JUDICAËL OF QUIMPER, ST.

King of Brittany; d. c. 647–658. There are many legendary reports about the life of this saint, the last independent king of Brittany. According to the Chronicle of Fredegar (see fredegarius), King Dagobert I (d. 639), while staying at Clichy, sent messengers to the Bretons demanding "that they make amends promptly for what they had done amiss and submit to his rule." Judicaël came quickly to Clichy bearing gifts, and with the aid of Dagobert's treasurer eligius, later bishop of Noyon, and the referendary ouen of rouen, the two monarchs arrived at an amicable solution (Gesta Dagoberti 38). The Vita S. Mevenni records that Judicaël later became a benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, later called Saint-Méen-Gaël [L. H. Cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 2:2810] while St. Mevennus (d. 617) was still abbot; there he lived an exemplary life and died with a reputation for sanctity (Acta Sanctorum, June, 5:89). According to other reports, however, Judicaël became a monk to escape an assassination plot, but later returned to the world, claimed his throne, married, and begot many children, and only toward the end of his life returned to religious life. In any event, his cult was clearly established by the tenth century, when his name appeared in the Litany of All Saints at Reims, and it became widespread in the Middle Ages.

Feast: Dec. 17; Dec. 16 (Diocese of Quimper).

Bibliography: j. mabillon, Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti, 9 v. (Paris 1668–1701) 2:542. f. plaine, "Vita S. evenni," Analecta Bollandiana, 3 (1884) 142–158. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (Berlin 1826–) 2.2:160, 416. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar, ed. and tr. j. m. wallace–hadrill (New York 1960) 66. Gallia Christiana, v.1–13 (Paris 1715–85), v.14–16 (Paris 1856–65) 14:1019–20. a. le grande, Les Vies des saints de la Bretagne armorique (Rennes 1901) 711–713. f. duine, La Métropole de Bretagne (Paris 1916) 30. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 3:448–449. Histoire de l'église depuis les origines jusqu'à nos jours, ed. a. fliche and v. martin (Paris 1935–) 5:306. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes (Paris 1935–56) 12:538–544. j. m. wallace–hadrill, The Long-Haired Kings (New York 1962) 222.

[h. dressler]