Contentius (died 510) was bishop of Bayeux from 480 until his death. He is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and Orthodox saint. His feast day is 19 January.

Biography

According to Father Elie, he was Bayeusain, and his hermitage was located at Blay, near Bayeux. His great reputation for holiness brought him many visits from

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

s who came to him for spiritual comfort. However, the inhabitants managed to have him named bishop of Bayeux to succeed Saint Manvieu.Les saints normands - Manoelle Miquel-Regnauld - Éditions Charles Corlet - 2003 - () In this function he fought against the idolatry that still existed in this country, as well as against the nobles who traded it. He has been attributed several

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s, one of which, on the way to Sees, he made water from the ground to Athis-de-l'Orne to quench his companions. He died in 513. First buried in the church of Saint-Exupére, he was transferred in 1162 to the Benedictine abbey of Fécamp. His relics were then transported to Argentan where they escaped the Huguenots in 1562. The translation of his right femur in the church of Saint-Contest was done in 1896 during a great ceremony. A municipality of the Caen conurbation is called

Saint-Contest Saint-Contest () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Administration Mayors of Saint-Contest International relations Saint-Contest is twinned with: * Marchwood, near Southa ...

and a town of Mayenne is called Contest.

Notes

510 deaths Bishops of Bayeux 5th-century Frankish bishops 6th-century Frankish bishops 6th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown {{France-bishop-stub