Saint Maximus of Évreux (died ca. 385), called Saint Mauxe locally, is venerated as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

. His legend states that he was the second bishop of Évreux, and that he died a martyr at

Acquigny Acquigny () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. The 16th century Château d'Acquigny is located here. Population See also *Communes of the Eure department The following is a list of the 585 communes of th ...

with his brother, who was his

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

. His brother is called Venerandus (Vénérand) or Victorinus.St. Maximus & Victorinus - Catholic Online
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Legend

Their legend states that they were natives of

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. Maximus was a bishop and Victorinus was a deacon. They attempted to make converts to Christianity amongst the ranks of the barbarian armies, but failed. The brothers were sent by

Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384), also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. It is claimed that he presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list ...

to preach in

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

instead, to continue the work of Saint Taurinus (Taurin) in the region. Taurinus is considered the first bishop of Évreux. They traveled to Gaul with two priests, Mark and Etherius, passing through

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km southeast from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second la ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

until they reached Évreux, where Maximus became bishop (the years of his episcopate are sometimes given as 411–440, which conflict with the traditional date of his martyrdom). At Acquigny they were captured by either pagans or Arians and were

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

. Mark and Etherius escaped. They returned to bury the two brothers. Etherius later became bishop of Évreux.Saint of the Day, May 25
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

Veneration

Their

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

were re-discovered around 960 by a man named Amalbert. He attempted to carry the relics off, leaving behind only the heads of Maximus and Victorinus. However, as he was crossing the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

near Fontenelle Abbey, he fell sick. He left the relics at the monastery, where

Richard I of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln, Europäische S ...

built a chapel to house them. The relics were later burnt by the

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

. The saints’ heads, however, remained at Acquigny. A

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

church was built over their tomb, but it fell into decay. The relics were translated to the parish church and deposited under the high altar. The saints were invoked against

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

in 1559, 1615 and 1726, when they were carried after the head of Saint Swithun. A sanctuary dedicated to him may have existed from the fifth century. In the forest of Bizy, at Vernon, one can see the supposed tomb of Maximus. It carries the inscription: "This monument of piety was restored by the Duchess of Orleans. 1816." On its southern face is a carved image of a saint carrying the

crozier A crozier or crosier (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 ...

of a bishop. The monument is very degraded.

Notes

Image:Chapelle st mauxe.jpg, Chapel of Saint-Mauxe at Acquigny. Image:Tombeau saint mauxe2.jpg, Tomb of Saint Maximus in the forest of Vernon. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maximus Of Evreux 4th-century bishops in Gaul Bishops of Évreux 380s deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown