Gummarus

Who was Gummarus?

Saint Gummarus was the son of the Lord of Emblem. He received no formal education, but served in the court of Pippin the Younger until he left to serve in Pepin's army, serving eight years in the field in Lombardy, Saxony, and the Aquitaine.

He married a noblewoman named Guinmarie with whom he had no children. His wife appears to have been shrewish, as well as abusive to their household servants in his absence. Upon his return from the military, Gummarus tried to reconcile with his wife, and make good of the injustices she had laid upon the people in their service. He and his wife, however, eventually separated.

Gummarus became a hermit at Nivesdonck, and possibly with Saint Rombout, he founded an abbey at Lier, Belgium.

Saint Gummarus is commemorated by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Western Rite Orthodox on 11 October.