Aurelian of Arles

Aurelianus (died 551) was bishop of Arles from 546 until his death, succeeding Auxanius as the metropolitan of one of Gaul's most important sees. Appointed during the ascendancy of the Merovingian Franks in Provence, he secured from Pope Vigilius the pallium and the office of papal vicar in Gaul, and was a close correspondent of King Childebert I, who supported his foundation of monasteries at Arles. He is best remembered for the monastic Rules he composed for the men's and women's houses he established, modeled on the earlier tradition of Caesarius of Arles, and several of his letters survive in the Epistulae Austrasicae, the collection of Austrasian royal and episcopal correspondence.