Saint Eustace, formerly the Roman soldier Placidus, and his martyrdom with his family
In the frescoes of Catholic cathedrals one can see a man in armour bearing a banner with a stag's head and a crucifix; often the same knight's coat of arms shows a brazen bull, and sometimes he has no heraldic devices at all but carries two sons in his arms, with his wife behind him. This is Eustace (Yevstafy), a saint with a very tragic story.
The Roman soldier Placidus lived in the 1st century and served the Emperor Trajan. One day, while hunting, he met a white stag with a golden cross between its antlers. It was a sign, and Placidus was baptised together with his wife and sons.
During the celebration of victory with sacrifices under the Emperor Hadrian, Eustace refused to take part in the pagan festivities and was cruelly punished by Hadrian: Placidus and his family were thrown into a pit with wild beasts, but when the beasts did not touch the Christians, the emperor ordered the whole family to be roasted in the belly of a brazen bull.
