Baudilus

Saint Baudilus (Baudelius) is regarded as the preacher of the Gospel at Nîmes in France, and he was put to death for Christ around 259 by our calendar. Some place him at the end of the third century, others, with less reason, toward the end of the fourth. He is commemorated on 20 May.

The legend says he was not a native of Nîmes but a Christian, perhaps a deacon, who came into the city one day during a pagan festival. It was held on the hills nearby, with animal sacrifice, in honour of the god Veiovis. Baudilus condemned the ceremony and toppled the statue of the god. The furious pagan priests whipped him and then killed him by cutting off his head with an axe. According to the legend, his head bounced three times on the ground, and each impact brought forth a spring of water, over which the oratory of the Three Fountains was later built.

His body was gathered by his wife and carried to a place called Valsainte, where the Christians there buried him. Valsainte became a place of pilgrimage: a church was built there in the fourth century and a monastery in 511, which lasted until the seventeenth century. The crypt of Saint Baudilus at Nîmes marks the alleged place of his martyrdom. His cult also spread into Spain.