Saint Ansanus () (died 304 AD), called ''The Baptizer'' or ''The Apostle of Siena'', is the

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

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, a scion of the Anician family of Rome.

Legend

His legend states that he was born of a noble Roman family in the third century. While still a child, Ansanus was secretly baptized by his nurse Maxima (venerated as ''St. Maxima of Rome'') and was secretly brought up as a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Ansanus openly declared his Christian faith during the persecutions of Diocletian, when he was nineteen years old. According to tradition, St. Ansanus preached the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

in Bagnoregio (then Bagnorea) and the church of Santa Maria delle Carceri outside the Alban Gate was said to have been built above the prison in which he was confined. According to tradition, Ansanus and Maxima were scourged; Maxima died from this. Ansanus, however, survived this torture, as well as the next one: being thrown into a pot of boiling oil. He was then taken to the city of Siena as a prisoner. He managed to preach Christianity there and make many converts to this religion. He was decapitated by order of Roman Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

. It is also said that his own father denounced him to the authorities, but Ansanus managed to escape, and converted many at Bagnorea and later at Siena.

Veneration

He was venerated as one of the patron saints of Siena. He is depicted in the '' Maestà'' of

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

References

Sources

External links

Saint of the Day, December 1: ''Ansanus the Baptizer''
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''
Sant’Ansano di Siena

at th
Christian Iconography
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansanus 304 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans History of Siena 290s births Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian