Theodore of Marseille

Saint Theodore of Marseille, hierarch, was bishop of Marseille from at least 566 until 591 (or 594) and is venerated as a saint by several Christian confessions. He is remembered on 2 January.

Gregory of Tours, his contemporary, portrays him as a holy man, but without power, supported by the people and opposed by his own clergy. Marseille was then the most important port of Merovingian Francia and a cause of dispute between King Guntram and his nephew Childebert II. When Gundovald, who claimed to be a son of King Clothar I, landed at Marseille, Theodore gave him horses so that he could join Duke Mummolus, in Childebert's service. For this he was arrested by Dynamius, governor of Provence, and by Guntram Boso, and accused of bringing a foreigner into Gaul and wanting to subject the Frankish kingdom to imperial rule. In 581 he was arrested on the way to Childebert's court, then freed, and the charges were dropped. The council of Mâcon in 585 was meant to send him into exile but did not condemn him, and the people of Marseille received him with joy.

In June 591 a letter of Pope Gregory the Great charged him to repair the fault of some priests who had baptized Jews by force, urging him to preach to the Jews so that they would convert freely.