Nazarius of Milan

When did Nazarius live?

Nazarius of Milan is dated martyr of Milan; date uncertain (trad. 1st c.), relics found by Ambrose c. AD 395 in the archive, which places Nazarius in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

Which early sources mention Nazarius?

Nazarius of Milan is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paulinus of Milan and The Hieronymian compilers. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Nazarius from?

The archive associates Nazarius of Milan with Milan.

Who were Nazarius’ contemporaries?

The archive links Nazarius of Milan to 2 other figures, including Ambrose of Milan and Celsus. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

[First attested ~330 years after the traditional martyrdom, at the finding of the relics.] The body of the holy martyr Nazarius, which lay in a garden outside the city, was taken up and translated to the basilica of the Apostles... and we saw in the tomb the martyr's blood as fresh as if it had been shed that very day, and his head, cut off by the impious, so whole and incorrupt that it seemed but now washed and laid to rest.