Saint Valerie of Limoges

Valerie of Limoges (also Valeria of Limoges) is a legendary Christian martyr and cephalophore, associated with the Roman period, whose cult was very important in Limousin, France, during the medieval period. She has been an important subject for Christian art since the Middle Ages and for porcelain figurines over several centuries. The incident most insistently retold about Valerie is that she was beheaded for her faith and then carried her own head to set before her bishop, Martial, who had converted her. This firmly places her in the Roman period, although later hagiographers had Martial himself sent to Gaul by Peter rather than by Pope Fabian, according to earlier tradition. On the other hand, Valerie's legend is also retold with Duke Stephen (or Steven) of Guyenne (Aquitaine) as her antagonist and executioner. According to this version, she was pressured to marry Duke Stephen, who was a pagan. For her refusal to break her vows of chastity, he had her beheaded. This moves her into the medieval period, though precisely how it squares with her being a Christian in a pagan environment is unclear. Obviously, the duke's name is Christian. There are neither recorded dukes of Aquitaine with that name nor any pagan dukes of Aquitaine. However, a black-and-white reproduction of a print publication depicting Saint Valerie of Limoges calls this Duke Stephen by the name Julius Silanus, and described him as a proconsul of Aquitaine: "fille d'une noble dame qui avait donne l'hospitalite a Saint Martial lorqu'il vint a Limoges, Valerie s'etait convertie au christianisme. Comme elle refusait sa main a Julius Silanus, pro-consul d'Acquitane, celui-ci la fi decapiter. Valerie prit sa tete entre ses mains et la porta a l'autel ou saint Martin disait sa messe" (English translation) "The daughter of a noblewoman who had given hospitality to Saint Martial when he came to Limoges, Valerie had converted to Christianity.