Barontius (Barontus) (French: Baronce, Italian: Baronto, Baronzio) and Desiderius (French: Dizier, Italian: Desiderio) were two 8th century hermits who are venerated as saints by the Catholic Church.
[1] Barontius had been a Frankish nobleman of Berry who had, with his son, been a monk at Saint-Pierre de Longoret (Longoreto, Longoretum, Lonrey) (diocese of Bourges), now the monastery of Saint-Cyran-du-Jambot.
[3] Barontius, described by one scholar as “a middle-aged former public servant with three marriages and far too many mistresses on his conscience,”[3] claims that he fell into a coma and had a vision that he was flying through the air above the Bourges region as demons clawed and kicked at him.
[3] Accompanied by the archangel Raphael, Barontius journeys through the four levels of heaven, although he continues to be tormented by the demons, who want to pull him down to hell.
[4] This vision led to Barontius' decision to become a hermit in Italy, and he established himself near Pistoia with Desiderius, also a former monk.