Saint Bonitus (623–710) was born in France and held a number of important positions including being appointed governor of

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

in 667 and Bishop of Auvergne. He was also

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe. Pre-modern history The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byza ...

Francia The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest History of the Roman Empire, post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks, Frankish Merovingian dynasty, Merovingi ...

. He 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 ...

in 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 ...

and

Roman 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 ...

Life

Bonitus was born in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

, France and became chancellor to

Sigebert III Sigebert III ( 630–656) was the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian king of Austrasia from 633 to his death around 656. He was described as the first Merovingian ''roi fainéant'', or "do-nothing king", with the mayor of the palace in fact ruling ...

. the king of Austrasia; and by his zeal, religion, and justice, flourished in that kingdom under four kings. After the death of

Dagobert II Dagobert II (; ; died 679) was a Merovingian king of the Franks, ruling in Austrasia from 675 or 676 until his death. He is one of the more obscure Merovingians. He has been considered a martyr since at least the ninth century. None of the narrati ...

. Thierry III. made him governor of Marseilles and all Provence, in 680Butler, Alban. ''Lives of the Saints'', Vol. I, (1866)
/ref> He was known to be an intimate friend of Sigebert III and Genesius. His elder brother St. Avitus II,

bishop of Clermont The Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Claromontana''; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Clermont'') is a Latin Church, Latin archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the Departments of Fr ...

, in Auvergne, having recommended him for his successor, died in 689, and Bonitus was consecrated. He was known to have a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and is said to have experienced an apparition of her. Two years later, after having governed that see ten years, he had a scruple whether his election had been perfectly canonical; and having consulted St. Tilo, or Theau, then leading an eremitical life at Solignas, resigned his dignity. He retired for four years to the abbey of Manlieu, and after having made a pilgrimage to Rome, died of the

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

at Lyons on 15 January 710, being 86 years old.

References

''Catholic Online - Saint Bonitus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonitus 623 births 706 deaths 8th-century Frankish bishops Bishops of Clermont 7th-century Frankish bishops Bishops of Valence 7th-century Frankish saints 7th-century Christian saints 7th-century Frankish Christian clergy