APOLLINARIS, bishop of VALENCE, saint. — Son of the senator Isicius and brother of the poet St Avitus, both bishops of Vienne. He was born around 453 and appears to have been a disciple of the rhetorician Sapaudus and of St Mamertus. He was then bishop of Valence for about 34 years (c. 490–c. 523). He took part in the Councils of Épaone (517) and of Lyons. He invited his brother Avitus to publish his poems. He died after the Council of Lyons, which was held between 518 and 523. His feast is celebrated on 5 October, recorded in the Hieronymian and Roman Martyrologies. The Life (BHL, 634) is not contemporary but probably dates from the Carolingian period and is earlier than that of St Avitus (BHL, 885). The correspondence of St Avitus (PL 59; ed. Chevalier, Lyons 1588) is the best biographical source for Apollinaris.