Saint Ferréol (Ferreolus) of Uzès (530 – January 4, 581 AD) was bishop of Uzès and possibly bishop of Nîmes (''Catholic Encyclopedia'' "Nîmes") (553-581). His Feast Day is January 4. He was born in

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, apparently a grandson of Cloderic of the Ripuarian Franks. Bishops in

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

were ordinarily drawn from the highest levels of society. Ferréol founded a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

, for which he wrote a rule that survives; it regards the work of transcription in the

scriptorium A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...

as the equivalent of manual labor, since it charges that the monk "who does not turn up the earth with the plow ought to write the parchment with his fingers." As bishop of Uzès, Ferréol devoted himself in particular to converting the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

within his diocese. Under

Childebert I Childebert I ( 496 – 13 December 558) was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clo ...

Ferréol was banished from his see in 555, for having lived in too friendly relations with the Jews of

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

. The thoroughly

Romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

region had until recently been ruled by a

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

ic and

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

upper class, and relaxed relations with the long-established and urbane Jewish community was a Visigoth tradition. Ferréol's motive lay in hopes of making conversions, according to the ''Vita Ferreoli, apud Marcus Antonius Dominicy, Ausberti Familia Rediviva,'' published in Paris, 1648 (''Jewish Encyclopedia''). He was restored to his see after three years (Benedictine ''Encyclopedia''), but now had to toe the strict Merovingian line: "Ferréol ordered the Jews of his diocese to meet in the Church of St Theodoric, and preached to them a baptismal sermon. Some Jews abjured their faith; he forbade the others to remain in the city, and expelled them from his diocese" in 558 (''Jewish Encyclopedia''). Ferréol makes a brief appearance in the phantasmic parade of Episode 12 ("Cyclops") in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...

''. His sister Saint Tarsicia of Rodez (died ca 600) lived as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

in the

Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Géva ...

near

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) 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 communau ...

, where she is still venerated by the Benedictines, with a feast day of January 15. She was said in error to have been a granddaughter of Clotaire II, and more accurately a granddaughter of

Clotaire I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire from the original French version, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. With his eldes ...

and, less likely, of St.

Radegunda Radegund (; also spelled ''Rhadegund, Radegonde, or Radigund''; 520 – 13 August 587) was a Thuringii, Thuringian princess and Franks, Frankish queen, who founded the Holy Cross Abbey (Poitiers), Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the ...

(''Catholic Encyclopedia'' "Rodez"). Thus, they were two among numerous members of the

royal house whose posthumous veneration was encouraged by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. An earlier, legendary St. Ferreolus (''Saint Ferréol'') was sent to evangelize in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

in the late 2nd century. In 1320, the chanter of

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

, Hugues de Besançon, founded a chaplaincy "in honor of Saints Ferréol and Ferrutien" at the altar of one of the recently completed chapel

External links

''Jewish Encyclopedia'':
"France"

"Uzès", "Rodez" {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreol Of Uzes 581 deaths Medieval Occitan people 6th-century Frankish saints 6th-century Frankish bishops Bishops of Uzès Clergy from Narbonne 530 births 6th-century writers in Latin 6th-century Frankish writers