Saint Saturninus of Toulouse (Saint Sernin)

The Passio sancti Saturnini

The main narrative document is the Passio sancti Saturnini. According to Quitterie and Daniel Cazes, specialists of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, this text was composed "for the most part in the first quarter of the 5th century".^[7] It ranks among the oldest documents of the Gallic Church to have come down to us.

The passion tells of the martyrdom of the bishop of Toulouse under the persecution of Decius (249-251). The pagan priests of the city blame the silence of their oracles on the presence of the Christian bishop; they demand that he sacrifice a bull. When he refuses, he is bound by the feet to the animal, which drags him down the steps of the Capitol. His head is shattered on the stone. The body is gathered by Christian women, the holy Puellae, and buried in a wooden coffin, in a deep pit.^[8][9]

Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours (538-594) is the second major witness. In the Historia Francorum (written between 573 and 594), he reports that under the reign of the emperor Decius, seven bishops were sent to Gaul: Gatian to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austremonius to Auvergne and Martial to Limoges. He adds that "the city of Toulouse had as its first and greatest bishop Saint Saturninus".^[10]

In De gloria martyrum no. 47, Gregory notes that Saturninus is said to have been ordained by disciples of the apostles, then sent to Toulouse, where he was bound to the feet of a bull and thrown down from the Capitol.^[11]

Gregory thus sums up the rank of Saturninus at Toulouse:

"The city of Toulouse had as its first and greatest bishop Saint Saturninus."^[12]

A partial historicity

The fact of the martyrdom of a bishop named Saturninus at Toulouse in the 3rd century is ancient and solidly attested: the tomb was venerated very early, a cult grew up around it, and two 6th-century authors mention it independently of the passion. The detailed circumstances, on the other hand (speeches before the pagans, dialogue with the priests of the temple, intervention of the holy Puellae), belong to the hagiographical literature of the 5th century.^[13][14]

Several points remain unverified or debated:

• The exact date of death: around 250 (under Decius) or around 257 according to other chronologies.
• The sending of Saturninus by Pope Fabian is flagged as "citation needed" in the French notice.
• Gregory of Tours's list of the seven bishops blends heterogeneous traditions: Alain Tallon and Catherine Vincent note that the tradition about Trophimus predates the persecution of Decius, which calls for caution about the simultaneity of the mission.^[15]

Arrival in a pagan city

In the mid-3rd century, Toulouse is an important Roman city, dominated by its Capitol, temple of the Capitoline triad. The Christian community there is still small. According to tradition, Saturninus holds the episcopal office there and preaches the Gospel.^[16][17]

The passion account sets the drama in the temple itself: the pagan priests observe that their oracles have fallen silent since the arrival of the Christian bishop. They blame him for this silence and demand that he appease the gods with a sacrifice. Saturninus refuses.^[18]

The martyrdom

Upon this refusal, he is bound by the feet to a bull destined for sacrifice. The animal, released from the steps of the Capitol, drags him down the slope. The bishop's head is shattered on the stone: he dies on the spot.^[19][20][21]

Christian women, called in tradition the holy Puellae ("holy women"), gather the body and give it an honorable burial. They lay it in a wooden coffin, placed in a deep pit, away from the city, to shield it from desecration.^[22][23]

Place names in Toulouse

Two street names in Toulouse preserve the memory of this tradition:

• The rue du Taur (lo Taur, "the Bull") and the church of Notre-Dame du Taur, where tradition holds the animal came to a halt.
• Matabiau: a late legend read it as "Mata-biau" ("kill him, the ox"). This etymology is refuted: buou means "ox" in Occitan, and the name more likely comes from the medieval slaughterhouses of the district.^[24]

In 1993, excavations under the car park of Place Esquirol located the site of the ancient Capitol, giving the martyrdom account a credible topographical setting.^[25]

The first oratory

According to tradition, Hilary of Poitiers (4th century) had a brick vault or oratory built over the tomb of Saturninus. The identification of this oratory with the church of Notre-Dame du Taur is a local tradition; the 1969-1970 excavations found no early Christian remains there.^[26]

The translation of 402

In 402, under the episcopate of Silvius (Silvanus), the relics of Saint Saturninus were transferred from the original pit to a church in the city. The translation was completed under the successor of Silvius, Exuperius, who placed the relics in the basilica that became Saint-Sernin.^[27][28]

The remains of the martyr were kept at the crossing, before the altar, until 1284. The crypt of the present Romanesque Basilica of Saint-Sernin still preserves the memory of this tomb today.^[29]

The Basilica of Saint-Sernin

The Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, a major Romanesque building of the 11th and 12th centuries, was built around the tomb of the martyr. It became one of the great pilgrimage sites on the Way of Saint James in France. The present building is much later than the first oratory, but the continuity of worship is unbroken.^[30][31]

In 1998, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France: it ranks among the great French stages of the pilgrimage, recognizable by its octagonal bell tower towering over the city. Built for the most part between 1080 and 1120, it is considered the largest surviving Romanesque building in Europe, famed for the richness of its Romanesque sculpture.^[32]

Patron of Toulouse

Saint Saturninus is the patron of the city and diocese of Toulouse. His name spread across France in many forms: Sernin, Savournin, Sorlin, Cernin, so many family names and place names that keep the memory of the martyr alive.^[33]

Feast

He is celebrated on 29 November: this is the date kept both by the liturgical calendar and by the saints-of-the-day calendar.^[34][35] Each year, the diocese of Toulouse honors in him its first bishop and patron, and the basilica that has guarded his tomb for more than sixteen centuries stands at the heart of this memory.^[36]

Iconography

He is most often depicted in art:

• As a bishop, with mitre and crozier, befitting his office as first shepherd of Toulouse.
• As a martyr, bound by the feet to a bull, a scene taken from the passion account.
• Sometimes surrounded by the holy Puellae gathering his body.

The miniature in the Vignay manuscript (14th century) preserves one of the early depictions of the martyrdom, showing the bishop dragged by the bull.

The historical core is solid: a bishop named Saturninus lived at Toulouse in the 3rd century, suffered martyrdom there, and his tomb was venerated very early. Gregory of Tours and the Passio attest to it, and the Basilica of Saint-Sernin has preserved the memory for more than sixteen hundred years.^[37][38][39]

What cannot be affirmed with certainty:

1. The exact date of death: around 250 (under Decius) or around 257.
2. The detailed circumstances of the martyrdom, which belong to the 5th-century hagiographical writing.
3. The missioning by Pope Fabian, flagged as unverified in the French notice.
4. The simultaneity of the missioning of Gregory of Tours's seven bishops, a list blending traditions from different periods.

We have added no detail to the record: no invented speech, no marvel reported beyond what the cited sources state.

• Saint Martin of Tours: another great witness of the Church in Gaul, whose mission belongs to the same setting as that of Saturninus.
• Saint Remigius of Reims: bishop in Gaul at the turn of antiquity and the early Middle Ages.