Christian feast day: Fructuosus

Saint Fructuosus of Tarragona was a Christian saint, bishop and martyr. His is an important name in the early history of Christianity in Hispania. He was bishop of Tarragona and was arrested during the persecutions of Christians under the Roman Emperor Valerian. Along with him were two deacons, St. Augurius and St. Eulogius. In 259, he was questioned by the praeses Aemilianus and burned at the stake in the local amphitheatre in Tarraco. The Acta of the martyrdom of the bishop Fructuosus and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius document his legend; they are the earliest Hispanic Acta, "marked by a realistic simplicity which contrasts very favourably with many of the Acta of Diocletian's persecution".