] Saint Aemilian (; (in Latin ''Emilianus'' or ''Aemilianus'') (12 November 472 – 11 June 573) is an

Iberic The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defin ...

saint, widely revered throughout Spain, who lived during the age of Visigothic rule.

Life

According to his ''

Vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vit ...

'', written by

Braulio Braulio is a given name. *Braulio Estima, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist *Braulio García, a Spanish singer-songwriter who is often credited as "Braulio". *Braulio Guerra, Mexican politician *Braulio Mari, a Spanish sin ...

, the bishop of

Caesaraugusta Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

(modern Zaragoza) roughly a hundred years after the saint's death, Aemilian was born in Vergaja, which is identified with

Berceo Berceo is a municipality in La Rioja, Spain. It is located near the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla and was the birthplace of Gonzalo de Berceo. It has also been proposed as identification of historic ''Vergegio'', named by Braulio of Zara ...

in La Rioja, where he was a shepherd. Aemilian had a religious experience, perhaps around the age of twenty, which led him to decide to dedicate himself to God's service. He sought out an experienced hermit in

Bilibio Bilibio, also known as ''Haro la Vieja'', was a village in northern Spain located on the northern slope of the Cliffs of Bilibio, where the Ebro River enters La Rioja at Las Conchas in municipality of Haro. San Felices de Bilibio, the teacher of ...

Felix Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

(more usually known by the Spanish form of his common name, ''San Felices''), where Aemilian lived for a number of years. After leaving his teacher, Aemilian lived as a hermit (perhaps even a

gyrovagus Gyrovagues (sometimes Gyrovagi or Gyruvagi) were wandering or itinerant monks without fixed residence or leadership, who relied on charity and the hospitality of others. The term, coming from French, itself from Late Latin ''gyrovagus'' (''gyro-'' ...

) in the mountains or on the historic Roman road which became the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

. Didymus the Bishop of Tarazona ordained Aemilian and appointed him parish priest of Vergaja. However, Aemilian aroused the opposition of his fellow priests because of his heavy distribution of alms or reputation for holiness or miracle working. Aemilian returned to the wilderness, and a small community of disciples gathered around his cell.Watkins, Basil. ''The Book of Saints''
Eighth Ed., Bloomsbury, 2015, no pagination He died at a venerable age, and his body, was initially interred at his hermitage, but later transferred to a monastery built in memory of him.

Veneration

also recorded miracles that occurred after death of Aemilian, but the fame of the

San Millán de la Cogolla San Millán de la Cogolla () is a sparsely populated municipality in La Rioja, (Spain). The village is famous for its twin monasteries, Yuso and Suso (Monasterio de San Millán de Yuso and Monasterio de San Millán de Suso), which were declared a ...

monastery dedicated in his memory (and which held his tomb) eclipsed that of its founder. San Millán de Suso monastery is known for its Mozarabic architecture, and its growing popularity during the heyday of the pilgrimage rout led to its expansion in the eleventh century with San Millán de Yuso (the communities however having separate abbots until the 12th century). The longstanding monastic community ( Benedictine by the mid-medieval era) is credited with one of the oldest books written in the Spanish language, the ''Vida de San Millán de la Cogolla'' (biography by Gonzalo de Berceo). St. Dominic of Silos (the miracleworker for whom

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...

was named) also received his education and began his religious career at San Millan monastery. He is a patron saint of La Rioja; the longer name of ''San Millán de la Cogolla'' refers to the monastic cowl. Because of the monastery's role on the traditional pilgrimage route, representations of Aemilian can be mixed with that of

Saint James the Moor-slayer Saint James the Moor-slayer ( es, Santiago Matamoros) is the name given to the representation (painting, sculpture, etc.) of the apostle James the Great, as a legendary, miraculous figure who appeared at the also legendary Battle of Clavijo, he ...

, such as a Benedictine on horseback with a banner and sword.

References

External links

Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D.''Catholic Online''Official page of the monastery of Yuso1601 ''Editio princeps'' of Braulio's ''Life'' of Emilian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emilian Of Cogolla 472 births 573 deaths Medieval Spanish saints 6th-century Christian saints

Life

Veneration

See also

References

External links