Biography
Ursicinus of Cahors
About Ursicinus of Cahors
Ursicinus, also known as Urcisse, is honored as a saint and bishop of Cahors in the Catholic calendar.
Gregory of Tours records that Maurilius chose Ursicinus, formerly an official of Queen Ultrogotha, to succeed him as bishop.
His episcopate included a difficult encounter with royal politics. Gregory Halfond’s study of the council of Mâcon places its meeting in October 585, after the failure of Gundovald’s attempt to claim royal power. Several bishops had supported the claimant. According to Gregory’s narrative, as discussed by Halfond, Ursicinus was excommunicated for receiving Gundovald into his city.
The Catholic account by Per Einar Odden describes a three-year penance. Ursicinus was to abstain from meat and wine and refrain from celebrating Mass, ordaining priests, or consecrating churches during that period.
Halfond distinguishes Gregory’s account, which emphasizes the bishops’ involvement with Gundovald, from the surviving council acts. Those acts address liturgy, clerical conduct, hospitality, church dependents, and other matters, without directly recording the political proceedings described by Gregory.
His later veneration is documented more clearly than an exact date of death. Studying the church of Saint-Urcisse at Cahors, Dorothée Jacoub identifies a twelfth-century sacramentary that places his feast on 13 December. Her account gives broad limits for his episcopate rather than a precise death year. She also treats the early history of the church’s dedication cautiously: its association with Ursicinus may be ancient, but the date at which his name became its sole dedication is uncertain.
The French heritage register identifies Ursicinus of Cahors as one of the church’s dedicatory saints, alongside Saturnin. The surviving building incorporates work from several medieval centuries.
Modern Catholic calendars continue to list his commemoration on 13 December.
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