2nd century
Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon
Second-century bishop of Lugdunum (present-day Lyon) and theologian, who in his youth heard the teaching of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna.
Biography
Irenaeus was probably from Smyrna, where as a child he had known the bishop Polycarp. He became bishop of Lugdunum (present-day Lyon) in Gaul, succeeding the martyr Pothinus.
He wrote numerous doctrinal works, through which he supported Christians in the true faith and guarded them against the errors of various heresies, chiefly Gnosticism.
According to tradition, he was beheaded under the emperor Severus in 202, winning the crown of martyrdom.