Saint Hubertus

Hubert of Liège (Latinized: Hubertus) (c. 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is a patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he was called upon, until the early 20th century, to cure rabies through the use of the traditional Saint Hubert's Key. Hubert was widely venerated during the Middle Ages. The iconography of his legend is entangled with the legend of the martyr Saint Eustace. The Bollandists published seven early lives of Hubert (Acta Sanctorum, November 3, 759 – 930 A.D.); the first of these was the work of a contemporary, although it offers few details. Hubert died 30 May 727 A.D. in or near a place called (in Latin) Fura. In the later Middle Ages, this location was claimed to have been identified as Tervuren near Brussels; recent scholarship, however, considers Voeren (Fourons), a location much closer to Liège than Brussels, to be the saint's likelier resting place. His feast day is 3 November. Hubert of Liège was a Frank; the Franks were originally a Germanic people. Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from hug "mind" and beraht "bright". "Hubertus" is a Latinized form of "Hubert". Other forms of the name include Hugubert, Hughbert, Hugo, Hubrecht, Hugubrecht, Hudson, and Hugh. Hubert was born about the year 656, the eldest son of a Frankish duke. At the age of 10 he nearly died from a fever. As a youth, Hubert was sent to the Neustrian court of Theuderic III (r. 673–691) at Paris, where his charm and agreeable address led to his investment with the dignity of "count of the palace". Like many nobles of the time, Hubert was a hunting enthusiast. About this time (682), Hubert married Floribanne, daughter of Dagobert, Count of Leuven.