Caesaria the Elder or Caesaria II (died c. 530) was a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

. Little is known about her, but there were some "glowing" references to her in the writings of

Venantius Fortunatus Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus ( 530 600/609 AD; french: Venance Fortunat), 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 venerate ...

; according to

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) 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 Florenti ...

, her life was "blessed and holy". She was born in a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

family and was trained at

John Cassian John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman ( la, Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, ''Ioannus Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern c ...

's foundation in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

s.McNamara, p. 112 Caesaria was the first abbess of convent of Saint-Jean, which was founded by her brother,

Caesarius of Arles Caesarius of Arles ( la, Caesarius Arelatensis; 468/470 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (''Cabillonensis'' or ''Cabellinensis'') from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian ...

. The exact location of the convent is unknown, but it was probably built outside the walls of

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

in southern France, and remained there until the French Revolution in 1789. Her brother addressed his ''Regula ad Virgines'' ("Rule for Virgins") to Caesaria, and described how she taught and supervised the copying of the Bible at the convent. The nuns at St. Jean Convent spent their time in prayer, caring for the poor by washing and mending their clothes, doing menial work such as needlework, weaving, and transcribing books. They "lived in permanent enclosure", were not allowed meat except during illnesses, and did not bathe during

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

. Caesarius' contemporaries viewed the convent as "an ark of salvation for women in those stormy times"; the pope approved of and supported the work done there. By the time of Caesarius' death in 542, 200 nuns lived there. Caesaria might have died in about 525; she was buried in a basilica next to the tomb reserved for Caesarius. According to hagiographer Alban Butler, the date of Caesaria's death is uncertain. Her niece,

Caesaria the Younger Caesaria the Younger or Caesaria II (died ) was the abbess of Saint-Jean d'Arles from around 525 until her death. Life Caesaria was a relative of Bishop Caesarius of Arles, probably a niece. She succeeded the bishop's sister, Caesaria the Elder, ...

, succeeded her as abbess.Klingshirn, p. 138 Caesaria's feast day is January 12.

References

Works cited

* Klingshirn, William E. (2004). ''Caesarius of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 105. .

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...

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* McNamara, Jo Ann; Halborg, John E.; Whatley, E. Gordon (1992). ''Sainted Women of the Dark Ages''. Durham, England: Duke University Press. .

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Caesaria 1 of Arles 525 deaths Year of birth unknown