Saint Quentin

Saint Quentin (died c. 287), Quintinus in Latin, also known as Quentin of Amiens, is an early Christian saint. No real details are known of his life.

Hagiography

Martyrdom

The legend of his life has him as a Roman citizen who was martyred in Gaul. He is said to have been the son of a man named Zeno, who had senatorial rank. Filled with apostolic zeal, Quentin traveled to Gaul as a missionary with Saint Lucian, who was later martyred at Beauvais, and others (the martyrs Victoricus and Fuscian are said to have been Quentin's followers). Quentin settled at Amiens and performed many miracles there.

Because of his preaching, he was imprisoned by the prefect Rictiovarus, who had traveled to Amiens from Trier. Quentin was manacled, tortured repeatedly, but refused to abjure his faith. The prefect left Amiens to go to Reims, the capital of Gallia Belgica, where he wanted Quentin judged. But, on the way, in a town named Augusta Veromanduorum (now Saint-Quentin, Aisne), Quentin miraculously escaped and again started his preaching. Rictiovarus decided to interrupt his journey and pass sentence: Quentin was tortured again, then beheaded and thrown secretly into the marshes around the Somme, by Roman soldiers.