Saint Bobo of Provence (French: Beuvon or Bobon, Italian: Bovo or Bobone; died 986) was a Frankish warrior and pilgrim from Noyers (Noghiers).[1] He is known only from the anonymous biography Vita sancti Bobonis.[2] He built a castle on a hill opposite the Muslim fortress of Fraxinet and led the Christians of Provence to victory in battle with the Muslims in an unknown year.[3] During the battle he had a mystical experience and vowed, if victorious, to renounce war and become a pilgrim devoted to the care of orphans and widows.[2] After the loss of his brother, he went on pilgrimage to Rome and died at Voghera in Lombardy.[4] Bobo is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. His feast day is May 22 and he is the patron saint of cattle.[5]
Notes edit
- ^ Ballan 2010, p. 34.
- ^ a b Murray 2002, p. 376.
- ^ Ballan 2010, p. 26. The Vita calls these Muslims from Spain hispanicolae..
- ^ France 2005, p. 10.
- ^ May 22. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
Sources edit
- Ballan, Mohamad (2010). "Fraxinetum: An Islamic Frontier State in Tenth Century Provence". Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies. 41: 23–76.
- France, John (2005). Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000–1714. Florence, KY: Routledge.
- Murray, Alexander (2002). Reason and Society in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Poupardin, René. Le royaume de Provence sous les Carolingiens (855–933). Paris: E. Bouillon.
- Versteegh, K. (1990). "The Arab presence in France and Switzerland in the 10th Century". Arabica. 37: 359–88. doi:10.1163/157005890x00041.