Martyr Hermenegild of the Visigoths

Hermenegild was the eldest son of the Visigothic King Leovigild, an adherent of Arianism. In 579 his father made him ruler of the southwestern part of the kingdom, based in Seville, and that same year he married Ingunthis, daughter of the Frankish King Sigebert I, a devout Nicene Christian.

Through his wife's influence and that of Bishop Leander of Seville, Hermenegild converted to Nicene (Orthodox) Christianity, provoking fierce persecution of Nicene Christians by his father. He rebelled against Leovigild but was ultimately defeated, captured, and imprisoned at Tarragona.

When his father sent an Arian bishop to give him communion at Easter, Hermenegild indignantly refused and received communion from an Orthodox priest instead; he was beheaded shortly afterward on his father's orders.

He is venerated as a martyr in both the Catholic Church (feast April 13) and the Orthodox Church (feast November 1/14).

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the contaminated date "July 27/August 10/July 30/August 12" has been removed as erroneous and replaced with the correct Orthodox date of November 1/14 (the Western Gregorian date of April 13 is a separate, independent calendar tradition, not an old/new-style pair).