Gildard or Gildardus, or Gildaredus also known as Godard or Godardus (c. 448 – c. 525), was the

Bishop of Rouen The Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Archbishop of Rouen's ecclesi ...

from 488 to 525. He is venerated as a saint of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and the

missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest ...

of the

Sarum Rite The Use of Sarum (or Use of Salisbury, also known as the Sarum Rite) is the Use (liturgy), liturgical use of the Latin liturgical rites, Latin rites developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Refor ...

refers to him as a

confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...

. He is closely connected to

Medard Medard () is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein. ...

, who was traditionally considered to be his brother.

Life

Earlier versions of the

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

contend that Gildard was the twin brother of

—that they were born on the same day, were consecrated bishop on the same day, and died on the same day. However, in 511 Gildard attended the

First Council of Orléans The First Council of Orléans was a synod convoked by Clovis I, King of the Franks, in 511. Clovis called for this synod four years after his victory over the Visigoths under Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. The council was attended by ...

, convoked by

Clovis I Clovis (; reconstructed Old Frankish, Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first List of Frankish kings, king of the Franks to unite all of the Franks under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a ...

; only in 530 was Medard consecrated. Gildard is commemorated in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, with his supposed brother.

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiography, hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College, in Douai, Douay, France where he later taught philosophy and theology. He s ...

adds that he "governed the see of Rouen with great zeal during the space of fifteen years." His body was buried at St. Mary's Church in Rouen, which later was named after him. According to Butler, his body was removed during Norman incursions and moved to the Abbey of St. Medard in

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

, where it remains.

Cult

According to Felice Lifshitz, the main reason for the veneration of Gildard is his association with Medard. Prior to the emergence of widespread belief in this association, no cult of Gildard was promoted, and his relics were kept in the church of Notre Dame (St. Mary) in suburban Rouen without attracting any attention. They were removed to the Abbey of St. Medard in Soissons precisely because of the supposed sibling connection; when the monks of St. Medard discovered this link, they argued successfully with

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

that the brothers be reunited in death. Apparently the people of Rouen were not happy to see their saint go, and made the offer that the monks of St. Medard leave them the head of Gildard, for which they would give them the head of

Romanus of Rouen Saint Romanus of Rouen (; reconstructed Frankish language, Frankish: ''*Hruomann''; died 640 AD) was a scribe, clerical sage, and bishop of Rouen. He would have lived under Dagobert I (629–39), though his date of birth is unknown. His life is ...

, one of their bishops, or the entire body of

Remigius of Rouen Remigius (or Remi) (died 772) was the illegitimate son of Charles Martel and an unknown mistress. He was also the third archbishop of Rouen from 755 to 772. Life Remigius was educated at court, but, along with his brothers, (Bernhard, son of Char ...

, their third archbishop. In Soissons, Gildard "was provided for the first time with literary traditions and

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

his cult was promoted."

Churches named for Medard and Gildard

*Church of Saint-Médard-et-Saint-Gildard, in

Crépon Crépon () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territ ...

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

, France; 12th–14th century. *Church of Saint-Médard-et-Saint-Gildard, in Fel,

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.aS n umMedardi et Gildardi de Felle'' in 1417. 12th century (today only Saint-Médard, apparently). *Church of St Medard and St Gildard, parish church in

Little Bytham Little Bytham is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Kesteven Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 384. It lies on the B1176 road ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; dating back to

Anglo-Saxon period Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman imperial rule in Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the Anglo-Saxons stretched north ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gildard, Saint 450s births 545 deaths 6th-century Frankish bishops 6th-century Frankish saints