3. Life Story
According to a pious fiction that was very popular in the Middle
Ages, Julian was of noble birth and while hunting one day, was
reproached by a hart for hunting him and told that he would
one day kill his mother and father. He was richly rewarded for
his services by a king and married a widow. While he was away
his mother and father arrived at his castle seeking him; When his
wife realized who they were, she put them up for the night in the
master's bed room. When Julian returned unexpectedly later
that night and saw a man and a woman in his bed, he suspected
the worst and killed them both. When his wife returned from
church and he found he had killed his parents, he was overcome
with remorse and fled the castle, resolved to do a fitting
penance. He was joined by his wife and they built an inn for
travelers near a wide river, and a hospital for the poor. He was
forgiven for his crime when he gave help to a leper in his own
bed; the leper turned out to be a messenger from God who had
been sent to test him.
4. St. Julian
• He is the patron of
• Hotel keepers
• Travelers
• Boatmen
5. The location of the hospitals built by
him is also debated between:
• On the banks of the
River Gardon in
Provence
• On an island near
the River Potenza
heading to
Macerata
6. An Early Fresco
Early fresco paintings of him are found in the Cathedral
of Trento (14th century) and the Palazzo Comunale di Assisi.
