Biography
Lupus of Troyes
About Lupus of Troyes
Lupus, also called Loup, was a fifth-century bishop of Troyes. Born into a wealthy family at Toul, he married Pimeniola before the couple agreed to pursue ascetic lives. He entered Lérins and later became bishop of Troyes. In 429 he accompanied Germanus of Auxerre to Britain to oppose Pelagian teaching.
His contemporary Sidonius Apollinaris praised his long service and sought his help in practical matters. One letter concerns a woman abducted by bandits and sold into slavery. Sidonius asked Lupus to investigate a witness in Troyes and help settle the dispute. The letter places the woman under Sidonius’s own agent and seeks an arrangement between the parties; it does not describe an abolitionist campaign.
His Life tells of his appeal to Attila to spare Troyes and of his accompanying the Huns to the Rhine. It also preserves a less triumphant episode: he planned a fortified refuge at Mount Lassois, but his people did not follow him. He left after two years. The dating and reliability of this Life have been debated, though modern scholars often place it near the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century.
At Troyes, the legend took a vivid public form in the dragon called Chair Salée. A model beast appeared in processions before Ascension, acting out its defeat. The local tourism authority describes the custom as lasting until 1727 and identifies Loup as the city’s patron.
The church at Douvaine also explicitly honors the bishop of Troyes. Its dedication survived fire and rebuilding: the reconstructed church was blessed in 1877 and consecrated in 1883. A Verdun diocesan parish bulletin identifies him as a patron of shepherds and of the church at Ugny-sur-Meuse. His feast is July 29.
The Saint-Leu-du-Mont-Aimé parish likewise identifies this bishop of Troyes as its patron.
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