St. Hubertus

Saint Hubertus
Saint Hubert, (Franz Mayer & Co., St. Patrick's Basilica, Ottawa, Canada)
"Apostle of the Ardennes"
Born	c. 656–658 Toulouse
Died	30 May 727(727-05-30) Voeren/Fourons near Liège, Belgium
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Anglican Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	3 November
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

Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656–727 AD) became Bishop of Liège in 708 AD. He is a Christian saint who is the 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 St Hubert's Key.

Saint Hubertus was widely venerated during the Middle Ages. The iconography of his legend is entangled with the legend of Saint Eustace. The Bollandists published seven early lives of Hubertus (Acta Sanctorum, November, i., 759–930 AD); the first of these was the work of a contemporary, though it is very sparing of details.

He died 30 May 727 AD in or near a place called (in Latin) Fura. In the later Middle Ages this place was identified as Tervuren near Brussels, Belgium, but recent scholarship considers Voeren/Fourons, between Maastricht and Liège, the likelier place. His feast day is November 3.

Saint Hubertus was born (probably in Toulouse) about the year 656. He was the eldest son of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine. As a youth, Hubert was sent to the Neustrian court of Theuderic III 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 addicted to the chase. Meanwhile, the tyrannical conduct of Ebroin, 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. Their son Floribert of Liège would later become bishop of Liège, for bishoprics were all but accounted fiefs heritable in the great families of the Merovingian kingdoms. He nearly died at the age of 10 from "fever".