Saint Cloud

Clodoald, known in French as Cloud, was born around 522, a grandson of Clovis, the first Christian king of the Franks, and of Saint Clotilde. When his father, King Chlodomer, died in battle, two of his uncles murdered Cloud's older brothers to seize their kingdom. Cloud alone was saved and raised in safety, probably under the protection of his grandmother.

Instead of fighting for his inheritance, he cut his hair as a sign of renouncing the throne and lived as a hermit under the guidance of a holy recluse named Severinus. Later he was ordained a priest in Paris and founded a monastery at Nogent, on the Seine near Paris. He died there around 560. The town that grew around his monastery is now called Saint-Cloud.

The Roman Martyrology remembers him on September 7. The town of Saint-Cloud near Paris honors him as its patron, and the church of Saint-Clodoald keeps his memory.

Because his French name sounds like "clou," the word for nail, French nail makers took him as their patron.