Servatius of Tongeren

Saint Servatius (Dutch: Sint Servaas; French: Saint Servais; Limburgish: Sintervaos; died 13 May 384) was bishop of Tongeren (Latin: Atuatuca Tungrorum, the capital of the Tungri). Servatius is patron saint of the city of Maastricht and the towns of Schijndel and Grimbergen. He is one of the Ice Saints. His feast day is May 13.

A widely travelled diplomat and a determined opponent of Arianism, the presence of Servatius is recorded at several synods and church councils. In 343, Sarbatios - Greek texts rendering v as b - was present at the Council of Sardica (modern Sofia). In the debates, Servatius represented the Trinitarian view, which clashed with the Arian view of most Eastern bishops. According to Sulpicius Severus, Servatius again eloquently denounced Arianism at the Council of Rimini in 359.

When Athanasius, the leading opponent of Arianism, was exiled to Trier (in 336 or 343), he may have met with Servatius, because both men campaigned against Arian bishops and priests in the region.

According to a medieval legend, Servatius took part a Council of Cologne in 346, testifying that Euphrates, bishop of Cologne, "denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, this even happened in the presence of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria". Euphrates was historically known as an opponent of Arianism and alongside Athanasius and Servatius took part in the Council of Sardica. The legend, compiled in Trier, probably aimed at reducing the status of the church of Cologne, with which Trier was in conflict over ecclesiastical predominance.

After co-emperor Constans had been assassinated in 350, Servatius was sent to the Roman emperor Constantius II in Edessa, the capital of Armenian Mesopotamia, as an envoy of the usurper Magnentius to represent the late Constans as an unworthy tyrant and oppressor, in the hope of obtaining Constantius's recognition of Magnentius as co-ruler. The mission failed and the resulting civil war ended with the death of Magnentius in 353. The mission can be seen as a sign of the high standing of Servatius.

An important source about the life of Saint Servatius, albeit not a contemporary source, is Gregory of Tours' Glory of the Confessors and History of the Franks. In his late 6th-century account, Gregory writes about Aravatius (identified by most scholars as Servatius), who was a bishop of Tongeren and died in Maastricht. According to the Frankish bishop and historian, Aravatius lived at the time when the Huns threatened Tongeren (5th century), which does not match the 4th-century dates of the synods mentioned above. It is not always clear how much of Gregory's account is history and how much is fiction. Gregory describes how Aravatius, during a vigil at Saint Peter's tomb in Rome, had a vision in which the destruction of Tongeren was forecast (because of their sinfulness). Peter then handed the Keys of Heaven to Aravatius, transferring to him the power to forgive sins. According to Gregory, Aravatius returned to Tongeren, brought the relics of his predecessors to Maastricht, where he died and was buried alongside the Roman road, near the bridge.

As a bishop, Servatius may have been the founder of several early Christian churches in the diocese of Tongeren. Two likely candidates are the Basilica of Our Lady in Tongeren and the Basilica of Our Lady in Maastricht. In the case of Tongeren, this traditional claim was supported by excavations in the 1980s, which revealed under the medieval church remains of a 4th-century church, possibly the original cathedral of the diocese. The origins of the Maastricht church of Our Lady remain uncertain, since no excavations have ever been carried out inside this church. In another Maastricht church however, the Basilica of Saint Servatius, excavations in the 1990s have revealed the remains of a 6th-century church (built by bishop Monulph and described by Gregory of Tours as a magnum templum), with at its center a late Roman structure, possibly the tomb of Servatius.

Over the centuries legends accumulated around the historical figure of the bishop of Tongeren. Two early vitae (biographies) place Servatius' birth in Armenia and make him a cousin of John the Baptist, and thus a distant relative of Jesus (neither were mentioned by Gregory of Tours).