Germanus of Auxerre, St. Soldier, bishop, and church emissary who visited Britain in ad 429 to counter heresy. In the early 5th cent. the teachings of Pelagius were proving popular in Britain. In 429 the Roman ecclesiastical authorities in Gaul dispatched Germanus to Britain to combat Pelagianism by preaching the true faith—Divine Grace—in British churches and the countryside. Although lacking in specific details, Constantius of Lyons's account of Germanus's visit is significant because of the incidental light it sheds on early ‘post-Roman’ Britain; Germanus apparently encountered organized town life, suggesting that Britain remained strongly ‘Romanized’ in character. Before becoming a bishop Germanus had been a soldier, and he defeated Picts and Saxons in a battle where he gave his troops the battle-cry ‘Alleluia’. Germanus may have visited Britain for a second time in 435–7, and died c.448.

Eleanor Scott

Germanus of Auxerre, St (d. 446), bishop of Auxerre; he was leader of the British force which won the Hallelujah Victory over the Picts and Saxons, and his shrine became a famous pilgrimage centre.