Trophimus of Arles

According to Catholic lore, Saint Trophimus of Arles (also called Trophime) was the first bishop of Arles, in today's southern France.

Under the co-Emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus (251 CE), Pope Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul, to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges.

Local tradition assimilates Trophimus of Arles with the Trophimus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as a companion of Saint Paul. This identification is, of course, spurious (compare Saint Denis of Paris, identified with St Denis the Areopagite). Saint Trophime does not rate a biography in the Catholic Encyclopedia, but the church at Arles dedicated to him, built from the 12th century onwards, is one of the glorious monuments of Romanesque architecture and sculpture in Provence.