Keychain of Saint Christopher with English protective text.

In the Middle Ages, Christopher was considered one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, or Holy Helpers, who could also be invoked as a group in an emergency. He was believed to protect against the plague and against an 'unexpected death,' meaning dying without receiving the last rites. Due to the low life expectancy of medieval people, (folk) prints and images of the Christ-bearer were found everywhere in the late Middle Ages, in market squares, homes, and churches. One of these prints (the so-called Buxheimer Christophorus in Manchester) also bears the inscription 'Christofori faciem die quacumque tueris Illa nempe die morte male non morieris' (= 'On the day you behold the face of Christophorus, on that day you shall surely not die an evil death').