Cloud, known in the Frankish sources by his native name Clodoald, was a Merovingian prince of the sixth century who renounced his claim to the throne to live as a hermit and monk near Paris. He was a grandson of King Clovis I and of his wife St. Clotilde, and a son of Chlodomer, King of Orléans. After his father died in battle in 524, Cloud and his two brothers were left in the care of their grandmother Clotilde.
By tradition, when their uncles Childebert and Chlothar moved to seize the inheritance of Chlodomer's sons, they had the two older boys killed. Cloud alone escaped, taken to safety by faithful supporters, and thereafter renounced any claim to royal power. He withdrew from political life and devoted himself to study and prayer, becoming a disciple of the hermit Severin near Paris.
Cloud was ordained priest by Eusebius, Bishop of Paris, in 551, and gathered a community of monks at Nogent, on the Seine below Paris, the place afterward called Saint-Cloud in his memory. He was remembered for his generosity to the poor and his care for the religious instruction of the people. He died on 7 September 560, the day on which he is commemorated. A pre-schism Western saint, he is venerated in the Orthodox Church, and his relics are kept in the church that bears his name.
