Eucherius of Lyons

A Roman of senatorial rank, Eucherius abandoned his career in midlife to join the Egyptian-style wilderness ascetic movement which was just becoming established in southern Gaul. He went first to Lérins, where he joined the community founded by St. Honoratus of Arles; later he lived as a hermit on the Isle of Ste. Marguerite. Around 435, he was made bishop of Lyons, but seems to have longed for a chance to resume the anchoritical life. His works have titles like In Praise of Wilderness, and every Lent he would retreat to the monastic settlements on the river-islands near Lyons. His writings, and in particular his account of the martyred "Theban legion," enjoyed enormous popularity in the early Middle Ages.

Norman Hugh Redington