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Bertran

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(Berti-Chramnus, or Bertrannus), bishop OF MANS, was born of a noble family of Poitou, about the middle of the 6th century, and devoted himself to the service of God in the city of Tours, where, it is said, he received the clerical tonsure from St. Germanus, bishop of Paris, who took him away with him and educated him. Bertran afterwards received priest's orders, and became archdeacon of the Church of Paris about 576. At the end of ten years he was chosen to succeed Baldegisilus, bishop of Mans. Gontramnus, king of Orleans and Burgundy, made use of him in matters of state (Greg. Turon. 9:18). He devoted himself to the good of his diocese, built or repaired many monasteries, churches, and hospitals; and in the year 615 he made his celebrated testament (given by Mabillon in the Anaclecta) by which he appointed the Church his heir; among other arrangements, giving to the Basilica of St. Vincentius, where the body of St. Germanus, his early preceptor, was buried, the town of Bobanis, near Estampes, and much property to the Abbey of Couture, which he had founded and dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul, near Mans. He also left legacies to the king, and to his nephews, and gave liberty to all his slaves. He was three times driven from his diocese, was present in various councils, and died June 30, 628. In the Gallican Martyrology his festival is marked February 3. See Baillet, July 3.