Simplician (; ) was

Bishop 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 Ambr ...

from 397 to 400 or 401 AD. 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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Churches and his feast day is August 14.

Life

Simplician was born about 320 probably in Rome and still young he became a churchman. He became expert in the

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

and very educated. In about 355 he took an active part in the conversion to Christianity of the philosopher

Marius Victorinus Gaius Marius Victorinus (also known as Victorinus Afer; ) was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician and Neoplatonic philosopher. Victorinus was African by birth and experienced the height of his career during the reign of Constantius II. He is also k ...

. When in 374

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

was elected bishop of Milan and

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

, Simplician became his teacher of doctrine. Ambrose used to call Simplician ''father'', as a sign of spiritual relationship. Probably in this period Simplician moved to

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 ...

where he remained. Simplician took also an active part in the conversions of both

Alypius of Thagaste Alypius of Thagaste was bishop of the see of Thagaste (in present-day Algeria) in 394. He was a lifelong friend of Augustine of Hippo and joined him in his conversion (in 386; ''Confessions'' 8.12.28) and life in Christianity. He is credited wi ...

and

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 ...

. The meeting between Augustine and Simplican occurred in Milan in 386 and it is recorded in Augustine's Confessions. After his conversion, Augustine also called Simplician ''father'', and in 397 he dedicated to Simplician two books on the issue of

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

, known as ''De Diversis Quaestionibus ad Simplicianum''. On his deathbed, Ambrose supported Simplician as his own successor, stating that Simplician was ''"old but good"''. Thus in April 397, the aged Simplician was elected bishop of Milan, at that time capital of 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. ...

. The most important act of his episcopate was the receipt in Milan of the relics of the three martyrs

Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander Vigilius of Trent (, ; c. 353 – 26 June 405) is venerated as the patron saint and bishop of Trent. He should not be confused with the pope of the same name. Life According to tradition, he was a Roman patrician, the son of Maxentia and a ...

, sent from

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

by the bishop Vigilius. Simplician was asked to judge some doctrinal statements by the

Council of Carthage (397) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Early centers of Christianity#Carthage, Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, as ...

and by the

First Council of Toledo The First Council of Toledo was held at Toledo, Spain, in September of 400. The council was assembled under Archbishop Patronus with its primary purpose to condemn the Priscillian heresy, to receive back Priscillians, and uphold the Nicene Creed. ...

. He also consecrated

Gaudentius of Novara Saint Gaudentius (fl. end of 4th century-early 5th century) was a bishop of Novara, considered the first of that city. Tradition states that he was born to a pagan family at Ivrea, and was then converted to Christianity by Eusebius of Vercelli. So ...

a bishop, and according to the 13th-century writer Goffredo of Bussero, he organized the texts of the Ambrosian liturgy. Simplician's feast day was anciently set on 15 August, together with the feast of the

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

to Milan of the relics of Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander; so his death was deemed to have been on 15 August 400; but probably Simplician died between the end of 400 and the first half of 401. Simplician's feast day was later moved to 16 August so as not to conflict with the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

, and with the reform of the

Ambrosian Rite The Ambrosian Rite () is a Latin liturgical rites, Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church (specifically The Divine Liturgy of Saint Ambrose). The ritual family, rite is named after Ambrose, Saint Ambrose, a b ...

that occurred after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

his feast day was moved to 14 August. Simplician was initially buried in the church of Saint

Nabor and Felix Nabor and Felix ( ) were Christian martyrs thought to have been killed during the Great Persecution under the Roman emperor Diocletian. A tomb in Milan is believed to contain their relics. Legend In the apocryphal ''"Acts of Saints Nabor and Fel ...

in Milan and later translated, perhaps on 15 August, to the ''Basilica Virginum'' ("Basilica of the Virgins") which was renamed in his honor; now it is known as Basilica of St. Simplician. In 1582 St

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a cardinal in 1560. Borromeo founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and was ...

, the cardinal archbishop of Milan, ordered a canonical recognition of Simplicianus' remains who were tumulated under the major altar and then his holy relics were translated during a solemn procession to the odiern temple.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simplician 01 Of Milan, Archbishop Bishops of Milan 400 deaths 4th-century Christian saints Italian saints Year of birth unknown