Saint Nicetius (513 – April 2, 573) was Archbishop of Lyon, then Lugdunum

Lugdunum

Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum was an important Roman city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. It served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Lugdunensis. To 300 years after its foundation Lugdunum was the most important city to the west part of Roman...

, France, during the 6th century. He served from 552 or 553. He was ordained as a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 by Agricola, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne. He was the nephew of Saint Sacerdos

Sacerdos of Lyon

Saint Sacerdos of Lyon is a French saint whose Feast Day is September 12. He was Archbishop of Lyon, France from 544 to September 12, 551. He was the son of St. Rusticus, Archbishop of Lyon, and wife....

, bishop of Lyon, and his successor. He revived ecclesiastical chant

Gallican chant

Gallican chant refers to the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Gallican rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Gaul, prior to the introduction and development of elements of the Roman rite from which Gregorian chant evolved...

 in his diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

.

He was also noted for being an exorcist

Exorcist

In some religions an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demons. A priest, a nun, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist...

. Nicetius received the title of patriarch

Patriarch

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

 from the pope. He took it upon himself to judge secular as well as ecclesiastical cases and therefore came into conflict with the local count. Nicetius attended a council at his own city of Lyon some time between 567 and 570.

Veneration

His feast day is April 2 the day on which he died. The church of Saint-Nizier

Saint-Nizier (Lyon)

The Church of Saint-Nizier is a church of the city of Lyon, France, located in the Presqu'île, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. Its address is rue de Brest and it is between the Place des Terreaux and the Place des Jacobins...

 in Lyon is dedicated to him. Miracle

Miracle

A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...

s were attributed to him after his death. There is an early life of Nicetius and 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...

 also wrote a supplementary life to him in his Vita Patrum.

External links

• Nicetius
• Les ancêtres de Charlemagne, 1989, Christian Settipani
  Christian Settipani
  Christian Settipani is the Technical Director of an IT company in Paris and a genealogist and historian.He has a Master of Advanced Studies degree from the Paris-Sorbonne University and is currently preparing his doctoral thesis, while he often gives lectures to students undergraduates at the...
  
  

See also

• Descent from antiquity
  Descent from antiquity
  Descent from Antiquity is the project of establishing a well-researched, generation-by-generation descent of living persons from people living in antiquity. It is an ultimate challenge in prosopography and genealogy....