Gangulphus
Encyclopedia
Saint Gangulphus of Burgundy (died May 11, 760 AD) is venerated as a martyr
by the Catholic Church. Gangulphus was a Burgundian courtier
whose historical existence can only be attested by a single document: a deed from the court of Pepin the Short dated 762. It attests that he was a great landowner, whose family dominated the region and exercised a lot of power.
Gangulphus decided to renounce his wealth and become a hermit
. Even so, he was subsequently killed by his wife's lover, who wished to remove Gangulphus as a possible interference to the adulterous
relationship.
s. When his parents died, he became a model landowner, taking care of the household economy with ease and industry and also providing for the churches and the poor on his land. When it came time to marry, he chose a woman who did not share his virtues.
As an important nobleman, Gangulphus participated in the wars of the time, but also dedicated himself to preaching the Gospel
in Frisia
.
On a journey back to Burgundy, he found a property at Bassigny upon which stood a fountain that issued fresh and good water. Gangulphus bought the property. However, his friends mocked him because this property's fountain would not serve back at home. However, when Gangulphus returned home, he pushed a stick into the soil. The next day, he instructed his servant to pull the stick out of the soil. Out of the soil emerged a new fountain, from which gushed fresh water.
During his absence, his wife had committed adultery with a priest
. His wife protested her innocence, but Gangulphus wished her innocence to be judged by God
. Thus, he had her dip her hand into the very same source of water he had created on his property. His wife’s hand was completely and miraculously scalded by the water. Gangulphus was fairly lenient: he forbade his wife from ever sharing his marriage bed and also ordered the priest to go abroad.
Gangulphus meanwhile withdrew to his castle at Avallon
, near Vézelay
, performing works of penance
and charity
.
However, his wife soon had her lover return. Hurrying back, the priest, wishing to decapitate
Gangulphus, attacked the saint as he slept. However, the priest missed and injured Gangulphus' thigh
. The wound, however, proved to be fatal and Gangulphus received the Last Sacraments
on May 11, 760.
The priest fled the country with Gangulphus' wife. Purported miracle
s soon took place at Gangulphus' tomb. Both his wife and the priest soon suffered illnesses and died.
, Germany
, the Low Countries
and Switzerland
.
Gangulphus' name is found in numerous martyrologies of the 10th and 11th centuries, in France as well as in Germany, and later in England
and Italy
. His Life was probably written at Varennes.
Hrosvit of Gandersheim wrote a version of his life around 960.
Some of his relics, consisting of part of his head, can be found at the Gangolfskirche in Bamberg
. The Gangolfskirche in Hollfeld
developed as a daughter church of the Bamberger church. On the Milseburg
, in the Rhön Mountains
, rises a Gangolfkapelle, as well as at Wolpertswende
in Upper Swabia
. There is also a Sankt Gangloff in Thuringia
.
Gangulphus became also associated with the spot now occupied by the area known as Saint-Gingolph
, where he is said to have dedicated himself as a hermit to a life of prayer and penance. Local legends confused Gangulphus with a hypothetical soldier of the Theban Legion
who escaped from nearby Agaunum
and would have faced martyrdom there.
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
by the Catholic Church. Gangulphus was a Burgundian courtier
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
whose historical existence can only be attested by a single document: a deed from the court of Pepin the Short dated 762. It attests that he was a great landowner, whose family dominated the region and exercised a lot of power.
Gangulphus decided to renounce his wealth and become a hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
. Even so, he was subsequently killed by his wife's lover, who wished to remove Gangulphus as a possible interference to the adulterous
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
relationship.
Legend
Born to one of the most illustrious families of Burgundy, his education was provided by his parents, who were virtuous Christians. As a youth, Gangulphus was known for his great honesty, chastity, and propriety, and visited churches and read religious texts, avoiding the company of libertineLibertine
A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behavior sanctified by the larger society. Libertines, also known as rakes, placed value on physical pleasures, meaning those...
s. When his parents died, he became a model landowner, taking care of the household economy with ease and industry and also providing for the churches and the poor on his land. When it came time to marry, he chose a woman who did not share his virtues.
As an important nobleman, Gangulphus participated in the wars of the time, but also dedicated himself to preaching the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
in Frisia
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
.
On a journey back to Burgundy, he found a property at Bassigny upon which stood a fountain that issued fresh and good water. Gangulphus bought the property. However, his friends mocked him because this property's fountain would not serve back at home. However, when Gangulphus returned home, he pushed a stick into the soil. The next day, he instructed his servant to pull the stick out of the soil. Out of the soil emerged a new fountain, from which gushed fresh water.
During his absence, his wife had committed adultery with a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. His wife protested her innocence, but Gangulphus wished her innocence to be judged by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Thus, he had her dip her hand into the very same source of water he had created on his property. His wife’s hand was completely and miraculously scalded by the water. Gangulphus was fairly lenient: he forbade his wife from ever sharing his marriage bed and also ordered the priest to go abroad.
Gangulphus meanwhile withdrew to his castle at Avallon
Avallon
Avallon is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in center-eastern France.-Geography:Avallon is located 50 km south-southeast of Auxerre, served by a branch of the Paris-Lyon railway and by exit 22 of the A6 motorway...
, near Vézelay
Vézelay
Vézelay is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France. It is a defendable hill town famous for Vézelay Abbey. The town and the Basilica of St Magdelene are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites....
, performing works of penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
and charity
Charity (practice)
The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...
.
However, his wife soon had her lover return. Hurrying back, the priest, wishing to decapitate
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
Gangulphus, attacked the saint as he slept. However, the priest missed and injured Gangulphus' thigh
Thigh
In humans the thigh is the area between the pelvis and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb.The single bone in the thigh is called the femur...
. The wound, however, proved to be fatal and Gangulphus received the Last Sacraments
Anointing of the Sick
Anointing of the Sick, known also by other names, is distinguished from other forms of religious anointing or "unction" in that it is intended, as its name indicates, for the benefit of a sick person...
on May 11, 760.
The priest fled the country with Gangulphus' wife. Purported miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s soon took place at Gangulphus' tomb. Both his wife and the priest soon suffered illnesses and died.
Veneration
Gangulphus' relics were translated to Varennes-sur-Amance in the diocese of Langres, where his cult developed, and later distributed to various places in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Gangulphus' name is found in numerous martyrologies of the 10th and 11th centuries, in France as well as in Germany, and later in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. His Life was probably written at Varennes.
Hrosvit of Gandersheim wrote a version of his life around 960.
Some of his relics, consisting of part of his head, can be found at the Gangolfskirche in Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
. The Gangolfskirche in Hollfeld
Hollfeld
Hollfeld is a town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany.It is situated 20 km west of Bayreuth, and 30 km east of Bamberg.-Villages:...
developed as a daughter church of the Bamberger church. On the Milseburg
Milseburg
The Milseburg is an extinct volcano and the second highest mountain of the Rhön Mountains in Hesse, Germany. The mountain is located eastwards of Fulda, near the villages of Kleinsassen and Danzwiesen...
, in the Rhön Mountains
Rhön Mountains
The Rhön Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located around the border area where the states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia come together. These mountains, which are at the extreme southeast end of the East Hesse Highlands , are partly a result of ancient volcanic activity...
, rises a Gangolfkapelle, as well as at Wolpertswende
Wolpertswende
Wolpertswende is a town in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-World heritage site:It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site....
in Upper Swabia
Upper Swabia
Upper Swabia is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Alb, Lake Constance and the Lech...
. There is also a Sankt Gangloff in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
.
Gangulphus became also associated with the spot now occupied by the area known as Saint-Gingolph
Saint-Gingolph
Saint-Gingolph is a small town situated on the south bank of Lake Geneva . It sits at the Franco-Swiss frontier, and is administratively divided into Saint-Gingolph, Switzerland and Saint-Gingolph, Haute-Savoie . Its name is derived from the eighth century saint Gangulphus, who is said to have...
, where he is said to have dedicated himself as a hermit to a life of prayer and penance. Local legends confused Gangulphus with a hypothetical soldier of the Theban Legion
Theban Legion
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's...
who escaped from nearby Agaunum
Agaunum
Roman Agaunum, the modern Saint-Maurice in the canton Valais in southwesternmost Switzerland, was a minor post confined between the Rhône and the mountains along the well-travelled road that led from Roman Genava, modern Geneva, over the Alps by the Great St...
and would have faced martyrdom there.