Saint Regina (''Regnia'', ) (3rd century) was a

virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

and

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

of the pre-

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

Christian Church. Regina was born in

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, to a

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

named Clement. Her mother died at her birth and her father placed her with a Christian nurse who baptized her. Regina helped out by tending the sheep. She communed with God in prayer and meditated on the lives of the saints. At the age of fifteen, she was betrothed to the

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

Olybrius, but refused to renounce her faith to marry him, for which she was

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

d and was

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

at Alesia in the

diocese of Autun The Diocese of Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny) (Latin: ''Diocesis Aeduensis'', ''Dioecesis Augustodunensis (–Cabillonensis–Matisconensis–Cluniacensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny)''), m ...

,Butler Alban. "St. Regina, or Reine, Virgin and Martyr", ''The Lives of the Saints''. 1866
/ref> called

Alise-Sainte-Reine Alise-Sainte-Reine () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Geography Alise-Sainte-Reine is located some 17 km southeast of Montbard and 50 km northwest of Dijon. The D905 ...

after her. Her martyrdom is considered to have occurred either during the persecution of

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

, in 251, or under

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

in 286.

Veneration

Honored in many Martyrologies, Regina's feast is celebrated on 7 SeptemberMasters, Ed. "Saint Regina, Martyr", ''Regina Magazine''
/ref> or in the Archdiocese of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

on 20 June. In the past, a procession was held in her honor in the town of

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

. However, her relics were transferred to

Flavigny Abbey Flavigny Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery, now occupied by a little handcraft and family factory oday, the TROUBAT family for tree génération), in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, Côte-d'Or ''Departments of France, département'', France. The mo ...

in 864. The history of the

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

of Regina was the subject of a 9th-century account. The village of

commemorates the saint each August with a procession from Flavigny to Sainte-Reine followed by the presentation of a mystery play, the "Mystery of Sainte Reine". A tradition that dates back to 866, it has become a cultural event in the area.Semk, Christopher. ''Playing the Martyr: Theater and Theology in Early Modern France'', Bucknell University Press, 2017, p. 9
There are many places in France named Sainte-Reine after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regina 3rd-century deaths People from Autun 3rd-century Gallo-Roman people 3rd-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century Christian saints Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown Ancient Christian female saints Ancient torture victims 3rd-century Roman women People executed by decapitation Executed ancient Roman women Executed French women Virgin martyrs