Piatus of Tournai (also Piaton, Platon, Piat, Piato) (died c. 286) was a Belgian

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 ...

. He was a native of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

, Italy, and is traditionally said to have been sent by the pope to evangelize the cities of

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

and

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

. Tradition also states that he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

Dionysios the Areopagite Dionysius the Areopagite (; grc-gre, Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerate ...

. He was

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 ...

ed under

Maximian Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...

by having the top of his skull sliced off. He may be recognized in depictions holding the sliced portion of his skull.

Saint Eligius Saint Eligius (also Eloy, Eloi or Loye; french: Éloi; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660 AD) is the patron saint of goldsmiths, other metalworkers, and Coin collecting, coin collectors. He is also the patron saint of veterinarians, the Royal Elect ...

later discovered Piatus'

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 ...

and made a

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

for them. Some of his relics can be found at Chartres Cathedral.

Gallery

Image:Tournai - Eglise Saint-Piat.jpg, Church of Saint-Piat, Tournai Image:Chartres Chorapsiden.jpg, Chapel of Saint-Piat, Chartres Cathedral Image:Chartres 06.jpg, Stained-glass window of Saint-Piat in Chartres Cathedral

References

External links

Saint of the Day, October 1: Piaton
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''

- French page that includes pictures of the relics of Saint Piatus

Interwiki

* At the French Wikipedia, a page about " La Grande procession de Tournai", which features a picture of the relics of Saint Piatus 3rd-century births 286 deaths People from Benevento Belgian saints Italian saints 3rd-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century Romans {{Italy-saint-stub