Free Republic

1,721 years ago, two Christian brothers in pagan Gaul were martyred. 300 years later, they were named Saints of the Catholic Church, celebrated on the 25th of October. On the Feast of Crispin and Crispinian, some of the most climactic battles in Western history have been fought: Balaklava, Leyte Gulf, Cap Finisterre. The Cuban Missile Crisis began on Crispin’s Day, as did the First Marxist Revolution, and the United States invaded Grenada. Pablo Picasso and Minnie Pearl were born on Crispin’s Day; Geoffrey Chaucer and Bat Masterson passed away. But no one remembers Saint Crispin’s Day the way Will Shakespeare...