It was the haunt of writer Ambrose Bierce, who admired its redwoods.

Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose ( c. 330 – 4 April 397 ), was an archbishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century.

Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family about 330 and was raised in Trier.

Ambrose was the Governor of Aemilia-Liguria in northern Italy until 374 when he became the Bishop of Milan.

He was a very popular political figure, and since he was the Governor in the effective capital in the Roman West, he was a recognizable figure in the court of the Emperor Valentinian I. Ambrose never married.

Ambrose went to the church where the election was to take place, to prevent an uproar, which was probable in this crisis.

His address was interrupted by a call " Ambrose, bishop!

Ambrose was known to be Catholic in belief, but also acceptable to Arians due to the charity shown in theological matters in this regard.

At first he energetically refused the office, for which he was in no way prepared: Ambrose was neither baptized nor formally trained in theology.

Within a week, Ambrose was baptized, ordained and duly consecrated bishop of Milan.

Ambrose was elected president and Palladius, being called upon to defend his opinions, declined.

Ambrose refused and was required to answer for his conduct before the council.

The imperial court was displeased with the religious principles of Ambrose, however his aid was soon solicited by the Emperor.

When Magnus Maximus usurped the supreme power in Gaul, and was meditating a descent upon Italy, Valentinian sent Ambrose to dissuade him from the undertaking, and the embassy was successful.

In 386 Justina and Valentinian received the Arian bishop Auxentius, and Ambrose was again ordered to hand over a church in Milan for Arian usage.

Ambrose and his congregation barricaded themselves inside the church, and the imperial order was rescinded.

Theodosius was threatened with excommunication by Ambrose for the massacre of 7, 000 persons at Thessalonica in 390, after the murder of the Roman governor there by rioters.

In 392, after the death of Valentinian II and the acclamation of Eugenius, Ambrose supplicated the emperor for the pardon of those who had supported Eugenius after Theodosius was eventually victorious.

In spite of Imperial opposition, Bishop Ambrose declared:

*" St. Ambrose, Bishop and Confessor, Doctor of the Church ", Butler's Lives of the Saints

Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, certainly did not found religious orders, though he took an interest in the monastic life and watched over its beginnings in his diocese, providing for the needs of a monastery outside the walls of Milam, as Saint Augustine recounts in his Confessions.

* Augustine is baptized on Easter Vigil by Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.

Negotiations followed in 384 including the intervention of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, leading to an accord with Valentinian II and Theodosius I in which Maximus was recognized as Augustus in the west.

The Genoese flag was adopted from the personal flag of St. Ambrose, the 4th century Bishop of Milan who was a key figure in the development of Christianity in the West.

Ambrose, the influential Bishop of Milan and future saint, wrote on their behalf to reject Symmachus's request for tolerance.

This religious policy created tension with Theodosius and the powerful and influential Bishop Ambrose, who left his see in Milan when the imperial court of Eugenius arrived.

Manuscripts, Nero A. II, in the British Museum ), written about the middle of the eighth century, probably by an Irish monk in France, is found perhaps the earliest attribution of the Milan use to St. Ambrose, though it quotes the authority of St. Augustine, probably alluding to the passage already mentioned: " Est et alius cursus quem refert beatus augustinus episcopus quod beatus ambrosius propter hereticorum ordinem dissimilem composuit quem in italia antea de cantabatur " ( There is yet another Cursus which the blessed Bishop Augustine says that the blessed Ambrose composed because of the existence of a different use of the heretics, which previously used to be sung in Italy ).

Walafridus Strabo, who died Abbot of Reichenau in 849, and must therefore have been nearly, if not quite, contemporary with this incident, says nothing about it, but ( De Rebus Ecclesiasticis, xxii ), speaking of various forms of the Mass, says: " Ambrosius quoque Mediolanensis episcopus tam missæ quam cæterorum dispositionem officiorum suæ ecclesiæ et aliis Liguribus ordinavit, quæ et usque hodie in Mediolanensi tenentur ecclesia " ( Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, also arranged a ceremonial for the Mass and other offices for his own church and for other parts of Liguria, which is still observed in the Milanese Church ).

He rejects entirely the Ephesine supposition, and considers that the Orientalisms which he recognizes in the Hispano-Gallican Rite are of much later origin than the period of St. Irenæus, and that it was from Milan as a centre that a rite, imported or modified from the East, perhaps by the Cappadocian Arian Bishop Auxentius ( 355-374 ), the predecessor of St. Ambrose, gradually spread to Gaul, Spain, and Britain.

This group believes very explicitly that the " Great Apostasy " began in AD 325 with the Council of Nicaea and continued until June 13, 1903, when Bishop Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson restored the Church, and that in the interim there was no actual theocratic governmental formed ( as Jesus formed it ) Church of God upon the earth, but that born-again people were abundant and continued to be " saved " or " born again " according to the Bible.

* Ambrose Griffiths ( 1928 – 2011 ), Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle

Towards the end of the century, Bishop Ambrose of Milan made the powerful Emperor Theodosius do penance for several months after the massacre of Thessalonica before admitting him again to the Eucharist.

It was organized by Ambrose, and presided over by Valerian, Bishop of Aquileia.

Brownlow's successor, Bishop George Ambrose Burton, a priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, was Bishop of Clifton for the next 29 years.

In the fifth and final Test of the series, Langer only managed to score 11 runs between his two innings in a match that was dominated by the bowling of Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop.

Bowlers like Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop dismissed him in the first and second innings respectively.

The bowlers were Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop and the pitch, difficult.

* Bishop Saint Ambrose of Milan ( 14 – 17 )

* Bishop Ambrose Griffiths-Eleventh Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle

According to legend, Ambrose immediately and forcefully stopped Arianism in Milan.

Under Ambrose's major influence, emperors Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I carried on a persecution of Paganism .< ref name = " MacMullen1984p100 "> MacMullen ( 1984 ) p. 100: ‘ The law of June 391, issued by Theodosius [...] was issued from Milan and represented the will of its bishop, Ambrose ; for Theodosius — recently excommunicated by Ambrose, penitent, and very much under his influence < sup > 43 </ sup > — was no natural zealot.

Soon after acquiring the undisputed possession of the Roman empire, Theodosius died at Milan in 395, and two years later ( April 4, 397 ) Ambrose also died.

The powerful Mariology of Ambrose of Milan influenced contemporary Popes like Pope Damasus and Siricius and later, Pope Leo the Great.

* St. Ambrose Basilica, Milan

* Early Christian writings: Letters of St. Ambrose of Milan

* Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Works of Ambrose of Milan

Late Antique Mosaic of Saint Ambrose (~ 337-397 ) in Sant ' Ambrogio church, Milan, Lombardy, Italy, possibly an actual portrait made in his lifetime

This order is known from a bull of Pope Gregory XI addressed to the monks of the church of St Ambrose outside Milan.

Ambrose also made successful efforts to improve the moral life of women in the Milan of his time by promoting the permanent institution of Virgins, as also of widows.

It is against this background that two religious orders or congregations, one of men and one of women, when founded in the Milan area during the 13th and 15th centuries, took Saint Ambrose as their patron and hence adopted his name.

In the late 19th century, there was a great deal of speculation about who might have authored the creed, with suggestions including Ambrose of Milan, Venantius Fortunatus, and Hilary of Poitiers, among others.

In the monastic library at Jarrow were a number of books by theologians, including works by Basil, Cassian, John Chrysostom, Isidore of Seville, Origen, Gregory of Nazianzus, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, Pope Gregory I, Ambrose of Milan, Cassiodorus, and Cyprian.

# the Ambrosian, now confined to Milan, where it owes its retention to the attachment of the clergy and people to their traditionary rites, which they derive from St Ambrose.

The name Ambrosian Republic takes its name from St. Ambrose, a popular patron saint of Milan.

* Paulinus: Life of bishop Ambrose of Milan

This view influences later Ambrose of Milan and Tertullian, who wrote about the virgin birth of the Mother of God.

The Christianisation of the Marcomanni occurred under their queen Fritigil ( mid fourth century ), who corresponded with Ambrose of Milan to bring about the conversion.