Solange

This article is about the medieval saint. For the novel by the same name, see the article on Willy Kyrklund or Solange (novel). For the R&B artist, see Solange Knowles

Related Topics:
Willy Kyrklund - Solange (novel) - R&B - Solange Knowles

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Solange (d. 880) was a French/Frankish shepherdess and Christian saint.

Related Topics:
880 - French - Frankish - Christian - Saint

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She was born in the town of Villemont, near Bourges. Bernard de la Gothie, son of the count of Poitiers, fell in love with Solange and proposed to her. However, Solange had taken a vow of chastity, and so she rejected his suit. He argued with her to no avail, and so he decided to abduct her. At night, he came and took her by force, but she struggled so violently that she fell from his horse while he was crossing a stream. Bernard grew enraged and cut her head off with his sword.

Related Topics:
Bourges - Poitiers - Chastity

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A cultus surrounding her grew up nearly immediately. Many miraculous cures were attributed to her intercession. A legend said that, after her decapitation, her body had risen and carried her head to the church of St. Martin du Cros at Villemont. In 1281, an altar was erected in her honor at that church, and it preserved her severed head as a relic and began to call itself the church of St. Solange, while a nearby field where she had prayed was referred to as the "Field of St. Solange." It was a habit of the locals, in times of great stress, to form a procession through Bourges with the reliquary head before them and to invoke her against drought. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is May 10.

Related Topics:
Cultus - 1281 - Relic - Feast day - Roman Catholic Church - May 10

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