St. Leodegar
| Saint Leodegar (or Leger) Bishop of Autun |
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| Born | c. 615 Autun, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France |
| Died |
October 2, 679 Sarcing, Somme, Picardie, France |
| Venerated in |
Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Major shrine | Cathedral of Autun and the Grand Séminaire of Soissons |
| Feast | October 2 |
| Attributes | Man having his eyes bored out with a gimlet Bishop holding a gimlet Bishop holding a hook with two prongs |
| Patronage | Millers Invoked against blindness Eye disease Eye problems Sore eyes |
Leodegar of Poitiers (Latin: Leodegarius; French: Léger; c. 615 – October 2, 679 AD) was a martyred Burgundian Bishop of Autun. He was the son of Saint Sigrada and the brother of Saint Warinus.
Leodegar was an opponent of Ebroin, the Frankish Mayor of the Palace of Neustria and the leader of the faction of Austrasian nobles in the struggle for hegemony over the waning Merovingian dynasty. His torture and death made him a martyr and saint.
Leodegar was the son of a high-ranking Burgundian nobleman, Bodilon, Count of Poitiers and Paris and Sigrada of Alsace, who later became a nun at Sainte-Marie de Soissons. His brother was Warinus.
He spent his childhood in Paris at the court of Clotaire II, King of the Franks and was educated at the palace school. When he was older he was sent to Poitiers, where there was a long-established cathedral school, to study under his maternal uncle, Desiderius (Dido), Bishop of Poitiers. At the age of 20 his uncle made him an archdeacon.
Shortly afterwards he became a priest, and in 650, with the bishop's permission, became a monk at the monastery of St Maxentius in Poitou. He was soon elected abbot, and initiated reforms including the introduction of the Benedictine rule.
Around 656, about the time of the usurpation of Grimoald in Austrasia and the banishment of the boy-heir Dagobert II, Leodegar was called to the Neustrian court by the widowed Queen Bathilde to assist in the government of the united kingdoms and in the education of her children. Then in 659 he was named to the see of Autun, in Burgundy. He again undertook the work of reform and held a council at Autun in 661. The council denounced Manichaeism and was the first to adopt the Trinitarian Athanasian Creed. He made reforms among the secular clergy and in the religious communities, and had three baptisteries erected in the city. The church of Saint-Nazaire was enlarged and embellished, and a refuge established for the indigent. Leodegar also caused the public buildings to be repaired and the old Roman walls of Autun to be restored. His authority at Autun placed him as a leader among the Franco-Burgundian nobles.
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