The monastery of St. Victor at Marseilles,[1028] built in the woods over the grotto where the martyr Victor, a Roman legionary, had been buried at the end of the third century, became a school for training the clergy, though not at once, for the motto of its founder was to flee all bishops and women.[1029] It did good work, but its fame is almost entirely eclipsed by that of the older monastery at Lérins, the nursery of bishops. Vincent the theologian,[1030] Patrick of Ireland, Cassian the founder of St. Victor, Hilary of Arles, Faustus the bishop of the _via media_ in theological controversy,[1031] Lupus, called by Sidonius ‘episcopus episcoporum’,[1032] Eucherius, and many other celebrities were sons of Lérins. From Lérins and St. Victor were drawn almost all the educated clergy of Gaul during the fifth century. ‘En général’, says Fauriel,[1033] ‘ce furent ces évêques ou ces prêtres, sortis des cloîtres de Lérins ou de Saint-Victor, qui formèrent la partie érudite et savante du clergé ou de l’épiscopat gallo-romain....’ The _Chronologia Lerinensis_[1034] likens Lérins to a trailing vine which fills the earth with its fruits and extends, by the grace of God, beyond the rest. Among the many other references to the monastery in the Chronicle, there are numerous verse panegyrics extolling its congenial surroundings and indicating a real love of learning. Sidonius, too, is enthusiastic in its praise;[1035] and his commendation, imbued as he was with rhetorical culture and prejudiced in its favour, says much for the educational standard reached by Lérins. So famous was its school that Lupus, ‘the prince of prelates’, came to study there for a year, before he went to spread its spirit of study and piety. For, like most of these monks from the aristocracy, ‘he had ... a cultivated mind and took an active interest in intellectual development. He was anxious about schools and educational facilities in his diocese, and gave protection to all who encouraged learning.’[1036] Indeed, we may say that all the most literary and philosophic men of the time, as well as the most religious, flocked to the island-quiet of Lérins. It is no wonder that Mamertus, in describing the failing culture of the fifth century, mentions Lérins as an exception. 4. THE PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION In the _Chronologia sacrae insulae Lerinensis_[1037] we find a concrete example of a monastic school.