Paternian
bishop and saint
Paternian or Paternianus (Italian: San Paterniano) is the name of an Italian saint. A native of Fermo who escaped to the mountains during the persecutions of Christians by Diocletian, he was then appointed bishop of Fano by Pope Sylvester I.
(Paternian is often confused with Parthenian (Parteniano), a bishop of Bologna, also commemorated on 12 July.)
Life
Historical details about Paternian are scarce. The Vita Sancti Paterniani can be found in a codex of the 12th century, though it dates earlier, and was written by a monk of the 10th or 11th century. But it is legendary and not reliable.
Paternian was born at Fano around 275 AD. An angel told him in a vision to escape this city and hide out in a deserted place near the Metauro River. He became a hermit and the abbot of a monastery. Later, when the persecution of Christians stopped, the citizens of Fano demanded that he become their bishop. Paternian governed the city for many years. He died on 13 November, around 360 AD. Miracles were reported at his tomb and his cult spread rapidly.
Veneration
According to one legend, the inhabitants of Fano competed with those of Cervia for the body of the saint.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Paternian” as bishop and saint. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as bishop and saint. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3940570. VIAF identifies the subject as 226391284. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Paternian primary sources, Paternian archive and Paternian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Paternian” 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.