Servasio (+384)

Biography

What is known with certainty is that he was bishop of Tongres, Belgium, at the time when Saint Athanasius was exiled in Trier, and that his episcopacy lasted nearly half a century. Arianism was then flourishing; many bishops no longer believed in the divinity of Christ. Saint Servasius fought harshly against the Arians, especially in the councils of Cologne, Sardica and Rimini. Servasius' prestige was such that the usurper Magnetius counted on him to help him become emperor of the West, instead of Constans, whom he had murdered. He sent him to Constantinople to defend his cause at the residence of Constantius II, Emperor of the East. But this brother of Constante did not want to know anything. He took up the fight against the Frankish prince, defeated him at Mursa, Bulgaria, and Magnetius, abandoned by his troops, committed suicide. From then on, Constantius became the sole owner of the Empire, as his father Constantine had been. But the Huns were already announcing themselves at that time. Judging rightly that they would soon reach Tongres, Servasius took refuge in Maastricht, which was far from the invader's path. Along the way he took his Christians and his library with him. He died shortly after.