Hilary of Arles

Hilary of Arles, also known as Hilarius, was a fifth-century bishop and monk of Gaul, remembered as metropolitan of Arles and as a saint of the Western Church. He was born of a distinguished family in northern Gaul in the early fifth century; ancient writers do not record a precise birth year or town. His kinsman Honoratus, later bishop of Arles and founder of the monastic community on the island of Lérins, drew him away from a secular career. According to the tradition preserved in Hilary's own sermon on Honoratus and in later writers, Hilary received a thorough education and seemed destined for public life, but he was persuaded to renounce worldly prospects, dispose of his property, and enter the monastery of Lérins. There he lived under Honoratus's direction and became known for austerity, study, and eloquence.

When Honoratus was called to the see of Arles in the mid-420s, Hilary accompanied him and assisted in the care of the church. After Honoratus died in 429, Hilary returned to Lérins, yet the clergy and people of Arles chose him as bishop. Near-contemporary accounts present his elevation as contrary to his wish to remain a monk. As bishop he kept an ascetic manner of life, was noted for preaching and for care of the poor, and took a leading part in the church of southern Gaul. He presided over or participated in several regional councils, including those of Riez in 439, Orange in 441, and Vaison in 442, which addressed clerical discipline, the organization of rural parishes, and remaining doctrinal disorders.

Hilary's exercise of metropolitan authority beyond the immediate province of Arles brought him into a well-documented conflict with Pope Leo I. In the mid-440s he deposed Chelidonius, bishop of Besançon, and intervened in another episcopal case. The affected bishops appealed to Rome. Leo judged that Hilary had exceeded his rights, restored Chelidonius, and restricted the claims of Arles to a general primacy over the bishops of Gaul. An imperial constitution issued in the name of Valentinian III in 445 supported the papal decision and required Gallic bishops to accept the judgment of the bishop of Rome in such matters. Ancient sources differ in emphasis: some present Hilary as overzealous in defending the traditional prestige of the see of Arles; papal letters criticize his conduct at Rome. He remained bishop of Arles until his death.

Hilary composed a sermon on the life of Saint Honoratus, which remains a principal source for the early history of Lérins and of the church of Arles. Other writings have been ascribed to him with less security. He died at Arles on 5 May 449 and was honoured as a saint from an early date. His feast is observed on 5 May. Later tradition remembered him as a monastic bishop of austere life, while historians of the fifth-century church have treated the dispute with Leo as an important episode in the definition of papal and metropolitan jurisdiction in Gaul.