Saint Jermaine of Capua

Germanus (died 541) was the bishop of Capua from 519 or shortly before until his death. He played a major role in bringing to an end the Acacian schism, the first major schism that divided the Christian church between east and west. After his death, he was venerated as a saint. His feast day is October 30 in the Roman Martyrology. Nothing is known with certainty of Germanus's life before he was bishop. The only source to provide information about this period is a hagiography penned in the ninth century. It records his father's name as Amantius and his mother's as Juliana. He was born in Capua in the 470s. After his father's death, he sold his inheritance with his mother's blessing in order to devote himself to the ascetic life. When on the death of Bishop Alexander the Capuans elected him their bishop, Germanus at first refused the honour before being persuaded to accept. This account of his early life cannot be substantiated in other sources. At the time of his election, Capua lay within the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Shortly after his election, he was made a member of the legation sent by Pope Hormisdas to the court of the Emperor Justin I in Constantinople, the purpose of which was to negotiate an end to the Acacian schism between the western and eastern churches. The contemporary Liber pontificalis refers to him as "Capuan bishop" (Capuanus episcopus) in connection with this legation and provides a terminus ante quem for his assumption of episcopal office. The legation consisted of Germanus, the Alexandrian deacon Dioscorus, a bishop named John, a Roman deacon named Felix, a Roman priest named Blandus and a notary named Peter. They gathered in Rome between January and March 519. In both the Liber pontificalis and the letters of Pope Hormisdas, Germanus is always named first, indicating that he was the leader of the group. The mission of 519 was the third such papal initiative since the schism began in 482.