That the seaside town near Hastings is named after this 6th. century hermit who lived near Limoges in central France is witness to the spread of the cult of this saint. Nearly 180 medieval English churches are dedicated to him. He was a nobleman, baptised by St. Remi of Rheims (+533), with the King of the Franks, Clovis, as his godfather. Declining the offer of a bishopric, he became a hermit; through his prayers, Clovis’ wife survived a difficult pregnancy and in gratitude the King offered him a large tract of land around his hermitage at Noblac (now named St. Leonard after him). It was here that he founded an abbey, where he was to be buried – the foundation greatly aided the spread of the cult of his sanctity. He is the patron saint of pregnant women and also of prisoners of war – thanks to a visit to his shrine by the crusader prince Bohemond, released from a Moslem prison in 1103.