Paulinus of Nola

353/4-431. Bishop of Nola. A rich Aquitanian landowner who, under the influence of Martin of Tours* and Ambrose,* with the consent of his wife, renounced the world and settled in 395 in Campania by the shrine of Felix of Nola. He lived a life of great austerity and built hospitals for monks and poor in addition to water works for Nola. Ordained priest in 394, he became bishop of Nola in 409. As one of the foremost Christian Latin poets of the period, he wrote a long poem for each annual festival of St. Felix. Thirty of his poems and fifty of his letters to his friends (including Augustine) are preserved. Many of his letters contain valuable notes on ecclesiastical architecture.