Saint
Hilarius of Gavaldà
A saint linked with Gavaldà, remembered in Western calendars; few details survive.
Uncertain source. We are looking to verify this information as soon as we can.
- Era
- 7th century
- Order
- Hierarchs
Life
Hilarius of Gavaldà is a probably legendary figure, a supposed bishop of the Gévaudan (Gavaldà). He is probably the same bishop and saint as Hilarius of Javols, who served in the sixth century and whose existence is proved by his having signed the acts of a council in the year 535.
The saint appears in the Life of Saint Enimia, who lived in the seventh century, taking part in her struggle against the dragon. Because that Life dates from the twelfth century, and the fight with the dragon is only a legend, it is suspected that the second Hilarius is an imaginary figure. According to Buffière, he is a metaphorical presence supplied by the troubadour Bertran de Marseille in the Life of Saint Enimia. The facts ascribed to him are that he lived in a hermitage near Javols with three brothers and visited the crypt of Saint Privatus of Mende. The founding of a great monastery dedicated to Saint Enimia in the gorges of the Tarn by Hilarius of Javols may have given rise to the legend.