Saint Regina (3rd century) was a virgin martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

 and saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 of the Catholic Church. Regina was born in Autun

Autun

Autun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, to a pagan

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

 named Clement. Her mother died at her birth and her father repudiated her. She then went to live with a Christian nurse who baptized her. Regina helped out by tending the sheep. She communed with God in prayer and meditated on the lives of the saints. She was betrothed to the proconsul

Proconsul

A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...

 Olybrius, but refused to renounce her faith to marry him, for which she was torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

d and was beheaded

Decapitation

Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...

 at Alesia

Alesia (city)

thumb|200px|Vercingetorix Memorial in Alesia thumb|200px|right|The [[fortification]]s built by Caesar in AlesiaInset: cross shows location of Alesia in Gaul...

 in the diocese of Autun

Diocese of Autun

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the entire Department of Saone et Loire, in the Region of Bourgogne....

, called Alise-Sainte-Reine

Alise-Sainte-Reine

Alise-Sainte-Reine is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in Bourgogne in eastern France.It is thought to be the site of the ancient city of Alesia, where Caesar defeated the Gauls under Vercingetorix in the Battle of Alesia...

 after her.

Her martyrdom is considered to have occurred either during the persecution of Decius

Decius

Trajan Decius , was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...

, in 251, or under Maximian

Maximian

Maximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...

 in 286.

Veneration

Honored in many Martyrologies, Regina's feast is celebrated on 7 September or in the Archdiocese of Paderborn

Paderborn

Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...

 on 20 June. In the past, a procession was held in her honor in the town of Dijon

Dijon

Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....

. However, her relics were transferred to Flavigny Abbey

Flavigny Abbey

Flavigny Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery, now occupied by the Dominicans, in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, Côte-d'Or département, France.-Benedictines:This monastery was founded in 717 by Widerad, who richly endowed it...

 in 827. The history of the translation

Translation (relics)

In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...

 of Regina was the subject of a 9th century account.

There are many places in France named Sainte-Reine

Sainte-Reine

Sainte-Reine may refer to:*Saint Regina , early Christian martyr of France*Sainte-Reine, Haute-Saône, a commune in the French region of Franche-Comté*Sainte-Reine, Savoie, a commune in the French region of Rhône-Alpes*Alise-Sainte-Reine...

after her.