Venantius Fortunatus

Saint Venantius Fortunatus
Venantius Fortunatus Reading His Poems to Radegonda VI by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1862).
Born	c. 530 AD Venetia, Kingdom of the Ostrogoths
Died	c. 600 or 609 AD Pictavium, Kingdom of the Franks
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	14 December

Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus (c. 530 – c. 600/609 AD) was a Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian Court, and a Bishop of the Early Church. He was never canonised—no saint was formally canonised till Saint Ulrich of Augsburg in 993—but he was venerated as Saint Venantius Fortunatus during the Middle Ages.

Venantius Fortunatus was born between 530 and 540 AD at Duplavis, near Treviso in Venetia, Italy. He grew up during the Byzantine reconquest of Italy, but there is controversy concerning where Fortunatus spent his childhood. Some historians, such as D. Tardi, suggest that Fortunatus’ family moved to Aquileia because of the turbulent political situation in Treviso after the death of King Theoderic. This theory is suggested because there is evidence of Fortunatus speaking warmly about one of the bishops there, Bishop Paul of Aquileia. Other scholars, such as Judith George, suggest that his family never moved to Aquileia, pointing out that the poet speaks more of Duplavis than any other place regarding his childhood. Sometime in the 550s or 60s, he travelled to Ravenna to study. While there, he was given a classical education, in the Roman style. His later work shows familiarity not only with classical Latin poets such as Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Statius, and Martial, but also with Christian poets, including Arator, Claudian, and Coelius Sedulius, and bears their influence. In addition, Fortunatus likely had some knowledge of the Greek language and the classical Greek writers and philosophers, as he makes reference to them and Greek words at times throughout his poetry and prose.

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