Guntram of Burgundy
Guntram of Burgundy, the sixth-century Merovingian king praised by Gregory of Tours for his piety and care of the poor, is invoked by the divorced and by those in difficult marriages because of the troubled history of his own marriages: he repudiated wives, and his domestic life was marked by failure, jealousy, and grief, including the loss of his sons. Having known firsthand the wreckage of broken marital bonds — and having turned, in penance, to acts of mercy and the founding of monasteries — he became by tradition the heavenly friend of those whose marriages have failed or grown painful. There is no single dramatic legend here; the patronage rests on the resonance between his life and theirs.
Guntram was a Merovingian king of Burgundy in the sixth century, honored for his generosity to the Church and the poor. Gregory of Tours recorded his piety, his efforts to end civil strife among the Frankish kingdoms, and his care for the sick. He founded monasteries and churches throughout his realm.
