514, was
identical
with our saint.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
, Route 126, nearly two centuries before the time of Vere-
p. 507. The annexed illustration, from an demus, Bishop of Avignon. See "Annates
often he had desired to seek greater solitude.
Then," replied Ferodemos,
approved view, was drawn on the wood and
engraved by Mr. Gregor Grey.
43 For a description of its features, history,
Francorum," ad Annum 531, num. xi. The Bollandist writers have treated on this sub- ject, at the 23rd of August, where Pinius seems to favour Cointe's opinion as probable. However, Father Stilting holds the contrary
and resources, the reader is referred to
Elisee Reclus' "Nouvelle Geographie Uni-
verselle," tome ii. , liv. ii. , chap, iii. , sect, one, and with good reason ; although, as vi. , pp. 285 to 293. Gononus states, in the Breviary of Uzeta
44 Writers have been divided in opinion church, there is a festival for Veredemus, regarding his identity. Some think there the hermit, Confessor, and not Pontiff, on were two, bearing the same name, but dis- the 23rd of August, and his body is said to tinct persons : one who, from having been rest there, while there is a feast for Vere- an eremite, became Bishop of Avignon ; and demus, Bishop of Avignon, at the 17th of the other, an eremite, who lived in the June. Now, the hermit, Veredemus, lived country, known as Uzeta, in Languedoc. in the village of Uzeta, and he was after- Others maintain that the latter had been pro- wards bishop, according to Gononus, and the motedtotheSeeofAvignon,andthathewas dioceseofUzesextendsfromtheGardtothe identical with the former. See Benedictus Rhone. The other objection of one Vere- Gononus, in "Vitee Patrum Occidentis," lib. demus being venerated as Pontifex^ and the iii. At p. 160, and subsequently, he gives the other as non Ponlifex, is thought to arise from
Life of Veredemus, Bishop of Avignon, taken the circumstance, that Veredemus having partly from archives of that church, and partly lived at Uzes as a hermit, so only in that from Raulin, a learned monk of Cluny. capacity had he been regarded as non Ponli-
45 The church of Usez has placed Vere- fex, while the difference of festival may be deme in the Catalogue of its saints. See assigned to some special cause. Moreover, "Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome i. , Claude Castellan, writing to the Bollandists, liv. v. , p. 257. states, at the 23rd of August, that although
46 Cointe contends, that there were two there are two distinct festivals, yet Dom distinct persons, named Ferodemos or Vere- Sanguin, a Canon of Avignon, believed them demus ; and he thinks, that the one, who to refer only to the same saint, and that some
lived with St. /Egidius in the desert, was the
hermit venerated in the church of Uzeta, or
Uzes. The chief reason assigned for this
opinion is a supposition, that as /Egidius Fano S. /Egidii Occitanix. Commentary's lived contemporaneously with St. Coesarius, proevius, sect, vi. , num. 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, Bishop of Aries, he must have flourished pp. 297, 298.
of his relics had been preserved in the church at Uzes. See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto /Egidio Abbate in
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
"
inspired counsels, however distressing they may prove for our mutual affection. Accordingly the advice was followed, and having ascertained the Divine Will in their regard, they gave each other the kiss of peace, and thus separated. 4 ? Afterwards, Egidius treaded his difficult journey through devious bye-paths, and at the close of a long day's march, he came to the borders of a deep and thick forest. He rested for the morning's light, and then entered it, forcing his way through gigantic trees, and tangled brakes, quite pleased to think this must afford a safe retirement from all worldly intrusion. At length he found acave,whichwasshadedbyfourenormousoak-trees,andnearit floweda rivulet of pure water, which disappeared under a verdant covering. This stream is still traditionally shown between the city of St. Gilles and the wood of Ribasse.
The holy hermit desired to be entirely disengaged from all earthly con-
cerns, so that he might devote himself altogether to religious contemplation. t8 Thus was his soul perfectly purified, so that with ardent desires and constancy
of purpose his thoughts were ever fixed on heavenly things. In fine, St. Giles took up his abode in that forest within the Diocese of Nismes,49 and there he resolved on that contemplative and penitential course of life he had practised with Ferodemos. The wild roots and herbs of the forest furnished his sole
A hind of the forest gave him milk, and shared his caresses with gentleness, whenever she saw him rise from his devotions. That innocent animal excited the more his gratitude towards the Almighty, who rewards His servants with unexpected and extra-
ordinary succours.
It is said, that in the country about Nimes, the local deity, adored by the
native Celts, Iberiens or Ligures, was named Namaous, Nemausos, or Nemausus. TohimtheGreeks,andafterwardstheRomans,erectedaltars, some of which still remain. 5° Nimes is supposed to have been built by a Greek colony ; and afterwards, for about 500 years, it was in possession of the Romans. 51 After Marseilles and Toulon, Nimes is still the largest city of southern France adjoining the Mediterranean Sea; 52 but, it has the dis- advantage of being separated from any water-course. 53 With the falling fortunes of the Roman Empire, the Goths 54 extended their incursions to
tions Lexicon," vol. v. , p. 237.
SJ The Maison Carrce, now converted into
a Museum, the old Roman Amphitheatre, the Temple of Diana, and other antiquities
support, and the stream served to appease his thirst.
47
took place about A. D. 670 or 671.
According to Father Stilting, this event
48 The Religious Benedictines of the Con-
gregation of St. Maur state " l'amour de la
solitudeleportataseretirerpresduRhone ofNismes,havebeenpleasinglydescribedin
auK extremites de Diocese de Nimes. "—
"Idler in France," vol. i. , chap, i. , pp. I to 25. Lon-
don, 1841, 8vo.
s3 See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geogra-
"
Histoire Literaire de la France," tome iii. , p. 244.
4» The Latin name, Nemausum or Nemau-
sus, was applied to the present ancient city phie Universelle," tome ii. , liv. ii. , chap.
of Xismes, the head of that See, by Strabo, iii. , sect, vi. , p. 288.
Pomponius Mela, and Ptolemy. See Bau- 54 They were first kown to the Romans drand's •• Novum Lexicon Geographicum," under this name, about the commencement tomus i. , p. 515. of the third century. In a. d. 249 and 250,
s See Menard's " Histoire des Antiquities they ravaged Thrace, and took Philippopolis ; de Nimes," Em. Desjardins, Notes Manu- A. D. 255, 256, they invaded Illyricum ; A. D.
scrites, 8vo, 1822.
51 Next to Rome, Nimes and its vicinity
259, they penetrated into Bithynia ; A. D. 262, they entered Thrace, and devastated Macedonia ; A. D. 267, they ravaged Asia, After various wars with the Romans, under
contain the most remarkable and greatest
number of Roman antiquities. Very fine
Mosaics have been found there, besides their famous King, Alaric, elected A. D. 382, numerous fragments of ancient buildings, Greece was plundered A. D. 395, 396, and
with Greek and Roman inscriptions. See Alaric entered Italy A. D. 402; but he was "
the Popular Encyclopedia ; or Conversa- defeated in the battle of Pollentia, fought
the Countess of
Blessington's
September i. i LIVES OF THE fRISH SAINTS.
Gaul,55 and over-ran that country, under Adolphus, the brother-in-law of
Alaric, in the beginning of the fifth century. His troops occupied the cities of Narbonne, Toulouse and Bordeaux, with the whole country surrounding them. s6 The successors of Alaric fixed their royal residence at Toulouse ; and the Gothic limits contained the territories of seven cities, namely,
Bordeaux, Perigueux, Angouleme, Agen, Saintes, Poitiers and Toulouse. Hence, their Kingdom is said to have obtained the name of Septimania. 57
The Goths then in possession were generally professors of Arianism, and an edict of the Emperor Honorius appointed an annual assembly for the seven Provinces at Aries, to consist of the Praetorian prefect of the Gauls, of seven provincial governors, one consular and six presidents, of the magistrates, and perhaps the bishops of about sixty cities; as also of a competent, although an indefinite, number of the most opulent possessors of land, who might
8
This order pre- vailed, until the Franks,59 having made incursions from Germany into Gaul so early as the fourth century, established their domination over Roman Gaul
60
Visigoths Aquitania. The Goths 6 * or Visigoths 6s had possession of the country about Nismes, but
about the Easter of A. D. 403, and he re- and communicate the laws of their sove- crossed the Po during the summer season. reign ; to expose the grievances and wishes After the death of the celebrated Roman of their constituents ; to moderate the ex- general, Stilicho, Alaric moved from Nori- cessive or unequal weight of taxes ; and to cuin, and marched upon Rome, A. D. 408, deliberate on every subject of local or which he besieged, but withdrew upon terms national importance that could tend to the into Tuscany. Again his demands having restoration of the peace and prosperity of the been rejected by the Emperor Honorius, seven provinces. "—Edward Gibbon's " His- a. d. 409, Alaric advanced to Ravenna, A. D. tory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman 410, and afterwards to Rome, winch he Empire," vol. iv. , chap, xxxi. , p. 135. besieged and captured in August, but he 59 Originally a German tribe, who were died before the close of that year. See known in 284, a. d. , as living between the Henry Fynes Clinton's "Fasti Romani. " Weser and the Lower Rhine.
justly be considered as representatives of their country. s
under Clovis the Great,
in 486, by the celebrated victory of Soissons. This monarch, crowned at Rheims, a. d. 496, reduced the Allemannion both banks of the Rhine,61 the Bretons in Armorica,62 and the in 63
The Civil and Literary Chronology of Rome and Constantinople, from the death of
Augustus to the death of Justin II. , vol. i. , pp. 268, 278, 282, 288, 294, 302, 492, 502, 534, 536, 548, 550, 554, 57o, 572, 574, 576, 578.
55 Already had the Vandals invaded this
Roman province, A. D. 406. They entered to have inhabited the northern parts of Spain a. d. 409. A war was waged by the Germany, before their incursions were made Goths against them, and they were routed, on the Roman provinces. Their native A. D. 417, by King Wallia. He was re- name, as we learn from Bishop Ulphilas, warded by the Roman Emperor Constantius who lived in the fourth century, was Gut- with a donation of the Gallic district of thiuda, rendered by the Greek and Roman Aquitain, which extended from Toulouse to writers Gotones, Gothones, Guttones, Guthse, the Mediterranean Sea. See ibid. , pp. 564, and, last of all, Gothi. Cassiodorus, the
RomanChiefMinisterofTheodoric theGreat, 56 At that time the Romanized provincials wrote a History of the Goths, which, un- had introduced the laws, manners, and fortunately, is now lost. He lived during the first half of the sixth century. Jornan-
576, 582, 594.
learning of the Roman Empire.
57 This name was first given to it by Sido-
des, a Goth, and Secretary to the King of the Alani, in the time of Justinian, also wrote a work, "De Getarum Origine et Rebus Gestis. " He became a Christian,
and held a bishopric in Italy.
65 At a time, when the Goths became more
numerous and rapacious, they were divided into two great branches, called Austrogothi,
nius Apollinaris, ad Avitum, lib. iii. , epist. 1. The Gaulish, however, is not to be confounded with the Roman Septimania.
The writers of "Historian Occitanise
"
give us various opinions concerning the origin of
that name.
s8 ** They were empowered to interpret
60 Of the Merovingian race.
61 62
After the battle of Zulpich.
a. d. 507.
63 The maritime district, extending from
the Garonne to the Pyrenees.
64 The origin oi this people is lost in
obscurity, yet they are generally supposed
relinquished it,
captured
Aries, a. d.
541.
Afterwards,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
when the Franks
the Goths succeeded in obtaining possession of that territory, in which St. Giles lived. According to the old writer of his Acts, Flavius was their con- temporaneousKing. However,thiswasacommonnameforalltheGothic Kings, nor is it easy to authenticate some ofthe matters thus related. 67 The identity of this Flavius has been contested. 68 That a potentate thus designated was the real founder of a monastery for St. u^Egidius has been unquestionably established. 6^ The writers of the " Historian Occitanise," however, have too hastily assumed, that Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths in Italy, was the founder, because he is known to have been styled Flavius. Nevertheless, their calculations are based on the error of supposing, that an ^Egidius, sent by Csesarius as a representative to Rome, a. d.
514, was identical with our saint. But, it seems most probable, that one of the principal seigneurs of the Visigoths, named Vamba or Wamba,7° who had been elected as their
1
thirtieth King, had been his generous patron. 7
that age, Vamba had impoliticly banished the Jews from his Kingdom, and
these were accorded protection by Hilderic, Count of Nimes, by the Bishop
of Maguelonne, and by other seigneurs of the Septimania.
against his traitorous chieftain, the Duke Paul, who had proclaimed himself King of Gothic Gaul. On Vamba's approach to Narbonne, Paul retired to Nimes. There, after an obstinate resistance, and horrible in its details, the besieged surrendered and besought the conqueror's clemency. There was a King of the Goths in Spain, named Flavius Ervigius, who succeeded Flavius Wamba, when the latter abdicated his rule a. d. 680, He was contempo- raneous with Pope Benedict II. , who only presided over the Church a. d. 684 and 685 for the short term of ten months and twelve days. 73 Although it is established, that ^Egidius presented to that Pontiff his monastery,74 it is not therefore to be inferred, that the latter had not been erected many years previous to his rule. Wherefore, to Wamba must be referred the pious inspiration, that urged him to press upon ^Egidius the erection of a religious
house.
or Ostrogoths, inhabiting the sandy steppes Reccared, who ruled towards the close of
of the East, and Wesegothi, or Visigoths, the sixth century. After Adrian Valesius,
While the pro- 2
the
those discontented nobles entered into a league to subvert his authority over them. However, Vamba raised an army which he led through Catalonia
vinces of and Navarre were in revolt Biscay
against
Visigoth King,7
occupying the more fertile and wooded countries of the West. See Philip Smith's " Ancient History from the Earliest Records to the Fall of the Western Empire," vol. iii. , chap, xlii. , pp 620, 621, and notes.
60
This was the year previous to the death of St. Casarius, as stated by Messanius and Stephen, in the Life of that holy Abbot.
dendo monasterio fflfffftttr? Ad haec, monasteiium istud mulio post tempore con- ditum dici debet, quam . /Kgidius, transmisso Rliodano, dicessit a Cacsario —
"
this is stated by the writers of 1 listeria:
Occitania," tomus i. , p. 64. Also consult " Rerum Francicaium," lib. xiv. , p. 351.
* This is stated in the Acts of Tope John VIII. ,inthesewords: "QuamvallemFla« vius quondam rex B. ^Egidio donavit. "
7° He is said to have reigned from 672 to 680. See the chief events of Wamba's life and
"
reign in
puesta,emendaday anadida por eljPadreJuan de Mariana de la Compania de Jesus," tomo
primero, lib. vi. ,cap. xii. ,xiii. ,xiv. ,xv. ,xvi. ,pp. 24610259. Valencia, CID. ,I3CC. ,XC1v. , 4K).
'' lie succeeded Recesvind, \. i>. 672.
72 The Spanish historians, as also the writers of " Historic Occitaniae," treat about the wars of Wamba, in the Septimania, under the
year 673.
67 ** Mabillon states :
I Iistona General
de : 'com- Espana,
Dicebantur quidem Flavii omnei Gotthorum reyes : se<l cum omnes Ariana: secte addieti fuerint, quis putet Amalarictim, qui tempore Casarii Septima- main oblinuit, ant quemvis aliuin de con-
nee /Egidius ante condituin monasterium abbas fuit. "
"Annales Ordinis S.
bb. iv. , sect, xxvii. , p. 100.
tomus
73 See Abbe
astique,"tome ix. , liv. xl. , sect, xxxiii. , p. 78.
74 Such is a statement in the Acts of Pope John VIII.
68
France to assume the title of Flavius was
Benedicti,"
i. ,
Fleury's
The first Visigoth King in the south of
;
66
Following the spirit of
" Histoire Ecclesi-
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. n
CHAPTER II.
WRITINGS ATTRIBUTED TO ST. /EGIDIUS—HIS LIFE OF SOLITUDE—ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF THE SAINT'S HERMITAGE—FOUNDATION OF HIS MONASTERY AND ITS ENDOWMENT —HIS RULE OF DISCIPLINE HIS VISIT TO KING CHARLKS MARTEL AT ORLEANS— HIS HOSPITABLE RECEPTION—HIS MIRACLES AND PROPHETIC SPIRIT—HIS VISIT TO THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF, BENEDICT II. —THE SARACENS INVADE SOUTHERN GAUL, AND DESTROY THE MONASTERY OF SAINT GILLES—THE HOLY ABBOT AND HIS MONKS FLY FOR PROTECTION TO CHARLES MARTEL AT ORLEANS.
It has been stated, that the Abbot ^Egidius, a Greek by birth, was profoundly 1
versed in scriptural and secular learning, but apparently without sufficiently
ancient authority 2
that a poet, and distinguished being philosopher,
"
medi-
in
cus," excelling prose
Chapter ii. —J
sanctus ante conversioneur suam iEgidius
philosophise ac medicinse operam dederit. Claruit circa annum Domini dccx. "—" De Viris Illustribus Ordinis S. Benedicti," lib. ii. , cap. xxii.
4 See Father Stilting, in "Acta Sanc- torum,"tomusi. , Septembrisi. , inCommen- tario prsevio, sect, vi. , num. 65, pp, 298, 299.
s The Vallis Flaviana received its name
from the Visigoth Kings, who ruled there, and who assumed the title of Flavius as a
;
and metrical he wrote in verse a composition,
remarkable work, "De Pulsibus," One Book, and another," De Venis," also in verse, and in One Book. 3 Yet, it does not seem probable, although ascribed to our saint, that such treatises, if they exist, had been composed by him. 4
For many years, St. ^gidius lived in close solitude, in the Flavian valley,* andconversingonlywithGod. However,owingtoastrangeadventure,the place of his concealment became known. 6 At one time, certain magnates of King Vamba's court, who loved the sport of hunting through the woods, dis- covered that hind, which nourished the saint with her milk. This animal
they pursued to the hermitage of St. Giles, where the affrighted creature sought a refuge. ? From her peculiar and unusual hinning, the saint ran from his cell, and soon found the dogs and hunters in full chase, while the hind's tongue protruded from her open mouth, as if gasping for breath. Then pray- ing to the Almighty to save his favourite hind from her pursuers, she sank at his feet, and ceased her hardly drawn respiration. The dogs could not approach within a stone's-throw of the cave ; but, with disappointed bowlings, they returned to the hunters. These being wearied with the chase, and night coming on, they resolved on seeking rest in their own dwellings. Next morn- ing, they resolved on chasing that beautiful hind, but again their designs were
Hof-
Joannes Jacobus mann, when treating ofvEgidius Atheniensis, states, that he lived under Tiberius II. , A. D.
700, and states
"
multa scripta posteritati
reliquit, ut de Pulsibus librum unum, de
Venenis (forsitan Venis) unum. "—"Lexicon
Universale. "
2
Jacobus Philippus Bergomensis writes at
the " Grse- year 714 : Egidius philosophus,
cus monachus per hos dies scientia et religione clarus fuit : qui praeter ccetera a se edita etiam in medecinis librum de Pulsu metrice composuit, cujus principium est : Ingenii vires modicis conatibus impar. " Item alium de
"
to their names.
According to Fr. Claude de Vic and Fr.
Joseph Vaissete, the discovery of St. Gilles
was made the officers of the "sans by King
doute le meme que Theodoric, roi d'ltalie,
" Dicitur {—fort} dicetur) vena, quandofit renibusuna. "
venis, qui incipit :
Chronicorum," lib. x. , in supplemento. 3 Trithemius adds: "Si quid amplius edidit, ad notitiam meam non pervenit. Hunc nonnulli sestimant sanctum ilium fuisse abba tern, cujus festum Kalend. Sep- tembris colitur : quod an ita sit, non satis perspicuum habeo. Hoc autem scio, quod tempus et patria in eum consentiunt, nee duo hujus nominis monachi in Chronicis reperi- untur, sed unus. Et verisimile est quod
Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome i. , liv. , v. , p. 257, This latter statement, however, is
incorrect.
7 According to some, the anecdote here
related has reference to the Gothic King Wamba ; while others refer it to Childebert, King of the Franks. See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. September i. , p. 9.
prefix 6
lequel possedoit alors ce pays. "
—"
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i,
frustrated, as on the former occasion. These circumstances, having been
8
related to the King, urged him to inform the bishop of Nismes. Both agreed
to join a hunting party on the following day ; and with such intent, they pro- ceeded to the forest, and found the hind, that was once more chased to the cave of her protector. Again, the dogs found no entrance there, but one of the hunters, drawing an arrow and fitting it to his bow, shot through the thicket of thorns surrounding the cave of ^Egidius, who happened to be without, and it inflicted on him a grievous wound. 9 The soldiers present insisted on cutting a way through the brushwood, until they reached his hermitage. There the venerable saint was found bleeding, and dressed in a monk's habit, while the hind lay at his feet. Then the King and bishop, having directed the others to leave, approached and enquired who he was, why he took up hisabodeinsosolitaryaspot,andbywhomhehadbeenwounded. Toall these enquiries the saint candidly replied. They proposed to send for phy- sicians to heal his wound, and to compensate him for it so far as they could; but he would hear of no such offers, and mindful of the scriptural maxim, that virtue is rendered perfect in infirmity, he prayed that henceforth, he might bear the pain to his death. Charmed and edified, by such a living exampleof abstinence,humility,courage and magnanimity, the King and bishop
took their leave, while commending themselves to the prayers of
10
This incident has been assigned to the year 673. Afterwards, the aforesaid King paid him frequent visits,
12
desirous of pro- filing by the holy hermit's conversations and counsels. However, the saint refused to accept any personal gift. Still, he advised the monarch to found there a monastery, to which a community of regular monks should be attached, andwhomightserveGodbydayandnight. ThistheKingpromisedtodo, provided ^gidius himself would become their spiritual superior. For a long time, he resisted such a proposal, urging as reasons, that he had not capacity or inclination for such a charge. At length, he yielded assent to the King's importunate wishes, and having fixed on a site near his cave, two churches were built ; one in honour of St. Peter and of all the Apostles,^ the other to the memory of St. Privatus the Martyr. '* In his cave, the holy hermit lived alone. There he spent whole days and nights in prayer and vigils. The Visigoth King conceived a very high esteem for St. Giles, but on no account
8 The
anonymous
author of our saint's
sanorum " that the of the supposes, palace
Gothic King was near to the hermitage of
St. /Egidius, and with many others, the ""
writers of I [iftorise Occitanise think, that
the Gothic Kings resided there, so as to
enjoy the pursuits of hunting in the adjoin- ing forest. See tomus i. , p. 257. These references to the Gothic palace are based on the authority of Godefrid Viterbiensis and Otho of Frisengen.
Acts calls him Flavius. However, in an
ottice of St. /Egidius, recited in the Diocese
of Antwerp, Charles Martel is stated to have
been the King who discovered the holy
hermit on the occasion of hunting in that
forest. Such an opinion has been adopted
in many other offices of particular churches,
and it has been followed by Saussay in his
'•
Maitytologium Gallicanum. "
in the church of St. Serum of Toulouse.
See "Histoire Generale de Languedoc,"
9 This incident la
,3
—supposed to be of our saint—on a tomb Abbot was called Monasteriuin S. Petri in
tome ii. , liv. xiii. , p. 173. 10 "
represented
figure
Originally
Monastery
of the
holy
Acta Sanctorum," Vita S. /Egidii, auctore pnonymo, cap. ii. , sect. 12, 13, 14,
See the Bollandists' tomus i. , Septembris i.
15, p. 301. "
SeeMichaudV'BiographieUniverselle, Ancienne et Moderne, tome xvi. , Art.
Gilles (Saint), p. 458. ""
Catellus in Historia Comitum Tolo-
in a
the
Valle Flaviana, and afterwards it was known as Monasterium S- /Kgidii in Valle Flaviana. Catellus relates, that he saw ancient docu- ments of the Abbey of St. /Kgidius, in which the wood of that monastery was titled La Selva Gotesca, meaning the Gothic wood. See "Historia Comitum Tolosanorum," p. 5.
uProbably, the Bishop of Mende, a Martyr of the third century, and whose feast is kept on the 2ist of August.
11
^Egidius.
September i.
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
13
could the holy man be induced to leave his solitude. There, however, was founded a monastery, to which he admitted several disciples, and these lived under the rules which he established. 15 By some writers, it was thought, St. Gilles had been abbot over that institution, so early as the beginning of the
sixtli
century ;
l6 whereas, in reality, it only dates from the close of the seventh. »»
According to the learned Father Stilting, the building was begun in the year
673 or 674.
That religious house is said to have been endowed with an ambit of land
extending for five miles.
18
It would appear, that hitherto, ^Egidius had not
been raised
to the but now, at the
;
— of special request
previously
priesthood
J
King, monks,
the nobles and
named from him such a dignity he attained.
p. 507. The annexed illustration, from an demus, Bishop of Avignon. See "Annates
often he had desired to seek greater solitude.
Then," replied Ferodemos,
approved view, was drawn on the wood and
engraved by Mr. Gregor Grey.
43 For a description of its features, history,
Francorum," ad Annum 531, num. xi. The Bollandist writers have treated on this sub- ject, at the 23rd of August, where Pinius seems to favour Cointe's opinion as probable. However, Father Stilting holds the contrary
and resources, the reader is referred to
Elisee Reclus' "Nouvelle Geographie Uni-
verselle," tome ii. , liv. ii. , chap, iii. , sect, one, and with good reason ; although, as vi. , pp. 285 to 293. Gononus states, in the Breviary of Uzeta
44 Writers have been divided in opinion church, there is a festival for Veredemus, regarding his identity. Some think there the hermit, Confessor, and not Pontiff, on were two, bearing the same name, but dis- the 23rd of August, and his body is said to tinct persons : one who, from having been rest there, while there is a feast for Vere- an eremite, became Bishop of Avignon ; and demus, Bishop of Avignon, at the 17th of the other, an eremite, who lived in the June. Now, the hermit, Veredemus, lived country, known as Uzeta, in Languedoc. in the village of Uzeta, and he was after- Others maintain that the latter had been pro- wards bishop, according to Gononus, and the motedtotheSeeofAvignon,andthathewas dioceseofUzesextendsfromtheGardtothe identical with the former. See Benedictus Rhone. The other objection of one Vere- Gononus, in "Vitee Patrum Occidentis," lib. demus being venerated as Pontifex^ and the iii. At p. 160, and subsequently, he gives the other as non Ponlifex, is thought to arise from
Life of Veredemus, Bishop of Avignon, taken the circumstance, that Veredemus having partly from archives of that church, and partly lived at Uzes as a hermit, so only in that from Raulin, a learned monk of Cluny. capacity had he been regarded as non Ponli-
45 The church of Usez has placed Vere- fex, while the difference of festival may be deme in the Catalogue of its saints. See assigned to some special cause. Moreover, "Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome i. , Claude Castellan, writing to the Bollandists, liv. v. , p. 257. states, at the 23rd of August, that although
46 Cointe contends, that there were two there are two distinct festivals, yet Dom distinct persons, named Ferodemos or Vere- Sanguin, a Canon of Avignon, believed them demus ; and he thinks, that the one, who to refer only to the same saint, and that some
lived with St. /Egidius in the desert, was the
hermit venerated in the church of Uzeta, or
Uzes. The chief reason assigned for this
opinion is a supposition, that as /Egidius Fano S. /Egidii Occitanix. Commentary's lived contemporaneously with St. Coesarius, proevius, sect, vi. , num. 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, Bishop of Aries, he must have flourished pp. 297, 298.
of his relics had been preserved in the church at Uzes. See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto /Egidio Abbate in
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
"
inspired counsels, however distressing they may prove for our mutual affection. Accordingly the advice was followed, and having ascertained the Divine Will in their regard, they gave each other the kiss of peace, and thus separated. 4 ? Afterwards, Egidius treaded his difficult journey through devious bye-paths, and at the close of a long day's march, he came to the borders of a deep and thick forest. He rested for the morning's light, and then entered it, forcing his way through gigantic trees, and tangled brakes, quite pleased to think this must afford a safe retirement from all worldly intrusion. At length he found acave,whichwasshadedbyfourenormousoak-trees,andnearit floweda rivulet of pure water, which disappeared under a verdant covering. This stream is still traditionally shown between the city of St. Gilles and the wood of Ribasse.
The holy hermit desired to be entirely disengaged from all earthly con-
cerns, so that he might devote himself altogether to religious contemplation. t8 Thus was his soul perfectly purified, so that with ardent desires and constancy
of purpose his thoughts were ever fixed on heavenly things. In fine, St. Giles took up his abode in that forest within the Diocese of Nismes,49 and there he resolved on that contemplative and penitential course of life he had practised with Ferodemos. The wild roots and herbs of the forest furnished his sole
A hind of the forest gave him milk, and shared his caresses with gentleness, whenever she saw him rise from his devotions. That innocent animal excited the more his gratitude towards the Almighty, who rewards His servants with unexpected and extra-
ordinary succours.
It is said, that in the country about Nimes, the local deity, adored by the
native Celts, Iberiens or Ligures, was named Namaous, Nemausos, or Nemausus. TohimtheGreeks,andafterwardstheRomans,erectedaltars, some of which still remain. 5° Nimes is supposed to have been built by a Greek colony ; and afterwards, for about 500 years, it was in possession of the Romans. 51 After Marseilles and Toulon, Nimes is still the largest city of southern France adjoining the Mediterranean Sea; 52 but, it has the dis- advantage of being separated from any water-course. 53 With the falling fortunes of the Roman Empire, the Goths 54 extended their incursions to
tions Lexicon," vol. v. , p. 237.
SJ The Maison Carrce, now converted into
a Museum, the old Roman Amphitheatre, the Temple of Diana, and other antiquities
support, and the stream served to appease his thirst.
47
took place about A. D. 670 or 671.
According to Father Stilting, this event
48 The Religious Benedictines of the Con-
gregation of St. Maur state " l'amour de la
solitudeleportataseretirerpresduRhone ofNismes,havebeenpleasinglydescribedin
auK extremites de Diocese de Nimes. "—
"Idler in France," vol. i. , chap, i. , pp. I to 25. Lon-
don, 1841, 8vo.
s3 See Elisee Reclus' " Nouvelle Geogra-
"
Histoire Literaire de la France," tome iii. , p. 244.
4» The Latin name, Nemausum or Nemau-
sus, was applied to the present ancient city phie Universelle," tome ii. , liv. ii. , chap.
of Xismes, the head of that See, by Strabo, iii. , sect, vi. , p. 288.
Pomponius Mela, and Ptolemy. See Bau- 54 They were first kown to the Romans drand's •• Novum Lexicon Geographicum," under this name, about the commencement tomus i. , p. 515. of the third century. In a. d. 249 and 250,
s See Menard's " Histoire des Antiquities they ravaged Thrace, and took Philippopolis ; de Nimes," Em. Desjardins, Notes Manu- A. D. 255, 256, they invaded Illyricum ; A. D.
scrites, 8vo, 1822.
51 Next to Rome, Nimes and its vicinity
259, they penetrated into Bithynia ; A. D. 262, they entered Thrace, and devastated Macedonia ; A. D. 267, they ravaged Asia, After various wars with the Romans, under
contain the most remarkable and greatest
number of Roman antiquities. Very fine
Mosaics have been found there, besides their famous King, Alaric, elected A. D. 382, numerous fragments of ancient buildings, Greece was plundered A. D. 395, 396, and
with Greek and Roman inscriptions. See Alaric entered Italy A. D. 402; but he was "
the Popular Encyclopedia ; or Conversa- defeated in the battle of Pollentia, fought
the Countess of
Blessington's
September i. i LIVES OF THE fRISH SAINTS.
Gaul,55 and over-ran that country, under Adolphus, the brother-in-law of
Alaric, in the beginning of the fifth century. His troops occupied the cities of Narbonne, Toulouse and Bordeaux, with the whole country surrounding them. s6 The successors of Alaric fixed their royal residence at Toulouse ; and the Gothic limits contained the territories of seven cities, namely,
Bordeaux, Perigueux, Angouleme, Agen, Saintes, Poitiers and Toulouse. Hence, their Kingdom is said to have obtained the name of Septimania. 57
The Goths then in possession were generally professors of Arianism, and an edict of the Emperor Honorius appointed an annual assembly for the seven Provinces at Aries, to consist of the Praetorian prefect of the Gauls, of seven provincial governors, one consular and six presidents, of the magistrates, and perhaps the bishops of about sixty cities; as also of a competent, although an indefinite, number of the most opulent possessors of land, who might
8
This order pre- vailed, until the Franks,59 having made incursions from Germany into Gaul so early as the fourth century, established their domination over Roman Gaul
60
Visigoths Aquitania. The Goths 6 * or Visigoths 6s had possession of the country about Nismes, but
about the Easter of A. D. 403, and he re- and communicate the laws of their sove- crossed the Po during the summer season. reign ; to expose the grievances and wishes After the death of the celebrated Roman of their constituents ; to moderate the ex- general, Stilicho, Alaric moved from Nori- cessive or unequal weight of taxes ; and to cuin, and marched upon Rome, A. D. 408, deliberate on every subject of local or which he besieged, but withdrew upon terms national importance that could tend to the into Tuscany. Again his demands having restoration of the peace and prosperity of the been rejected by the Emperor Honorius, seven provinces. "—Edward Gibbon's " His- a. d. 409, Alaric advanced to Ravenna, A. D. tory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman 410, and afterwards to Rome, winch he Empire," vol. iv. , chap, xxxi. , p. 135. besieged and captured in August, but he 59 Originally a German tribe, who were died before the close of that year. See known in 284, a. d. , as living between the Henry Fynes Clinton's "Fasti Romani. " Weser and the Lower Rhine.
justly be considered as representatives of their country. s
under Clovis the Great,
in 486, by the celebrated victory of Soissons. This monarch, crowned at Rheims, a. d. 496, reduced the Allemannion both banks of the Rhine,61 the Bretons in Armorica,62 and the in 63
The Civil and Literary Chronology of Rome and Constantinople, from the death of
Augustus to the death of Justin II. , vol. i. , pp. 268, 278, 282, 288, 294, 302, 492, 502, 534, 536, 548, 550, 554, 57o, 572, 574, 576, 578.
55 Already had the Vandals invaded this
Roman province, A. D. 406. They entered to have inhabited the northern parts of Spain a. d. 409. A war was waged by the Germany, before their incursions were made Goths against them, and they were routed, on the Roman provinces. Their native A. D. 417, by King Wallia. He was re- name, as we learn from Bishop Ulphilas, warded by the Roman Emperor Constantius who lived in the fourth century, was Gut- with a donation of the Gallic district of thiuda, rendered by the Greek and Roman Aquitain, which extended from Toulouse to writers Gotones, Gothones, Guttones, Guthse, the Mediterranean Sea. See ibid. , pp. 564, and, last of all, Gothi. Cassiodorus, the
RomanChiefMinisterofTheodoric theGreat, 56 At that time the Romanized provincials wrote a History of the Goths, which, un- had introduced the laws, manners, and fortunately, is now lost. He lived during the first half of the sixth century. Jornan-
576, 582, 594.
learning of the Roman Empire.
57 This name was first given to it by Sido-
des, a Goth, and Secretary to the King of the Alani, in the time of Justinian, also wrote a work, "De Getarum Origine et Rebus Gestis. " He became a Christian,
and held a bishopric in Italy.
65 At a time, when the Goths became more
numerous and rapacious, they were divided into two great branches, called Austrogothi,
nius Apollinaris, ad Avitum, lib. iii. , epist. 1. The Gaulish, however, is not to be confounded with the Roman Septimania.
The writers of "Historian Occitanise
"
give us various opinions concerning the origin of
that name.
s8 ** They were empowered to interpret
60 Of the Merovingian race.
61 62
After the battle of Zulpich.
a. d. 507.
63 The maritime district, extending from
the Garonne to the Pyrenees.
64 The origin oi this people is lost in
obscurity, yet they are generally supposed
relinquished it,
captured
Aries, a. d.
541.
Afterwards,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i.
when the Franks
the Goths succeeded in obtaining possession of that territory, in which St. Giles lived. According to the old writer of his Acts, Flavius was their con- temporaneousKing. However,thiswasacommonnameforalltheGothic Kings, nor is it easy to authenticate some ofthe matters thus related. 67 The identity of this Flavius has been contested. 68 That a potentate thus designated was the real founder of a monastery for St. u^Egidius has been unquestionably established. 6^ The writers of the " Historian Occitanise," however, have too hastily assumed, that Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths in Italy, was the founder, because he is known to have been styled Flavius. Nevertheless, their calculations are based on the error of supposing, that an ^Egidius, sent by Csesarius as a representative to Rome, a. d.
514, was identical with our saint. But, it seems most probable, that one of the principal seigneurs of the Visigoths, named Vamba or Wamba,7° who had been elected as their
1
thirtieth King, had been his generous patron. 7
that age, Vamba had impoliticly banished the Jews from his Kingdom, and
these were accorded protection by Hilderic, Count of Nimes, by the Bishop
of Maguelonne, and by other seigneurs of the Septimania.
against his traitorous chieftain, the Duke Paul, who had proclaimed himself King of Gothic Gaul. On Vamba's approach to Narbonne, Paul retired to Nimes. There, after an obstinate resistance, and horrible in its details, the besieged surrendered and besought the conqueror's clemency. There was a King of the Goths in Spain, named Flavius Ervigius, who succeeded Flavius Wamba, when the latter abdicated his rule a. d. 680, He was contempo- raneous with Pope Benedict II. , who only presided over the Church a. d. 684 and 685 for the short term of ten months and twelve days. 73 Although it is established, that ^Egidius presented to that Pontiff his monastery,74 it is not therefore to be inferred, that the latter had not been erected many years previous to his rule. Wherefore, to Wamba must be referred the pious inspiration, that urged him to press upon ^Egidius the erection of a religious
house.
or Ostrogoths, inhabiting the sandy steppes Reccared, who ruled towards the close of
of the East, and Wesegothi, or Visigoths, the sixth century. After Adrian Valesius,
While the pro- 2
the
those discontented nobles entered into a league to subvert his authority over them. However, Vamba raised an army which he led through Catalonia
vinces of and Navarre were in revolt Biscay
against
Visigoth King,7
occupying the more fertile and wooded countries of the West. See Philip Smith's " Ancient History from the Earliest Records to the Fall of the Western Empire," vol. iii. , chap, xlii. , pp 620, 621, and notes.
60
This was the year previous to the death of St. Casarius, as stated by Messanius and Stephen, in the Life of that holy Abbot.
dendo monasterio fflfffftttr? Ad haec, monasteiium istud mulio post tempore con- ditum dici debet, quam . /Kgidius, transmisso Rliodano, dicessit a Cacsario —
"
this is stated by the writers of 1 listeria:
Occitania," tomus i. , p. 64. Also consult " Rerum Francicaium," lib. xiv. , p. 351.
* This is stated in the Acts of Tope John VIII. ,inthesewords: "QuamvallemFla« vius quondam rex B. ^Egidio donavit. "
7° He is said to have reigned from 672 to 680. See the chief events of Wamba's life and
"
reign in
puesta,emendaday anadida por eljPadreJuan de Mariana de la Compania de Jesus," tomo
primero, lib. vi. ,cap. xii. ,xiii. ,xiv. ,xv. ,xvi. ,pp. 24610259. Valencia, CID. ,I3CC. ,XC1v. , 4K).
'' lie succeeded Recesvind, \. i>. 672.
72 The Spanish historians, as also the writers of " Historic Occitaniae," treat about the wars of Wamba, in the Septimania, under the
year 673.
67 ** Mabillon states :
I Iistona General
de : 'com- Espana,
Dicebantur quidem Flavii omnei Gotthorum reyes : se<l cum omnes Ariana: secte addieti fuerint, quis putet Amalarictim, qui tempore Casarii Septima- main oblinuit, ant quemvis aliuin de con-
nee /Egidius ante condituin monasterium abbas fuit. "
"Annales Ordinis S.
bb. iv. , sect, xxvii. , p. 100.
tomus
73 See Abbe
astique,"tome ix. , liv. xl. , sect, xxxiii. , p. 78.
74 Such is a statement in the Acts of Pope John VIII.
68
France to assume the title of Flavius was
Benedicti,"
i. ,
Fleury's
The first Visigoth King in the south of
;
66
Following the spirit of
" Histoire Ecclesi-
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. n
CHAPTER II.
WRITINGS ATTRIBUTED TO ST. /EGIDIUS—HIS LIFE OF SOLITUDE—ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF THE SAINT'S HERMITAGE—FOUNDATION OF HIS MONASTERY AND ITS ENDOWMENT —HIS RULE OF DISCIPLINE HIS VISIT TO KING CHARLKS MARTEL AT ORLEANS— HIS HOSPITABLE RECEPTION—HIS MIRACLES AND PROPHETIC SPIRIT—HIS VISIT TO THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF, BENEDICT II. —THE SARACENS INVADE SOUTHERN GAUL, AND DESTROY THE MONASTERY OF SAINT GILLES—THE HOLY ABBOT AND HIS MONKS FLY FOR PROTECTION TO CHARLES MARTEL AT ORLEANS.
It has been stated, that the Abbot ^Egidius, a Greek by birth, was profoundly 1
versed in scriptural and secular learning, but apparently without sufficiently
ancient authority 2
that a poet, and distinguished being philosopher,
"
medi-
in
cus," excelling prose
Chapter ii. —J
sanctus ante conversioneur suam iEgidius
philosophise ac medicinse operam dederit. Claruit circa annum Domini dccx. "—" De Viris Illustribus Ordinis S. Benedicti," lib. ii. , cap. xxii.
4 See Father Stilting, in "Acta Sanc- torum,"tomusi. , Septembrisi. , inCommen- tario prsevio, sect, vi. , num. 65, pp, 298, 299.
s The Vallis Flaviana received its name
from the Visigoth Kings, who ruled there, and who assumed the title of Flavius as a
;
and metrical he wrote in verse a composition,
remarkable work, "De Pulsibus," One Book, and another," De Venis," also in verse, and in One Book. 3 Yet, it does not seem probable, although ascribed to our saint, that such treatises, if they exist, had been composed by him. 4
For many years, St. ^gidius lived in close solitude, in the Flavian valley,* andconversingonlywithGod. However,owingtoastrangeadventure,the place of his concealment became known. 6 At one time, certain magnates of King Vamba's court, who loved the sport of hunting through the woods, dis- covered that hind, which nourished the saint with her milk. This animal
they pursued to the hermitage of St. Giles, where the affrighted creature sought a refuge. ? From her peculiar and unusual hinning, the saint ran from his cell, and soon found the dogs and hunters in full chase, while the hind's tongue protruded from her open mouth, as if gasping for breath. Then pray- ing to the Almighty to save his favourite hind from her pursuers, she sank at his feet, and ceased her hardly drawn respiration. The dogs could not approach within a stone's-throw of the cave ; but, with disappointed bowlings, they returned to the hunters. These being wearied with the chase, and night coming on, they resolved on seeking rest in their own dwellings. Next morn- ing, they resolved on chasing that beautiful hind, but again their designs were
Hof-
Joannes Jacobus mann, when treating ofvEgidius Atheniensis, states, that he lived under Tiberius II. , A. D.
700, and states
"
multa scripta posteritati
reliquit, ut de Pulsibus librum unum, de
Venenis (forsitan Venis) unum. "—"Lexicon
Universale. "
2
Jacobus Philippus Bergomensis writes at
the " Grse- year 714 : Egidius philosophus,
cus monachus per hos dies scientia et religione clarus fuit : qui praeter ccetera a se edita etiam in medecinis librum de Pulsu metrice composuit, cujus principium est : Ingenii vires modicis conatibus impar. " Item alium de
"
to their names.
According to Fr. Claude de Vic and Fr.
Joseph Vaissete, the discovery of St. Gilles
was made the officers of the "sans by King
doute le meme que Theodoric, roi d'ltalie,
" Dicitur {—fort} dicetur) vena, quandofit renibusuna. "
venis, qui incipit :
Chronicorum," lib. x. , in supplemento. 3 Trithemius adds: "Si quid amplius edidit, ad notitiam meam non pervenit. Hunc nonnulli sestimant sanctum ilium fuisse abba tern, cujus festum Kalend. Sep- tembris colitur : quod an ita sit, non satis perspicuum habeo. Hoc autem scio, quod tempus et patria in eum consentiunt, nee duo hujus nominis monachi in Chronicis reperi- untur, sed unus. Et verisimile est quod
Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome i. , liv. , v. , p. 257, This latter statement, however, is
incorrect.
7 According to some, the anecdote here
related has reference to the Gothic King Wamba ; while others refer it to Childebert, King of the Franks. See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. September i. , p. 9.
prefix 6
lequel possedoit alors ce pays. "
—"
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September i,
frustrated, as on the former occasion. These circumstances, having been
8
related to the King, urged him to inform the bishop of Nismes. Both agreed
to join a hunting party on the following day ; and with such intent, they pro- ceeded to the forest, and found the hind, that was once more chased to the cave of her protector. Again, the dogs found no entrance there, but one of the hunters, drawing an arrow and fitting it to his bow, shot through the thicket of thorns surrounding the cave of ^Egidius, who happened to be without, and it inflicted on him a grievous wound. 9 The soldiers present insisted on cutting a way through the brushwood, until they reached his hermitage. There the venerable saint was found bleeding, and dressed in a monk's habit, while the hind lay at his feet. Then the King and bishop, having directed the others to leave, approached and enquired who he was, why he took up hisabodeinsosolitaryaspot,andbywhomhehadbeenwounded. Toall these enquiries the saint candidly replied. They proposed to send for phy- sicians to heal his wound, and to compensate him for it so far as they could; but he would hear of no such offers, and mindful of the scriptural maxim, that virtue is rendered perfect in infirmity, he prayed that henceforth, he might bear the pain to his death. Charmed and edified, by such a living exampleof abstinence,humility,courage and magnanimity, the King and bishop
took their leave, while commending themselves to the prayers of
10
This incident has been assigned to the year 673. Afterwards, the aforesaid King paid him frequent visits,
12
desirous of pro- filing by the holy hermit's conversations and counsels. However, the saint refused to accept any personal gift. Still, he advised the monarch to found there a monastery, to which a community of regular monks should be attached, andwhomightserveGodbydayandnight. ThistheKingpromisedtodo, provided ^gidius himself would become their spiritual superior. For a long time, he resisted such a proposal, urging as reasons, that he had not capacity or inclination for such a charge. At length, he yielded assent to the King's importunate wishes, and having fixed on a site near his cave, two churches were built ; one in honour of St. Peter and of all the Apostles,^ the other to the memory of St. Privatus the Martyr. '* In his cave, the holy hermit lived alone. There he spent whole days and nights in prayer and vigils. The Visigoth King conceived a very high esteem for St. Giles, but on no account
8 The
anonymous
author of our saint's
sanorum " that the of the supposes, palace
Gothic King was near to the hermitage of
St. /Egidius, and with many others, the ""
writers of I [iftorise Occitanise think, that
the Gothic Kings resided there, so as to
enjoy the pursuits of hunting in the adjoin- ing forest. See tomus i. , p. 257. These references to the Gothic palace are based on the authority of Godefrid Viterbiensis and Otho of Frisengen.
Acts calls him Flavius. However, in an
ottice of St. /Egidius, recited in the Diocese
of Antwerp, Charles Martel is stated to have
been the King who discovered the holy
hermit on the occasion of hunting in that
forest. Such an opinion has been adopted
in many other offices of particular churches,
and it has been followed by Saussay in his
'•
Maitytologium Gallicanum. "
in the church of St. Serum of Toulouse.
See "Histoire Generale de Languedoc,"
9 This incident la
,3
—supposed to be of our saint—on a tomb Abbot was called Monasteriuin S. Petri in
tome ii. , liv. xiii. , p. 173. 10 "
represented
figure
Originally
Monastery
of the
holy
Acta Sanctorum," Vita S. /Egidii, auctore pnonymo, cap. ii. , sect. 12, 13, 14,
See the Bollandists' tomus i. , Septembris i.
15, p. 301. "
SeeMichaudV'BiographieUniverselle, Ancienne et Moderne, tome xvi. , Art.
Gilles (Saint), p. 458. ""
Catellus in Historia Comitum Tolo-
in a
the
Valle Flaviana, and afterwards it was known as Monasterium S- /Kgidii in Valle Flaviana. Catellus relates, that he saw ancient docu- ments of the Abbey of St. /Kgidius, in which the wood of that monastery was titled La Selva Gotesca, meaning the Gothic wood. See "Historia Comitum Tolosanorum," p. 5.
uProbably, the Bishop of Mende, a Martyr of the third century, and whose feast is kept on the 2ist of August.
11
^Egidius.
September i.
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
13
could the holy man be induced to leave his solitude. There, however, was founded a monastery, to which he admitted several disciples, and these lived under the rules which he established. 15 By some writers, it was thought, St. Gilles had been abbot over that institution, so early as the beginning of the
sixtli
century ;
l6 whereas, in reality, it only dates from the close of the seventh. »»
According to the learned Father Stilting, the building was begun in the year
673 or 674.
That religious house is said to have been endowed with an ambit of land
extending for five miles.
18
It would appear, that hitherto, ^Egidius had not
been raised
to the but now, at the
;
— of special request
previously
priesthood
J
King, monks,
the nobles and
named from him such a dignity he attained.
