Trophimus of Arles

Trophimus of Arles (3rd century), bishop. According to Gregory of Tours, Trophimus was one of several bishops associated with Sernin of Toulouse, who were founders of famous sees of France. Already in 417 Pope Zosimus, writing to the bishops of Gaul, mentioned Trophimus, sent formerly by the papacy to preach and found the church of Arles, from which other churches had been founded. This is virtually all we know about Trophimus. His church, which later enjoyed metropolitan status, is very ancient: a crypt of the 3rd century was discovered in 1835; there is also notable work of the 4th and 5th centuries there, while later Romanesque elements help to make it one of the most notable in France. The situation of Arles on the Rhône, with extensive Roman remains, still reveals how it was an obvious choice for a bishopric in late Roman times. Feast: 29 December. Attempts to identify this Trophimus with the one mentioned in the second Epistle to Timothy have long been discredited.

Bibliography
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• Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, i. 28–9; Bibl. SS., xii. 665–72