San Roque was a 14th century French layman who devoted himself to caring for victims of the plague. Eventually he succumbed to the disease himself and was driven out of the town of Piacenza to languish in a cave. Soon afterward a dog began to bring him food, lick his wounds, and nursed him back to health. The pair became inseparable and Roque returned to his work of healing the sick. In Montpellier Roque was mistaken for a spy and thrown into prison where he died.
