the same name, please see SigismundSigismundSigismund is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German sigu "victory" + munt "hand, protection". Tacitus Latinises it Segimundus...
Sigismund (died 524) was king of the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
from 516 to his death. He was the son of king Gundobad
Gundobad
Gundobad was King of the Burgundians , succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a Patrician of the Western Roman Empire in 472–473, succeeding his uncle Ricimer.- Early life :...
, whom he succeeded in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar
Godomar
Godomar , son of king Gundobad, was king of Burgundy. He ruled Burgundy after his elder brother's death in 524 until 534.Both he and his brother Sigismund of Burgundy were defeated in battle by Clovis' sons. Godomar fled and Sigismund was taken prisoner by Chlodomer, King of Orléans. Godomar then...
were defeated in battle by Clovis
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
' sons and Godomar fled. Sigismund was taken by Chlodomer
Chlodomer
Chlodomer, also spelled Clodomir or Clodomer was the second of the four sons of Clovis I, King of the Franks. On the death of his father, in 511, he divided the kingdom of the Franks with his three brothers: Theuderic I, Childebert I, and Clotaire I...
, King of Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, where he was kept as a prisoner. He was drowned in the village of St Pervay la Colombe, near Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
. Godomar then rallied the Burgundian army and won back his kingdom. Meanwhile, Chlodomer ordered the death of Sigismund and marched with his brother Theuderic I
Theuderic I
Theuderic I was the Merovingian king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called—from 511 to 533 or 534....
, King of Metz, on Burgundy
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
in 524.
Sigismund was a student of Avitus of Vienne
Avitus of Vienne
Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus was a Latin poet and archbishop of Vienne in Gaul.Avitus was born of a prominent Gallo-Roman senatorial family in the kinship of Emperor Avitus.-Life:...
, the Catholic bishop of Vienne who converted Sigismund from the Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
faith of his Burgundian forebears. Sigismund was inspired to found a monastery dedicated to Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...
at Agaune
Agaunum
Roman Agaunum, the modern Saint-Maurice in the canton Valais in southwesternmost Switzerland, was a minor post confined between the Rhône and the mountains along the well-travelled road that led from Roman Genava, modern Geneva, over the Alps by the Great St...
in Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
in 515. The following year he became king of the Burgundians. Sigismund's son opposed him in 517, and insulted his new wife, so Sigismund had him strangled. Then, overcome with remorse, Sigismund retreated to the monastery that he had founded. In 523, he led the Burgundians against the invading Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
of Chlodomer
Chlodomer
Chlodomer, also spelled Clodomir or Clodomer was the second of the four sons of Clovis I, King of the Franks. On the death of his father, in 511, he divided the kingdom of the Franks with his three brothers: Theuderic I, Childebert I, and Clotaire I...
, Childebert I
Childebert I
Childebert I was the Frankish king of Paris, a Merovingian dynast, one of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511...
, Clotaire I
Clotaire I
Chlothar I , called the Old , King of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis. He was born circa 497, in Soissons .-Life:...
and Theodebert I. He lost the battle, put on a monk's habit and hid in a cell near his abbey. He was captured by Chlodomer, taken to Aurelianum (modern Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
) and put to death. Afterwards, he was honoured by the Burgundians as a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
. His bones were recovered from the well at Coulmiers
Coulmiers
Coulmiers is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France....
where his body had been thrown, and a shrine developed near Agaune. Eventually Sigismund was canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
.
Correspondence has survived between Sigismund and Avitus, who was a poet and one of the last masters of the classical arts.
Veneration
In the 14th century, Charles IV, Holy Roman EmperorCharles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
, transferred Sigismund's relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, hence he has become a patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
The emperor gave the saint's name to one of his son, the later King Sigismund of Hungary (who also became decades later King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor). In 1417, Sigismund of Hungary constructed a chapel in the honor of Saint Sigismund in the City of Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
. In 1424 King Sigismund took the reliques of Saint Sigismund from Prague and sent them to the Hungarian city of Varad, so they could be protected from the Hussites.
Family and Issue
He married in 494 Ostrogotha, the illegitimate daughter of Theodoric the GreatTheodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
and a concubine, as a part of Theodoric's negotiation for an alliance with Sigismund and the Burgundians. They had the following issue:
- Sigeric (494/95 - 522, murdered by his own father
- Suavegotha (495/96 - ?) She was married to Theuderic ITheuderic ITheuderic I was the Merovingian king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called—from 511 to 533 or 534....
, son of Clovis IClovis IClovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
. - A daughter who married LeudesiusLeudesiusLeudesius was the son of Erchinoald, Mayor of the Palace of Neustria, and his wife Leutsinde.Leudesius inherited his father's properties on his death in 658...
, mayor of palace of NeustriaNeustriaThe territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...
. They were the parents of Eticho, the first Duke of Alsace.