Leo St. Leo is well known for having stood up to Attila at the gates of Rome, and is considered one of the great defenders of Rome. St. Clare is considered one of the protectors of Assisi because of the incident when two bands of enemy soldiers left San Damiano unharmed. Assisi still celebrates that event on June 22nd. However, on one November night in 1442, the women and children of Assisi had taken refuge in the Basilica of Santa Chiara as Niccolò Piccinino laid waste Assisi. The candles were lit on the altar, the nuns were prostrate on the ground in prayer. The door was thrown open and Piccinino entered. But the chronicler – who was there - and wrote of the event said, “The captain, seeing so many women and girls taking shelter there, said to these women, and especially to the nuns of Santa Chiara, that this was no longer a good place for them, and that they should choose where they wanted to go, because he would have them sent there safely…. And at last he suggested Perugia [the great enemy of Assisi]. But… the nuns first and then the other women replied, ‘We would rather burn than go to Perugia.’ Whereupon, the captain immediately said, Sack! Sack!’; and thus, everything was pillaged: the convent with the nuns, the women and children.” (cf. Francis of Assisi, by Fortini, chapter 2, slightly adapted)