Contentius
{{Short description|French bishop and saint}}
{{Redirect|Saint Contest|the commune|Saint-Contest}}
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ContentiusContestus, Content, Contès, Context. (died 510) was bishop of Bayeux from 480 until his death.[http://saints.sqpn.com/saintc3s.htm Patron Saints Index: Saint Contentius] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014144126/http://saints.sqpn.com/saintc3s.htm |date=2008-10-14 }} He is a Catholic and Orthodox saint.[http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/s6centy.htm Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome] His feast day is 19 January.Matthew Bunson and Stephen Bunson, Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints (2003), p. 223.
Biography
According to Father Elie,Histoire de la paroisse de saint Contest (1895) he was Bayeusain, and his hermitage was located at Blay, near Bayeux.
His great reputation for holiness brought him many visits from pilgrims who came to him for spiritual comfort.
However, the inhabitants managed to have him named bishop of Bayeux to succeed Saint Manvieu.Les saints normands - Manoelle Miquel-Regnauld - Éditions Charles Corlet - 2003 - ({{ISBN|2-84706-017-0}}) In this function he fought against the idolatry that still existed in this country, as well as against the nobles who traded it.
He has been attributed several miracles, one of which, on the way to Sees, he made water from the ground to Athis-de-l'Orne to quench his companions.
He died in 513. First buried in the church of Saint-Exupére, he was transferred in 1162 to the Benedictine abbey of Fécamp. His relics were then transported to Argentan where they escaped the Huguenots in 1562. The translation of his right femur in the church of Saint-Contest was done in 1896 during a great ceremony.
A municipality of the Caen conurbation is called Saint-Contest and the town of Mayenne is called Contest.
Notes
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Category:5th-century bishops in Gaul
Category:6th-century Frankish bishops
Category:6th-century Christian saints
Category:Year of birth unknown
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