Faustus of Riez

d. c.490/500. Semi-Pelagian* bishop, probably of British origin. Abbot of Lérins from 437, he became involved in a dispute with the bishop of Arles, the solution of which helped to lay down the lines of demarcation between dioceses and monasteries for the future. He then became bishop of Riez and-as an ascetic, Bible scholar, and preacher of very considerable oratorical powers-he was clearly the most outstanding prelate in Roman Gaul. Resistance to the Arian king of the Visigoths, Euric, led to his exile (477-85). In De gratia Dei he argued, more strongly than Cassian,* for the operation of man's free will in obtaining salvation.