Pothinus
Bishop of Lyon. More than ninety years old, he was beaten before the governor’s tribunal in the persecution of 177 and died in prison two days later. Irenaeus succeeded him.
The letter of the churches of Vienne and Lyon calls Pothinus the man “entrusted with the bishopric of Lyons”. He was over ninety and could hardly breathe when soldiers brought him to the tribunal. Asked by the governor who the God of the Christians was, he answered, “If you are worthy, you shall know.” The bystanders struck and pelted him, and he died in prison two days afterwards (Eusebius, Church History 5.1.29–31). Eusebius adds that Irenaeus followed him as bishop (Eusebius, Church History 5.5.8). If he was over ninety in 177, he was born before AD 87. See the Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne.
In the timeline
- AD 177, estimated dateThe Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne
Mob violence against the Christians of Lyon and Vienne ends in trials before the governor. The aged bishop Pothinus dies in prison, and the slave Blandina and others are killed in the amphitheatre. The survivors describe it in a letter to Asia.
Primary sources
Church History
- Eusebius, Church History 5.1.29–31newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 5.5.8newadvent.org