Hugh of Grenoble

Born in 1053 near Valence, he was made bishop of Grenoble at twenty-seven, though not yet a priest, to set right a diocese ruined by simony. He resigned after two years and withdrew to La Chaise-Dieu; Gregory VII sent him back to his see, where he stayed fifty-two years, asking six more times to leave. In 1084 he received Bruno of Cologne and his six companions, who were looking for ground harsh enough to live alone on, and gave them the Chartreuse massif — tradition holds that he had dreamt the night before of seven stars leading him into the wilderness. He would come there often enough for Bruno to remind him that he had a diocese. He died in 1132, blind and without memory; he was canonised two years later.