Brice of Tours (; 370 444 AD) was a 5th-century Frankish bishop, the fourth
Bishop of Tours
The Archdiocese of Tours (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd century, while the formal erection of the diocese dates from the 5th century.
The ecclesiastical p ...
, succeeding
Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third French Republic, Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hung ...
in 397.
Background
Brice was a contemporary of
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
and lived in the time of the
Council of Ephesus
The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...
. Gaul was part of the Roman Empire, where Christianity was the official state religion since the end of the 4th century, and was in the process of advanced Christianization. However, the
Western Roman Empire
In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
was already very close to collapse, and in the course of the migration of peoples in the fifth century, various Germanic empires formed; the time was politically rather uncertain.
Early life
According to legend, Brice was an orphan. He was rescued by
Bishop Martin and raised in the
monastery at Marmoutier.
[Monks of Ramsgate. “Brixius”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 7 September 2012. Web]
/ref> He became Martin's pupil, although the ambitious and volatile Brice was rather the opposite of his master in temperament. Brice became a monk and later, Martin's archdeacon.[Butler, Alban. "Saint Brice, Bishop and Confessor". ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints'', 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 13 November 2013]
/ref>
In one account, when Martin prophesied that Brice would become his successor as bishop, but would have many difficulties. The clerics of Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
, where the thought of such a bishop did not arouse enthusiasm, asked Martin to send the troublemaker away; but Martin replied: "If Christ could put up with Judas, why should I not put up with Brice?"[DiPippo, Grergory. "The Feast of St Brice, St Martin’s Bad Disciple", New Liturgical Movement, 13 November 2015]
/ref> It is said that Brice left the monastery "to live with beautiful horses in his stables and pretty slaves in his house."
Career
When Martin died in 397, Brice succeeded him as Bishop of Tours. Brice performed his duties, but was also said to succumb to worldly pleasures. He was repeatedly accused of secular ambition, and various other mistakes during this time, but church official investigations each time released him.
In the thirtieth year of his episcopate, a nun who was a washerwoman in his household gave birth to a child that, owing to calumny, was rumored to be his.[ He submitted to a ritual of carrying hot coals in his cloak to the tomb of St. Martin, showing the unburned cloak as proof of his innocence. The people of Tours, however, did not believe him and forced him to leave Tours or be stoned by them. He could return only after he had traveled to Rome and been absolved of his sins by the Pope.][
After seven years of exile in Rome, Brice returned to Tours, completely exonerated by the pope.][ During his absence several other bishops had been appointed to Tours; but when he came back, the last of them had just died and Brice resumed his duties. He built a chapel dedicated to Saints ]Peter
Peter may refer to:
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* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
and Paul
Paul may refer to:
People
* Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people
* Paul (surname), a list of people
* Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament
* Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
to protect the tomb of his predecessor Martin.
He served with such humility that on his death in November 444 he was venerated as a saint.
Veneration
Brice is described in various biographies as a controversial figure. Church historians see in the various relevant legends an expression of the tensions between the regular clergy and the secular priests in Tours at that time. His bones were transferred by Gregory of Tours to Clermont and are now in the church of San Michele in Pavia. Churches were named after him.
Feast day
His memorial day is 13 November. The killing of the Danes in England on 13 November 1002 is called the St Brice's Day massacre
The St. Brice's Day massacre was a mass killing of Danes within England on 13 November 1002, on the order of King Æthelred the Unready of England. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle relates that the massacre was carried out in response to an accusation th ...
.
In the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, 13 November, St Brice's Day, was traditionally the day that a bull-running took place.
Iconography
Brice is depicted as a bishop, with glowing coals in his robe or with a baby in his arms.
Notes
References
Sources
* Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.
Life
Almost all that we know of Se ...
: ''Dialogi III, 15''
online
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brice Of Tours
370s births
444 deaths
5th-century bishops in Gaul
Bishops of Tours
5th-century Christian saints
Year of birth uncertain
Gallo-Roman saints