Saint Gondelbert (also Gondelbertus, Gundebert, Gumbert, Gombert, or Gondeberg; ) was the founder of the Benedictine Senones Abbey in the Rabodeau (:fr:Rabodeau) valley of the Vosges mountains around 640 AD."Abbay of Senones", Agence Régionale du Tourisme Grand Est| Destination Lorraine
Life The life of Saint Gondelbert was written by one Richer, a monk of Senones, composed three later centuries."Saint Gondelbert", Diocèse de Saint-Dié
The Benedictine monks of Senones Abbey preserved the tradition, dating from the eleventh century, that Gondelbert was the archbishop of Sens before he founded the abbey. Gondelbert arrived in the Rabodeau valley and named his monastery after the diocese of Sens (Senonis in Latin).Goyau, Georges. "Sens" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company (1912). Retrieved 2012-03-20.
In 661, Childeric II, king of Austrasia, donated the Val de Senones to "Gumbertus Episcopus". Childeric's donation was both generous and self-serving. It pleased him to thus oblige a man of God and to favor the extension of the Christian faith in this region. But he also knew that the founding of an abbey would open a center of civilization in the most deprived part of his kingdom.
Gondelbert's first cares was to provide his community with a church, which he dedicated to Notre-Dame. Subsequently, there developed monastic buildings which he placed under the patronage of Saint Peter. The group followed the Rule of Saint Benedict.
He was the confessor of Itta of Metz, and is credited with building the first church in Itteville."Saint Gombert", Nominis
He died around 676 while making a pilgrimage to Moyenvic."2H: Abbaye de Senones" p.32, Vosges-Archives.com. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
He is a Catholic saint and his feastday is 21 February.Saint Gundebert of Sens Saints.SQPN.com. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
The parish church in Senones is dedicated to St. Gondelbert."Eglise Saint-Gondelbert", Diocèse de Saint-Dié
References
External links Saint Gondelbert, in stained glass Diocèse de Saint-Dié (Vosges) Saint Gondelbert, Fondateur de Senones Diocèse de Saint-Dié (Vosges) "Gondelbert von Senones", Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon