ELIGIUS, Saint. - Bishop of Noyon-Tournai (641-660). Born c. 590 at Chaptelat near Limoges, from a Gallo-Roman family, he was a goldsmith and royal moneyer for kings Clotaire II and Dagobert I, highly esteemed as the king’s advisor. He ransomed many slaves, founded churches and monasteries, such as Solignac, under the influence of the monastery of Luxeuil.
After the death of King Dagobert I in 639, he left the court, became a priest, and was chosen by the people as bishop of Noyon on 13 May 641. He converted many pagan Germanic peoples. One of his surviving letters is addressed to Desiderius of Cahors. The homilies published under his name are, according to E. Vacandard, apocryphal. Not all works of art attributed to E. are his, such as, for example, the throne of Dagobert. On the goldsmith works attributed to E., cf. Eloi, in DACL, IV, cols. 2674-87. Several coins signed by him exist: cf. M. Prou, Introduction au Catalogue des monnaies mérovingiennes de la Bibl. nationale de Paris, Paris 1892, p. XLII sq.
His feast is on 1 December. He is the patron saint of goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and also of farmers.
ELIGIUS, Saint – A pair of shoes in the workshop of E. Painting by Petrus Christus (1449) – Berlin, Museum.