The Exiles in Gaul

Migrations in Gaul and Spain of the first Christians. Source: maria-valtorta.org

The contemporaries of Christ having probably emigrated to Gaul.

The exile of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary of Bethany

Converging traditions hold that the Family of Bethany was exiled in Gaul. They are said to have emigrated following the persecution Against Christians undertaken by Herod Agrippa I (41-44). It was during this persecution, in the last year of Agrippa's reign, that the martyrdom of James of Zebedee the Apostle (the Greater) took place.

This episode is reported in the Acts of the Apostles. The king arrests some members of the Church and has James of Zebedee beheaded. Seeing that the action is popular, he has Peter arrested as well. But Peter is miraculously freed. King Agrippa, considering himself a God, doubtlessly imitating the Roman emperor Caligula whom he had known, wants to be worshipped. He dies eaten by worms.

The migration of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary to Provence, then part of Narbonese Gaul, has been classified among legends. But legend that imagines and tradition that remembers are two different things.

Jean Aulagnier, in First Christian Century, A Scientific Approach to the Birth of Christianity, argues this hypothesis.

His arguments, like the elements contained in the works of Maria Valtorta, can strengthen the credibility of these traditions, notably:

• The coherence of the motivation: not to flee danger, but to spread the gospel based on the testimony of people close to Jesus. Lazarus is Jesus’ friend whom He raised from the dead. Mary Magdalene is the person charged with announcing the Resurrection.
• The coherence of the exiled characters: it concerns a whole group including not only the Family of Bethany, but also their household and the Women Disciples. Only Sidonia, the born-blind, does not belong to one of these groups, but her association is not unreasonable.
• Narbonese Gaul corresponds to a traditional place of exile for important figures. This was the case for Pontius Pilate, exiled in 36 for his governance faults. The same year, Herod Antipas was exiled there with Herodias. Claudia Procula, the illegitimate granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, was hidden far from the Court.
• The links established between the Family of Bethany, under Roman protection, and Claudia Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, himself exiled, make their association natural.

This tradition is not new: Jacques de Voragine already attests to it in the Golden Legend. This 13th-century work is a compilation of older sources. Anne Catherine Emmerich also attests to it.

Figures reputed to be exiled in Gaul

Basilica of Sainte Marie Madeleine in Saint-Maximin

In Narbonese Gaul

• Claudia Procula, the Wife of Pontius Pilate. Her surname Procula means "born in the absence of her father." She is in fact the illegitimate daughter of Julia, the second wife of Emperor Tiberius, and thus granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. Claudia is said to have been raised by Tiberius Salton Macrobe, an imperial Roman chronicler. A correspondence from Claudia Procula to Fluvia Hersila, reproduced in a diocesan bulletin, would confirm that she stayed in Narbonne where Tiberius had been assigned. It is assumed she accompanied her husband in his exile to Gaul, which would explain the immigration of the Family of Bethany to which she was connected.
• Lazarus of Bethany, Jesus' friend. He is known as the first bishop of Marseille. The Church celebrates him on July 29. His head is kept in the ancient Cathedral of Major in Marseille.
• Marcella, servant of Martha. Her tomb is probably in the Basilica of Saint-Maximin together with several others from Bethany.
• Mary of Magdala (Magdalene), recluse at the Sainte Baume (Bouches-du-Rhône) – Relics in the Basilica of Saint-Maximin (Var).
• Mary of Clopas, known in Provence as Mary Jacobé. This surname likely comes from her son James of Alphaeus the Apostle, first bishop of Jerusalem. According to a tradition reported by Saint Caesarius of Arles (early 6th century), she would have come to the Camargue. Her feast was celebrated solemnly there before the 6th century. At Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, tradition has accrued more legendary narratives.
• Mary Salome, mother of the apostles John and James, wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John. According to an ancient tradition, her relics are preserved at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Her exile in Provence is closely linked with that of Mary of Clopas and of Sarah.
• Martha of Bethany. As persecutions intensified, the Family of Bethany chose to go into exile:

  "One certainly cannot say that Lazarus, Mary and Martha were fearful creatures. Yet you see that, even if with extreme sorrow, they moved away from here to bear elsewhere the Divine Word which here would have been stifled by the Jews.".

  Exiled to Arles then Tarascon where her relics lie. There her battle is celebrated against a monster supposed to be a crocodile escaped from a Roman circus.
• Maximin, steward of the Bethany estate. He was the first bishop of Aix-en-Provence. His relics are in the Basilica of Saint-Maximin (Var).
• Pontius Pilate. After repeated mistakes, he was exiled to Vienne, in Narbonese Gaul or to Lucerne (Switzerland). He died there shortly after. Whether he committed suicide or was executed is unknown. Mount Pilat, in the region of Vienne, Isère subprefecture, would derive its name from Pontius Pilate.
• Sarah the young widow entrusted to the Family of Bethany. According to tradition, she emigrated to Gaul with the Family of Bethany. Her worship was taken up by the Gypsies who honor her under the name Sara-la-Kali (Sarah the Black). This worship gives rise to a major Pilgrimage at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue on May 25.
• Sidonia (Saint Restitutus). She is the born-blind of John 9,1-34. According to a tradition reported by Mgr Gaume, and attested by several other sources, Sidonia or Celidonia embarked with the Family of Bethany during their exile in Provence (Narbonese Gaul). She became bishop of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Ardèche) under the name Restitutus. This name means "he to whom sight was restored." At Maximin's death, she became bishop of Aix-en-Provence. Her tomb lies in the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Maximin. It was in her sarcophagus that the relics of Mary Magdalene were hidden to protect them from the Saracens.
• Susanna, the young bride of Cana. One of the holy Women mentioned by Luc 8,1-3. Her tomb is at the Basilica of Saint-Maximin.

In Aquitaine Gaul

• Herod Antipas and Herodias. Six years after the death of Christ, in 36, his army was defeated by that of Aretas IV, Nabatean king of southern Jordan. He was deposed by Emperor Claudius three years later, then exiled with Herodias to Gaul, in the Pyrenees, at Saint Bertrand de Comminges (Lugdunum Convenarum), then to Spain where he died in 40.
• Martial, the adopted son of Peter. A very ancient tradition associates Martial with six other bishops sent by Saint Peter to evangelize the Gauls. Martial settled in Limoges (Augustoricum), as confirmed by Baronius in the 16th century. Martial was declared "apostle of Aquitaine" by Pope Clement VI in the 14th century. Unfortunately, a 3rd-century homonym caused confusion in the accounts, which relegated the tradition to the status of pious legends.
• Veronica (Nike). In the Middle Ages, legend and tradition say she was married to Zacchaeus. She would have emigrated with him to Gaul at Soulac-sur-Mer, in Gironde (Noviomagus). Her relics are venerated in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Fin des Terres. Others say her relics were transferred to the Church of Saint-Surin in Bordeaux. Their union, probably platonic, with Zacchaeus is plausible: both are from Jericho and devoted to the same apostolate of the afflicted.
• Zacchaeus, the publican of Jericho. According to tradition, he would have expatriated to Aquitaine Gaul. He was then in his fifties. He evangelized the region alongside Martial and Veronica (Nike). After her death, he allegedly reached Roc Amadour in Quercy. According to this tradition, his body was found there in 1166 in a perfectly preserved state. In 1425, Pope Martin V identified Amadour with Zacchaeus the publican of Jericho. The nickname Amadour would come from the Arabic Amad-Aour (the just) or from Amator (he who loves). Zacchaeus's relics attracted significant Pilgrimage: kings and princes came. In 1562, during the Wars of Religion, his relics were burned.

Learn more

• Association Supporting the Tradition of the Saints of Provence

person who, among the Romans, was responsible for collecting taxes and duties for the State. The legal rate of each tax being hidden, the publicans could raise the amount without any means of control. (Ex: Matthew the evangelist, before following Jesus as an apostle).