Saints Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus (Meleusippus) (died AD) are venerated as

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 ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

s. Their legend states that Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus were

Cappadocian The Cappadocian Greeks (; ), or simply Cappadocians, are an ethnic Greek community native to the geographical region of Cappadocia in central-eastern Anatolia; roughly the Nevşehir and Kayseri provinces and their surroundings in modern-day Turk ...

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of a multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such births ...

who were martyred under

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

Legend

Their eldest sister Leonilla was killed with them. Alternatively, Leonilla is stated to have been their grandmother and Junilla their mother, according to the ''Roman Martyrology''. The author of their ''Acts'' is called Saint Neo or Neon, who was himself a martyr.

Relics

In 490, their purported

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 translated to St. Mammès' Cathedral, Langres. A church at Langres also containing their relics bears the name of

Saints-Geosmes Saints-Geosmes () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune Balesmes-sur-Marne was merged into Saints-Geosmes.Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

and the church of Saint Guy in

Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inha ...

. The Diocese of Langres honors as saints a number of martyrs who, according to the St. Benignus legend, died in the persecution of Marcus Aurelius: the triplets, Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus; St. Neo their hagiographer, St. Leonilla, their grandmother (or possibly, sister), and St. Junilla, their mother.Goyau, Georges. "Langres." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2015
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Notes

External links

Saints of January 17: Speusippus, Eleusippus, Meleusippus & Leonilla
Saints trios 175 deaths 2nd-century Christian martyrs Cappadocia (Roman province) Triplets Year of birth unknown Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era {{Saint-stub