Salvius of Albi

Saint Salvius, also called Sauve, was bishop of Albi in Gaul from 574 to 584 and is venerated as a saint. He died on 10 September 584, in a time of famine and epidemic, while caring for the flock entrusted to him, and he is remembered on the same day.

He came from a family powerful in the Church, which gave many bishops to the south of France at the end of the Roman Empire. He was a distant relative of Gregory of Tours, who wrote his life, and a relative of Saint Didier of Cahors.

Salvius studied law and the humanities and was first a lawyer at Albi. Later he became a monk and a hermit and, in the year 574, was made bishop. As bishop he interceded with the powerful King Chilperic I. When famine came, and then plague, he stayed at Albi to care for his flock and died himself of the disease, in 584.

He was buried in his monastery, and his relics were later moved to the church of Saint-⁠Salvi in Albi. Their exact location was lost in renovation work in the eighteenth century. After his death he was venerated in the city and later recognized as a saint.