Paulinus II of Aquileia

Saint Paulinus II
Paulinus II of Aquilea blessing the Friulian-Slavic army before its campaign against the Avars. Depiction from the Aquileia Cathedral.
Born	c. 726 Premariacco
Died	802 or 804 Cividale
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Feast	January 11

Saint Paulinus II (c. 726 – 11 January 802 or 804 AD) was a priest, theologian, poet, and one of the most eminent scholars of the Carolingian Renaissance. From 787 to his death, he was the Patriarch of Aquileia. He participated in a number of synods which opposed Spanish Adoptionism and promoted both reforms and the adoption of the Filioque into the Nicene Creed. In addition, Paulinus arranged for the peaceful Christianisation of the Avars and the alpine Slavs in the territory of the Aquileian patriarchate. For this, he is also known as the apostle of the Slovenes.

Paulinus was born at Premariacco, near Cividale (the Roman Forum Iulii) in the Friuli region of north-eastern Italy, probably of a Roman family, during the latter days of Lombard rule. He received his education in the patriarchal school at Cividale and, after ordination to the priesthood, he became master of the same school. There he acquired a thorough Latin culture, both in pagan and Christian classics. He also acquired a relatively deep knowledge of jurisprudence, and an extensive Scriptural, theological, and patristic training.