Chiaffredo

Chiaffredo is venerated as the patron saint of Saluzzo, Italy. Tradition considers him a member of the Theban Legion who escaped to Piedmont and was martyred there. A 14th-century account relates that a man fell from a precipice near Crissolo unharmed, and the local population attributed this to relics discovered by a peasant plowing nearby. The skeleton was given the name San Ciafrè, and the tomb became the focus of a sanctuary at Crissolo.

The first documentary evidence of a cult devoted to Chiaffredo dates from 1387, when Avignon Pope Clement VII granted indulgences to visitors and repairers of the church at Crissolo. A late 16th-century legend states that Chiaffredo, a soldier of the Theban Legion, escaped to Piedmont to avoid sacrificing to pagan idols and was martyred at Crissolo around 270. The name is a variant of Theudofridus, derived from Germanic elements meaning 'people' and 'peace.'

The sepulcher identified as his burial place may have been a tomb of pagan origins. In 1902, a scholar identified Chiaffredo with the 8th-century figure Theofredus, abbot of Le Monastier, killed by Muslim raiders and also venerated in Piedmont.