Saint Pothinus (french: Saint Pothin) was the first bishop of Lyon and the first bishop of Gaul. He is first mentioned in a letter attributed to

Irenaeus of Lyon 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 d ...

. The letter was sent from the Christian communities of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

and Vienne to the

Roman province of Asia The Asia ( grc, Ἀσία) was a Roman province covering most of western Anatolia, which was created following the Roman Republic's annexation of the Attalid Kingdom in 133 BC. After the establishment of the Roman Empire by Augustus, it was ...

History

According to Irenaeus, Pothinus was born around the year 87, probably at

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...

. He was a disciple of

Polycarp Polycarp (; el, Πολύκαρπος, ''Polýkarpos''; la, Polycarpus; AD 69 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed ...

, bishop of Smyrna, and accompanied him to Rome in 158.''The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature''. (James Strong and John McClintock eds.); Harper and Brothers; NY; 1880
/ref>

Pope Anicetus Pope Anicetus was the bishop of Rome from c. 157 to his death in April 168.Campbell, Thomas (1907). "Pope St. Anicetus" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company. According to the ''Annuario Pontificio'', the sta ...

sent him to evangelize the Gauls. Pothinus established himself at Lyons, and founded there a flourishing Church, over which he presided for almost twenty years. In asserting his own authority as bishop of Lyon, Irenaeus says that Pothinus had been his predecessor in the position, and the first holder of that office. By 177, a large number of the Christians in the area of Vienne and Lyons were Greeks from Asia. A violent persecution was there against them while Pothinus was bishop of Lyons, and Irenæus, who had been sent there by

out of Asia, was a priest of that city. Pothinus died at the age of ninety, in about 177 AD,

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 ...

ed along with Alexander, Attalus, Espagathus, Maturus, and Sanctius, during

Persecution in Lyon The persecution in Lyon in AD 177 was a legendary persecution of Christians in Lugdunum, Roman Gaul (present-day Lyon, France), during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161–180). As there is no coeval account of this persecution the earliest so ...

during the tenure of Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

. Pothinus and several companions were seized by a mob and taken to the magistrate; Pothinus is believed to have died from the abuse he suffered in prison, while the others were killed by wild beasts in the local

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. The similarity of the name ''Pothinus'' and the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

verb ''foutre'' lead to syncretic amalgamation of Pothinus and

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical ter ...

,Elizabeth A. Chesney, ''The Rabelais Encyclopedia'', article on ''Saints, Imaginary'' under the assimilated name ''

Saint Foutin Foutin was a syncretic amalgam of Priapus with Pothinus, a figure of uncertain historicity alleged by Irenaeus to have been the first bishop of Lyon. The similarity of the name ''Pothinus'' and the Old French verb ''foutre'' led to linguistic a ...

''.

References

External links

Catholic Online: Pothinus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pothinus Bishops of Lyon 2nd-century bishops in Gaul 87 births 177 deaths 2nd-century Christian martyrs Gallo-Roman saints 2nd-century Gallo-Roman people

History

See also

References

External links