Auspicius of Toul ( la, Auspicius Tullensis; french: Auspice de Toul; d.c.490?) was a 5th-century

bishop of Toul The Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1802. From 1048 until 1552 (''de jure'' until 1648), it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire. History The diocese was erect ...

, the fifth of those recorded, and a saint of the

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He was also a poet, known for iambic verse based on stress (rather than quantity, as in the classical Latin prosody); this was an innovation of his time. A

verse letter Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict ...

of his from around 470 to Arbogast, count of Trier, survives.

Early life

Bishop Auspicius was part of the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

aristocracy, also counting the Roman general of Frankish descent, Arbogast, famous under

Theodosius the Great Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

, among his ancestors. He was probably born in the early part of the 5th century, and succeeded Gelsimus as bishop of Toul around 478. After more than 500 years in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, the city of Toul (capital of the

Leuci The Leucī (Gaulish: ''Leucoi'', 'the bright, lightning ones') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the southern part of the modern Lorraine region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Leucos'' (acc.) by Caesar (m ...

) had fallen under the power of

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, and Auspicius was thus the first of the bishops of Toul to serve under the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. Sidonius died around 485, and it is likely that Auspicius died a few years later (perhaps about 490). His successor was the bishop Saint Ours. He was buried in the burial ground of St. Mansuy, where his body was found in 1070 under the episcopate of Pibon.

Writings

His rare talents and virtues gained him the esteem of distinguished person of his time. He was a friend of the poet

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...

, bishop of Clermont, and of Count Arbogast (count of Trier), Arbogast, the governor of Trier for Childeric I, and the three exchanged correspondence. Arbogast wrote to Sidonius asking him to instruct him in his duties and to give some explanation of the sacred books but Sidonius apologized and referred him to Saint Lupus of Troyes, Loup, Bishop of Troyes, or to Auspicius, bishop of Toul, both distinguished by their deep knowledge and high rank. The Count approached Auspicius, who sent him a highly complimentary reply in verse. The letter was written sometime created between 460 and 475. In it Auspicius praised Arbogast because of his Latin language skills. He also hinted at the end of Roman rule. " ... as long as you live and speak, though the Latin rule has fallen on the frontier, the (Latin) words do not waver. " He praised the high descent and noble disposition of the prince. He was greater than his ancestor of the same name, because he died as a pagan, but Arbogast was Christian. He also warns him against greed. Confident that Arbogast takes this to heart, Auspicius saw him as a future bishop. In fact, he may have possibly later become Bishop of Chartres. Finally, he exhorts him to meet Bishop Jamblichus of Trier. The text is written in poem form of 164 iambic dimeters. He is considered an early example of rhythmic anthemstrophy, in the word accent prevails. As a poet, he was the first Westerner to adopt the iambic rhythm derived from the Saturnian (poetry), Saturnian metre, the preferred metre of Roman folk and secular poetry.Blume, Clemens. "Hymnody and Hymnology." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. The poem is preserved in a collection of various writings written or sent in Austrasia, which was compiled in 585. The only surviving manuscript is Cod. Vaticano-Palatinus 869 s.IX

Veneration

The breviary of the diocese of Toul has always given him the title of Saint Auspicius. In the Roman Martyrology his feast day is July 8.

Early life

Writings

Veneration

Notes

Further reading