Ruricius II

Ruricius II was a Gallo-Roman bishop of Limoges in Aquitania during the middle of the sixth century, in the early Merovingian period. He belonged to the same senatorial aristocratic family that had already given the church of Limoges its better-documented bishop Ruricius I, who occupied the see from the late fifth century until about 507 and whose surviving letters are a major source for Gallo-Roman society as it passed from Visigothic to Frankish rule. Later episcopal tradition and modern scholarship generally treat Ruricius II as a descendant of that family, often as a grandson, although no contemporary text states the exact relationship.

Almost nothing is known of his birth, education, or career before he became bishop. No year of birth or of consecration is recorded. He was in office by 549. His episcopate therefore fell under the Merovingian kings Childebert I and Chlothar I, when Frankish rulers regularly convened councils of the Gallic bishops to legislate on doctrine, clerical discipline, asylum, and church property.

His only firmly dated public act is his subscription to the Fifth Council of Orléans in 549, where he signed as bishop of the church of Limoges. The council issued canons on church order, the status of persons manumitted in churches, and related disciplinary matters. His presence shows that the see of Limoges remained in communion with the wider Merovingian episcopate and was recognized by the royal court. Claims that he attended other mid-sixth-century councils are not securely established.

Unlike Ruricius I, he left no known letters, sermons, or other writings. His personal character, pastoral work, and relations with the local aristocracy or the Frankish kings therefore cannot be reconstructed. He would have governed a diocese whose Christian origins were linked to the cult of Saint Martial and whose cathedral already had regional standing. Medieval catalogues of the bishops of Limoges include both Ruricii, but liturgical commemoration and hagiography attached themselves far more to the first than to the second.

The date, place, and circumstances of his death are unrecorded. He disappears from the sources after the mid-sixth century, and the names and dates of his immediate successors are equally obscure. His historical interest lies mainly in showing that members of the old Aquitanian senatorial families continued to hold major Gallic sees well into the Merovingian age.