Location:Probably Vaucelles - Date:Shortly before 1250 (incorporated in the first 'Passionaire français) ( BHL 2175 ) (Perrot, 1992: 20, 180-189) - Commission: /

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Life of S. Dionysius Parisiensis (+ca 250). Dionysius from Italy was sent, along with his companions, the priest Rusticus and deacon Eleutherius to Gaul by order of Pope St. Fabian. They had been given the difficult task to restore the old glory of the Chruch of Gaul, which had suffered under the persecution of Emperor Decius. Dionysius and his followers arrived near Paris and settled down on the island in the Seine, where they built a church. A large amount of people were converted by Dionysius’ preaching what made him the first bishop of Paris. Eventually, after years of missionary work, Dionysius and his followers were persecuted, tortured and finally beheaded. According to legend, Dionysius was a Cephalophore, who walked with his decapitated head from Montmartre to the place where he wished to be buried. This was the location where the abbey of Saint-Denis was established under the reign of King Dagobert I (622-638).

Brussel/Bruxelles, Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Bibliothèque Royale, 10326
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 17229 (Link)
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, nouv. acq. fr., 10128

MEYER (P.), Légendes hagiographiques en français, in: Histoire littéraire de la France, XXXIII (1906) 402 (fragment)
PERROT (J.P.), Le Passionnaire français au Moyen Age (Genève, 1992) 304-305 (fragment)

Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina 2175
LANZI (F.), LANZI (G.), Saints and Their Symbols: Recognizing Saints in Art and in Popular Images (Milaan, 2003) 88
LOMBARD-JOURDAN (A.), Montjoie et Saint Denis : le centre de la Gaule aux origines de Paris et de Saint-Denis (Paris, 1989)
MEYER (P.), Légendes hagiographiques en français, in: Histoire littéraire de la France, XXXIII (1906) 393-458
PERROT (J.P.), Le Passionnaire français au Moyen Age (Genève, 1992)
SPIEGEL (G.M.), 'The cult of Saint Denis and Capetian kingship.', Journal of Medieval History, 1 (1975) 43-69
VAN DER LINDEN (S.), De Heiligen (Antwerpen, 1999) 227-228