Defense of Saint John Chrysostom
Gaudentius and Saint John Chrysostom were friends; the two may have met at Antioch.
Gaudentius joined a delegation in 405 sent by Innocent I and Honorius to defend Chrysostom. The delegation was sent to speak with the Eastern Emperor Arcadius to defend Chrysostom after the latter had been accused by the member of what was considered a heretical sect, and exiled.
Gaudentius and his companions, two bishops, encountered many difficulties and never reached their goal of entering Constantinople. At the start of their journey Gaudentius and his two companions had been seized at Athens. They were sent to Constantinople, a journey of three days on a ship without food.
However, they were not allowed to enter the city, and were imprisoned in the fortress of Athyra, in Thrace.
An attempt to bribe them into speaking with Archbishop Atticus of Constantinople, the man who had replaced Chrysostom, failed, but one of the thumbs of the three travelers was broken during a scuffle in which Byzantine officials had seized the bishops’ credentials by force.
Gaudentius and his two companions were then put on board an unseaworthy vessel; it was alleged that the ship’s captain had orders to wreck them.
The travelers arrived safely, however, at Lampsacus. They departed for Italy and arrived at Otranto after twenty days. Despite the failure of the mission, Chrysostom sent a letter of thanks to Gaudentius.
Palladius of Galatia preserved an account by Gaudentius of his four month adventure (Dialogus, 4).
Read more about this topic: Gaudentius Of Brescia
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