Was born in the diocess of Vannes, in the neighborhood of the abbey
of Ballon, near which Charles the Bald was defeated by the Britons
in 845; in which war this monastery seems to have been destroyed.
Turiaf went young to Dol, was instructed in piety and learning, and
promoted to holy orders by St. Thiarmail, abbot of St. Samson’s
and bishop of Dol. This prelate afterward appointed him his vicar
and chorepiscopus, and at his death, probably in 733, our saint
was placed in that episcopal chair. Admirable was the austerity of
his life, his zeal, his charity, his watchfulness, his fervor in
prayer, and his firmness in maintaining discipline. A powerful lord
named Rivallon having committed many acts of violence, the bishop
went to his castle at Lanncafrut, and by his strong remonstrances
made him sensible of the enormity of his crimes. By the bishop’s
injunction he underwent a canonical penance during seven years, and
repaired all injustices and oppressions by a sevenfold satisfaction.
St. Turiaf died on the 13th of July, probably about the year 749,
though even the age is not certain. In the wars of the Normans his
relics were brought to Paris, and are still kept in the abbey of St.
Germain-des-Prez. The new Paris breviary mentions that dreadful fires
have been sometimes miraculously extinguished by them. The life of
St. Turiaf, written in the tenth century, is a confused eulogium, in
which prodigies take place of facts. The notes of the Bollandists
are incomparably more valuable than the text, ad 13 Jul. p. 614. See
Barrali, Chronic. Lirin. t. 2, p. 186. Lobineau, Vies des SS. de
Bret. p. 177.