Historical Figures Codexery

Ambrose

Roman governor turned bishop, defender of Nicene Christianity, and one of the four Great Latin Church Fathers.

His father is sometimes identified with Aurelius Ambrosius, a praetorian prefect of Gaul, but scholars disagree on his exact identity.[1][2] After his father died, his mother moved the family to Rome, where Ambrose studied literature, law, and rhetoric before entering public service.[3] Praetorian Prefect Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus made him governor of the province of Liguria and Emilia around 372.[4] As bishop, he adopted an ascetic lifestyle, donated his land to the poor, and carefully cultivated practices that respected local customs.[5]

Ambrose's birthplace was Augusta Treverorum (today called Trier), which served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Belgica.[1] An infant legend about Ambrose tells of bees landing on his face while he lay in a cradle, leaving a honey droplet that his father interpreted as a portent of future eloquence.[6] After the Arian bishop Auxentius died in 374, Ambrose went to the church where the election for a successor was occurring, and there the crowd called out "Ambrose, bishop!"—a cry that the entire assembly then repeated.[7] Ambrose initially resisted becoming bishop, but within a single week he underwent baptism, ordination, and consecration as Milan's bishop.[8][9]

Ambrose's death occurred on 4 April 397, and Simplician succeeded him as bishop of Milan.[10][11]

Quick Facts

Diocese
Mediolanum (Milan)
Took office
374 AD
Left office
4 April 397
Predecessor
Auxentius
Successor
Simplician
Consecration
7 December 374
Birth name
Aurelius Ambrosius
Birthplace
Augusta Treverorum, Gallia Belgica, Roman Empire

Facts from the source article.

What the cited sources add

On 7 December 1965, Pope Paul VI concluded the Second Vatican Council, remarking that Ambrose's feast day fell on that date and calling upon Ambrose's intercession together with other saints.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Loughlin 1907 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Greenslade 1956, p. 175; Attwater John 1993; Barnes 2011, p. 45–46; Cvetković 2019, p. 44; Cvetković 2019, p. 44 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cvetković 2019, p. 44; ; Cvetković 2019, p. 44 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McSherry, "Outreach and Renewal: A First-millennium Legacy for the Third-millennium Church", Liturgical Press, 2011, p. 19; Attwater John 1993; Sparavigna 2016, p. 2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: (De Officiis 2.12.62) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: van der Nat, "Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina. Supplementum, Volumen IV", Vigiliae Christianae, March 1971, p. 76 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Butler 1991, p. 407 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Attwater John 1993 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lietzmann 1951, p. 57 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Norwich 1989, p. 116 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Ambrose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Grieve 1911, p. 798 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Pope Paul VI, Address of Pope Paul VI during the last General Meeting of the Second Vatican Council, published on 7 December 1965, accessed on 14 October 2025. facts only, no text reused. vatican.va

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ambrose (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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