Vitus

Vitus was a Christian martyr from Sicily, though his hagiography is pure legend and the dates of his actual life are unknown. Early sources show he was originally separate from the figures Modestus and Crescentia - likely fictitious - who later became attached to his story. According to tradition, he died during the Diocletianic Persecution in AD 303. By the Middle Ages he had risen to become one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and in Germany his feast on 15 June was celebrated with dancing before his statue. The practice grew so popular that when doctors encountered the involuntary movements of Sydenham's chorea, they named it "Saint Vitus Dance." He became patron saint of dancers and entertainers, and is also invoked against lightning strikes, animal attacks, and oversleeping.