Pothinus

POTHINUS (PHOTINUS): Bishop of Lyons; b. 87; d. 177. According to Gallic tradition, he was the first bishop of the see, predecessor of Irenæus, and he may well have been consecrated before 150. The account of his martyrdom, as given in the letter of the church at Lyons on the persecution under Marcus Aurelius (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., V., i. 29–31), reveals the intensity of feeling which prevailed among both Christians and pagans.

(A. HaucK.)

Bibliography: The "Gallic tradition" appears in Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, i. 29, In gloria martyrum, xlviii.–xlix. Consult: Neander, Christian Church, i. 112, 677; DCB, iv. 449; Schaff, Christian Church, ii. 55.