celebrating Mass in prison with his disciples, just as he was about to receive the
sacrament, Christ came and took the eucharist from his hand and gave it to him himself.
The next day, after the execution, Denis picked up his head and, carrying it, walked five
miles from Montmartre to Saint-Denis.
Although the legend had its critics, it was quickly accepted and appears among the
lessons of the Roman breviary and the liturgy of Saint-Denis. The abbey, founded by
King Dagobert I ca. 624, was especially favored by the Carolingians. Denis developed
from being the patron of a monastery to a saint who was the object of a special devotion
from the kings of France and in turn accorded them and their country a special protection.
This protection was connected first with King Dagobert, whose devotion to the saint was
portrayed in a series of apocryphal tales in the Gesta Dagoberti.
From the time of Hugh Capet (r. 987–96), a royal flag was deposited at Saint-Denis, a
flag that was later identified with the Oriflamme, the flag given to Charlemagne by the
pope. In 1124, when Louis VI prepared to march against the emperor Henry V, he came
to the abbey, took the abbey’s standard from the altar, and announced that the saint was
the special protector of the realm. The royal flag and the abbey’s standard were
eventually viewed as one and the same, and the saint was credited with bringing victory
to the armies of the kings of France.
It was to accommodate the crowds that flocked to the tomb of the saint that Abbot
Suger of Saint-Denis (r. 1122–51) enlarged the abbey church and translated the relics of
the saint to a new altar. By the 13th century, chroniclers at the abbey had woven together
the legend of St. Denis and the history of France. Notable texts in this development are
the Vita et actus beati Dionysii, the Vie de saint Denis, and the Grandes Chroniques de
France. In this process, St. Denis became not only the patron and protector of the French
kings, but of France itself. His feast day is October 9.
Thomas G.Waldman
[See also: DAGOBERT I; GRANDES CHRONIQUES DE FRANCE; HILDUIN OF
SAINT-DENIS; ORIFLAMME; PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE; SAINT-
DENIS; SUGER]
Acta Sanctorum, Oct. IV, 696–855.
BHL 1, 328–30.
Lacaze, Charlotte. The “Vie de St. Denis” Manuscript: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. fr.
2090–2092. New York: Garland, 1979.
Liebman, Charles J. Étude sur la vie en prose de Saint-Denis. Geneva: Humphrey, 1942.
Loernetz, Raymond J. “La légende parisienne de saint Denys l’aréopagite: sa genèse et son premier
témoin.” Analecta bollandiana 69(1951):217–37.
Spiegel, Gabrielle M. “The Cult of Saint Denis and Capetian Kingship.” Journal of Medieval
History 1(1975):43–69.
DENIS PIRAMUS
(fl. late 12th c.). A cleric, probably from the abbey of Bury-Saint-Edmunds (Suffolk),
Denis tells us in the opening lines of his Anglo-Norman Vie seint Edmunt le rei (after
1170, possibly 1190–1200) that he spent his early years at court, where he composed
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