Radegund the Deaconess
A princess of Thuringia, St. Radegund was born in 518, and when she was 12, the Franks captured her. At 18, she married King Clotaire I of the Franks. It was not a happy marriage. Radegund was childless, for which her unfaithful husband often mocked her. Her husband murdered her brother. About 555, she left her husband and sought ecclesial permission to become a nun. She was tonsured at Noyon, and St. Medard of Vermandois consecrated her a deaconess. She later established a monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Poitiers. Her nuns followed the rule of Cęsarius of Arles, and the monastery became a center of learning. Radegund was active in the affairs of the church and of state; she had a repuation as a peacemaker. She received from Constantinople a relic of the True Cross, after which the monastery was rededicated to the Holy Cross. It also held a large collection of relics. After Radegund died in 587, her cult became popular in France and in Britain. Jesus College in Cambridge was originally dedicated to St. Radegund.
Karen Rae Keck
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