VITONUS (VANNE), ST.

Bishop of Verdun; d. c. 529? According to legend, Vitonus succeeded St. firmin in the see of Verdun, by appointment of clovis. His episcopate lasted for some 25 years at the beginning of the sixth century. In the episcopal list for Verdun preserved in the 12th-century chartulary of the Abbey of quimperlÉ, however, the name of Vitonus does not appear. Despite the obscurity of his life, Vitonus left behind him a well-established reputation for sanctity, given permanence by the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Vanne at verdun-sur-meuse and by the Benedictine congregation that for centuries bore his name.

Feast: Nov. 9.

Bibliography: bertarius, De gestis episcoporum Virdunensium, Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217 v. (Paris 1878–90) 132:509–510. richard, Libellus de vita et miraculis s. Vitoni episcopi, j. mabillon, Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti, 9 v. (Paris 1668–1701; 2d ed. Venice 1733–40) 8:496–500. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis, 2 v. (Brussels 1898–1901; suppl. 1911) 2:8708–10. Gallia Christiana, v. 1–13 (Paris 1715–85), v. 14–16 (Paris 1856–65) 13:1165–66. l. duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, 3 v. (2d ed. Paris 1907–15) 3:70. g. allemang, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. m. buchberger, 10 v. (Freiburg 1930–38) 10:656. h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. f. cabrol, h. leclerq, and h. i. marrou, 15 v. (Paris 1907–53) 15.2:2913–14. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes, ed. by the Benedictines of Paris, 12 v. (Paris 1935–56); v. 13, suppl. and table générale (1959) 11:296–299. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, rev. ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 4:304.

[g. m. cook]