[4] In the Arian controversy he had begun in the party of Paul I of Constantinople; however, he took part in the synod of Sardica convoked by Pope Julius I (ca.

The Abbey – destroyed by Normans in 882,[7] and rebuilt, then entirely re-built in the 1680s, secularised in 1802, bombed in World War II and since largely demolished – was one of the oldest in western Europe.

Medieval legend conflated him with Maximinus of Aix (French: Maximin d'Aix), who was added to the Seventy Apostles referred to in the Gospel of Luke.

That Maximinus was said to have accompanied Mary Magdalene and a company of the faithful to Aix-en-Provence, miraculously sped by a frail boat without a rudder or a mast.

After Maximinus became the first Bishop of Aix-en-Provence Mary retired to the "right sharp desert" nearby for thirty years before being found and retrieved by Maximin just before her death.