Saint Pardulphus (''Pardulf, Pardoux'') (657 – 737 AD) was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

saint and

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

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 ...

. The '' Vita Pardulfi'', was written by an anonymous monk around the middle of the eighth century. It is notable for the insight it provides into life in

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

at the time. He was born at

Sardent Sardent (; Limousin: ''Sarden'') is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography An area of streams, lakes, forestry and farming, comprising the village and several hamlets situated in the v ...

, from a family of

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

. His legend states that he was a

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

who decided to live as a

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 ...

after experiencing a terrible storm. Lantarius, the count of

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

, had built a monastery at

Guéret Guéret (; Occitan: ''Garait'') is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland a ...

. Pardulphus joined this monastery, later serving as its abbot. He followed strict

penances Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derives ...

, never keeping himself warm, and only eating once a week. He is alleged to have rejected heat from any source but the rays of the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

. However, as he grew old he did occasionally make use of “hot stones” to keep himself warm. He rejected the consumption of all

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

, eating only the

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

the local peasants brought him. The ''Vita Pardulfi'' records a

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

performed by Pardulphus. Some

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

s were cutting wood with which to build the church of Saint-Aubin at Guéret. After they loaded the wood onto carts and returned to the building works, it was determined that the wood was too short. The carpenters’ superintendent wished to have the carpenters whipped in punishment for this, but Pardulphus intervened with a miracle that made the wood the right size and even surpassed the intended length. As a result, the excess wood was sawn off and hung in the church as an object of veneration. According to tradition, during the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

invasion of southern France, Pardulphus remained in his monastery. Umayyad forces, retreating after the

Battle of Tours The Battle of Tours, also called the Battle of Poitiers and the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs (), was fought on 10 October 732, and was an important battle during the Umayyad invasion of Gaul. It resulted in victory for the Frankish an ...

, arrived at the monastery. However, his monastery was spared from attack; this was attributed to Pardulphus’ prayers.

Veneration

His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is October 6. A

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

that contained his arm had been preserved at the church of Sardent. However, it is now found at the Museum of Fine Art at Guéret.Guéret, musée des Beaux-Arts
/ref> A number of places in France, such as Saint-Pardoux-de-Drône, take their name from him.

Vita Pardulfi

The ''Vita Pardulfi Abbatis Waractensis'' (

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

for "Life of (Saint) Pardulf of Guéret") is a work on the life of Pardulphus, which was written around the middle of the eighth century. The ''Vita Pardulfi'' is notable for the insight it provides into life in

during the time of its writing. The work also indicates the high esteem in which Duke

Odo of Aquitaine Odo the Great (also called ''Eudes'' or ''Eudo'') (died 735–740), was the Duke of Aquitaine by 700. His territory included Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine (at that point located north-east of the river Garonne), a ...

was held, in contrast to the negative picture provided by the '' Continuations of Fredegar'', which were compiled on the instructions of Duke

Childebrand Childebrand I (c. 678 – 743 or 751) was a Frankish duke (''dux''), son of Pepin of Heristal and Alpaida, and brother of Charles Martel. He was born in Autun, where he later died. He married Emma of Austrasia and was given Burgundy by his fath ...

, half-brother of Odo's rival

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

References

Sources

*Fouracre, Paul (2000). ''The Age of Charles Martel''. Pearson Education.

External links

St. Pardulphus

{{Authority control 728 deaths Frankish Benedictines French hermits 8th-century Frankish saints 657 births