St Helier - Discrepancies in a Healing Narrative

A few historical markers.

Saint Helier's dates are vague to say the least, but if he didn't die around 555 AD, we can at least take it as likely that he dates from around the 6th century (501-601 AD).

Dating the Normans is easier as the historical record is on firmer ground. We know they were Vikings who settled in Northwest France in the 10th and 11th centuries, and gave their name to the duchy of Normandy, a territory ruled by a duke that grew out of a 911 treaty between King Charles III of West Francia and Rollo, the leader of the Vikings. The rate of Scandinavian colonization can be seen in the Norman toponymy and in the changes in popular family names.

According to the legend, Helier is recorded as performing one healing miracle in Jersey, curing a lame man named Anquetil.

Now we have an issue with chronology. Anquetil is a Norman surname, from Old Norse Ásketill, combination of as "god" and ketill "cauldron"

The earliest mention of the name in Jersey is in the Assize Roll of 1309. Jordan Anquetil (born about 1433) is, however, the earliest member of the family from whom a continuous descent has been traced. One Anquetil is listed in the Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550. Not all Anquetils in Jersey can trace their ancestry back this far, however, because there were further immigrants from France in the 18th century. The surname is very common in Normandy.

We do have another time in our timeline. The Life of Saint Helier was written in, or after the 10th century, when Normandy existed. As Balleine noted, prior to 911 part of that domain under the Franks was called Neustria, not Normandy. The Life only knows of Normandy, not of Neustria (the kingdom when Helier would have supposedly been alive.

It is easy to see why the Life should include the name Anquetil in a healing story, but that name was not extant in Normandy and Jersey until after the settlement of Normandy. Even allowing for a hundred years before the treaty of 911, that is still two hundred years adrift.

In conclusion, this is yet another example of the fictional nature of the Life of St Helier.


References
https://www.viking.no/e/france/family-names.html