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Translations and Reprints
FROM THE
No. 4.
Original Sources of European History
MEDIEVAL SERMON-STORIES.
Revised Edition of
MONASTIC TALES OF THE XIII. CENTURY.
› EDITED BY DANA CARLETON MUNRO, M. A.
PUBLISHED BY
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10
C
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS
FROM THE
ORIGINAL SOURCES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY.
VOL. II.
MEDIEVAL SERMON-STORIES.
Revised Edition of Monastic Tales of the XIII. Century.
I.
TALES OF THE VIRGIN
II.
TALES OF THE DEVIL .
III.
TALES OF RELICS.
IV.
TALES OF CONFESSION
>
V.
TALES OF THE HOST.
No. 4.
PAGE
2
7
II
14
18
INTRODUCTION.
In response to a request, made several times, fuller information is given here con-
cerning the authors of these tales and their object than was to be found in the first
edition. In order to do this, without increasing the length of the pamphlet, it has
been necessary to leave out the special introduction under each topic. Students will
find statements as to the beliefs concerning relics and the other topics in Lavisse :
Histoire de France, Vol. III, p. 305 ff, by A. Luchaire; Lavisse et Rambaud: His-
toire Générale, Vol. II, pp. 538–543, by Ch.-V. Langlois; Rambaud: Histoire de la
Civilisation Française, Vol. I (7th ed., 1898), pp. 308 ff; Rosières: Histoire de la
Société Française au Moyen Age, Vol. II, pp. 176 ff and 219 ff; the chapters on La
Société d' après les Sermons in Bourgain: La Chaire Française au XIIIe Siècle and in
Lecoy de la Marche: La Chaire Française au Moyen Age; Langlois: La Société du
Moyen Age d' après les Fabliaux in the Revue Bleue, Aug. 22d and Sept. 5th, 1891;
Montaiglon et Raynaud: Recueil Général et Complet des Fabliaux des XIIIe et
XIV Siècle, 6 vols., Paris, 1872-1890; and in the bibliographies given in these
works.
Jacques de Vitry was born probably before 1180, studied theology at Paris, and
was ordained priest in 1210. He preached first in 1213 in favor of the crusade
against the Albigenses. The following year he led a large army of crusaders to the
siege of Toulouse. He next preached a crusade against the Saracens. In 1214 he
was elected bishop of Acre, was approved by the Pope in 1215, and was consecrated
in 1216. He took a prominent part in the crusade of 1218-1221. In the winter of
1219-1220 he wrote his well known historical work. In 1226 or 1227 he resigned his
bishopric, and devoted himself again to preaching the crusade against the Albigenses.
In 1228 he was made a cardinal, and bishop of Tusculum. In 1239, probably, he
was elected patriarch of Jerusalem. He died about 1240. The anecdotes quoted
are taken from the exempla in the sermones vulgares, ad status or ad omne hominum
2
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
genus, 74 in number. These exempla have been edited with great learning by Thomas
Frederick Crane, M. A., under the title The Exempla of Jacques de Vitry, for the
Folk Lore Society, 1890. This is the best work on the subject.
Étienne de Bourbon, a Dominican, was born towards the end of the twelfth century
and died about 1261. In his youth he passed some years in the schools of the church
of Saint-Vincent at Mâcon. Later he studied at the University of Paris. In his writ-
ings there are a number of interesting anecdotes concerning student-life in his days.
As an inquisitor he acquired much information about the heretics, which he incorpo-
rated in his writings. Although he was zealous in his work he was prudent, and
rejected many fables current about the heretics. He wrote sermons which were
popular and widely used. The title shows his purpose, Tractatus de diversis materiis
praedicabilibus. The tales used in this pamphlet are from Anecdotes Historiques,
Légendes et Apologues tirés du recueil inédit d'Etienne de Bourbon, dominicain du
xiiie siècle, publiés pour la Société de l'Histoire de France, par A. Lecoy de la
Marche, Paris, 1877.
Cæsar of Heisterbach was born about 1180, possibly in Cologne, and died before
1250. He was master of the novices" and prior in the monastery at Heisterbach.
His Dialogue was one of the commonest sources for sermon-stories. The best edition
of his work is Cæsarii Heisterbacensis monachi ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus Miracu-
lorum, edited by Strange, 2 vols., Paris, 1851. The biographical facts given above
are taken mainly from the introductions to the editions cited.
The object of these sermon-stories was to arouse interest and to convey moral.
truths. Jacques de Vitry said, "It is necessary to employ a great many proverbs,
historical stories and anecdotes, especially when the audience is tired and begins to
get sleepy." Étienne de Bourbon said that Jacques owed his great success to this
practice. The use of anecdotes spread rapidly and widely, and many collections have
been preserved. For bibliographies and examples see, in addition to the works cited
above, Hauréau: Notices et Extraits de quelques manuscrits latins de la Bibliothèque
nationale, 6 vols., Paris, 1890-93.
串
​I. TALES OF THE VIRGIN.
1. VIRGIN SAVED MATRON AND MONK WHO ELOPED WITH
TREASURES OF MONASTERY.*
Jacques de Vitry, CCLXXXII. (pp. 117, ff.)
A certain very religious man told me that this happened in a place
where he had been living. A virtuous and pious matron came fre-
quently to the church and served God most devoutly, day and night.
Also a certain monk, the guardian and treasurer of the monastery,
had a great reputation for piety, and truly he was devout. When,
however, the two frequently conversed together in the church concern-
ing religious matters, the devil, envying their virtue and fame, tempted
* Translation borrowed in part from Crane.
TALES OF THE VIRGIN.
3
Accord-
them sorely so that the spiritual love was changed to carnal.
ingly they made an agreement and fixed upon a night in which the
monk was to leave his monastery, taking the treasures of the church,
and the matron was to leave her home, with a sum of money which
she should secretly steal from her husband.
After they had left and fled, the monks on rising in the morning
saw that the receptacles were broken and the treasures of the church
stolen; and not finding the monk, they quickly pursued him. Like-
wise the woman's husband, seeing his chest open and the money gone,
pursued his wife. Seizing the monk and the woman with the treasure
and money, they brought them back and threw them into prison.
Moreover so great was the scandal through all that part of the country
and so much were all religious persons reviled that the damage from
the infamy and scandal was far greater than from the sin itself.
Then the monk restored to his senses, began with many tears to pray
to the blessed Virgin, whom from infancy he had always served, and
never before had any such misfortune happened to him. Likewise
the matron began urgently to implore the aid of the blessed Virgin
whom, frequently, day and night, she had been accustomed to salute.
and before whose image she had been wont to kneel in prayer. At
length the blessed Virgin appeared before them in great anger and
after she had upbraided them severely, she said, "I am able to obtain
pardon for your sins from my son, but what can I do about such an
awful scandal? For you have so befouled the name of religious persons
before all the people, that in the future no one will trust them. This
is an almost irremediable injury."
At length the pious Virgin, overcome by their prayers, summoned
the demons who had caused the deed and enjoined upon them that,
as they had caused the scandal to religion, they must bring the infamy
to an end. Since, indeed, they were not able to resist her commands,
after much anxiety and various conferences they found a way to remove
the infamy. In the night they placed the monk in the church and
repairing the broken receptacle as it had been before, they placed the
treasure in it. Also they closed and locked the chest which the matron
had opened and replaced the money in it. And they set the woman
in her room and in the place where she was accustomed to pray by
night.
When, moreover, the monks found the treasure of their house and
the monk, who was praying to God just as he had been accustomed to
4
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
do; and the husband found his wife and the treasure; and they found
the money just as it had been before, they began to be amazed and to
wonder. Rushing to the prison they saw the monk and the woman in
fetters just as they had left them. For one of the demons was seen
by them transformed into the figure of a monk and another into the
shape of a woman. When the whole city had come together to see
the miracle, the demons said in the hearing of all, "Let us go, for
long enough have we deceived these people and caused ill to be
thought of religious persons." And having said this they vanished.
Moreover all fell down at the feet of the monk and of the woman and
demanded pardon.
Behold how great infamy and scandal and how inestimable damage
the devil would have wrought against religious persons, if the blessed
Virgin had not aided them.*
2. VIRGIN IN PLACE OF NUN WHO HAD FLED FROM THE
CONVENT.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Distinctio VII, Cap. XXXIV. (Vol. II, pp. 42–43.)
Not many years ago, in a certain monastery of nuns, of which I do
not know the name, there lived a virgin named Beatrix. She was
beautiful in form, devout in mind, and most fervent in the service of
the mother of God. As often as she could offer secretly to the Virgin
special prayers and supplications, she held them for her dearest delight.
Indeed, having been made custodian, she did this more devoutly
because more freely.
A certain clerk, seeing and lusting after her, began to tempt her.
When she spurned the words of lust, and on that account he insisted
the more strenuously, the old serpent enkindled her breast so vehe-
mently that she could not bear the flames of love. Therefore coming
to the altar of the blessed Virgin, the patroness of the oratory, she
spoke thus: "Mistress, I have served thee as devoutly as I could;
behold, I resign thy keys to thee, I cannot longer withstand the temp-
tations of the flesh." And, having placed the keys on the altar, she
secretly followed the clerk.
* For variants of this anecdote see Étienne de Bourbon, No. 519; Wright: Latin
Stories, No. 37. Crane, p. 257, cites other versions of this story in Latin, French,
English and German.
1
TALES OF THE VIRGIN.
5
When that wretched man had corrupted her, he abandoned her after
a few days. Since she had no means of living and was ashamed to
After she had continued
return to the convent, she became a harlot.
in that vice publicly for fifteen years, she came one day in a lay habit
to the door of the monastery. She said to the doorkeeper, "Did you
know Beatrix, formerly custodian of this oratory?" When the latter
replied, "I knew her very well. For she is an honest and holy woman,
and from infancy even to the present day she has remained in this
monastery without fault.” When she hearing the man's words, but not
understanding them, wished to go away, the mother of mercy appeared
in her well-known image and said to her, " During the fifteen years of
thy absence, I have performed thy task; now return to thy place and
do penance; for no one knows of thy departure." In fact, in the form.
and dress of that woman, the mother of God had performed the duties
of custodian. Beatrix entered at once and returned thanks as long as
she lived, revealing through confession what had been done for her.*
3. WOMAN PUNISHED FOR DESPISING A STATUE OF THE
VIRGIN.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. VII, Cap. XLIV.
(Vol. II, pp.
(Vol. II, pp. 62–63.)
In the chapel of the castle of Veldenz there is a certain ancient
image of the blessed Virgin holding her son in her bosom. This
image is, indeed, not very well made, but is endowed with great virtue.
A certain matron of this castle, which is situated in the diocese of Trier,
standing in the chapel one day looked at the image and despising the
workmanship, said, "Why does this old rubbish stand here?"
The blessed Mary, the mother of mercy, not, as I think, complaining
to her son of the woman who spoke so foolishly, but predicting the
future penalty for the crime to a certain other matron, said, “Because
that lady," designating her by name, "called me old rubbish, she shall
always be wretched as long as she lives."
After a few days that lady was driven out by her own son from all
her possessions and property, and up to the present day she begs
wretchedly enough, suffering the punishment for her foolish speech.
Behold how the blessed Virgin loves and honors those who love her,
and punishes and humbles those who despise her.
*Cf. Jacques de Vitry, No. 60; Wright, No. 106.
6
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
4. HORRIBLE DEATH OF A BLASPHEMER OF THE VIRGIN.
Étienne de Bourbon, No. 133. (p. 113.)
Also near Cluny, as I have heard from many, it happened recently,
namely, in the year of our Lord 1246, when I was there, that a
certain tavern keeper on the Saturday before Advent, in selling wine
and taking his pay, blasphemed Christ during the whole day. But
when about the ninth hour, in the presence of a multitude of men, he
had sworn by the tongue of the blessed Virgin, by blaspheming her
he lost the use of his tongue, and by speaking basely of her, suddenly
stricken in the presence of the multitude, he fell dead.*
5. ROBBER DELIVERED FROM HANGING BECAUSE OF HIS
PRAYERS TO THE VIRGIN.
Étienne de Bourbon, No. 119. (p. 103.)
Also we read that a certain robber had this much of good in him,
that he always fasted on bread and water on the vigils of the blessed
Mary, and, when he went forth to steal, he always said, "Ave Maria,"
asking her not to permit him to die in that sin. When moreover he
was captured and hung, he remained there three days and could not
die. When he called out to the passers by, that they should summon
a priest to him, and when the priest had come and the prefect and
others, he was removed from the gallows, and said that a most beautiful
virgin had held him up by the feet during the three days. Promising
reform, he was let go free.†
6. THE DEVIL THWARTED BY PRAYERS TO THE VIRGIN.
Étienne de Bourbon, No. 129. (p. 110.)
Also it is related that there was a certain knight, lord of a castle in
Auvergne, whom the devil served in human form for twelve years, as
he wanted to carry the knight off on account of his sins, if he should
find him at any time unfortified. When this was revealed to a certain
holy man, he approached the castle, saying that he wished to speak
with the servants. When, moreover, the devil seeing the holy man,
+ Cf. Jacques de Vitry, No. 296; Étienne de Bourbon, No. 131.
* This, with slight variations, was a familiar story, as the editor remarks. Cf. His-
toire littéraire, Vol. XXIII, p. 75; Wright: Latin Stories, No. 109; and also Cæsar
of Heisterbach, VII, 58.
TALES OF THE DEVIL.
7
wanted to run away and hide, the latter had him summoned and
He replied that
adjured him to say what he wanted and who he was.
he was the devil and that for twelve years he had been waiting for a
chance to carry off that lord; but he was not able to do so, because
seven times each day the lord with bent knees was accustomed to
salute the blessed Virgin, and to say the "Pater noster" seven times.
Adjured in the name of the blessed Virgin he left the foul corpse in
which he was and fled.*
%
II. TALES OF THE DEVIL.
1. THE DEVIL CONFESSED THAT HE HAD ENTERED A WOMAN
BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN DELIVERED TO HIM BY
HER HUSBAND.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. V, Cap. XI. (Vol. I, p. 291.)
When our abbot was celebrating mass last year on the Mount of the
Holy Saviour near Aachen, a possessed woman was brought to him
after the mass. When he had read the gospel lesson concerning the
Ascension over her head and at these words, "They shall lay hands on
the sick and they shall recover," had placed his hand upon her head,
the devil gave such a terrible roar that we were all terrified. Adjured
to depart, he replied, "The Most High does not wish it yet." When
asked in what manner he entered, he did not reply nor did he permit
the woman to reply. Afterward she confessed that when her husband
in anger said, "Go to the devil!" she felt the latter enter through her
ear. Moreover that woman was from the province of Aachen and very
well known.†
2. CONCERNING GERARD, A KNIGHT, WHOM THE DEVIL CARRIED
IN A MOMENT FROM THE CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS IN
INDIA TO HIS OWN COUNTRY.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. VIII, Cap. LIX. (Vol. II, pp. 131, ff.)
In a village which is called Holenbach there lived a certain knight
named Gerard. His grandsons are still living, and hardly a man can
be found in that village who does not know the miracle which I am
going to tell about him. He loved St. Thomas the Apostle so ardently
* Cf. Jacques de Vitry, No. 223.
+ Cf. Jacques de Vitry, No. 295.
8
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
and honored him so especially above the other saints that he never
refused any pauper seeking alms in the name of that one. Moreover,
he was accustomed to offer to the saint many private services, such as
prayers, fasts and the celebration of masses.
One day, by the permission of God, the devil, the enemy of all good
men, knocking at the knight's gate, in the form and dress of a pilgrim,
sought hospitality in the name of St. Thomas. He was admitted with
all haste and, since it was chilly and he pretended to be catching cold,
Gerard gave to him his own fur cape, which was not badly worn, to
cover himself with when he went to bed. When the next morning he
who had seemed a pilgrim did not appear, and the cape was sought
and not found, his wife in anger said to the knight, "You have often
been deceived by wanderers of this kind and yet you persist in your
superstition." But he replied calmly, "Do not be disturbed, St.
Thomas will certainly make good this loss to us." The devil did this
in order to provoke the knight to impatience on account of the loss of
his cape, and to extinguish in his heart his love for the Apostle. But
what the devil had prepared for his destruction redounded to the glory
of the knight; by it the latter was incited the more strongly, the former
was confused and punished. For after a little time Gerard wanted to
go to the abode of St. Thomas, and when he was all ready to start, he
broke a gold ring into two pieces before the eyes of his wife, and join-
ing them together in her presence, gave one piece to her and kept the
other himself, saying, "You ought to trust this token. Moreover, I
ask you to wait five years for my return, and after that you can marry
any one you please." And she promised.
He went on a very long journey and at length with great expense
and very great labor reached the city of St. Thomas the Apostle.
There he was saluted most courteously by the citizens and received
with as great kindness as if he had been one of them and well known
to them. Ascribing this favor to the blessed Apostle he entered the
oratory and prayed, commending himself, his wife, and all his posses-
sions to the saint. After this, remembering the limit fixed, and
thinking that the five years ended on that very day, he groaned and
God had
said, "Alas! my wife will now marry some other man."
delayed his journey on account of what is to follow.
When he looked around in sorrow he saw the above mentioned
demon walking about in his cape. And the demon said, “Do you
know me, Gerard?" He said, "No, I do not know you, but I know
TALES OF THE DEVIL.
9
the cape." The demon replied, "I am he who sought hospitality
from you in the name of the Apostle; and I carried off your cape, for
And he added, “I am the
which I have been severely punished."
devil, and I am commanded to carry you back to your own house
before nightfall, because your wife has married another man and is now
sitting with him at the wedding banquet." Taking him up, the devil
crossed in part of a day from India to Germany, from the east to the
west, and about twilight placed him in his own house without injury.
Entering his own house like a stranger, when he saw his own wife
eating with her spouse, he drew near and in her sight taking out the
half of the ring, he sent it to her in a cup. When she saw it, she
immediately took it out and joining it to the part given to her she
recognized him as her husband. Immediately jumping up she rushed
to embrace him, proclaiming that he was her husband Gerard and
saying good-bye to her spouse. Nevertheless, out of courtesy Gerard
kept the latter with him that night.
In this as in the preceding miracle it is sufficiently evident how
much the blessed Apostles love and glorify those who love them.
3. TWO HERETICS WORKED MIRACLES BY THE AID OF THE
DEVIL.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. V, Cap. XVIII.
(Vol. I, pp. 296, ff.)
Two men simply clad, but not without guile, not sheep but ravening
wolves, came to Besançon, feigning the greatest piety. Moreover,
they were pale and thin, they went about bare-footed and fasted daily,
they did not miss a single night the matins in the cathedral, nor did
they accept anything from any one except a little food. When by such
hypocrisy they had attracted the attention of every one, they began to
vomit forth their hidden poison and to preach to the ignorant new and
unheard of heresies. In order, moreover, that the people might
believe their teachings they ordered meal to be sifted on the sidewalk
and walked on it without leaving a trace of a footprint. Likewise
walking upon the water they could not be immersed; also, they had
little huts burnt over their heads, and after those had been burnt to
ashes, they came out uninjured. After this they said to the people,
"If you do not believe our words, believe our miracles.”
The bishop and the clergy hearing of this were greatly disturbed. And
when they wished to resist those men, affirming that they were heretics.
ΙΟ
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
and deceivers and ministers of the devil, they escaped with difficulty
from being stoned by the people. Now that bishop was a good and
learned man and a native of our province. Our aged monk, Conrad,
who told me these facts and who was in that city at the time, knew
him well.
The bishop seeing that his words were of no avail and that the people
entrusted to his charge were being subverted from the faith by the
devil's agents, summoned a certain clerk that he knew, who was very
well versed in necromancy, and said, "Certain men in my city are
doing so and so. I ask you to find out from the devil by your art who
they are, whence they come, and by what means so many and so
wonderful miracles are wrought. For it is impossible that they should
do wonders through divine inspiration when their teaching is so contrary
to God's." The clerk said, "My lord, I have long renounced that
art." The bishop replied, "You see clearly in what straits I am. I
must either acquiesce in their teachings or be stoned by the people.
Therefore I enjoin upon you for the remission of your sins that you
obey me in this matter."
The clerk, obeying the bishop, summoned the devil, and when asked
why he had called him responded, "I am sorry that I have deserted
you. And because I desire to be more obedient to you in the future
than in the past, I ask you to tell me who these men are, what they
teach, and by what means they work so great miracles." The devil
replied, "They are mine and sent by me, and they preach what I have
placed in their mouths." The clerk responded, "How is it that they
cannot be injured, or sunk in the water, or burned by fire ?" The
demon replied again, "They have under their arm-pits, sewed between
the skin and the flesh, my compacts in which the homage done by
them to me is written; and by virtue of these they work such miracles
and can not be injured by any one." Then the clerk, "What if those
should be taken away from them?" The devil replied, "Then they
would be weak, just like other men." The clerk having heard this,
thanked the demon, saying, "Now go, and when you are summoned
by me, return.”
He went to the bishop and recited these things to him in order.
The latter filled with great joy summoned all the people of the city to
a suitable place and said, “I am your shepherd, ye are my sheep. If
those men, as you say, confirm their teaching by signs, I will follow
them with you. If not, it is fitting that they should be punished and
TALES OF RELICS.
II
that you should penitently return to the faith of your fathers with me."
The people replied, "We have seen many signs from them." The
bishop, "But I have not seen them." Why protract my words? The
plan pleased the people. The heretics were summoned. The bishop
was present. A fire was kindled in the midst of the city. Neverthe-
less, before the heretics entered it, they were secretly summoned to
the bishop. He said to them, "I want to see if you have any evil
about you." Hearing this they stripped quickly and said with great
confidence, "Search our bodies and our garments carefully." The
soldiers, truly, following the instructions of the bishop, raised their
arms and noticing under the arm-pits some scars that were healed up,
broke them open with their knives and extracted from them the little
scrolls which had been sewed in.
Having received these the bishop went forth with the heretics to the
people and, having commanded silence, cried out in a loud voice,
"Now shall your prophets enter the fire, and if they are not injured I
will believe in them." The wretched men trembled and said, “We
are not able to enter now." Then the bishop told the people of the
evil which had been detected, and showed the compacts. Then all
furious hurled the devil's ministers, to be tortured with the devil in
eternal flames, into the fire which had been prepared. And thus
through the grace of God and the zeal of the bishop the growing heresy
was extinguished and the people who had been seduced and corrupted
were cleansed by penance.*
III. TALES OF RELICS.
1. THE RELICS OF ST. MARTIN HEALED TWO BEGGARS AGAINST
THEIR WILL.
Jacques de Vitry, CXII. (p. 52.)
Moreover, although poverty and other tribulations are advantageous,
yet certain ones abuse them. Accordingly we read that when the body
of St. Martin was borne in procession it healed all the infirm who met
it. Now there were near the church two wandering beggars, one blind,
the other lame, who began to converse together and said, "See, the
body of St. Martin is now being borne in procession, and if it catches
us we shall be healed immediately, and no one in the future will give
*Cf. Cæsar of Heisterbach: Homil. III, p. 58.
12
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
(
us any alms, but we shall have to work and labor with our own hands."
Then the blind man said to the lame, "Get up on my shoulders.
because I am strong, and you who see well can guide me." They
did this; but when they wished to escape, the procession overtook
them; and since, on account of the throng, they were not able to get
away, they were healed against their will.
2. CONCERNING A MERCHANT TO WHOM A HARLOT SOLD THE
ARM OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. VIII, Cap. LIII. (Vol. II, pp. 125–26.)
Not long ago a certain merchant of our country, crossing the sea,
saw the arm of St. John the Baptist in his hospital, and desired it.
Knowing that the custodian of the relics was following a certain woman,
and knowing that there is nothing which women of that class cannot
extort from men, he approached her and said, "If you will procure for
me the relics of St. John the Baptist of which your lover has the
charge, I will give you a hundred and forty pounds of silver." She,
craving the sum offered, refused to consent to the hospitaler until he
obtained the sacred arm. This she immediately delivered to the
merchant and received the promised weight of silver.
Do you perceive how great a mockery? Just as formerly the head
of St. John was delivered by Herod to a lascivious girl as a reward for
dancing, and by her was given to an adulterous mother, so at this time
the hospitaler, no less wicked than Herod, gave the arm of the same
saint to a base woman as the price of fornication, and by her it was
sold to the merchant.
The latter, not consigning it to the ground like Herodias, but wrap-
ping it in purple, fled almost to the extremities of the earth and arrived
at the city of Gröningen, which is situated at the entrance to Frisia.
There he built a house and, hiding the arm in one of the columns,
began to grow exceedingly wealthy. One day when he was sitting in
his shop, some one said to him, "The city is burning and the fire is
now approaching your house." He replied, "I do not fear for my
house, I have left a good guardian there." Nevertheless he arose and
entered his house. When he saw the column unmoved he returned to
his shop. All wondered what was the cause of so great confidence.
When questioned about the guardian of his house, he replied ambig-
uously; but when he realized that his fellow-citizens noted it, fearing
1
TALES OF RELICS.
13
lest they might employ violence against him, he took out the arm and
delivered it into the care of a certain hermitess. She, unable to keep
the secret, told a man of her charge, and he told the citizens. They
immediately took the relics and carried them to the church. When
the merchant tearfully requested his relics, they replied harshly. When
they asked him of what saint these were the relics, he not wishing to
betray the facts said he did not know. Nevertheless in grief he
deserted the city and, falling into poverty, he became very ill not long
after. When he feared death, he disclosed to his confessor what the
relics were and how he had obtained them.
When the citizens learned this, they made a receptacle in the form
of an arm, of silver and gilt, adorned with precious stones, and placed
the relics in it. I saw the same arm two years ago and it is covered
with skin and flesh. I also saw there among the relics a small gold
cross of Frederick the Emperor, which had been given to the above-
mentioned merchant at the same time as the arm.
NOVICE: Since no one of the saints is believed to be greater than
St. John the Baptist, why is it that we do not read of any miracle in his
life?
MONK: So that God may show that holiness does not consist in
miracles, but in right living. For after death he was illustrious by
innumerable and great miracles. The aforesaid citizens, in truth,
fearing for the relics of St. John, built of planks a very strong little
house behind the altar, and by night they had a priest sleep in the top
of it. The house was so shaken under him on the first night that he
felt no slight horror. In the second night truly it struck him when
asleep and hurled him onto the pavement. When one of the rulers of
the city fell sick, at his request Theodoric, the priest of the church,
carried the arm to his house and unwrapped it. He found the arm, as
well as the purple in which it was wrapped, covered with fresh blood,
He told me this with his own mouth. A priest cut off a small piece
of flesh from the same arm, and when he carried it off secretly in his
hand, he felt as much heat from it as if he had been carrying burning
coal. Many miracles and healings indeed were wrought in that city
by the same relics through the merits of St. John the Baptist.
14
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
3. MIRACLES WROUGHT BY BRIDLE FALSELY CALLED A RELIC.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. VIII, Cap. LXX. (Vol. II, p. 140.)
A certain knight loved most ardently the above-mentioned martyr,
St. Thomas of Canterbury, and sought everywhere to obtain some relic
of him. When a certain wily priest, in whose house he was staying,
heard of this he said to him, "I have by me a bridle which St. Thomas
used for a long time, and I have often experienced its virtues." When
the knight heard this, and believed it, he joyfully paid the priest the
money which the latter demanded and received the bridle with great
devotion.
God truly, to whom nothing is impossible, wishing to reward the
faith of the knight and for the honor of his martyr, deigned to work
many miracles through the same bridle. The knight seeing this
founded a church in honor of the martyr and in it he placed as a relic
the bridle of that most wicked priest.
IV. TALES OF CONFESSION.
1. BY CONFESSION A GUILTY PRIEST ESCAPED EXPOSURE.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. III, Cap. II. (Vol. I, pp. 112–13.)
A certain soldier dwelt in a certain village with whose wife the priest
of the same village committed adultery. The soldier was told that the
priest was carrying on an intrigue with his wife. He, since he was a
prudent man and did not readily believe the story, wished to say
nothing about it to his wife or the priest, but to learn the truth more
fully. But he was not without some suspicion. There happened to
be in another village, not far distant from the one in which the soldier
lived, a possessed person, in whom there was such a wicked demon
that in the presence of bystanders she revealed sins which were not
cloaked by a true confession. When the soldier learned this from
common report he asked the priest, whom he suspected, to go to a
certain meeting with him. And the priest promised.
When they had reached the village where the possessed one was, the
priest, conscious of his guilt, began to suspect the soldier, because he
was not ignorant that one possessed by so wicked a demon dwelt there.
And, fearing for his life if he was betrayed by the demon, feigning
some necessity, he entered a stable and throwing himself at the feet of
a servant of the soldier, said, "I ask you in the name of the Lord to
TALES OF CONFESSION.
15
hear my confession." The servant greatly terrified raised him up and
heard what he had to say. After the confession had been made, the
priest asked that a penance should be inflicted upon him; and the
servant replied very prudently, saying, "Whatever you would enjoin
upon another priest for such a crime, shall be your atonement.”
And so going forth now in greater security, the priest came with the
soldier to the church. There meeting the possessed one, the soldier
asked, "Do you know anything about me?" For he did this on
purpose to take away any suspicion that the priest might have. When
the demon made some reply to him which I do not know, he added,
"What do you know about that master?" The demon replied, “I
know nothing about that one." And after he had said this in German,
he immediately added in Latin, " He was justified in the stable."
clerk was present at the time.
No
NOVICE: I am sure that the devil did not speak Latin of his own
free will at that time.
MONK: He was not allowed to speak German, lest the knight
should understand what he said and learn the truth; and he was not
permitted to be silent, in order that he might show to the priest the
virtue of confession.
NOVICE Great is the virtue of confession which blotted out the
crime of adultery from the devil's memory and liberated a man from
imminent peril.
MONK: I heard also the fruit of this confession. The priest, not
unmindful of the benefit conferred upon him, deserted the world and
became a monk in a certain monastery of our order. He is believed
to be still living, as I have learned from a certain abbot of the Cistercian
order.
NOVICE: The prophecy of that impudent demon was the cause of
great salvation for him. *
2. THROUGH CONFESSION THE DEVIL'S RECORD BLOTTED OUT.
Étienne de Bourbon, No. 176. (pp. 155-156.)
The manifold inconveniences and losses which our enemies suffer
from the confession of our sins ought to incite us to confession.
It destroys the devil's records. And note how, when a certain clerk
was leading a most holy life so that the devil envied him, the devil by
* Cf. Cæsar of Heisterbach, III, 3; Jacques de Vitry, No. 261.
16
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
tempting the clerk caused him to fall into grievous sin. When moreover
the devil wished to confound him, and having assumed human form
had accused him before his bishop, and a day had been fixed on which
the devil was to prove his charges, by bringing before the judge his
accounts in which were recorded the place, the time, and the persons
to whose knowledge the clerk had sinned, the latter, seeing that he
was in hard straits, confessed all, grieving and purposing not to return.
to sin. When moreover they were in the presence of the judge and
the devil said he had much against the clerk which he could prove by
writing and witnesses, he unrolled his records and found all that had
been in them erased. He said, "All that I had against this man was
certainly written here this very day and I do not know who has de-
stroyed it all." Having thus spoken, he vanished. The clerk, more-
over, narrated all of these things to the bishop, in the secrecy of
confession.*
3. THROUGH CONFESSION A FORGOTTEN PRAYER ERASED
FROM THE DEVIL'S BOOK.
Étienne de Bourbon, No. 177. (p. 156.)
Also it is related that when a certain holy father was at one time
engaged with the brethren in some work and had forgotten, on account
of his occupation, to say the none at the right time, he saw the devil
passing before him, bearing on his shoulders a very large book in the
shape of a roll which looked as large as a tower. He adjured the devil
in the name of the Lord to drop that book, and when he unrolled the
book, he found written on one page that he himself had not said the
none on the day and at the hour when he ought to have said it.
Moreover, prostrating himself at once at the feet of his companions, he
confessed his negligence, and immediately looking again in the devil's
roll, he found that what had been written there before was erased, and
thereby he knew the efficacy of confession.
4. A HERETIC HEALED BY CONFESSION RELAPSED AND WAS
BURNT.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. III, Cap. XVII. (Vol. I, pp. 133-34.)
In the same city, namely Argentina which is Strassburg, ten heretics
were seized. When they denied their guilt, they were convicted by
the ordeal of red-hot iron and were condemned to be burnt.
* Cf. Cæsar of Heisterbach, II, 10; XI, 38; Jacques de Vitry, No. 301.
When
1
M
1
J
TALES OF CONFESSION.
17
on the appointed day they were being led to the fire, one of the attend-
ants said to one of them, "Wretched one, you are condemned. Now
do penance and confess your sins, lest after the burning of the body,
which is only momentary, hell-fire burns your soul eternally." When
the man replied, "I certainly think that I have been mistaken, but I
fear repentance in so great straits is by no means acceptable to God."
The former replied, "Only confess from your heart. God is merciful
and will receive the penitent."
Wonderful fact! For as soon as the man confessed his perfidy, his
hand was fully healed. While he delayed in confession, the judge
summoned him to the punishment. His confessor replied to the
judge, "It is not just that an innocent man should be condemned
unjustly." Since no trace of a burn was found on his hand, he was
dismissed.
The man had a wife living not far from the city entirely ignorant of
these things which have been related. When he came to her rejoicing
and said, “Blessed be God who has liberated me to-day from the
destruction of body and soul !" and explained to her the cause; she
replied, "What have you done, most wretched man, what have you
done? Why have you withdrawn from your holy and sacred faith
from fear of momentary pain? You ought rather, if it were possible,
to expose your body a hundred times to the flames than once to with-
draw from a faith so well proven."
Whom does not the voice of the serpent seduce? That man, un-
mindful of the favor divinely conferred upon him, unmindful of the so
manifest miracle, followed his wife's advice and returned to his former
error. God, not unmindful truly of the crime, in return for so great
ingratitude, tortured the hand of each one. The burn was renewed in
the hand of the heretic and, because his wife was the cause of his
returning to his error, she was made his companion in the renewed
pain. So vehement was the burn that it penetrated to the bones. And
since they did not dare in the village to utter the cries which the
violence of the pain extorted, they fled into the nearest woods, howling
there like wolves. Why protract my words? They were betrayed, led
back to the city, and together cast into the fire, which was not yet fully
extinguished, and were burnt to ashes.
NOVICE: "They were justly punished."
*
*Cf. Cæsar of Heisterbach, III, 16.
18
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
V. TALES OF THE HOST.
1. CHRIST SEEN IN THE HANDS OF A PRIEST.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. IX, Cap. XXVIII. (Vol. II, p. 186.)
In Himmerode an aged priest, Henry by name, died a few years
ago. He was a holy and just man, and had been for very many years
sacristan in that monastery. When he was reading the mass one day
at the altar of St. John the Baptist, in the choir of the lay-brethren,
a certain one of the lay-brethren standing near, saw, in the hands of
the priest, the Saviour in the form of a man. Nevertheless the priest.
himself did not see it. This was told to me by one of the elders in
that convent.
2. WOMAN PUNISHED FOR SCATTERING THE HOST UPON HER
VEGETABLES.
Cæsar of Heisterbach, Dist. IX, Cap. IX. (Vol. II, pp. 173-74.)
On the same island a maiden, not a nun, whom I saw there, was
possessed. When the devil was asked by a priest why he had so long
and so cruelly tortured Hartdyfa de Cogheme, he replied through the
mouth of the girl. "Why? She has most certainly deserved it. She
scattered the Most High upon her vegetables."
Since he did not at all understand the saying and the devil was
unwilling to explain, the priest went to the woman and told her what
the devil had said about her, advising her not to deny if she under-
stood. She immediately confessed her guilt, saying, "I understand
the saying well, although I have never told any man of it. When I
was a young girl and had a garden to cultivate, I received a wandering
woman as a guest one night. When I told her of the losses in my
garden, saying that all the vegetables were being devoured by cater-
pillars, she replied, I will tell you a good remedy. Receive the body
of the Lord, break it in pieces, scatter it over your vegetables, and the
plague will cease at once.' I, wretched one! who cared more for my
garden than for the sacrament, when I had received the body of our
Lord at Easter, took it out of my mouth and did with it as I had been
taught. What I had intended as a remedy for my vegetables, became
a source of torment to me, as the devil is my witness."
<
NOVICE: This woman was more cruel than the attendants of Pilate,
who spared Jesus after His death and did not break His bones.
TALES OF THE HOST.
19
MONK: Therefore, up to the present day she atones for that heinous
sin and suffers unheard-of tortures. Let those who employ the divine.
sacrament for temporal gain, or what is more execrable, for evil-doing,
give heed to this punishment, even if they do not consider the sinful-
ness. Also if vermin neglect the reverence due to this sacrament, they
sometimes suffer punishment.*
3. A CHURCH BUILT FOR THE HOST BY BEES.
Étienne de Bourbon, No. 317. (pp. 266-67.)
For I have heard that a certain rustic, wishing to become wealthy
and having many hives of bees, asked certain evil men how he could
get rich and increase the number of his bees. He was told by some
one that if he should retain the sacred communion on Easter and place
it in one of his hives, he would entice away all of his neighbor's
bees, which leaving their own hives, would come to the place where
the body of our Lord was and there would make honey. He did this.
Then all the bees came to the hive where the body of Christ was,
and just as if they had felt compassion for the irreverence done to it,
by their labor they began to construct a little church and to erect
foundations and bases and columns and an altar with like labor, and
with the greatest reverence they placed the body of our Lord upon the
altar. And within that little bee-hive they formed that little church
with wonderful and the most beautiful workmanship. The bees of the
vicinity leaving their hives came together at that one; and over that
structure they sang in their own manner certain wonderful melodies
like hymns.
But waiting until the fitting time
The rustic hearing this, wondered.
for collecting the swarm of bees and the honey-comb, he found nothing
in his hives in which the bees had been accustomed to make honey;
finding himself impoverished through the means by which he had
believed that he would be enriched, he went to that one where he had
placed the host, where he saw the bees had come together. But when
he approached, just as if they had wanted to vindicate the insult to our
Saviour, the bees rushed upon the rustic and stung him so severely that
he escaped with difficulty, and suffering greatly. Going to the priest
he related all that he had done and what the bees had done. The
*Cf. Jacques de Vitry, No. 270.
20
TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS.
priest, by the advice of his bishop, collected his parishioners and went
in procession to the place. Then the bees, leaving the hive, rose in
the air, making sweet melody. Raising the hive they found within the
noble structure of that little church and the body of our Lord placed
upon the altar. Then returning thanks they bore to their own church
that little church of the bees constructed with such skill and elegance
and with praises placed it on the altar.
By this deed those who do not reverence but offer insult instead to
the sacred body of Christ or the sacred place where it is, ought to be
put to great confusion.*
* Cf. Cæsar of Heisterbach, IX, 8; and see Crane: Exempla, p. lxxxviii.
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