DENIS (DioNysius), SAINT, first bishop of Paris, patron saint of France, whose feast is celebrated on Oct. 9. According to Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. i. 3o), he was sent into Gaul at the time of the emperor Decius. He suffered martyrdom at the village of Catulliacus, the modern St. Denis. His tomb was situated by the side of the Roman road, where rose the priory of St.-Denis-de-l'Estree, which existed until the i8th century. In the 5th century a basilica was built over the tomb. About 625 Dagobert, son of Clotaire II., founded a monastery in honour of St. Denis near by where the greater number of the kings of France have been buried. A false interpretation of Gregory of Tours, apparently dating from 724, represented St. Denis as re ceiving his mission from Pope Clement, and as having suffered martyrdom under Domitian (81--96). Hilduin, abbot of St. Denis in the first half of the 9th century, wrongly identified Denis of Paris with Denis (Dionysius) the Areopagite. St. Denis is generally represented carrying his head in his hands.
See Acta Sanctorum, Octobris, iv. 696-987; Chevalier, Bio-bibliog.; J. Havet, Les Origines de Saint-Denis, in his collected works, i. 191— 246 (Paris, 1896).