Desiderius of Vienne

Desiderius of Fontenelle
Archbishop of Vienne
Died c. 607
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church[1]
Feast February 11 (West) and May 23 (East)[1]

Desiderius of Vienne (died 607) was a martyred archbishop of Vienne and a chronicler.

Life

Nothing is known about his early years. In 603, in a conflict with Brunhilda of Austrasia, the legitimacy of whose children he had attacked,[2] he was deposed after she combined forces with Aridius, bishop of Lyon. He was stoned to death, some years later,[3] at the order of King Theuderic II of Burgundy.[4]

He was rebuked by Gregory the Great for his interest in the pagan classics, in a letter provoked by the schooling he was providing for his clergy.[5]

Veneration

He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, with his feast days on February 11.[6] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, his feast is celebrated on May 23.[1] A hagiographical work was written about him by the Visigothic king Sisebuto, during the 7th century.[7] A later life was written by Ado of Vienne.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Δεσιδέριος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Ἐπίσκοπος Βιέννης. 23 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  2. ↑ Edward James, The Origins of France (1982), p. 139.
  3. ↑ Jo Ann McNamara, John E. Halborg, E. Gordon Whatley, Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (1992), p. 121.
  4. ↑ May 23. The Roman Martyrology.
  5. ↑ Gian Biagio Conte, Latin Literature: A History (1994 translation), p. 718.
  6. ↑ On-line Calendar of Saints Days, February
  7. ↑ E.g. Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization (2006), p. 166; Jacques Fontaine, "King Sisebut's Vita Desiderii and the Political Function of Visigothic Hagiography." in Visigothic Spain (1980). ed. Edward James