Aniano di Asti

Who they were

Very little is agreed about Aniano of Asti: some scholars have taken him for a soldier martyr of the Theban Legion, others for an early local martyr, or the seventh bishop of Tortona martyred around 285, or even the same person as Saint Anianus, bishop of Orléans. What is certain is that by around the year 1000 his venerated body was kept in the chapel of the Castel Vecchio of Asti, as recorded by the bishops Alrico and Oberto III.

His relics were moved in 1567, under Bishop Capris and in the presence of Duke Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, from the castle to the church of San Sisto, and later to Asti cathedral. The liturgical calendar of the Piedmont region keeps his local feast, proper to Asti cathedral, on 16 November.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Bishop honoured locally at Asti since at least the year 1000, though his historical identity is disputed among scholars; feast 16 November, relics kept in Asti cathedral.