Aaron of Aleth (died after 552), also called ''Saint Aihran'' or ''Eran'' in

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

, was a sixth-century

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

at a monastery on

Cézembre Cézembre is an island in Brittany, in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' of France, near Saint-Malo. The island is uninhabited, with a surface area of approximately 18 hectares (44 acres), a length of , and a maximum width of . The island feat ...

, a small island near

Aleth Saint-Servan (often abbreviated as St. Servan; br, Sant-Servan) is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants. History In June 1758, during the Seven Ye ...

, opposite

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

in Brittany, France. Some sources suggest he may have migrated from

Celtic Britain The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ire ...

to take up residence in

Armorica Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast ...

n Domnonia. He lived alone near

Lamballe Lamballe (; ; Gallo: ''Lanball'') is a town and a former commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Lamballe-Armor. It lies on the river Gouessant east-sout ...

and

Pleumeur-Gautier Pleumeur-Gautier (; br, Pleuveur-Gaoter) is a Communes of France, commune in the Côtes-d'Armor Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Pleumeur-Gautier ...

, before finally settling on an island separated from the settlement of

. He attracted many visitors while there, including

Malo Mal, which in Spanish means ''bad or evil'', may also refer to: Places *Malo, Italy, a town *Malo Island, formerly known as St. Bartholomew, Vanuatu * Malo (Solomon Islands), an island *Malo, Washington, Ferry County, Washington, United States * ...

,Monks of Ramsgate. "Saint Aaron". ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 27 April 2012
/ref> it is said, in 544, and became their abbot. He died soon afterwards. Malo then succeeded to the spiritual rule of the district subsequently known as Saint-Malo, and was consecrated first

Bishop of Aleth The former Breton and French Catholic Diocese of Saint-Malo ( la, Dioecesis Alethensis, then la, Dioecesis Macloviensis, label=none) existed from at least the 7th century until the French Revolution. Its seat was at Aleth up to some point in the ...

. Aaron's feast day is 21 June (at Saint-Malo) or 22 June (elsewhere). He is mentioned in '' Les Vies des Saints de Bretagne''.Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. (1924) The town of

Saint-Aaron Saint-Aaron is a village in the commune of Lamballe, in Brittany, a region of France. Having originally be settled by the Celtic Bretons, it is named after the Celtic Saint Aaron of Aleth, who was born somewhere in Wales or perhaps Brittany. Saint- ...

in Lamballe, France is named after him.

Notes

Sources

* * (contains a reference to Aaron)
Catholic Forum
*

Holweck, F. G. Frederick George Holweck (born Friedrich Georg Holweck; 29 December 1856 – 15 February 1927) was a German-American Catholic parish priest and scholar, hagiographer and church historian. Monsignor Holweck contributed some articles to the ''Catho ...

''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. (1924) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron Of Aleth Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown Medieval Breton saints Medieval Welsh saints French hermits French abbots 6th-century Breton people 6th-century Christian saints Welsh hermits

See also

Notes

Sources