Valentinus of Griselles

Saint Valentinus of Griselles was a priest and hermit in the Châtillonnais (Burgundy) in the 6th century and is venerated as a saint in the Western Church. He is remembered on 4 July in the Western calendar.

He was born in 519, on the edge of Burgundian territory, at Latiscum, the town of Mont Lassois, or at Pothières, in a family of Roman notables. He was raised at Reims, at the court of Theudebert I, a great-⁠grandson of Clovis. When he was to be married, he withdrew to a nearby hermitage, where he founded a small church, from which, by one explanation, the name Griselles comes. He was ordained priest around 540 by Gregory, bishop of Langres. His exemplary life brought him a reputation for holiness, and at his death, around 547, a real church was built over his tomb.

In 1018 Ermengarde of Vermandois founded a priory there. The church, altered over the centuries, still contains the crypt of Saint Valentinus's tomb.