Dalmatius of Pavia

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Saint Dalmatius of Pavia
Born	possibly San Damiano Macra, Italy
Died	254 or 304 AD
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Feast	December 5
Patronage	Borgo San Dalmazzo
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Dalmatius of Pavia (Italian: San Dalmazzo, Dalmazio) (d. 254 or 304 AD) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. It is possible that Dalmatius was simply a local preacher of northern Italy, but the century in which he lived or the manner in which he died is unknown.^[1]

He was venerated at what was called Pedona (present-day Borgo San Dalmazzo). His biography was composed in the 7th or 8th centuries, its author perhaps a Lombard monk of the monastery of Pedona who was drawing from oral tradition.^[2]

His biography states that Dalmatius was born at Forum Germarzorum (present-day San Damiano Macra) and became a churchman and evangelizer in Pedona.^[3] In the tenth century, when the area of Pedona was devastated during Muslim raids, Dalmatius’ relics were carried to Quargnento, where an inscription on his tomb read: [H]ic requiescit corpus sancti Dalmatii repositum ab Audace episcopo Astensi.^[4]

In France, a tradition dating from the ninth century held that he died a martyr. Later legends state that he evangelized many cities of Piedmont, Emilia, and Gaul, and was killed for his faith in 254 or 304 AD.^[5]

The Roman Martyrology, based on erroneous episcopal lists, considers Dalmatius a bishop of Pavia and lists his feast day as December 5.^[6]