Biography
Honoratus of Milan
About Honoratus of Milan
Honoratus was bishop of Milan when Lombard expansion disrupted northern Italy. Paul the Deacon records that he left Milan for Genoa as Alboin entered the city.
Paul places the departure amid Alboin’s conquest of Ligurian cities, noting that coastal towns remained outside his control. Genoa appears in this account as the bishop’s refuge; the passage does not supply a detailed account of how he continued his ministry there.
The later ecclesiastical tradition places his death around 570 and associates his burial with Milan. A modern scholarly discussion emphasizes uncertainty about his death in Genoa and the date of any transfer of his remains.
His remembered flight links his episcopate with the displacement caused by the Lombard invasion. The brief surviving account does not establish a detailed record of his earlier ministry.
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