Crispin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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 - recently - of leather community (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. Crispian 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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]
On Oct 28. 2007, Toronto's St Peter's Anglican Church celebrated a service which appropriated the pair of saints as patrons of the leather community.
[edit] 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.[1]
A partial text of the speech is:
King Henry V:
- This day is called the Feast of Crispian:
- He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
- Will stand a-tiptoe when the day is named,
- And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
- He that shall see this day and live t'old age,
- Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
- And say "To-morrow is Saint Crispian":
- Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars
- And say "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."
- Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
- But he'll remember with advantages
- What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
- Familiar in his mouth as household words
- Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
- Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
- Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
- This story shall the good man teach his son;
- And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
- From this day to the ending of the world,
- But we in it shall be remembered;
- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
- For he today that sheds his blood with me
- Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
- This day shall gentle his condition:
- And gentlemen in England now abed
- Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
- And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
- That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. (IV, iii)
[edit] 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 speech was recited practically flawlessly in a Year 7 History class by John Glasby, author of "The Hard Shoulder"
[edit] Further reading
[edit] External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Sts. Crispin and Crispinian
- Patron Saints of leather, bikers and People wearing leather
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The speech by Shakespeare's Henry V itself lent one of its more famous lines to the title of a book by Stephen E. Ambrose about World War Two, and the subsequent HBO World War II mini-series Band of Brothers.)
