Gaius Julius Cicurinus: Difference between revisions

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'''Gaius Julius Cicurninus''' (714 – 24 July 800), commonly known as '''Saint Julius of the Caeline''' was the first [[Archduchy of Urceopolis|Archduke of Urceopolis]] and last [[Duchy of Urceopolis|Dux of Urceopolis]], ruling from his election as ''Dux'' in 749, then from his coronation as Archduke from 759 until his death in 800. He is considered the founder of the [[Julian dynasty]].

In [[751]], Cicurinus married Neronia, the daughter of the head of the Neronii clan, Aulus Neronius Urbicus, one of the most powerful magnates in the [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] region and a major force in the city's politics. The marriage secured an alliance between the Julii and Neronii that would survive Cirucinus's lifetime, lasting more than a century through the lives of his children. The alliance gave Cirucinus a freer hand against the other prominent families of the city. For their part, the marriage between Neronia and Cicurnus is believed by most historians to have been a happy one, producing two sons and four daughters that would survive to adulthood.  

In ruling the [[Duchy of Urceopolis]] and [[Archduchy of Urceopolis]] for more than half a century, Cicurinus both introduced major social and political changes and was also a beneficiary of them. By his shrewd decision to embrace, rather than resist, [[Conchobar I, Emperor of the Levantines|Conchobar]] and [[Gallawa]], he not only ensured the survival of his dynasty but enhanced it as it was expanded to [[Harren]]. These actions allowed for the propagation of the [[Julian dynasty]], one of the most important familal dynasties in world history. The alliance between Cicurinus and Conchobar also ensured direct inheritance succession within the Archduchy of Urceopolis. On his own, Cicurinus successfully began the process of legally recognizing the integration of the [[Gaelic people|Gaels]] into Urceopolitan society, which was an important milestone in the development of the [[Urcean people]]. Cicurinus also contributed significantly to the [[Catholic Church]], not only defending Catholic areas against the advance of the [[Audonian Christianity|Audonian Christian]] [[Hištanšahr]], but also sponsoring major missionary efforts among them and the [[Gothic people]]s, the latter of which bore significant fruit. Besides his accomplishments in life, his personal piety made him a figure immediately imitated by his successors, playing an important role in the development of the eventual [[Apostolic King of Urcea|Apostolic Kingship of Urcea]] as one in part reliant on piety and positive relations with the Church.

Almost immediately following his death, a devotional cult arose around Cicurinus, who was venerated as a fair and pious ruler as well as a celebate and sometimes monastic later in his life. By the mid-9th century, he was universally hailed throughout the early [[Holy Levantine Empire|Levantine Empire]] as a model Christian ruler. Although considered a Saint by some as early at 900, formal canonization by the [[Pope]] did not occur until [[1097]], when he was canonized as "Saint Julius of the Caeline". Following his canonization, his remains were exhumed from the [[Julian Palace]] and largely relocated to the under-construction Basilica of Saint Julius in [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]], though some of his relics were divided throughout the city for construction of new churches, and some were also sent to [[Cálfeld]], the cathedral city of [[Harren]].

[[Category: IXWB]]