Pontius of Balmey, Bl.
PONTIUS OF BALMEY, BL.
Carthusian, bishop of Belley; d. Meyriat, France, Dec. 13, 1140. Of noble lineage, Pontius (Ponce) became a canon and schoolman at Lyons. In 1116, deeding his own property for the purpose, he founded the charterhouse of Meyriat, entered the carthusian Order, and made his profession at the Abbey of La Grande-Chartreuse. Two years later Pontius was named prior at Meyriat, and in 1121 he was elected bishop of Belley. About 1134, however, he resigned from his see and returned to Meyriat to spend his last days in solitude. The theological works attributed to him by the anonymous author of a late 12th-century vita are lost.
Feast: Dec. 13.
Bibliography: Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 1898–1901) 2:6895. l. le vasseur, Ephemerides ordinis Cartusiensis 4 (1892) 492–496. É. brouette, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiberg 1957–65) 8:615.
[o. j. blum]