Saint Vigor | |
|---|---|
 Fresco at the Church of St Vigor de Neau | |
| Born | Artois |
| Died | circa 537 AD |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | November 1 |
Saint Vigor (French : Saint Vigor, Vigeur; Latin : Vigor, Vigorus) (died circa 537 AD) was a French bishop and Christian missionary.
Born into the nobility in Artois, he studied at Arras under Saint Vedast. [1] His father would not grant approval for him to become a priest, so he ran away from home, taking nothing with him, accompanied by an acolyte, Theodimir. Thereafter, he became a hermit preacher at Reviers, Calvados, and worked as a missionary. Vigor was named bishop of Bayeux around 514. [2]
He fervently opposed paganism and reputedly founded a monastery, later known as Saint-Vigor-le-Grand. In Bayeux, Normandy, he destroyed a pagan temple that was still in use and built a church on the grounds. [3]
Vigor was venerated from an early date in Bayeux, where he had been bishop. His cult as a saint is attested in 834 by mention of a relic at Le Mans. [4] Around 987 Vigor's relics came to the Abbey of Saint-Riquier in Ponthieu. Saint-Ouen Abbey, Rouen held a copy of the Vita Vigoris; John Howe dates the "vita"s composition to the beginning of the eleventh century. [5] In 1032 Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, founded an abbey dedicated to Saint Vigor on the site of an older monastery destroyed by the Normans during their invasion. [6]
The successful Norman conquest brought his cult to England. His name appears in an eleventh-century breviary at Worcester, possibly introduced by bishop Samson or Theulf, both of whom had been canons at Bayeux. [7]
Two English churches have been dedicated to Vigor; one in Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, the other in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset. [8] His feast falls on All Saints' Day (November 1), and as a result is often moved to another date. Saint Vigor is mentioned in the life (vita) of Saint Paternus. [3]
Lanfranc, OSB was a celebrated Italian jurist who renounced his career to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen's Abbey in Caen, Normandy and then as Archbishop of Canterbury in England, following its conquest by William the Conqueror. He is also variously known as Lanfranc of Pavia, Lanfranc of Bec, and Lanfranc of Canterbury. In his lifetime, he was regarded as the greatest theologian of his generation.
William de St-Calais was a medieval Norman monk, abbot of the abbey of Saint-Vincent in Le Mans in Maine, who was nominated by King William I of England as Bishop of Durham in 1080. During his term as bishop, St-Calais replaced the canons of his cathedral chapter with monks, and began the construction of Durham Cathedral. In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he served as a commissioner for the Domesday Book of 1086. He was also a councillor and advisor to both King William I and his son, King William II, known as William Rufus. Following William Rufus' accession to the throne in 1087, St-Calais is considered by scholars to have been the new king's chief advisor.
Bayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France.
Bec Abbey, formally the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec, is a Benedictine monastic foundation in the Eure département, in the Bec valley midway between the cities of Rouen and Bernay. It is located in Le Bec Hellouin, Normandy, France, and was the most influential abbey of the 12th-century Anglo-Norman kingdom.
Amandus, commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the catholic missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium.
Jumièges is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Audoin, venerated as Saint Audoin, was a Frankish bishop, courtier, hagiographer and saint. He authored Vita Sancti Eligii which outlines the life and deeds of Eligius, his close friend and companion in the royal court and the Church.
Bertin, also known as SaintBertin the Great, was the Frankish abbot of a monastery in Saint-Omer later named the Abbey of Saint Bertin after him. He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The fame of Bertin's learning and sanctity was so great that in a short time more than 150 monks lived under his rule. Among them were St. Winnoc and his three companions who had come from Brittany to join Bertin's community and assist in the conversions. Nearly the whole Morini region was Christianized.
Vitalis of Savigny was the canonized founder of Savigny Abbey in Manche and of the Congregation of Savigny (1112).
Jumièges Abbey, formally the Abbey of St Peter at Jumièges, was a Benedictine monastery. Its ruins are situated in the commune of Jumièges in the Seine-Maritime Departement of Normandy, France.
The Diocese of Séez is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Originally established in the 3rd century, the diocese encompasses the department of Orne in the region of Normandy. The episcopal see is the cathedral in Sées, and the diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rouen.
The Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Rouen, also in Normandy.
William the Conqueror had men of diverse standing and origins under his command at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. With these and other men he went on in the five succeeding years to conduct the Harrying of the North and complete the Norman conquest of England.
Cerisy-la-Forêt is a commune in the Manche department of Normandy in north-western France. It had a population of 1,036 inhabitants in 2019 and possesses an important environmental and architectural heritage.
Osbert of Clare was a monk, elected prior of Westminster Abbey and briefly abbot. He was a prolific writer of letters, and hagiographer.
The Anglican Church of St Vigor in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England, dates from the 12th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building. Saint Vigor was a French bishop and Christian missionary. After the Norman conquest of England, his cult moved from France to England. This church is one of only two English churches dedicated to him, the other being at Fulbourn in Cambridgeshire.
Herluin otherwise Hellouin was a knight at the court of Gilbert of Brionne and subsequently a Benedictine monk. He founded the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec, Normandy.
Cerisy Abbey, otherwise the Abbey of Saint Vigor, located in Cerisy-la-Forêt, Manche, France, was an important Benedictine monastery of Normandy.
Saint-Vigor Priory, formerly Saint-Vigor Abbey, was a Benedictine monastery in the town of Saint-Vigor-le-Grand in Calvados, Normandy, France. Its foundation is attributed to Saint Vigor, bishop of Bayeux in the first third of the 6th century. It was destroyed in the late 10th century by the invading Normans. In the late 11th century Odo, bishop of Bayeux, attempted a revival of the monastery as an independent abbey but it was not successful, and in the 1090s the community was made a dependent priory of the Abbey of St. Benignus, Dijon. The abbey relinquished its rights over the priory in 1702. The reformist Congregation of St. Maur took it on in 1712. It was suppressed in 1790 in the French Revolution.
The Abbey of the Holy Trinity is an 11th century Romanesque Benedictine Abbey church located in Lessay, Manche, France, then in Normandy. The abbey is one of the most important Norman Romanesque churches, and, along with Durham Cathedral, one of the first examples use of the rib vault to cover the choir in about 1098. This element became a key feature of Gothic architecture. The abbey was nearly destroyed in 1357. It was destroyed in 1944 and subsequently rebuilt.