LBODIGAB
174
LIO
evidently erected over her grave. There is no doubt
of t^e historic^ fact of her martvrdom, whilst the date
of 9 December for her annual commemoration ob-
viously rests on ^e tradition of the Church of Toledo.
More recently compiled Acts relate that Deocadia was
filled with a desire for martyrdom through the story
of the martyrdom of St. Eulalia. By order of the
governor, Decianus, who is described in the martyr-
ology as the most furious persecutor of the Christians
in Spain, she was seized and cruelly tortured in order
to make her apostatize, but she remained steadfast
and was sent back to prison, where she died from the
effects of the torture. A church was built over her
grave, besides which two others at Toledo are dedica-
ted to her. She is the patroness of the diocese, and 9
December is still given as her feast in the Roman Mar-
tvrology. She is represented with a tower, to signify
that she died in prison. ,
Fl6rez, Eapafla ^oiTnuia, VI, 315-17; La Fuente, Hidoria ecUndalica de Espafla, 2nd ed., I (Madrid, 1S73). 335-7; Sn- Rxus, Vita Sanctorum^ 9 December. XU. 199; Butler, Livea of the SainU, 9 December.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Leodegar (Leger), Saint, Bishop of Autun, b. about 615; d. a martyr in 678, at Sarcing, Somme. His mother was called Sigrada, and his father Bobilo. His parents being of higli rank, his early childhood was passed at the court of Clotaire II. He went later to Poitiers, to study under the ^idance of his uncle, the bishop of that town. Havrng given proof of his learning and virtue, and feeling a liking for the priestly life, his uncle ordained him deacon, and asso- ciated him with himself in the government of the diocese. Shortly afterwards he became a priest and with the bishop's approval withdrew to the monastery of St. Maxentius in 650. He was soon elected abbot and signalized himself by reforming the community and introducing the Rule of St. Benedict. In 656 •he was called to the court by the widowed Queen Bathildis to assist in the government of the kingdom and in the education of her children. In reward for his services he was named to the Bishopric of Autun in 610. He again undertook the work of reform and held a council at Autun in 661. It dealt a crushing blow to Manichffiism and was the first to adopt the Creed of St. Athanasius. He made reforms among the secular clergy and the religious communities, and he impressed on all pastors the importance of preach- ing and of administering the sacraments, especially baptism. For this purpose the bishop had three baptisteries erected in the town. The church of Samt-Nazaire was enlarged and embellished, and a refuge established for the indigent. Leodegar also caused the public buildings to be repaired and the old Roman walls to be restored. The latter still exist and are among the finest specimens preserved.
Serious trouble soon arose in the state. The Aus- trasian^ demanded a king and young Childeric II was sent to them through the influence of Ebroin, the mayor of the palace in Neustria. The latter was practically a ruler and desired to ^et rid of all who thwarted his plans. The queen withdrew from the court to an abbey she had founded at Chelles, near Paris. On the death of Clotaire III, in 670, Ebroin raised Thierry to the throne, but Leodegar and the other bishops supported the claims of his elder brother Childeric, who, oy the help of the Austrasians and Buiigundians, was eventualljr made king. Ebroin was exiled to Luxeuil and Thierry sent to St. Denis. Leodegar remained at court, guiding the young king. When the bishop protested against the mamage of Childeric and his first cousin, he also was sent to Luxeuil, his enemies representing him to the king as a conspirator. Childeric II was murdered at Bondi in 673, by a Frank whom he had maltreated. Thierry III now ascended the throne in Neustria, makine Leu- desius hb mayor. Leodegar and Ebroin hastened from
Luxeuil to the court. In a short time Ebroin caused
Leudesius to be murdered, and became mayor. He
vowed vengeance on the bisnop, whom he looked on as
the cause of his imprisonment. About 675 the Duke
of Champagne and the Bishop of Chalons and Valence,
stirred up by Ebroin, attacked Autun. To save the
town, Leodegar surrendered to them. He was bru-
tally treated and his eyes put out, the sockets being
seared with red-hot irons. Ebroin's bloodthirsty
iiistincts were not yet satiated* he caused the holy
bishop's lips to be cut off and nis tongue to be torn
out. Some years later he persuaded the king that
Childeric had been assassinated at the instigation of
Leodegar. The bishop was seized again, and, after
a mock trial, was degraded and condemned. He was
led out into a forest by Ebroin's order and murdered.
His testament drawn up at the time of the council,
as well as the Acts of the council, are preserved. A
letter which he caused to be sent to his mother after
his mutilation is likewise extant. His relics, which
had been at Sarcing in Artois, were translated to the
Abbey of St. Maxentius at Poitiers in 782. Later
they were removed to Rennes and thence to Ebreuil,
which place took the name of Saint-L^er. Some of
them are still kept in the cathedral of Autun and the
Grand S^minaire of Soissons. In 1458 Cardinal Ro-
lin caused his feast day to be observed as a hohday
of obligation.
PiTRA.IIiaUnrede Saint LSger (Paris, 1846); Bennett in Diet. Christ. Biog., e. v. Leodegariua; Fauriel, Histoire de la GauU tnfridionale, II (Paris, 1836), 461-473; Guizot. CoUeclion dee nUmoirea relalife a V histoire de France, II (Paris. 1823), 326; GufcRiN, Vie dee eointe, XI (Paris, 1880), 619-47; Mabillon, Acta SS. O.S.B., II (Paris, 1669), 680-705; P. L.. XCVI, 377- 84; CXIII, 373; CXXIV, 529; Analecta BoUandiana, XI (Bni»- sels. 1892), 104-10; Kaulen in Kirchenlex., s. v.
A. A. MacEklean.
Leo DiaconuB, Byzantine historian, b. at Kaloe, at the foot of Mount Tmolos, in Ionia, about the year 960; the year of his death is unknown. In his early youth he came to study at Constantinople and, as his name tells, w^as ordained deacon. In 986 he took part in the war against the Bulgars under the Emperor Basil II (976-1025), was present at the siege of Tria- ditza (Sofia), where the imperial army was defeated, and barely escaped with his life. After the year 992 he began to write a history of the empire, presumably at Constantinople. The work is incomplete. Appar- ently he died before he could finish it. The history, divided into ten books, covers the years from 959 to 975, that is, the reigns of Romanus II (959-963), Nicephorus Phocas (963-969) and John Zimisces (909-976) . It describes the wars against the Arabs in which the fortresses of Cilicia and the Island of Cyprus were won back (964-965), the conquest of Antioch and Northern Syria from the Moslems (968-969), the Bulgarian War (969) and the defeat of the Southern Russians (971), one of the most brilliant periods of the later Empire. For the reigns of Nicephorus Phocas and Jonn Zimisces, Leo the Deacon is the one source, the only contemporary historian, from whom all later writers have drawn their material. His authorities are his own observation and the account of eyewitnesses. He says: "The events as I saw them with my own eyes (for eyes are more trustworthy than ears, as Herodotus says) and as I gathered them from those who saw them, these things I write in my book" (Bonn edition, p. 5). Al- though Leo is so valuable an authority for nis perlbd, critics do not judce his manner of writing favourably. He is affected ana dull, fond of foreign (JLatin) woros, and has a mania for unusual and extravagant forms; for simple words like "brother", or even the verb "to be" he prefers absurd artificial synonyms. Krum- bacher sums up his style as "tri^dal and pedantic". Leo quotes IVocopius', Homer, and especially the Bible (in the Septuagint). His loyalty to the em- peror often prej udices his honesty. His nistory is con-
