Biography
Aetherius of Lyon
About Aetherius of Lyon
Aetherius was bishop of Lyon near the end of the sixth century. A disciple of Nicetius, he helped preserve the memory of that earlier bishop.
The Life of Nicetius credits Aetherius with promoting its composition and celebrating his predecessor’s memory. It says that Nicetius had predicted he would become his second successor. According to the same account, the people of Lyon wanted Aetherius as bishop immediately after Nicetius’s death, but the king withheld consent. Aetherius received the office only after the intervening bishop died. The prediction belongs to the Life’s interpretation of that succession.
Bruno Krusch identifies the Life’s writer as unknown and places its composition before King Guntram’s death. Aetherius’s role in encouraging the work should therefore be distinguished from a claim that he personally wrote it.
Gregory the Great urged him to seek a council against the purchase of church offices and to help monks traveling to Augustine. The pope also requested documents supporting Lyon’s claimed privileges and reported that he could not find the requested writings or acts of Irenaeus.
Aetherius may have participated in Augustine’s consecration, but the evidence is uncertain. Calum Platts points out that Bede mistakenly identifies him as bishop of Arles, whereas his see was Lyon. Platts considers him a plausible candidate for the consecration without treating Bede’s details as secure.
The diocesan account reproduced by Nominis places his death in either 602 or 603. His local commemoration is October 7.
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