Baudinus of Tours

Holy Hierarch Baudinus of Tours, also called Baud, was bishop of Tours in the 6th century, from 546 until his death in 552. He was the nineteenth bishop in the list of the see and the sixteenth after Saint Martin, according to Gregory of Tours, and his predecessor was Injuriosus. His episcopate lasted five years and ten months.

He seems to have been of Germanic origin. Before becoming bishop he was a married layman, referendary of the Frankish king Clothar I, that is, keeper of the king's seal. He became bishop by the king's will; probably a widower, he was already an elderly man. He distributed to the poor the fortune left by his predecessor Injuriosus, amounting to 20,000 solidi, a very large sum. He organized at Tours a group of canons living in community, which seems to have been an innovation. He did not take part in the fifth Council of Orléans in 549, but his suffragans present there accepted that the election of a bishop be subject to the king's approval. He died in 552; his successor was Gontharius.

Gregory of Tours calls him "blessed", for the ardor of his faith. His veneration rests on accounts of his life from the 12th century and on stories of the translation of his relics and of miracles. At the beginning of the 11th century his relics were venerated at Verneuil-⁠sur-⁠Indre, then, toward the end of the same century, they were moved to the church of Saint-⁠Ours at Loches. The village of Saint-⁠Bauld bears his name. He is commemorated on 7 November, by the Western calendar (new style). He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.