Thursday, November 6, 2025

It is the 6th of November 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

If you will permit me, I’d like to start today with a little bit of my own story as it intersects with our story of the day.  

Back in 2002- the halcyon days of the only Angels World Series- I had moved with Beth Anne to St. Andrews, Scotland, that September (yes, the World Series was in October, we figured out how to watch it- a story for another time). At the University, founded in 1413, we students were arranged into colleges corresponding to our year and course of studies. As a post-graduate, I was placed in the college of St. Leonard- it’s got its own history- but I remember wondering, “Am I supposed to know about a St. Leonard?” Well, as a postgraduate in history, I figured I should learn something about this guy whose feast day is this, the 6th of November. X What I learned was pretty surprising- for about 500 years after his death, nothing (that we know of) was written about him. He was at best a local saint there in central France, where he was said to have lived from the late 400s to the mid to late 500s. And then, especially in a place like Scotland, not much was said of him for the past 500 years, since the Reformation. But there we were, with our black and burgundy scarves and ties, remembering this forgotten saint.

So, who was St Leonard and why was he so popular for a brief time, especially in the British Isles? I remembered some from my first historical sleuthing as a grad student over two decades ago- but can tell you more.

The story is… shadowy at best. He’s said to have lived from the late 400s to around 560, but we don’t have anything written about his life until at least 1028. That’s a gap.  

The story goes that Leonard was born into a noble family and was related to St Remi the bishop of Reims (ʁɛ̃s), Remi is called the “Apostle to the Franks” because he was the one who baptized King Clovis- king of the Franks that lead to the mass conversion of the Northern germanic tribes that paved the way for the Christianization of Europe (before there was Charlemagne, there was Clovis).

So, Leonard is related to Remi. One story has the queen Clothilde asking a young Leonard to pray to “his God” before a battle- the Franks won, and this is, according to this story, the reason for Clovis’ conversion.

The more likely stories involve him refusing a bishopric from the King and deciding to live a life in prayer and service as a kind of monk and hermit (these are the early days of monasticism- he was a contemporary of St. Benedict). A story was later told that Clovis went to find him when his wife was in dire straits during childbirth. Leonard and Clovis spent the night praying, and when she and the baby survived (both called Clothilde), he was offered lavish gifts. He refused them all except a land grant whereby he would be given as much land as he could traverse in a day by donkey. This is roughly the territory of St. Leonard de Noblat (the Noblat is a reference to the grant from the king).

One story was that he was also given the right to travel across the kingdom to hear the pleas of prisoners and to have the right to pardon those whom he deemed unlawfully imprisoned. He remains the patron saint of all the imprisoned in the Catholic Church today.

He gets his big push during the Crusades with a story told by Bohemond, the famous (and very tall) Norman crusader. Bohemond had been imprisoned by the Turks for some three years before he was granted clemency and released. He attributed this to prayers to St. Leonard. And he was a Norman? Well, parallel to the First Crusade or thereabouts was the Norman Invasion of England. Norman nobles, hearing the story of their hero Bohemond, decided to set up chapels and churches in the name of St. Leonard- if you are in one of the British Commonwealth of Nations you may very well have an institution named after this saint who became known as the patron saint of Women in labor, the imprisoned, and locksmiths- this on account of prisoners bringing their chains to his sites in remembrance of him.

Where he lived, now St. Leonard de Noblat, became a popular stopping place on the journey to St. James Compostela. In the second most famous medieval pilgrimage site, St. Andrews, a hostel for pilgrims was built— those buildings being later taken over by the University and thus, St. Leonard’s College at the University of St. Andrews, and we come full circle on this, the 6th of November- the feast of St. Leonard.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Psalm 145:

The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and faithful in all he does.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

    he hears their cry and saves them.

The Lord watches over all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.

    Let every creature praise his holy name

    for ever and ever.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 6th of November 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who thinks the “Apostle to the Franks” is very specific… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man, who, for space, had to delete a Robin Hood reference… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.