Saint Eleutherius of Tournai (french: Eleuthère) (died c. 532) is venerated as a saint and considered the first

bishop of Tournai The Diocese of Tournai is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was formed in 1146, upon the dissolution of the Diocese of Noyon & Tournai, which had existed since the 7th Century. It is ...

.www.newadvent.org
Retrieved 29 July 2008 The ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' writes that "historically there is very little known about St. Eleutherius, but he was without doubt the first Bishop of Tournai." Tradition makes him a lifelong friend of

St. Medardus Saint Medardus or St Medard (French (language), French: ''Médard'' or ''Méard'') (ca. 456–545) was the Ancient Diocese of Noyon, Bishop of Noyon. He moved the seat of the diocese from Vermand to Noviomagus Veromanduorum (modern Noyon) in no ...

, and the two saints had been courtiers before becoming bishops. Eleutherius was probably named bishop of Tournai after

St. Remigius Remigius (french: Remi or ; – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important eve ...

organized the church hierarchy of northern

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

at the end of the fifth century. Some sermons on the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, Nativity, and the feast of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

(''Bibliotheca Patrum, vol. XV'') are falsely attributed to him.

Martyrdom

Eleutherius is 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 ...

although this legend is considered an invention of the canon priest Henri of Tournai, who wrote a ''

vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vit ...

'' of Eleutherius in 1141. At the end of the 11th century the Church of Tournai had been trying to become independent from the

diocese of Noyon The former French Catholic diocese of Noyon lay in the north-east of France, around Noyon. It was formed when Saint Medardus moved the seat of the bishopric at Vermandois to Noyon, in the sixth century. For four centuries it was united with the ...

, and Henri had been motivated by the need to prove the antiquity of the Church of Tournai. ''Catholic Online'' repeats the legend that a "group of

Arians Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

enraged by his preaching beat him severely He died some weeks later ic"www.catholic.org
Retrieved 29 July 2008 Henri's account states that Eleutherius was a native of Tournai who was born during the reign of

Childeric I Childeric I (; french: Childéric; la, Childericus; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Hildirīk''; – 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''rex ...

. Eleutherius' parents were Christians and were named Terenus and Blanda; Terenus was a descendant in the family of

Irenaeus of Lyons Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the deve ...

. Persecutions of Christians forced the family to flee to a village named ''Blandinium'' ( Blandain), but after the conversion of

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

to Christianity, the family built a church at Blandinium (Blandain). Eleutherius eventually became bishop of Tournai, and was consulted by

Pope Hormisdas Pope Hormisdas (450 – 6 August 523) was the bishop of Rome from 20 July 514 to his death. His papacy was dominated by the Acacian schism, started in 484 by Acacius of Constantinople's efforts to placate the Monophysites. His efforts to resolve ...

on the matter of eradicating

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

. Eleutherius convened a church council, and argued effectively against the Arians, who were angered by this. One day, as he was going to church, he was beaten up by a group of Arians and left for dead. He subsequently died from the wounds he received, on his death-bed confiding his flock to Medardus.

Veneration

There exists a testimony recording the recovery of his relics during the episcopate of Bishop Hedilo of Tournai, in 897 or 898. Bishop Baudoin

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

Eleutherius' relics in 1064 or 1065. Eleutherius' relics were translated again in 1247, when the great reliquary shrine was commissioned by Bishop Walter de Marvis. In its gable end St Eleutherius appears, holding his

crozier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

in one hand and in the other a model of the cathedral with its five spires. The monastery of St. Martin at Tournai and the

cathedral of Bruges The Saint-Salvator Cathedral is the cathedral of Bruges, Flanders, in present-day Belgium. The cathedral is dedicated to the ''Verrezen Zaligmaker'' (Dutch, 'risen saviour', cf. Latin ''salvator'', 'saviour') and Saint-Donatius of Reims. Histo ...

also claimed some of the saint's relics.

References

External links

St. Eleutherius
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleutherius of Tournai 532 deaths 6th-century Frankish bishops Bishops of Tournai 6th-century Frankish saints Year of birth unknown