Biography
Senator of Milan
About Senator of Milan
Senator was a fifth-century priest and later bishop of Milan. He is particularly remembered for a mission to Constantinople undertaken for Pope Leo I before he became a bishop. The French bishops’ calendar preserves his commemoration on 29 May.
The mission is attested by Leo’s own letter to Emperor Theodosius II, dated 17 July 450. Leo names Senator and Basilius as priests traveling with the bishops Abundius and Asterius. They carried instructions explaining the faith Leo expected Constantinople’s bishop Anatolius to profess. Leo wanted an explicit statement about the Incarnation that would establish agreement and remove uncertainty between the churches. The letter also requested a council in Italy if disagreement persisted. Senator appears here as a trusted messenger in a difficult attempt to restore communion.
A letter from Bishop Eusebius of Milan records the envoys’ return. Eusebius says that Abundius and his fellow priest Senator brought a papal letter, which was read before a gathering of bishops. Their account of events was heard, and Leo’s fuller statement of faith was then read. The gathering accepted that teaching. This surviving correspondence places Senator directly within the exchange between Rome, Milan and Constantinople in 450–451. His role is attested by a contemporary bishop who knew him as a fellow priest.
Later episcopal tradition places Senator after Benignus and assigns him a three-year episcopate, usually 472–475. The notice by Franco Dieghi also reports Ennodius’s praise of his eloquence and perceptiveness. The precise death chronology is not consistent across modern church references: Nominis instead gives approximately 480.
Milan’s basilica of Saint Euphemia is traditionally connected with him. The institutional history published by MITO dates its foundation to 472–475 and cautiously names Senator as its possible founder. The church notice records his burial there. His memory therefore rests on both a documented diplomatic mission and the later remembrance of his episcopacy in Milan.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.