FRUCTUOSUS, St. — Archbishop of Braga. Of royal lineage, he studied with CONANCIUS, bishop of Palencia around 625. Having become a cleric, he retired to solitude; he had many disciples, for whom he founded the monastery of Compludo (León), the first of a federation of monasteries established in the mountains of Bierzo, in Galicia, and in northern Portugal. At the X Council of Toledo he was made archbishop of Braga (656). Until his death, around 665, he lived as a monk.
His spirit lived on in the two rules: the *Regula monachorum* and the *Regula communis*, in force in the monasteries of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula for three centuries. The most original and characteristic elements of these rules derive from Germanic law. In the *Regula communis* is found the *Pactum*, a famous formula of profession and vows. Very strict in regular and penitential life, he was gentle in speech and character. His disciple was St. VALERIUS, to whom the *Life of F.* seems to be attributed. A letter of his to Recessivus is also preserved (MGH, *Epist.*, III [Berlin 1892], pp. 688-89), as well as one to St. BRAULIO of Saragossa (J. Madox, *Epistolario de Braulio de Zaragoza* [Madrid 1941], pp. 186-89). Feast day: April 6.