BARONTUS (BARON DU BERRY). – Monk of the 7th century; belonging to a noble family, he withdrew to a monastery after turbulent experiences in life. In an anonymous account, probably by one of his contemporaries, Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis, it is related how, having fallen into a lethargy, he had a vision of the pilgrimage that his soul, separated from the body, would undertake in heaven and in hell, and of his absolution through penance. The narrative belongs to that genre of eschatological literature, crude in language, if not uncultivated, which later spread throughout Europe.
BIBL.: Works: Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis, in MGH, Script. rer. mer., V, pp. 368–94. Studies: L. Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, III, Paris 1901, pp. 25, 39, 77, 84. Giovanna Fusco