Pantalus

Pantalus is, according to legend, the first bishop of Basel, a martyr, and one of the patrons of the diocese of Basel. He is said to have lived around 300 or in the 5th century; the dates given for his death are 304 or around 452. Our record places him in the 10th century, but the sources place him much earlier.

In 1157, at Cologne, his funerary tablet was found, with a note about his martyrdom. From this arose the legend that he joined the train of Saint Ursula and her virgins and that, on the way back from Rome to Cologne, he too was killed by the Huns. The name is probably a corruption of Pantaleon, one of the chief saints of Cologne; Pantaleon is a Greek name, meaning all lion or all-⁠merciful.

He is shown as a bishop with a book and a palm. His remembrance in the Roman Catholic Church is on 12 or 13 October.

His person is legendary and uncertain. He is a saint of the West; no Orthodox synodal canonization is known.