MAXIMINUS, bishop of Aix, saint. — The figure of this saint is one of the most problematic in Christian Gaul.
In the catalogue of the ancient bishops of Aix, a Maximus appears in the 6th century, but he was never counted among the saints. His memory was linked in spurious Acts with that of St Martha and St Mary Magdalene (v.), but recent studies have shown that the account of a Maximus, first bishop of Aix, companion of St Mary Magdalene and one of the seventy disciples of the Lord, is legendary. In Provence there is an ancient church dedicated to St M., in the small town of the same name near Aix, which is known from the beginning of the 11th century; but nothing can be said of the saint from whom it takes its name. The Roman Martyrology records his memory on 8 June.
BHL: Acta SS. Iunii, II, Paris-Rome 1867, pp. 53-54; G. Morin, Saint Lazare et saint Maximin, Paris 1897; L.
