AUSTREGISILUS (OUTRIL), ST.

Abbot and bishop; b. Bourges, France, November 29, 551; d. there, May 20, 624. It seems that Austregisilus (Aoustrille, Outril, Outrille) was born of noble but not very wealthy parents; and when he was about 24, he was sent to live at the court of King (St.) Guntram (d. 593). There, according to his vita, he was falsely accused of forging an authorization for one of the courtiers and was ordered to fight a duel to prove his innocence. By divine intervention, it is reported, his traducer was kicked to death by his horse on the morning of the day appointed for the ordeal. Austregisilus then left the court, became a priest, and was appointed abbot of St. Nicetius. He was consecrated bishop of Bourges on Feb. 13, 612. In October 614 he attended a synod that met at Paris, and his name appears eighth in the list of 79 bishops who signed the decrees (Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Concilia 1:191). He is reported to have granted a hermitage at Bourges to amandus, later the apostle of Belgium.

Feast: May 20.

Bibliography: Bibliotheca hagiograpica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 1898–1901) 1:835–843. Acta Sanctorum May 5:60–69. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 4:188–200. l. bournet, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 5:792–793. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum (Metten 1933–38) 2:207. r. aigrain, Catholicisme 1:1078. h. platelle, Bibliotheca sanctorum 2:630. a. zimmermann, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:1122.

[h. dressler]