Gerontius (, died 5 May 465) was

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

from 462 to 465. He is honoured 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

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 ...

and his feast day is 5 May.

Life

Almost nothing is known about the life and the episcopate of Gerontius. He was a pupil of the previous bishop

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

who suggested his name as his successor. Thus Gerontius was elected bishop of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in about 462. According to the writings of Ennodius, bishop of

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

in early 6th-century, Gerontius was distinguished for his generosity and charity during the difficult years of reconstruction after the devastating invasion of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

occurred in 452. Gerontius during his episcopate went on rebuilding many secondary churches destroyed by the Huns. Gerontius died on 5 May 465 and his remains were interred in the city's Basilica of St. Simplician. His

feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

is celebrated on his death date. A late tradition, with no historical basis, associates Gerontius with the Milanese family of Bascapé.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerontius 01 Of Milan, Archbishop Archbishops of Milan 465 deaths 5th-century Christian saints Saints from Roman Italy Year of birth unknown