Desiderius of Vienne (died 607) was 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 ...

archbishop of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to whi ...

and a chronicler.

Life

Nothing is known about his early years. In 603, in a conflict with

Brunhilda of Austrasia Brunhilda (c. 543–613) was queen consort of Austrasia, part of Francia, by marriage to the Merovingian king Sigebert I of Austrasia, and regent for her son, grandson and great-grandson. In her long and complicated career she ruled the eastern ...

, the legitimacy of whose children he had attacked, he was deposed after she combined forces with Aridius,

bishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops o ...

. He was

stoned to death Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...

, some years later, at the order of King Theuderic II of Burgundy. He was rebuked by

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

for his interest in the pagan classics, in a letter provoked by the schooling he was providing for his clergy.

Veneration

He is

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etym ...

as a saint in 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 ...

, with his

feast days The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...

on May 26. In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

, his feast is celebrated on May 23 because of confusing him with Desiderius of Langres. A

hagiographical A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies mig ...

work was written about him by the Visigothic king Sisebuto, during the 7th century.E.g. Bryan Ward-Perkins, ''The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization'' (2006), p. 166; Jacques Fontaine, "King Sisebut's ''Vita Desiderii'' and the Political Function of Visigothic Hagiography." in ''Visigothic Spain'' (1980). ed.

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...

A later life was written by

Ado of Vienne Ado of Vienne ( la, Ado Viennensis, french: Adon de Vienne; died 16 December 874) was archbishop of Vienne in Lotharingia from 850 until his death and is venerated as a saint. He belonged to a prominent Frankish family and spent much of his early ...

Notes

607 deaths 7th-century historians 7th-century Frankish bishops 7th-century Christian martyrs Archbishops of Vienne French chroniclers 7th-century Frankish saints People executed by stoning Year of birth unknown 7th-century Frankish writers 7th-century Latin writers Year of birth uncertain 6th-century births Bishops of Vienne {{France-RC-bishop-stub