Sant'Arnolfo di Soissons: the Saint of beer

Did you know that there is a patron saint of beer? Well yes, Sant'Arnolfo by Soissons thanks to his knowledge he saved many lives.

Sant'Arnolfo was born in Brabant, a historical region located between the Netherlands and Belgium in 1040. At first he was a soldier in the army of Robert and Henry I of France. After the draft I spent three years as a hermit in the Benedictine monastery of St. Medard in Soissons. After a few years as abbot of Soissons, in 1081 he tried to refuse the office of Bishop.

Appointment that was given to him by Clergy and the population. The opportunity to leave the public scene came to him a few years later, when the bishop's throne was taken away from him. He then decided to retire without a fight. He moved to Oudenburg where he founded the abbey of Saint Peter.

Sant'arnolfo di Soissons and his intuition on beer to save people

It was in Oudenburg that he began to produce beer. It may seem like a joke but it is precisely for this reason that it was sanctified. One of the most terrible plagues of that era was the plague. He discovered that this deadly infectious disease spread with water. He began to invite people to drink beer as the alcohol content prevented microorganisms from reproducing. He also claimed that beer prevented the plague from spreading as the water came boiled. St. Arnolfo died in 1087 in his Oudensburg abbey.

More than thirty years later, in a council led by the bishop of Noyon-Tourna, the miracles that occurred at his grave. THE relics they are currently in the abbey and its celebration takes place on August 14th. His image is depicted holding a shovel to mix beer in bishop's clothes or with a bottle of beer at his feet and with a church in his hand. Today Saint Arnolfo of Soissons is the Saint patron of brewers