Andeolus or Andéol is an alleged Christian missionary martyred in Gaul.
Narrative
Andeolus was reportedly born in
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 promi ...
in the 2nd century. A deacon, he was sent by
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 ...
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 durin ...
. According to ''The Passio of Saint Benignus'', they were shipwrecked on Corsica but managed to make their way to Marseilles. From there they travelled up the Rhone River and the Saône, reaching Autun, they converted Symphorianus, son of the noble Faustus. Symphorianus was later martyred for his faith as Saint
Symphorian
:''Symphorian is also the name of one of the Four Crowned Martyrs. For various places in France and Belgium, see Saint-Symphorien.''
Symphorian (Symphorianus, Symphorien), Timotheus (Timothy), and Hippolytus of Rome are three Christian martyrs ...
. Andeolus then went to the
Vivarais
Vivarais (; oc, Vivarés; la, Vivariensis provincia{{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of ...
.
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succ ...
, passing through that region, had him put to death. He was executed on May 1, 208, at Bergoiata, a Gallic settlement on a rocky peak over the
Rhône River
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
which would be later known as Bourg-Saint-Andéol. The body, thrown into the Rhone, was later found and placed in a
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...
by a rich Roman woman, Anycia or Amycia Eucheria Tullia (Blessed Tullie), daughter of senator Eucherius Valerianus ( Eucherius of Lyon).
A sarcophagus, purported to be that of Andeolus, was rediscovered in 1865 during excavations in the St. Polycarp chapel of the eleventh-century church in Bourg-Saint-Andéol (
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Johann Peter Kirsch says that while it is an historical fact that Benignus suffered martyrdom in a persecution of the third century and was publicly honored as a martyr, early in the sixth century no particulars concerning the person and life of Benignus were known at Dijon.
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (; 13 September 1843 – 21 April 1922) was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions.
Life
Descended from a family of Breton sailor ...
has shown that these accounts are part of a group of legends which arose in the early years of the sixth century and were intended to demonstrate the early the beginnings of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
in the cities of that region (
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerla ...
,
Autun
Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give ...
Valence
Valence or valency may refer to:
Science
* Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms
* Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory
* Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...
). "They are historically unreliable, and the very existence of some of the martyrs connected with these places is doubtful."Duchesne, ''Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule'', I, pp 51–62. Kirsch says, "They are all falsifications by the same hand and possess no historical value." Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Benignus of Dijon." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.