A sixth-century bishop of Paris whose abbey gave its name to the quarter.
Born near Autun around 496, he was ordained priest and made abbot of Saint-Symphorien at Autun, where his generosity to the poor is said to have brought him trouble with his own monks. Childebert I named him bishop of Paris around 555. He used his standing with the Merovingian kings to ransom captives, to try to halt the wars between Chlothar's sons, and to have banned the pagan festivities still kept in the city. Childebert founded a basilica outside the walls, which Germain consecrated and where he was buried at his death in 576: the abbey became Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and his name today means the quarter far more often than the bishop.
A Merovingian bishop with crozier and book; sometimes breaking the chains of a captive at his feet.