Dode of Astarac

Dode of Astarac, also called Saint Dode, is a martyr of Gascony, of the 5th or 6th century according to tradition. The story says that, born a pagan in an aristocratic family, she was converted with her brother Montin against her father's will. Fleeing, she was overtaken by soldiers at the place called Orio vallo, now Sainte-⁠Dode in the Gers department, and beheaded. It is said that she rose and walked to the spring, to stanch the blood.

Scholars point out that this story was copied from the passion of Saint Quiteria, and that the legend of her sisters and of Montin arose only towards the end of the 14th century. The one sure element is the name of the place, attested in a grant of 1033 or 1034 by Count William of Astarac, who built a monastery where the virgin Doda rests. She has a basilica in the village that bears her name and was venerated at Simorre, Auch, Berdoues, Toulouse and Aire. Local veneration, with no known synodal canonization.