Saint Chiaffredo (''Chiaffredus, Theofredus, Ciafrè, Chaffre, Teofredo, Jafredo, Jafredus, Eufredus, Jofredus, Sinfredus, Zaffredus'') is venerated as the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
Saluzzo
Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy.
The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Tradition considers him a member of the
Theban Legion
The Theban Legion (also known as the Martyrs of Agaunum) figures in Christian hagiography as a Roman legion from Egypt—"six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men"—who converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together in 286, a ...
, but instead of being martyred with this legion at
Agaunum
Agaunum was an outpost in Roman Switzerland, predecessor of the modern city of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais, southwestern Switzerland. It was used by the Roman Empire for the collection of the '' Quadragesima Galliarum''. In Christian tr ...
(in present-day
Switzerland), he escaped to
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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and was martyred there.
A 14th-century account relates that, around 522, a man fell from a precipice near
Crissolo
Crissolo ( Vivaro-Alpine: ''Criçòl'', French: Crusol) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo, on the border with France. The source ...
but remained unharmed. The local population attributed his being unharmed to
relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...
discovered by a peasant plowing in the vicinity - a discovery attributed to divine intervention.
The mysterious skeleton was given the name of “San Ciafrè” and the tomb became the focus of a celebrated sanctuary at Crissolo.
The first documentary evidence pointing to a cult devoted to Chiaffredo dates from 1387, when
Avignon Pope Clement VII
Robert of Geneva, (french: Robert de Genève; 1342 – 16 September 1394) elected to the papacy as Clement VII (french: Clément VII) by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI, was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. His election le ...
granted
indulgences
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...
to those who visited the church at Crissolo and helped in its repair.
A late 16th century legend written down by Guglielmo Baldesano states that Chiaffredo or Teofredo, soldier of the Theban Legion, escaped to Piedmont to avoid sacrificing to pagan idols and was martyred at Crissolo around 270.
Fabio Arduino believes this story to have no historical foundation, as it would have been unlikely for a Roman legionary of the 3rd century to bear such a clearly
Germanic name.
The name is a variant of Theudofridus, derived from the Germanic ''theuda-'' "people," and ''frithu-'' "peace."
The
sepulcher
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...
identified as the saint's burial place may have been a tomb of
pagan origins.
Similar to the cults of
Saint Constantius
Constantius of Perugia (also known as Costantius, Constance or Costanzo) (died c. 170 AD) is one of the patron saints of Perugia, Italy.
Legend
According to his legend, of which four versions exist, he was arrested during the persecutions of Ant ...
at
Crissolo
Crissolo ( Vivaro-Alpine: ''Criçòl'', French: Crusol) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo, on the border with France. The source ...
,
Saint Bessus
Saint Bessus, sometimes ''Besse'', ( it, San Besso) is venerated as a member of the legendary Theban Legion, whose members were led by Saint Maurice and were martyred for their Christian faith in the 3rd century. Except for St. Maurice's cult, v ...
at
Val Soana
Val may refer to: Val-a
Film
* ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo
Military equipment
* Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies
* AS Val, a So ...
,
Saint Tegulus at
Ivrea
Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it strad ...
,
Saint Magnus at
Castelmagno
Castelmagno (Vivaro-Alpine: ''Chastèlmanh'') is a small ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about west of Cuneo.
The population of the municipality of Caste ...
, and
Saint Dalmatius at
Borgo San Dalmazzo, the cult of Saint Chiaffredo was linked with that of the Theban Legion to lend antiquity to a local saint about whom nothing was really known.
In 1902, a scholar identified Chiaffredo as the 8th century figure
St. Theofredus (Chaffre, Theofrid, Teofredo), abbot of Le Monastier near
Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay (, literally ''Le Puy in Velay''; oc, Lo Puèi de Velai ) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France.
Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its ...
, who was killed by
Muslim raiders and was also venerated in Piedmont.
Monsignor Tornabuoni,
bishop of Saluzzo
The Diocese of Saluzzo ( la, Dioecesis Salutiarum) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, centered in the comune of Saluzzo. The diocese was established on 29 October 1511 for political reasons, to t ...
, declared Chiaffredo patron of his diocese during a synod of 1516, with
Saint Constantius
Constantius of Perugia (also known as Costantius, Constance or Costanzo) (died c. 170 AD) is one of the patron saints of Perugia, Italy.
Legend
According to his legend, of which four versions exist, he was arrested during the persecutions of Ant ...
(San Costanzo) as co-patron.
Chiaffredo's relics were
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
to
Revello in 1593, and thence to the cathedral of Saluzzo in 1642. Constantius and Chiaffredo are depicted together in the altar of Saluzzo Cathedral.
Chiaffredo enjoyed veneration in Piedmont; one English scholar has written that “beneath the shadow of
Monte Viso
Monte Viso or Monviso (; oc, Vísol; Piedmontese: ''Brich Monviso'' or ''Viso'') is the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps. It is located in Italy close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape and, because it i ...
, San Chiaffredo, a runaway apostle of the Theban legion, has usurped the worship paid in old time to the river-god
Eridanus..."
[''The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art''. January–June 1882. Volume XXI (London, 1882), 39.]
Due to his alleged
Theban origins, he is venerated by the
Coptic Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
.
He is however, not mentioned explicitly in the ''Roman Martyrology'', although this martyrology includes Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion as a whole, without naming Chiaffredo specifically.
References
External links
San Chiaffredo di Saluzzo
{{authority control
286 deaths
3rd-century Christian martyrs
Christian folklore
Saints from Roman Egypt
Year of birth unknown