Agon

Saint Agon was one of the very first bishops of Poitiers, around the third century, and the oldest whose historical existence is certain. He is traditionally recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church.

Almost nothing is known of his life, except that he held the episcopal office at Poitiers some time before Saint Hilary. The list of the first bishops of Poitiers is very uncertain, for most left no trace and the lists given do not agree: some make Agon the third, others the fourth or the fifth bishop. He is in any case the first whose historical existence is generally accepted.

He was once commemorated specifically on 18 August, then only jointly with the other holy bishops of Poitiers on 20 January. Today he is no longer explicitly named among the bishops commemorated on 20 January in the calendar of the diocese, no doubt because of the vagueness surrounding his life. At Poitiers there was, at least until the seventeenth century, an ancient chapel bearing his name, since destroyed.