Saint Giles is reputed to have been born in Athens, son of King Theodore and Queen Pelagia, about 640. Aegidius, the name by which he was then known, cared nothing for the splendour of the court and after the death of his parents, he sold all his possessions and gave generously to the poor; some sources attribute the working of miracles to him.
To avoid acclaim Giles then began his journeyings, seeking a place of solitude to contemplate the mysteries of God. His quest brought him to France, to the open deserts near the River Rhone, then later to the River Gard and lastly settling in a forest in the Diocese of Nimes. It was in the depths of this forest, that he found a cave in a glade by a stream which to this day is a place of pilgrimage. Here he lived in contemplation and prayer, his companion being a hind, whose milk he drank, and it was here that an incident took place which has been for ever associated with the name of Giles.
