Austromoine

Austromoine, also referred to as Stremonius or Austremonius, holds the distinction of being the first Bishop of Clermont and is widely known as the "apostle of Auvergne." He is venerated as a saint within the Catholic Church.

Legend and Historical Context

According to the historical accounts of Gregory of Tours, who called him Stremonius, Austromoine was among seven bishops dispatched from Rome by Pope Fabian during the consulship of Emperor Decius and Vettius Gratus, approximately in 250 AD. These bishops were sent to evangelize Gaul. Austromoine's mission was to Clermont. Within this region, tradition states that he converted prominent figures such as the senator Cassius of Clermont and the pagan priest Victorinus. He is also said to have commissioned other missionaries, including St. Serenus to Thiers and St. Marius to Salers, and Antoninus to other parts of Auvergne. The legend concludes with his beheading.

A later tradition also attributes to Saint Austremonius the directive for Nectarius of Auvergne to Christianize the plain of Limagne, located in the Massif Central.

Veneration and Later Traditions

While Austromoine's veneration was historically quite localized, particularly in Clermont, later devotional practices shifted his timeline. To align with other "Apostles to Gaul," such as Saint Martial, his life was retrospectively placed in the 1st century AD, and he was claimed to be one of the "seventy-two Disciples of Christ." This tradition further posited him as a converted Jew who accompanied St. Peter from Palestine to Rome before becoming the Apostle of Auvergne, Berry, and Nivernais. However, historical analysis suggests it is more probable that he was a contemporary of the three bishops from Aquitaine who attended the Council of Arles in 314 AD.

His initial burial took place in a tomb at Issoire, situated on the Couze. The origins of this local veneration are traced to a life of St. Austremonius written in the 10th century at the Abbey of Mozac, where the saint's body was moved in 761. The monks of Issoire later revised and expanded this biography, retaining the saint's head as a relic. A more elaborate version of his life, the Vita, emerged in the late 11th century, featuring new episodes and coinciding with the creation of a forged charter attributed to Pippin. The tomb at Issoire was eventually opened in 1197.

Gregory of Tours, himself a native of Auvergne, viewed Austremonius as one of the seven envoys who evangelized Gaul around 250 AD. He documented that the saint's body was first interred at Issoire, where it was an object of significant veneration, before its translation to Clermont, though his head remained in Issoire.

The possibility exists that the establishment of an apostolic figure for each major diocese in Gaul was a historical necessity, with details being supplied to serve local pride when original records had faded, a phenomenon also observed with figures like Gatien of Tours.