Saint Hugh of Lincoln, though born in France, became a Carthusian monk at the age of twenty and went to England. He was sixty years old when a he died. So great was his holiness that kings and nobles carried his coffin to the grave. He was canonized twenty years after his death.
Altarpiece from the Carthusian monastery of Saint-Honoré, Thuison-les-Abbeville, France, depicting Saint Hugh of Lincoln with his swan (source), The old Catholic Encyclopedia explains the swan: “St. Hugh’s emblem is a white swan, in reference to the beautiful story of the swan of Stowe which contracted a deep and lasting friendship for the saint, even guarding him while he slept.” The story is told in some detail here.
