Leonard of Noblac

Who they were

Nothing certain is known of Leonard's history; his earliest life, of the eleventh century, has no historical value. The legend makes him a Frankish noble, godson of St Remigius, who obtained the release of many prisoners, refused a bishopric and became a monk, then founded a monastery at Noblac near Limoges.

From the eleventh century his veneration spread across all Western Europe, and pilgrims, among them kings, flocked to his shrine. He is shown holding chains, as patron of prisoners.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

A saint loved across Europe as the friend of prisoners.