Defendens
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=Saint
|name=Defendens of Thebes
|birth_date=
|death_date=286 AD
|feast_day=January 2
|venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
|image=Marcello_Baschenis,_San_Defendente,_1884.jpg
|imagesize=250px
|caption= Image of Saint Defendens, 1885.
Oil on canvas, Marcello Baschenis
|birth_place=Africa?
|death_place=Agaunum
|titles=Martyr
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes= military attire
|patronage= Romano di Lombardia; invoked against wolves and fires[http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90201 San Defendente di Tebe]
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}
Defendens of Thebes ({{langx|it|San Defendente di Tebe}}) is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic Church. Venerated as a soldier-saint, Defendens was, according to Christian tradition, a member of the Theban Legion, and thus martyred at Agaunum.
Veneration
Particular veneration for Defendens was widespread in Northern Italy;{{Cite web |url=http://www.comune.invorio.no.it/mescia4.htm |title=Mescia - Comune di Invorio |access-date=2008-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722043539/http://www.comune.invorio.no.it/mescia4.htm |archive-date=2011-07-22 |url-status=dead }} evidence for this cult dates from as early as 1328. His feast day was celebrated in the cities of Chivasso, Casale Monferrato, Novara, and Lodi on January 2, and oratories, altars, and confraternities were dedicated to him. He also enjoyed veneration in Marseilles; the Catholic Encyclopedia states that “several saints belong in a particular way to Marseilles: the soldier St. Victor, martyr under Maximian; the soldier St. Defendens and his companions, martyrs at the same time...”The Catholic Encyclopedia (Encyclopedia Press: 1913), 717. But as Antonio Borrelli writes, some scholars believe that the Defendens venerated in Italy is different from the martyr who was a member of the Theban Legion.
There is an oratory dedicated to him at Solto Collina.[https://visitlakeiseo.info/en/arts-and-culure/the-church-of-san-defendente-st-defendens-in-solto-collina/ Ibsen, Monica. "Church of San Defendente", Visit Lake Iseo] There is also a church dedicated to him at Clusone, the church of San Defendente, and another at Invorio.{{Cite web |url=http://www.comune.invorio.no.it/mescia.htm |title=Mescia - Comune di Invorio |access-date=2008-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722043717/http://www.comune.invorio.no.it/mescia.htm |archive-date=2011-07-22 |url-status=dead }}
Until 1476 his relics, according to the 1578 Martyrologium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae of Pietro Galesino, were kept in the church of Santa Croce in Casale Monferrato, which suggested that his martyrdom may have taken place in that region.Cited in Giuseppe Cappelletti, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JtQCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA565 Le chiese d'Italia della loro origine sino ai nostri giorni], 21 vols (Venice: 1844–70), XIV: Stati Sardi: Torino e le sue chiese suffraganee (1858), p. 565.
The painter Defendente Ferrari, born at Chivasso, where Defendens was venerated, carries the baptismal name of this martyr.
Gallery
Image:Martinolio Madonna col Bambino Boccioleto Ronchi.jpg|Cristoforo Martinolio, "il Rocca", Madonna Enthroned with the Infant Christ and St Peter , Saint Paul, St John the Baptist, St Defendens (far right).
Image:SGiorgio8.jpg|Saint Defendens, attributed to the "Maestro del 1388". Chiesa di San Giorgio in Lemine.
Image:SoltoCollina oratorio SanDefendente.JPG|Oratorio di San Defendente, Solto Collina.
Image:Clusone defendente defendes 06.jpg|Image of Saint Defendens. Church of San Defendente at Clusone.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Saint Defendens}}
External links
- {{in lang|it}} [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90201 San Defendente di Tebe]
Category:3rd-century Christian martyrs