# Victor of Solothurn

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{{Short description|3rd-century Christian martyr and saint}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[Saint](/source/Saint)
|name=Victor of Solothurn
|image=Hl Victor von Solothurn.jpg
|imagesize=130px
|caption=
|titles=
|birth_date=Unknown
|birth_place=
|death_date=c. 287
|death_place=
|feast_day=September 30 <br> September 22 (as a martyr of the [Theban Legion](/source/Theban_Legion))
|venerated_in= [Eastern Orthodoxy](/source/Eastern_Orthodoxy) <br /> [Roman Catholicism](/source/Roman_Catholicism) <br /> [Coptic Orthodoxy](/source/Coptic_Orthodoxy)
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
}}

'''Victor of Solothurn''', known in Geneva as ''Saint-Victor de Genève'', is a [martyr](/source/Christian_martyr) and [saint](/source/saint) of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church). He was a soldier of the [Theban Legion](/source/Theban_Legion) led by [Maurice](/source/Saint_Maurice) and died in [Solothurn](/source/Solothurn).

==Legend==
Victor was one of the soldiers of the famous Theban legion that, under the leadership of Maurice was dispatched to put down a revolt in Gaul. The soldiers came from the Egyptian city of Thebes, and were for the most part Christians. Sent to clear the [Great St Bernard Pass](/source/Great_St_Bernard_Pass) across the Alps, they arrived at [Agaunum](/source/Agaunum), the present town of [Sankt-Moritz](/source/Saint-Maurice%2C_Switzerland) in Switzerland. When ordered to harass some local Christians, they refused. They then refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, because that would have meant betraying their own God. This cost them all their lives.<ref name=Akker/>

[Otto of Freising](/source/Otto_of_Freising) wrote in his ''[Chronica de duabus civitatibus](/source/Otto_of_Freising)'' that many of the legionaries escaped and only some were executed at [Agaunum](/source/Agaunum), and the others apprehended later and put to death both at [Bonn](/source/Bonn) and [Köln](/source/K%C3%B6ln).<ref>''Ottonis episcopi frisingensis Chronica; sive, Historia de duabus civitatibus''. Ed. Adolf Hofmeister, ''Hannoverae Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani'' Hanover (1912).  Bk. III, Chapter XLIII, pp. 176-177.</ref> Victor reached Solothurn near Bern before the Roman authorities caught up with him and he was beheaded.<ref name=Akker/>

==Veneration==
thumb|Kathedrale of St. Urs und Viktor, Solothurn
In 480 the body of Victor was brought to Geneva by the Burgundian Queen Theudelinde.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LP4UAAAAQAAJ&dq=Ursus+of+Solothurn&pg=PA1001 Holweck, Frederick George. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints'', B. Herder Book Company, 1924, p. 1001]</ref> He is buried in the former St-Victor's Basilica in Geneva.

Victor is the patron saint of the city of Geneva. He and [Ursus of Solothurn](/source/Ursus_of_Solothurn) are patron saints of the [Cathedral of St. Ursus and St. Victor](/source/Solothurn_Cathedral) in [Solothurn](/source/Solothurn), [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland). A relief on the front facade shows Saints Ursus and Victor refusing to worship idols.

His feast day is 30 September.<ref name=Akker>[http://www.heiligen.net/heiligen/09/30/09-30-0286-victor.php Akker S.J., A. van den, "Victor of Solothurn with Ursus", Heiligen.net]</ref>

{{commons category|Saint Victor of Solothurn}}
==References==
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Category:3rd-century births
Category:Swiss saints
Category:3rd-century Christian martyrs

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Victor of Solothurn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_of_Solothurn) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_of_Solothurn?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.