Saint Salomon, King and Martyr

This initial satisfaction made him peaceful for a few years, but, in 857, fearing to see the crown pass to another head through the marriage of his rival's daughter, he hatched a dark conspiracy and did not fear to pursue Erispoé even into a church and assassinate him upon the very altar. The Bretons, ignorant of this crime, accepted Salomon as king and helped him repel the Franks who sought to invade Brittany. Apart from his crime, Salomon possessed all the qualities one could wish for in a prince: a majestic stature, the science of war, an intrepid courage; he also displayed much justice and piety thereafter.

But God, who never leaves a crime unpunished, stirred up for Salomon a host of affairs and trials that served to atone for his sin and to sanctify his soul. Without mentioning the wars he had to sustain against the Franks and against the Normans, he had to deal with the bishops unjustly deposed in 847 by Nominoe, and this thorny affair caused him much correspondence and many embarrassments, whether with the bishops or with the Pope himself. Without counting the penances he performed, Salomon, to purify himself more and more, multiplied good works, built the monastery of Plélan or Saint-M aixent, and showered it with magnificen monastère de Plélan ou de Saint-Maixent Monastery founded by Salomon for his penance. t gifts.

However, a conspiracy was also being hatched against Salomon: the law of retaliation was reserved for him. Surprised by the conspirators and unable to resist, he fled and took refuge in a small monastery on the borders of Pober and Léon, in a parish once called Messer-Salaün (Martyrdom of Salomon), and today La Martyre (Finistère).

The rebels surrounded his retreat on June 23, 874. A remnant of religion prevented them from undertaking anything against him the following day, the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. They only sent a bishop to urge him to leave his asylum and surrender voluntarily to avoid the possible profanation of the holy place. Salomon, resigned to everything, armed himself with the sacrament of the Eucharist and presented himself before his enemies with magnanimous courage. The Bretons, struck with respect, did not dare to draw their swords agai nst him, Fulcoald One of the French executioners of Salomon. and handed him over to Fulcoald and a few other Frenchmen who had his eyes put out by his own godson. The old king could not survive this cruel torture, and was found dead the following day, June 25, 874.

This is still the day on w hich the Church Église de Vannes Birthplace of Saint Emilion. of Vannes honors his memory. The body of King Salomon was buried in the monastery of Plélan or Saint-Maixent, in accordance with the wish he had expressed to rest beside Queen Wernhirt. Later, this body was removed, probably during the ravages of the Normans, and transported, it seems, to Pithiviers , in the d Pithiviers Site of the translation of the relics of Salomon. iocese of Orléans, where a church was erected in his honor. However, a portion of his relics remained or returned to Brittany, for the church of Saint-Salomon, in Vannes, possessed some bones of this holy king until the Revoluti on; since Révolution Period during which the saint's relics were hidden and lost. the destruction of the church of Saint-Salomon in 1793, the relics have been transferred to the cathedral, where they are still the object of the veneration of the faithful. We owe this notice to the kindness of Abbé J.-M. Le Moné, honorary canon, secretary general of the bishopric of Vannes.