St. Perpetuus

St. Perpetuus

Eighth Bishop of Tours, d. 1 January, or 8 December, 490, or 8 April, 491. He was a member of the illustrious family which produced St. Eustachius, who had been his predecessor, and also St. Volusianus, who became his successor in the same episcopal see. Appointed about 460, he guided the Church of Tours for thirty years, and it is apparent, from what little information we have, that during his administration Christianity was considerably developed and consolidated in Touraine. Shortly after his elevation, St. Perpetuus presided at a council in which eight bishops who were reunited in Tours on the Feast of St. Martin had participated, and at this assembly an important rule was promulgated relative to ecclesiastical discipline. He maintained a careful surveillance over the conduct of the clergy of his diocese, and mention is made of priests who were removed from their office because they had proved unworthy. He built monasteries and various churches, but above all he desired to replace by a beautiful basilica (470) the little chapel that Saint Britius had constructed, to protect the tomb of St. Martin. The will of St. Perpetuus was published for the first time in 1661 by Dom Luc d'Achery in his "Spicilegium". This curious historical monument belonging to the end of the fifth century gives us an excellent idea of the sanctity of its author.

BARONIUS, Ann. (1595), 47-52, 482; BOURASSE, Le testament de S. Perpetue, eveque de Tours, in Bull. de la Soc. arch. de Touraine, II (Tours, 1871-3), 256; CEILLIER, Hist. gen. des auteurs sacr. et eccl., XV (Paris, 1748), 189-95; HENSCHENIUS, in Act. SS. Bolland. (1675), Apr., I, 748-52; Hist. litt. de la France, II (Paris, 1735), 619-27; ROBOTTI DEL FISCALE, Cenni stor. intorno al glor. vescovo di Tours, S. Perpetuo (Alessandria, 1859); TILLEMONT, Mem. pour servir a l'hist. eccles., XVI (Paris, 1712), 770-3.

LEON CLUGNET