Wulflaich was a Lombard

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

deacon and holy man in 6th-century

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

. He is known only from the ''Ten Books of Histories'' of

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

, who recounts how he chose to live as a

stylite A stylite ( grc, στυλίτης () 'pillar dweller', derived from () 'pillar' and syc, ܐܣܛܘܢܐ ()) or pillar-saint is a type of Christian ascetic who lives on pillars, preaching, fasting and praying. Stylites believe that the mortifi ...

(that is, atop a pillar) in the

diocese of Trier The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Magneric (before 587) and the reign of King

Childebert II Childebert II (c.570–596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, as the only son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda of Austrasia; and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his de ...

(576–596). Walfroy_(gisant_à_Mont-St-Walfroy)

Gregory met Wulflaich at the castle of

Yvois Carignan () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is the seat of a canton. It was known as Yvoy or Yvois until 1662. History Carignan was, under the name ''Epoissium'', ''Eposium'', ''Epusum'' or ''Ivosium'', a militar ...

and accompanied him to the monastery he had built on a hill some eight miles away. He reports Wulflaich's own account of his conversion. The Lombard was a disciple of

Aredius Aredius (c. 510–591), also known as Yrieix and Saint Aredius, was Abbot of Limoges and chancellor to Theudebert I, King of Austrasia in the 6th century. He founded the monastery of Attanum, and the various French communes called St. Yriei ...

, abbot of

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, when the two visited the shrine of Saint Martin at Tours. The abbot collected some dust from Martin's tomb and placed it in a capsule as a

relic 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 tangi ...

. When the relic was placed in a box, the box filled with dust. This miracles convinced Wulflaich to found his own monastery outside Trier.Gregory of Tours, ''The History of the Franks'', trans.

Lewis Thorpe Lewis Guy Melville Thorpe FRSA FRHistS (5 November 1913 – 10 October 1977)''UK and Ireland, Obituary Index, 2004-2018'' was a British philologist and translator. He was married to the Italian scholar and lexicographer Barbara Reynolds. After ...

(Penguin, 1974), VIII, 15–16. He found the locals still worshipping Diana, so he erected a pillar and stood on top of it:

I myself set up a column, on which I remained standing with bare feet, no matter how much it hurt me. When winter came in its season, it so froze me with its icy frost that the bitter cold made my toenails fall off, not once but several times, and the rain turned to ice and hung from my beard like the wax which melts from candles. This district is famous for its harsh winters.

His preaching eventually had its effect. The inhabitants pulled the statue of Diana down with ropes and broke it up with hammers. The local bishops, however, ordered him to come down from his pillar:

It is not right, what you are trying to do! Such an obscure person as you can never be compared with
Simeon the Stylite Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܕܐܣܛܘܢܐ ', Koine Greek ', ar, سمعان العمودي ' (c. 390 – 2 September 459) was a Syrian asceticism#Christianity, Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living ...
of Antioch! The climate of the region makes it impossible for you to keep tormenting yourself in this way. Come down off your column, and live with the brethren whom you have gathered around you.

Although he disagreed with the bishops, he complied and the bishops destroyed the column.

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