St. Maurice

St. Maurice came from Christian Egypt and joined the Roman army. At the head of Theban Legion he fought in the Alps. He refused to pray and sacrifice to Roman gods and together with his companions was massacred on the order of Emperor Maximian. The site of the massacre (now St. Maurice en Valais in Switzerland) became a holy place of pilgrimage at early date. From there the cult spread all over the Alps, then came to Germany and Italy. Like St. George, St. Maurice is patron of knights and soldiers. From the 12th century, due to linguistic similarity between his name and maurus, he was depicted as a Moor. Thus he became the black saint. Both patrons of soldiers, St. George and St. Maurice, are depicted armed, but St. George is white and on horseback, St. Maurice is often black and almost always a foot soldier.

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