Hubertus
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{{redirect|Saint Hubert|other uses|Saint-Hubert}}
{{Infobox Saint
|name=Saint Hubertus
|birth_date=c. [[656]]-[[658]]
|death_date={{death date|727|5|30|mf=y}}
|feast_day=3 November
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]]
|image=Saint eustace.jpg
|imagesize=200px
|caption=St Hubertus in a 13th century English manuscript ([[Biblioteca Marciana]])
|birth_place=[[Toulouse]]
|death_place=[[Tervuren]] near [[Brussels]], [[Belgium]]
|titles="Apostle of the [[Ardennes]]"
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=bishop celebrating Mass as an angel brings him a scroll; bishop with a [[hound]] and hunting horn; bishop with a [[stag]] with a crucifix; horn; horse; huntsman adoring a stag with a crucifix in its antlers; kneeling before a stag as an angel brings him a stole; kneeling in prayer, a hound before him and often with hunting gear nearby; knight with a banner showing the stag's head and crucifix; stag; stag with a crucifix over its head; young courtier with two hounds
|patronage=[[patron saint]] of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
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}}
'''Saint Hubertus''' or '''Hubert''' (born c. [[656]] to [[658]], probably in [[Toulouse]]; died [[May 30]], [[727]] or [[728]] in [[Tervuren]] near [[Brussels]], [[Belgium]]), called the "Apostle of the [[Ardennes]]" was the first [[Bishop of Liège]]. Hubertus is a [[Christian]] [[saint]], the [[patron saint]] of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers, and used to be invoked to cure [[rabies]]. Saint Hubert was widely venerated in the [[Middle Ages]]. The iconography of his legend is entangled with the legend of [[Saint Eustace (legend)|St Eustace]].
The [[Bollandists]] published seven early lives of this popular saint (''[[Acta Sanctorum]]'' November, i. 759-930), the first being the work of a contemporary. Unfortunately, it is very sparing of details.
==Youth==
Hubert was the eldest son and apparent heir of [[Boggis|Boggis/Bertrand]], [[Duke of Aquitaine]].<ref>[http://www.st-remigius-duesseldorf.de/st__hubertus.html ''Das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon'']</ref> Bertrand's wife is variously given in hagiographies as Hugbern, and as Afre, and sister of [[Saint Oda]] or perhaps Oda herself, the uncertainty being a mark of the low rating accorded women in Merovingian culture, where kings fathered heirs upon peasant women. Modern genealogy often lists Aude or Ode as a wife of Bertrand and mother of Hubert's brother Eudo.
As a youth, Hubert was sent to the [[Neustria]]n court of [[Theuderic III]] at Paris, where his charm and agreeable address led to his investment with the dignity of "[[Count palatine|count of the palace]]". Like all nobles of the time, Hubert was addicted to the chase. Meanwhile, the tyrannical conduct of [[Ebroin]], [[Mayor of the palace|mayor of the Neustrian palace]], caused a general emigration of the nobles and others to the court of [[Austrasia]] at [[Metz]]. Hubert soon followed them and was warmly welcomed by [[Pippin of Heristal]], mayor of the palace, who created him almost immediately grand-master of the household. About this time (682) Hubert married Floribanne, daughter of Dagobert, Count of [[Leuven]], a great and suitable match. Their son Floribert would later become bishop of [[Liège (city)|Liège]], for bishoprics were all but accounted fiefs heritable in the great families of the Merovingian kingdoms.
==Hubertus' withdrawal==
Unfortunately, his wife died giving birth to their son, and Hubert retreated from the court, withdrew into the forested Ardennes, and gave himself up entirely to hunting. But a great spiritual revolution was imminent. On Good Friday morning, when the faithful were crowding the churches, Hubert sallied forth to the chase. As he was pursuing a magnificent [[Red deer|stag]] or hart, the animal turned and, as the pious legend narrates, he was astounded at perceiving a crucifix standing between its antlers, while he heard a voice saying: "Hubert, unless thou turnest to the Lord, and leadest an holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into hell". Hubert dismounted, prostrated himself and said, "Lord, what wouldst Thou have me do?" He received the answer, "Go and seek Lambert, and he will instruct you."
The story of the hart appears first in one of the later legendary hagiographies (''Bibliotheca hagiographica latina'', nos. 3994-4002) and has been appropriated from the legend of Saint [[Saint Eustace (legend)|Eustace]] or Placidus. It was first attributed to St. Hubert in the 15th century. The apparition may hark back to an older Celtic tale, recorded in the [[Mabinogion]], where [[Arawn]], Lord of the Underworld, is crowned with antlers, while also calling to mind the legend of the [[Martenitsa]] surrounding the death of [[Avar]] [[Khagan]] [[Kubrat]] c. 656/8.
==Hubertus as a cleric and bishop==
Be that as it may, Hubert set out immediately for [[Maastricht]], for there [[Lambert of Maastricht|Lambert]] was bishop. Saint Lambert received Hubert kindly, and became his spiritual director. Hubert now renounced all his very considerable honors, and gave up his birthright to the Aquitaine to his younger brother [[Odo of Aquitaine|Odo]], whom he made guardian of his infant son, Floribert. Having distributed all his personal wealth among the poor, he studied for the priesthood, was soon ordained, and shortly afterwards became one of St. Lambert's chief associates in the administration of his diocese. By the advice of St. Lambert, Hubert made a pilgrimage to Rome in 708, but during his absence, Lambert was assassinated by the followers of Pippin. According to the hagiographies of Hubert, this act was simultaneously revealed to the pope in a vision, together with an injunction to appoint Hubert [[bishop of Maastricht]].
He distributed his episcopal revenues among the poor, was diligent in fasting and prayer, and became famous for his eloquence in the pulpit. In 720, in obedience to a vision, Hubert [[translation (relics)|translated]] St. Lambert's remains from Maastrict to Liège with great pomp and ceremonial, several neighboring bishops assisting. A basilica for the relics was built upon the site of Lambert's martyrdom, and was made a cathedral the following year, the see being removed from Maastricht to Liège, then only a small village. This laid the foundation of the future greatness of Liège, of which Saint Lambert is honored as patron, and Saint Hubert as founder and first bishop.
Hubert actively evangelised among the pagans in the extensive [[Ardennes]] forests and in [[Toxandria]], a district stretching from near Tongeren to the confluence of the Waal and the Rhine.
[[Image:Exhumation of Saint Hubert.jpg|thumb|''The exhumation of Saint Hubert in the church of Saint Peter at [[Liège]]'', by [[Rogier Van der Weyden]], ca. 1437]].
Hubertus died peacefully in Fura, Brabant, May 30, 727 or 728. He was first buried in the collegiate church of St. Peter, Liège, but his bones were exhumed and translated to the Benedictine Abbey of Amdain ("Andagium", in French "Andage", the present-day [[Saint-Hubert, Belgium]]) in the Ardennes in 825. The abbey became a focus for pilgrimages, until the coffin disappeared during the [[Reformation]]. His feast day is the 3rd of November, probably the date of the translation of his relics to Amdain.
==Veneration==
Saint Hubert was widely venerated in the [[Middle Ages]] and partly because of his noble birth several military orders were named after him: the [[Bavaria]]n, the [[Bohemia]]n and that of the [[Archbishop of Cologne|Archbishop-Elector of Cologne]]. Saint Hubert of Liège is patron of archers; dogs; forest workers; hunting; huntsmen; Liege, Belgium; mathematicians; metal workers; Saint-Lamberge, Belgium; smelters; and trappers. Hubertus, along with [[Quirinus of Neuss]], [[Saint Cornelius|Cornelius]] and [[Anthony the Great|Anthony]], was venerated as one of the [[Four Holy Marshals]] ('''Vier Marschälle Gottes'') in the [[Rhineland]].<ref>http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm</ref><ref>http://www.soetele.de/links/quellen/kalvarien/muhresoat/marschaelle/marschaelle.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.ahrdorf.de/html/body_die_kapelle.html</ref> The ''St. Hubertus Orden'' ([[Order of Saint Hubert]]), a [[chivalric order]], was founded in 1444 by Gerhard V of [[Duchy of Jülich|Jülich and Berg]].<ref>http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/ordhist.htm</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Linteau_de_la_chapelle_St_Hubert.JPG|A sculptural depiction of the miracle of the stag at [[Château d'Amboise]], France.
Image:La Visión de San Huberto por Jan Brueghel el Viejo con Rubens.jpg|''The Vision of Saint Hubert'' (ca. [[1617]]) by [[Jan Brueghel the Elder|J. Brueghel]] and [[Peter Paul Rubens|P. P. Rubens]], [[Museo del Prado|Prado, Madrid]].
Image:Hubertus-liege.jpg|A print in the style of an [[illuminated manuscript]] showing Hubert of Liège with the stag.
</gallery>
==See also==
*[[Jägermeister]]
*[[Saint Eustace]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{commons|Category:Saint Hubertus}}
==External links==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07507a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'':] Saint Hubert
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07508b.htm Military Orders of St. Hubert] - From the Catholic Encyclopedia
*{{de icon}} [http://www.st-remigius-duesseldorf.de/st__hubertus.html Extract from ''Das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon'']; illustration of [[Jan van Eyck]]'s: Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, with scenes from the life of Saint Hubert
*[http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG252 Painting from the National Gallery, London] The Conversion of Saint Hubert
*[http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainth07.htm Saint Hubert]
[[Category:650s births]]
[[Category:720s deaths]]
[[Category:Frankish bishops]]
[[Category:8th century bishops]]
[[Category:Frankish saints]]
[[Category:Franks]]
[[Category:Frankish people]]
[[ca:Hubert de Lieja]]
[[da:Hubertus]]
[[de:Hubertus von Lüttich]]
[[es:Huberto]]
[[eo:Huberto]]
[[fr:Hubert de Liège]]
[[hr:Sveti Hubert]]
[[it:Sant'Uberto]]
[[he:הוברטוס]]
[[lv:Svētais Huberts]]
[[li:Hubertus]]
[[nl:Hubertus van Luik]]
[[pl:Hubert z Liège]]
[[ru:Святой Губерт]]
[[fi:Hubertus]]
[[sv:Sankt Hubertus]]