c.588-660. Bishop and metalworker. A goldsmith in the Merovingian royal mint and master of the royal mint at Marseilles under Chlothar II, king of the Franks (613- 28), Eligius became one of Dagobert I's chief advisers. He was a noted builder of abbeys and churches, including the abbey of St.- Denis, Paris. He also commissioned, or perhaps made, a number of reliquaries, though none survive. A renowned philanthropist, he was ordained in 640, consecrated bishop of Noyon and Tournai in 641, and proselytized among the many pagans in his diocese. Of the sixteen writings credited to him, only two-on Superstition and the [[Last Judgment]]-seem genuine. The Vita Eligii, supposedly written by St. Ouen, a contemporary and fellow adviser of Dagobert, is apparently a later work.