Maurilius of Angers

Saint Maurilius (French: Maurille) (c. 336 – 453), a priest originally from Milan, was the bishop of Angers between 423 and 453.[1] He played an early role in the Christianization of Gaul.

In the seventh century, a devotion to St. Maurilius began.[2] A biography of him was written by Magnobodus[1] and, in 873, his body was transferred to the Cathedral of Angers, which had already been dedicated to St. Maurice.[2] Two hundred years later, St. Maurilius was frequently mentioned together with St. Maurice as the patron saints of the Cathedral but eventually St. Maurice became the primary patron of the Cathedral.[2] Nevertheless, on 16 August 1239, the remains of St. Maurilius were placed in a new urn but they were scattered in 1791, when the Cathedral was vandalized during the French Revolution.[3] Only a few small parts were recovered and they are now kept at the Cathedral.[3]

Saint-Maurille, Vouziers

In Vouziers, in the Ardennes region of France, the Église Saint-Maurille [Church of St. Maurilius] was dedicated to him in the twelfth century.[4]

The feast day of St. Maurilius is 13 September.[3][5] He is the patron saint of Angers, invoked by fishermen and gardeners.[3] In art, he is represented as a bishop with a fish holding a key or a garden spade.[3] He can be seen in one of the stained glass windows of the south side of the choir of the Cathedral of Angers[6] and also in the tapestries of Angers from the 15th and 16th Centuries.[3][7]

References
  1. (in English) Alban Butler, Butler's Lives of the Saints, Volume 9: September, edited by Paul Burns (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2000), ISBN 0-8146-2385-9, page 114: “St Maurilius of Angers, Bishop (453). What is now known to be the only authentic Life of St Maurilius was written in about 620 by Magnobodus (Maimbodo), one of his successors. It relates that Maurilius was born in Milan but moved up into ... ”
  2. (in English) David King, “Angers Cathedral’, (book review of Karine Boulanger’s 2010 book, Les Vitraux de la Cathédrale d’Angers, the 11th volume of the Corpus Vitrearum series from France), Vitemus: the only on-line magazine devoted to medieval stained glass, Issue 48, February 2011, retrieved 17 December 2013.
  3. (in English) Butler, op. cit., page 115.
  4. (in French) Dominique Auzias and Jean-Paul Labourdette, Champagne-Ardenne 2010 Petit Fute (Paris: Le Nouvelles Editions de l’Université [New University Editions], 2010), ISBN 2746928841, page 145: “Points d'intérêt EGLISE SAINT-MAURILLE (XV° ET XVI° SIECLE) Sa belle façade Renaissance se repère dès que l'on entre ... qui prépara la Gaule à devenir la France chrétienne, fut donné pour patron à l'église de Vouziers au XII° siècle [Points of interest: CHURCH OF SAINT MAURILIUS (15TH and 16th CENTURIES): Its beautiful Renaissance facade as soon as you enter ... who prepared Gaul to become Christian France, was made as the patron of the church of Vouziers in the 12th Century].”
  5. (in French) François Chamard, Les vies des saints personnages de l'Anjou [The Lives of the Saints of Anjou] (Paris: J. Lecoffre, 1863), pages 162–163: “Saint Maurille , évêque d'Angers. (13 septembre, 426 environ 1). Après saint Florent, aucun disciple de saint Martin n'est plus illustre que saint Maurille, évêque d'Angers. Il naquit à Milan, vers l'an 336, et reçut le nom de Maurille 2. Son père .. [Saint Maurilius, Bishop of Angers (13 September, about 426). According to St. Florent, no disciple of St. Martin is more illustrious than Saint Maurilius, bishop of Angers. He was born in Milan, about the year 336, and was named Maurilius. His father ... ]”
  6. (in English) Stained Glass Window of the “Life of St. Maurille”, in: Painton Cowen, “Angers Cathedral”, The Medieval Stained Glass Photographic Archive.
  7. (in French) Louis de Farcy, Les tapisseries de la Cathédrale d’Angers [The Tapestries of the Cathedral of Angers] (Angers: Josselin-Belhomme, 1901), pages 120-125.
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