Arnold of Soissons

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St. Arnold of Soissons is often depicted with a bishop's mitre and a mashing rake.

Arnold of Soissons or Arnold of Oudenaarde is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He is often cited as the patron saint of hop-pickers and Belgian brewers. The 7th-century Saint Arnulf or Arnold of Metz competes with Arnold of Soissons for the identity of the Saint Arnold who is patron of hop-pickers.

Arnold lived from 1040 to 1087. Born in Oudenaarde, Flanders, he was first a career soldier (Arnulph the Strong of Oudenaarde), before settling at the Benedictine monastery of Soissons, France. He spent his first three years as a hermit, but later rose to be abbot of the monastery. His hagiography states that he tried to refuse this honor and flee—a standard trope (compare Jiménez de Cisneros)— but was forced by a wolf to return. He then became a priest and finally a bishop, another honor that he sought to avoid. When his see was occupied by another bishop, rather than fighting, he took the opportunity to retire from public life, founding the Abbey of St. Peter in Oudenburg.

At the abbey, he began to brew beer, as essential in medieval life as water. He encouraged local peasants to drink beer, instead of water, due to its "gift of health." Unknown to all, during the process of brewing, the water was boiled and thus freed of pathogens. This same story is sometimes told of the Saint Arnulf or Arnold of Metz, the other patron of hop-pickers. There are many depictions of St. Arnold with a mashing rake in his hand, to identify him. He is honored in July with a parade in Brussels on the "Day of Beer."