Leontius of Trier

Leontius (also Legontius ) († 446 /447) was in the first half of the 5th century bishop of Trier . He is venerated as a saint.

Life

Leontius probably became bishop of Trier after 419. The bishop is named in two testimonies from 444 and 445. Eugen Ewig identified him with the second successor to Bishop Felix von Trier . Because of his age and righteousness, Leo the Great installed him as the senior chairman (honorary senator) in bishopric elections in Gaul . Emperor Valentinian III. has confirmed this. He also played a role in the clashes between Hilary of Arles and Chelidonius of Besançon .

He probably died in 446 or 447. According to a local legend, he is said to have died in Béarn-Lesca .

Afterlife

By the 10th century at the latest, Leontius was venerated as a saint in the Trier area . A vita does not exist. In the Egbert Psalter from the 10th century he is named as Bishop of Trier. There he is also shown pictorially. At the beginning of the 12th century it was believed that the bishop was buried in the St. Paulin Abbey near Trier. Abbot Thietmar got permission to look for the relics and bring them to the Helmarshausen monastery . Since the grave could not be found, the abbot returned with St. Moduald . A few years later the grave was found and the relics were now transferred to Schaffhausen Monastery . The stone coffin in the church, later interpreted as the sarcophagus of Leontius, should not have been the burial site.

literature

• Franz-Josef Heyen: The St. Paulin Abbey in front of Trier. Berlin, New York, 1972 (Germania Sacra NF 6, 1), pp. 284-289

Web links

• Entry on saarland-biographien.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Friedrich Prinz: European foundations of German history (4th-8th centuries). In: Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte , 10th edition, Stuttgart 2004, p. 399.

predecessor	Office	successor
Mauricius	Bishop of Trier 414–445	Severus