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Biography

Short Description

Andochius, also rendered Andoche, Andochus, or Andochius of Autun, is a Christian martyr of the Roman period whose cult is centered in Burgundy. Almost all that is known of him comes from hagiographical tradition rather than from contemporary documentary evidence. According to the legend, he was a priest of the church of Smyrna in Asia Minor and a disciple or envoy of Saint Polycarp. Polycarp is said to have dispatched Andochius, together with the deacon Thyrsus (Thyrse) and a companion named Felix, to preach the Gospel in Gaul. This mission is placed by the tradition in the second century, often in the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, though the dating cannot be independently confirmed.

The missionaries are described as arriving at Autun (Augustodunum), then a major city of the Aedui in Roman Gaul. There they were received into the house of a man named Faustus, sometimes called a senator or a person of rank, who either already was a Christian or was converted by them. Later medieval elaborations connect this household with Saint Symphorian, the well-known martyr of Autun, presenting Symphorian as Faustus's son and thus linking several local martyr cults into a single narrative. From Autun the group is said to have gone to Sidolocus, the ancient name of Saulieu, a smaller settlement on the road toward the Morvan.

At Saulieu, according to the passio, Andochius and his companions were arrested in a persecution of Christians. The traditional accounts of their passion describe a violent death by beating: they were scourged or struck with clubs or leaded whips until they died, and in some versions their bodies were cast into a well. Local tradition in Burgundy has consistently located the martyrdom and the original burial at Saulieu, whereas the Roman Martyrology commemorates them on 24 September as martyrs of Autun. A church, later the basilica of Saint-Andoche, rose over the site associated with their relics and became the principal focus of the cult. Andochius is regarded as the patron saint of Saulieu.

Historians treat the story with caution. The alleged commission by Polycarp, the precise second-century date, and many of the narrative details are not corroborated by early independent sources and may reflect a later desire to give the churches of Autun and Saulieu a sub-apostolic foundation. The names Andochius, Thyrsus, and Felix, and a martyr cult in the Autun–Saulieu region, are nonetheless old enough to have been received into medieval martyrologies and to have shaped the religious landscape of Burgundy. Beyond the legend, no verified information survives about Andochius's birth, family, or the exact year of his death.

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