Saint Benignus of Dijon

According to tradition, Benignus was a priest sent from the East by Saint Polycarp of Smyrna to preach the Gospel in Gaul. He worked in the region of Autun, Langres and Dijon and was martyred at Dijon, probably in the late 2nd or 3rd century. His forgotten tomb was rediscovered in the 6th century, as Saint Gregory of Tours relates, and his cult spread throughout Burgundy.

The great Benedictine abbey of Saint-Bénigne grew up over his tomb; its church is today the Cathedral of Dijon, and his tomb can still be visited in the ancient crypt.