Bertin 2925973 223996884 2008-07-06T21:42:16Z Mdd 113850 {{otheruses}} {{otheruses}} {{Infobox Saint |name=Bertin |birth_date=c. [[615]] |death_date=c. [[709]] |feast_day=[[5 September]] |venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]] |image= |imagesize= |caption= |birth_place=[[Coutances]] |death_place= |titles= |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date= |canonized_place= |canonized_by= |attributes= |patronage= |major_shrine= |suppressed_date= |issues= |prayer= |prayer_attrib= }} St. '''Bertin''' (c. [[615]]-c. [[709]]) is a [[saint]] and abbot of [[Saint-Omer]]. He was born near [[Coutances]]. At an early age he entered the [[monastery]] of [[Luxeuil]] in [[France]] where, under the austere [[governance|Rule]] of St. [[Columban]], he prepared himself for his future [[missionary]] career. About the year [[638]] he set out, in company with two confrères, [[Mummolin (7th century)Mummolin]] and [[Ebertram]], for the extreme northern part of France in order to assist his friend and kinsman, [[Bishop]] St. [[Saint Audomare|Omer]], in the evangelization of the [[Morini]]. This country, now in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] ''[[département in France|département]]'', was then one vast marsh, studded here and there with hillocks and overgrown with seaweed and bulrushes. On one of these hillocks, Bertin and his companions built a small house whence they went out daily to preach the word of [[God]] among the natives, most of whom were still heathens. Gradually some converted heathens joined the little band of missionaries and a larger monastery had to be built. A tract of land called [[Sithiu]] had been donated to Omer by a converted nobleman named [[Adrowald]]. Omer now turned this whole tract over to the missionaries, who selected a suitable place on it for their new monastery. But the community grew so rapidly that in a short time this monastery also became too small and another was built where the city of St. Omer now stands. Shortly after Bertin's death it received the name of St. Bertin. Mummolin, perhaps because he was the oldest of the missionaries, was abbot of the two monasteries until he succeeded the deceased St. [[Eligius]] as [[Bishop of Noyon]], about the year [[659]]. Bertin then became abbot. The fame of Bertin's learning and sanctity was so great that in a short time more than 150 monks lived under his rule, among them St. [[Winnoc]] and his three companions who had come from [[Brittany]] to join Bertin's community and assist in the conversion of the heathen. When nearly the whole neighbourhood was [[Christianized]], and the marshy land transformed into a fertile plain, Bertin, knowing that his death was not far off, appointed [[Rigobert]], a pious monk, as his successor, while he himself spent the remainder of his life preparing for a happy death. Bertin began to be [[Veneration|venerated]] as a saint soon after his death. His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[5 September]]. In medieval times the [[Abbey]] of St. Bertin was famous as a centre of sanctity and learning. The ''[[Annales Bertiniani]]'' ([[830]]-[[882]]; [[Mon. Germ. Hist. Script.]], I, 419-515) are important for the contemporary history of the [[West Frankish Kingdom]]. The abbey church, now in ruins, was one of the finest fourteenth-century [[gothic_architecture|Gothic]] edifices. In later times its library, archives, and art-treasures were renowned both in and out of France. The monks were expelled in [[1791]] and in [[1799]] the abbey and its church were sold at auction. ==References== The charters of the abbey are published in [[Guerard]], ''[[Cartulaire]] de l'abbaye de St. Bertin'' ([[Paris]], [[1841]]; appendix by Morand, ibid., [[1861]]). The list of abbots is given in ''[[Gallia Christiana nova]]'', III, 485 sqq. See [[Laplane]], "Abbés de St. Bertin" (St. Omer, [[1854]]-[[55]]). *{{1911}} *{{catholic}} [[Category:615 births|Bertin]] [[Category:709 deaths|Bertin]] [[Category:Franks]] [[Category:Frankish people]] [[Category:Frankish saints|Bertin]] [[Category:Frankish historians]] [[fr:Bertin de Sithiu]] [[nl:Bertinus]]