Valerian

d. AFTER 460. Bishop of Cemenelum. Among the minor ecclesiastical writers of the mid-fifth century is this bishop of a diocese of Alpes maritimae on the SE coast of Gaul, noted for homilies in the rhetorical style patterned after Seneca. He is associated in time, location, and thought with the developing monastic traditions of Lérins, just off that coast, which has been founded at the outset of the century and was by this time under abbot Faustus,* bishop of Riez, sending forth monk-bishops who were setting up daughter institutions in their episcopal cities, and from which was to spread during the sixth century the missionary enterprise to the non-Christian peoples of NW Europe. Valerian is identified as a kinsman of Eucherius* of Lyons. He attended the councils of Riez (439) and Vaison* (452), protesting with eighteen like-minded bishops on behalf of the primacy of Arles with its bishop Hilary* against Leo I* of Rome. Valerian's homilies provide the next major glimpse after Salvian of the movement and nature of the barbarian resettlement of Gaul, in the context of a strong emphasis upon the discipline of work. While not dogmatic in nature, Valerian represents a Semi- Pelagian* stance like those with whom he was associated. The rapid changes in the area reduced his see, and many of his homilies either disappeared or were ascribed to others, such as Eucherius or Petrus Chrysologus.