Fibicius (otherwise Fibitius or Felicius) was
Bishop of Trier
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.[Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...]
power into the region around
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
.
His name is given in the Trier bishops' lists and in the ''Vita Goaris'', a
hagiography
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 migh ...
of
Saint Goar. While he was bishop, the revival of the power of the church in Trier was gradually beginning after a period of obscurity and weakness due to the political situation. This is evidenced by the resumption of earlier attempts at evangelization in areas on the
Middle Rhine. In this context, Fibicius probably gave permission in about 511 to Saint Goar to build a church in
Oberwesel
Oberwesel () is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen.
Geography
Location
Oberwesel lies ...
. He may have also requested King
Theuderic I to send priests from the
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
to Trier.
Fibicius is sometimes held to be the founder and first abbot of
St. Maximin's Abbey
St. Maximin's Abbey (german: Reichsabtei St. Maximin) was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
History
The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been fo ...
, but the authorities disagree about this.
After his death he was probably buried in the church of St. Nicholas in Trier. His successor was probably
Aprunculus
Saint Aprunculus of Trier (also known as Abrunculus) (died probably 526) was Bishop of Trier from the death of his predecessor, Fibicius, whether in 511 or 525, and served in that capacity until his own death, which is presumed to have occurred bef ...
; the bishop called Rusticus whose name is sometimes inserted into the bishops' lists between the two seems to have no existence outside the ''Vita Goaris''.
Fibicius is venerated as either a saint or a
blessed
Blessed may refer to:
* The state of having received a blessing
* Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified
Film and television
* ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...
; his
feast day
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 d ...
is 5 November.
[H H Anton: ''Trier im frühen Mittelalter''] No further information is available about the circumstances of his death.
References
Sources
* Hans Hubert Anton: ''Trier im frühen Mittelalter'' (= ''Quellen und Forschungen aus dem Gebiete der Geschichte.'' N.F., 9). Paderborn u. a. 1987, , pp. 87f.
* ''Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon, Band 2.'' Augsburg 1861, p. 202
Online version
External links
Saarland-biografien.de
{{authority control
Gallo-Roman saints
Saints of Germania
Year of birth unknown
510s deaths
6th-century Frankish bishops
6th-century Christian saints
Roman Catholic bishops of Trier