He was the grandson of Clovis I, the first Germanic king to embrace the Catholic faith after the fall of the Roman Empire. Upon the death of his father, King Clotaire, in the 6th century, the Kingdom of the Franks was divided into four parts among his sons according to his father’s wishes. Guntram was given Orléans and Burgundy to rule.
Guntram first took a concubine and fathered a child with her, whom he named Gundobad. Later, he dismissed her and married a woman of higher social standing named Marcatrude. After Marcatrude bore Guntram a child, she became increasingly jealous of Gundobad, Guntram’s firstborn son and heir. She devised a plan and poisoned him, though her own son died not long after. Her actions led to her dismissal, and she herself died not long after.
The king’s third wife was named Austerchild, with whom he had two sons. When Austerchild contracted dysentery during an epidemic and saw that her life was drawing to an end, she made the king promise to put to death the doctors who had failed to treat her. He kept his promise, to his lasting regret, carrying out the punishment after her death and doing much penance for it afterward. Later, both of their sons died from the same illness, leaving him without an heir.
These early sorrows appear to have transformed him. The turbulent years of his reign gradually forged a king increasingly devoted to God and to others, so much so that he was honored as a saint after his death. St. Gregory of Tours, who knew the king personally, referred to him as “good King Guntram” in his History of the Franks. As he wrote:
“The king himself, as we have often said, was great in almsgiving and unwearied in watches and fasting.”
Guntram served as a mediator between two of his brother kings to preserve peace. After the death of his brother Sigibert, he adopted his young nephew Childebert II as his heir and protected him when he inherited the throne at only five years old, later extending the same protection to another nephew, Clothar, until both were old enough to rule. He also sought to repair injustices committed by his brother Chilperic, restoring property that had been taken from the Church. As Gregory writes,
“He was generous to many and gave much to the poor.”
There were two attempts on his life, yet rather than demanding execution, Guntram showed remarkable mercy. In one instance, ordering only a lesser punishment for a man who had tried to strike him during Mass, believing it a crime to drag anyone from a church to their death.
When the bubonic plague spread throughout his kingdom, Guntram tended the sick and the poor personally with fatherly care, winning the people’s deep respect and admiration. Many even attributed miracles to him. St. Gregory himself wrote that he was not impressed by these stories, as he had witnessed people possessed by demons recognize the king’s authority and confess their deeds before him.
His story reminds us that no matter our past sins, the Lord has the power to set us free and inflame us with ardent charity. The tragedies in our lives can lead us closer to God, helping us understand our place in creation and detach ourselves from disordered attachments so that we may find rest in God, our greatest good.
His feast is celebrated on March 28. It is fitting, then, that the Church counts him as the patron of guardians, divorced people, and repentant murderers, and that many seek his intercession for victims of violence and for those who struggle to forgive.
This biography is part of our 2026 Return of the King Challenge’s Daily King series. Read more inspiring stories of saintly kings in the Exodus 90 app!
