Saint Marcouf

Who was Saint Marcouf?

Saint Marcouf, Abbot of Nantus in the Cotentin, is a saint born in the Saxon colony of Bayeux in Normandy around 500 AD and who is best known for the healing of scrofula.

The accounts of his life are merged with that of St. Helier, whom he sent to convert the inhabitants of Jersey to Christianity. He also visited Jersey himself where miracles are ascribed to him.

He died May 1, 588 in the Îles Saint-Marcouf off the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. His relics were transferred to the abbey of Corbény in Champagne, where they played a part in the coronation ceremonies of kings of France, crowned at Reims, and the tradition of royal touch.

The traditional power ascribed to French and English kings to cure scrofula by the laying on of hands derives from the efficacy of the relics of Marcouf, according to the chronicle of Joan of Arc Chronique de la Pucelle.