Desiderius of Fontenelle | |
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Archbishop of Vienne | |
Born | Autun, Gaul[1] |
Died | c. 607 |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church[2] |
Feast | February 11 and May 23 (Roman Martyrology and East) [2][1] |
Desiderius of Vienne (died 607) was a martyred archbishop of Vienne and a chronicler.
Life
[edit]Nothing is known about his early years. In 603, in a conflict with Brunhilda of Austrasia, the legitimacy of whose children he had attacked,[3] he was deposed after she combined forces with Aridius, bishop of Lyon. He was stoned to death, some years later,[4] at the order of King Theuderic II of Burgundy.[5]
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.[6]
Veneration
[edit]He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, with his feast days on May 26.[7] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, his feast is celebrated on May 23 because of confusing him with Desiderius of Langres.[2] A hagiographical work was written about him by the Visigothic king Sisebuto, during the 7th century.[8] A later life was written by Ado of Vienne.
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b (in Greek) [1]. Catholic online
- ^ a b c (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Δεσιδέριος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Ἐπίσκοπος Βιέννης. 23 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
- ^ Edward James, The Origins of France (1982), p. 139.
- ^ Jo Ann McNamara, John E. Halborg, E. Gordon Whatley, Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (1992), p. 121.
- ^ May 23 Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine. The Roman Martyrology.
- ^ Gian Biagio Conte, Latin Literature: A History (1994 translation), p. 718.
- ^ Roman Martyrology
- ^ 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