Claudius of Condat, St.
CLAUDIUS OF CONDAT, ST.
Also known as Claudius of Besançon; bishop and abbot; b. possibly Franche-Comté, early seventh century;d. Condat, France, June 6, 696. The accounts of his life are largely legendary, but it appears that he was already well advanced in years and had introduced the benedic tine rule at Condat as abbot before he was called to serve as bishop of Besançon. Several years before his death, he resigned his see and retired to the monastic life at Condat. He was later mistakenly identified by ordericus with another Claudius of Besançon, who was present at the councils of Epao (517) and Lyons (529). After his death the abbey was dedicated to his memory, and in 1213 the monks discovered his remains. The church became a place of pilgrimage for the local inhabitants, but the relics were lost during the French Revolution.
Feast: June 6.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctae Sedis June 1:634–696. Bibliotheca hagiograpica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 1898–1901) 1:1840–47. Saint Claude, vie et présence, ed. g. duhem et al. (Paris 1960). r. van doren, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 12:1072. g. bardy, Catholicisme 2:1171–72. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum, (Metten 1933–38) 2:279–281.
[p. blecker]