Dynamius or Dinamius was the Rector of Provence (rector Provinciae) from 575, when he replaced Albinus

Albinus of Provence

Albinus or Albin was the Prefect of Provence from 573 until he was replaced by Dynamius in 575. He was a royal appointee of Sigebert I. After his prefecture was up, he was elected to replace Ferreolus as Bishop of Uzès in 581....

. At the time, Provence

Provence

Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

 and Austrasia

Austrasia

Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...

 lay within the kingdom of Childebert II

Childebert II

.Childebert II was the Merovingian king of Austrasia, which included Provence at the time, from 575 until his death in 595, the eldest and succeeding son of Sigebert I, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted and succeeding son of his uncle Guntram.-Childhood:When his father...

, though half of Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, the chief Provençal city, was under the lordship of Guntram

Guntram

Saint Guntram was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son of Chlothar I and Ingunda...

, King of Burgundy

King of Burgundy

The following is a list of the Kings of the two Kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations.- Kings of the Burgundians :...

.

Dynamius and Guntram allied together for their own mutual benefit at the expense of Childebert. Dynamius instigated the canons of the Diocese of Uzès to elect their deacon Marcellus, son of the senator Felix, as bishop in opposition to their already-elected bishop Jovinus

Jovinus of Provence

Jovinus or Jovin was the Governor of Provence from 570 until he was replaced by Sigebert I with Albinus in 573. He was a famous and cultured man and he maintained a brief correspondence with the poet Venantius Fortunatus....

, a former governor of Provence. While Jovinus and Theodore, Bishop of Marseille, were travelling to the court of Childebert II, Guntram had them arrested. Dynamius, meanwhile, blocked Gundulf, a duke of an important senatorial family and Childebert's former domesticus

Domesticus (Roman Empire)

A domesticus was a member of the protectores domestici, an elite guard unit of the Late Roman army, who served as bodyguards and staff officers to the emperor. As its name testifies, these were troops considered as belonging to the household of the emperor...

, from enterring Marseille on behalf of Childebert. Eventually he was forced to yield, though he later arrested Theodore again and had him sent to Guntram.

Despite his revolt, which saw him replaced by Leudegisel (585) and Nicetius

Nicetius

Saint Nicetius was a bishop of Trier, born in the latter part of the fifth century, exact date unknown; died in 563 or more probably 566....

 (587), he was reconciled with Childebert and formally restored to favour on 28 November 587. According to the poet Venantius Fortunatus

Venantius Fortunatus

Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus was a Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian Court, and a Bishop of the early Catholic Church. He was never canonised but was venerated as Saint Venantius Fortunatus during the Middle Ages.-Life:Venantius Fortunatus was born between 530 and 540 A.D....

, with whom he had a correspondence, Dynamius was a man of culture, a poet, and an author of saints' lives

Hagiography

Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...

. Dynamius' wife, Eucheria, wrote poetry as well: one of her poems, a list of impossible things, is extant. Dynamius also corresponded with Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours

Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...

, who mentions that he was "pious" and a founder of monasteries.

Sources

• Gregory of Tours
  Gregory of Tours
  Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
  
  . The History of the Franks. 2 vol. trans. O. M. Dalton. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.

• Peter Dronke, Women Writers of the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.