Martyrs of Lyon

The Martyrs of Lyon are a group of forty-⁠eight Christians of the region of Vienne and Lyon in France, many of them from Asia and Anatolia and part of the Christian communities of both cities in the second century. Arrested in the persecution of Marcus Aurelius in the year 177, they were taken to Lugdunum, today Lyon, tortured and martyred: some died suffocated in prison, others were given to the beasts in the amphitheatre of the city (today the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls). They are remembered on 2 June.

A contemporary letter, addressed to a community of Asia Minor and perhaps written by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, tells of their martyrdom. Those afterwards known by name and honoured as saints are: Alexander of Vienne, a physician at Vienne; Attalus of Pergamum; Biblis; Blandina, proclaimed patron of Lyon; Comenus; Maturus the Novice; Pothinus of Lyons, bishop of the community of Lyon, proclaimed patron saint of the city; Ponticus; Sanctus of Vienne; and Vettius Epagathus.

Their remains were gathered and buried at the place where the abbey of Saint-⁠Martin d'Ainay in Lyon later stood. Later they were moved to the church of Saint-⁠Nizier in Lyon, where they are today, besides other scattered relics.