Fermin of Amiens
Saint Fermin of Amiens (in Latin, Firminus) (Pamplona, c. 272-Amiens, September 25, 303) was a legendary saint and martyr, as well as a Christian missionary, first bishop of Amiens, whose church he had built. He is also considered, by oral tradition, as the first bishop of Pamplona, although there is no documentary evidence of this and it is even questioned whether he existed.
He is patron saint of Amiens and Lesaca, and patron saint of the diocese of Pamplona-Tudela, and by Papal Brief of 1657, co-patron saint of Navarre together with Saint Francis Xavier (who, in turn and more precisely, is formally patron saint of the Diputación del Reino de Navarra by agreement adopted after his canonization, March 12, 1622, and solemnly sworn on August 2 of that year).
He is venerated on July 7, whose cult is celebrated, locally, in Lesaca, with its patron saint festivities, and in Pamplona, with the beginning of the San Fermín festivities, popularly called Sanfermines.
Between legend and reality
Although he is said to have lived in the 3rd century, the legend of Fermín is a creation of the 9th century. It probably originates from the Diocese of Toulouse, which made an effort to spread devotion to San Fermín. Whether there was a historical Fermín is totally unknown and it was probably nothing more than a name on a tombstone around which an edifying legend was carved.
No historical source mentions the existence of a character named Fermín. The hagiographic sources concerning him are late and improbable. The name of Fermín or Firmin does not appear in the litanies of the church of Amiens before the end of the 8th century. The uncertainty about the person in question is such that he was identified, at the time, sometimes as a martyr, sometimes as a confessor. At the end of the IX century, a hagiographic duplication appeared that distinguishes Fermín the Martyr from Fermín the Confessor. the possibility that Saint Fermin of Amiens is the same character as Saint Fermin of Mende.
During an investigation carried out in 1970 by Navarrese historians and an archaeologist from Amiens, it was determined that the story of San Fermín has no historical basis. This would also be confirmed by the historian Roldán Jimeno Aranguren, in his doctoral thesis.
According to the record, he was born in the III century, in Pompaelo (present-day Pamplona). He was the son of a pagan senator named Firmo, probably a high official in the Roman administration of Pamplona, and a noble lady named Eugenia.
The preaching of Saint Honest, who had gone to the peninsula after being miraculously freed from his prison in Carcassonne, moved his parents, who, however, did not convert until they heard Saint Saturninus of Tolosa. The saint would have baptized Fermín and his parents in the place that today is popularly called pocico de San Cernin.
Under Honesto's tutelage, young Fermín learned religion and the art of evangelization. At the age of 18 he was sent to Tolosa, where he would be ordained. After preaching in Navarre, he went to Gaul (present-day France) and settled in Amiens. After organizing the local church, he was made a bishop at age 24. The official opposition to Christian doctrine landed him in prison, where, after refusing to stop his preaching, he had his throat cut.
The Saint-Acheul Abbey in Amiens was founded in 1085 on the supposed tomb of Saint Fermin. Under the choir of the abbey church there is a vault in the place where the body of Saint Fermin was miraculously discovered. According to legend, the place of the body was revealed to Bishop Salvio of Amiens, who arranged for it to be taken to Amiens Cathedral. The veneration of Saint Fermin was of great religious and economic importance for Amiens during the Middle Ages and modern times. Legends sprang up to explain the discovery of the saint's relics, most of which were in Amiens.
The legend of San Fermín did not reach Pamplona until the 12th century, when in 1186 Bishop Pedro de París brought a relic of the saint's head from Amiens to Pamplona. From here the city decided to celebrate the occasion with an annual act. Over the centuries, the fiesta of the saint, the old annual fair, and the encierro and subsequent bullfights have merged. This festival mixes the legend of the martyrdom of San Saturnino and the bull, with that of the beheading of San Fermín. The red scarf tied around the neck of the participants recalls the beheading of San Fermín.
Currently his saints day is celebrated on July 7. In Pamplona it is commemorated with some internationally famous festivals, the Sanfermines, in which the running of the bulls stands out, as well as the bullfights belonging to the bull fair, one of the most outstanding fairs on the world bullfighting scene.
He is also patron of the brotherhoods of boatmen, vintners and bakers.
Dispute for the Patronage of Navarre
San Fermín de Amiens is co-patron of all of Navarre, sharing this title with San Francisco Javier since in 1657 Pope Alexander VII had to intervene to put an end to three decades of controversies that divided the towns and institutions of Navarra, between supporters of one or the other saint: The supporters of San Fermín ―the Cathedral Chapter and the Pamplona City Council―, and those who fought for Saint Francis Javier ―the Jesuits and the Diputación de Navarra―. This conflict arose from popular fervor motivated by the canonization of Francisco Javier and in a context of renewal of the Church. All kinds of arguments were argued for and against the patronage of one saint or another, positions that were opposed and irreconcilable. The matter was settled with the joint appointment of the two saints as co-patrons of Navarre in 1657.
Gallery
Bajorrelieve de la legend de San Fermín en la Catedral de Amiens (1)
Bajorrelieve de la legend de San Fermín en la Catedral de Amiens (2)
Bajorrelieve de la legend de San Fermín en la Catedral de Amiens (3)
Relicario en la Iglesia de San Lorenzo de Pamplona
Martirio de San Fermín, Lorenzo Aguirre, (1936) Property of the Museum of Fine Arts of San Fernando de Madrid
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