Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florentius and later added the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather. He is the primary contemporary source for Merovingian history. His most notable work was his Decem Libri Historiarum, better known as the Historia Francorum, a title that later chroniclers gave to it, but he is also known for his accounts of the miracles of saints, especially four books of the miracles of Martin of Tours. St. Martin's tomb was a major pilgrimage destination in the 6th century, and St. Gregory's writings had the practical effect of promoting this highly organized devotion.
Hilary of Poitiers was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" and the "Athanasius of the West", His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. In addition to his important work as bishop, Hilary was married and the father of Abra of Poitiers, a nun and saint who became known for her charity. His optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar is 13 January. In the past, when this date was occupied by the Octave Day of the Epiphany, his feast day was moved to 14 January.
Germanus of Auxerre ; c. 378 – c. 442–448 AD) was a bishop of Auxerre in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a high-ranking government official to devote his formidable energy towards the promotion of the church and the protection of his 'flock' in dangerous times: personally confronting, for instance, the barbarian king "Goar". In Britain he is best remembered for his journey to combat Pelagianism in or around 429 AD, and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society. He also played an important part in the establishment and promotion of the Cult of Saint Alban. The saint was said to have revealed the story of his martyrdom to Germanus in a dream or holy vision, and Germanus ordered this to be written down for public display. Germanus is venerated as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, which commemorate him on 31 July.
Palladius was the first bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick; the two were perhaps conflated in many later Irish traditions. He was a deacon and member of one of the prominent families in Gaul. Pope Celestine I consecrated him a bishop and sent him to Ireland "to the Scotti believing in Christ".
Saint Acarius was a monk of Luxeuil Abbey, who became bishop of Doornik and Noyon, which today are located on either side of the Franco-Belgian border.
Magnus Felix Ennodius was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet.
Alban Butler was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer.
Placidia was a daughter of Valentinian III, Roman emperor of the West from 425 to 455, and from 454/455 the wife of Olybrius, who became western Roman emperor in 472. She was one of the last imperial spouses in the Roman west, during the Fall of the Western Roman Empire during Late Antiquity.
Saint Brice of Tours was a 5th-century Frankish bishop, the fourth Bishop of Tours, succeeding Martin of Tours in 397.
Saint Eucherius, archbishop of Lyon, was a high-born and high-ranking ecclesiastic in the Christian Church of Gaul. He is remembered for his letters advocating extreme self-abnegation. Henry Wace ranked him "except perhaps St. Irenaeus the most distinguished occupant of that see".
Saint Paula of Rome (AD 347–404) was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest senatorial families which claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli. At the age of 16, Paula was married to the nobleman Toxotius, with whom she had four daughters, Blaesilla, Paulina, Eustochium, and Rufina. She also had a boy, also named Toxotius.
Saint Eustochium. Born Eustochium Julia at Rome, she was the daughter of Paula and is also venerated as a saint and was an early Desert Mother. She was the third of four daughters of the Roman Senator Toxotius, for whom Jerome made a number of disputable claims of ancestry. After the death of her husband around 380 Paula and her daughter Eustochium lived in Rome as austere a life as the fathers of the desert. Eustochium had three sisters, Blaesilla, Paulina, and Rufina, and a brother, Toxotius.
Ruricius I was a Gallo-Roman aristocrat and bishop of Limoges from c. 485 to 510. He is one of the writers whose letters survive from late Roman Gaul, depicting the influence of the Visigoths on the Roman lifestyle. He should not be confused with his son-in-law, Saint Rusticus.
Tonantius Ferreolus, was a vir clarissimus, or Gallo-Roman senator.
Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus was a leading Roman aristocrat of the later 4th century AD, renowned for his wealth, power and social connections.
Flavius Licerius Firminus Lupicinus was a late Gallo-Roman aristocrat and scholar.
Gaul was an important early center of Latin Christianity in late antiquity and the Merovingian period. By the middle of the 3rd century, there were several churches organized in Roman Gaul, and soon after the cessation of persecution the bishops of the Latin world assembled at Arles, in AD 314. The Church of Gaul passed through three dogmatic crises in the late Roman period, Arianism, Priscillianism and Pelagianism. Under Merovingian rule, a number of "Frankish synods" were held, marking a particularly Germanic development in the Western Church. A model for the following Frankish synods was set by Clovis I, who organized the First Council of Orléans (511).
The gens Ceionia or Caeionia was an ancient Roman family of imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Lucius Ceionius Commodus in AD 78. The rise of this family culminated in the elevation of the emperor Lucius Verus, born Lucius Ceionius Commodus, in AD 161.
Palladius was caesar of the Western Roman Empire for two months in 455, together with his father Petronius Maximus. He was born between 415 and 425 AD and may have held the position of Praetorian Prefect during the 450's. After his father, Petronius Maximus, assassinated Emperor Valentinian III and seized power, Palladius was elevated to caesar. He was married to Eudocia, to add to the legitimacy of his father's rule, however this broke the treaty made by Valentinian III and the Vandal king Genseric, in which they arranged the marriage of Eudocia to Huneric, Genseric's son. The Vandals invaded and sacked Rome, which led Petronius Maximus and Palladius to flee on 31 May 455, however, they were caught by a mob of peasants and killed, either by the mob themselves or palace servants.
Saint Sixtus of Reims is considered the first bishop of Reims. According to Hincmar, a 9th-century archbishop of Reims, Sixtus was sent from Rome by Pope Sixtus II to Gaul to assist in Christianizing the region. Another tradition makes him, anachronistically, the disciple of Saint Peter. According to tradition, Sixtus of Reims, along with his companion St. Sinicius (Sinice), established the Christian sees of Reims and Soissons. Sinicius would later succeed Sixtus as bishop of Reims. According to one source, “it would appear that Sixtus did not die as a martyr, despite the severity of the persecution during the era.”
