Benedict (bishop of Milan)

Benedict (Latin: Benedictus, Italian: Benedetto) was Archbishop of Milan from c. 685–732. He is honoured as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Benedict
Archbishop of Milan
ChurchCatholic Church
Appointedc. 685
Term ended732
PredecessorMansuetus
SuccessorTheodorus II
Sainthood
Feast day11 March
Venerated inCatholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches

Life

Benedict was archbishop of Milan from c. 685 until his death in March 732. Among the sparse information about his life, it is known that he wrote the epitaph for Caedwalla, the king of Wessex who was buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.[1][2]

Benedict returned in Rome at the time of Pope Constantine where he opposed the claim of the bishop of Pavia, Armentarius, that Pavia was immediately subject to Rome. Benedict reminded the Pope that Pavia historically was under the Metropolitan See of Milan and that the bishop of Pavia was used to be consecrated by the one of Milan. The pope, however, ruled in favour of Armentarius, perhaps due to a privilege granted at the time of Evodius or because Pavia was the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards.[3][4]

Benedict was responsible for the construction of a church and a monastery in Milan, of which no trace remains. He probably was influential in settling the Schism of the Three Chapters. Paul the Deacon, about fifty years after his death, remembered him as a saint venerated all over Italy.[1] The day of his death was between 9 and 11 March 732.[1] A poem written about ten years after his death, De laudibus Mediolani, praises him and informs us that he was buried in the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio.[3] His feast day is 11 March in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Roman Rite; it is 6 September in the Ambrosian Rite.[5][6]

A late tradition, with no historical basis, associates Benedict with the Milan's family of the Crespi.

Notes
  1. Casari, Mario (1987). "Benedetto, santo". Dizionario della Chiesa Ambrosiana (in Italian). Vol. 1. Milano: NED. p. 392. ISBN 88-7023-102-X.
  2. The Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate (1966). "Benedict Crispus of Milan". The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonized or Beatified by the Catholic Church (Fifth, revised ed.). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. p. 111.
  3. Cazzani, Eugenio (1996). Vescovi e arcivescovi di Milano (in Italian). Milano: Massimo. pp. 57–58. ISBN 88-7030-891-X.
  4. The Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate (1921). "Armentarius (St.) Bp.". The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonised by the Catholic Church. London: A. & C. Black Ltd. p. 31. Also: Digitised and republished online by Forgotten Books, 2022. ISBN 978-0-265-23529-4
  5. Magnoli, Claudio, ed. (2010). Celebrazioni dei santi. Messale ambrosiano quotidiano (in Italian). Vol. 4. Milano: Centro Ambrosiano. p. 747. ISBN 978-88-8025-763-9.
  6. "Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome". Orthodox Europe. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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