Vellavii

The Vellavi sited south of the Arverni— whose name is embodied in Auvergne

The Vellavi were a Gaulish people in the region of Le Puy-en-Velay in the region of the Auvergne, which, at the time of Julius Caesar's campaigns against the Gaul (Gallic Wars) lay on the border of Gallia Narbonensis. The oppidum of Ruessium, an early seat of a Catholic bishop, began to be called during the 4th century the [civitas] que dicitur Vetula in pago Vellavorum— the city "called Vetula in the country ('pays') of the Vellavi" a document of 1004 termed it (Lauranson-Rosaz). Vellavi is retained in the modern toponym Le Velay.

References

• Christian Lauranson-Rosaz, "La Paix des Montagnes: Les origines auvergnates de la Paix de Dieu" esp. note 89.