Who Was: St. Crispin

One of the most stirring scenes in Shakespeare's play is the windup to the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415, when King Henry V rouses his men, his band of brothers, the happy few, with his speech on St. Crispian's Day.  Of course they win.  Plantagenets can kick tail with best.

So who was St. Crispian, and why have so many battles been fought on his feast day?

Crispin and Crispianus were twin brothers who preached to the Pagan Gauls in what is now Belgium in the 3rd century and supported themselves as leatherworkers while doing so.  They were captured by Roman authorities, tortured and beheaded in 286.  An alternative story places the brothers in Canterbury, England.  Their father became upset because they chose their mother's Christian faith, so she sent them London to learn the leatherworking trade.  Option B doesn't clear up how these two were martyred, but that was the usual criteria for Medieval saints.  They became the patron of tanners, cobblers and leatherworkers in general.  In time, the two melded into one saint, Crispian or Crispin.  They weren't military saints like Michael or George.  Nothing in particular to connect them with battles.

Except that a fair number of battles have been fought on their feast day.  Agincourt in 1415, Balaclava in 1854, El Alamain II in 1942, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942, Leyte Gulf in 1944, and several battles during the U.S. Civil War including Springfield II 1861, and Mine Creek, Kansas in 1864.  A possible reason lies in the time of year St. Crispin's feast falls, late October.  Traditionally, armies headed for winter quarters as the snow fell and freezes set in, simply because Winter was too hard to find food, keep warm and otherwise fight.  Armies would become active in the spring, skirmish and maneuver throughout summer and autumn, building up to a showdown battle before closing out the campaign season.  St. Crispin's Day happened to be an auspicious (for the victors) day for this very practical reason.