St. Theobald of Provins

St. Theobald of Provins (1017 – 30 June 1066), also called Thibault, was born to a noble family at Provins in the county of Champagne, France. Destined by birth for a military and courtly career, he was instead drawn to the example of the desert hermits and, renouncing his rank and inheritance, set out with a companion to live as a poor pilgrim, supporting himself by manual labor as a stonecutter, charcoal-burner, and farmhand while journeying to shrines including Compostela and Rome.

He eventually settled as a hermit at Salanigo, near Vicenza in northern Italy, where his holiness attracted disciples. There he was ordained a priest and was joined for a time by his own parents, who had come to seek him and embraced the religious life. He died in his hermitage in 1066 and was canonized only seventeen years later, in 1073, becoming a patron of charcoal-burners and, by the similarity of his name, invoked by some against various ailments.