CRISPIN and CRISPINIAN, the patron saints of shoe makers, whose feast falls on Oct. 25, have a legendary history, traceable to the 8th century. It is said that they were brothers, of a noble Roman family and that they travelled to Soissons, where they supported themselves by shoemaking and made many converts. The emperor Maximianus (Herculius) condemned them to death but they escaped from the ordeals imposed by his prefect Rictiovarus. At last Maximian had their heads cut off (c. 286). Their remains were buried at Soissons, but were afterwards re moved, partly by Charlemagne to Osnabruck and partly to the chapel of St. Lawrence in Rome. There are also relics at Fulda, and a Kentish tradition claims that their bodies were cast into the sea and floated ashore at Romney Marsh (see Acta SS. Bol land, xi. 495; A. Butler, Lives of the Saints, Oct. 25)• In France, especially, the festival of St. Crispin was for centu ries the occasion of solemn processions and merry-making, in which gilds of shoemakers took the chief part. In England the day acquired additional importance as the anniversary of Agincourt (cf. Shakespeare, Henry V . iv. 3) .