Saturninus of Toulouse

When did Saturninus die?

Saturninus of Toulouse is dated d. c. AD 257 (martyr) in the archive, which places Saturninus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). 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 Saturninus?

Saturninus of Toulouse is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from The Gallic hagiographer, The Hieronymian compilers and Gregory of Tours. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Saturninus from?

The archive associates Saturninus of Toulouse with Toulouse.

Who were Saturninus’ contemporaries?

The archive links Saturninus of Toulouse to 4 other figures, including Emperor Decius, Denis of Paris, Trophimus of Arles and Gatianus of Tours. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

[The passio tells of Saturninus bound to a bull at the Capitol of Toulouse and dragged down the temple steps to his death.]

The Passio Sancti Saturnini, passion of the first bishop of Toulouse, composed in Gaul probably in the fifth century — the earliest narrative source for the martyr and for the church of Toulouse. Edited in the Acta Sanctorum, November vol. 4; discussed in Louis Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule I (2nd edn, 1907). No public-domain English translation exists.

[First attested ~340 years later — Gregory of Tours, writing c. 594, is the earliest record of the mission he dates to the age of Decius.] At this time seven men were ordained as bishops and sent into the Gauls to preach… These bishops were sent: bishop Catianus to Tours; bishop Trophimus to Arles; bishop Paul to Narbonne; bishop Saturninus to Toulouse; bishop Dionisius to Paris; bishop Stremonius to Clermont; bishop Martial to Limoges.