Annemund

Annemund
Saints Antoine, Marguerite and Ennemond(right) in St Peter palace Lyon.]]
Died	658
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Feast	September 28

Saint Annemund, also known as Annemundus, Aunemundus, Ennemond and Chamond, was an archbishop of Lyon.^[1][2] He died a martyr in AD 657.^[3]

Annemund was a councillor of Clovis II and a friend of Wilfrid.^[4] He died in 658. According to Bede (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum v.19), this occurred at the order of Queen Balthild.

Biography

Ennemond Dauphin (Dalfinus) was bishop of Lyon. Succeeding Viventius, he became archbishop of Lyon between 652 and 654 during the reign of Clovis II.^[5][6]

His father, Sigon, was a prefect in Lyon, while his brother, Dalfin, was Count of Lyons.^[7] Late hagiographic texts say his was a Gallo-Roman family, although his name is of German origin, more common in the Burgundian late 5th century. These same texts record that Dauphin's brother was prefect of Gaul. The accounts of his contemporaries Eddius Stephanus (in) and the Venerable Bede however, make no mention of his brother.

Tradition attributes to him the evangelization of the Saint-Chamond area (Castellum Sancti Admundi), whose church still contains one of his relics.

He was the victim of a plot by the mayor of the palace, Ebroin, and was murdered near Chalon-sur-Saône after AD 658. His body was brought back to Lyon and is in the Saint-Nizier church. Genesius succeeded him as Bishop.

Legacy

Church of Saint-Ennemond.

Ennemond is also revered in Bellegarde-en-Forez and Champdieu. He gave his name to the town of Saint-Ennemond in Allier and Saint-Chamond in the Loire area. One of his relics is preserved in the church of Saint-Ennemond,Saint-Etienne.

He is enrolled in the Roman martyrology and his feast day is celebrated on 28 September.^[8][9][10]

It is said that it was Ennemond who first conceived the idea of calling the faithful to church by ringing church bells. Similarly, when his body was returned to Lyon, all churches would have started ringing their bells.^[11]

A statue in the Saint-Ennemond church Saint-Etienne is in episcopal robes, holding a codex of the Bible.

References

1. David M. Cheney, Archdiocese
2. Lyon. at GCatholic.org.
3. Archdiocese of Lyon, France at Catholic Saints.info.
4. Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson and Stephen Bunson, Our Sunday Visitor's encyclopedia of saints (ISBN 978-1931709750), p. 97.
5. Lyon. at GCatholic.org.
6. David M. Cheney, Archdiocese of Lyon at Catholic heirachy.org.
7. Alban Butler, Butler's Lives of the Saints: September (Burns & Oates, 2000), p. 262.
8. Références sur Ennemond sur le site du musée diocèse de Lyon.
9. A. COVILLE , L’Evêque Aunemundus et son Testament, Revue d’histoire de Lyon, tome 1, 1902, p. 353-372 & p. 465-456.
10. James Condamin, Saint Ennemond, évêque de Lyon : sa vie et son culte, 1876.
11. Site de la ville de Saint-Ennemond.