Saint Giles


Giles
Detail of Saint Giles and the Hind, by the Master of Saint Giles c. 1500
Abbot, Hermit
Bornc. 650[1]
Athens, Achaea, Eastern Roman Empire
Diedc. 710[1]
Septimania, Kingdom of the Visigoths (Languedoc, Southern France)
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Communion
CanonizedPre-Congregation
Major shrineAbbey of Saint-Gilles (Saint-Gilles, France)
St. Giles' Cathedral (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Feast1 September
Attributesarrow; crosier; hermitage; hind
Patronagebeggars; blacksmiths; breast cancer; breast feeding; cancer patients; disabled people; Edinburgh (Scotland); epilepsy; noctiphobics; forests; hermits; horses; lepers; mental illness; outcasts; poor people; rams; spur makers; sterility.

Saint Giles (/lz/, Latin: Aegidius, French: Gilles, Italian: Egidio, Spanish: Gil), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A town that bears his name grew up around the monastery he purportedly founded, which became a pilgrimage centre and a stop on the Way of Saint James. He is traditionally one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

  1. ^ a b "The West Portal of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard," Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine by R. J. Gangewere, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, September/October 2003.

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