Cassian, or Saint Cassian of Imola, or Cassius was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

saint of the 4th century. His feast day is August 13.

Life

Little is known about his life, although the traditional accounts converge on some of the details of his martyrdom. He was a schoolmaster at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, but rather than sacrifice to the Roman gods, as so ordered by the current emperor,

Julian the Apostate Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism ...

, he was condemned to death and turned over to his own pupils. Since they were eager for revenge for the many punishments he had inflicted on them, they bound him to a stake and tortured him to death by stabbing him with their pointed iron

styli A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to e ...

, the devices then used to mark wooden or wax writing tablets. Cassian suffered in one of the persecutions of the fourth century, but in which cannot be assigned with any certainty. He was interred by the Christians at Imola, where afterwards his relics were honoured with a rich mausolæum. His traditional date of martyrdom is August 13, 363, hence August 13 is his feast day on the Roman calendar. Cassian is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

(Italy),

Sukošan Sukošan is a village and a municipality in Zadar County, Croatia. It is located between the cities of Zadar and Biograd na Moru. Geography Sukošan is a holiday resort, with a long coastline, numerous coves and clear sea. Situated in a bay, ...

(

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

), and of parish clerks. Comacchio Cathedral and

Cathedral of Brixen The Cathedral of Brixen (, ) is a cathedral in the city of Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to Cassian of Imola. Since the foundation it has been the episcopal see of the Diocese of Bri ...

are dedicated to him. He is also the patron saint of the localities of

San Casciano in Val di Pesa San Casciano in Val di Pesa is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence. San Casciano in Val di Pesa borders the following municipalities; Greve in Chiant ...

and

San Casciano dei Bagni San Casciano dei Bagni is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about southeast of Siena. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful vill ...

(both Italy) and Las Galletas (

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

St Cassian's Centre St Cassian's Centre is a Catholic Youth Retreat Centre in the village of Kintbury in the English county of Berkshire. It is owned and operated by the Ireland, Great Britain and Malta District of the de La Salle brothers. The centre was set up ...

is named for him.

Cultural references

In the novel ''

A Confederacy of Dunces ''A Confederacy of Dunces'' is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which reached publication in 1980, eleven years after Toole's death. Published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a foreword) ...

'' by

John Kennedy Toole John Kennedy Toole (; December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose posthumously published novel, '' A Confederacy of Dunces'', won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. At 16 in 1954, Toole ...

, protagonist Ignatius Reilly informs one of his professors that "St. Cassian of Imola was stabbed to death by his students with their styli," a holy death that his professor would not merit.

Annie Dillard Annie Dillard (née Doak; born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and nonfiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memo ...

also makes reference to him in her 1992 novel ''The Living.'' Bethel College had a ''Cassianus Lounge'' in the faculty offices area. The German jurist

Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, author, and political theorist. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of ...

, named the place in which he spent his late years (in Plettenberg) as "San Casciano". According to the common opinion (for the own Schmitt, the most obvious interpretation), this referred to some place near

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

(called San Casciano) in which Machiavelli spent the time during which he wrote some of his most influential works. In

Ride the Cyclone ''Ride the Cyclone'' is a 2008 musical with music, lyrics and book by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell. It is the second installment in Richmond's "Uranium Teen Scream Trilogy", a collection of three theatrical works, one not yet written, that t ...

, a 2008 musical with a 2016

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

run, the cast of deceased students are all members of the fictional St. Cassian High School Chamber Choir.

References

External links

A Patron Saint of Teachers

San Cassiano di Imola
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassian Of Imola 4th-century births 363 deaths Bishops of Brescia People from the Metropolitan City of Bologna Saints from Roman Italy 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Deaths by stabbing in Italy