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Sts. Crispin and Crispinian
III Century
Soissons and Faversham were the centers of the cult of these shoemakers
martyred c. 256. Legend says that they were nobly born Roman brothers who
became missionaries to Gaul. Some say they chose to make shoes so that the
faithful need not support them, while others say that the two were
unmercenary cobblers. Reputed to have founded Noviodunum (now Soissons),
the brothers were martyred when local pagans complained of them to
Maximian, who was visiting the town. The shoemakers were beheaded. Some
English legends report that the duo lived in Faversham, in a house that
was a tourist attraction into the XVII Century. Other English legends
record that the headless bodies were tossed into the sea and floated to
the Romney Marsh. St. Eligius restored the French shrine to Crispin and
Crispinian in the VII Century, after which it was a popular pilgrim's
destination. The brothers are now remembered as the saints King Henry V
invoked before Agincourt in Shakespeare's play.
--- Karen Rae Keck
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