Rumoldus, St

Rumoldus, St., was a martyr and patron of Mechlin. His life was first written by the abbot Theodoric about A.D. 1100, and was based on popular traditions, while the death of Rumoldus is said to have occurred in the year 775. He is represented as a native of Scotia, who led a pious life and resolved to convert the heathen. A later addition to the story makes him a son of king David and a Sicilian princess. He journeyed to Rome and returned to Brabant, where he gained many converts in the neighborhood of Antwerp, Lyra, and Mechlin. Count Ado received him kindly. It is not certain that he ever became a bishop. Two murderers surprised him while reciting the Psalms, and killed him to obtain money, throwing the body into a stream. Celestial lights marked the place where it lay, and led to its receiving honorable burial, while miracles before and after death attested the sanctity of the man. In about 1050 a convent of canons of St. Rumoldus was established at Mechlin, and the cathedral in that town was dedicated to him. He is commemorated June 1. See Acta SS. Junii, i. 169-266; Gestel, Hist. Archiep. Mechlin. (1725); Hist. Litter- de la Fiance, 9, 338.