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Germanus of Auxerre (c.378–31 July, 448) became bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He was ordained by his predecessor in this post, Amator. Prior to this he had also practised law and held a post of provincial governor. He visited Britain in 429 in response to the growth of Pelagianism there and the records of his visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31.
A British bishop's son named Agricola was leading the native Christians away from orthodox Christianity towards the Pelagian heresy. A Gaulish assembly of bishops chose Germanus and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes to visit the island to combat the threat and satisfy the Pope that the British church would not break away from the Augustinian teachings of divine grace.
The principal source for the events of his life is the hagiography written by Constantius of Lyons around 480. Constantius was a friend of bishop Lupus, which provided him with a link to Germanus.
Visit to Britain
Germanus and Lupus confronted the Pelagians at a public meeting before a huge crowd in Britain. The Pelagians were described as being 'conspicuous for riches, brilliant in dress and surrounded by a fawning multitude' indicating that the post-Roman ruling classes had not been entirely wiped out and still had wealth and influence. Alternatively, this may be embellishment by Constantius who wished to magnify the achievements of his subject. The bishops debated and despite having no popular support, Germanus was able to defeat the Pelagians using his superior rhetoric.
Following the meeting, Germanus and Lupus visited the shrine of Saint Alban, suggesting that the site of the debate was at Verulamium, or perhaps London. Constantius also recounts the miraculous healing of the son of 'a man with tribunician power'. This use of the word tribune may imply the exitence of some form of post-Roman government system. However, in Constantius' lifetime tribune had acquired a more loose definition, and often was used to indicate any military officer, whether part of the Imperial army or part of a town militia.
Germanus led the native Britons to an Alleluia victory against a Pictish and Saxon army, at a mountainous site near a river. Mold in North Wales is the traditional location. After baptising his troops (notably, they were not Christians) he ordered them all to cry 'Alleluia!' The sound apparently so terrified the invaders that they fled before battle could be brought. That Germanus took command may mean that the ruling Pelagian classes had been discredited after losing the debate at Verulamium or even that they themselves had enlisted the Saxons and Picts. The contemporary British warlord Vortigern certainly made use of Saxon mercenaries and the political aspects of Pelagianism have been much discussed. It has been suggested by Peter Salway that the battle was fought to ensure that Britain remained sympathetic to Aëtius and support his bid for control of the western Roman empire.
Although Germanus is traditionally credited with the establishment of the Diocese of Sodor and Man on the Isle of Man, this was probably a different man of a similar name.
Later life
Germanus made a second visit to Britain in the 440s, joined by Severus, Bishop of Trier and meeting Elafius, described by Bede as 'a chief of that region'. Germanus cured Elafius' enfeebled son and this miracle served to persuade the population again that Gaulish Catholicism rather than Pelagianism was the true faith.
He died in Ravenna while petitioning the Roman government for leniency for the citizens of Armorica, against whom Aëtius had dispatched the Alans on a punitive expedition. Scholars have argued, based on the scanty evidence, that his death should be dated to 445, 446, 447 or 448.
Fictional portrayals of Germanus
Germanus figures in the 2004 movie King Arthur, although his second and final mission to Britain took place twenty years before the year the movie is set in. His visit to Britain is the subject of a Welsh radio play by Saunders Lewis entitled Buchedd Garmon. In addition, Hilaire Belloc referred to Germanus in his humorous poem, The Pelagian Drinking Song. Also, Germanus appears many times in Jack Whyte's series "A Dream of Eagles"
- And with his stout Episcopal staff
- So thoroughly whacked and banged
- The heretics all, both short and tall --
- They rather had been hanged.
References
- F.R. Hoare, The Western Fathers (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1965). A translation of the "Life of St Germanus" appears on pp. 283-320.
- Catholic Encyclopedia article