Avitus of Rouen (died 325), also known as Avitien or Avidien, was the third Bishop of Rouen. He is venerated as a Saint in the Catholic Church.
Biography He was the third bishop of Rouen in Normandy, however his two predecessors are accepted as legendary.Elisabeth Deniaux, Claude Lorren, Pierre Bauduin et Thomas Jarry, La Normandie avant les Normands : de la conquête romaine à l’arrivée des Vikings, Rennes, Éditions Ouest-France, coll. « Université », 2002 (), p. 319 He is the first historically attested bishop by his presence, with Materne II, Bishop of Cologne, at the first Council of Gaul in Arles in 314.Richard Allen, « The Acta archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium: study and edition » dans Tabularia « Documents », n° 9, 2009, p. 1-66.Elisabeth Deniaux, Claude Lorren, Pierre Bauduin et Thomas Jarry, La Normandie avant les Normands : de la conquête romaine à l’arrivée des Vikings, Rennes, Éditions Ouest-France, coll. « Université », 2002 (), p. 319 He succeeds Mellonius and settles in Rouen from 314.François Neveux : Les Diocèses normands aux XIe et XIIe siècles; in Les évêques normands du XIe siècle, Caen 1995, p. 13.
The Acta archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium tell us that "This blessed pontiff was an honest spirit, impeccable in his manners, and attentive to the salvation of souls under his charge".Richard Allen, « The Acta archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium: study and edition » dans Tabularia « Documents », n° 9, 2009, p. 1-66.
He is buried in the crypt of the Church of Saint-Gervais in Rouen, and his feast day is celebrated on 2 December.
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