Praejectus of Clermont

Bishop of Clermont around 666, he founded hospitals and monasteries, including that of Chamalières, and proved a formidable administrator. A lawsuit carried him off. A considerable estate, that of the family of Claudius and Hector of Marseilles, was disputed between the church of Clermont and the patrician Hector; Praejectus took the case before Childeric II at Autun and won. Hector was arrested and executed on the spot, which Praejectus had surely not intended — but the dead man's kin held him responsible. On the road home, at Volvic, an armed band led by one Agritius caught him and killed him, along with the abbot Amarinus, in January 676. His death, unconnected with the faith, was nonetheless held a martyrdom by his contemporaries, who saw in his murderers' hatred the hatred of his office.