Once a Queen, she became a saint

Queen Radegonde escaped a vile husband and entered religious life

St. Radegonde – August 13

- WCR photo by Ted Fitzgerald The 17th century statue of Sainte-Radegonde garbed in her habit stands in her Poitiers church.

By TED FITZGERALD
Special to the WCR
Poitiers, France

Daughter of a king, queen, cloistered religious, saint proclaims a sign summarizing her life in the courtyard of the church of Sainte-Radegonde in her adopted city of Poitiers, France. And what a tumultuous life it was!

Daughter of King Berthaire of Thuringen (Germany), her uneventful, religious childhood came to an abrupt end in 531 when, at 13 years old, Radegonde found herself orphaned, a victim of regional warfare and the property of villainous Frankish King Clotaire I.

At 18, the king selected her as one of his wives, and she was forced to spend the next six years suffering the indignities of life with a murderous, adulterous spouse.

The people's choice

Despite this, Queen Radegonde was loved by the people because of the serenity and generosity that had always characterized this child of God. Eventually she was able to escape Clotaire's control and, rejecting her royal position, entered the religious life.

Radegonde soon established a convent just outside the walls of the pretty hilltop town of Poitiers, naming it the Abbaye de Sainte-Croix.

She was adopted whole-heartedly by the Poitevins and was perceived to be a saint during her 35 years there when a number of miraculous cures were believed to be the result of her intercession with God.

- WCR photo by Ted Fitzgerald The photo captures the east (apse) end of the 13th century Church of Sainte-Radegonde.

Today, an idea of convent life can be gained from a comprehensive exhibition of artefacts and information that occupies the 13th century former sacristy in the church.

At her death in 587, Radegonde was buried in the church of Sainte-Marie outside the walls, near her beloved Holy Cross Convent. The collegiate church was soon rededicated to the holy woman and became the focus of pilgrimages to honour her. It was replaced in 1099 by a new structure, but today's church dates from only the 13th century.

Relics of the saint still exist in her tomb in the crypt.

The holy woman's church can easily be found by following the blue line painted on the streets of Poitiers. It's one of three colour-coded tours designed to direct walkers to the city's important historic sites.

The bourgh and stately Church of Sainte-Radegonde are about eight blocks from the city centre Tourism Office and the important church of Notre-Dame-le-Grande and just east of the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre.

Its apse overlooks the placid Le Cain River, since the building traditionally faces west away from the rising sun.

Statues of honour

Inside, a 17th century statue of the saint in her religious habit occupies a place of honour to the right of the main altar, while an ancient marble statue shows Radegonde crowned and garbed in royal robes as queen.

Today, the nearby Mus‚e Sainte-Croix occupies a modern building on the site of Radegonde's early convent and is a showcase for archaeological and art works, some of which date from the time of the convent.

The order founded by the saint continues to be active and their Abbaye-de-Sainte-Croix still exists now at Saint-Benoit just south of the city.

The saint's image is familiar to most Poitevins and she is portrayed in statues and stained glass in the city's many churches. Because of an event when Poitiers was saved from a siege, she is shown in places in the company of Notre-Dame-le-Grande and Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand, other city patrons.

As far away as Brittany and Normandy in the north, her intercession is sought at selected shrines by those suffering from diseases of the skin. She was also the original patron of Jesus College, the former (1133) Saint-Radegonde Convent in England's Cambridge.

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