Bishop Vedastus

Saint Vedast, known in Latin as Vedastus, in French as Vaast or Waast, and in medieval England as Foster, was bishop of Arras in northern Gaul in the early Merovingian period. Contemporary written evidence for his life is lacking; what is known comes chiefly from hagiographical texts of the seventh and eighth centuries, including a life attributed to Jonas of Bobbio and a later version composed by Alcuin of York for the monastic community that bore the saint's name. These sources place his birth in the latter part of the fifth century but do not record a precise year or a securely identified birthplace. Vedast enters the narrative of Frankish history as a priest closely associated with the conversion of King Clovis I. Tradition holds that he accompanied Clovis on the journey to Reims, where the king was to be baptized by Saint Remigius, and that he assisted in the royal catechumenate. One of the most frequently repeated episodes of his legend recounts that, during this journey, Vedast restored the sight of a blind beggar by making the sign of the cross, a sign said to have strengthened Clovis in his decision to accept baptism.

Following the baptism of Clovis, which scholarly opinion now generally locates in the late fifth or very early sixth century rather than on the traditional date of 496, Remigius consecrated Vedast bishop of Arras. The civitas of Arras and the surrounding countryside had been severely disrupted by the wars and migrations of the fifth century. The episcopal see had fallen vacant, churches were ruined or abandoned, and Christian practice had declined among both the Gallo-Roman population and the incoming Franks. Vedast is credited with reconstituting the church in this region. He is also said to have exercised authority over Cambrai, so that the two dioceses were jointly administered during his long episcopate. Over a period of roughly forty years he is described as having restored places of worship, ordained clergy, and worked for the conversion and pastoral care of the people of northern Gaul under Frankish rule.

Later legend surrounded his arrival and ministry with miraculous signs. A well-known story relates that the ruined cathedral of Arras had become the den of a bear, which Vedast expelled by his word before he began the work of restoration. Other accounts ascribe to him additional healings, especially of the blind, which help to explain later invocations of the saint against diseases of the eyes. Such stories, written down generations after his death, illustrate the growth of a local cult rather than events that can be verified from sixth-century documents. Historically, Vedast belongs to the first generation of bishops who organized the church in the Frankish north after the conversion of the Merovingian royal house, alongside figures such as Remigius of Reims.

Vedast died at Arras on 6 February, according to the traditional chronology in the year 540. He was buried in the cathedral church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the seventh century, Bishop Autbert (Aubert) of Cambrai-Arras founded a monastery at Arras in the saint's honour and translated the relics to the new Abbey of Saint-Vaast, which became one of the principal Benedictine houses of northern France and a centre of learning and artistic production in the Carolingian and later medieval periods. Vedast's feast is observed on 6 February. He is the patron saint of Arras and of its diocese. In England his cult took root under the name Saint Foster; the City of London church of St Vedast-alias-Foster, rebuilt by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire, still commemorates him. His relics and the abbey that housed them remained a focus of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, and his name is preserved in numerous place-names and dedications in France, Belgium, and England.