Saint Donatus was an Irishman who became a Dalmatia

Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

n bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 and a diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 of the city of Zadar.

Donatus is mentioned in Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 annals from 805 as an ambassador of the Dalmatian cities to Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 in Thionville

Thionville

Thionville , is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz.-Demographics:...

. Donatus began construction on the cathedral at Zadar: the church of the Holy Trinity (finished in the beginning of the 9th century), which in 15th century changed was renamed the Church of St. Donatus

Church of St. Donatus

The Church of St. Donatus is a church located in Zadar, Croatia. Its name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. Originally named the church of the Holy Trinity, in the 15th century it was...

.

The marble sarcophagus

Sarcophagus

A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...

 in the cathedral preserves the relics of the Sirmian

Sirmium

Sirmium was a city in ancient Roman Pannonia. Firstly mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by the Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was...

 martyr St. Anastasia

St. Anastasia

Saint Anastasia was a Christian saint and martyr who died at Sirmium. In the Orthodox Church she is commemorated as the Great Martyr Anastasia, the Deliverer from Potions ....

 with an inscription dating from Donatus' time. According to tradition, St. Donatus brought the relics to Zadar from Constantinople, when he was there with the Venetian duke Beato

Beato

Persons bearing the surname Beato* Antonio Beato , British-Italian photographer* Felice Beato , British-Italian photographer* Lee Beato 20th century, American drummerOther senses...

. They had been ordered by Charlemagne to negotiate the border between the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n territories that were in dominion of Frankish Empire

Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...

 of Charlemagne.

Donatus died around 811, and was buried in his church of the Holy Trinity (today the Church of St. Donatus). After 1809, following the French occupation of Zadar, his bones were transferred to the Cathedral of St. Anastasia where they lie to this date.

The Feast of St. Donatus is celebrated on February 25.