Reverianus

Saint Reverianus, known in French as Saint Révérien and in Latin sources also as Reverentianus, is a third-century Christian bishop and martyr associated with Autun (ancient Augustodunum) in Roman Gaul, in what is now Burgundy in east-central France. No contemporary documents survive for his life. The outline that later ages accepted comes from medieval martyrologies, the local cult in Burgundy and the Nivernais, and hagiographical narratives composed long after the period they describe. He is placed in the reign of the emperor Aurelian (270–275), and the year most often given for his death is 273.

According to the received legend, Reverianus was of Italian origin and was sent into Gaul by Pope Felix I (bishop of Rome 269–274), together with a priest named Paul, to preach in and around Autun, already an important Gallo-Roman city and an early Christian centre. Tradition identifies him as bishop of Autun. The third-century episcopal succession of Autun is poorly documented, so his place on that list cannot be confirmed independently of the martyr legend. Nothing reliable is known of his family, education, or the circumstances of his birth.

The same tradition holds that Reverianus, the priest Paul, and ten unnamed companions were arrested in a persecution attributed to Aurelian and put to death for refusing to abandon the Christian faith. The Roman Martyrology commemorates them on 1 June at Autun. Modern historians treat a general, empire-wide persecution under Aurelian as uncertain, and the Acts of these martyrs are not authentic contemporary records. The cult itself is nonetheless old: Autun and the surrounding region preserved the memory of a group of martyrs headed by a bishop Reverianus, and that commemoration entered the wider Latin liturgical tradition.

A commune in the Nièvre department, Saint-Révérien, takes its name from him and has long claimed a special connection with his martyrdom or relics; some local accounts locate the execution in that district rather than inside Autun itself. Medieval churches and dedications in Burgundy and the Nivernais kept his name in calendars. He was not a pope or a patriarch of any Eastern see, and no monastic order is attached to his name. Details of his burial place are not preserved in sources that can be independently verified.