Saint Hugh of Lincoln

Hugh of Lincoln OCart (c. 1140 – 16 November 1200), also known as Hugh of Avalon, was a Burgundian-born Carthusian monk, bishop of Lincoln in the Kingdom of England, and Catholic saint. His feast is observed by Catholics on 16 November and by Anglicans on 17 November. Hugh was born in the Alpine village of Avalon, Imperial Burgundy, in what was then the Holy Roman Empire, and what is today southeastern France. Hugh’s father Guillaume was the sieur d’Avalon, making him a knight enmeshed in a web of feudal obligations leading ultimately to the Holy Roman Emperor. Hugh's mother, Anne de Theys, enjoyed a reputation for kindness and was known to wash the sores of lepers (employing young Hugh to hold the towels). She died when Hugh was about 8 years old. Upon the death of Hugh's mother, his father sent him to the nearby community of Canons Regular of St. Augustine at Villarbenoît (sometimes Villard-Benoît) to receive a religious education, probably in the company of other sons of the nobility. Hugh's father, presumably brokenhearted and war-weary, also retired to the community shortly thereafter – entrusting his lands to the care of his two eldest sons (Guillaume and Pierre) who were eager to continue the martial tradition. At the age of 15, Hugh made his profession as a Canon Regular (with the rank of novice). He was ordained a deacon at the age of 19. Shortly thereafter, he was sent to the tiny parish of Saint-Maximin to assist an elderly parish priest who could only just manage to perform church services but needed support for everything else. Hugh remained subject to the prior of the small community of Canons Regular centered at Villarbenoît (which had 12 inmates at that time). Canons Regular were not exactly monks, but were essentially communities of priests (and their subordinates) abiding by a monastic rule, usually the Rule of St. Augustine.