Biography
Rusticus of Lyon
About Rusticus of Lyon
Rusticus served as bishop of Lyon after Lupicinus and before Stephen. His life belongs to the closing years of the fifth century. The surviving notices preserve particular acts of assistance more clearly than they describe his childhood or family.
In a letter dated January 25, 494, Pope Gelasius thanks Rusticus for help that had brought relief during a difficult period. The pope treats his sympathy as something expressed through practical support, and says that Aeonius of Arles knows how useful the aid had been.
Gelasius also asks him to assist Epiphanius of Pavia, who is travelling to Gaul to ransom captives. The letter links that request with the controversy concerning Acacius: Rusticus is asked to report the views of bishops in Gaul after Epiphanius returns home.
Rajko Bratoz places this correspondence within Gelasius’s efforts to secure support for Rome’s position in the Acacian dispute. He cautions that the letter’s tone suggests that the Gallic bishops did not all agree with the pope.
The Bollandists quote Ennodius’s account of Epiphanius’s visit to Lyon. Rusticus went across the Rhone to meet him and advised him about King Gundobad’s ways of negotiating. The account also recalls Rusticus’s earlier service in civil affairs, before he became bishop.
Nominis gives his death as April 25, 501, citing the epitaph associated with the church of the Holy Apostles, now Saint-Nizier. It lists April 25 as his local feast.
His remembered service includes support for another church and practical help for a mission seeking the release of captives.
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