The eventful history of the relics
After his death, around 614, Perpetuus is said to have been buried in the church of Saint Vincent in Dinant. His relics were later transferred to the collegiate church, where their presence is documented by the end of the 11th century at the latest. They were divided among several reliquaries: the body in a large shrine, an arm bone in an arm reliquary, and the skull in a silver bust.
In the Middle Ages, relics were a church’s most sacred possession, more precious even than the gold or silver surrounding them. So when the Burgundians sacked and destroyed Dinant in 1466, the relics of its patron saint were carried away as booty. They were gradually recovered.
In 1671, the earlier bust was replaced by the one you see today, made by the silversmith Philippe Lenoir.
But the Revolution brought a new threat. The great shrine and the arm reliquary disappeared. The bust escaped the same fate thanks to two municipal workers, the Charlot brothers, who hid it in their home. When they returned it to the collegiate church, their action was rewarded: for generations, their descendants were granted the privilege of carrying the bust of Saint Perpetuus in Dinant’s great processions.
These processions continued until the 1970s, perpetuating an act of devotion several centuries old almost into our own time.