Auspicius of Toul

Auspice de Toul († 490?) (Auspicious Tullensis in Latin) was an 5th century poet as well as the fifth bishop of Toul,^[1][2] and a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church]] with local veneration. He is known for iambic verse based on stress (rather than quantity, as in the classical Latin prosody); this was an innovation of his time.^[3] A verse letter of his from around 470 survives, praising Arbogast, count of Trier.^[4]

Early Life

Bishop Auspice was part of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy. Arbogast (Roman general), was one of his ancestors who was famous under Theodosius the Great. He succeeded Gelsimus to 478 (?). After more than 500 years in the Roman Empire, the city of Toul (quoted Leuques) fell into the hands of the Francs. It was thus the first of the bishops of Toul to be in France.

Writting

His rare talents and virtues gained him the esteem of distinguished persons of his time and he was such a friend of the poet Sidonius of Clermont, and Count Arbogast, and of governor of Trier Childéric. All three written corrospondance.^[5] Arbogast wrote Sidonius asking him to instruct his duties and to give some explanation of the sacred books but Sidoine apologizes and agrees to consult preferably St. Loup, Bishop of Troyes or Auspice, bishop Toul, both, he says, are distinguished by their deep knowledge and the high rank they occupy.

The Count had recourse to the lights of Auspice. The latter wrote to the lord to a letter in which he applauded the opportunity to speak to him recently in Toul same and have been in the case of appreciating his outstanding qualities. II congratulates the city of Trier to be governed by a man of such great merit. He compares it to the value in this.^[6]

As a poet, he was the first Westerner to adopt the iambic rhythm, the derivation of the Saturnian, the preferred metric of folk poetry and secular Romans.

Veneration

The breviary of the diocese of Toul have always given the title of Saint Auspice. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Mansuy where his body was found in 1070 under the episcopate of Pibon. Sidonius died in 488, and it is likely that St. Auspice passed away a few years later (about 490?). His successor was the bishop Saint Ours.

Notes

1. A.D. Thiéry, Histoire de la ville de Toul et de ses évêques, suivie d'une notice de la cathédrale, vol. 1, Paris, Roret, 1841, p. 37.
2. Wilhelm Brandes: Des Auspicius von Toul Rhythmische Epistel an Arbogast von Trier. Wolfenbüttel, 1905 .
3. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Hymnody and Hymnology
4. Penny MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords (2002), p. 75.
5. Epistola Ad Arbogastem Comitem Trevirorum (cf : Patrología latina de Migne, volume 61)
6. Lettre de St Auspice dans Duchêne, Recueil des Historiens de France, TOME 1, page 824.