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Alain of Lille
French theologian and poet
SaintResearchedKingdom of FranceCisterciansPre-congregation
Feast: 30 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1128
verified
Died
1203
verified
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
Alain of Lille studied and taught in Paris and took part in the Third Lateran Council in 1179. Famed for learning, he was called 'the Universal Doctor'.
He wrote to defend the Catholic faith against Muslims, Jews and heretics, and later became a monk of Cîteaux, where he died in 1202 or 1203.
The miracles
The Catholic Encyclopedia does not describe how he came to be honoured as a saint.
Why that counted as sanctity
A great teacher who ended his life as a monk.
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Alain de Lille
- Wikidata Q4313 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Alain de Lille (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.