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Hilary of Arles

Hilary of Arles

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Saint Hilary of Arles (c. 403-449) was a bishop of Arles.

In early youth he entered the abbey
Abbey
An abbey , is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....

 of Lérins
Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....

 then presided over by his kinsman Honoratus (Saint Honoré), and succeeded Honoratus in the bishopric of Arles in 429. Following the example of St Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , Bishop of Hippo Regius, also known as St. Augustine or St. Austin, was an Algerian Berber philosopher and theologian....

, he is said to have organized his cathedral clergy into a "congregation," devoting a great part of their time to social exercises of ascetic religion. He held the rank of metropolitan of Vienne
Vienne
Vienne is a département of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese History :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution...

 and Narbonne
Narbonne
Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon région. It lies from Paris in the Aude département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and attempted to exercise the sort of primacy over the church of south Gaul
Gaul
Gaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...

, which seemed implied in the vicariate granted to his predecessor Patroclus of Arles (417).

Hilarius deposed the bishop of Besançon, Chelidonus, for ignoring this primacy, and for claiming a metropolitan dignity for Besançon. An appeal was made to Rome, and Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I, or Pope Saint Leo the Great , was pope from 29 September, 440 to 10 November, 461.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the earliest pope of the Roman Catholic Church to have received the title "the Great"...

 used it to extinguish the Gallican vicariate (AD. 444). Hilarius was deprived of his rights to consecrate bishops, call synod
Synod
A synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...

s, or oversee the church in the province, and the pope secured the edict
Edict
An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...

 of Valentinian III
Valentinian III
Flavius Placidus Valentinianus , known in English as Valentinian III, was among the last Western Roman Emperors .-Family:...

, so important in the history of the Gallican church, "ut episcopis Gallicanis omnibusque pro lege esset quidquid apostolicae sedis auctoritas sanxisset." The papal claims were made imperial law, and violation of them subject to legal penalties (Novellae Valent. iii. tit. 16).

Hilarius died in 449, and his name was later introduced into the Roman martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a belief, usually religious.-Meaning:...

ology for commemoration on May 5. During his lifetime he had a great reputation for learning and eloquence as well as for piety
Piety
In spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue. While different people may understand its meaning differently, it is generally used to refer either to religious devotion or to spirituality, or often, a combination of both...

; his extant works (Vita S. Honorati Arelatensis episcopi and Metrum in Genesin) compare favourably with any similar literary productions of that period.

A poem, De providentia, usually included among the writings of Prosper of Aquitaine
Prosper of Aquitaine
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine , a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.- Life :...

, is sometimes attributed to Hilary of Arles.

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