Saint Denis and Companions

Denis was the first bishop of Lutetia, that is, of Paris, and died a martyr sometime between 250 and 285, on a date that isn’t known. He was buried outside the city, and over his tomb rose first a basilica and then the abbey that bears his name. What has just been said is all that is known about him before the ninth century. With him died, tradition says, the priest Eleutherius and the deacon Rusticus. Then there’s the legend, which is one of the most famous in Europe. It says he was beheaded on the hill that has since been called Montmartre — “mount of martyrdom” — and that his body rose, picked up its own head and walked six kilometers to the place where he wished to be buried. The road he is said to have taken was named the Way of Saint Denis. Over that tomb rose the Basilica of Saint-Denis, which is two enormous things at once: the first Gothic building in history — Abbot Suger had it rebuilt around 1140 and invented there what would become the style of every cathedral in Europe — and the burial place of the kings of France, where almost all of them lie, from Dagobert to Louis XVI. He is the patron of Paris and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, invoked against headaches. If your name is Denis, today is your name day.