Desideratus of Bourges, St.

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DESIDERATUS OF BOURGES, ST.

Bishop; d. May 8, 550. Together with his brother Deodatus, he was a valued councilor of King Chlotar I (d.561) and keeper of his seal. Giving up his inclination to the monastic life at the request of the king and the magnates, as his vita relates, he succeeded Archadius (d. 543), becoming 23d bishop of Bourges in 543. After a pilgrimage to Rome, he was present in 549 at the synod of Orléans held under King Childebert I (d. 558). He is held to be the founder of the church of St. Symphorien, later called St. Ursin, in Bourges. He was succeeded in office by St. Probianus (d. 568). A late vita, suspiciously similar to that of St. ouen, may be found in Acta Sanctorum May 2:303305.

Feast: May 8.

Bibliography: r. aubert, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 14:343. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 2:251252. r. aigrain, Catholicisme 3:674.

[v. i. j. flint]

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