St. Crispin

St. Crispin, according to tradition, was a Roman of noble family who, with his brother St. Crispinian, fled the persecution in Rome in the third century and came to Soissons in Gaul. There the two brothers preached the Gospel by day and supported themselves by night as shoemakers, giving their work freely to the poor and drawing many to the faith by the example of their charity and honest labor.

During the persecution of Diocletian they were denounced, subjected to torture, and finally beheaded for their steadfast confession of Christ. Though the details of their acts are of later date, their cult was ancient and widespread, and a great church was built over their relics at Soissons. As shoemakers who evangelized while plying their craft, they became the beloved patrons of cobblers, tanners, and leatherworkers; their feast on 25 October is famous in English literature as the "Saint Crispin's Day" of the Battle of Agincourt.