Saint Baudilus (french: Baudile, Bausile, Basile, es, Baudilio, Baudelio, Boal, ca, Boi, Baldiri) is venerated as a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. His cult is closely associated with the city of
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...
but also spread into Spain.
[La crypte de Saint Baudile]
/ref>
The first missionary in Nîmes is said to have been Saint Saturnin
Saint Saturnin of Toulouse ( la, Saturninus, oc, Sarnin, french: Saturnin, Sernin, ca, Serni, Sadurní, gl, Sadurninho and pt, Saturnino, Sadurninho, eu, Satordi, Saturdi, Zernin, and es, Saturnino, Serenín, Cernín) was one of the ''" ...
(Saturninus), who was sent by Pope Fabian
Pope Fabian ( la, Fabianus) was the bishop of Rome from 10 January 236 until 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 ...
to Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
around 245 AD. Saturnin converted a native of Nîmes, Saint Honestus
Saint Honestus ( es, San Honesto, french: Saint Honest) was, according to Christian tradition, a disciple of Saturninus of Toulouse and a native of Nîmes.
Saturninus and Honestus evangelized in Spain, and Honestus was martyred at Pampeluna during ...
, who was later martyred at Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
. However, the ''Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' writes that "the true apostle of Nîmes was St. Baudilus, whose martyrdom is placed by some at the end of the third century, and, with less reason, by others at the end of the fourth." Tradition also makes him a martyr during the reign of Julian the Apostate
Julian ( la, Flavius Claudius Julianus; grc-gre, Ἰουλιανός ; 331 – 26 June 363) was Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplato ...
.
The legend of Saint Baudilus states that he was not a native of Nîmes, but was a Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, possibly a deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
, who came into the city one day during a festival celebrated by the Salii
In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, the Salii ( , ) were the "leaping priests" (from the verb ''saliō'' "leap, jump") of Mars (mythology), Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve Patrician ...
or Agonales in honor of Veiovis
Vejovis or Vejove ( lat, Vēiovis, italic=yes or ''Vēdiovis''; rare ''Vēive'' or ''Vēdius'') was a Roman god of Etruscan origins.
Representation and worship
Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows, pilum, (or lightn ...
. The festival was being celebrated in hills near the city, formerly covered with oaks, but now occupied by vineyards. A crowd was grouped on the hillsides, watching the ceremony, which, according to Abbé Azaïs, writing in 1872, involved animal sacrifice.
Baudilus condemned this ceremony and toppled a statue of the God. Furious at this insult, the Pagan priests whipped and then executed Baudilus by decapitating
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
him with an ax. According to the legend, his severed head bounced three times on the ground, each impact bringing forth a spring of water. Upon these springs of water was later built an oratory: l'oratoire des Trois-Fontaines ("Three Fountains").
Baudilus’ body was collected by his wife and then was transported to a place called "Valsainte", where he was buried by a pre-existing colony of Christians. Valsainte became a place of pilgrimage. A church was built there in the fourth century and a monastery in 511 AD, which survived until the 17th century. The crypt of Saint Baudilus (''la crypte de St Baudile'') at the corner of rue des Moulins and rue des Trois Fontaines, marks the alleged spot where Baudilus was martyred.
Jules Igolin writes that Nîmes became the site of a bishopric by the fourth century and that its first bishop was Saint Felix of Nîmes (''St Félix''), who was martyred around 407 AD.
Veneration in France
Baudilus is the patron of various churches in France and also in Germany, including churches in Noves
Noves (; oc, Nòvas) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.
Population
Sights
* Church of ''Sainte Baudille'', located in the site of a 3rd-century Palaeo-Christian worship area and of a Roman temple. The c ...
, Fabrègues
Fabrègues (; oc, Fabregas) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Hérault department
The following is a list of the 342 communes of the Hérault department of France.
The commun ...
, and Neuilly-sur-Marne.
Image:Eglise Sainte Baudile Noves.JPG, Eglise Sainte Baudile, Noves
Image:Fabregue St-Baudile.JPG, St-Baudile, Fabrègues
Image:Neuilly-sur-Marne Sainte Baudile.jpg, Saint-Baudile, Neuilly-sur-Marne
Cult in Spain
His cult spread into Spain, where he became the patron of various churches. His name acquired variants, including ''Baudelio, Boal'', ''Boi'', ''Baldiri'' (the last two are Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
). One source has stated that Baudilus’ fame as a thaumaturgus
Thaumaturgy is the purported capability of a magician to work magic or other paranormal events or a saint to perform miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking.
A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a "thaumaturge", "thauma ...
resulted in his cult spreading beyond France, with a very widespread cult in Spain, including Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
. His cult even spread as far as what are now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Baudilus is mentioned briefly in Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
's ''Roderick''. The notes to the text state that Baudilus "is a saint very little known, ndit will be proper to say something of him. This saint is much reverenced in Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
and in Zamora; and in both cities, he has a parochial church, and in Zamora, they have a good part of his relics. They have so much corrupted the name, calling him St. Boal, that the saint is now scarcely known by his own." The church of San Boal in Salamanca has an image of the saint, and there is also a palace of the same name in the city.
'' Castile-Leon''
*Mozarabic
Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...
church of San Baudelio de Berlanga
The Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga (''Ermita de San Baudelio de Berlanga'') is an early 11th-century church at Caltojar in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain, 8 km south of Berlanga de Duero. It is an important example of ...
( Caltojar, Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. ...
).
*Mudéjar
Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...
church of San Baudilio, Samboal (Segovia).Riqueza naturalLa iglesia de San Baudilio, una joya mudéjar declarada Bien de Interés Cultural. nortecastilla.es
/ref>
*Sambol (Burgos), monastery in ruins, which gave name to a creek on the Way of St. James
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...
.
* Moraleja de las Panaderas (Valladolid), church of San Boal or San Baudilio.
* Pozaldez, parish of San Boal. Patron saint (feast day: May 20).
*Parish of San Boal, city of Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
. Nearby is the Palacio de San Boal.
* Blascosancho (Ávila), church of San Boal.
''Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
''
*Hermitage of Sant Baldiri ( Vilarig, Girona
Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...
).
*Hermitage of Sant Baldiri ( Lliçà de Munt, Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
).
*Parish church of Sant Baldiri, Sant Boi de Llobregat
Sant Boi de Llobregat () is a city in the Province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, located on the banks of the Llobregat river. In 2019 it had 83,605 inhabitants.
The city is divided into six neighborhoods (named ''barris'' in Catalan): Ciutat ...
(Barcelona).
*Parish church of Sant Baldiri, Sant Boi de Lluçanès
Sant Boi de Lluçanès is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in
Catalonia, Spain.
Although the municipality lies within the natural region of Lluçanès
Lluçanès () is a natural region transitioning between the Plain of Vic and Bergu ...
(Barcelona).
''La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N ...
''
* Muro de Aguas (La Rioja). Feast day of Saint Baudilus celebrated.
References
External links
LE MARTYRE DE ST BAUDILE A NÎMES
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudilus
Nîmes
3rd-century Christian martyrs
Gallo-Roman saints
Year of birth unknown