Ursinius de Chapteuil

• Preferred Name: Ursinius de Chapteuil^{[1] [2]}
  
• Gender: M
  
• FSID: L2BQ-97M
  
• Birth: 260 in Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, France, "Gaul" Roman Empire at LATI: N5.0329 LONG: E0.0625
  
• Burial: in Abbaye Saint-Symphorien d'Autun, Burgundy, France, "Gaul" Roman Empire at LATI: N6.9708 LONG: E0.3221 with note: His body was re-located at a later time and interred at the Abby of St. Symphorian, Autun, Burgundy, France, Roman Empire
  
• Death: ABT 350 in Bourges, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France, "Gaul" Roman Empire at LATI: N7.0819 LONG: E0.3991 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Saint Ursinus of Bourges (French: Ursin) (3rd or 4th century) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and is considered the first bishop of Bourges.
  
  Gregory of Tours' legendary account associated him with a Nathaniel, friend of Philip the Apostle, that he was present at the Last Supper, and read a lesson there. It also states that he was present at the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, and that Saint Peter sent him to Gaul as a missionary. Ursinus is not alone among founding bishops in France whose time of flourishing was moved back to the apostolic period, bolstering episcopal claims of primacy: as Hippolyte Delehaye writes, "To have lived amongst the Saviour's immediate following was...honorable...and accordingly old patrons of churches were identified with certain persons in the gospels or who were supposed to have had some part of Christ's life on earth."[1]
  
  === Legend ===
  The legend makes them arrive from Sicily in Velay, and descendants of the Celtic kings of Velay. Descended from the legend of the ancient kings of Pergamon, from whom they had in fact kept the name of Eumenes. The legend makes him arrive from Sicily in Velay, and descended from the ancient kings of Pergamon. In the end, we know very little about his life: He was the first bishop of Bourges. He would have lived in the period from the years 250 to 350. Chosen, along with Saint Just, by the Pope Saint Clement, he left to evangelize the Berry region. He preaches in particular in Bourges. He manages to convert Léocade and his son, then governor of the province of Aquitaine. He consecrates a first Church, built in part of the Palais de Léocade. He dies and is buried in the city cemetery. Long after his death (circa 560), Saint Aoust decided to raise his body to rest in his church of Saint Symphorien. On this occasion it was observed that his body was not decomposed.
  La légende les fait arriver de Sicile en Velay, et descendants des rois Celtiques du Velay. Issus d'après la légende des anciens rois de Pergame, dont ils avaient, en effet gardé le nom d' Eumène.
  La légende le fait arriver de Sicile en Velay, et descendant des anciens rois de Pergame. On sait finalement, très peu de choses de sa vie :
  Il fut le premier évêque de Bourges. Il aurait vécu dans la période des années 250 à 350. Choisi , ainsi que Saint Just, par le Pape saint
  Clément, il part pour évangéliser la région du Berry. Il prêche en particulier à Bourges. Il arrive à convertir Léocade et son fils, alors gouverneur de la province d'Aquitaine. Il consacre une première Eglise, bâtie dans une partie du Palais de Léocade. Il meurt et est enterré dans le cimetière de la ville.
  Longtemps après sa mort ( vers 560 ), Saint Aoust décida de lever son corps pour le faire reposer dans son église de Saint Symphorien. A cette occasion on observa que son corps n'était pas décomposé .

1. Title: Legend of Saint Ursin de Bourges: The Romanesque Porch Relief
   Author: Legend of Saint Ursin de Bourges: The Romanesque Porch Relief
   Publication: Name: https://compostela.co.uk/great-portals/saint-ursin-de-bourges-the-romanesque-porch-relief/;
   Note: Saint Ursin de Bourges: The Romanesque Porch Relief by artsymbol | Great Portals | Bourges Romanesque Sculpture Saint Lusorius Saint Ursin Saint Ursinus Via Lemivocensis Video: Saint Ursin de Bourges Romanesque Porch Relief An Artsymbol Production Music by Martin A Smith Duration: 5.00 Dig in the ground and look for my body, for I am Ursinus Gregory of Tours It was not uncommon for some sign or symbol on the exteriors of Romanesque churches to reference the efficacy of the saintly relics within. The most striking example may be that of Sainte Foy at Conques. The same is true of the church dedicated to Saint Ursinus patron of the city of Bourges, albeit in a much more oblique manner. The subject of the church’s tympanum is probably the most baffling in the Romanesque canon. Its mystery is compounded by the fact that the collegiate church which it adorned was destroyed during the French Revolution and the surviving sculptural relief is now shorn of any context which might have given an insight into its intention. Porch Relief Tympanum Saint Ursin de Bourges The Hunting Sarcophagus of Saint Ursinus Porch Relief Tympanum Saint Ursin de Bourges Hunt Scene The tympanum’s central register is of a hunt scene and is a twelfth century replica of a fourth century Gallo-Roman sarcophagus. This is sandwiched between an upper register of images from well known classical and medieval fables and below a frieze which illustrates the Labours of the Months. At the apex of the tympanum a diminutive figure draws aside a curtain of scrolling vines, which encircles the three friezes below. The replica sarcophagus depicts a hunting scene reminiscent of similar reliefs from Late Antiquity, an example of which can be seen at the nearby abbey of Déols on the tomb of Saint Lusorius, one of Ursinus’ disciples. At Bourges, mounted hunters and footmen armed with spears and dogs, attack a pair of wild boar and pursue a stag towards capture by a waiting net. In Late Antiquity, hunt scenes similar to the one from Saint Ursinus were intended to evoke the trials of the Christian soul on its earthly journey. Gregory of Tours and Legend of the lost tomb of Saint Ursinus However, another interpretation of the tympanum of Saint Ursinus comes to mind as we are reminded of a legend recounted by Gregory of Tours. The legend recounts the discovery in the sixth century of the long lost tomb of Saint Ursinus, Apostolic evangeliser of the city of Bourges. Ursinus, it was said had been a disciple of Saint Stephen later sent to Gaul by Saint Peter. After his death Ursinus was buried in a sarcophagus in a common cemetery and a dense covering of vines quickly obscured its location. “A vineyard was planted on top and buried all memory of the first bishop of the city”, wrote Gregory of Tours in the Glory of the Confessors, his anthology of saintly lives. Two centuries later Ursinus appeared in a vision to Augustus, abbot of the local abbey of Saint Symphorianus, urging him to locate and recover his tomb. Initial scepticism was overcome when Ursinus reappeared simultaneously to Augustus and to Saint Germanus, bishop of Paris, then visiting the city. Porch Relief Tympanum Saint Ursin de Bourges Detail The Sarcophagus and the Tomb Porch Relief Tympanum Saint Ursin de Bourges Huntsman In the vision, Ursinus described the burial site as “beneath the roots of these vines”. The tomb was found and inside Ursinus’ body was discovered, untouched “by any decay”. When the sarcophagus was lifted out of the ground it was carried in ceremony to the abbey where it was initially too heavy to be transported across the threshold until it became miraculously lightened enabling its passage into the church. It was placed beneath the main altar and the abbey of Saint Symphorian was subsequently renamed after the patron of Bourges. According to Gregory, “After the celebration of Mass, Ursinus was buried next to the altar, while the people rejoiced. Thereafter he revealed himself in many miracles”. The central frieze of the Bourges tympanum faithfully replicates a fourth century Gallo-Roman sarcophagus of the type fabricated at Arles, many of which featured similar hunting scenes and plausibly one which might have entombed Ursinus. The tiny figure at the top of the tympanum, drawing aside the vine, would be the saint himself, facilitating the miraculous inventio of his relics. A Twelfth Century Anachronism The hunt scene of the tympanum of Saint Ursinus contains an anachronism. The lead horseman is sounding a hunting horn and using riding stirrups, both medieval developments. The authors of the frieze may well have introduced these additions in order to draw a connection between the fourth century and the contemporary world. Because the inventio of the tomb of Ursinus was the saint’s first recorded miracle, its depiction on the outside of the church which housed his shrine would have served both to authenticate the relics and at the same time, emphasise their miracle working properties. Nor is it unlikely to be a coincidence that an actual Gallo-Roman sarcophagus, housing the relics of Ursinus’ own disciple was to be found in the crypt of a nearby abbey. That sarcophagus featured a hunt of lions, bears and wild boar. Porch Relief Tympanum Saint Ursin de Bourges Sources & Biblio: La Chasse du Portail de Saint Ursin a Bourges in Berry du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, pages d’histoire et d’histoire de l’art; melanges offerts à J.Y. Ribault, Cahiers d’archéologie et d’histoire du Berry, hors-série (novembre 1996) pp. 99-104 Y Codou “L’influence antique dans l’art roman: Le tympan de Saint-Ursin de Bourges” Antiquité Tardive 6 (1998) pp.383-89 Glory of the confessors, Gregory of Tours ; translated with an introduction by Raymond Van Dam. Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 1988.
   
2. Title: Ursinius de Chapteuil
   Author: Ursinius de Chapteuil, évêque de Bourges
   Publication: Name: http://www.morganlefay.ca/CD/Richards%20en/INDIs58/II30806.html;
   Note: Ursinius de Chapteuil, évêque de Bourges La légende les fait arriver de Sicile en Velay, et descendants des rois Celtiques du Velay. Issus d'après la légende des anciens rois de Pergame, dont ils avaient, en effet gardé le nom d'Eumène. Ursinius de Chapteuil, Bishop of Bourges The legend makes them arrive from Sicily in Velay, and descendants of the Celtic kings of Velay. Descended from the legend of the ancient kings of Pergamon, from whom they had in fact kept the name of Eumenes.
   Page: Information, location, situation