APOLLINARE, bishop of VALENCE, saint. - Son of the senator Isicius and brother of the poet s. Avito, both bishops of Vienne. Born about 453; apparently a disciple of the rhetorician Sapaudo and of s. Mamerto, he later served as bishop of Valence for 34 years (c. 490–c. 523). He took part in the Councils of Epacone (517) and Lione. He urged his brother Avito to publish his poems. He died after the Council of Lione, held between 518 and 523. Feast day 5 Oct., recorded in the Hieronymian and Roman Martyrologies. The Vita (BHL, 634) is not contemporary, but probably dates from the Carolingian age and predates that of s. Avito (BHL, 885). The correspondence of s. Avito (PL 59; ed. Chevalier, Lione 1898) is its best biographical source.
BBL.: Martyr. Hieronymianum, p. 344; Martyr. Romanum, p. 436; Acta SS. Octobris, III, Anversa 1770, pp. 45-65; Hefele-Ledercuc, II, II, pp. 951-55, 1031-46; L. Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, I, 2nd ed., Parigi 1907, pp. 153 note 4, 217, 223; R. Aigrain, s.V. in DHG, III, cols. 682-86 (detailed indication of sources and bibliography); U. Moricea, Storia della letteratura italiana cristiana, III, 1, Torino (1932), pp. 138-49, passim. A. Pietro Frutaz