Biography
Aunarius of Auxerre
About Aunarius of Auxerre
Aunarius served as bishop of Auxerre in the later sixth century. The New Catholic Encyclopedia describes him as a young man of noble family who left the Burgundian royal court for the priesthood and studied under Syagrius of Autun. It places him at councils in Paris and Mâcon.
The dates assigned to his life and episcopate differ between sources. The encyclopedia gives his death as 601, while the diocesan list places his episcopate between 572 and 603. Nominis gives 605, also the final year of his episcopate in Picard’s study. These accounts do not support choosing a single precise death year without qualification.
His responsibilities included assembling his clergy to regulate worship. Jerzy Szafranowski places the Auxerre diocesan synod probably between 585 and 592, rather than assigning it an exact year: its rules refer to the second Council of Mâcon, while another provision probably presupposes King Guntram’s lifetime. The recorded participants included thirty-three priests, seven abbots and three deacons alongside Aunarius. This was a gathering of the local church, with much of its business directed toward the clergy’s duties.
One rule concerned the celebration of Mass at an altar already used that day. Szafranowski discusses the interpretation of this provision and its relationship to increasingly frequent celebrations of the Eucharist.
Aunarius also supported the remembrance of earlier bishops. Jean-Charles Picard identifies Stephen the African’s Life of Amator as a work written at his request. A schedule of litanies and vigils associated with Aunarius survives through the later history of Auxerre’s bishops. It names churches where worship was organized, including those dedicated to Valerian and Amator. These references help historians reconstruct the city’s religious landscape; they do not establish that Aunarius himself founded each church.
Picard distinguishes these earlier materials from the history that preserved them. The Gesta of Auxerre’s bishops was compiled by Rainogala and Alagus in the ninth century, long after Aunarius. Its transmission of the liturgical schedule therefore needs to be distinguished from an eyewitness biography.
Correspondence from Pope Pelagius II places Aunarius within a wider network of bishops and rulers. In one letter, the pope acknowledged his wish to visit Rome and the unrest that had prevented the journey. Pelagius asked him to persuade the Frankish kings to abandon their friendship with the Lombards and help relieve Rome’s troubles. The letter also confirmed the dispatch of requested relics. Another welcomed news of new churches in Aunarius’s region and asked for prayer and assistance. These are appeals addressed to the bishop, rather than proof that he obtained the political action the pope wanted.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia records his burial in the church of Saint-Germain at Auxerre.
Nominis commemorates him locally on 25 September under the names Aunachaire and Aunaire.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.