Saint Fructus

Who was Saint Fructus?

Saint Fructus was a Castilian hermit of the eighth century venerated as a saint. Christian tradition states that he had two siblings, named Valentine and Engratia. They all lived as hermits on a mountain in the region of Sepúlveda. Engratia should not be confused with the 4th-century Spanish martyr of the same name.

Born in the 7th century to a noble family of Segovia, Fructus and his two siblings sold their family possessions after their parents' death and gave the earnings to poor. Wishing to escape from the city and the turbulent times, they established themselves on the rocky terrain near the village of Sepulveda now known as the Hoces del Duratón, where they lived apart from one another in caves that ensured them complete solitude.

Tradition holds that Valentine and Engratia were later martyred around 715 by advancing Moorish forces, and that Fructus died of natural causes in the same year at the age of 73.