St. Contentius

Feastday: January 19
Death: 510

A bishop of Bayeux, in Normandy, France, from 480 until his death.

"Saint Contest" redirects here. For the commune, see Saint-Contest.

This biographical article needs more biographical information on the subject. Statistical information, such as date and place of birth, information on historical significance, and information on accomplishments is desired. Please remove this message when done. See this article's talk page for more information. (January 2017)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Contentius" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Contentius (died 510) was bishop of Bayeux from 480 until his death. He is a Catholic and Orthodox saint. His feast day is 19 January.

Biography

According to Father Elie, 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. 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 a town of Mayenne is called Contest.