Biography
Bonosus of Trier
About Bonosus of Trier
Bonosus, also called Bonosius, was a fourth-century bishop of Trier. Little survives about his life. It is uncertain whether he succeeded Paulinus immediately after his exile or only after Paulinus died in 358. His own position during the disputes over the Nicene faith is also unclear.
Medieval lists of Trier’s bishops place Bonosius after Paulinus and before Britto. These catalogues preserve his place in the succession but do not provide a narrative of his ministry.
An imprisoned priest of the same name sometimes appears in accounts of the bishop. In their petition to the emperors in 383 or 384, the priests Faustinus and Marcellinus described an elderly Bonosus at Trier who had suffered imprisonment without a hearing for his religious allegiance. Their complaint concerned the persecution of clergy who refused communion with bishops who had once accepted an Arian creed and later returned to the Nicene party. Historian Marta Szada cautions that identifying this priest with the bishop remains uncertain: the petition does not mention his supposed promotion. The imprisonment therefore cannot securely be presented as an episode in the bishop’s life.
Bonosus probably died around 370–373. His relics were kept at Saint-Paulin in Trier from the mid-eleventh century, and portions later reached other religious houses. His liturgical veneration in Trier is documented from the twelfth century.
The Diocese of Trier continues to commemorate him on February 17.
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