Saint Athanasius I (c.832–872) was the

bishop of Naples The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples ( la, Archidioecesis Neapolitana) is a Roman Catholic archdioceses in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christians, Christian community was founded there in the 1st century AD and the diocese of N ...

from 850 to his death. This Athanasius should not be confused with his nephew, Athanasius II.

Biography

Athanasius was the second son of

Sergius I of Naples Sergius I (died 864) was the first duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the "Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 until the death of his namesake Sergius VII in 1137. Sergius was originally th ...

and not quite twenty years old when he became Bishop of Naples in 849, at the same time his brother, Gregory, became co-duke. He was consecrated bishop in Rome by

Pope Leo IV Pope Leo IV (790 – 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the Leon ...

. Athanasius led a life of austerity and prayer, and was particular concerned with the proper education and training of the clergy in his diocese. He oversaw the restoration of the monastery of the Most Holy Saviour, and established a monastery dedicated to Sts. Januarius and Agrippinus. He also established a hospice for pilgrims, and set up a process for ransoming prisoners captured by the Saracens. He attended the Lateran Council of 863.Butler, Alban. "St. Athanasius of Naples, bishop", ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'', Vol. 7, (revised by Peter Doyle) London. Burns & Oates/Liturgical Press, 2000
Athanasius was an intimate of both the court of the Western Emperor and that of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. He was a ''

familiaris In the Middle Ages, a ''familiaris'' (plural ''familiares''), more formally a ''familiaris regis'' ("familiar of the king") or ''familiaris curiae''In medieval documents, ''curiae'' may also be spelled ''curiæ'' or ''curie''. ("of the court"), ...

'' of emperors

Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...

and Louis II and was made a

Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

because of his connections with the Roman ''curia''. Before dying, Sergius bade Gregory to follow the counsel of his brother the bishop. Gregory did, but his son, Sergius II, did not. He persecuted Athanasius, who was opposed to the alliance with the

Aghlabids The Aghlabids ( ar, الأغالبة) were an Arab dynasty of emirs from the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, Sicily, and possibly Sardinia, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a cen ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, and took possession of the treasures of the cathedral. In 870 Duke Sergius II imprisoned his uncle

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

, admiral of the Neapolitan fleet, who similarly opposed his closeness to the Aghlabids, Caesar died in prison.Kreutz, Barbara M., ''Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries''. University of Pennsylvania Press. (1996). , p. 73 The bishop was exiled to a small island, only to be rescued by

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

tan ships sent by the Emperor Louis. While travelling to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Athanasius died at Veroli, and was buried at Monte Cassino. His body was soon afterwards translated to the Cathedral of Naples. He is regarded among Roman Catholics as the co-

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of the city of Naples, and 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 15 July. A ''vita'' of Athanasius was written by John the Deacon in 872.

References

Sources

Erchempert Erchempert ( la, Erchempertus) was a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy in the final quarter of the ninth century. He chronicled a history of the Lombard Principality of Benevento, in the '' Langobardia Minor'', giving an espec ...

''Historia Langabardorvm Beneventarnorvm''
at

The Latin Library The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. It is run by William L. Carey, adjunct professor of Latin and Roman Law at George Mason University. The texts have been drawn from different sources, are not intended for rese ...

. *''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', LIX. Mario Caravale, ed. Rome: 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasius I 9th-century births 872 deaths Sicilian saints 9th-century Italian bishops Bishops of Naples Medieval Italian saints