"Saint Éloi" and "Saint Éloy" redirect here. For places named after the saint, see Saint-Éloi (disambiguation) and Saint-Éloy (disambiguation). For the train ferry, see MV Saint Eloi.
Saint
Eligius
The Legend of Saint Eligius and Saint Godeberta by Petrus Christus[a]
Confessor, Bishop
Born
(588-06-11)11 June 588 Chaptelat, Francia
Died
(660-12-01)1 December 660 Noyon, Neustria, Francia
Venerated in
Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Communion
Canonized
Pre-Congregation
Feast
1 December
Attributes
Anvil; Bishop with a crosier in his right hand, on the open palm of his left a miniature church of chased gold; bishop with a hammer, anvil, and horseshoe; bishop with a horse; courtier; goldsmith; hammer; holding a horse's leg, which he detached from the horse in order to shoe it more easily; horseshoe; man grasping a devil's nose with pincers; man holding a chalice and goldsmith's hammer; man shoeing a horse; man with hammer and crown near a smithy; man with hammer, anvil, and Anthony the Great; pincers; with Godeberta; giving a ring to Godeberta; working as a goldsmith
Patronage
Cartwrights; clockmakers; coin collectors; craftsmen of all kinds; cutlers; exercise riders and grooms; gilders; goldsmiths; harness makers; horses; jewelers; jockeys; knife makers; laborers; locksmiths; metalworkers in general; miners; minters; Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; saddlers; toolmakers; veterinarians; watchmakers
Signature
Eligius[b] (French: Éloi; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660), venerated as Saint Eligius, was a Frankish goldsmith, courtier, and bishop who was chief counsellor to Dagobert I and later Bishop of Noyon–Tournai. His deeds were recorded in Vita Sancti Eligii, written by his friend Audoin of Rouen.
Born into a Gallo-Roman family, Eligius found success as a goldsmith at the Merovingian royal court of Clotaire II and served as chief counsellor to Dagobert I until Dagobert's death in 639. Under the subsequent regency of Nanthild, the queen consort, Eligius was ordained a priest and campaigned against simony in the Church. Appointed Bishop of Noyon–Tournai in 642, he founded many monasteries and churches while working to convert the pagan population of Flanders to Christianity.
Despite his background as a goldsmith, Eligius became increasingly ascetic during his time at the royal court and used his influence to ransom captive slaves and care for the poor. A legend emerged of him once healing a demon-possessed horse by amputating and miraculously re-attaching the horse's foreleg.
Eligius is best known for being the patron saint of horses and those who work with them. He is also the patron saint of goldsmiths, metalworkers, coin collectors, veterinarians, and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), a corps of the British Army.
^van der Velden, Hugo (1998). "Defrocking St Eloi: Petrus Christus' vocational portrait of a goldsmith". Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art. 26 (4): 243–276.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
Eligius (French: Éloi; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660), venerated as SaintEligius, was a Frankish goldsmith, courtier, and bishop who was chief counsellor...
Eligius may refer to: SaintEligius (c. 588–659), Catholic patron saint of goldsmiths and other metalworkers Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen...
Pedro Ramírez and depict scenes from the life of Christ. The Chapel of SaintEligius (Spanish: Capilla de San Eligio), also known as the Chapel of the Lord...
century. Ouen drew together the familiar admonitions of Eligius to the people of Flanders. Eligius in his sermons denounced "pagan customs" that the people...
Nursia, Bernard of Vienne, Eligius, George, Isidore the Farmer, Notburga, Phocas the Gardener, Walstan Farriers - Eligius, John the Baptist Field workers...
Shop, Possibly SaintEligius (the patron saint of goldsmiths). The presence of a halo over the goldsmith's head suggested SaintEligius. Later, it was...
attacked and drove them back to Neustria. After the death of SaintEligius in 661, the Life of Eligius records that a plague reduced the population of France's...
Christus painted St. Eligius in His Workshop (also known as The Legend of SaintEligius and Saint Godeberta), which depicts SaintEligius, Godeberta, and the...
Symbolism of Christian saints has been used from the very beginnings of the religion. Each saint is said to have led an exemplary life and symbols have...
in the early seventh century Dagobert I commissioned the goldsmith SaintEligius to make a work in gold and gems for the tomb-shrine. The bishop Gregory...
supposedly created by master goldsmith Éloi de Noyon, better known as SaintEligius. Made of filigraned and enameled gold, the scepter was 56 cm long. It...
dolls" among the Germanic pagans of Flanders in the 7th century, where SaintEligius discouraged them from their old practices: "[Do not] make vetulas, (little...
"The Boys in the Backroom". SaintEligius is recognised as the spiritual guide and mentor of RAEME personnel. SaintEligius is universally known as a protector...
Saint Thillo (or Théau, Tillon, Thielman, Tilloine, Tilman, Tyllo; c. 608–702) was a Saxon slave who was converted by SaintEligius and became a priest...
Franks. Kintzheim was Villa Regis, the "villa of the king". Around 590, SaintEligius was born in a highly placed Gallo-Roman family at the 'villa' of Chaptelat...
date) Yamanoue no Okura, Japanese poet (d. 733) December 1 – Eligius, bishop and saint Boggis, Duke of Aquitaine (approximate date) Conall Crandomna...
extant portray St. John the Evangelist, by Cristoforo de' Mottis, and SaintEligius and San John of Damascus, both by Niccolò da Varallo. In 1452, under...
foliage border, which might have been once attributed to SaintEligius (c. 588 – 660), the patron saint of goldsmiths. The crystal is inscribed LOTHARIVS REX...
chief adviser, SaintEligius (Eloi in French). The satirical rhymes place Dagobert in various ridiculous positions from which Eligius' good advice manages...
example, Saint Benedict established a monastery in the ruins of a villa at Subiaco that had belonged to Nero.[citation needed] Around 590, SaintEligius was...
indication of the survival of cult practices of this general sort, SaintEligius, in his Sermo warns the sick among his recently converted flock in Flanders...
diptych, c. 1430–1440 Petrus Christus, A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly SaintEligius, 1449 Paolo Uccello, Portrait of a Lady, c. 1450, Florence El Greco...
Global Information
