Sigismund (; died 524 AD) was King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king

Gundobad Gundobad (; ; 452 – 516) was King of the Burgundians (473–516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a patrician of the moribund Western Roman Empire in 472–473, three years before its collapse, suc ...

and

Caretene Carétène (also Caretena) (born died September 16, 506) was the wife of Gundobad, king of the Burgundians. Unlike her husband, who was an Arian, Carétène was a Catholic. She was probably the mother of Sigismund of Burgundy. According to her ...

. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother

Godomar Godomar II (also spelled Gundomar), son of king Gundobad, was king of Burgundy. He ruled Burgundy after the death of Sigismund, his elder brother, in 524 until 534. Life According to Gregory of Tours, Sigismund married the daughter of the O ...

were defeated in battle by

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

's sons, and Godomar fled. Sigismund was captured by

Chlodomer Chlodomer, also spelled Clodomir or Clodomer (c. 495 - 524) was the second of the four sons of Clovis I, King of the Franks. History Clodomir was the eldest son of Clovis and his wife, Clotilde. On the death of his father, in 511, he divided ...

, King of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Avitus of Vienne Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus (c. 450 – February 5, 517/518 or 519) was a Latin poet and bishop of Vienne in Gaul. His fame rests in part on his poetry, but also on the role he played as secretary for the Burgundian kings. Avitus was born of a pr ...

, the

Chalcedonian Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definitio ...

bishop of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to wh ...

who converted Sigismund from the

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

faith of his Burgundian forebears. Sigismund was inspired to found a monastery dedicated to

Saint Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of tha ...

at Agaune in

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

in 515. The following year he became king of the Burgundians.

Sigismund's conflict with Bishop Apollinaris

Sigismund came into conflict with

Apollinaris of Valence Saint Apollinaris of Valence (also known as Aplonay) (453–520), born in Vienne, Isère, Vienne, France, was bishop of Valence, France, at the time of the irruption of the barbarians. Valence, which was the central see of the recently founde ...

over the rules regarding marriage. The king's treasurer, Stephen, was living in flagrant incest. The four bishops of the province ordered him to separate from his companion, but he appealed to Sigismund, who supported his official and exiled the four bishops to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. They refused to yield, and after some time the king relented, and permitted three of them to return to their Sees, with the exception of Apollinaris, whose defiance had made him particularly obnoxious to the king. He was kept a close prisoner for a year. At last the king, stricken with a severe illness, sent the Queen to request Apollinaris go to the court to restore the monarch to health. On his refusal, the Queen asked for his cloak to place on the sufferer. The request was granted, the king recovered, and Apollinaris was allowed to return to his see.Monks of Ramsgate. “Apollinaris”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 July 2012.
/ref>

Murder of his son

According to

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 ...

, Sigismund married the daughter of the Ostrogoth King Theodoric. They had a son, Sigeric. The widowed Sigismund later remarried, and his second wife "maltreated and insulted her stepson".Kasten, Brigitte. "Stepmothers in Frankish legal life", ''Law, Laity and Solidarities''
(Susan Reynolds, ed.), Manchester University Press, 2001, When, on a feast day in 517, Sigeric saw his stepmother dressed in his late mother's ceremonial clothes, he called out that she was unworthy to wear them. (Under Burgundian law, his mother's clothes should have gone to his sister, Suavegotha.) The Queen persuaded Sigismund to deal with his son, alleging that Sigeric planned not only to kill his father and seize the throne, but that he also had designs on his grandfather's kingdom in Italy. Sigismund ordered the young man to be taken while drunk and drowned in a well. Then, overcome with remorse, Sigismund retreated to the monastery that he had founded (perhaps on

Île Barbe The Île Barbe is an island situated in the middle of the Saône, in the 9th arrondissement of Lyon, part of the quartier Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe (a former-commune annexed in 1963). Its name comes from the Latin ''insula barbara'', "Barbari ...

Burgundian War, defeat and death of Sigismund

In 523,

Clotilde Clotilde ( 474 – 3 June 545 in Burgundy, France) (also known as Clotilda (Fr.), Chlothilde (Ger.) Chlothieldis, Chlotichilda, Clodechildis, Croctild, Crote-hild, Hlotild, Rhotild, and many other forms), is a saint and was a Queen of the Fran ...

, daughter of

Chilperic II of Burgundy Chilperic (also Chilpéric or Chilperich) can refer to: * Chilperic I, king of Neustria * Chilperic II, king of the Franks * Chilperic I of Burgundy * Chilperic II of Burgundy * Chilperic of Aquitaine, dies as an infant * ''Chilpéric'' (operetta) ...

who had been slain by Sigismund's father Gundobad in 493, took revenge for the murder of her father, when she incited her sons against Sigismund, and provoked the Burgundian War, which led to Sigismund's deposition and imprisonment, and his assassination the following year. In 523, the

Kingdom of the Burgundians The Kingdom of the Burgundians, or First Kingdom of Burgundy, was established by Germanic Burgundians in the Rhineland and then in eastern Gaul in the 5th century. History Background The Burgundians, a Germanic tribe, may have migrated from the ...

was invaded by the four

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 ...

kings,

Childebert I Childebert I ( 496 – 13 December 558) was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clo ...

Clotaire I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire from the original French version, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. With his eldes ...

and

Theuderic I __NOTOC__ Theuderic I ( 487 – 534) was the Merovingian king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called—from 511 to 534. He was the son of Clovis I and one of his earlier wives or concubines (possibly a Franco-Rhenish Pr ...

, children of Frankish king

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 ...

and Sigismund's first cousins once removed by Clotilde. Sigismund and his brother

led the Burgundian defence but lost the battle. Godomar fled while Sigismund put on a monk's habit and hid in a cell near his abbey. He was captured by Chlodomer, king of Aurelianum (modern

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Gábor Klaniczay, ''Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses: Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe'' (Cambridge University Press, 2000), 67–68. Sigismund's wife and remaining children were also put to death.

Aftermath

Sigismund was succeeded on the throne by his brother Godomar. Godomar then rallied the Burgundian army and called for aid from his ally, the

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

ic king

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

. Godomar regained his territory; the garrisons that the Franks had left behind were massacred. Chlodomer marched with his brother

, King of Metz, on

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

in 524. Chlodomer was killed at the

Battle of Vézeronce The Battle of Vézeronce was fought on 25 June 524 AD near Vézeronce-Curtin (then ''Veseruntia''), now in Isère, France, between the Franks led by King Chlodomer and the Burgundians commanded by King Godomar. Background The battle was part o ...

, which took place on 25 June 524, reportedly at the hands of Godomar.

Veneration

In 535, Sigismund's remains were recovered from the well at Coulmiers and buried in the monastery at Agaune. Eventually Sigismund was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

. Correspondence has survived between Sigismund and

Avitus of Vienne Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus (c. 450 – February 5, 517/518 or 519) was a Latin poet and bishop of Vienne in Gaul. His fame rests in part on his poetry, but also on the role he played as secretary for the Burgundian kings. Avitus was born of a pr ...

, who was a poet and one of the last masters of the classical literary arts. In 1366,

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

, transferred Sigismund's

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, hence he has become a

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, now

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The emperor gave the saint's name to one of his sons, the later King

Sigismund of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elect ...

(who also became decades later King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor). In 1424, Sigismund of Hungary constructed a church in the honor of Saint Sigismund in the City of Buda. The same year, King Sigismund took the relics of Saint Sigismund from Prague and sent them to the Hungarian city of Varad to protect them from the

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

. A Catalan legend, dating at least to the XVI century, has it that as a young man Sigismund travelled to Hispania and once there he heard about the hermits of the

Montseny Montseny () is a municipality and village in the Vallès Oriental comarca in Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalo ...

mountain and decided to join them. As soon as he arrived at the mountain he found a hermit who initially welcomed him in his cave, but Sigismund, looking for a more secluded and solitary place, settled in a cave and lived there for two years dedicated to prayer and the interior life, feeding on herbs and other wild products. A place where his father came to look for him to integrate him into the government of his kingdom. This cave later became a sanctuary where hermits lived and pilgrims gathered to venerate the king saint, a tradition that still continues to this day each 1st of May.

Family and issue

In 494, he married Ostrogotha, the illegitimate daughter of

and a concubine, as a part of Theodoric's negotiation for an alliance with Sigismund and the Burgundians. They had the following issue: * Sigeric (494/95 – 517), murdered by his own fatherE. T. Dailey, ''Queens, Consorts, Concubines: Gregory of Tours and Women of the Merovingian Elite'', 87-88. * Suavegotha (495/96 – ?), married to

, son of

* Daughter, name unknown

References

External links

*
Saints and Blessed Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigismund Of Burgundy Kings of the Burgundians 5th-century births 524 deaths 6th-century Christian martyrs 6th-century monarchs in Europe People executed by decapitation Christian royal saints Roman Catholic royal saints Correspondents of Avitus of Vienne