: More than 10 million people in the United States suffer from hemorrhoids. Three out of four people in Minnesota will develop hemorrhoids at some time in their lives. In fact, the disease is so common that hemorrhoid sufferers have their own patron Saint, St. Fiacre.
Patron Saint of Hemorrhoid Sufferers
During the middle ages, an integral part of the therapy for certain ailments included prayer to “patron” saints for possible divine intervention. Through legends surrounding his life, St. Fiacre, a 7th century Irish monk, became the patron saint for hemorrhoid sufferers (and gardeners). During medieval times, hemorrhoids were known as St. Fiacre’s curse. St. Fiacre is also known as the patron saint of gardeners because he could farm all the land and manage to cultivate in a single day. As the legend goes, the saint was given a rather small shovel by his bishop and spent very long days spading his garden and developed a severe case of prolapsed hemorrhoids. Seeking a solution, he sat on a stone and prayed for help. The legend states he enjoyed a miraculous cure from the stone.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s Hemorrhoids
Napoleon Bonaparte had long suffered from hemorrhoids. On last day of the battle of Waterloo he was unable to mount his horse, and his doctors accidentally overdosed him with laudanum. Researchers believe that it’s possible that’s what caused the fatal delay starting the battle. It is pretty well known that if Napoleon had begun the battle earlier, the Duke of Wellington would not have been able to join forces with Blucher and the battle most likely would have been lost.
