Vulbas

Vulbas (Villebaud, Willebaud) was a Burgundian nobleman of the 7th century, buried at Saint-⁠Vulbas in France and honored as a martyr in the Western Church. He is commemorated on 10 May.

He was born into a noble family of Burgundy and first served in the army of the Frankish king Dagobert I, led Dagobert's expedition against the Gascons and returned victorious to his region with the title of patrician of Burgundy. After Dagobert's death the Burgundian nobles decided to have no mayor of the palace, but Queen Nantilda nevertheless appointed Flachoad. Jealous of Vulbas's authority over the nobles, he bore him a relentless hatred and had him murdered, in 642 according to one source and around 650 according to another, near Autun. The murderer is said to have died soon after in great pain. Saints Eligius and Audoin, who had known him, bore witness to his courage, justice and piety, and Vulbas was regarded as a martyr, dead not for the faith but for justice.

The monks of the monastery of Condat moved his body to the church of Saint-⁠Vulbas, which still keeps the white marble sarcophagus. The tomb was a pilgrimage place until the 19th century; in the Revolution the sarcophagus was broken, then restored, and it was protected as a historic monument in 1920.