Gaudentius of Rimini (Italian: San Gaudenzo di Rimini, sometimes spelled Gaudenzio) (c. 280 AD – 14 October 360) was a bishop of Rimini, who is venerated as a martyred saint in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church.

The accounts of Gaudentius' life vary.^[1][2] According to one account, Gaudentius was born in Ephesus in around 280 AD, consecrated as a bishop in Rome, and sent to preach in Ariminum (Rimini). He founded an early Christian community in the city,^[1] and ordained Saint Marinus as a deacon.^[3][4] In another account, in 359, he participated in the Council of Ariminum, and was killed by a mob on 14 October 360, either by supporters of Arianism or imperial guards.^[4][5]

As well as being the patron saint of Rimini, Gaudentius is celebrated in Ostra, in the Marche region, Garaguso, in Basilicata, both of which host some of his relics.^[4][6] In Rimini, his feast day of 14 October is celebrated as a holiday.^[7][8]

The contents of Gaudentius' hagriographic tradition vary.^[1][2] He was born in Ephesus, in Asia Minor,^[1][9] in around 280 AD.^[1] Gaudentius came from a wealthy Christian family, allowing him to be educated. His parents were killed by Manichaeans, and Gaudentius fled to Rome,^[1][3] where he was baptised, became a priest, and was consecrated as a bishop.^[1][9]

Pope Sylvester I sent Gaudentius was to preach the Gospel in Ariminum (Rimini);^[3][9] he is considered to be the city's first proto-bishop.^[1][9] He founded a Christian community that met in a domus ecclesiae.^[1] During his episcopate, he ordained the stonemason Saint Marinus, who would found the Republic of San Marino, as a deacon.^[3][4] Some sources claim that Gaudentius also ordained Leo of Montefeltro, after whom San Leo is named, as priest.^[2][3]

Several miracles are attributed to Gaudentius during his life:^[1] that he exorcised a man possessed by the devil and that he transformed the waters of the Misa river in Sena Gallica (Senigallia) into wine for his travelling companions.^[4]

In one group of legends,^[2] in 359 AD, Gaudentius participated in the Council of Ariminum,^[1][9] called by Emperor Constantius II, where he condemned the Arian heresy.^[9] The council was called to reconcile Arius' supporters with his detractors. Constantius had visited Rimini in 357, and commissioned the praetorian prefect, Taurus, to prepare the city for the council; the location was likely chosen because local clergy were sympathetic to Arianism. The council was hosted in the city between May and October 359.^[1] Gaudentius was against Arianism.^[1][9][2]

Once it seemed certain that the Arian camp would lose,^[1][9] or to flee violence in the city,^[3] with seventeen other bishops, Gaudentius retreated to a nearby town,^[1][9] which tradition says was renamed Cattolica (lit. 'Catholic') after their retreat.^[1][3] On his return to Rimini, Gaudentius was arrested. On one account, he was charged with condemning Arianism;^[9] in another, his miracles led him to be accused of the deaths in close succession of two imperial troops.^[1] A mob snatched him from the hands of the city's magistrates: in one account, he was lynched or stoned to death by Arian's supporters;^[4][9][6] in another, he was stoned to death for perduellio.^[5]

Gaudentius was martyred on 14 October 360.^[5][6] He was killed in a marshy area south of the city's Arch of Augustus, which became known as Lacus Martyrum (Lake of the Martyr); it is believed to be the etymology of Via Lagomaggio and Rimini's eponymous suburb.^[1][6]

The account of Gaudentius' participation in the Council of Ariminum is considered inconsistent with earlier legends about his life, because another bishop in Rimini is attested as early as 313. A separate legend claims that Gaudentius fought a heretical priest known as Marciano, leading Gaudentius to flee to the bishop of Forlì. A similar tradition holds that Gaudentius was killed by soldiers of a consul, also named Marcianus, who denied the resurrection of the dead.^[2]

Since time immemorial, Gaudentius has been the patron saint of Rimini.^[1][9] In the Bavarian Code [it], a codex containing the church of Ravenna's investitures between the 8th and 10th centuries,^[1] Rimini's Arch of Augustus is called the Gate of Saint Gaudentius;^[2] the city's necropolis was outside the city walls here, with Gaudentius as its most famous burial.^[1][5] The site of the cemetery, which formerly housed a chapel and abbey, is now a sports centre adjacent to the Stadio Romeo Neri.^[5] A nearby street is named after Gaudentius.^[3]

Rimini's first cathedral, between the ancient Via Flaminia and the sea, is recorded in his dedication in the eleventh century.^[2] Rimini's medieval San Gaudenzo became one of the city's important and best-endowed abbeys; it was deconsecrated and sold under Napoleon.^[3]

Today, Gaudentius' feast day, 14 October, is celebrated annually in the city.^[4] It marks the start of the diocese's pastoral year, and is celebrated with a tombola, sports competitions, music concerts, and other cultural activities.^[7][8] Piada dei morti, a sweet focaccia topped with raisins, almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts,^[10][11] is typically tasted as part of the festivities,^[12][13] despite being proper to All Souls' Day.^[13][14]

Gaudentius is also the patron saint of Ostra, in the Marche region, Garaguso, in Basilicata, and Montefabbri, a hamlet of Vallefoglia, in the Marche.^[4][6] Both Ostra and Garaguso host relics of Gaudentius.^[1] In Garaguso, he is celebrated on 14 August not to interrupt the mid-October sowing season.^[6]