Everything about Saint Gilles totally explained
Saint Giles (
Latin:
Ægidius,
French:
Gilles,
Italian:
Egidio; c. 650 - c. 710) was a
Christian hermit saint, whose legend is centered in
Provence and
Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in
St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from
Arles to
Santiago de Compostela, the pilgrim
Way of St. James.
Life
As a hermit Giles first lived in retreats near the mouth of the
Rhône and by the
River Gard, in
Septimania, today's southern
France. The story that he was the son of King Theodore and Queen Pelagia of
Athens is probably an embellishment of his early
hagiographers; it was given wide currency in
Legenda Aurea. The two main incidents in his life were often depicted in art.
The Miracle of Saint Giles
His early history, as given in
Legenda Aurea, links him with
Arles, but finally he withdrew deep into the forest near
Nîmes, where in the greatest solitude he spent many years, his sole companion being a deer, or
hind, who in some stories sustained him on her milk. This last retreat was finally discovered by the king's hunters, who had pursued the hind to its place of refuge. An arrow shot at the deer wounded the saint instead, who afterwards became a patron of cripples. The king, who by legend was
Wamba, an anachronistic
Visigoth, but who must have been (at least in the original story) a
Frank due to the historical setting, conceived a high esteem for the hermit, whose humility rejected all honors save some disciples, and built him a
monastery in his valley,
Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, which he placed under the
Benedictine rule. Here Giles died in the early part of the eighth century, with the highest repute for sanctity and
miracles.
The Mass of Saint Giles
An early source, a tenth-century
Vita sancti Aegidii recounts that, as Giles was celebrating mass to pardon the emperor
Charlemagne's sins, an angel deposited upon the altar a letter outlining a sin so terrible Charlemagne had never dared confess it. Several Latin and French texts, including
Legenda Aurea refer to this hidden "sin of Charlemagne".
A later text,
Liber miraculorum sancti Aegidii ("Book of the miracles of Saint Giles") served to reinforce the flow of pilgrims to the abbey.
Legacy
Around his tomb in the abbey sprang up the town of
St-Gilles-du-Gard. The abbey remained the center of his cult, which was particularly strong in
Languedoc, even after a rival body of Saint Giles appeared at
Toulouse. His cult spread rapidly far and wide throughout Europe in the
Middle Ages, as is witnessed by the countless churches and monasteries dedicated to him in France,
Spain,
Germany,
Poland,
Hungary,
Slovakia, and
Great Britain; by the numerous
manuscripts in prose and verse commemorating his virtues and miracles; and especially by the vast concourse of
pilgrims who from all Europe flocked to his shrine.
In 1562 the
relics of the saint were secretly transferred to
Toulouse to save them from the anger of the
Huguenots and the level of
pilgrimages declined. With the restoration of a great part of the relics to the abbey of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard in 1862, and the publicized rediscovery of his former tomb there in 1865, the pilgrimages recommenced.
Besides Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, nineteen other cities bear his name. Cities that possess relics of St. Giles include Saint-Gilles,
Toulouse and a multitude of other French cities,
Antwerp,
Brugge and
Tournai in Belgium,
Cologne and
Bamberg in Germany,
Rome and
Bologna in Italy,
Prague and
Gran. The lay
Community of Sant'Egidio is named after his church in Rome,
Sant'Egidio. Giles is also the
patron saint of
Edinburgh,
Scotland, where
St. Giles' Cathedral is a prominent landmark.
The centuries-long presence of
Crusaders, many of them of French origin, left the name of Saint Giles in some locations in the
Middle East.
Raymond of St Gilles lent his name to
St. Gilles Castle (
Arabic:
Qala’at Sanjil) in
Tripoli, Lebanon.
Sinjil is also a
West Bank Palestinian village, which came to prominence in 2005 when several of its inhabitants were killed in a shooting spree by an Israeli settler.
In medieval art he's depicted with his symbol, the hind. His emblem is also an
arrow, and he's the
patron saint of
cripples. Giles is one of the
Fourteen Holy Helpers, and the only non-
martyr, initially invoked as protection against the
Black Death. His
feast day is
September 1.
The
Master of Saint Gilles is an anonymous
Late Gothic painter. The artist was given the title as the first work attributed to him were two works with Saint Giles as the subject now in the
National Gallery, London.
The fifth book in the
Brother Cadfael murder mystery series by
Ellis Peters is titled
The Leper of Saint Giles, set partly in the 'hospital' and chapel of St Giles founded by the monks of
Shrewsbury Abbey half a mile from their own enclave. The chapel is now a parish church, retaining a Norman doorway and a 12th century south wall with a piscina.
Further Information
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