Cyril and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
Pope Fabian was the bishop of Rome from 10 January 236 to his death on 20 January 250, succeeding Anterus. A dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirit's unexpected choice to become the next pope. He was succeeded by Cornelius.
Denis of Paris was a 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Some accounts placed this during Domitian's persecution and identified St Denis of Paris with the Areopagite who was converted by Paul the Apostle and who served as the first bishop of Athens. Assuming Denis's historicity, it is now considered more likely that he suffered under the persecution of the emperor Decius shortly after AD 250.
Saint Martial, called "the Apostle of the Gauls" or "the Apostle of Aquitaine", was the first bishop of Limoges. His feast day is June 30.
Gatianus in the third century AD was the founding bishop of the see of Tours. He was one of the "seven apostles of Gaul" commissioned by Pope Fabian to evangelize in the region.
According to Catholic lore, Saint Trophimus of Arles was the first bishop of Arles, in today's southern France.
Stremonius or Saint Austremonius or Saint Stramonius or Austromoine, the "apostle of Auvergne," was the first bishop of Clermont.
Saint Saturnin of Toulouse, with a feast day entered for 29 November, was one of the "Apostles to the Gauls" sent out during the consulate of Decius and Gratus (250–251) to Christianise Gaul after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian communities. St Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Saint Gatien to Tours, Saint Trophimus to Arles, Saint Paul to Narbonne, Saint Saturnin to Toulouse, Saint Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Saint Martial to Limoges.
Radegund was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patron saint of several churches in France and England and of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Saint-Nectaire is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. The village is in two sections Saint-Nectaire-le-Haut and Saint-Nectaire-le-Bas.
Saint Paul of Narbonne was one of the "apostles to the Gauls" sent out during the consulate of Decius and Gratus to Christianize Gaul after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian communities. According to the hagiographies, Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges.
Liborius of Le Mans was the second Bishop of Le Mans. He is the patron saint of the cathedral and archdiocese of Paderborn in Germany. The year of his birth is unknown; he died in 397, reputedly on 23 July.
Nicasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus, and Pientia were venerated as martyrs and saints. Their feast day is October 11. Their historicity is uncertain, and "no trustworthy historical reports of [them] exist."
Saint Domnius was a Bishop of Salona around the year 300, and is venerated as the patron of the nearby city of Split in modern Croatia. Salona was a large Roman city serving as capital of the Province of Dalmatia. Saint Domnius was martyred with seven other Christians in the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian. He was born in Antioch, in modern-day Turkey but historically in Syria, and beheaded in 304 at Salona.
Saint Peregrine (Peregrinus) of Auxerre is venerated as the first bishop of Auxerre and the builder of its first cathedral. A strong local tradition states that he was a priest of Rome appointed by Pope Sixtus II to evangelize this area at the request of the Christians resident in that part of Gaul. He preached at Marseilles, Lyon, and converted most of the inhabitants of Auxerre to Christianity.
Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio are venerated as martyrs and saints by the Catholic Church, especially in Besançon where they are honored as its patron saints.
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).
Nectarios, Nektarios or Nectarius is a Greek male given name encountered in Greece and Cyprus. It means "of nectar". Although its etymology refers to the word νέκταρ, the name Nectarios was never used in ancient Greece. It can be first seen no later than 300 AD as a Christian name, mainly of monks and bishops, in 20th century it became renowned in Orthodox world by the lifes of Saint Nectarios of Aegina and Venerable Nectarios of Optina.
Saint Baudilus is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic Church. His cult is closely associated with the city of Nîmes but also spread into Spain.
Saint Eutropius of Saintes is venerated as the first bishop of Saintes, France. According to tradition, he was a Roman or a Persian of royal descent who was sent to evangelize Gaul either by Saint Clement in the 1st century or by Pope Fabian in the 250s as a companion of Saint Denis.
