Aprunculus of Trier

Aprunculus of Trier (also known as Abrunculus) died probably in 526 and was bishop of Trier from the death of his predecessor, Fibicius, around 525, until his own death; he was succeeded by Nicetius. He is venerated as a saint; his commemoration at Trier is 22 April, in the Western calendar (new style). His relics are preserved at Springiersbach Abbey, and he is the patron saint of Bruchsal in Baden-⁠Württemberg.

Aprunculus may have belonged either to the disempowered pre-⁠Frankish clergy of Trier or to the clergy sent to Trier from Auvergne by Theuderic I. The widespread story that Saint Gall was active in Trier at the same time is unhistorical, since Gall lived a century later, and likely confuses Gall with Gallus of Clermont. The absence of information on the bishops of Trier in the late 5th and early 6th centuries suggests that the church in Trier was not politically significant in this period.

He was probably buried in a small oratory on the site of Saint Symphorian's Abbey in Trier. Since the end of the 6th century he has been venerated as a saint; he is recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, and Gregory of Tours mentions him. His cult at Trier is attested from the 10th century, and he is venerated also at Auxerre, Autun and the abbey of Gellone. A portrait of him is found in the Egbert Psalter. In 1047 his remains were moved to the church of Saint Paulinus in Trier, and in 1136 to the monastery of Springiersbach. A saint of the undivided Church, venerated in the West.