LICINIUS OF ANGERS, ST.

Bishop; b. c. 540; d. c. 610. According to his biographies, one written by an anonymous author of Angers, the other by marbod of rennes, archdeacon at Angers, Licinius (Lésin) was born of a wealthy, noble family and was educated at the royal court. He was made count of Anjou by Clotaire II (d. 628) and at the urging of the court and his family was about to marry the daughter of a prominent nobleman. By divine intervention, as his biographers insist, the young lady was stricken by leprosy, whereupon Licinius left the court and became a cleric. When the See of angers became vacant, Licinius was chosen bishop, possibly in 592, and fulfilled the duties of this office with great zeal and effectiveness. In 601 Pope gregory i the great wrote a letter to seven Frankish bishops, one of them Licinius, recommending to their charity the monks who were on their way to help augustine of canterbury in England (P. Jaffé, ed. P. Ewald, Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annun post Christum natum 1198, 205). The monastery of St. John the Baptist, to which Charles II the Bald later granted some property, was founded by this saintly bishop of Angers. In his last will and testament bertram, bishop of Le Mans, makes mention of the close friendship that existed between him and Licinius (Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, 15 v. [Paris 1907–53] 10:1506, 1519).

Feast: Feb. 13 (Angers); Nov. 1 (Roman martyrology).

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Feb. 2:675–686. Gallia Christiana, v. 14–16 (Paris 1856–65) 14:549, 599, app. 146. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier ave l'historique des fêtes, 12 v. (Paris 1935–56) 11:56–58. j. cambell, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (Freiburg 1957–65) 6:1029. l. rÉau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien, 6 v. (Paris 1955–59) 3.2:805. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis, 2 v. (Brussels 1898–1901) 2:4917–4918. j. levron, Les Saints du pays angevin (Grenoble 1943) 73–84.

[h. dressler]