Urbicius of Metz

Urbicius of Metz (Urbice) was the fifteenth bishop of Metz according to an old catalogue, drawn up in the time of Angilram (died 791) and included in the Sacramentary of Drogo, of the 9th century, the earliest source on the bishops of the diocese. According to the catalogue he died on 20 March. His period is uncertain, since no contemporary source mentions him: he is thought to have lived in the 5th century, between the time of Bishop Auctor, who is said to have seen the devastation of the city by the Huns in 451, and that of Esperius, the first historically documented, present at the Council of Auvergne in 535. Later updates of the catalogue give him 36 or 49 years of episcopate.

According to tradition, he received the title of archbishop and sold it to Trier to help the faithful struck by a heavy famine. His body was buried in the church of Saint-⁠Maximin-⁠aux-⁠Vignes, and in 1552 the relics were moved to the church of Saint-⁠Eucaire. The cult remained alive at Metz until the French Revolution, and in the 16th century a church dedicated to him existed there. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 20 March. A saint of the undivided Church, venerated locally.