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CRISTOPHER (saint). Christopher was one of the very early saints, but it is now doubtful if he ever lived. A church in Bithynia was dedicated to him as early as A.D. 452. He was said to have been born in Zarasin in the land of Canaan. The hermit who converted him to Christianity bade him build a house beside a roaring river and to ferry across all who wished it. One night Christopher heard a child's voice asking to be ferried over. Picking up the child, he attempted to cross the river, but as he proceeded, the river grew more and more ferocious and the child grew heavier and heavier. When he reached the other side, he gently set the child down. Then the child explained that he was heavier than all the world because he had made the world out of nothing. Christopher became the patron saint of foresters and travelers (Legenda Aurea C).

The Knight's Yeoman wears a silver Cristopher medal, Gen Prol 115.

The name means "Christ-bearer."


Jacobus de Voragine, GL, trans. G. Ryan and H. Ripperger, 377-382; ibid., LA, ed. Th. Graesse, 430-435; The South-English Legendary, ed. C. D'Evelyn and A.J. Mill, I: 340-348; "Vita Sancti Christophori," Three Old English Prose Texts, ed. S. Rypins, 108-114; Peggy C. Walwin, St. Christopher Today and Yesterday; H.C. Whaite, St. Christopher in Mediaeval Wallpainting.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

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