IN THE WHITE FOX, relocated Boschstraat 63, used to be behind Achter het Vleeshuis 39 and was flanked there by S. CRISPINUS and S. CRISPINIANUS, which finally ended up in the facade of Boschstraat 89.
The combination of the fox and the two saints seems somewhat strange, but given the same font in the captions, it is certainly not a later addition. The explanation is quite simple. The house was called "het vosken" (the fox) and IN THE WHITE FOX is the representation of this.
The flanking saints told people, that either a shoemaker lived here or that this was the house of the shoemaker's trade, because St. Crispinus and Crispinianus were the patron saints of this trade.
Legend has it that the two saints were brothers who went to Gaul in the fourth century to preach Christianity. They earned their living by making shoes, which they usually gave away to the poor. Angels were always supplying new leather.
The two brothers were persecuted for their faith under Emperor Diocletian. They were thrown into the river Aisne chained to a millstone, but miraculously stayed afloat. They were then beheaded in Soisson. Both attributes (millstone and sword) are depicted on the stones.
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