In the 5th century, Saint Marcel, Bishop of Die in the Drôme region, returned from a pilgrimage in Rome; he stopped off at the Saint-Maurice monastery between Aups and Barjols, where he died.
Over the years, the monastery was deserted by its monks and fell into ruin. Just one faithful monk stayed to watch over the relics of the Bishop.
One night, Saint Marcel appeared in front of the solitary guard and requested that his relics be transported to a "more religious" site. The monk relayed this request to the Barjols and Aups chapters, but an argument broke out: Barjols and Aups both claimed rights over the saint's relics. It was then decided to take the matter to the Count of Provence, who was travelling through Brignoles. The Count advised them to measure the distance separating the monastery of Saint-Maurice from their town's collegiate church. But the people of Barjols ignored this advice, took hold of the relics on January 17th 1350 and returned to their town.
An ox was sacrificed in Barjols every year on this date in celebration of the ox that had saved the people from an atrocious famine a few years earlier. As usual, the animal's cooked tripes, placed in baskets, were distributed to the population amid singing and dancing. In the middle of this bizarre feast, the pillagers of the saint's relics appeared, adding to the general hubbub. The people flocked to the Collegiate church in a joyful procession and began to jump up and down in the church singing "San Macéu, San Macèu, li tripeto, li tripeto" (Saint Marcel, Saint Marcel, tripes, tripes!) That is how the "tripettes" dance was born!
