Patroclus of Bourges
Merovingian ascetic
Saint Patroclus of Bourges (c. 496–576) was a Merovingian ascetic, who was a native of the province of Berry, France. A deacon at Bourges, he withdrew to become a hermit.
Life
In his childhood Patroclus guarded sheep while his older brother, Antonius, pursued an education. Eventually, his parents allowed him to go to school. He continued his education under Nunnion, a man greatly esteemed by King Childebert.
In his Historia Francorum, Gregory of Tours writes that Patroclus became a deacon at Bourges in his youth. He was so absorbed in prayer that he did not appear at the table for meals with the other clergy, which annoyed the archdeacon, who felt it unseemly that he did share meals with those with whom he shared ecclesiastical responsibilities.
Patroclus withdrew to Néris, where he built a small chapel dedicated to Martin of Tours and began to teach the children. The sick came to him and were cured.
“Patroclus of Bourges” enters the record as merovingian ascetic. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Patroclus, Bourges and Merovingian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Patroclus of Bourges” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.