Imerius of Immertal (d. ca. 620 AD) was a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

, hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

, and missionary in the Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 Jura

Canton of Jura

The Republic and Canton of the Jura , also known as the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura, is one of the cantons of Switzerland. It is the newest of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capital is Delémont...

. The name of the town of Saint-Imier

Saint-Imier

Saint-Imier is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura .Observatoire Astronomique de Mont-Soleil is located above the village....

 refers to him.

Imerius was born in Lugnez

Lugnez

Lugnez is a municipality in the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura in Switzerland.-References:...

, a small village in the Canton of Jura about 570. He spent some time in Lausanne

Lausanne

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

 and made a voyage to Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

. After he had returned he lived in the valley of Saint-Imier as a hermit. The legend says that bishop Marius

Marius Aventicensis

Marius Aventicensis or, popularly, Marius of Avenches was the Bishop of Aventicum from 574, remembered for his terse chronicle...

of Lausanne gave him the piece of land at Saint-Imier as a present, but this legend is historical very uncertain. In the 9th century, a monastery was built over his tomb.

Literature

• Pierre-Olivier Walzer, La vie des saints du jura, Réclère (1979), p. 99 - 132.