APOLLINARIS OF VALENCE, ST.

Bishop; b. Vienne, France, c. 453; d. Valence, France, c. 520. Apollinaris (or Aplonay) was the son of (St.) Hesychius (Isicius) and the brother of (St.) avitus, successively bishops of Vienne. When elected to the See of Valence (c. 490), vacant for some years and in dire need of reform, Apollinaris successfully labored to reestablish discipline in his diocese and to restore the Catholic faith to the Burgundian kingdom, which had fallen into arianism. He assisted at the synods of Epaon (517) and Lyons (516–523). Shortly after Epaon he was exiled by King Sigismund, angered (according to a vita of questionable historical value) by the excommunication of a royal official on charges of incest, but he was restored to his see the following year. His correspondence with Avitus, together with the acts of the councils, are the best sources for his biography. He is the principal patron of the Diocese of Valence.

Feast: Oct. 5.

Bibliography: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 3:197–203. Correspondence with Avitus, Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne (Paris 1878–90) 59:231–232, 273. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Concilia 1:29, 32–34. p. chapuis, S. Apollinaire, évêque, principal patron de tout le diocèse de Valence (Paris 1898). r. aigrain, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 982–986; Catholicisme 1:705–706. h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. f. cabrol, h. leclercq, and h. i. marrou (Paris 1907–53) 15.2:2901. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 4:36. g. mathon, Bibliotheca sanctorum 2:249–250.

[g. m. cook]