Saint-Mitre in Marseille

Mitre d’Aix, a Christian martyr

Born in 433 in Thessalonica, in Greece, Mitre is a  catholic and Orthodox Saint, honoured on 13 november. According to the legend, he left his family at the age of 24 in order to go to Provence to live a  life of charity and poverty. He became a servant to Arvendus, an Aix roman loan provider who had a debauched life. Willing to take back his master on the right path, Mitre made a  number of remarks to Arvendus about his loose morals. Arvendus, feeling increasingly intimate with his servant, wants to find an excuse to stop seeing him.

The lender owned a  vineyard  west of the city of Tours, in the district of Saint-Mitre  in Aix- en Provence. He asked his other  servants to wilfully damage his vineyard by picking all the grapes and prossing them into jugs with idea of blaming Mitre. On hearing the  news, Arvendus feigned anger, rushed into his vineyard and was surprised to find that is full of high quality grapes and not a single jug full of wine.

Accused of witchcraft, Mitre is sent to the dungeon of a Roman tower,  located on the site of the former court’s palace. In 466, he died at the age of 33, decapitated in the courtyard of the Praetorium. Mitre then picked up his own head, held it close to his heart and carried it to the altar of the  church of Notre Dame de la Seds in Aix-en-Provence,  where he became the patron Saint , before dying a martyr’s death.

On the 23 of April 1113, Saint- Mitre is mentioned in the cartulary of Saint Victor under the  mention Cella Sancti Mitrii. In 1383, Saint-Mitre’s relics were transfered to Saint Sauveur d’Aix- en- Provence Cathedral in which his sarcophagus can be seen. In this place of worship, the artist Nicolas Froment created a work entitled legend de Saint- Mitre dating from between 1470 and 1475. In the early 16th century, Jean Mone created a statue inspired by the legend of Saint- Mitre, in which the martyr holds his head between his hands.