Saints Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus (Meleusippus) (d. 175 AD) are venerated as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 ...

s. Their legend states that Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus were

Cappadocian Cappadocian Greeks also known as Greek Cappadocians ( el, Έλληνες-Καππαδόκες, Ελληνοκαππαδόκες, Καππαδόκες; tr, Kapadokyalı Rumlar) or simply Cappadocians are an ethnic Greek community native to the ...

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bir ...

who were martyred under

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

Legend

Their eldest sister Leonilla was killed with them. Alternatively, Leonilla is stated to have been their grandmother and Junilla their mother, according to the ''Roman Martyrology''. The author of their ''Acts'' is called Saint Neo or Neon, who was himself a martyr.

Relics

In 490, their purported

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

were translated to St. Mammès' Cathedral, Langres. A church at Langres also containing their relics bears the name of

Saints-Geosmes Saints-Geosmes () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune Balesmes-sur-Marne was merged into Saints-Geosmes.Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

and the church of Saint Guy in

Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inhabitants. ...

. The Diocese of Langres honors as saints a number of martyrs who, according to the St. Benignus legend, died in the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the triplets, Saints Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus; St. Neo, the author of their Acts, himself a martyr, St. Leonilla, their grandmother, and St. Junilla, their mother. Goyau, Georges. "Langres." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2015
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Notes

External links

Saints of January 17: Speusippus, Eleusippus, Meleusippus & Leonilla
Saints trios 175 deaths 2nd-century Christian martyrs Cappadocia (Roman province) Triplets Year of birth unknown {{Saint-stub