Genevieve (; ; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre and moved to Paris (then known as Lutetia) after encountering Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes and dedicated herself to a Christian life. In 451 she led a "prayer marathon" that was said to have saved Paris by diverting Attila's Huns away from the city. When the Germanic king Childeric I besieged the city in 464, Genevieve acted as an intermediary between the city and its besiegers, collecting food and convincing Childeric to release his prisoners. Her following and her status as patron saint of Paris were promoted by Clotilde, who may have commissioned the writing of her vita. This was most likely written in Tours, where Clotilde retired after her husband's death, as evidenced also by the importance of Martin of Tours as a saintly model. Life Though there is a vita that purports to be written by a contemporary, Genevieve's history cannot be separated from her hagiography. She was described as a peasant girl born in Nanterre to Severus (a Gallo-Roman) and Geroncia (Greek origins). On his way to Britain, Germanus of Auxerre stopped at Nanterre, and Genevieve confided to him that she wanted to live only for God. He encouraged her and at the age of fifteen, Genevieve became a consecrated virgin. On the deaths of her parents, she went to live with her godmother Lutetia in Paris ("Lutetia" was the former name of the city of Paris, so this has symbolic weight). There the young woman became admired for her piety and devotion to works of charity, and practiced fasting and the mortification of the flesh which included abstaining from meat and breaking her fast only twice in the week. "These mortifications she continued for over thirty years, till her ecclesiastical superiors thought it their duty to make her diminish her austerities." She encountered opposition and criticism for her activities, both before and after she was again visited by Germanus from those who were jealous or considered her an impostor or hypocrite. Genevieve had frequent visions of heavenly saints and angels. She reported her visions and prophecies until her enemies conspired to drown her in a lake. Through the intervention of Germanus, their animosity was finally overcome. The Bishop of Paris appointed her to