Gerontius of Cervia (Gerontius of Ficocle) (died 501 AD) was an Italian

bishop of Cervia The diocese of Cervia was a Roman Catholic diocese in Emilia-Romagna. In 1947 it merged with the archdiocese of Ravenna to form the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia.Historical SummaryArchdiocese of Ravenna-Cerviacatholic-hierarchy.org/ref> Ordinar ...

who is venerated as 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 ...

Life

The first known Bishop of Cervia is Gerontius. He was returning with Viticanus, Bishop of Cagli, from the Roman council held in 501 to treat accusations made against Pope Symmachus, when he was assaulted and killed by bandits on the

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had ...

Cagli Cagli is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, central Italy. It c. south of Urbino. The Burano flows near the town. History Cagli occupies the site of an ancient village on the Via Flaminia, which seems to have bo ...

, near

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

. (The legend says "heretics", perhaps Goths, or more probably

Heruli The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several "Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking b ...

, of the army of Odoacer.) His relics are venerated at Cagli.Benigni, Umberto. "Cervia." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 9 Mar. 2014
/ref> He was venerated as 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 ...

. 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 May 9.

References

Bishops in Emilia-Romagna People from the Province of Ravenna Medieval Italian saints 501 deaths 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Italian bishops Year of birth unknown {{Italy-RC-bishop-stub