Background
He was the son of king Gundobad, whom he succeeded in 516.
He was the son of king Gundobad, whom he succeeded in 516.
Sigismund (died 524) was king of the Burgundians from 516 to his death. Sigismund was taken by Chlodomer, King of Orléans, where he was kept as a prisoner. Sigismund was a student of Avitus of Vienne, the Catholic bishop of Vienne who converted Sigismund from the Arian faith of his Burgundian forebears.
Sigismund was inspired to found a monastery dedicated to Saint Maurice at Agaune in Valais in 515.
The following year he became king of the Burgundians. Then, overcome with remorse, Sigismund retreated to the monastery that he had founded.
In 523, the Kingdom of the Burgundians was invaded by the four Frankish kings, Chlodomer, Childebert I, Clotaire I and Theuderic I, children of Frankish king Clovis I and Sigismund"s second cousins by Clotilde. Godomar fled while Sigismund put on a monk"s habit and hid in a cell near his abbey.
He was captured by Chlodomer, king of Aurelianum (modern Orléans), taken prisoner, beheaded and his body thrown in a well.
Godomar then rallied the Burgundian army and called for aid from his ally, the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. Godomar regained his territory. However, the garrison the Franks had left behind were massacred.
Chlodomer went on the offensive again but was killed at the Battle of Vézeronce, which took place on 25 June 524, reportedly at the hands of Godomar.
In 535, Sigismund"s remains were recovered from the well at Coulmiers and buried in the monastery at Agaune. Eventually Sigismund was canonized.
Correspondence has survived between Sigismund and Avitus, who was a poet and one of the last masters of the classical arts In 1366, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, transferred Sigismund"s relics to Prague, hence he has become a patron saint of the Czechoslovakian Republic.
In 1424, Sigismund of Hungary constructed a church in the honor of Saint Sigismund in the City of Buda.
