Desiderius of Fontenelle
Archbishop of Vienne
BornAutun, Gaul[1]
Diedc. 607
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church[2]
FeastFebruary 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

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

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

  1. 1 2 (in Greek) . Catholic online
  2. 1 2 3 (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Δεσιδέριος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Ἐπίσκοπος Βιέννης. 23 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  3. ↑ Edward James, The Origins of France (1982), p. 139.
  4. ↑ Jo Ann McNamara, John E. Halborg, E. Gordon Whatley, Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (1992), p. 121.
  5. ↑ May 23 Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine. The Roman Martyrology.
  6. ↑ Gian Biagio Conte, Latin Literature: A History (1994 translation), p. 718.
  7. ↑ Roman Martyrology
  8. ↑ 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


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