Godfrey of Amiens

Godfrey of Amiens was born in 1066 at Moulincourt, in the Diocese of Soissons, the third child of a noble family. After his mother’s death and his father’s decision to embrace monastic life, the young Godfrey was entrusted to his uncle, the Bishop of Soissons, and educated among the Benedictines at Mont-Saint-Quentin under Abbot Godefroid, his godfather. Even as a boy he was formed in mercy, caring for the sick and welcoming the poor as hospitaller at the monastery gate. Ordained a priest at twenty-five, he became abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy in 1096, restoring a neglected house and establishing a hostel for pilgrims. Though he refused high honors, he was eventually compelled to accept the bishopric of Amiens, chosen for his prudence and integrity. Godfrey lived with striking austerity, reformed clergy and people, enforced clerical celibacy, and opposed drunkenness and simony—courage that provoked hostility and even an attempt on his life. Longing for deeper penitence, he sought monastic quiet, yet returned obediently to his flock. He died at the abbey of Saint Crépin in Soissons on November 8, 1115. His feast day is November 8.