Victor the Moor

Saint Victor the Moor (Victor of Milan) was born in the third century in Mauretania in North Africa and was put to death at Milan around 303. He is commemorated on 8 May.

Born into a Christian family, he was a soldier in the Praetorian Guard of the emperor Maximian. According to his Acts, from the eighth century, he refused to continue his military service. He was dragged into the hippodrome of the circus before Maximian and his adviser Anulinus, and he did not renounce his faith under torture. He was whipped and imprisoned, escaped almost miraculously, but was captured again and beheaded in a nearby elm wood.

His bones were buried in an ancient basilica on the site of a Roman mausoleum, then moved to the oratory of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro, built by Bishop Maternus and now part of the basilica of Sant'Ambrogio. Saint Ambrose promoted his cult. Gregory of Tours says his intercession was effective in freeing captives. In 1576 Bishop Charles Borromeo had the relics placed in San Vittore al Corpo. He is patron of prisoners and exiles and of many places in Italy and Italian-⁠speaking Switzerland.