St. Gontran

St. Gontran, also called Guntram, was born about 532, a grandson of Clovis, the first Christian king of the Franks, and became king of Burgundy and Orléans about 561 upon the division of the Frankish realm among the sons of his father. In an age of violence, intrigue, and bloodshed among the Merovingian kings, and though his own life was not without early faults, he stands out as a ruler who turned to God in genuine penitence and sought to govern with justice and mercy.

He became known as a peacemaker among his warring kinsmen, a defender of his people, and a generous benefactor of the Church and the poor, founding and endowing monasteries, churches, and hospitals, and doing public penance for the sins of his reign. He convened Church councils, upheld sound discipline, and cared for his subjects with such fatherly concern, especially in times of plague and famine, that he was beloved as a just and holy king. The historian St. Gregory of Tours praised his goodness. He died about 592 and is venerated as a saint, his memory kept on 28 March.