Sigismund (+524)

Biography

He renounced Arianism, thanks to the preaching of Saint Avitus, bishop of Vienne. From then on Sigismund behaved like a fervent Christian and dedicated himself to uprooting Arianism from his future subjects. He rebuilt and enlarged the abbey of Agaune, in Switzerland, and called numerous monks to repopulate it. When his father died, Sigismund was crowned king of Burgundy. He committed two great mistakes during his reign: the first was to banish the bishops who dared to reproach him for approving the incestuous marriage of a nobleman at his court. The second offense consisted of a crime. To please his second wife, who wanted to see her son on the throne, he had Sigeric, son of his first wife, killed. However, he repented quickly and deeply. Sigismund threw himself on the corpse of the young prince and covered him with kisses and tears. He then retired to Agaune, in Switzerland, to do penance. In that same place he had to hide, years later, when he was pursued by the sons of King Clovis, who had their ambitions in Burgundy. The soldiers of one of them, Clodomiro, caught him and took him to their boss. He ordered him to be thrown into a well, with his wife and children. The monks of Agaune, who were sent to rescue the body, assured the delegation that many miracles would be performed on his tomb from then on.