Denis was the first bishop of Paris and, according to tradition, he was martyred together with Rusticus and Eleutherius. They were buried in the place where, later on, the famous abbey of Saint-Denis was built, just outside Paris.
From the early ninth century, Denis began to be confused with another figure: a well-known theologian and mystic from the late fifth or early sixth century, known today as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. This author, whose writings became very influential, used the name of Dionysius the Areopagite—the same man mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (17:34) as one of the few who believed Paul’s preaching at the Areopagus in Athens. According to an old tradition, already recorded in the second century, that Dionysius was thought to be the first bishop of Athens.
