Saint Crispin's Day, or the Feast of Saint Crispin, falls on 25 October and is the feast day of the Christian saints

Crispin and Crispinian Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of Shoemaking, cobblers, curriers, Tanning (leather), tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 Octob ...

, twins who were

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed c. 286. They are both the patron saints of cobblers, leather workers, tanners, saddlers and glove, lace and shoemakers (among other professions). In modern times, the feast day is best known with reference to the St Crispin's Day Speech in Shakespeare's play ''Henry V''. A scene in the play recounts the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

, which took place on Saint Crispin's Day in 1415, with the titular character giving a speech before the battle referencing the feast day. When the

Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...

was fought on 25 October 1854, the coincidence was noticed by contemporaries, who used Shakespeare's words to comment on the battle. A similar effect occurred with reference to the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...

, fought on St. Crispin's Day in 1944.

Feast day

The

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of Saints Crispin and Crispinian is 25 October. Although this feast was removed from the Roman Catholic Church's universal liturgical calendar following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, the two saints are still commemorated on that day in the most recent edition of the

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

. The feast remains as a "Black Letter Saints' Day" in the calendar of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

(1662) and a "commemoration" in ''

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical M ...

'' (2000).

Battle of Agincourt

The Battle of Agincourt was heavily dramatized by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

,'' featuring the battle in which Henry inspired his much-outnumbered English forces to fight the French through a St Crispin's Day Speech, saying "the fewer men, the greater share of honour". The central part of the speech begins, "This day is called the feast of Crispian", and goes on to say that each soldier who survives the battle will, each year, "rouse him at the name of Crispian" and say, "'These wounds I had on Crispin's day'", and:

Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be rememberèd; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.Shakespeare, W., ''The Life of King Henry the Fifth'', Act 4, Scene 3.

References

{{reflist October observances

Crispin Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of Shoemaking, cobblers, curriers, Tanning (leather), tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 Octob ...