Saint Aredius

Aredius, also Yrieix, Abbé d'Attanum and Arède d'Atane (c. 510 – 25 August 591, at Saint-Yrieix in the Haute-Vienne), was chancellor to Theudebert I, king of Austrasia, and later Abbot of Attane (or Atane, Latin: Attanum). He founded the monastery of Attane, which was renamed after his death Saint-Yrieix in his honour. The town at the site became known as Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche. Several other French communes are also called Saint-Yrieix after him. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches; his feast day is commemorated on the date of his death, 25 August. Aredius was from a prominent Gallo-Roman family of Limoges, in Limousin, an Occitan-speaking region. He was the son of a noble landowner, Jucundus, and his wife, Pelagia of Limoges. As a young boy he received his education from the abbot Sebastian of the monastery at Vigeois. As a young man, he was sent to the court of the Frankish king Theodebert I of Austrasia (r. 534–548) at Trier. By 540 he was appointed the king's chancellor. Nicetius, the bishop of Trier persuaded Aredius to leave the dissolute life at court. According to Gregory of Tours, one day, while the clerics sang psalms in the church, a dazzling white dove, after flying around Aredius, landed on his head, as if to show that he was already filled with the Holy Spirit. As he was a little shy, he waved it away, and it flittered a little before landing on its shoulder, and followed him all the way to the bishop's house. Upon the death of his father, Aredius returned to the Limousin to care for his mother. Entrusting to her the management of his estates, he lived for a time as a hermit in a cave. He founded, between 564 and 572, the monastery of Attane on the land of his inherited estate, located on the rivers Loue and Couchou in Haute-Vienne. He was the first abbot of the monastery, and the earliest monks were members of his own household.