{{short description|3rd-century Christian martyrs and saints}} {{About|the Christian saints|other uses of Crispin|Crispin (disambiguation)|}}
{{Infobox saint |name=Crispin and Crispinian |honorific_prefix=Saints |birth_date = 3rd century AD |death_date = 285 or 286 |feast_day = October 25 |venerated_in = Roman Catholic Church<br>Eastern Orthodox Church<br>Church of England |image = File:Crépin et Crépinien (Kalkar).jpeg |imagesize = 300px |caption = '' SS. Crispin and Crispinian'' |death_place = Rome |titles = Martyrs at Rome |beatified_date = |beatified_place = |beatified_by = |canonized_date = Pre-Congregation |canonized_place = |canonized_by = |attributes = depicted holding shoes |patronage = cobblers; curriers; glove makers; lace makers; lace workers; leather workers; saddle makers; saddlers; shoemakers; tanners; weavers. <br>San Crispin, San Pablo City, Philippines |major_shrine = Soissons |suppressed_date = |issues = |prayer = |prayer_attrib = }} Saints '''Crispin and Crispinian''' are the Christian patron saints of cobblers, curriers, tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October 285 or 286.
{{anchor|History}} ==Story== [[File:Bossche_Martyrdom_of_SS_Crispin_and_Crispinian.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''The Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian'' by Aert van den Bossche, 1494]] Born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD, Crispin and Crispinian fled persecution for their faith, ending up at Soissons (modern-day France), where they preached Christianity to the Gauls while making shoes by night. It is stated that they were twin brothers.<ref name=Meier>{{Cite encyclopaedia|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04491a.htm|encyclopaedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |last=Meier|first=Gabriel|title= Sts. Crispin and Crispinian|volume=4|location=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company|year=1908}}</ref>
They earned enough by their trade to support themselves and aid people experiencing poverty. Their success attracted the ire of Rictus Varus, Roman governor of Belgic Gaul,<ref>See: {{cite book |last1 = Jones |first1 = Arnold Hugh Martin |last2 = Martindale |first2 = John Robert |last3 = Morris |first3 = J. |title = The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: V. 1 A.D. 260–395 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uOHw4idqAeYC |volume = I |year = 1971 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |isbn = 978-0-521-07233-5 |page = 766}} "He is most probably a fictitious character since there was no persecution of Christians in N. Gaul; this area was subject to the Caesar Constantius."</ref> who had them tortured and thrown into the river with millstones around their necks. Though they survived, they were beheaded by the emperor {{circa}} 286.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://angelusnews.com/faith/saint-of-the-day-crispin-and-crispinian/|title=Saints of the day: Crispin and Crispinian |website=Angelus News|date=October 25, 2022}}</ref>
==Veneration== The feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian is 25 October.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911 |inline=y |wstitle = Crispin and Crispinian |volume = 7 |page = 468}}</ref> Although this feast was removed from the Roman Catholic Church's universal liturgical calendar following the Second Vatican Council, the two saints are still commemorated on that day in the most recent edition of the Roman Church's martyrology.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Martyrologium Romanum |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |year=2004 |edition=2nd |location=Vatican City |pages=590 |language=la |trans-title=Roman Martyrology}}</ref>
In the sixth century, a stately basilica was erected over these saints' graves at Soissons, and St. Eligius, a famous goldsmith, made a costly shrine for the head of St. Crispinian.<ref name=Meier/> Their remains were afterwards removed by Charlemagne, partly to Osnabrück and partly to the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna in Rome.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name=Meier/>
They are the patron saints of cobblers, glove makers, lace makers, lace workers, leather workers, saddle makers, saddlers, shoemakers, tanners, and weavers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-crispin-and-st-crispinian-32|title=St. Crispin and St. Crispinian|website=Catholic News Agency}}</ref> Especially in France, but also in England and other parts of Europe, the festival of St Crispin was for centuries the occasion of solemn processions and merry-making, in which guilds of shoemakers took the chief part.<ref name="EB1911"/> Crispin and Crispinian are remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 25 October.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-04-08|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref>
==Cultural references== The Battle of Agincourt was fought on Saint Crispin's feastday. (The English tradition placed the twins at Canterbury rather than Gaul.<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=http://staffscc.net/shoes1/?p=120 |contribution=History of Shoemaking in Britain{{mdash}}Roman to Medieval |date=12 September 2010 |title=Heart & Sole: Boot and Shoe Making in Staffordshire |publisher=Staffordshire County Museum |location=Shugborough |access-date=1 July 2023 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222151905/http://staffscc.net/shoes1/?p=120 |url-status=bot: unknown }}.</ref>) Shakespeare's St. Crispin's Day Speech (sometimes called the "Band Of Brothers" Speech) from his play ''Henry V'' has immortalized the day. Also, for the Midsummer's Day Festival in the third act of ''Die Meistersinger'', Wagner has the shoemakers' guild enter singing a song of praise to St. Crispin.
A 16th-century legend links them to the town of Faversham, Kent, England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tudorsociety.com/25-october-twin-saints-and-a-local-legend/|title=25 October - Twin saints and a local legend - The Tudor Society|first=Claire|last=Ridgway|date=October 25, 2020|website=www.tudorsociety.com}}</ref> A plaque at Faversham commemorates their association with the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://openplaques.org/plaques/2076|title=Crispin and Crispianus grey plaque|first=Open|last=Plaques|website=openplaques.org}}</ref> They are also celebrated in the name of the old pub "Crispin and Crispianus" at Strood in Kent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dover-kent.com/2014-project-b/Crispin-and-Crispianus-Strood.html|title=CRISPIN AND CRISPIANUS Pub of Strood|website=www.dover-kent.com}}</ref>
==See also== *St Crispin Street Fair *Daughters of St. Crispin *Order of the Knights of St. Crispin *City livery companies
==Footnotes== {{reflist}}
{{Commons category|Crispin and Crispinian}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071028180340/http://www.faversham.org/pages/standard.aspx?i_PageID=151478 St Crispin and St Crispinian in Faversham, Kent] {{Catholic saints - martyrs|state=collapsed}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crispin And Crispinian}} Category:286 deaths Category:3rd-century births Category:3rd-century Christian saints Category:3rd-century Gallo-Roman people Category:Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Category:Gallo-Roman saints Category:Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era Category:Shoemakers Category:Brother duos Category:Anglican saints Category:Patron saints