Rumbold of Mechelen

Saint Rumbold (or Rumold, Romuold; ; ; ; many variants overall) was an Irish or Scottish Christian missionary, although his true nationality is not known for certain. He was martyred near Mechelen by two men, whom he had denounced for their evil ways.

Saint Rumbold's feast day is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, and Western Rite Orthodox Churches, on 24 June; and it is celebrated in Ireland on 3 July. He is the patron saint of Mechelen, He would have worked under St. Willibrord in the Netherlands and Brabant, and also have been a close companion of the hermit St. Gummarus, and of the preacher monk Fredegand van Deurne, who, according to one tradition, maintained contact with St. Foillan (who was murdered in the Sonian Forest around 665).

St. Rumbold's biography, written around 1100 AD by Theodoricus, prior of Sint-Truiden Abbey, identified 775 as the year of the saint's death. The surrounding areas of Mechelen had in reality been Christianized much earlier.

St. Rumwold of Buckingham There has been some historical confusion between Rumbold of Mechelen and the infant Saint Rumwold of Buckingham, who died in 662 AD at the age of 3 days. The latter is referred to as Romwold, Rumwald, Runwald, Rumbald, or Rumbold. A compilation of three saints' lives translated by Rosalind Love mentioned that in 15th-century records in Salisbury, an unknown author 'corrected' the attribution as "martyr" (possibly the Rumbold murdered in Mechelen) by annotating "confessor" (as Rumwold was not a martyr). Also, the original dedication of churches to a St. Rumbold in Northern England appears uncertain.

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