Peter, Archbishop of Tarentaise, Saint

PETER, Archbishop of Tarentaise, Saint. - He was one of the most illustrious saints of the 12th century for his miracles and his social influence, b. in 1102 at St-Maurice-de-l'Exil in the diocese of Vienne (today Grenoble), d. in the monastery of Bellevaux (Bellavallis) on 6 May 1174.

Piously educated by parents of modest condition, at the age of 20 he entered the Cistercian monastery of Bonnevaux (Bonavallis) near Vienne. In 1132 he was sent as abbot to found at Tamié (Stamedium) in Tarentaise (Savoy) a monastery destined to shelter travelers. There he made himself admired for his austerity and heroic charity. Elected archbishop of Tarentaise in 1141, after the deposition of the unworthy Isdrael, he accepted in obedience to the General Chapter of Cîteaux and to St. Bernard. He reorganized the diocese, in which he visited the parishes, erected hospices, regulated charity toward the poor and the sick. To escape the veneration procured for him by his miracles, he hid in the monastery of Lucella near Basel; but he was found again and returned to his diocese. He was often a mediator between ecclesiastics, between bishops and princes. During the struggle between priesthood and Empire he reconnected by his influence to Pope Alexander III a part of Christendom that leaned toward the [imperial] party. P. had two conversations on the matter with the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1158 and 1170). He went to Rome, summoned there by the Pope, who in 1173 charged him with reconciling Henry II of England with Louis VII of France. During the journey undertaken for this purpose he died at Bellevaux. He was canonized on 10 May 1191. His head and relics are venerated at Tamié. Feast on 10 May.

Giovanni Roux