Riquerio (†645)

Biography

He was born near Centule, now Saint-Riquier, France, the son of a Picardy nobleman. He was converted by listening to some Irish monks. After caring for lepers he became an itinerant missionary and founded and directed the Centule monastery in Ponthieu. He spent his last years living a hermit life with his disciple Sigobert, in the forest of Crécy. When he died, Sigoberto, following his instructions, placed his master in the hollow of the trunk of an old oak tree. And there he rested until the day Charlemagne replaced that rustic coffin with a golden chest that he gave to the monks of Centule.