Viventiolus

Saint Viventiolus (French: Saint Vivientol) (460 – July 12, 524) (also known as Juventiole) was the Archbishop of Lyon (ancient Lugdunum) 514-523. Later canonized,[1] his Feast Day is July 12.

Family

Viventiolus and his brother Rusticus[2] were the sons of Aquilinus (c. 430-c. 470), a nobleman of Lyon, and friend of Sidonius Apollinaris (c. 400). Aquilinus was a vicarius of a province in Gaul between 423 and 448 under Apollinaris, the father of Sidonius.

Through his paternal grandmother, Tullia, Viventiolus was the great-grandson of Saint Eucherius and his wife Gallia. His paternal grandfather was the son of Decimus Rusticus and his wife Artemia.

Career

Viventiolus was a monk of St. Oyend (St. Claude), in Jura, where he was elected prior. Avitus of Vienne recommended him for the See of Lyon.[2] In 517, he and Avitus presided over the Council of Epaone.

He is also the author of a book, Vie des pères du Jura (Life of the Jura Fathers), which described the beginnings of monasticism in that region.[3]

References

1. Archdiocese of Lyon, France at Catholic Saints.info.
2. Avitus of Vienne, (Danuta Shanzer, Ian N. Wood, trans.), Liverpool University Press, 2002, ISBN 9780853235880, p. 266
3. Mélanges d'archéologie et d'Histoire, 1898, vol.18 (M. l'abbé Duchesne sur Persee. 1898).fr

Bibliography

• Bishop of Tours Gregory, Historia Francorum (The History of the Franks) (London, England: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1974).
• Sidonius Apollinaris, The Letters of Sidonius (Oxford: Clarendon, 1915) (orig.), pp. clx-clxxxiii; List of Correspondents, Notes, V.ix.1.