Cybard of Angoulême

Saint Cybard (also Eparchius, Eparque, Ybar, Ybard, Separchius) was a monk and hermit, born in 504 and died on 1 July 581, who lived forty-⁠four years in a cave beneath the walls of the city of Angoulême. The Latin form of his name is Eparchius, which in French also appears as Éparche and Ybars, as in the commune of Saint-⁠Ybars. He is commemorated on 1 July. Our sources record only his veneration in the Roman Catholic Church.

Cybard was probably born at Trémolat in the Périgord. He was ordained priest in 542 by Aptonius III, bishop of Angoulême. His story is told by Gregory of Tours in the History of the Franks (VI, 8). An anonymous Life, called The Life and Virtues of Eparchius the Recluse of Angoulême, says that he walked by night, alone, to the place where he was to become a recluse. Having finished his journey and his prayers, he laid his head on a rock. That place was, according to the same source, a remote spot, far from the city, and from above on the side of the mountain a stream of water trickled, and from there the river Charente began.

Over his cave the Abbey of Saint-⁠Cybard was built after his death. A church in La Rochefoucauld is dedicated to him, as is a quarter of Angoulême, and several places in the former Aquitaine bear his name: Montmoreau-⁠Saint-⁠Cybard and Saint-⁠Cybardeaux (Charente), Saint-⁠Cybard (Dordogne), Saint-⁠Cybard (Gironde), Saint-⁠Ybard (Corrèze), Saint-⁠Ybars (Ariège). He is the patron of the diocese of Angoulême.