Lérins

Lérins, a small group of French islands in the Mediterranean, 2½ miles SE. of Cannes. On Sainte-Marguerite (the ancient Lerona), 4 miles in circumference, stands a fortress in which the Man with the Iron Mask and Marshal Bazaine were at different times confined, and from which Bazaine escaped in 1874. On Saint-Honorat (anciently Lerina), 2 miles in circuit, are the ruins of the once famous monastic school. Vincent Lerinensis, a monk here (died 450), was the author of the famous definition of Catholicism (see CATHOLIC CHURCH).