Born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD, Crispin and Crispinian fled persecution for their faith, ending up at Soissons, where they preached Christianity to the Gauls while making shoes by night.

Their success attracted the ire of Rictus Varus, governor of Belgic Gaul,[2] who had them tortured and thrown into the river with millstones around their necks.

[4] Although this feast was removed from the Roman Catholic Church's universal liturgical calendar following the Second Vatican Council, the two saints are still commemorated on that day in the most recent edition of the Roman Church's martyrology.

In the sixth century, a stately basilica was erected over these saints' graves at Soissons, and St. Eligius, a famous goldsmith, made a costly shrine for the head of St.

Also, for the Midsummer's Day Festival in the third act of Die Meistersinger, Wagner has the shoemakers' guild enter singing a song of praise to St. Crispin.