Austria / Colman of Stockerau, d. 1012,
Feast Day: October 13

A monk from the British Isles, Colman was making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land when he was stopped in Austria under suspicion of spying for their enemy, Moravia. Unable to speak German, he could not defend himself and was tortured and hanged. His body was left to dangle as a warning, and for eighteen months, it did not decompose and no animal touched it. The Austrians recognized this as a sign of his sanctity and made him their patron.

Other patronages: horned cattle, horses; hanged men

Invoked: against hanging, plague