Saint - Guilhem - le - Désert
From William to Saint William of Gellone
A cousin of Charlemagne, whose praises were sung by the troubadours during the Middle Ages, William of Gellone (known as Guillhem in French), distinguished himself during numerous military campaigns against the Saracens, who at the time were multiplying their incursions into Septimanie (the old name for part of the Languedoc region).
A hero of the capture of Barcelona in 803, he decided to lay down his arms at the end of this glorious campaign.
In 804, guided by Saint-Benoît of Aniane, he founded a monastery in the secluded setting of the Gellone Valley, where he chose to live as a monk, establishing the first popular cult: the veneration of a relic of the True Cross, which had been given to him by Charlemagne.
A hero of the capture of Barcelona in 803, he decided to lay down his arms at the end of this glorious campaign.In 804, guided by Saint-Benoît of Aniane, he founded a monastery in the secluded setting of the Gellone Valley, where he chose to live as a monk, establishing the first popular cult: the veneration of a relic of the True Cross, which had been given to him by Charlemagne.
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