Romulus of Fiesole

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Romulus of Fiesole
birth_date=
death_date= ~90 AD
feast_day= July 6
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


imagesize= 250px
caption= "Saint Romulus, Cathedral of Fiesole."
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death_place=
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beatified_date=
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attributes= depicted with a wolf due to confusion with the legend of Romulus and Remus [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91328 San Romolo di Fiesole ] ] ; bishop with an arrow broken above his breast; depicted at martyrdom of 4 companions or enthroned among four martyrshttp://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0706.htm]
patronage= Fiesole
major_shrine= Cathedral of Fiesole
suppressed_date=
issues=

Saint Romulus of Fiesole ( _it. San Romolo) is venerated as the patron saint of Fiesole, Italy. Romulus was probably a local deacon, priest, or bishop of the fourth century.

According to tradition, he was a disciple of Saint Peter and had been converted to Christianity by the apostle. This tradition states that Romulus became the first bishop of Fiesole and was martyred during the reign of Domitian along with four companions: Carissimus, Dulcissimus, Marchis(i)anus, and Crescentius.

He was not named as a bishop or martyr in documents dating from 966 AD; however, a document from 1028 names him as such. From then on, Romulus was considered a martyred bishop of Fiesole, and his companions were named as Carissimus, Dulcissimus, Marchis(i)anus (Marchiziano), and Crescentius. Their feast day was listed as July 6 in the 1468 Florentine edition of the Martyrology of Usuard, and in the 16th century, his name began to appear in the "Roman Martyrology", where he was named as a disciple of St. Peter.

As Antonio Borrelli remarks, sometimes between the end of the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh, Romulus was “upgraded” from being considered a Confessor of the Faith to a martyr –possibly by a local abbot named Teuzo.

An 11th century legend associated with him, considered “worthless”, makes him an illegitimate son of a woman named Lucerna, who had a child with her father’s slave, who was named Cyrus. Like the Romulus of ancient Roman legend, this Romulus was also abandoned, suckled by a wolf, and captured and raised and baptized by Saint Peter and Peter's companion Justin. Romulus then evangelized much of central Italy and was put to death by the governor Repertian.

The most ancient image depicting Romulus is the 1440 polyptych in the Cathedral of Fiesole, where he is represented with Saints Alexander, Peter and Donatus.

References

External links

*it icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91328 San Romolo di Fiesole]
*it icon [http://www.cattedralefiesole.it/san_alessandro.php Cattedrale di San Romolo]