Prudentius of Tarazona

Saint Prudentius of Tarazona was a hermit and later bishop of Tarazona in Aragon. He is commemorated on 28 April.

He was born at Armentia, a village near Vitoria in Álava, of Basque stock. At fifteen he withdrew as a hermit near Soria, a disciple of Saint Saturius, and stayed there about seven years. He then moved to Calahorra and came to Tarazona, where he brought many people to the faith, was received into the clergy, became archdeacon and, after the bishop's death, was chosen in his place. He worked healings, and the fame this brought led him to leave Tarazona and return to Soria.

Later he was chosen as mediator in a dispute between the bishopric and the clergy of Burgo de Osma, and he reconciled them. Then he fell mortally ill and reposed there. The dates of his life are uncertain: sources place him anywhere between the late fourth and the late sixth century, and the Orthodox calendar gives the year 700.

Because he died outside his own diocese, quarrels arose over his relics. According to the legend his body was set on the horse he had ridden in life and let go free; the horse stopped in the Logroño region, and the saint was buried in a cave on Mount Laturce near Clavijo. A church was raised there, called the monastery of Saint Prudentius in 1025. In 1040 most of the relics were moved to Santa María la Real in Nájera, while the head and some small bones stayed on Laturce. Since 1643 he has been patron of the province of Álava, and in 1688 a feast and a chapel were established at Armentia, his birthplace.