Martin of Tours, also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the patron saint of the Third Republic, and is patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe. A native of Pannonia, he converted to Christianity at a young age. He served in the Roman cavalry in Gaul, but left military service at some point prior to 361, when he became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, establishing the monastery at Ligugé. He was consecrated as Bishop of Caesarodunum (Tours) in 371. As bishop, he was active in the suppression of the remnants of Gallo-Roman religion, but he opposed the violent persecution of the Priscillianist sect of ascetics.
Clovis was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs. He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries. Clovis is important in the historiography of France as "the first king of what would become France".
Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history." He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encompassing Gaul's historic region.
Pope Symmachus was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy.
Valentinian II was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his brother, was then sidelined by a usurper, and only after 388 sole ruler, albeit with limited de facto powers.
Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris, was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urban prefect of Rome by Emperor Anthemius in 468. In 469 he was appointed Bishop of Clermont and he led the defence of the city from Euric, King of the Visigoths, from 473 to 475. He retained his position as bishop after the city's conquest, until his death in the 480s. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic church, the Orthodox Church, and the True Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 21 August.
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus, was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerated since the Middle Ages.
Contumeliosus of Riez was a sixth century Bishop of Riez in Gaul. Pope John II deposed Contumeliosus in 534 for adulterous behaviour and authorized Caesarius of Arles to appoint a temporary bishop to the diocese. Contumeliosus' deposition is notable for being the first act of jurisdiction of this kind recorded of a bishop of Rome.
Caesarius of Arles, sometimes called "of Chalon" from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul. Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul who worked to promote large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. William E. Klingshirn's study of Caesarius depicts Caesarius as having the reputation of a "popular preacher of great fervour and enduring influence". Among those who exercised the greatest influence on Caesarius were Augustine of Hippo, Julianus Pomerius, and John Cassian.
Britonia is the historical, apparently Latinized name of a Celtic settlement by Romano-Britons on the Iberian peninsula following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. The area is roughly analogous to the northern parts of the modern provinces of A Coruña and Lugo in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.
Julianus Pomerius was a Christian priest in fifth century Gaul. He wrote five treatises, only one of which, De Vita Contemplativa, survives. He was renowned in rhetoric and grammar and was friends with Ennodius and Ruricius. He appears to have fled from Mauritania, North Africa to Gaul to escape the Vandals, towards the end of the century. He became an abbot and a teacher of rhetoric at Arles, where he was known as the teacher of Caesarius, a great conservator of Augustine of Hippo's teachings. It is known that their titles probably emphasized the ascetic ideal.
Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius was a Late Roman aristocrat and official, whose career spanned seven decades in the highest offices of both the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and the Eastern Roman Empire. He held the highest governmental offices of Italy, Gaul, and Egypt, "an accomplishment not often recorded – Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte are the only parallels that come to mind!" as James O'Donnell observes in his biographical study of the man.
Aurelianus was Archbishop of Arles from 546 to 551. His predecessors were Auxanius and Caesarius of Arles. His father Sacerdos was an Archbishop of Lyon. His cousin Nicetius succeeded his father as Archbishop of Lyon. He died on 16 June 551 in Lyon and is buried in the Church of Saint-Nizier. The text of his epitaph is preserved.
Agroecius was a 6th-century bishop of Antibes, and the addressee of one of the extant letters of the ecclesiastic Caesarius of Arles.
Gallicanus I was the seventh bishop of Embrun. He was represented at the Fourth Council of Arles in 524, assisted in person at that of Carpentras in 527, and attended the Third Council of Vaison in 529. He was perhaps also at the Second Council of Orange in the same year. The councils of 524–29 were presided over by Caesarius of Arles.
Maximianus of Trier was bishop of Trier around the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries.
Christianization of the Franks was the process of converting the pagan Franks to Catholicism during the late 5th century and early 6th century. It was started by Clovis I, regulus of Tournai, with the insistence of his wife, Clotilde and Saint Remigius, the bishop of Reims.
Caesaria the Elder or Caesaria II was a saint and abbess. Little is known about her, but there were some "glowing" references to her in the writings of Venantius Fortunatus; according to Gregory of Tours, her life was "blessed and holy". She was born in a Gallo-Roman family and was trained at John Cassian's foundation in Marseilles.
Caesaria the Younger or Caesaria II was the abbess of Saint-Jean d'Arles from around 525 until her death.
Lots of the Apostles is the name of several texts used in Christian divination, based on the Acts of the Apostles 1:26, which describes how the Apostles cast lots to select a replacement for Judas Iscariot.