Aristobulus of Britannia

The Holy Apostle Aristobulus is one of the seventy apostles, bishop of Britain, according to tradition the brother of the Apostle Barnabas. He is commemorated on 16 March, on 4 January, in the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles, and on 31 October.

The Apostle Paul mentions in the Epistle to the Romans those of the household of Aristobulus (16:10), from which tradition took him to be one of the disciples; it may, however, refer to the household of a deceased Aristobulus. According to the Greek, Latin and Alexandrian traditions, Aristobulus was born in Cyprus, of Jewish descent, like Barnabas, and accompanied Paul on his journeys. He was one of the helpers of the Apostle Andrew, with Urban, Stachys, Ampliatus, Apelles and Narcissus, all named together by Paul in chapter 16 of Romans. Pseudo-⁠Hippolytus lists him among the seventy as Aristobulus, bishop of Britain; Dorotheus also speaks of him as a bishop in Britain.

The Apostle Paul made him bishop and sent him to preach the Gospel in Britain. It is said that the peoples there were wild and unbelieving, and that Aristobulus suffered much: they beat him without mercy, dragged him through the streets and mocked him. Yet in the end he succeeded: he enlightened the peoples, baptised them in the name of Christ, built churches, ordained priests and deacons, and passed away in peace. Other traditions say he died a martyr, according to some in Wales. On the way to Britain he is said to have preached to the Celtiberians of northern Hispania. Some later Catholic historians had him die at Glastonbury, but there is no evidence of a connection with that abbey; the legend of Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury dates from the late Middle Ages. In the Welsh tradition he is identified with Arwystli Hen, one of the missionaries who brought Christianity to the British Isles. He may be seen as the founder of British Christianity.