Saint Bracchio of

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

(or of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

) (d. 576 AD) was an

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

. Bracchio had been a

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

nWalter Goffart, ''Rome's Fall and After'' (Continuum, 1989), 288. nobleman who had served in the court of Sigiswald of Clermont.

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

writes that Bracchio’s name meant “bear’s whelp” in the Germanic language. An avid hunter, Bracchio was one day pursuing a wild boar when the boar escaped into the hut of a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

Charles Forbes Montalembert (comte de), ''The Monks of the West from St. Benedict to St. Bernard'', Volume 2 (Aurélien Courson (comte de), J.C. Nimmo, 1896), 203.

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

named Emilian, who offered the huntsman some wild fruit.Paulist Fathers, ''Catholic World'', Volume 36, 1883. Digitized November 2, 2007, p. 753. Cowed by the hermit’s presence, Bracchio’s dogs refused to attack the boar. Intrigued by the hermit and his apparent power, Bracchio and the hermit discussed spiritual matters. After the death of his lord Sigiswald, Bracchio soon gave up his worldly life and became Emilian’s spiritual student for three years. Bracchio studied the golden letters on the images of the hermitage’s church and soon learned how to read, and soon knew the psalter by heart. The hermitage soon attracted other prospective students. After Emilian’s death,Goyau, Georges. "Bordeaux." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 April 2020 Bracchio turned the hermitage, which Emilian had bequeathed to him, into a monastery dedicated to Saint Saturninus (Saturnin).Dominique Branche, ''L'Auvergne au moyen âge. Avec un atlas'' (1842), 61. The grant of land for the new monastery was given to Bracchio by Ramichilde, the daughter of Sigiswald. Bracchio subsequently became the abbot of

Menat In ancient Egyptian religion, a menat (, ) was a necklace closely associated with the goddess Hathor. Operation The menat was held in the hand by its counterpoise and used as a Rattle (percussion instrument), rattle by Hathor's priestesses. It ...

in the Auvergne, and re-established strict monastic discipline there.

Notes

{{Authority control 576 deaths Medieval German saints Year of birth unknown 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Christian clergy German abbots