Biography
Numerian of Trier
About Numerian of Trier
Numerian was a monk who became bishop of Trier in the seventh century. Probably born around 620, he belonged to a family of the Gallo-Roman senatorial aristocracy. His brothers included Germanus, later abbot of Grandval, and Opthomarus, who held a prominent position at the Austrasian royal court.
The Life of Germanus says that Germanus brought his younger brother Numerian to Romaric’s monastery. The brothers were welcomed into the community, and Numerian subsequently shared in the religious life at Luxeuil.
Numerian is recorded as bishop by 646 or 647. The end of his episcopate is less certain, falling before 697 or 698 in the chronology used by the scholarly WIAG reference project.
As bishop, he supported monasteries associated with the religious practices of Luxeuil. Matthias Werner identifies his involvement in the foundations of Cugnon and Stablo-Malmedy and his grant of extensive freedom to Saint-Dié.
The origins of Oeren, the women’s monastery at Trier, are harder to reconstruct. Numerian may have played a part in its foundation, but the later accounts cannot establish the details securely. Werner’s study stresses the weakness of the surviving foundation traditions.
The exact date of Numerian’s death is unknown. His grave was recorded at the church of Saint Helena in Euren in 1075, and his veneration remained centered on Trier and its surroundings.
His feast is observed on July 5.
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