page_title: Zenobius of Florence
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: Zenobius of Florence / Life
context_page_description: Saint Zenobius is venerated as the first bishop of Florence. His feast day is celebrated on May 25.
context_section_description: Born of a Florentine noble family, Zenobius was educated by his pagan parents.  He came under the influence early of the bishop Theodore, was baptized by him, and succeeded, after much opposition, in bringing his father and mother to Christianity. He embraced the clerical state, and rapidly rose to the position of archdeacon, when his virtues and notable powers as a preacher made him known to Saint Ambrose, at whose instance Pope Damasus I (r. 366–386) called him to Rome, and employed him in various important missions, including a legation to Constantinople. On the death of Damasus he returned to his native city, where he resumed his apostolic labours, and on the death of the bishop of that see, Zenobius, to the great joy of the people, was appointed to succeed him. His deacons are venerated as Saint Eugene and Saint Crescentius.  He evangelized Florence and its outskirts completely and combated Arianism. 
  According to his biographer and successor in the See of Florence, Antonius, he died in his ninetieth year, in 424; but, as Antonius says that Pope Innocent I (d. 417) was at the time pope, the date is uncertain. 
  There are grounds for believing that he actually died in 417, on 25 May, on which day the ancient tower where he is supposed to have lived, near the Ponte Vecchio, was annually decorated with flowers.
caption: The Baptism of Saint Zenobius and His Appointment as a Bishop, Sandro Botticelli
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