Spinulus

Spinule (also called Saint Spin) is a legendary saint of the Vosges tradition, of the 7th century. He is venerated in the Western Church and commemorated on 5 November, especially in the diocese of Saint-⁠Dié.

Benedictine legend links him closely to the life of Hydulf, the official founder of the abbey of Moyenmoutier; Spinule is mentioned only in occasional lines of the three known lives of Hydulf. A native of the region, he is said to have been entrusted by the founder with the direction of a cell of the monastery, in a place northwest of the confluence of the Meurthe and the Rabodeau, now the hamlet of Saint-⁠Blaise in Moyenmoutier. The land had been given by a lord named Bégon, hence the name Begoncelle, used until the 10th century. A humble monk of delicate health and Hydulf's "favorite son", he reposed in holiness with Hydulf present and was buried in the chapel of Saint Gregory at Moyenmoutier. Some historians think Spinule was in fact the founder of the great parish (the ban) around Moyenmoutier, made with Bégon. He is regarded as a wonderworker.