Antyd

Who they were

Antido (or Antidio) was bishop of Besançon, fifteenth in the diocese's list of bishops, at some point in the 5th century, though his legendary Passio is built from standard hagiographic commonplaces that give no reliable historical detail. He is said to have been born to a Roman family in the Séquanaise region of Gaul and to have joined the clergy of the cathedral of Saint-Étienne before becoming bishop.

According to the tradition, when the Vandal king Croco invaded the region, Antido asked to be taken hostage in exchange for sparing the Christian population; Croco instead had him stripped of his vestments, cruelly beaten and beheaded at Ruffiacum, today Ruffey-le-Château, in the Doubs. His feast is kept on 25 June.

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 of Besançon, said in legend to have offered himself as hostage to the Vandal king Croco to spare his people and to have been beheaded at Ruffey-le-Château; feast 25 June.