Arranged in no particular order, here are some famous saints who you probably never knew were Italian, either because they were born outside of Italy, or because they were of mixed parentage, or because of common hagiographical confusion or mistakes, or because they made their name as missionaries, bishops or saints in foreign lands.
1. St. Longinus (d. 37 AD)
In Christian hagiography St. Longinus is identified with the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a lance during the crucifixion, as related in the Gospel of John. He is also identified with the Roman centurion who acknowledged Jesus as ‘the Son of God’ in Matthew 27:54. He is said to have served in the Legio X Fretensis, a Roman legion which was stationed in Roman Judea and Syria. An old tradition places his birthplace in the village of Anxanum (today Lanciano), in Abruzzo, Italy.
2. St. Cornelius (c. 50 AD)
Celebrated as the first gentile convert to Christianity. St. Cornelius was a Roman centurion of the Cohors II Italica Civium Romanorum—called the ‘Italian Band’ in the Book of Acts—a Roman cohort from Italy which was stationed in Caesarea, the capital of Roman Judea. His name indicates that he was a member of the distinguished gens Cornelia, one of the greatest patrician houses of Rome.
3. St. Justin Martyr (100 - c. 165 AD)
St. Justin, remembered as a great apologist and martyr, was born as Flavius Iustinus in Flavia Neapolis, in the Roman province of Judea. The city of Flavia Neapolis was founded in 72 AD by Emperor Vespasian, just a few decades before Justin's birth. His family, who bore Latin names, was one of a large number of Roman colonists—Italian war veterans and their families—sent by the emperor to settle in the new city.
4. Pope Victor I (c. 100's - 199 AD)
Pope Victor I is commonly but erroneously cited as the first African pope. According to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Victor was born in North Africa, and some historians place his specific birthplace in Leptis Magna (modern Tripolitania). This, however, does not mean he was a native African. In the Roman period, the North African coast was littered with dozens of Roman colonies, and Leptis Magna in particular was a major Roman colony, settled by many Italian colonists and traders. Both Victor and his father Felix bore Latin names. Moreover, at the time of Victor's birth, Roman citizenship was still exclusive to Italians and to the families of Latin colonists. All of this points to a Roman colonial origin.
5. St. Denis (c. 200's - c. 285 AD)
St. Denis is best known as the patron saint of Paris, where there is a Gothic cathedral dedicated to him. However, he was not a native Parisian as most may assume. St. Denis was an Italian by birth, most likely born in Rome, and was named Dionysius. In the year 250 he was sent into Gaul by Pope Fabian with six other Italian missionary bishops, who all became “Apostles to the Gauls”. These six others were: St. Gatianus of Tours, St. Trophimus of Arles, St. Paulus of Narbonne, St. Saturninus of Toulouse, St. Stremonius of Clermont and St. Martialis of Limoges.
6. St. Ambrose (c. 340-397 AD)
St. Ambrose was born Aurelius Ambrosius in Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier), which was then the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. His parents belonged to an important Roman family. His father, also named Aurelius Ambrosius, was a member of the illustrious Aurelii family, of Sabine origin, and briefly served as the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul. His mother belonged to the Aurelii Symmachi branch of the family, making St. Ambrose a cousin of the Roman orator Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. After his father's death, Ambrose moved to Rome where he studied literature, law, and rhetoric. He later became Governor of Aemilia-Liguria in Italy before being named Bishop of Milan.
7. St. Jerome (347-420 AD)
One of the great Latin Fathers of the Church, St. Jerome was a Roman of Italian origin. He was born into a wealthy landowning family, in the city of Stridon, whose members all bore Latin names: his father was Eusebius, his brother was Paulinianus, while Jerome's own full name was Sofronius Eusebius Hieronymus. The exact location of Stridon has been disputed for centuries. However, it is known to have been situated between Dalmatia and Pannonia, near the cities of Aquileia and Emona (modern Ljubljana), which in Roman times was the easternmost city of Italy. It is most commonly accepted that Stridon was located on the site of the current village of Stridone in Istria, which at that time was a region of Italy known as Venetia et Histria.
8. St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD)
Although born in Hippo Regius, an ancient city located in modern Algeria, St. Augustine was not a North African in the modern sense: he was born to an Italian father and a Punic mother. Originally settled by Phoenicians, Hippo Regius later became a Roman colony under Julius Ceasar and Emperor Augustus, who sent Italian war veterans and their families to colonize the city. St. Augustine's father Patricius was a Roman landowner and decurio, descended from those Italian colonists. Augustine's family name, Aurelius, indicates that his father's ancestors belonged to the gens Aurelia, a plebeian family originally from Sabinum in Italy. His mother Monica, often described as a Berber, was in fact Punic according to St. Augustine. The Punics were a people from Ancient Carthage who traced their origins to the Phoenicians.
9. St. John Chrysostom (c. 344-407 AD)
Remembered as one of the four Greek Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom was in fact only half Greek: he was also half Latin. He was born in Antioch to a Greek mother Anthusa and to a father named Secundus, a high-ranking Roman military officer of Latin parentage stationed in Roman Syria, who was described as magister militum Orientis.
10. St. Patrick (385-461 AD)
Fiercely disputed over today by the Irish and the British, St. Patrick was neither Irish nor British; he was a Roman of Italian origin. He was born Patricius in the province of Britannia, the son of Calpurnius, a Roman decurio and member of the gens Calpurnia, a Roman plebeian family which claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. His mother Concessa was also a Roman and said to have been a close relative of St. Martin of Tours.
11. St. Martin of Tours (c. 316-397 AD)
Born into a Roman family in Savaria, in the Roman province of Pannonia Prima, St. Martin grew up in Pavia, Italy, where his father—a Roman tribune—was stationed. His family is said to have been closely related to Concessa, the mother of St. Patrick. After joining the Roman military, St. Martin was stationed in Gaul, where he later became a missionary and eventually bishop of Tours.
Today St. Martin is often described as French or even as Hungarian, which is historically erroneous. France would not exist until the creation of the Kingdom of France in 987 AD (or, according to proponents of an earlier origin, France would be born after the Frankish conquest of Gaul and the establishment of the Frankish Kingdom by Clovis in 481 AD). Modern French identity is quite varied and complicated, being most commonly based upon citizenship, but also sometimes based upon historical birthplace, cultural considerations or an ethnic relationship to Gauls or Franks. In any case, this is in no way relevant to St. Martin, who was neither born in that country, nor related to its peoples.
St. Martin's parents were not Gauls or Franks: they were Romans of Italian descent. He was born in Savaria, a city founded in 43 AD by Emperor Claudius, located in what is now Szombathely, Hungary. In this city there were neither Gauls, nor Franks, nor Hungarians. At that time it was a flourishing Roman colony, originally settled by Italian veterans of the Legio XV Apollinaris and their families. During the Early Middle Ages, following the barbarian invasions, most of the Latin population left Savaria and returned to Italy. The Hungarians did not begin to occupy Pannonia until 894 AD and did not come to populate Savaria until the 10th century, some six centuries after St. Martin's birth.
12. St. Gregory of Tours (c. 538-594 AD)
Famous for his History of the Franks and for being Bishop of Tours, St. Gregory was born Georgius Florentius (he later added the name Gregorius in honor of his great-grandfather) in the old Roman city of Augustonemetum (now Clermont, France), which had recently come under Frankish rule. St. Gregory was neither a Gaul nor a Frank however: he was a Roman aristocrat, born into the upper stratum of Roman society in Gaul, a fact which he took great pride in. His parents belonged to illustrious Roman senatorial families with strong ecclesiastical traditions.
His father Florentius was senator of Clermont. His mother Armentaria was the niece of Nicetius, bishop of Lyons, and was the granddaughter of Florentinus, senator of Geneva, and St. Gregorius, bishop of Langres. He had several other noted Roman bishops and saints as close relatives: his paternal uncle was St. Gallus, bishop of Clermont, and his paternal grandmother, Leocadia, descended from Vettius Epagatus, the martyr of Lyons, who belonged to the gens Vettia, a noble family originally from Marsica, in Abruzzo, Italy.
13. St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636 AD)
Nicknamed “the last scholar of the ancient world”, St. Isidore was born Isidorus in the former Roman colony of Carthago Nova in Hispania (today Cartagena, Spain). His parents Severianus and Theodora (or Turtura) were both of noble Roman origin, belonging to ancient Roman families of high social rank which had managed to survive the Visigothic conquest of Hispania. Isidore's three siblings were also saints: St. Leander, St. Fulgentius and St. Florentina. Little else is known of the family lineage, other than that they were of Roman origin.
14. St. Augustine of Canterbury (534-604 AD)
Augustine was born and raised in Rome, Italy. In 595 AD he was chosen by Pope Gregory the Great to lead a group of some forty Italian missionaries to preach Christianity in Britain. He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and converted thousands of Anglo-Saxons, earning him the title “Apostle to the English”.
15. St. Paulinus of York (c. 500's - 644 AD)
St. Paulinus was a monk from Rome. He was sent to the Kingdom of Kent by Pope Gregory I in 601 AD, along with St. Mellitius and others, to join the first group of missionaries led by St. Augustine of Canterbury. Paulinus would later become the first bishop of York.
16. St. Laurence of Canterbury (c. 500's - 619 AD)
St. Laurence of Canterbury, born Laurentius, was the second Archbishop of Canterbury. A member of the Gregorian mission sent to England, he was an Italian like the other missionaries.
17. St. Mellitus of Canterbury (c. 500's - 624 AD)
St. Mellitus, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, was an Italian of noble birth. He was a member of the second group of Italian missionaries sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great.
18. St. Justus of Canterbury (c. 500's - c. 627 AD)
St. Justus, the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury, was sent from Italy to England by Pope Gregory the Great. He was part of either the first group or second group of Italian missionaries.
19. St. Honorius of Canterbury (c. 500's - 653 AD)
St. Honorius, the fifth Archbishop of Canterbury, was born in Rome. He was part of either the first group or second group of Italian missionaries sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great.
20. St. Peter of Canterbury (c. 500's - c. 607 AD)
St. Peter of Canterbury, born Petrus, was a native of Italy. He was a companion of St. Augustine of Canterbury and became the first abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.
21. St. James the Deacon (c. 600's - c. 671 AD)
St. James the Deacon, born Iacomus in Italy, was a Roman deacon and companion of St. Paulinus of York in Northumbria. After Paulinus left Northumbria, James stayed near Lincoln and continued his missionary efforts.
22. St. Severinus of Noricum (c. 410-482 AD)
St. Severinus was born in southern Italy to a noble Roman family. In 453 AD he moved to Noricum (modern Austria and southern Bavaria, which at that time was a region of Italy), where he preached Christianity, redeemed captives and tended to the Roman population in the frontier territories ravaged by the barbarian invasions. This earned him the title “Apostle of Noricum”. After his death, his body was brought to Naples, Italy.
23. St. Marinus (c. 275-366)
St. Marinus, better known by his Italian name San Marino, was a Christian hermit and stonemason, born in the Roman colony of Arba, a small island located between Istria and Dalmatia. He is best remembered today as the founder of the Republic of San Marino, the world's oldest republic and one of the last surviving Italian city-states.
24. Pope Gelasius I (c. 400's - 496 AD)
Often incorrectly presumed to be of Berber origin based on the Liber Pontificalis placing his birth in North Africa, Pope Gelasius was in fact a Roman. Besides his own Latin name and the Latin name of his father Valerius, which points toward a Roman origin, in a letter to the Roman Emperor Anastasius, Gelasius described himself as Romanus natus (“born a Roman”), clearly indicating that he was either born in Rome or at least was of Roman parentage.
25. Five Polish Brothers (c. 900's - 1005 AD)
Despite their name, the Five Polish Brothers were not Polish and were not brothers—at least not in the sense of being related to each other. Instead, they were five Italian Benedictine monks who worked with St. Adalbert of Prague as missionaries to the Slavs, and were martyred together by thieves at the Benedictine monastery near Gnesen, Poland. Their names were Benedictus, Ioannes, Matthaeus, Isaac and Christinus.
