Crispin

Saints Crispin and Crispinian
The Martyrdom of SS. Crispin and Crispinian by Aert van den Bossche
Martyrs
Born	3rd century AD
Died	286, Rome
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Churches The Church of England
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Major shrine	Soissons
Feast	October 25
Attributes	depicted holding shoes

Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of cobblers, tanners, leather workers and, since it came into being, of the leather subculture^{[citation needed]} (bikers or other people wearing leather regularly, see also: biker culture). Born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD, Saints Crispin and Crispinian, twin brothers, fled persecution for their faith, winding up in Soissons, where they preached Christianity to the Gauls and made shoes by night. Their success attracted the ire of Rictus Varus, the governor of Belgic Gaul, who had them tortured and beheaded c. 286. In the 6th century, a church was built in their honour at Soissons. Crispin and Crispinian are also associated with the town of Faversham in Kent. In early 2007 the parish church of St Mary of Charity dedicated an altar to Crispin and Crispinian in the South aisle of the church.

The supposed tombs of the saints are in Rome in the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna.

Status as saints

The feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian is celebrated on October 25. The feast is a 'Black Letter Saints' Day' in the calendar of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (1662) and a 'commemoration' in Common Worship (2000). It is still celebrated in many churches of The Church of England.

Their role as shoemakers, their relationship as twins, and the timing of their holiday are suggestive of the possibility that they could have represented a local Celtic deity (Lugus-Mercurius) which had been made into a saint as a result of syncretism.^{[citation needed]}

Martyrdom of SS. Crispin and Crépinien - From a window in the Hôpital des Quinze-Vingts (Fifteenth Century)

On October 28, 2007, Toronto's St Peter's Anglican Church celebrated a service which appropriated the pair of saints as patrons of the leather community.^[1]

The St. Crispin's Day Speech

Crispin is perhaps best known for lending his name to the famous speech given by the eponymous king in Shakespeare's Henry V before the Battle of Agincourt (which occurred on 25 October 1415, though the speech was not written until 1599). In the speech, Crispinian's name is spelled Crispian, perhaps not only reflecting London pronunciation in Shakespeare's time, but also more compatible with Shakespeare's lines in iambic pentameter form.^[2]

A partial text of the speech is:

King Henry V:

(IV, iii)

Appearance in popular culture

• The English town of Northampton had an annual street fair named for St Crispin.
• An edited version of the speech was recited by 'Mr. Fabian' (played by Billy Zane) in the 1993 movie Tombstone.
• In Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion, the one-part mission "Agincourt" features a narration of selections from the speech.
• The entire speech was recited in the 1994 movie Renaissance Man.
• Band of Brothers, a book and mini-series written by Stephen Ambrose.
• Parts of the ends of the speech were used in a PlayStation 3 commercial.
• This poem is shown in the closing credits of Boston Legal.
• The speech is referenced and parodied ("We few, we happy few. We band of buggered."), in the 5th season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Joss Whedon refers to Mal's speech on Miranda as his St. Crispin's Day speech in the commentary of the 2005 film Serenity.
• In the Touched by an Angel episode titled "The Penalty Box", the speech is first taught to, then understood by a hockey team captain, who uses a version of it to rally his team.
• The ending of the speech is used several times in the movie Rough Riders.
• The saints are mentioned in the novel Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell. Novel Published as Agincourt in United States.
• Paraphrased in the dedication page of the book; Eat Right For Your Type by Dr. Peter D'Adamo.
• Referred to multiple times in the work of Aaron Sorkin: in the episode "Thespis" of the TV series Sports Night (Season 1 Episode 8), and in the episode "K&R Part III" on the series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (Season 1, Episode 21).
• The main character of Margaret Wise Brown's children's book, Mister Dog (1952) is named Crispin's Crispian.
• The Medieval Society at Newcastle University in Australia is named for the Saint. "The College of St Crispin" is a part of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
• Used in the song "Band of Brothers", Ken & Lisa Theriot (c)2007; Appears on album "Human History", 2008.
• In Twin Peaks Episode #21 "Double Play" A deluded Ben Horne quotes the poem altered to fit the American Civil War reenactment he is staging where the South was poised to win the war.

Further reading

• St Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V
• St Crispin and St Crispinian in Faversham, Kent

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Sts. Crispin and Crispinian
• Patron Saints of leather, bikers and People wearing leather

Footnotes