Tuesday, October 25, 2022

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 25th of October, 2022. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Let’s do this backward: perhaps you remember the book by Stephen Ambrose that was turned into a miniseries: Band of Brothers, the story of the 101st Airborne Division during World War 2. Perhaps you know that the “Band of Brothers” refers to a line in a play by William Shakespeare: his historical play Henry V. Henry V, is about the king of England. He led his forces into battle at the famed Battle of Agincourt during the 100 Years War. Agincourt was a decisive victory for the English and took place on the 25th of October 1415. In the play, Shakespeare gives the king the famous speech, which includes:

This day is call'd the feast of Crispian
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
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Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

…

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;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile.

And as the bard suggests, this day will not go by without us remembering the battle, but more importantly, the saints Crispin and his brother Crispian. Who are these saints? And how would they become associated with these daring battlefield exploits?

The brothers were said to have been from Rome, born sometime in the 3rd century. They were said to have come from Roman nobility but, upon converting to Christianity, moved to Soisson in France, where they became missionaries. And as St. Paul was a tentmaker, partly to fund his missionary work, the brothers worked as cobblers at night and preachers by day. It is said they were delicious cobblers- some legends have an Angel supplying them with leather, and they gave shoes to the poor.

Their popularity would become their downfall when Diocletian became emperor and began persecuting Christians (note that while Christians had been persecuted before, the only specific persecution explicitly of Christians was under Diocletian, and while they didn’t start until 303, he was persecuting Christians from the time he became emperor in 284.

In 286, the future Emperor Galerius, a soldier, arrested the brothers and tried to convince them to abandon the faith. According to legend, the boys responded:

“Thy threats do not terrify us, for Christ is our life, and death is our gain. Thy rank and possessions are nought to us, for we have long before this sacrificed the like for the sake of Christ and rejoice in what we have done. If thou shouldst acknowledge and love Christ thou wouldst give not only all the treasures of this life, but even the glory of thy crown itself in order through the exercise of compassion to win eternal life.”

For this response, they were handed over to the Gallic governor, who had them tortured on the rack and then thrown into the river with millstones around their necks. One version of the story has them miraculously surviving, only to be recaptured and beheaded. Despite the relatively sparse information about them, they were revered with a basilica put up over their graves, their supposed relics taken to Rome and then given to Charlemagne, who dedicated a cathedral to the brothers in Osnabruck.

In medieval Europe, on St. Crispin and Crispian’s day, an effigy would be taken around some villages by shoe-making guild members who would go about town reading the boys' speech. At the end of the procession, the padding from the effigy would be stuffed into a leather cover, and the men would play soccer until nightfall.

The day and saints would come to represent underdogs and underdogs in war. In 1854 Lord Cardigan used the day to attack Russian forces during the Crimean war. This would be the subject of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous war poem- The Charge of the Light Brigade.

And today, we remember these cobbling saints on their feast day- a day that has inspired so much literary work, the Feast of Sts Crispin and Crispian on the 25th of October.

The Last Word for today comes from the lectionary for today from 1 Peter 5

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 25th of October 2022, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite bands of brothers include the BeeGees, the Jackson 5, and Hanson- MMMBop he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man afraid to say he thinks Shakespeare is overrated. 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.