Eufronius or Euphronius was the eighth Bishop of Tours; he served from 555 to 573, and was a near relative of

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Floren ...

. When upon the death of Bishop Gunthar, King Chlothar's nominee declined appointment to the See, it remained vacant for ten months until the people and clergy elected Eufronius. He was a priest at Tours, from a family of senatorial rank. a grandson of

Gregory of Langres Gregory of Langres, also called Gregory of Autun, was a Gallo-Roman prelate, born around 446, count of Autun, in Saone-et-Loire then once widowed, towards 500, he becomes bishop of Langres, from 506 to his death in 539. Descendant of a rich fami ...

, and a friend of

Venantius Fortunatus Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus ( 530 600/609 AD; french: Venance Fortunat), known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus (, ), was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerate ...

. When Clothar learned of the election, he confirmed their choice.Bennett, S.A., "Eufronius (2)", ''A Dictionary of Christian Biography'', (William Smith, Henry Wace, eds.), J. Murray, 1880, p. 269
/ref> In 552, the ''Abbaye de Sainte-Marie'' was founded near Poitiers by Frankish Queen,

Radegund Radegund ( la, Radegundis; also spelled ''Rhadegund, Radegonde, or Radigund''; 520 – 13 August 587) was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patron saint of several churche ...

. It was the first monastery for women in the

Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

. Radegund subsequently retired to the monastery, where she helped to care for the infirm. Upon her request,

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...

Justin II Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...

sent the abbey a relic of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

. When Bishop Maroveus of Poitiers refused to preside over its installation in the abbey, at Radegund's request, king Sigebert sent Eufronius to Poitiers to perform the ceremony. Sigebert also returned church lands that had been seized by King Charibert. In 561 much of Tours burned down during the warfare that raged at that time. Eufronius rebuilt two of the churches at his own expense. According to Gregory, Eufronius predicted the death of Charibert. Eufronius took part in the Council of Paris in 557, and presided over the Council of Tours in 567. The bishops of Brittany declined to attend, as Eufronius claimed authority over the Breton church. The council dealt mostly with church discipline. The bishops noted that some Gallo-Roman customs of ancestor worship were still being observed. Canon XXII decreed that anyone known to be participating in these practices was barred from receiving communion and not allowed to enter a church. The bishops of the Kingdom of Paris were particularly concerned about the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

practice of seizing ecclesiastical properties in outlying areas in order to fund their internecine wars. Eufronius was Bishop of Tours for eighteen years, and died at the age of seventy. He was succeeded by St. Gregory of Tours. Eufronius was either a cousin of Gregory's mother's or her brother.Heinzelmann, Martin. ''Gregory of Tours: History and Society in the Sixth Century'', (Christopher Carroll, trans.), Cambridge University Press, 2001 He is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on August 4.

References

{{Authority control Bishops of Tours 6th-century Frankish bishops 6th-century Frankish saints