Sabinus of Cerisier

Sabinus of Cerisier is a martyr of Macedonian origin who is said to have settled in Poitou and was honoured at Cerisier, now Saint-⁠Savin-⁠sur-⁠Gartempe. His life is little known and has been mixed up with that of his namesakes of Brescia. According to tradition he lived in the 5th century, with his brother and friend Cyprian of Antigny, was persecuted in Macedonia and lived for a time in Gallia Lugdunensis (Bresse). He was a monk in Poitou, probably at Ligugé, withdrew to an island of the river Gartempe and was killed as a martyr, probably shortly before his brother.

Three hundred years later the relics of the two martyrs were found at the place where they had been killed, and Badillus, a cleric at the court of Charlemagne, decided to found an abbey. The dates are very uncertain: some sources place him at the beginning of the 5th century, others in 683, which seems too late. He is commemorated on 11 July, in the Western calendar (new style). Venerated locally, from the time of the undivided Church.