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Saint Didier, also known as Desiderius ( AD – November 15, traditionally 655), was a
Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
-era royal official of aristocratic
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 contex ...
extraction. He succeeded his own brother, Rusticus of Cahors, as bishop of
Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Quer ...
and governed the diocese, which flourished under his care, from 630 to 655. Didier's career, like that of his brothers, is an example of a church and a monastic system controlled by the ruling, landholding class that was closely linked to the Merovingian monarchy. "This was no innovation of this period, but rather represented a continuation of a state of affairs which had existed since late Roman and early Merovingian times".


Life

Born in the
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretch ...
of
Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albi ...
about the year 580, to a father with the expressly Christian name of Salvius and a literate mother with the Frankish name Herchenfreda, Desiderius had two brothers, named Rusticus and Syagrius. The three boys were sent to the court of the Frankish king
Clotaire II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" ( French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the r ...
(584–629; from 613 sole sovereign), and with other boys of noble family received an excellent education at the Merovingian court-school. Rusticus assumed holy orders at an early age and became archdeacon in the town of
Rodez Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...
before being appointed abbot of the palatine
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name t ...
of Clotaire, who at length appointed him bishop of
Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Quer ...
, in
Quercy Quercy (; oc, Carcin , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Au ...
. The second brother, Syagrius, after long service in the
palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
household of the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
and long familiarity with Clotaire, was made comte d’Albi and exercised juridical authority as ''praefectus'' in the city of
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 ...
.Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Desiderius of Cahors." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 Feb. 2015
/ref> Desiderius combined a love of letters with a native Gallican eloquence, according to his ''Vita''. While still adolescent he received the dignities of the royal household and turned his studies towards Roman (i.e. canon) law, with the result that a Roman gravity of demeanor tempered the gallic richness and brilliance of his discourse. Before long he was appointed treasurer to the king, an office that he retained under the new king,
Dagobert I Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...
(629–639), whose confidant he was. After the death of Syagrius (629), he is said to have obtained also the prefectship of Marseilles, but this is not certain. Faithful to the admonitions of his pious mother, three of whose letters to him are mentioned in his ''Vita'', Desiderius led at court the serious holy life of a monk, and administered his office with great fidelity. While at court he made the acquaintance of St. Arnoux, St Ouen, and St Eloi. In 630 his brother Rusticus, the Bishop of Cahors, was killed during a riot, whereupon the clergy and people of that city requested from the king Desiderius as his successor. By a letter of April 8, 630, Dagobert made known his consent, and Desiderius was consecrated Bishop of Cahors. With the other bishops of his time, many of them educated with him at the royal court, he maintained an active correspondence. He was a zealous promoter of monastic life and founded a monastery in the vicinity of Cahors, the church of which was dedicated to St. Amantius; later on the convent was called after its founder St Géry (i.e. Dierius, from Desiderius). He directed also a convent of women, as we see from a letter written by him to the Abbess Aspasia. Under him and with his support was likewise founded in his diocese the monastery of St. Peter of Moissac. Desiderius built three large basilicas in and near Cahors (St Maria, St Peter and St Julian) and an oratory in honor of St Martin. The finished style of his building was notable, not of vernacular materials of wood, wattle and thatch, but
in the manner of the ancients out of squared and hewn stones, not indeed in our Gallican fashion, but just as a whole circuit of ancient walls is wont to be built; thus from the foundations to the topmost pinnacle he completed the work with squared stones' (quoted in Greenhalgh) He also built an aqueduct to serve Cahors, and rebuilt the walls and towers (''castella'') that protected the city, as well as the Castrum Mercurio in Cahors itself. His actions show how much the bishop acted for the public good with the authority of a count or of a ''patricius''. Desiderius persuaded the nobles of his diocese to endow churches and monasteries.
By his testament (649–650) he endowed the
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominat ...
, the churches, and the monasteries of his episcopal city with all his estates. While resident on his estates in the district of Albi he fell ill and died at his villa of Wistrilingo. His body was carried to Cahors and interred in the church of St Amantius. A ''Vita'' of Desiderius has been composed around the late 8th century by an anonymous author, possibly a monk from Saint-Géry near Cahors, written on the basis of older documents. Appended to it is a collection of letters, some composed by himself and others addressed to him, as well as an account of miracles that took place at his tomb. His feast is celebrated on 23 May.


"Last of the Ancient Romans"

Anthyme Saint-Paul, in his '' Histoire monumentale de la France'', nominated Didier as "''le dernier des Romains''" ("the last of the Romans") because of his building activities as bishop. Didier's lifelong correspondence with other aristocrats that he befriended in his youth also represents the very end of ancient
epistolography Epistolography, or the art of writing letters, is a genre of Byzantine literature similar to rhetoric that was popular with the intellectual elite of the Byzantine age."Epistolography" in '' The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University ...
dating back to the
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
period. Didier was fully educated in literary studies, grammar and Roman laws. His small literary circle clearly attempted to preserve Roman heritage and traditions going back to
Vergil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
and
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...
, and the ability to speak the language of the past was valued. But Didier and his circle were remarkably few in number, indicating that only a very few individuals were participating in 7th century literary society. His letter collection marks the end of an unbroken chain of not only literary style but also cultural and social connection that can be traced back to
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
and before. Subsequent surviving letter collections from the late
Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
and
Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
periods lack a direct connection to any ancient models. Mathisen, Ralph. "Desiderius of Cahors: Last of the Romans." (part of "Gallien in Spätantike und Frühmittelalter" conference proceedings), De Gruyter 2013


Notes


Sources

*''Desiderii episcopi Cadurcensis epistolae'', ed. W. Arndt, Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini aevi 1, MGH EE 3, Berlin 1892, pp. 191–214 (Latin edition). *''La vie de Saint Didier, évêque de Cahors (630–655)'', ed. R. Poupardin, Paris 1900 (Latin edition with a French introduction). *''Epistulae Sancti Desiderii'', ed. D. Norberg, Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 4, Uppsala 1961 (Latin edition).


Literature

*J.R.C. Martyn: ''King Sisebut and the culture of Visigothic Spain, with translations of the lives of Saint Desiderius of Vienne and Saint Masona of Mérida'', Lewiston 2008.


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Didier of Cahors 580s births 655 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Albi Bishops of Cahors Colombanian saints Last of the Romans 7th-century Gallo-Roman people 7th-century Frankish bishops 7th-century Frankish saints 7th-century Frankish writers 7th-century Latin writers Latin letter writers