Goulven of Léon

Saint Goulven de Léon (also Golven, Golvinus, Golvenus) was a saint in Brittany in the 6th-7th century. Any knowledge of his life is derived from his vita, of which only a copy of a transcription of the original remains and whose historical accuracy is in question. According to that vita, he was the bishop of Saint-Pol-de-Léon in the seventh century, after having acquired a reputation as an ascetic and anchorite whose prayer and presence cured people and had helped fight off a Viking invasion. When he was elected as bishop, he tried to avoid that responsibility by going to Rome; after intervention by Pope Gregory I he returned and served for over a decade. He died in Rennes (on the other side of Brittany from Saint-Pol-de-Léon), where he was buried in the cathedral. He continued to be venerated in various parts of Brittany, most notably in the small commune of Goulven and other communes nearby in the Pays de Léon, the very western part of Finistère.