The patron saints of breast disease

Throughout the Christian era, saints have been adopted as patrons of countries and towns, trades and professions, and also for protection against disease. Although patronage is usually related to the saint's most spectacular cure or mode of death, sometimes it derives from a play on words, an unusual physiognomy or mistaken identity. Historical research has identified 295 patrons of specific diseases. Thirteen of these saints are patrons of breast disease. St Agatha, who was martyred by mastectomy, being the most famous. The lives, legends, cults and pictorial representations of these saints are described.