hugh of lincoln

Venerated by the Catholics on 16 November and the Anglican church on this day, and arguably the most popular English saint after Thomas à Becket, the bishop and Avalon native established the first Carthusian charterhouse off the mainland in 1179—financed as part of the penance of Henry II for the murder of Becket in lieu of going on crusade, and is considered the patron of the sick, shoemakers and swans—the iconography and associated legends stemming from his lasting friendship with a swan from the village of Stow, who was very protective of Hugh (see also) and would attack any strangers that approached him and guarded Hugh when he slept.