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Leonard of Noblac

"Saint Leonard" and "Saint Leonhard" redirect here. For similarly-named people and places, seeSaint Leonard (disambiguation).

Leonard of Noblac(alsoLeonard of LimogesorLeonard of Noblet;also known asLienard,Linhart,Lenart,Leonhard,Léonard,Leonardo,Annard;died 559) is aFrankishsaint closely associated with the town and abbey ofSaint-Léonard-de-Noblat,inHaute-Vienne,in theLimousinregion ofFrance.He was converted to Christianity along with the king, at Christmas 496. Leonard became ahermitin the forest ofLimousin,where he gathered a number of followers. Leonard or Lienard became one of the most venerated saints of the late Middle Ages. His intercession was credited with miracles for the release of prisoners, women in labour and the diseases of cattle.

Saint

Leonard of Noblac
Wooden statue of Saint Leonard
Abbot of Noblac, hermit
Died559
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Church
Feast6 November
AttributesDepicted as an abbot holding chains, fetters or locks, or manacles[1]
PatronagePolitical prisoners, imprisoned people, prisoners of war, and captives, women in labour, as well as horses

Traditional biography

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According to theromancethat accrued to his name, recorded in an 11th-centuryvita,Leonard was a Frankish noble in the court ofClovis I,founder of theMerovingiandynasty.Saint Remigius,Bishop of Reimswas his godfather.[2]As a disciple of Remigius, he was granted the prerogative to visit prisons and free anyone held there.[3]

Leonard secured the release of a number of prisoners, for whom he has become apatron saint,then, declining the offer of a bishopric— a prerogative of Merovingian nobles— he entered the monastery atMicynearOrléans.[2]

Diffusion of cult

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Although there is no previous mention of Leonard either in literature,liturgyor in church dedications,[4]in the 12th century hiscultrapidly spread, at first through Frankish lands, following the release ofBohemond I of Antiochin 1103 from aDanishmendprison, which he attributed to the intercession of St. Leonard. Bohemond, a charismatic leader of theFirst Crusade,subsequently visited the Abbey of Noblac, where he made an offering in gratitude for his release. BishopWalram of Naumburg,who was present during Bohemond's visit, wrote up a new life of Leonard, including posthumous miracles like Bohemond's. Bohemond's example inspired many similar gifts, enabling the construction of the Romanesque church and its prominent landmark belltower. About the same time Noblac was becoming a stage on the pilgrimage route that led toSantiago de Compostela.[3]

Leonard or Lienard became one of the most venerated saints of the late Middle Ages. His intercession was credited with miracles for the release of prisoners, women in labour and the diseases of cattle. Hisfeast dayis 6 November, when he is honoured with a festival atBad Tölz,Bavaria.He is honoured by the parish ofKirkop,Malta,on the third Sunday of every August.[5]

Veneration

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TheRomanesquechurch of St Leonard inSaint-Léonard-de-Noblat,Haute-Vienne,France
Arms attributed to Saint Leonard[6]

In the Alpine regions ofBavaria,St Leonard is regarded as the traditional patron of farmers. Many Bavarian communities carry out traditional processions or rides on his feast day; community members wear traditional costume, usuallydirndlsfor the women andLederhosenfor the men.[7]Until theSecularisation,Inchenhofenbecame a major pilgrimage site for the cult of St Leonard, promoted by the Cistercian monks of nearbyFürstenfeld Abbey.[3]

Leonard isrememberedin theChurch of Englandwith acommemorationon6 November.[8]

Notable dedications

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Various places refer to this saint. Notable among these is the town ofSt Leonards-on-SeainEast Sussex,England.Sussex is also home toSt Leonard's Forest.This part of England has a significant number of dedications to St Leonard. Some of the best-known are the parish church of St Leonard inHythe, Kent,with its famousossuaryandSt. Leonard's, Shoreditchin London. There is a cluster of dedications in theWest Midlands region,including the original parish churches ofBridgnorth(now aredundant churchand used for community purposes) andBilston,as well asWhite Ladies Priory,a ruinedAugustinianhouse. The largest hospital in northern mediaeval England was an Augustinian foundation dedicated to St. Leonard, inYork;its partial ruins are to be found in theMuseum Gardensalthough undercroft remains lie some hundred yards away and are used as a bar under the York Theatre Royal. InNewton Abbot,Devon, there is both a chapel of ease dedicated to St Leonard, first recorded in 1350, and a replacement church built in 1834. The chapel was near the bridewell (prison). There is also a church dedicated to St Leonard inWallingford, Oxfordshire;the church is Saxon in origin but it was heavily rebuilt in 1849 in the Victorian gothic revival style by architectHenry Hakewill.Clewer,Berkshire is the site of St Leonard's House (formerlySophia Lodge) & now the headquarters of Legoland Windsor, being formerly the HQ of Billy Smart's Windsor Safari Park.

Several German churches are dedicated to the saint, includingSt. Leonhard, Frankfurt.

In Italy almost 225 places are dedicated to the saint, equally distributed in the North (inFriuli,there is the oldest Italian church dedicated to this saint, 774) as well as in the South where the shrine was introduced by theNormans.[9]The shrine can be found even in Italian islands such asSicily,Sardinia,Ischia,Procida.[9]In September 2004, a national meeting of the Italian parish churches dedicated to the Saint took place in the small village ofPanza d'Ischiawhere a small chapel of St. Leonard was transformed into a church in 1536.[10]

The Mediterranean nation ofMaltacontains a single parish dedicated to this saint, in the town ofKirkop;the parish church was founded on 29 May 1592.[11]The saint is known asSan Anard AbbatiinMaltese.

In Portugal the parish and church (late 12th century) of Atouguia da Baleia (Peniche) is dedicated to St Leonard. The saint's day is commemorated every 6 November (or the closest Sunday). This is the only parish dedicated to St Leonard in the country.

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Andrea di Bonaiuto. Madonna and Child with Saints Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence 1360-62 (2)

See also

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References

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  1. ^Stracke, Richard (2015-10-20)."Saint Leonard".Christian Iconography.
  2. ^abPoncelet, Albert. "St. Leonard of Limousin." The Catholic EncyclopediaVol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 August 2021This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  3. ^abcCassidy-Welch, M., "The cult of St. Leonard",Imprisonment in the Medieval Religious Imagination, c. 1150-1400,Springer, 2011, pp. 41–42ISBN9780230306400
  4. ^R. W. Mumford,St Leonard's Anglican Church 1896 - 1988.Denmark, W.A.: St. Leonard's Anglican Church, 1991
  5. ^"Kirkop Local Council – Places of interest".Kirkop.gov.mt. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-02-28.Retrieved2012-09-20.
  6. ^"Ecclesiastical Heraldry - Arms Associated With Saints".Civic Heraldry.Retrieved2 September2024.
  7. ^Ulrike Kretschmer, Frank Duffek and Bettina Schippel,Bayerischen Alpen: Traum in weiss-blau,Reader´s Digest, Stuttgart, 2013, pp. 54–56.ISBN978-3-89915-946-2
  8. ^"The Calendar".The Church of England.Retrieved2021-04-08.
  9. ^ab"La vita di San Leonardo, abate di Noblat"(PDF).comelicocultura.it.Retrieved2012-09-20.
  10. ^it:Panza
  11. ^"Kirkop Local Council – Places of interest".Planetware.com.Retrieved2012-09-20.
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Leonard of Limousin".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Further reading

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  • Guibert, LouisLa commune de Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat au XIIIe siècle.Limoges, 1890 (reprinted 1992)(in French)
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