How about a little vocab before today's saint?
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| Leobin of Chartres |
Lucubration: the act of studying by candlelight, nocturnal study
Tonsure: the act of shaving some part of the head as a religious rite, especially signifying entrance into a monastic order
Waterboarding:
a harsh interrogation technique in which water is poured onto the face and head of an immobilized victim so as to induce a fear of drowning.
Dropsy: infusion of serous fluid into the interstices of cells in tissue spaces or into body cavities, now called edema, a plural noun which does not have a singular form.
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| Lucubration |
Leobin was a sixth century Frankish peasant boy who landed in the monastery at Noailles, France. One biography says that he went there, thirsting for knowledge. Maybe, but it seems more likely that he was one mouth too many at home and the monks needed another pair of hands in the fields. They taught him to read and write, and his lucubrations extended so late every night that the brothers complained of his candle light disrupting their sleep. Not inclined to study less, Leobin built a screen to shield the sleeping brothers from the candlelight.
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| waterboarding |
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| tonsures |
He later became a fully tonsured monk and was living in a monastery in Lyon. The Franks and Burgundians were at war, and as the front shifted, the brothers found themselves in the path of advancing raiders. Most fled, but Leobin and an elderly monk remained. The elderly monk was tortured, but did not reveal any information about the monastery's treasury. The raiders then turned their attention to Leobin, whom they waterboarded into unconsciousness. Believing they had killed him, they left the monastery.
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| dropsy |
Leobin eventually recovered and rose through the ranks, becoming an abbot and then the Bishop of Chartres. He was reputed to have miraculous healing power, especially the power to cure dropsy. Following his death, he became the patron of innkeepers and wine merchants.
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