Judoc, also known as Josse, was the son of a Breton king. There doesn’t seem to be much of a record of his life or doings, except for his taking a pilgrimage to Rome at some point in his life, after which he renounced power and fortune and retired to become a hermit. There is mention of locals who took to worrying him for miracle cures, which I suspect inspired him to move further from the madding crowd.
His biggest claim to fame comes after his death. It seems that in the middle ages people just couldn’t leave the dead alone, moving their bodies from place to place, or just dropping in for a visit. Judoc’s brethren discovered that his body remained incorrupt after death, and that his hair, beard, and nails continued to grow — to the extent that his successors in the hermitage had to cut them from time to time, lest they fill his crypt and flow out into the church.
St. Judoc
Linoleum block print, 2010
Open edition
