Provisatrix optima: St. Radegund of Poitiers' relic petitions to the east

This paper examines the historical record of two relic petitions to the East initiated by Queen Radegund of Poitiers in the 560s, as portrayed in Gregory of Tours' contemporary account and in the early seventh-century Life of the queen composed by the nun Baudonivia. These two sources provide conflicting information. Baudonivia's description of the first expedition, to Jerusalem to acquire relics of St. Mamas of Caesarea, has traditionally posed problems for the historian since Mamas' relics were never recorded as being in the Holy City. Gregory of Tours recorded that Radegund acquired the relic of the True Cross from Jerusalem, rather than from Constantinople. This paper seeks to reconcile the evidence from these two sources, and examines how Baudonivia's inclusion of the two relic petitions in her Life of the queen, and her interpretation of the historical events, signal the creation of a new hagiographic persona for St. Radegund, one in which the queen's relic quests become associated with an ‘apostolic’ mission to Gaul.