V 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS
 
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 €^t ^egenbatg ^tefotg of t^t Cxo^b^
 
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 lie Liegendary 
 Hijiory of the Ltro/s 
 
 A SERIES OF 
 
 Sixty-four Woodcuts 
 
 From a Dutch hook fublifhed by 
 Veldener, A.D. 1483 
 
 047^ If^TEODUCrW?^ 
 
 Written and Illuftrated 
 
 By JOHN ASHTON 
 
 TREE ACE 
 ByS. BARING GOULD,m.a. 
 
 Mt'^ iorfe 
 A. C. Armstrong 6c Son 
 
 M.D.CCaLIXXVIl 
 
 ^; 
 
 mp v^i 
 
 , =- M 

 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ^^^<»=t- 
 
 [HE origin of the mediaeval romance of 
 the Crofs is hard to difcover. It was 
 very popular. It occurs in a good num- 
 ber of authors, and is depided in a 
 good many churches in ftained glafs. 
 
 I may perhaps be allowed here to repeat what I 
 have faid in my article on the Legend of the Crofs, 
 in " Myths of the Middle Ages : " — 
 
 ** In the churches of the city of Troyes alone it 
 appears in the windows of four : S. Martin-es-Vignes, 
 S. Pantaleon, S. Madeleine, and S. Nizier. It is 
 frefcoed along the walls of the choir of S. Croce at 
 Florence, by the hand of Agnolo Gaddi. Pietro 
 della Francefca alfo dedicated his pencil to the hiftory 
 of the Crofs in a feries of frefcoes in the chapel of 
 the Bacci, in the church of S. Francefco at Arezzo. 
 It occurs as a predella painting among the fpecimens
 
 of early art at the Accademia delle Belle Arti at 
 Venice, and is the fubjedt of a pidture by Beham, in 
 the Munich Gallery. The Legend is told in full in 
 the * Vita Chrifti,' printed at Troyes in 1 517; in the 
 
 * Legenda Aurea' of Jacques de Voragine ; in a French 
 MS. of the thirteenth century, in the Britifh Mufeum. 
 Gervafe of Tilbury relates a- portion of it in his ' Otia 
 Imperalia,' quoting Peter Comeftor ; it appears in the 
 
 * Speculum Hiftoriale ' of Gottfried of Viterbo, in the 
 
 * Chronicon Engelhufii,' and eifewhere." 
 
 In the very curious Creation window of S. Neot's 
 Church, Cornwall, Seth is reprefented putting three 
 pips of the Tree of Life into the mouth and noftrils 
 of dead Adam, as he buries him. 
 
 Of the popularity of the ftory of the Crofs there 
 can be no doubt, but its origin is involved in obfcurity. 
 It is generally poffible to track moft of the religious 
 and popular folk tales and romances of the Middle 
 Ages to their origin, which is frequently Oriental, but 
 it is not eafy to do fo with the Legend of the Crofs. 
 It would rather feem that it was made up by fome 
 romancer out of all kinds of pre-exifting material, with 
 no other obje6t than to write a religious novel for pious 
 readers, to difplace the fenfuous novels which were 
 much in vogue.
 
 We know that this was largely done after the third 
 century, and a number of martyr legends, fuch 
 as thofe of S. Apollinaris Syncletica, SS. Cyprian and 
 Juftina, the ftory of Duke Procopius, S. Euphrofyne, 
 SS. Zofimus and Mary, SS.Theophanes and Panfemne, 
 and many others were compofed with this objed:. The 
 earlieft of all is undoubtedly the Clementine Recog- 
 nitions, which dates from a remotely early period, 
 and carries us into the heart of Petrine Chriftianity, 
 and in which many a covert attack is made on S. Paul 
 and his teaching. On the other hand, we know that 
 an Afiatic prieft, as Tertullian tells us, wrote a romance 
 on " Paul and Thecla, out of love to Paul." S. Jerome 
 fays that a Pauline zealot, when convidled before his 
 bifhop of having written the romance, tried to excul- 
 pate himfelf by faying that he had done it out of 
 admiration for S. Paul, but the Bifhop would not 
 accept the excufe, and deprived him. Unfortunately 
 this romance has not come down to us, though we 
 have another on S. Paul and his relations to Thecla, 
 who is faid to have accompanied him on his apoftolic 
 rambles, difguifed in male attire. 
 
 The Greek romance literature was not wholefome 
 reading for Chriftians. Some of the writers of thefe 
 tales became Chriftian bifhops, and probably devoted
 
 their facile pens to more edifying fubjeAs than the 
 difficulties of parted lovers. 
 
 Heliodorus, who wrote " Theagenes and 
 Charicheia," is faid to have become Biftiop of 
 Tricca, in ThefTaly. Socrates, in the fifth century, in 
 fpeaking of clerical celibacy, mentions the feverity of 
 the rule impofed on his clergy by this Heliodorus, 
 "under whofe name there are love-books extant, 
 called Ethiopica, which he compofed in his youth." 
 
 Achilles Tatius, author of the " Loves of Clitophon 
 and Leucippe," is faid alfo to have become a bifhop. 
 So alfo Euftathius of ThefTalonica, author of the 
 "Lives of Hyfemene and Hyfmenias," but this 
 is more than doubtful. 
 
 Three things conduced to the production of a 
 Chriftian romance literature in the early ages of the 
 Church : — (i) The neceffity under which the Church 
 lay of fupplying a want in human nature; (2) The 
 need there was for producing fome light wholefome 
 literature to fupply the place of the popular love- 
 romances then largely read and circulated ; (3) The 
 fadl that fome bifhops and converts were experienced 
 novel writers, and therefore ready to lend their hands 
 to fome better purpofe than amufing the leifure and 
 flattering the paflions of the idle and young.
 
 Much the fame conditions exifted in the Middle Ages. 
 There was an influx of fenfuous literature from the 
 Eaft, through the Arabs of Spain and Sicily ; Oriental 
 tales easily took Weftern garb, in which the caliphs 
 became kings of Chriftendom, and the fakirs and 
 imauns were converted into monks and Catholic 
 priefts. To counterad: thefe flories, colledlions of 
 which may be found in Le Grand d'Aufli and Von 
 der Hagen, and in Boccaccio, the Gefta Romanorum 
 was drawn up, a colledlion of moral tales, many of 
 them of fimilar Oriental parentage. But befide thefe 
 fhort flories, or novels, were long romances, fome 
 heroic, and founded on early national traditions and 
 ballads. To thefe belong the Niebelungen Lied and 
 Noth, the Gudrun, the Heldenbuch, the cycles of 
 Karlovingian and of Arthurian romance. 
 
 As it happens, we have two authors in the Middle 
 Ages, living much about the fame time, one intenfely 
 heathen in all his conceptions, the other as entirely 
 Chrifliian, each dealing with fubjeds from the fame 
 cycle, and the one writing in avowed oppofition 
 to the tendency of the other's book. I allude to 
 Wolfram of Efchenbach and Gottfried of Strafsburg. 
 The latter wrote the Triftram, the former the Parzival. 
 In Gottfried, the moral fenfe feems to be abfolutely
 
 dead ; there is no perception of the facrednefs of truth, 
 of chaftity, of honour, none of religion. Wolfram is 
 his exadl converfe. Wolfram gives us the hiftory of 
 the Grail, but he did not invent the myth of the 
 Grail, he derived it from pre-exifting material. 
 The Grail myth is almoft certainly heathen in its 
 origin, but it has been entirely Chriftianifed. The 
 holy bafin is that in which the Blood of Chrift is 
 preferved, and only the pure of heart can fee it ; but 
 the Grail was really the great cauldron of Nature, the 
 bafln of Ceridwen, the earth goddefs of the Kelts, or, 
 among Teutonic nations, the facrificial cauldron of 
 Odin, in which was brewed the fpirit of poefy, of 
 the blood of Mimer. The remembrance of the 
 myfterious vefTel remained after Kelt and Teuton 
 had become Chriftian, and the poets and romancifts 
 gave it a new fpell of life by chriftening it. It was 
 much the fame with the ftory of the Crofs. In the 
 Teutonic North, tree worfhip was widely fpread ; the 
 tree was facred to Odin, who himfelf, according to 
 the myfterious Havamal, hung nine nights wounded, 
 as a facrifice to himfelf, a voluntary facrifice, in ** the 
 wind-rocked tree." 
 
 That tree was Yggdrafill, the world tree, whofe roots 
 extended to hell, and whofe branches fpread to heaven.
 
 Northern mythology is full of allufion to this 
 tree, but we have, unfortunately, little of the hiftory 
 of it preferved to us ; we know of it only through 
 allufions. The Chriftmas tree is its reprefentative ; it 
 has been taken up out of paganifm, and rooted in 
 Chriftian foil, where it flourifhes to the annual delight 
 of thoufands of children. 
 
 Now the mediaeval romancifts laid hold of this tree, 
 as they laid hold of the Grail bafin, and ufed it for 
 Chriftian purpofes. The Grail cup became the chalice 
 of the Blood of Chrift, and the Tree of Odin became 
 the Crofs of Calvary. They worked into the romance 
 all kinds of material gathered from floating folk-tale 
 of heathen anceftry, and they pieced in with it every 
 fcrap of allufion to a tree they could find in Scripture. 
 It is built up of fragments taken from all kinds of 
 old ftrudures, put together with fome fkill, and built 
 into a goodly romance ; but the tracing of every 
 ftone to its original quarry has not been done by 
 anyone as yet. The Grail myth has had many 
 ftudents and interpreters, but not the Crofs myth. 
 That remains to be examined, and it will doubtlefs 
 prove a ftudy rewarding the labour of inveftigation. 
 
 S. BARING-GOULD.
 
 T'he Legendary 
 Hiflory of the Crofs. 
 
 >%^ 
 
 g .TisgyoS:-ii5i3ms5^ Y\ F Crofs on which our 
 
 Lord and Saviour fuf- 
 
 fered, would, naturally, if 
 
 properly authenticated, 
 
 ^ be an objedl of the 
 
 S^^ deepeft veneration to all 
 
 Chriftian men, be their creed, or fhade of 
 opinion what it might; but, for over 300 ' 
 years it could not be found, and it was 
 referved for the Emprefs Helena in her 
 old age (for fhe was 79 years old) to 
 difcover its place of concealment.' That 
 this Invention, or finding of the Crofs was 
 believed in, at the time, there can be no 
 manner of doubt, for it is alluded to by 
 
 A.D. 326.
 
 Cije JLegentiar^ 
 
 Rufinus on 
 the Invention. 
 
 St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerufalem (a.d. 350 
 to 386), and by St. Ambrofe. Rufinus 
 of Aquila, a friend of St. Jerome, in his 
 Ecclefiaftical Hijlory, gives an account 
 of its finding, in the following words : 
 "About the fame time, Helena, the 
 mother of Conftantine, a woman ot 
 incomparable faith, whofe fincere piety 
 was equalled by her rare munificence, 
 warned by celeflial vifions, went to Jeru- 
 falem, and inquired of the inhabitants 
 where was the place where the Divine 
 Body had been affixed and hung on a 
 gibbet. This place was difficult to find, 
 for the perfecutors of old had raifed a 
 ftatue to Venus,' in order that the Chrif- 
 tians who might wifli to adore Chrift in 
 that place, fhould appear to addrefs their 
 homage to the goddefs ; and thus it was 
 little frequented, and almoft forgotten. 
 After clearing away the profane obje(fts 
 which defiled it, and the rubbifh that 
 there heaped up, fhe found three 
 
 Hadrian is 
 
 [aid to ha-Tje 
 
 done this. 
 
 was 
 
 crofTes placed in confufion. But the joy
 
 ^iftorp of tU Crofs* 
 
 XI 
 
 which this difcovery caufed her was 
 tempered by the impoflibihty of dif- 
 tinguifhing to whom each of them had 
 belonged. There, alfo, was found the 
 title written by Pilate in Greek, Latin, 
 and Hebrew characfters ; but flill there 
 was nothing to indicate fufficiently clearly 
 the Crols of our Lord. This uncertainty 
 of man was fettled by the teflimony of 
 heaven." And then follows the ftory of 
 the dead woman being raifed to life. 
 
 Not only did Rufinus write thus, but 
 Socrates, Theodoret, and Sozomen, all 
 of whom lived within a century after 
 the Invention, tell the fame ftory, 
 fo that it muft have been of current 
 belief. 
 
 The punifhment of the Crofs was 
 a very ordinary one, and of far wider 
 extent than many are aware. It was 
 common among the Scythians, the Greeks, 
 the Carthaginians, the Germans, and the 
 Romans, who, however, principally ap- 
 plied it to their flaves, and rarely crucified 
 
 Other 
 Authorities. 
 
 PuniJJiment 
 of the Crofs,
 
 Xll 
 
 C6e JLegcnDar^ 
 
 Punijliment 
 of the Crofs. 
 
 free men, unlefs they were robbers or 
 afTaffins. 
 
 Alexander the Great, after taking the 
 city of Tyre, caufed two thoufand in- 
 habitants to be crucified. 
 
 Flavius Jofephus relates, in his Anti- 
 quities of the yews, that Alexander, the 
 King of the Jews, on the capture of the 
 town of Betoma, ordered eight hundred 
 of the inhabitants to fuffer the death of 
 the Crofs, and their wives and children 
 to be malTacred before their eyes, whilfl 
 they were ftill alive. 
 
 Auguftus, after the Sicilian War, cru- 
 cified fix thoufand flaves who had not 
 been claimed by their mafiiers. 
 
 Tiberius crucified the priefiis of Ifis, 
 and deflroyed their temple. 
 
 Titus, during the fiege of Jerufalem, 
 crucified all thofe unfortunates who, 
 to the number of five or fix hundred 
 daily, fled from the city to efcape the 
 famine; and fo numerous were thefe 
 executions, that crofiTes were wanting,
 
 ^iflorp of t\)Z Crofs. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 T/ie different 
 forts ofCroffes. 
 
 and the land all about feemed like a 
 hideous foreft. 
 
 Thefe inftances are fufficient to {how 
 that death by crucifixion was a common 
 punifhment ; but, Angularly enough, the 
 fhape of the Crofs has never been fatif- 
 fadiorily fettled ; practically, the queftion 
 lies between the Crux capttata^ or immijfa^ 
 which is the ordinary form of the Latin 
 Crofs, and the Crux anfata, or commijja. 
 frequently called the Tau Crofs, from the 
 Greek letter T. The T'^^^-fhaped Crofs 
 is, undoubtedly, to be met with moft 
 frequently in the older reprefentations; 
 and the more ancient authorities, fuch 
 as Tertullian, St. Jerome, St. Paulinus, 
 Sozomen, and Rufinus, are of opinion 
 that this was the fhape of the Crofs. 
 After the fifteenth century, our Lord is 
 rarely dep idled on the Crux co?nmi[fa, it 
 being referved for the two thieves. 
 
 M. Adolphe Napoleon Didron, in 
 his Iconographie Chretienne, gives a few 
 illuftrations of the antiquity of the 
 
 Antiquity of 
 the Tau Crofs.
 
 Tau Crofs : " The Crofs is our crucified 
 Lord in perfon ; ' Where the Crofs is, 
 there is the martyr,' fays St. PauHnus. 
 Confequently it works miracles, as does 
 Jefus Himfelf : and the hfh of wonders 
 operated by its power is in truth immenfe. 
 By the fimple lign of the Crofs traced 
 upon the forehead or the breaft, men 
 have been dehvered from the moft im- 
 minent danger. It has conftantly put 
 demons to flight, protected the virginity 
 of women, and the faith of believers; 
 it has reftored men to life, or health, 
 infpired them with hope or refignation. 
 
 " Such is the virtue of the Crofs, that 
 a mere allufion to that facred iign, made 
 even in the Old Teftament, and long 
 before the exiftence of the Crofs, faved 
 the youthful Ifaac from death, redeemed 
 from deftrudlion an entire people whofe 
 houfes were marked by that fymbol, 
 healed the envenomed bites of thofe who 
 looked at the ferpent raifed in the form 
 of a Tau upon a pole. It called back the
 
 ^iUocp of tbe Crofs. 
 
 XV 
 
 foul into the dead body of the fon of that 
 poor widow who had given bread to the 
 prophet. 
 
 " A beautiful painted window, belong- 
 ing to the thirteenth century, in the 
 Cathedral of Bourges, has a reprefen- 
 tation of Ifaac bearing on his fhoulders 
 the wood that was to be ufed in 
 his facrifice, arranged in the form of a 
 Crofs; the Hebrews, too, marked the 
 lintel of their dwellings with the blood 
 
 of the Pafchal lamb, in the form of a 
 Tau or Crofs without a fummit. The 
 widow of Sarepta picked up and held 
 croiTwife two pieces of wood, with which 
 fhe intended to bake her bread. Thefe 
 figures, to which others alfo may be 
 added, ferve to exalt the triumph of the 
 Crofs, and feem to flow from a grand 
 central picture which forms their fource, 
 and exhibits Jefus expiring on the Crofs. 
 It is from that real Crofs indeed, bearing 
 the Saviour, that thefe fubjedts from the 
 Old Teftament derive all their virtue.'* 
 
 T/ieTau Crofs.
 
 XVI 
 
 Cl)e Icgenuarp 
 
 JVood oj the 
 Crofs. 
 
 The wood of which it was made is as 
 unfettled as its fhape. The Venerable 
 Bede fays that our Lord's Crofs was made 
 of four kinds of wood : the infcription 
 of box, the upright beam of cyprefs, the 
 tranfverfe of cedar, and the lower part of 
 pine. John Cantacumene avers that only 
 three woods were employed: the upright, 
 cedar ; the tranfverfe, pine ; and the head 
 in cyprefs. Others fay that the upright 
 was cyprefs, the tranfverfe in palm, and 
 the head in olive ; or cedar, cyprefs, and 
 olive. Mofl authorities feem to concur 
 that it was made of feveral woods, but 
 there is a legend that it was made from 
 the afpen tree, whofe leaves flill tremble 
 at the awful ufe the tree was put to ; 
 whilfl: that veritable traveller. Sir John 
 Maundeville, fays : " And alfo in Iheru- 
 faiem toward the Weaft is a fayre church 
 where the tree grew of the which the 
 Crolfe was made." Liplius fays that it 
 was made of but one wood, and that 
 was oak ; but M. Rohault de Fleury (to
 
 whofe wonderful and comprehenfive 
 work, M^moire fur les Injlruments de la 
 Pajfion de notre Sauveur Jefus Chriji^ I 
 am deeply indebted, fays, " M. Decaifne, 
 member of the Inftitut, and M. Pietro 
 Savi, profeiTor at the Univerfity of Pifa, 
 have fhewn me by the microfcope that 
 the pieces in the Church of the Holy 
 Crofs of Jerufalem at Rome, in the 
 Cathedral at Pifa, in the Duomo at 
 Florence, and in Notre Dame at Paris, 
 were of pine'' And he adds, in a foot- 
 note, " Independently of the experiments 
 which M. Savi kindly made in my 
 prefence, he wrote me the refults of other 
 obfervations, which tended to confirm." 
 
 Starting with the Invention of the 
 Holy Crofs, the loving, but fervid, 
 imaginations of the faithful foon wove 
 round it a covering of imagery, as we 
 have jufl: feen in the cafe of the feveral 
 woods of the Crofs, and the facred tree 
 became the fubjedl of a legend (for fo it 
 always was only meant to be), which 
 
 Crofs made 
 of pine.
 
 XVlll 
 
 Cbe Legcntiarp 
 
 Caxtons 
 Golden Legend 
 
 was Incorporated in the Legenda Aurea 
 SanBorufTiy or Golden Legend of the Saints, 
 of Jacobus de Voraglne, a colledlion of 
 legends connecfled with the fervices of 
 the Church. This book was exceedingly 
 popular, and, when Caxton fet up his 
 printing-prefs at Weftminfler, he pro- 
 duced a tranflation, the hiftory of which 
 he quaintly tells us In a preface.* 
 
 As this Golden Legend Is the ftandard 
 authority on the fubjeft, and as It will 
 
 * " And for as moche as this fayd worke was grete & over 
 chargeable to me taccompliffhe, I feryd me in the begynnynge 
 of the tvanflacion to have contynued it / bycaufe of the longe 
 tyme of the tranflacion / & alfo in thenpryntyng of y' fame 
 and in maner halfe defperate to have accompliflci it / was in 
 purpofe to have lefte it / after that I had begonne to tranflate 
 it / & to have layed it aparte ne had it be (en) at thynftance & 
 requefte of the puyfTant noble & vertuous erle my lord wyllyam 
 erle of arondel / whych defyred me to procede & contynue the 
 faid werke / & promyfed me to take a refonable quantyte of 
 them when they were acheyeued & accompliflhed / and fente to 
 me a worftiypful gentylman a fervaunt of his named John 
 Stanney which folycyted me in my Lordes name that I fliold 
 in no wyfe leve it but accompliffhe it promyfyng that my fayd 
 lord {hold duringe my lyf geve & graunt to me a yerely fee / 
 that is to wete a bucke in fommer / & a doo in Wynter / with 
 whiche fee I holde me wel contente," &c.
 
 5)ilIotp of tl)e €tof0. 
 
 XIX 
 
 much affift the intelligent appreciation 
 of the wood-blocks, I reproduce it, 
 premiling that I have ufed throughout 
 the firft edition, 20 Nov., 1483 : — 
 
 ' But alle the dayes of adam lyvynge 
 here in erthe amounte to the fomme of 
 ip^VVV* yere / And in thende of his lyf 
 
 * This apparently long life of Adam is admitted on all 
 hands, even in the Revifed Verfion of the Bible. The Talmud 
 lays that God promifed him one thoufand years of life, and it 
 is recorded that he begat Seth when he was a hundred and 
 thirty years old. On this the Talmud {Erwvin, fol. 18, col. 2) 
 has the following comment : " Rav Yirmyah ben Ehzer faid : 
 All thofe years, which Adam fpent in alienation from God, 
 he begat evil fpirits, demons, and fairies; for it is faid, ' And 
 Adam was an hundred and thirty years, and begat a fon in 
 his own likenefs, after his image ' ; confequently, before that 
 time, he begat after another image." 
 
 This term of one hundred and thirty years feems to have 
 been a period in Adam's exiftence, for we again find (Eruvin, 
 fol. 18 b.) ; "Adam was a Chafid, or great faint, when he 
 obferved that the decree of death was occafioned by him ; he 
 faftedvi hundred and thirty years, and all this time he abitained 
 from intercourfe with his wife." 
 
 There is a Talmudical tradition that God Ihowed the 
 future to Adam (Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 31): "The 
 Holy One — blefled be He ! — fhewed unto Adam each genera- 
 tion, and its preachers, its guardians, its leaders, its prophets, its 
 heroes, its finners, and its faints, faying, ' In fuch and fuch a 
 generation fuch and fuch a King flaall reign, in fuch and fuch 
 a generation fuch and fuch a wife man fhall teach.' " 
 
 Page 39. 
 
 Length of 
 Adam's life. 
 
 Talmud 
 
 legends 
 
 rejpe^ing 
 
 Adam^s length 
 
 oflife.
 
 XX 
 
 Ot %nucncgon of t^lp 
 ci-orfe/ au^ fira of t^gs ^i30Ite 
 Juuenaon
 
 ©iflorp of tbt Crof0, 
 
 XXI 
 
 whan he (hold dye / it is faid but ot none 
 audtoryte / that he fente Seth his fone in 
 to paradys for to fetch the oyle of mercy 
 / where he receyuyde certayn graynes of 
 the fruyt of the tree of mercy by an 
 angel / And whan he come agayn / he 
 fonde his fader adam yet alyve and told 
 hym what he had don. And thenne 
 
 This isamplified in Midiafli Yalkut (fol. 12), where it is 
 faid that God Ihowed Adam all future generations of men, 
 with their leaders, learned and literary men, and there he 
 oblerved that David was credited with only three rours 
 of life, and he faid, " Lord and Creator of the world, is this 
 unalterable ?" " Such was my firft intention," was the reply. 
 "How many years have I to live ?" afked Adam. "One 
 thoufand." Then Adam faid, " I will lend him fome of my 
 years." And a document was drawn up whereby Adam 
 transferred feventy years of his life to David. 
 
 S. Baring-Gould, in his legends of Old Tejiament CharaSiers, 
 vol i. p. 77, referring to a Muffulman legend, fays : " Finally, 
 when Adam reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the 
 Angel of Death appeared under the form of a goat, and ran 
 between his legs. 
 
 " Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, ' God has 
 given me one thoufand years j wherefore comeft thou now ? ' 
 
 " < What ! ' exclaimed the Angel of Death, * haft thou not 
 given feventy years of thy life to the prophet David ? ' 
 
 "Adam ftoutly denied that he had done fo. Then the Angel 
 of Death drew the document of transfer from out of his beard, 
 and prefented it to Adam, who could no longer refufe to go."
 
 xxu 
 
 Cfje legentiatp 
 
 Laughed or 
 Cmiled. 
 
 Obtained 
 true mercy. 
 
 Adam lawhed' firft / and then deyed / 
 and thenne he leyed the greynes or 
 kernellis under his faders tonge and 
 buryed hym / in the vale of ebron / and 
 out of his mouth grewe thre trees of the 
 thre graynes / of which the crofTe that 
 our lord fuffred his paffion on / was made 
 by vertue of which he gate^ very mercy 
 and was brought out of darknes in to 
 veray light of heven / to the whiche he 
 brynge us that lyveth and regneth god 
 world with oute ende. 
 
 ?age 167. 
 
 Of old. 
 
 j^HE 3lnvencion*of the holy crofle is 
 faid bycaufe that this day the holy 
 crofle was founden / for to fore'* it was 
 founden of feth in paradyfe tereftre / lyke 
 as hit fhal be fayd here after / and alfo 
 it was founden of falamon in the mounte 
 of lybane and of the quene of faba / in 
 the temple of falamon / And of the 
 
 * The Feftival of the Invention, or finding of the Crofs, is 
 kept in the Roman and Englifli Churches on May 3.
 
 ©ilfoc^ of tbe Crofs. 
 
 XXlll 
 
 lewes in the water of pyfcyne* / And on 
 thys day it was founden of Helayne in 
 the mounte of Calvarye/. 
 
 Of the Holy Croffe. 
 
 j?JJHE holy crofle was founden two 
 hondred yere after the refurrexyon 
 of our lord / It is redde in the gofpel of 
 nychodemus^ / that whan adam wexyd 
 feck / Seth hys fone wente to the gate of 
 paradyfe tereftre, for to gete the oyle of 
 
 '■'■- Pifcina, a fifh-pond : Lat. 
 to be the Pool of Bethefda. 
 
 In this inftance it is fuppofed 
 
 •f- Nicodenius, chap. 14: — 
 
 But when the firft man our father Adam heard theie things, 
 that Jefus was baptized in Jordan, he called out to his fon 
 Seth, and faid, 
 
 Declare to your fons, the patriarchs and prophets, all thofe 
 things which thou didft hear from Michael the Archangel, 
 when I fent thee to the gates of Paradife to entreat God 
 that he would anoint my head when I was fick. 
 
 Then Seth, coming near to the patriarchs and prophets, 
 faid : I, Seth, when I was praying to God at the gates of 
 Paradife, beheld the angel of the Lord, Michael, appear unto 
 me, faying, I am fent unto thee from the Lord j I am 
 appointed to prefide over human bodies. 
 
 I tell thee, Seth, do not pray to God in tears, and entreat 
 him for the oil of the tree of mercy, wherewith to anoint 
 thy father Adam for his headach j 
 
 f. 3. 
 
 'V. 4.
 
 XXIV 
 
 Cbe Legennarp 
 
 mercy for to enoynte wythal hys faders 
 body / Thenne apperyd to hym faynt 
 mychel thaungel and fayd to hym / 
 travayle not the in vayne / for thys oyle 
 / for thou mayft not have it till fyve 
 thoufand and fyve hondred yere been 
 paffed / how be it that fro Adam unto 
 the paffyon of our lord were but fyve 
 
 QfJtC and 55S^^^ y^^^ I -^^ another place 
 it is redde that the aungel broughte hym 
 a braunche / and commaunded hym to 
 plante it in the mounte of lybanye / Yet 
 
 •v. 5. 
 
 "v. 6. 
 
 'v. 7, 
 
 'v. 8. 
 
 "v. 9. 
 
 Becaufe thou canft not by any means obtain it till the laft 
 day and times, namely, till five thoufand and five hundred 
 years be paft. 
 
 Then will Chrift, the moll merciful Son of God, come 
 on earth to raife again the human body of Adam, and at the 
 fame time to raife the bodies of the dead, and when he cometh 
 he will be baptized in Jordan ; 
 
 Then with the oil of his mercy he will anoint all thofe 
 that believe on him j and the oil of his mercy will continue 
 to future generations, for thofe who (hall be born of the water 
 and the Holy Ghoft unto eternal life. 
 
 And when at that time the moft merciful Son of God, 
 Chrift Jel'us, fliall come down on earth, he will introduce our 
 father Adam into Paradife, to the tree of mercy. 
 
 When all the patriarchs and prophets heard all thefe things 
 from Seth, they rejoiced more.
 
 ^iftotp of tU (ZErofs. 
 
 fynde we in another place / that he gafe 
 to hym of the tree that Adam ete of / 
 And fayd to hym that whan that bare 
 fruyte he fhould be guariffhed' and alle 
 hoole V' whan feth came ageyn he founde 
 his fader deed / and planted this tree 
 upon his grave / And it endured there 
 un to the tyme of Salomon / and bycaufe 
 he fawe that it was fayre, he dyd^ doo 
 hewe it doun / and fette it in his hows 
 named faltus / and whan the queue of 
 faba came to vyfyte Salamon / She wor- 
 fhypped this tre bycaufe fhe fayd the 
 favyour of alle the world fhold be hanged 
 there on / by whome the royame^ of the 
 lewes that be defaced and feace.^ Salomon 
 for this caufe made hit to be taken up / 
 & dolven^ depe in the grounde. Now it 
 happed after that they of lerufalem (dyd 
 do make a grete pytte for a pyfcyne^ / 
 where at the mynyfters of the temple 
 fholde wefflie theyre beftys / that they 
 (hold facrefyfe / and there founde thys 
 tre / and thys pyfcyne had fuche vertue, 
 
 XXV 
 
 Cured: 
 
 French^uerir, 
 
 to heal. 
 
 JVhole. 
 
 Didfo — caufed 
 
 to be : ivords 
 
 of frequent 
 
 occurrence. 
 
 Kingdom ; 
 
 French, 
 
 royaume. 
 
 Ceafe. 
 
 6 
 
 Dug, p. part, 
 of delve. 
 
 Pond. 
 
 i^
 
 XXVI 
 
 C6e legennarp 
 
 that the aungels defcended and mevyd 
 the water / and the firft feke man that 
 defcendyd in to the water after the 
 mevyng / was made hole of what fomever 
 fekenefle he was feek of. And whan 
 the tyme approched of the paflyon of 
 our lord / thys tree aroos out of the 
 water and floted above the water / And 
 of this pyece of tymbre made the lewes 
 the croffe of our lord / Thenne after 
 this hyftorye / the crofle by which we 
 been faved / came of the tree by whiche 
 we were dampned. And the water of 
 that pyfcyne had not his vertue onely of 
 the aungel / but of the tre/. With this 
 tre wherof the crolTe was maad / there 
 was a tree that went over thwarte / on 
 whiche the armes of our lord were 
 nayled/. And another pyece above which 
 was the table / wherin the tytle was 
 wryten / and another pyece wherein the 
 fokette or mortys was maad that the 
 body of the crolTe flood in foo that 
 there were foure manere of trees / That
 
 ft)iGotp of tbe €xot^. 
 
 XXVll 
 
 is of palme of cypres / of cedre and of 
 olyve. So cche of thyfe foure pyeces was 
 of one of thofe trees/. This blefled 
 crofle was put in the erthe and hyd by 
 the ipace of on hondred yere and more / 
 But the moder of themperour which 
 was named helayne* founde it in thys 
 manere / For Conftantyn came wyth a 
 grete multytude of barbaryns nygh unto 
 the ryver of the dunoe / whyche wold 
 have goon over for to have deftroyed alle 
 the contree / And whan conftantyn had 
 
 * Alban Butler, in TAe Lives of the Fathers^ Martyrs, 
 and other Principal Saints, denies that St. Helena was an 
 Innholder (Stabularia) in Bithynia, when Conftantius married 
 her, and fays : *' We are affured by the unanimous tradition 
 of our Englifti hiftorians that this holy emprefs was a native 
 of our ifland. William of Malmefbury, the principal hiftorian 
 of the ancient ftate of our country after Bede, and before him, 
 the Saxon author of the life of St. Helen, in 970, quoted by 
 Ulher, expreffly fay that Conftantine was a Briton by birth." 
 Leland, in his Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis, fays 
 that St. Helena was the only daughter of King Coilus, the 
 King Cool who firft built walls round Colchefter, and the 
 Englifh Church has generally recognifed her Britifli origin. 
 Her feftival is kept on Auguft 18. 
 
 When her huftand, Conftantine Chlorus, entered into an 
 arrangement with Diocletian, by which he had the countries
 
 XXVIU 
 
 Cl)e iLegenuarp 
 
 aflembled his hooft / He went and fette 
 them ageynft that other partye / But as 
 fone as he began to pafle the ryver / he 
 was moche aferde / by caufe he {hold 
 on the morne have batayle / and in the 
 nyght as he flepte in his bedde / an 
 aungel awoke hym / and fhewed to hym 
 the fygne of the crofle in heven / and 
 fayd to hym / Beholde on hye on heven/. 
 Thanne fawe he the crofle made of 
 ryght clere lyght / & was wryten there 
 upon wyth lettres of golde / In this 
 fygne thou fhalte over come the batayle/ 
 
 this fide the Alps, namely, Gaul and Britain, he was obliged, 
 as part of the bargain, to divorce St. Helena, and marry 
 Theodora, the daughter-in-law of Maximinianus. According 
 to Eufebius, (he was not converted to Chriftianity at the fame 
 time as her fon Conftantine, who, when he came to the throne, 
 paid her the greateft deference, and gave her the title of 
 Augufta, or emprefs. After the Council of Nice, in 325, he 
 wrote to Macarius, Biftiop of Jerufalem, concerning the 
 building of a fplendid church upon Mount Calvary, and St. 
 Helena, although ftie was then 79 years of age, undertook to 
 fee it carried out. 
 
 It was then that the reputed Invention of the Crofs, together 
 with the nails, took place, and ftie foon afterwards died, but 
 the exaft year is uncertain, fome authorities giving a.d. 326, 
 others 328,
 
 Jj)morp of tbe ^rofs* 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Thenne was he alle comforted of thys 
 vylion / And on the morne / he put 
 in his banere the Croffe^ / and made it ^t wr 
 
 Banner of 
 Confiantine. 
 
 to be borne tofore hym and his hooft / 
 And after fmote in the hooft of his 
 enemyes / and llewe and chaced grete 
 plente / After thys he dyd doo"" calle the 
 byffhoppes of the ydolles /and demaunded 
 them to what god the fygne of the crolTe 
 apperteyned. And whan they coude not 
 anfwere / fome criften men that were 
 there tolde to hym the myfterye of the 
 croffe / and enformed hym in the faythe 
 of the trynyte / Thenne anone he bylevyd 
 parfytly (in) god / and dyd do baptyfe 
 hym / and after, it happed that conftan- 
 tyn his fone remembred the vy6torye of 
 his fader / Sente to helayn his modre 
 
 Cauftd to be 
 called together.
 
 XXX 
 
 C6e LegenDarp 
 
 for to fynde the holy crofTe / Thenne 
 helayne wente in to Iherufalem / and 
 dyd doo afTemble all the wyfe men of 
 the contre / and whan they were afl'em- 
 bled / they wold fayn knowe wherfore 
 they were called / Thenne one ludas 
 Know. fayd to them / I wote' wel that fhe wyl 
 
 knowe of us where the crofTe of Ihefu 
 crifte was leyed / but beware you al 
 that none of you tell hyr / for I wote 
 wel then fhall our lawe be deftroyed / 
 Grandfather. Yov zacheus my olde^ fader fayde to 
 fymon my fader / And my fader fayde 
 to me at his dethe / be wel ware / that 
 for no tormente that ye may fuffre / telle 
 not where the crofTe of Ihefu crifte was 
 leyde / for after that hit fhal be founden 
 / the lewes fhal reygne no mour / But 
 the criften men that worfhypped the 
 crofTe fhal then reygne / And verayly 
 this Ihefus was the fone of god. 
 
 Then demaunded I my fader / wher- 
 fore had they hanged hym on the crofTe 
 fythe it was knowen that he was the fone 
 
 J
 
 ^illorp of tbe Crofs* 
 
 XXXI 
 
 of god / thenne he fayd to me fayre 
 fone I never accorded thereto / But gayn 
 faid it alwaye /But the Pharifees dyd it 
 bycaufe he repreyvd theyr vyces / but he 
 aroos on the thyrd day / and his dyfciples 
 feeing / he afcended in to heven / 
 Thenne by caufe that Stephen thy broder 
 belevyd in him / the lewes floned hym 
 to dethe. 
 
 Then when ludas had fayd theyfe 
 wordes to his felawes / they anfwerd we 
 never herde of fuche thynges / never the 
 leffe kepe the wel if the quene demaunde 
 the therof / that thou fay no thynge to 
 hyr / Whan the quene had called them 
 / and demaunded them the place where 
 our lord Ihefu crifte had been crucefyed/ 
 they wold never tell her nor enfygne' 
 her /. Then commaunded fhe to brenne^ 
 them alle/. But then they doubted and 
 were aferde / & delyvered ludas to hyr 
 and fayd / lady thys man is the fone of 
 a prophete and of a jufle man / and 
 knoweth right wel the lawe / & can 
 
 Inform. 
 Burn.
 
 XXXll 
 
 Cbe LegenDarp 
 
 More ado. 
 
 telle to you al thynge that ye fhal 
 demaunde hym/. 
 
 Thenne the quene lete al the other 
 goo, and reteyned ludas without mooV- 
 Thenne fhe fhewed to hym his life & 
 dethe & bade hym chefe whyche he 
 wold. Shewe to me fayd fhe the place 
 named golgota where our lord was 
 crucefyed / by caufe and to the end 
 that we may fynde the crolTe/. Thenne 
 fayd ludas, it is two hondred yere palfed 
 & more / & I was not thenne yet borne. 
 Thenne fayd to hym the lady / by him 
 that was crucyfyed / I (hal make the 
 periiTe for hungre/ yf thou telle not to 
 me the trouthe. 
 
 Thenne made fhe hym to be cafle into 
 a drye pytte / and there tormented hym 
 by hungre / and evyl refle / whan he 
 had been feuen dayes in that pytte / 
 thenne fayd he yf I myght be drawen 
 out / he lliold fay the trouthe / Thenne 
 he was drawen out / and whan he came 
 to the place / anone the erthe moevyd
 
 5)iftorp of tbt Ctofs. 
 
 XXXlll 
 
 and a fume of grete fwettnefle was felte 
 in fuche wyfe that ludas fmote his 
 hondes togyder for ioye / and fayd / in 
 trouthe Ihefu crifte thou art the favyour 
 of the worlde. 
 
 It was fo that adryan the Emperour 
 had doo make in the fame place where 
 the crofTe laye a temple of a goddefle by 
 caufe that all they that come in that 
 place (hold adoure that goddefTe/. But 
 the quene did doo deftroy the temple / 
 Thenne ludas made hym redy and began 
 to dygge / and whan he came to J^J 
 paas' depe / he fonde three crolTes and 
 broughte them to the quene / And 
 bycaufe he knewe not whiche was the 
 crofle of our lord / he leyed them in the 
 myddel of the cyte / and abode the 
 demonftraunce of god / and aboute the 
 houre of none / there was the corps of 
 a yonge man brought to be buryed / 
 ludas reteyned the byere / and layed 
 upon hit one of the crofles / and after 
 the fecond / and whan he leyed on hit 
 
 Inventy Paces,
 
 xxxiv 
 
 Cfie iLegenDarp 
 
 I 
 
 E'verlajiing. ' 
 
 the third / anone the body that was dede 
 came ageyn to lyf/. 
 
 Thenne cryed the devyll in the eyre 
 ludas what haft thou doon / thou haft 
 doon the contrarye that thother ludas 
 dyd/. For by hym I have wonne many 
 fowles / and by the I fhal lofe many / 
 by hym I reygned on the peple / And 
 by the I have loft my royame / never 
 the lefte I fhal yelde to the this bountee/. 
 For I fhal fend one that fhal punyffhe the / 
 and that was accomplyffhed by lulian the 
 apoftata / which tormented hym afterward 
 whan he was byffhop of Iherufalem / and 
 whan ludas herde hym he curfed the 
 devyl and fayd to hym / Ihefu cryfte 
 dampne the in fyre pardurable'/. After 
 this ludas was baptyzed and was named 
 quyryache */. And after was made 
 byffhop of Iherufalem/. Whan helayn 
 had the crofTe of Ihefu crifte / and faw 
 fhe had not the nayles / Thenne he dyd 
 
 * Other accounts fay the CrofTes were found by Macarius, 
 then Bifhop of Jerufalenn.
 
 ©illotp of tit €tois. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 dygge in therthe fo longe / that he 
 founde them fhynyng as golde/. thenne 
 bare he them to the quene / and anone 
 as fhe fawe them fhe worfhypped them 
 wyth grete reverence/. 
 
 Thenne gafe faynt helayn a part of the 
 crofle to hir fone / And that other parte 
 fhe lefte in Iherufalem clofyd in golde / 
 fylver and precious ftones/. 
 
 And hyr fone bare the nayles to 
 themperour / And the emperour dyd 
 do fette them in hys brydel and in hys 
 helme whan he wente to batayle/. This 
 referreth Eufebe whiche was byffhop of 
 Cezayr Y how be it that other fay other- 
 wyfe/. Now it happed that lulyan the 
 appoftate dyd doo* flee quyriache that 
 was byffhop of Iherufalem / by caufe he 
 had founde the croffe / for he hated 
 hit foo mooche / that where fomever he 
 founde the croffe / he dyd hit to be 
 deflroyed / For whan he wente in batayle 
 ageynfle them of perfe / he fente and 
 commaunded quyriache to make facrefyfe 
 
 Eufebius, 
 Bi/hop of 
 Cefaraa. 
 
 Killed.
 
 XXXVl 
 
 Cbe iLegennarp 
 
 Mad dog. 
 
 to thydolles / and whan he wold not doo 
 hit / he dyd do fmyte of his right honde 
 / and fayd wyth this honde haft thou 
 wryten many letters / by whyche thou 
 repellyd moche folke fro doynge facrefyfe 
 to our goddes/. 
 
 Quyriache fayd thou wood hounde* 
 thou hift doon to me grete prouffyte / 
 For thou haft cut of the hande / wyth 
 whiche I have many tymes wreton to 
 the fynagoges that they fhold not byleve 
 in Ihefu crifte / and now fythe"* I am 
 criften / thou haft taken from me that 
 whiche noyed me / thenne dyd lulyan 
 do melte leed, and cafte it in his mowthe 
 / and after dyd doo brynge a bedde of 
 yron / and made quyriache to be layed 
 and ftratched theron / and after leyed 
 under brennyng cooles / and threwe 
 therein grece and falte / for to torment 
 hym the more / and whan quyriache 
 moved not / lulyan themperour faid to 
 hym / outher thou {halt facrefyfe (to) 
 our goddes / or thou fhalt fay at the 
 
 Since.
 
 ^iflorp of tjje Crof0, 
 
 xxxvii 
 
 lefle thou art not criften/. And whan he 
 fawe he wolde not do never neyther / 
 he dyd doo make a depe pytte ful of 
 ferpentes and venemous beflys / and cafte 
 hym therein / & whan he entred / anone 
 the ferpentes were al deed/. Thenne 
 lulyan put hym in a cawdron ful of 
 boylyng oyle / and whan he fhold entre 
 in to hit / he bleflyd it & fayd / Fayre 
 lord torne thys bane to baptyfm of 
 marterdom / Thenne was lulyan moche 
 angry / and commaunded that he fhould 
 be ryven thorough his herte with a 
 fwerde / and in this manere he fynyfflied 
 his lyff. 
 
 The vertue of the croiTe is declared to 
 us by many miracles / For it happed 
 on a tyme that one enchantour had 
 dyfceyved a notarye / and brought hym 
 to a place / where he had affembled a 
 grete companye of devylles/and promyfed 
 to hym to have muche rychelTe / and 
 whan he came there / he faw one perfone 
 blacke fyttynge on a grete chayer / And 
 
 Turn this evil
 
 XXXVlll 
 
 C6e ilegenDarp 
 
 all aboute hym al ful of horyble people 
 and blacke whiche had fperes and fwerdes 
 / Thenne demaunded thys grete devyll 
 of the enchantour / who was thatclerke/ 
 thenchantour fayd to hym / Syr he is 
 oures / thenne fayd the devyl to hym yf 
 thou wylte worlhyp me and be my 
 fervaunte / and denye Ihefu cryfte / thou 
 fhalt fytte on my right fyde / The clerke 
 anone bleflyd hym wyth the fygne of the 
 crofTe / and fayd that he was the fervaunte 
 of Ihefu crifte / his favyour / And anone 
 as he had made the croffe / that grete 
 multitude of devylles vanyffhed aweye. 
 It happed that this notarye after this on 
 a tyme en try d with hys lord in the 
 chyrche of faynt fophye / & knelyd doun 
 on his knees to fore the ymage of the 
 crucyfyxe / the which crucifyxe as it 
 femed loked moche openly and fharpelye 
 on hym/. Thenne his lord made hym 
 to go aparte on another fyde / and 
 alleweye the crucifixe torned his eyen 
 toward hym/. Thenne he made hym
 
 j^iaorp of tfie Crofs* 
 
 xxxix 
 
 goo on the lefte fyde / and yet the 
 crucifixe loked on hym / Thenne was 
 the lord moche admerveyled/and charged 
 hym & commaunded hym that he fhold 
 telle hym wherof he had fo deferved that 
 the crucifyxe fo behelde and loked on 
 hym / Thenne fayde the notarye that he 
 coude not remembre hym of no good 
 thynge that he had doon / faufe that one 
 tyme he wold not renye nor forfake the 
 crucifixe tofore the devyl/. 
 
 Thenne late us fo blefle us with the 
 fygne of the blefiyd crofle that we may 
 therby be kepte fro the power of our 
 ghooftly and dedely enemye the devyl / 
 and by the glorious paflyon that our 
 faveour Ihefu cryft fuffred on the crofTe 
 after this lyf we may come to his 
 everlaftyng blyffe amen/. 
 
 Thus endeth thynvencion of the holy 
 crofTe.
 
 xl 
 
 TTTTI 
 
 2)ere eblo^i)et^) ti^ (gjaltaoon 
 of tl^ Iplp <S:tToiTe
 
 I^mts of tlje Crofs. 
 
 xli 
 
 Exaltation of the holy Croffe' is fayd/ 
 bycaufe that on this daye the hooly crolTe 
 & faythe were gretely enhaunced/. And 
 it is to be underftonden that tofore the 
 paflion of our lord Ihefu cryfte / the 
 tree of the crofTe was a tree of fylthe / 
 For the crofTes were made of vyle trees, 
 & of trees without fruyte / For al that 
 was planted on the Mount of Calvarye 
 bare no fruyt. It was a fowle place / 
 for hit was the place of torment of thevys/ 
 It was derke / for it was in a derke place 
 and without any beaute / It was the tree 
 of deth / for men were put there to 
 dethe / It was alfo the tree of ftenche / 
 for it was planted amonge the caroynes^ 
 & after the paflyon the Crofle was moche 
 enhaunced / For the Vylte^ was tranf- 
 ported into precioufyte / Of the whiche 
 the bleffyd faynt Andrewe fayth / O 
 precious holy CrofTe god fave the / his 
 bareynes was torned into fruyte / as it is 
 fayd in the Cantyques / I fhall afcende 
 up in to a palme tree / et cetera / His 
 
 T/ie Roman 
 and Englijh 
 Churches 
 celebrate this 
 Fejii'val on 
 February 14. 
 
 Carrion. 
 
 ViUnefs.
 
 xlii 
 
 C6e LeffenDatp 
 
 Refourced or 
 repUniJhed. 
 
 Chofroes II., 
 
 'who reigned in 
 
 tbe/eventh 
 
 Century, 
 
 ignobylyte or unworthynes was tourned 
 into fublymyte and heyght / The Crofle 
 that was tormente of thevys is now born 
 in the front of themperours / his derkenes 
 is torned into lyght and clerenefTe/ wherof 
 Chryfoflom fayth the Crofle and the 
 Woundes fhall be more fhynyng than 
 the rayes of the Sonne at the jugement/ 
 his deth is converted into perdurabylyte of 
 lyf / whereof it is fayd in the preface / 
 that fro hens the lyf refourded' /and the 
 ftenche is torned into fwetenes / canti- 
 corum /. This exaltacion of the hooly 
 crofl^e is folempnyfed and halowed 
 folempnly of the Chirche / For the 
 faythe is in hit moche enhaunced /. 
 
 For the yere of oure lord five honderd 
 & J« / our lord fuffred his people moche 
 to be tormentyd by the cruelte of the 
 paynyms / And Cofdroe^ Kynge of the 
 Perceens fubdued to his empyre all the 
 Royaumes of the world / And he cam 
 into Iherufalem and was aferd and a 
 dred of the fepulcre of our lord & 
 
 /
 
 ©ifiorg of tbe Croftt. xliii 
 
 retorned / but he bare with hym the parte 
 of the hooly Croffe / that faynte Helene 
 had left ther. And then he wold be 
 worfhiped of alle the peple / as a god / 
 6c dyd do make a tour of gold and of 
 fylver wherein precious ftones fhone / 
 and made therein the ymages of the 
 fonne and of the mone and of the fterres 
 / and made that by fubtyle conduytes 
 water to be hydde / and to come doune 
 in the maner of rayne / And in the lafte 
 ftage he made horfes to draw charyotes 
 round aboute lyke as they had mevyd 
 the toure / and made it to feme as 
 it had thondred / and delyvered his 
 Royaume to his fone. And thus this 
 curfyd man abode in this Temple / and 
 dyd doo fette the croiTe of our lord by 
 hym and commaunded that he {hold be 
 callyd god of alle the peple / And as it is 
 redde in libro de mitrali* officio the faid 
 Cofdroe refydent in his trone as a fader / 
 
 'i- The book of the office of Mithras or Mithra, the Sun, 
 worlhipped by the Perfians.
 
 xliv 
 
 Cl)e Legennarp 
 
 fette the tree of the CrofTe on his ryght 
 fyde in flede of the fonne / and a cock 
 in the lyft fyde in ftede of the hooly 
 ghoofl / & commaunded / that he fhold 
 be called fader /. And then Heracle* 
 themperour affembled a grete hooft / 
 and cam for to fyght wyth the fonne of 
 Cofdroe by the ryver of danubie / & 
 thenne hit pleafyd to eyther prynce / 
 that eche of them fhold fyght one 
 ageynfte that other upon the brydge / 
 & he that fhold vaynquyffhe & over- 
 come his adverfarye fholde be prynce of 
 thempyre withoute hurtyng eyther of 
 bothe hostes / & fo hit was ordeyned & 
 fworn / & that who fomever fhold helpe 
 his prynce fhold have forthwith his 
 legges & armes cut of / & to be plonged 
 / & cafl in to the Ryver. 
 
 And then Heracle commaunded hym 
 all to god and to the hooly crofTe wyth 
 all the devocion that he myght. And 
 
 '»'• Heraclius, Emperor of the Eaft, who from a.d. 622 to 
 627 fought Chofroes II., defeated him, and concluded peace.
 
 ^iftorp of tbc Ctof0» 
 
 xlv 
 
 thenne they fought longe / And at the 
 lad our lord gaf the vy(5lory to Heracle 
 and fubdued hym to his empyre / The 
 hoofl that was contrary / and alle the 
 peple of Cofdroe obeyed them to the 
 Cryften faythe / and receyved the hooly 
 baptyfme / And Cofdroe knew not the 
 end of the batayll / For he was adoured 
 and worfhiped of alle the peple as a god 
 / fo that no man durft fay nay to him / 
 And thenne Heracle came to hym / and 
 fonde hym fyttinge in his fyege' of 
 golde / and fayd to hym / For as moche 
 as after the manere thou haft honoured 
 the Tree of the CrofTe / yf thou wyld 
 receyve baptym and the faythe of Ihefu 
 Cryft / I (hal gete it to the / and yet fhalt 
 thow holde thy crowne and Royamme 
 with lytel hoftages / And I fhall lete the 
 have thy lyf / and yf thou wylt not / I 
 fhall flee the wyth my fwerde / and 
 fhalle fmyte of thyne heed / and whanne 
 he wold not accorde therto / he did anon 
 do fmyte of his hede / and commaunded 
 
 Throne , or featt 
 French, siige.
 
 xlvi 
 
 C6e iLegenDatp 
 
 that he fhold be buryed / by caufe he 
 had be(en) a Kynge /. And he fonde 
 with hym one his fone of the age of ten 
 yere / whome he dyd doo baptyfe and 
 lyft hym fro the fonte / and left to hym 
 the Royaume of his fader / and then he 
 dyd doo breke that Toure / And gaf the 
 fylver to them of his hoofte / and gaf 
 the gold and precious ftones for to re- 
 payre the chirches that the tyraunt had 
 deftroyed / and tooke the hoole croiTe / 
 and brought it ageyne to lerufalem / and 
 as he defcended from the mount of 
 Olyvete / and wold have entryd by the 
 gate by whiche our favyour wente to his 
 paflyon on horfbacke adourned as a Kynge 
 / fodenly the ftones of the gates de- 
 fcended / and ioyned them togyder in 
 the gate like a wall & all the peple was 
 AiioHijhed, abafhed' / and thenne the Aungel of 
 cure lord appyeryd upon the gate hold- 
 yng the ligne of the figne {sic) of the 
 Crofle in his honde / and fayd / Whanne 
 the Kynge of heven went to his paflion
 
 ©ifiotp of fte Ctof0, 
 
 xlvii 
 
 by this gate / he was not arayed like a 
 Kynge / ne on horfbake / but cam 
 humbly upon an afle / in fhewynge 
 thexample of humylite which he left to 
 them that honoure hym. And when 
 this was fayd / he departed and vanyffhed 
 aweye / Thenne th'emperour took of his 
 hofen and fhone' himfelf in wepynge / 
 and defpollyed hymfelfe of alle his clothes 
 in to his fherte / and tooke the croiTe of 
 oure lord / and bare it moche humbly 
 into the gate / and anone the hardnes of 
 the ilones felte the celeftyalle commaund- 
 ement / and remeved anone / and opened 
 and gaf entree unto them that entred / 
 Thenne the fweete odour that was felt 
 that day whanne the hooly CroiTe was 
 taken fro the Toure of Cofdroe / and 
 was brought ageyne to Iherufalem fro fo 
 ferre countre / and fo grete fpace of 
 londe retourned in to Iherufalem in that 
 moment / and replenyffhed it with al 
 fwetnes / Thenne the ryght devoute 
 Kyng beganne to faye the prayfynges of 
 
 Shoen — Aees.
 
 xlviii 
 
 Clje LegenDati? 
 
 the Crofle in this wyfe / O Crux fplen- 
 dydior / et cetera / O CrofTe more 
 fhynynge than alle the Sterres / honoured 
 of the world / right holy / and moche 
 amyable to alle men / whiche only were 
 worthy to here the raunfon of the world 
 Swete tree / Swete nayles / Swete yron / 
 Swete fpere berynge the fwete burthens 
 / Save thou this prefent company / that 
 is this daye aflembled in thy lawe and 
 prayfynges /. And thus was the pre- 
 cious tree of the CroiTe re eftablyffhed in 
 his place /and the auncient myracles 
 renewed /. For a dede man was reyfed 
 to lyf / and foure men taken with the 
 palfey were cured and heled / J lepres 
 were made clene / and fyften blynde 
 receyved theyr fyghte ageyn / Devylles 
 were put out of men / and moche peple 
 / and many / were delyvered of dyverfe 
 fekenes and maladyes /. Thenne them- 
 perour dyd doo repayre the Chirches / 
 and gaf to them grete geftes / And after 
 retorned home to his Empyre / And hit
 
 I^iiiorp of tbe Crofs. xlix 
 
 is faid in the Cronycles that this was 
 done otherwife / For they fay that 
 whanne Cofdroe hadde taken many 
 Royammes / he took Iherufalem / and 
 Zacharye the patriarke / and bare aweye 
 the tree of the CrofTe / And as Heraclc 
 wold make pees with hym / the Kyng 
 Cofdroe fwore a grete othe / that he wold 
 never make pees with Cryften men and 
 Romayns / yf they denyed not hym that 
 was crucyfyed / and adoured the fonne /. 
 And thenne Heracle / whiche was armed 
 wythe faythe / brought his hoofte ageynft 
 hym / and deftroyed and wafted the 
 Perfyens with many batayles that he 
 made to them / and made Cofdroe to 
 flee unto the Cyte of thelyfonte /. And 
 atte the lafte Cofdroe hadde the flyxe in 
 his bely / And wolde therefore crowne 
 his fone Kynge / which was named 
 Mendafa /. And whenne Syroys his 
 oldeft fone herde thereof he made alyance 
 with Heracle / And purfewed his fader 
 with his noble peple / and fet hym in
 
 Cbe iLegenDarp 
 
 bondes / And fufteyned him with breede 
 of trybulacion / and with water of 
 anguyffhe / And atte laft he made to 
 fhote arowes at him bycaufe he wold not 
 bileve in god 6c fo deyde / & after this 
 thynge he fente to Heracle the patriarke 
 the tree of the CrofTe and all the pry- 
 foners / And Heracle bare into Iherufa- 
 lem the precious tree of the CrolTe /. 
 And thus it is redde in many Cronycles 
 alfo/. Sybyle fayth thus of the tre of the 
 CrolTe / that the blelTyd tree of the 
 CroiTe was thre tymes with the paynyms 
 / as it is fayd in thyftorie trypertyte O 
 thryfe blellyd tree on whiche god was 
 ftratched / This peradventure is fayd for 
 the lyf of Nature / of grace / and of 
 glorye / which cam of the crofle /. At 
 Conftantynople a lewe entyred in to the 
 chirche of feynt fophye / and confydered 
 that he was there allone / and fawe an 
 ymage of Ihefu cryfte / and tooke his 
 fwerde and fmote thymage in the throte 
 / and anone the bloode guyffhed oute /
 
 i&iOotp of tbe Crofs. 
 
 U 
 
 and fprange in the face and on the hide 
 
 of the lewe / And he thenne was aferd 
 
 and took thymage / and cait it into a 
 
 pytte / and anone fledde awey /. And it 
 
 happed that a Cryften man mett hym / 
 
 and fawe hym al blody / and fayd to 
 
 hym / fro whens comefl thou / thou 
 
 haft flayne foume man / And he fayd I 
 
 have not / the cryften man fayd Veryly 
 
 thou has commyfed fomme homycyde / 
 
 for thou art all befprongen' with the BefprinkUd. 
 
 blood. And the J ewe faid / Veryly the 
 
 god of Cryften men is grete and the 
 
 faythe of hym is ferme and approved in 
 
 all thynges / I have fmyten no man / 
 
 but I have fmyten thymage of Ihefu 
 
 Cryfte / and anone yiTued blood of his 
 
 throte /. And thenne the Jewe brought 
 
 the Cryften man to the pytte / and then 
 
 they drewe oute that hooly ymage /. 
 
 And yet is fene on this daye the wounde 
 
 in the throte of thymage / And the lewe 
 
 anone by cam a good Cryften man, & 
 
 was baptyfed / In Syre in the cyte of
 
 Hi 
 
 Cfte LcgenDarp 
 
 baruth there was a criften man / which 
 had hyred an hous for a yere / & he had 
 fet thymage of the crucifixe by his bedde 
 to whiche he made dayly his prayers and 
 faid his devocions / & at the yeres ende 
 he remeved and tooke another hous / & 
 forgate & lefte thymage behynde hym / 
 and it happed that a lewe hyred that 
 fame hows / & on a daye he had another 
 lewe one of his neyghbours to dyne / & 
 as they were at mete it happed hym that 
 was boden' in lookyng on the walle to 
 elpye this ymage whiche was fyxed to 
 the walle and beganne to grenne at it 
 for defpyte / and ageynft hym that bad 
 hym / & alfo thretned & menaced hym 
 bycaufe he durft kepe in his hous 
 thymage of Ihefu of nazareth / & that 
 other lewe fware as moche as he myght / 
 that he had never fene it / ne knewe 
 not that it was there / & thenne the 
 lewe fayned as he had been peafyd . / 
 & after went flrayt to the prynce of the 
 lewes / & accufed that lewe of that 
 
 Invited. 
 
 Pacified, 
 appeafed.
 
 IJjiflorp of tbe Crofs. 
 
 liii 
 
 whiche he hadde fene in his hous / 
 thenne the lewes aflembleden & cam to 
 the hous of hym / & fawe thymage of 
 Ihefu Cryft / and they took that lewe 
 and bete hym / & did to hym many 
 iniuryes / & cafte hym out half dede of 
 their fynagoge / & anone they defowled 
 thymage with their feet / & renewed in 
 it all the tormentes of the paflion of oure 
 lorde / & and when they perced his fyde 
 with the fpere / blood and water yffued 
 haboundauntly / in fo moche that they 
 fylled a veffel / whiche they fet ther- 
 under / And thenne the lewes were 
 abaffhhed & bare this blood in to theyr 
 fynagoge & and alle the feke men and 
 malades that were enoynted therwyth / 
 were anone guaryffhed & made hool/ 
 & thenne the lewes told & recounted al 
 this thynge by ordre to the bifhop of 
 the countre / & alle they with one wyll 
 receyved baptyfm in the fay the of Ihefu 
 Cryft / & the biffhop putt the blood in 
 ampulles' of Cryftalle & of glas for to 
 
 Ampulla^ 
 bottles or Aajks.
 
 liv 
 
 Cfje LcgentJarp 
 
 be kepte / & thenne he called / the 
 Cryften man that had lefte it in the hows 
 / & enquyred of hym / who had made 
 fo fayr an ymage / & he faid that Nycho- 
 demus had made it / And when he 
 deyde / he lefte it to gamalyel / And 
 Gamalyel to Zachee and Zachee to 
 laques / and laques to Symon / and 
 hadde ben thus in lerufalem unto the 
 deftrud:ion of the Cyte / and fro thennes 
 hit was borne in to the Royamme of 
 Agryppe of Cryften men / and fro 
 thennes hit was brought ageyne into my 
 countreye / & it was left to me by my 
 parentes by rightful herytage / & this 
 was done in y^ yere of our lord feven 
 honderd and fifty / and thenne alle the 
 Confecrated. lewes halowed' their fynagogues in to 
 chirches and therof cometh the cuftoume 
 that Chirches ben hallowed / For tofore 
 that tyme the aultres were but halowed 
 only / and for this myracle the chirche 
 hath ordeyned / that the fyfte Kalendar 
 of december / or as it is redde in another
 
 5)i0otp of ttz CtOf0» Iv 
 
 place / the fyfthe ydus of Novembre 
 fhold be the memorye of the pallyon of 
 oure lord / wherfor at Rome the chirche 
 is halowed in thonoure of our favyour 
 whereas is kepte an ampulla with the 
 fame blood / And there a folempne fefte 
 is kepte and done / and there is proved 
 the ryght grete vertue of the crolTe unto 
 the paynyms and to the mylbylevyd men 
 in alle thynges /. 
 
 And faynt Gregory recordeth in the 
 thirdde booke of his dyalogues / that 
 whanne andrewe Biffhop of the Cyte of 
 Fundane fuffred an holy noune to dwelle 
 with him / the fende' thenemy beganne * /•;>»</. 
 temprynte in his herte the beaulte of her 
 / in fuch wife / that he thought in hys 
 bedde wycked and curfyd thynges / and 
 on a daye a lewe cam to Rome / and 
 whanne he fawe / that the day fayled / 
 and myghte fynde no lodgynge / he 
 wente that nyght / and abode in the 
 Temple of appolyn /. And bycaufe he 
 doubted of the facrylege of the place /
 
 Ivi 
 
 CJje LegenDatp 
 
 P<nver, 
 
 Each or e-very 
 one. 
 
 how be hit / that he hadde no faythe in 
 the CrolTe / yet he markyd and gar- 
 nyffhed hym wyth the figne of the 
 Crofle / then at mydnyght whan he 
 awoke / he fawe a companye of evylle 
 fprytes / whiche went to fore one / like 
 as he hadde fomme audloryte puyflance' 
 above thother by fubiedtion / and thenne 
 he fawe hym fytte in the myddes among 
 the others / and beganne to enquyre the 
 caufes and dedes of every che'' of thefe 
 evylle fprytes / whyche obeyed hym / 
 and he wold knowe / what evylle 
 everyche had doo / But Gregory paflyth 
 the maner of this vyfyon / bycaufe of 
 fhortnes / But we fynde femblable in the 
 lyf of faders / That as a man entryd in a 
 Temple of thydolles / he fawe the devylle 
 fyttynge / and all his meyny^ aboute 
 hym. And one of thefe wycked / fprytes 
 cam / and adouryd hym / and he de- 
 maunded of hym / Fro whens comeft 
 thow / and he fayd / I have ben in fuch 
 a provynce / and have moeved grete 
 
 Attendants.
 
 ^ifiotp of tbe Crof0, 
 
 Ivii 
 
 warres / and made many trybulacions 
 and have fhedde moche blood / and am 
 come to telle it to the / and Sathan fayd 
 to hym / in what tyme hath thow done 
 this / and he fayd in thyrtty dayes and 
 Sathan fayd / why haft thow be foo 
 longe there aboutes / and fayd to them 
 that ftode by hym / goo ye and bete hym 
 / and all to laffhe hym / Thenne cam 
 the fecond and worffhiped hym / & fayde 
 Syre I have ben in the fee / and have 
 moeved grete wyndes and tormentes / 
 & drowned many fhippes / & flayn many 
 men / and Sathan fayde how longe haft 
 thow ben aboute thys / & he fayd Jjit 
 dayes / & Sathan fayd haft thou done no 
 more in this tyme / & commanded that 
 he ftiold be beten / and the third cam / 
 & faid / I have ben in a Cyte & have 
 mevyd ftryves and debate in a weddynge 
 / and have ftied moche blood / & have 
 flayne the hoft)ond / & am come to telle 
 the / & fathan fayd / in what time haft 
 thou done this / & he faid in ten dayes /
 
 Iviii 
 
 C|)e legennarp 
 
 Drenv. 
 
 Jeft. 
 
 & he fayd haft thou done no more in 
 that time / & commanded them that 
 were aboute hym to bete hym alfo / 
 Thenne cam the fourth & fayd / I have 
 ben in the wyldernefs fourty yere / and 
 have laboured aboute a monke / & 
 unnethe at the lafte I have throwen & 
 made hym falle in the fynne of the 
 fleffhe / & when fatan herd that / he 
 aroos fro his fete / & kyffed hym / & 
 tooke hys crowne of his hede / & fet it 
 on his hede / & made hym to fytte with 
 hym / & fayde / thou haft done a grete 
 thynge / & haft laboured more / than 
 all thother / and this may be the maner 
 of the vyfyon / that faynt gregorye leveth 
 / whan eche had fayd / one fterte up in 
 the myddle of them alle / & feyd he 
 hadde mevid Andre we ageynfte the 
 name / & had mevyd the fourth part of 
 his fleftie agenft her in temptacion / & 
 therto / y' yefterday he drough' fo moche 
 his mynde on her / that in the hour of 
 evenfonge he gaf to her in lapping^ a
 
 lj)iliorp of t{)e Crof0. 
 
 lix 
 
 buffe' / & feid pleynly y' fhe muft here ' ki/s. 
 
 it that he wold fynne with her / thenne 
 
 the mayfter commanded hym that he 
 
 fhold perform y' he had begonne / & 
 
 for to make hym to fynne he fhold have 
 
 a fyngular Vycflory and reward among 
 
 alle the other /. And thenne commaunded 
 
 he that they fhold goo loke who that 
 
 was that laye in the Temple / And they 
 
 wente / & loked / And anone they were 
 
 ware / that he was marked with the 
 
 figne of the crofTe / And they levynge 
 
 aferd efcaped / and fayd / veryly this is 
 
 an empty veilel / alas / alas / he is 
 
 marked /. And with^ thus wys alle the 'in this 'wi/e. 
 
 company of the wykked fprytes van- 
 
 yflhed awaye / And thenne the lewe al 
 
 amoevyd cam to the biffhop / and told 
 
 to hym all by ordere what was happend / 
 
 And whan the biffhoppe herd this / he 
 
 wept ftrongly / and made to voyde all 
 
 the wymmen oute of his hows / And 
 
 thenne he baptyfed the lewe. 
 
 Seynt Gregory reherceth in his
 
 Ix 
 
 C6e LegenDarp 
 
 dyalogues that a nonne entryd into a 
 gardyne / and fawe a letufe / and coveyted 
 that / and forgate to make the figne of 
 Bit. the CrolTe / and bote' it glotonoufly / 
 
 And anone fylle doune and was ravyfihed 
 of a devylle / And ther cam to her faint 
 Equycyon* / And the devylle beganne to 
 crye and to faye / What have I doo / I 
 fatte uppon a lettufe / and fhe cam / and 
 bote me / and anone the devylle yffued 
 oute by the commaundement of the holy 
 man of god /. It is redde in thyftorye 
 Scolaftyke / that the paynyms had peyn- 
 ted on a v^alle the armes of Serapis / 
 And Theodoiyen dide doo putt them 
 oute / and made to be paynted in the 
 fame place the figne of the CrofTe / And 
 when the paynims & prieftes of thydolles 
 fawe that / anone they dyde them to be 
 baptyfed / fayenge / that it was gyven 
 them to underflonde of their olders / 
 
 * St. Equitius was a hermit, and looked after the welfare 
 of other hermits and monks. He took a fpecial intereft in a 
 convent of young virgins ; died about a.d. 540.
 
 lJ)i(}orp of tfie Crofs. Ixi 
 
 that thofe armes fhold endure tyll / that 
 fuche a figne were made then / in 
 whiche were lyf / And they have a lettre 
 / of whiche they ufe / y' they calle holy 
 / & had a forme that they faid it expofed 
 and fignyfyed lyf perdurable. 
 
 Thus endeth the exaltacion of the 
 holy Crofle. 
 
 Having read thefe extrafts from the 
 Golden Legend, we (hall be able to 
 underftand the accompanying illuftra- 
 tions, which repfefent fome frefcos of 
 the fifteenth century, which formerly 
 adorned the walls of the / Chapel of the 
 Gild of the Holy Crofs, at Stratford-upon- 
 Avon; which ftands clofe by New Place, 
 Shakefpeare's houfe. Thefe frefcos, alas! 
 no longer exift, for, in 1804, the Chapel 
 underwent confiderable repair, during 
 which, under the whitewafh, were dif- 
 covered traces of paint, and thefe, being 
 fcraped, a feries illuftrating the legend of 
 the Crofs was found in the chancel.
 
 Ixii 
 
 Cbe Hegennarp 
 
 which was built in 1450. In other 
 parts of the Chapel were found repre- 
 fentations of the RefTurediion, and the 
 day of Judgment, St. George and the 
 Dragon, and the death of St. Thomas a 
 Becket, befides others. 
 
 Luckily, a gentleman from London, a 
 Mr. Fifher, was then ftaying at Stratford- 
 on-Avon, and he drew, and painted them 
 — afterwards, in 1807, publilhing them 
 — and it is from his fketches that thefe 
 illuftrations are taken. The barbarians 
 of Stratford hacked the plafter on which 
 the Holy Crofs feries was painted to bits, 
 and whitewashed all the other paintings. 
 It is prefumed they ftill exifl:, for, when 
 the Chapel was thoroughly reftored in 
 1835, traces of the other pictures were 
 vifible under the whitewafh. 
 
 Thefe pictures of the Invention, and 
 Exaltation, of the Holy Crofs are ef- 
 pecially interefting, not only on account 
 of their age and artiftic merit, but from 
 the fa6l that they are of Englifh work.
 
 f^ifiorp of tf)e Crofs. 
 
 Ixiii 
 
 and fhow the Englifh idea of treating 
 
 
 the fubjedl. I have reproduced them all 
 
 
 but two; one, the fight on the bridge 
 
 
 over the Danube between Heraclius and 
 
 
 the fon of Chofroes, and the other 
 
 
 reprefenting Heraclius fmiting off Chof- 
 
 
 roes' head. 
 
 
 ^A 
 
 

 
 Ixiv 
 
 jft igwj tta SpBsSlflaom ■ i m- Uf nit ■■ ; fohma obi Iimi" 
 in ■ bthia ■, v . - .._ ..; ,t '(■ 7
 
 8)il}otp of tfie Crof0, 
 
 Ixv 
 
 Plate A reprefents the viiit of the 
 Queen of Sheba to Solomon. Her name 
 was Balkis, and, in her legendary hiftory, 
 it is reported that Solomon, having heard 
 of her riches and power, fent her a 
 peremptory meflage to fubmit herfelf to 
 his rule. She, dreading war with fo 
 potent a fovereign, fent an embafly to 
 try and find out whether Solomon was 
 as wife as he was reprefented to be. 
 With this objed: (he drelTed five hundred 
 boys as girls, and a like number of girls 
 as boys, and, among other prefents, fent 
 a pearl, a diamond cut through in 
 zigzags, and a cryftal box; and fhe 
 fhould be able to judge of his wifdom 
 and power, if he could tell the boys from 
 the girls, pierce the pearl, thread the 
 diamond, and fill the goblet with water 
 that came neither from the earth nor 
 the fky. 
 
 Needlefs to fay, Solomon paffed through 
 the ordeal triumphantly. He ordered 
 filver bafins to be brought, fo that the
 
 Ixvi 
 
 C6e LegenDatp 
 
 ambaffadors' fuite might wafh their hands 
 after their long journey, and the boys 
 were eafily diftinguifhed from the girls, for 
 they dipped their hands only in the water, 
 whilft the girls tucked up their fleeves 
 and wafhed their arms as well as their 
 hands. Then he opened the box con- 
 taining the pearl, diamond, and goblet, 
 and, taking out the pearl, he applied his 
 magic ftone, Samur, or Schamir, which 
 a raven had brought him, and which 
 had the power of cleaving anything, and 
 lo ! the pearl was pierced ; then he 
 examined the diamond, which was fo 
 pierced that no thread could be pafTed 
 through it; fo he took a worm, and 
 having placed a piece of filk in its mouth, 
 it wriggled through, and the diamond 
 was threaded. The next tafk was to fill 
 the goblet, which he gave to a negro 
 flave, and bade him mount a wild horfe 
 and gallop it till it ftreamed with fweat, 
 and then to fill the goblet with it, thus 
 fulfilling the impofed conditions. He
 
 ^iliotp Of t{)e Crof0. Ixvii 
 
 then gave back thefe prefents to the 
 ambafladors, who fpeedily returned to 
 Queen Balkis. She at once faw that it 
 would be ufelefs to oppofe the powerful 
 will of Solomon, and immediately fet out 
 on her journey to that monarch. 
 
 It is here that her connection with the 
 holy Crofs comes in, for its wood, which 
 Solomon had cut down in order to 
 incorporate it into his Temple, and 
 which had the inconvenient property of 
 fitting in nowhere, being either too long 
 or too fhort for any purpofe, was in 
 confequence thrown afide, and ultimately 
 was ufed as a foot-bridge acrofs a brook. 
 Acrofs this plank the Queen had to pafs, 
 but fhe, recognifing its holy virtue, 
 refufed to walk acrofs it, preferring to 
 wade the brook, which, having done, fhe 
 expounded its value to Solomon, and 
 prophefied that out of it fhould be made 
 the Crofs on which Jefus fhould fufFer. 
 
 She afterwards became one of Solomon's 
 wives, and bore him a fon, and then
 
 ©ifiorp of tfie €rof0. 
 
 returned to her own land, and from this 
 fon are defcended the kings of Abyflynia. 
 The legend on the label is, as far as is 
 legible, Regina Saba fama Salomonis 
 (addu(5t) A VENIT (lero)sOLUMA UBi 
 
 LIGNUM IN . . . ABATICA . . . IT . . . 
 GENIS . . . PERSOLVETUR. 
 
 Plate B is, virtually, two; one fhowing 
 the angel appearing to Conftantine when, 
 early in the . fourth century, he was 
 advancing towards Rome againft Maxen- 
 tius; but the legend of the miraculous 
 infcription which appeared in the fky, 
 "In hoc signo vinces," does not appear. 
 The other, and larger portion, reprefents 
 his vidiory over Maxentius, and he is 
 reprefented as fpearing and killing that 
 monarch ; but this is not hiftorically 
 correct, for, after his defeat, as Maxentius 
 fled towards Rome, elTaying to crofs the 
 Tiber over a rotten bridge, it gave way, 
 and he was drowned. It is noticeable 
 that the Chriftian flag bears the Tau 
 Crofs. 
 
 Ixix
 
 Ixx 
 
 Cbe Legentiatp 
 
 The Plates C and D run into each other ^ 
 although they -portray different /ubje5fSj O 
 being the departure of St. Helena for Jerujalem 
 on her queji of the holy Crofs. The label in 
 this frefco is utterly illegible. 
 
 Plate D fhows Judas (called Julius in 
 the label) Cyryacus (the Quyryache of 
 the Golden Legend) being releafed, after 
 having been forced, through imprifon- 
 ment and ftarvation, into confeffing 
 where the holy Crofs lay buried. In 
 the upper part St. Helena is receiving the 
 holy Crofs, whilft labourers are uncover- 
 ing the Tau CrolTes of the two thieves. 
 
 The legend is mutilated, but enough 
 remains to make its meaning clear : 
 **Here Seynte helyne EXAMY(neth) 
 THE I(ews for) Y^ Holy cros .... 
 luLius CYRYACUS (faith that he knew 
 w)here hete was." 
 
 The legend in Plate E is nearly ferfe^^ 
 and accurately dejcribes the painting.^ " Hyt 
 
 V/AS PROVED EVIDENTLY BY MYRAKEL 
 WHICH WAS YE very CROS THAT DURE 
 
 Savyour suffyred .... In resynge a 
 made from deth to lyfe."
 
 D
 
 Here all the CrolTes are of the Tau 
 type, and the fcene is laid in a foreft, 
 where an old labourer, and a bill- 
 man, and the deer nibbling the trees, 
 give a rural afped:, inftead of in the 
 City of Jerufalem, as faith the Golden 
 Legend. 
 
 Plate F evidently confifts of two 
 feparate paintings — one, where St. Helena 
 is reverently carrying the Crofs into 
 Jerufalem, whilfl the angels in heaven are 
 difcourling eeleftial mulic ; and the other, 
 its reception either in Jerufalem or 
 Byzantium, whither St. Helena fent a por- 
 tion as a prefent to her fon. And this 
 latter feems the more probable, if we 
 imagine the King, who, with St. Helena, 
 is adoring the Crucifix, to be the emperor 
 Conftantine, a fa6t which might have 
 been fettled had the label been legible. 
 
 The legend at the bottom is un- 
 fortunately mutilated, but that evidently 
 relates to that portion of the Crofs which 
 remained at Jerufalem, becaufe it fpeaks
 
 ^iftorp of fte Crofs. 
 
 Ixxiii 
 
 of Chofroes : " Here the hole cros 
 WAS broughte solemly yn to the 
 
 . . . . IN Y^ BYSSHOPS HANDS EASILY 
 
 AND (remaynyd) un to the tyme of 
 (King Co(ifd)ROE. 
 
 Plates G and H reprefent the flory 
 told in the Golden Legend, of Heraclius 
 bearing the Crofs into Jerufalem, how 
 the gate miraculoufly clofed, and an 
 angel appeared in the heavens and 
 reproved Heraclius for riding in ftate 
 on the very fpot where Jefus had gone 
 in all meeknefs, and lowlinefs, to His 
 paffion. The legend is erafed in parts, 
 the unmutilated portion reading, " As 
 
 THE NOBUL KYNGE ERACLYUS COM 
 RYDYNG TOWARDE Y^ CYTTE OF JERU- 
 SALEM BERYNG Y^ CROSSE SO GRETE 
 PRYDE .... WHERE Y^ . . . ." 
 
 Naturally, the poiTeffion of a piece of 
 the true Crofs would be efteemed as a 
 moft precious property. No matter how 
 fmall, it would be reverentially enclofed 
 in cryftal and gold, and was more than
 
 Ixxiv 
 
 Cbe !Leg:enuarp 
 
 
 a prefent fit for an emperor or king, and 
 we cannot marvel that fmall pieces were 
 diftributed all over Chriftendom. Poflibly 
 fome of the relics fhown as pieces of the 
 very Crofs might not have been what 
 they were fuppofed to be, but it is hard 
 to believe what John Calvin* wrote 
 about it : — 
 
 " And fyrft of all let us begynne to 
 fpeake of his crolTe, whereupon he was 
 hanged. I know that it is holden for a 
 certaintie that it was founde of Heline 
 the mother of Conftantine the Romaine 
 Emperour. I knowe alfo what certaine 
 Dodtours have written touching the 
 approbation hereof, for to certifie that 
 the crofle which fhe found was without 
 doute the felfe fame on the whiche 
 lefus Chrift was hanged. Touchynge 
 all this I reporte me to the thynge it felfe, 
 fo much is there that it was but a folifh 
 curiofitie of her, or at the leaft a folifhe 
 
 * I quote from the tranflatlon by Steven Withers, 1561.
 
 5)iaorp of tbe Crofs* 
 
 Ixxv 
 
 and unconfidered devotion. But yet put 
 the cafe it had ben a worke worthy of 
 prayfe to her, for to have taken paynes 
 to fynde the trewe crofTe, and that our 
 lord had then declared by myracle that 
 it was his crofle which fhe found ; Yet 
 let us onely conlider that which is of our 
 time. Every one doeth holde that this 
 crofle which Helene founde is yet at 
 lerufalem, and none doeth doute thereof. 
 Although theEccleliafliicall hiflory againft 
 fayeth the fame notablye. For it is ther 
 recited that Helene toke one part thereof 
 to fend to the Emperour her fonne, who 
 put the fame at Conftantinople upon a 
 fyne pyller of Marble in the myddeft of 
 the market. Of the other part, it is 
 fayde that fhe did locke the fame in a 
 copher of filver, and gave it to the Bifhop 
 of lerufalem to kepe. So then eyther 
 we fhall augment the hiftorie of a lie or 
 els that which is holden at this daye of 
 the true Crofl^e, is but a vayne and 
 triflyng opinion.
 
 ixxvi 
 
 Blocks — billets 
 
 Cbe legenDarp 
 
 *' Let us confider on the other part 
 howe many peeces there are thereof 
 throug out the worlde. Yf I would 
 onely recite that whiche I coulde fay 
 there woulde be a regifter fufficient to 
 fyl a whole boke. There is not fo little 
 a town where there is not fome peece 
 thereof, and that not onelye in cathedrall 
 churches, but alfo in fome parifhes. 
 Likewife ther is not fo wicked an abbey 
 where there is not of it to be fhewed. 
 And in fome places ther are good great 
 fhydes : ' as at the holye chappell of Paris, 
 and at Poitiers & at Rome, where there 
 is a great crucifix made thereof as men 
 faye. To be fhort, yf a man woulde 
 gather together all that hath bene founde 
 of this crofTe, there would be inough to 
 fraighte a great fhip. The Gofpell tefti- 
 fieth that the croffe myght be caried of 
 one man. What audacitie then was this 
 to fyll the earth with pieces of wod in 
 fuche quantitie, that thre hundred men 
 can not cary them," &c.
 
 5)morp of t&e Ctof0. 
 
 Ixxvii 
 
 Calvin was full of zeal, and could not 
 ftoop to particularife. Witnefs his affer- 
 tion that the Crofs would freight a fhip, 
 and yet that three hundred men could 
 carry it. M. Rohault de Fleury has 
 gone very minutely into this matter. 
 Knowing, from microfcopical examina- 
 tion, that feveral of the relics of the 
 Crofs were of pine, he accepts this wood 
 as his bafis, and, from its probable lize, 
 he deduces a weight of i oo kilogrammes, 
 equal to about 240 Englifh lbs. ; and, 
 taking the average denfity of pine, he 
 eftimates that this would give 178 mil- 
 lions of cubic millimetres. He then 
 defcribes all the known pieces in Europe, 
 Jerufalem, and Mount Athos, with their 
 meafurements, and he puts the outcome 
 at 3,941,975 cubic millimetres; thus, 
 according to his (hewing, there is but a 
 very fmall portion of the Holy Crofs in 
 exiflence. I fubjoin his lift of the 
 places in which pieces of the Crofs are 
 known to exift, as it is moft interefting.
 
 fhowing the comparative bulk of the 
 pieces, in cubic millimetres : — 
 
 Aix la Chapelle ... 150 
 
 Amiens 4*500 
 
 Angers 2,640 
 
 Angleterre 30,516 
 
 Aries 8,000 
 
 Arras 10,314 
 
 Athos (le Mont) . . . 878,360 
 
 Autun 50 
 
 Avignon 220 
 
 Baug^ 1 04,000 
 
 Bernay 375 
 
 Befangon 1,000 
 
 Bologne 15,000 
 
 Bonifacio 47,960 
 
 Bordeaux 3>42o 
 
 Bourbon TArchambault . 29,275 
 
 Bourges 22,275 
 
 Bruxelles 516,090 
 
 Chalmarques .... „ 
 
 Carried forv^ard 1,674,145
 
 ©iaotp of tfte Crof0. 
 
 Ixxix 
 
 Brought forward 1,674,145 
 
 Chalons 200 
 
 Chamirey 605 
 
 Chatillon „ 
 
 ChefFes (Anjou) ... 100 
 
 Chelles 
 
 Compiegne 1,896 
 
 Conques 108 
 
 Cortone . . ' . . . . 3,000 
 
 Courtrai 200 
 
 I^ijon 33*091 
 
 Donawert 12,000 
 
 Faghine „ 
 
 Florence 37,640 
 
 Fumes 5*250 
 
 Gand 436,450 
 
 Genes 26,458 
 
 Gramont 5,000 
 
 Jancourt (Aube) . . . 3,500 
 
 Jerufalem 5>045 
 
 Langres 200 
 
 Laon 
 
 Carried forward 2,244,888
 
 Ixxx 
 
 Clje legenDarp 
 
 Brought forward 2,244,888 
 
 Libourne 3>ooo 
 
 Lille . 15,112 
 
 Limbourg 133,768 
 
 Longpont i>i36 
 
 Lorris „ 
 
 Lyon 1,696 
 
 Macon 2,000 
 
 Maeftricht 10,000 
 
 Marfeille 150 
 
 Milan 1,920 
 
 Montepulciano .... 500 
 
 Naples 10,000 
 
 Nevers 176 
 
 Nuremberg „ 
 
 Padoue 64 
 
 Paris 237,731 
 
 Pifa 8,175 
 
 Poitiers 870 
 
 Pontigny 12,000 
 
 Ragufe 169,324 
 
 Riel les Eaux .... 671 
 
 C arried forward 2,853,181
 
 5)iflorp of tU Ctof0, 
 
 Ixxxi 
 
 ■ 
 
 Brought forward 2,853,181 
 
 
 Rome 
 
 Royaumont . 
 Saint Die 
 
 
 
 
 537>5^7 
 99 
 
 
 Saint Florent 
 
 
 
 
 400 
 
 
 Saint Quentin 
 
 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 
 Saint Sepolcro 
 Sens .... 
 Sienne 
 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 69>545 
 1,680 
 
 
 Tournai . 
 
 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 
 Treves 
 
 
 
 
 18,000 
 
 
 Troyes . . 
 Turin . . . 
 
 
 
 
 201 
 6,500 
 
 
 Venice 
 Venloo 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 445^582 
 
 
 Walcourt 
 
 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 
 Wambach 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 »> 
 
 
 Total . . 
 
 3>94i»975 
 
 According to this table we are credited 
 
 
 in England with 30,5 16 cubic millimetres 
 of the holy Crofs, and it is interefting 
 to know where they are iituated. M. 

 
 Ixxxii 
 
 Cbe legennarp 
 
 Rohault de Fleury, writing in 1870, 
 fays there were pieces at Ifleworth; St. 
 Gregory, Downiide, near Bath; in the 
 pofTeflion of Lord Petre; at Bergholt 
 Eaft, in Suffolk; at Plowden ; at the con- 
 vent of St. Mary, York ; at Weft Grinftead ; 
 at St. George's, South wark; and SHndon, 
 Suffex. 
 
 Thefe pieces of the holy Crofs are not 
 large, as the following table, in cubic 
 millimetres, (hows: — 
 
 At Ifleworth 1,000 
 
 „ College of St. Gregory . 6,120 
 
 Lord Petre (two relics) . 8,287 
 
 At St. Mary, Bergholt Eaft 1,008 
 
 „ Plowden Hall, Salop . 262 
 
 „ St. Mary, York (two relics) 5,600 
 
 „ Weft Grinftead „ 38 
 „ St. George's, Southwark 
 
 (four relics) .... 63 
 
 „ St. Richard, Slindon . 8,100 
 
 Total 
 
 30,516
 
 ^iflorp of tfie Crof0. 
 
 Ixxxiii 
 
 One relic at St. Mary's Convent, York, 
 is very fine ; it is ornamented with fcroll- 
 work of the tenth century, and bears 
 three impreflions of the feal of the Vicar 
 Capitular of the diocefe of Saint Omer, 
 1657 ^^ 1662. It is a pe(5toral crofs that 
 is fuppofed to have belonged to the 
 patriarch Arnulph, who was with Robert, 
 Duke of Normandy. 
 
 The other is fuppofed to have been 
 attached to the above, and to have 
 belonged equally to Arnulph, patriarch 
 of Jerufalem. This is kept in a filver 
 reliquary, which alfo contains relics of 
 SS. Ignatius Loyola and Francois Xavier. 
 
 We fee by the Golden Legend, that 
 St. Helena, after finding the Crofs, feeling 
 certain that the nails were not far off, 
 profecuted a further fearch for them, and 
 they were difcovered "fhynyng as gold." 
 As with the fafhion of the Crofs, whether 
 it was immijfa or commijfa^ there is, and 
 was, a controverfy with regard to the 
 nails, whether three or four.
 
 Ixxxiv 
 
 Cfte Legennarp 
 
 
 Bolius in his learned and exhauftive 
 book. Crux Triumphans et Gloriofa* gives 
 several authorities for three nails only — 
 foremoft, Gregory Nazianzen; but he 
 does not give the pafTage where it may 
 be found ; the quotation, however, is 
 
 TvfXVOV TpifftjX^ KBlfltVOV i^vKi^ \a&ijv, 
 
 " having taken from the three-nailed 
 wood the dead (or hanging) body." Thus 
 clearly showing the number of nails he 
 conlidered right. 
 
 Bolius then goes on to quote ApoUinaris 
 Laodicenus, who, in his tragedy entitled 
 Chrijius patiens, called the holy Crofs by 
 the fame words, rpiaiikov ^u\w, "three-nailed 
 wood"; and he also quotes from the 
 Meditat. vitce Chrijlioi Bonaventura, "////* 
 tres clavl fuflinent totius corporis pondus'' 
 Nonnus, the Greek poet, writing in the 
 fifth century, alfo fays that our Lord's 
 feet overlapped each other, and were 
 
 * From this book I have taken the head and tail piece here 
 given. — J. A.
 
 ^ifiorp of tbe Crof0» 
 
 Ixxxv 
 
 faftened by only one large nail. So that 
 there is a very fair amount of antiquity 
 in favour of three nails. 
 
 Againft this theory may be quoted the 
 authority of St. Cyprian, St. Auguftine, 
 ^ St. Gregory of Tours, Pope Innocent III., 
 Rufinus, Theodoret, and others, who fay 
 four nails were ufed in the Crucifixion of 
 our Saviour. The battle waged pic- 
 torially ; but perhaps the earlieft known 
 reprefentation of the Crucifixion, that 
 found in the Cemetery of St. Julian, 
 Pope, or of St. Valentine in Via Flaminia 
 at Rome, ought to bear moft weight. 
 Our Saviour is reprefented as being clothed 
 in a long lleevelefs robe, which reaches 
 to His ankles ; the feet are feparate, and 
 are each nailed. It is faid that Cimabue 
 was the firft to paint the feet overlapping, 
 and one nail. His example, however, 
 was much followed, and hence the 
 controverfy. 
 
 Of thefe nails, univerfal tradition fays 
 that St. Helena fent two to her fon
 
 Ixxxvi 
 
 Cbe HegenBarp 
 
 Constantine, and, as the Golden Legend 
 has it, "the emperour dyd do fette them 
 in hys brydel and in hys helme when he 
 wente to batayle." One can underftand 
 one of thefe facred nails being worn in 
 the Emperour's helmet as a prefage 
 of vidlory and as a fafeguard againft 
 danger, but the utility of incorporating 
 one of fuch pricelefs relics in a horfe's 
 bridle is not fo eafy to comprehend; but 
 the fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of 
 Alexandria, St. Ambrofe, Theodoret, and 
 St. Gregory of Tours, recognife in it the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy of Zecharius, 
 chap. xiv. 20: "In that day fhall be 
 upon the bridles of the horfes. Holiness 
 UNTO THE Lord." 
 
 This bridle, or rather bit, is now faid 
 to be in exiftence in France at Carpentras, 
 department of Vauclufe. How it got 
 there is not clearly known, but probably 
 it was taken at the time of the Crufades 
 — as leaden feals on which it is engraved 
 exift, attached to parchments of the dates
 
 5)ifiorp of tbt Crof?, 
 
 Ixxxvii 
 
 1226 and 1250, and it was mentioned in 
 an inventory of relics in the year 1322. 
 I have reproduced it, as well as the 
 
 ' The iron crown of Lombardy. * The holy bridle at Car- 
 pentras. ' Nail at Venice. ■• Nail at Rome in Sta. Maria in 
 Campitelli. * Nail at Arras. «Nail at Colle. '^ Nail in the 
 Church of the Holy Crofs of Jerufalem, at Rome. ^ Portion 
 of nail at Toul. ^ Nail at Treves.
 
 Ixxxviii 
 
 Ci)e Hcgennarp 
 
 Iron Crown of Lombardy and the nails, 
 from M. Rohault de Fleury's work, and, 
 as will be feen, it is undoubtedly of 
 great antiquity, clofely refembling the 
 bits of the Romans. 
 
 According to Bolius, who quotes 
 Gregory Nazianzen, a third nail was 
 thrown by St. Helena into the Adriatic 
 Sea, in order to calm a tempeft; and the 
 fame authority fays that the fourth was 
 depoHted in the head of a ftatue of Con- 
 ftantine, but this militates much againft 
 the number of holy nails faid to be in 
 exiftence. Calvin notices this, and is 
 down upon it with fledge - hammer 
 force : — 
 
 " Yet there is a greater combat of the 
 nayles. I wyll recite them only that are 
 come to my knowledge. Thereupon 
 there is not fo lytle a childe but wyll 
 judge that the Devyll hath to much de- 
 luded the worlde in takyng from it both 
 underftandyng and reafon, that it coulde 
 difcerne nothynge in this matter. If the
 
 auncient writers faye trewe, and namely 
 Theodorite Hiftoriographer of the aun- 
 cient churche, Helene caufed one to be 
 nayled on her fonne's helmet, the other 
 two fhe put in his horfe bitte. How be 
 it Saind: Ambrofe fayeth not fully fo. 
 For he fayeth that one was put in 
 Conftantine*s crowne, of the other his 
 horfebit was made, and the thirde Helene 
 kept. Wee fe y' already more than 
 twelve hundred yeres agone this hath 
 bene in controverfie, to wit, what was 
 become of the nayles. What certentie 
 can be had of them then at this prefent 
 time ? 
 
 "Now at Millan they bofte that thei 
 have y nayle that was put in Conftantine's 
 horfe bitte. To the whiche the towne 
 of Carpentras oppofeth herfelfe, fayinge 
 that it is fhe that hath it. Nowe S. 
 Ambrofe doth not faye that the nayle 
 was knit to the bitte, but that the bitte 
 was made thereof Whiche thynge can 
 in no wyfe be made to agre eyther w*
 
 xc C6e LegenDatp 
 
 their faying of Milan or w' theirs of 
 Carpentras. 
 
 " Moreover there is one in Rome at 
 Sainft Helenes ; another alfo at Sene, 
 another at Venife. In Germany two : 
 at CoUyne one, at the three Maries : 
 another at Triers, one in Fraunce at the 
 holy chappell of Paris, another at y^ 
 Carmes, one alfo at Saindt Denis in 
 France : one at Burges : one at Tenaill, 
 one at Draguine. 
 
 "Beholde here fourteene, whereof 
 account is made ; in every place they 
 alledge good approbation for themfelves, 
 as they fuppofe. And fo it is that everye 
 one hath as good right as aunother. 
 Wherefor there is no better way then to 
 make them all palTe under one fidelium. 
 That is to faye, to repute all that they 
 faye hereof to be but lyes, feying that 
 otherwife a man fhoulde never come to 
 an ende." 
 
 What would Calvin have faid if he 
 had feen the formidable lift of holy
 
 ©iCfotp of tU CtOf!8l» 
 
 XCl 
 
 nails enumerated by Guifto (or Juftus) 
 Fontanini, Archbifhop of Ancyra ? which 
 is as follows : — 
 
 1 . Aix la Chapelle. 
 
 2. Ancona, in the Cathedral. 
 
 3. Bamberg. 
 
 4 . In Bavaria, Convent of Audechfen. 
 
 5. Carpentras. The Holy Bit. 
 
 6. Catania, Sicily. 
 
 7. Colle, in Tufcany. 
 
 8. Cologne. 
 
 9. The Efcurial in Spain. 
 
 10. Milan. 
 
 11. Monza. The Iron Crown. 
 
 12. Naples. Monaftery of S. Patricius. 
 
 13. Nuremberg. Church of the Holy 
 
 Virgin. 
 
 14. Paris. 
 
 15. Rome. Two Nails. Church of 
 
 the Holy Crofs of Jerufalem; 
 Church of Santa Maria in 
 Campitelli. 
 
 1 6. Sienna. Hofpital Sainte Marie de 
 
 de I'Echelle.
 
 xeii 
 
 €bt Legennatp 
 
 
 17. Spoleto. 
 
 
 18. Torcello, near Venice. Church 
 
 
 of S. Anthony. 
 
 
 19. Torno, on the Lake of Como. 
 
 
 20. Toul. 
 
 
 21. Treves. 
 
 
 22. Venice. Three nails. 
 
 
 23. Vienna. 
 
 
 But this lift is further fupplemented 
 
 
 by M. Rohault de Fleury, who gives 
 
 
 fix more : — 
 
 
 I. Arras, according to M. le Chev. de 
 
 
 Linas. 
 
 
 2. Compiegne. A point. 
 
 
 3. Cracow, in Poland, according to 
 
 
 M. Goffelin. 
 
 
 4. Florence. 
 
 
 5. Lagney. 
 
 
 6. Troyes. 
 
 
 So that no lefs than twenty-nine towns 
 
 
 claim the pofteflion of thirty-two nails, all 
 
 
 differing in form, the number of which 
 
 
 can only be accounted for by the fup- 
 
 
 pofition that only a portion of the holy
 
 ^ifiorp of fte Crofs. 
 
 X«lll 
 
 nails has been incorporated into each of 
 them. 
 
 One of the moft interefting relics in 
 connediion with the holy nails is the 
 Iron Crown of Lombardy. This, as may 
 be feen by reference to the illuftration 
 (Fig. I ), is a circlet of gold, ornamented 
 with precious ftones, and it is indebted 
 for its name of "Iron" to a thin band (A) 
 of that metal, which is inside the gold 
 circlet. The Crown itfelf is of very 
 antique form, being even devoid of rays, 
 and is too fmall to go on the head. 
 Charlemagne was crowned with it in 
 774, and Napoleon did not think him- 
 felf King of Italy until he had placed 
 this precious diadem on his head, in 
 1805. It is kept at Monza, nine miles 
 from Milan, in the Cathedral, which is 
 of great antiquity. There it repofes in 
 a huge crofs placed over the altar. 
 
 Of the relics of the Crofs there now 
 remains but two fpecks of the title or 
 infcription thereon, and here, again, I am
 
 XCIV 
 
 Cbe LcgenDarp 
 
 
 ISMmmrmra
 
 ©iftorp of tje Crof0. xcv 
 
 indebted to M. Rohault de Fleury for 
 the illuftration on page xciv., as it feems 
 to me to be the beft yet publifhed. 
 
 The Evangelifts, although agreeing in 
 the fpirit of the infcription, vary as to the 
 letter. 
 
 Says St. Matthew : '* This is Jefus the 
 King of the Jews." 
 „ St. Mark: '*The King of the 
 
 Jews." 
 „ St. Luke : *'This is the King of 
 
 the Jews." 
 
 „ St. John : " Jefus of Nazareth the 
 
 King of the Jews." 
 
 Neither St. Matthew nor St. Mark note 
 
 the tri-lingual chara(fler, and SS. Luke 
 
 and John vary as to the order of the 
 
 different languages ; the former faying 
 
 it was in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew — 
 
 the latter that it was in Hebrew, Greek, 
 
 and Latin. The latter is the generally 
 
 accepted form, and the reafon given is, 
 
 that Hebrew, being the common 
 
 language, it would naturally come firft.
 
 XCVl 
 
 Cfte LegenDatp 
 
 as we fhould do in an Englifh notice, firft 
 in Englifh, then, fay in French and 
 German, for the benefit of foreigners, 
 as were the Greeks and Romans in 
 Jerufalem. 
 
 The tradition is that, along with the 
 Crofs, St. Helena found the infcription, 
 and that fhe fent it, together with a piece 
 of the Holy Crofs and a number of other 
 facred relics, to Rome, where it was 
 depofited in the bafilica of Santa Croce. 
 Here it remained until Valentinian, 
 fearing that it might fall into the hands 
 of the Goths and Huns, hid it in the 
 wall of the building, until it was found 
 in 1492. 
 
 Valentinian died A. D. 375, and Antoninus 
 Martyr, in his De Locis SanBis (fee. 20), 
 written about a.d. 570, fays he faw the 
 infcription which had been placed on the 
 Crofs, and that the words were, " lefus 
 Nazarenus Rex ludasorum." He fays that 
 he held it in his hand, and kiffed it, in 
 the Church of Conflantine at Jerufalem,
 
 ^iftorp of tbe Ctof0. 
 
 xcrii 
 
 Hence it is evident that either tradition is 
 incorred, or that Antoninus did not tell 
 the truth. 
 
 But the claim is that it is, and always 
 has been, in Rome, and Bofius, in his 
 Crux Triumphans (p. 60), gives an account 
 of its re-difcovery. He fays that in 
 February, 1492, Monfeigneur Pedro 
 Gonfalvo de Mendoza, Cardinal Sanftse 
 Crucis, was repairing and cleanfing his 
 church, and on the firft day of that month, 
 when the workmen reached the top of 
 the arch which was in the middle of the 
 bafilica, and near the roof, they faw two 
 fmall columns ; and finding a fpace, they 
 difcovered a niche in which they found a 
 leaden box, well clofed, and on its lid 
 was a tablet of marble, on which were 
 engraved thefe words : Hic est Titvlvs 
 Ver^ Crucis. In this box was found 
 a little board, about a hand's breadth 
 and a half, much corroded on one fide 
 by time, and bearing, in grooved, engraved 
 charaders, which were coloured red, the
 
 XCVIU 
 
 Clje Legennatp 
 
 following infcription : Iesvs Nazarenvs 
 RexIvd^orvm. But the word Ivd^orvm 
 was not entire, the laft two letters vm 
 having crumbled to pieces by reafon of 
 old age. The firft line was written in 
 Latin characfters, the fecond in Greek, 
 and the third in Hebrew. 
 
 All the city went to fee it ; and three 
 days afterwards. Pope Innocent went alfo, 
 and ordered the relic to be preferved in 
 its box, and covered with a fheet ot 
 glafs. Every one was convinced that 
 they had before their eyes the infcription 
 which Pilate placed upon the Crofs over 
 our Saviour's head, and which Saint 
 Helena had depofited in the church at 
 the time of its building. 
 
 The relic, as now feen, is very worm- 
 eaten, but the letters are ftill vifible, 
 and have been cut with a fmall gouge. 
 They read from right to left, as Hebrew 
 does, thus lending great plaufibility to 
 the idea that it was done by fome Jewilh 
 artificers ; and it feems to be of fome
 
 ^ilJotp of tbt Crofs. 
 
 xcix 
 
 clofe-grained wood. Taking the piece 
 now at Santa Croce, the whole infcrip- 
 tion, if reftored, would be thus : 
 
 ^'T^n^i) liy) '1'^^ y^^' 
 
 H^3A^IDV3\DAa3VH39 A2AM iD^oai 
 
 Mv5io3avix3a2vi/imA^AM eveBi 
 
 "itbe Infcripion at Santa Croce^ reftored.
 
 Notes on the fVoodcuts. 
 
 HE Hiftory of the Legend 
 of the Holy Crofs which 
 is here reproduced, is 
 fomewhat fuller than the 
 Golden Legend of Caxton, 
 there being particulars 
 about Mofes, David, and Solomon not 
 to be found therein; but they may be 
 found in other verfions of the Legend, fome 
 in the Latin of Jacobus deVoragine, others 
 in two MSS. in the Britifh Mufeum.* 
 
 The engravings are taken from a very 
 rare book, of which, as far as is known, 
 
 "^ Arundel, No. 507, and Add. MSS. 6514.
 
 cii 
 
 Cbe Hegennarp 
 
 
 there are but three copies in exiftence : 
 one is in the Royal Library at Bruffels, 
 another at the Hague, in the colled:ion 
 of Mr. Schinkel, and the third is in the 
 pofTeffion of Lord Spencer at Althorp. 
 It is from this book that thefe fac-fimiles 
 (made by M. J. Ph. Berjeau) were taken. 
 The book itfelf has one woodcut on each 
 page, with a verfe in Dutch, at the 
 bottom, explanatory of each engraving. 
 It is called indifferently Hijloria SanSlce 
 Cruets or Boec van den houte (Book of 
 the wood or tree). 
 
 It was printed at Kuilenburg on March 
 6th, 1483, by John Veldener,* who had 
 juft removed from Louvain. Thefe 
 fixty-four engravings were originally on 
 thirty-two blocks,! and evidently belonged 
 to fome much older block book, now 
 
 * His life and labours may be read in Mr. Hottrop's 
 Monuments Typographiques des Pays-bas — , 
 
 f See The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the i^th Century, 
 by W. M. Conway, and an article by him in the Bibliographer 
 of May, 1883, p. 32.
 
 f^iHot^ of tbe Crofs. 
 
 em 
 
 loft. Thefe, Veldener cut in half, as he 
 had already treated a Speculum, and 
 brought them out as a frefh book. 
 
 The Legend as told by thefe engravings 
 is as follows : — 
 
 Adam, feeling himfelf about to die, 
 fent Seth to Paradife to beg for fome ot 
 the oil of mercy," which, however, the 
 Archangel Michael refufed to give him, 
 but, inftead, prefented him with three 
 feeds of the tree of life.^ On his return, 
 he found Adam dead, and, being unable 
 to adminifter thefe feeds to his father in 
 any other manner, he put them under 
 his tongue, and then buried him.^ Pre- 
 fently thefe feeds germinated and fhot 
 through the ground, and are traditionally 
 faid to have been a cedar, a cyprefs, and 
 a pine/ They grew until Mofes had led 
 the Ifraelites out of Egypt, when he found 
 them in the Valley of Hebron, and he 
 recognized them as typifying the Trinity. 
 He removed them, and they were his 
 conftant companions.^ With them he 
 
 Woodcut No. 1 . 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 No.^. 
 
 No. 5.
 
 CIV 
 
 Cfie JLegennarp 
 
 Woodcut 
 No. 6. 
 
 Nos. 7, 8. 
 No. 9. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 A'i?. II. 
 No. 12. 
 
 ^0. 13. 
 
 A'o. 14, 
 
 No. 15. 
 //o. 16. 
 
 fmote the rock, and the waters gufhed 
 out/ and the bitter waters of Marah 
 became fweet/*^ 
 
 He then planted them in the land of 
 Moab,'' and there they remained, until an 
 angelic vifion appeared unto David, and 
 commanded him to go, and take them 
 up, and bring them to Jerufalem.'° On 
 his return the three rods worked miracles, 
 healing the fick," and the leprous, with 
 a touch ;'^ nay, more, on being applied to 
 three black men, they inftantly became 
 white.'3 
 
 Arrived at Jerufalem, they wifhed to 
 plant them, but for the night they left 
 them in a ciflern, by the Tower of 
 David,'^ and lo ! during the night, they 
 ftruck root, and, entwining themfelves, 
 became but one ftem,'^ which, when 
 David faw, he had a wall built round it/^ 
 And the tree grew for thirty years, David 
 ornamenting it with rings of fapphire 
 and other precious ilones, adding one for 
 every year, and under this tree he com-
 
 5)iCorp of tbe Crofe. 
 
 cv 
 
 pofed the Pfalms, and praifed God 
 exceedingly." 
 
 But Solomon, who muft needs have 
 all that was rare and coflly to adorn his 
 temple, cafl his eyes upon this precious 
 tree, and ordered it to be cut down.'^ It 
 was duly felled, and fquared, and trimmed, 
 and it meafured thirty cubits in length.'^ 
 But when the carpenters came to put it 
 into a place of that length, it was a cubit 
 too fhort, and when it was fitted into 
 a place of twenty-nine cubits, lo ! it 
 meafured thirty, and the carpenters mar- 
 velled much, and were greatly aftonifhed, 
 and fo, being ufelefs, it was laid alide.'° 
 Yet the people came to fee this wonderful 
 tree, and amongft them was a maid 
 named Maximilla, who fat down upon 
 it, and inftantly her clothes were in a 
 blaze." Then fhe began to lift up her 
 voice, and prophefy, crying, " My God, 
 and my Lord Jefu Chrift." " Then the 
 Jews took her, and fcourged her to 
 death.'' 
 
 Woodcut 
 No. 17. 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 No. .5. 
 
 H
 
 CVl 
 
 Cte Legmtiarp 
 
 ffoodcut 
 No. 24. 
 
 The Jews, not knowing what to do 
 with this miraculous tree, laid it acrofs a 
 brook/* and, when the Queen of Sheba 
 came to vilit Solomon, fhe recognized 
 the virtue of the wood; and, refufing to 
 defile it with her feet, ihe difmounted, 
 and adored it, and waded through the 
 brook/^ Then, when Ihe met Solomon, 
 Ihe reproved him, and told him that on 
 that tree would the Saviour of the world 
 fuffer death /^ And Solomon commanded 
 the holy wood to be taken up,^ and 
 caufed it to be carried into the Temple, 
 there to be placed over the door, fo that 
 all men might blefs, and adore it, and he 
 coated it over with gold and filver.*^ 
 There it remained until Abias flripped it 
 of its coflly coverings,"' and the Jews 
 buried it deep in the earth. ^^ 
 
 There it remained for many years, 
 until the Jews wifhed to make a pool, 
 where the priefts might wafh the bcafb, 
 to purify them, previous to facrificing 
 them, and, unknowingly, they dug over 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 No. 26. 
 No. 27. 
 
 No. »8. 
 
 No. 19. 
 No. 30.
 
 ©iflorp of tbz Crof0, 
 
 evil 
 
 the burial-place of the Holy Crofs.^' This 
 imparted fuch a virtue to the water of 
 that pool, which was called Bethefda, 
 that the fick were healed thereat, and an 
 angel at times defcended from heaven, 
 and flirred the waters, and then whoever 
 could get firft into the waters was ftraight- 
 way healed of any infirmity he might 
 have.3" 
 
 We now come to the Crucifixion, 
 and there was a lack of wood to make 
 Chrift's crofs — when, fuddenly, from the 
 depths of Bethefda, leaped up the tree 
 of the Crofs, and floated gently to land. 
 One ran to the High Prieft," and told 
 him of the timely find of fuitable wood, 
 and he at once gave orders for it to be 
 falhioned into a Crofs.^* Then comes 
 the mournful proceflion to Calvary, with 
 our Saviour fainting under the weight of 
 the Crofs, and Simon the Cyrenean is 
 prefixed into the fervice to help Jefus." 
 And then the Crucifixion. ^^ 
 
 And whilft the crofi"es were ftill fland- 
 
 JToodcut 
 No. 31. 
 
 No. 3*. 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 No. 34.. 
 
 No. 35. 
 No. 36.
 
 CVUl 
 
 CDe HegenDarp 
 
 Woodcut 
 
 No. 37. 
 
 No.ii%. 
 No. 39. 
 
 ing, the difciples came to them and 
 prayed, and many were healed of their 
 infirmities, and many devils were caft 
 out." This fo angered the Jews that 
 they took the crofTes down, and buried 
 them,^^ and there they remained until 
 their invention by St. Helena, a.d. 326. 
 On her arrival at Jerufalem,'' fhe con- 
 vened a meeting of the principal Jews, 
 and they denied all knowledge of it, but, 
 on threat of being burnt, they faid that 
 one of their number, named Judas, knew 
 where the croiTes were buried. *° Judas, 
 however, refufed to tell, and, to compel 
 him to impart his knowledge, St. Helena 
 had him lowered into a dry well, " and 
 there tormented hym by hongre and cvyl 
 refte."'*' Seven days of this treatment 
 made him fubmiffive, and at the end of 
 that time he capitulated. He was then 
 drawn up,"^' and prayed to God to direct 
 him to the right fpot."*^ His prayer was 
 heard, and after fome digging, the crofTes 
 were difcovered."** 
 
 No. 40. 
 
 No.^T. 
 
 No. 41. 
 No. 4j. 
 
 No.^A.
 
 pmt^ of tbe Crof0. 
 
 cix 
 
 The news was brought to St. Helena, 
 who vifited the fpot/* but although there 
 were certainly three crofTes, no one knew 
 which was the one upon which Jefus 
 fufFered. A teft, however, was applied, 
 which proved to be fatisfadtory. The 
 body of a maid was being borne on a 
 bier for burial, but the funeral proceffion 
 was flopped, and the body was touched 
 by the different crofTes. The two iirfl 
 produced no effedl,*^ but when the third 
 touched the dead maiden, fhe was at 
 once reflored to life."' Here, then, was 
 proof pofitive ; this was the very Crofs ; 
 and St. Helena, mindful of her fon Con- 
 ftantine, divided the facred wood; part 
 fhe cnclofed in a cafe of precious metal, 
 and kept at Jerufalem ; "^ and part fhe 
 fent to her fon, at Byzantium, who 
 received it with due reverence,''^ and 
 depofited it in the church, with great 
 ceremony.*" 
 
 Here it remained, until it was taken 
 away, with other fpoil, by Chofroes, the 
 
 fVoodcut 
 No. 45. 
 
 No. 46. 
 No. 47. 
 
 No. 48. 
 No. 49. 
 No. 50.
 
 ex 
 
 Cbe JLegenHatp 
 
 fToodcut 
 No. 51. 
 
 No. 5: 
 
 No. 51. 
 
 No. 54. 
 
 King of Perfia, who, aware of the fandtity 
 of the rehc, had it placed on the right 
 hand of his throne. He was fo puffed 
 up with pride, that he ordered himfelf 
 to be adored. His people, hitherto, had 
 worfhipped the fun, but now he ordained 
 that henceforth he was to be confidered 
 the principal Perfon in the Trinity (the 
 Father), and that the relic of the Crofs 
 was to be looked upon as the Son, whilft 
 a golden cock which he had made was 
 to reprefent the Holy Ghoft.^' 
 
 Then Heraclius made war againft 
 Chofroes, and meeting with a Perfian 
 army under one of the fons of that 
 monarch, it was agreed that, in order to 
 prevent a ufelefs effufion of blood, the 
 two commanders fhould fight it out 
 between them, and whoever was van- 
 quished fhould fubmit.'" The duel was 
 fought on a bridge over the Danube, and 
 Heraclius vanquifhed and killed the fon 
 of Chofroes." The Perfian army then 
 made their fubmiflion,^* and the penance
 
 ^iflorp of tjje Crof0. 
 
 CXI 
 
 impofed upon them by the conqueror 
 was that they fhould all be baptized, 
 which was duly done. 
 
 Heraclius then went to Chofroes, and 
 told him what he had done, offering him 
 his life if he too would embrace Chrif- 
 tianity," but the Periian monarch refufed, 
 and Heraclius fmote off his head.^^ He 
 then crowned a Ion of Chofroes, and 
 caufed him to be baptized," himfelf {land- 
 ing fponfor, and buried the flain king 
 with befitting honours.^^ Then, taking 
 poffeffion of the holy relic,'' he fet out 
 with it for Jerufalem. But, as he was 
 bearing it in great ftate, he came to that 
 gate of the City through which Jefus 
 went to His paflion, worn, buffeted, 
 fcorned, and weary, carrying the heavy 
 burden of His crofs. And fuddenly the 
 gateway became folid mafonry, fo that he 
 could not pafs through, and an angel 
 appeared in the heavens, and reproved 
 him for his oflentatious difplay in a place 
 which his Saviour had previouHy trodden 
 
 Woodcta 
 
 No. 55. 
 
 No. 56. 
 
 No. 57. 
 
 No. 58. 
 No. 59.
 
 cxu 
 
 Cfte Legentiarp S)i0orp of tije Croft. 
 
 Woodcut 
 No. 60. 
 
 No. 61. 
 W'o. 62. 
 
 i\^o. 63. 
 No. 6+, 
 
 in fuch deep humility.^" Heraclius dif- 
 mounted from his horfe, and, ftripping 
 himfelf of all the trappings of royalty, 
 barefoot, and in his fhirt,^' he meekly 
 bore the Crofs to its appointed place,^' 
 the mafonry difappearing as foon as he 
 had humbled himfelf. 
 
 A piece of the Crofs was afterwards 
 fent to Rome, where it duly arrived 
 after a very ftormy voyage,^^ and it was 
 there preferved for the adoration of the 
 faithful.^* 
 
 JOHN ASHTON.
 
 Sel^ dm Rue wifeniBtDrfT»rflQ£0 
 <gn)feoQer (ufl^^iiep en^myia 
 
 Adam /ends Seth to Paradije for Jome of the Oil of Mercy,
 
 The Archangel Michael gives Seth three feeds of the 
 Tree of Life.
 
 cxv 
 
 Seth buries Adam and "puts the three feeds of the 
 Tree of Life under his tongue.
 
 ex VI 
 
 The three feeds Jpring up.
 
 CXVll 
 
 Mo/es always has the three rods with him.
 
 cxvni 
 
 With them he makes water flow from the Rock.
 
 mm^ 
 
 An Angel tells Mojes how tojweeten the bitter waters.
 
 Mo/es, hy dip-ping the rods in the waters of Marah, 
 fweetens them.
 
 CXXl 
 
 Mo/es plants the rods in the land of Moab,
 
 cxxu 
 
 10 
 
 
 \'infi 
 
 An Angel appears to David and tells him to bring the rods 
 to Jerujalem.
 
 II 
 
 CXXUl 
 
 The rods heal the ftck.
 
 
 The rods heal a leper.
 
 13 
 
 cxxv 
 
 
 The rods turn three black men white.
 
 David leaves the rods for the night*
 
 15 
 
 cxxvu 
 
 In the morning he finds the rods have taken root and have 
 become one tree.
 
 DavU builds a wall round the miraculous tree.
 
 '7 
 
 CXXIX 
 
 iBSfi«f6»h^tt\i^i$iMm 
 
 David compo/es the P/a/ms and praifes God, under the fhadow 
 
 of the tree. 
 
 ic
 
 cxxx 
 
 Solomon orders the tree to be cut down and ujed in the Temple.
 
 cxxxi 
 
 Artificers fajhion the tree.
 
 cxxxu 
 
 20 
 
 The holy wood will fit nowhere. 
 
 M
 
 21 
 
 CXXXlll 
 
 Sf. Maximilla fitting on the wood, her clgthes catch alight.
 
 CXXXIV 
 
 22 
 
 mmaatmteaat 
 
 St. Maximilla propheftes concerning the wood.
 
 cxxxv 
 
 St. Maximilla/courged to death.
 
 The wood u/ed as a foot -bridge over a brook.
 
 The Slueen of Sheha prefers wading through the brook, to 
 walking over the holy wood.
 
 CXXXVlll 
 
 26 
 
 1'be ^ueen of Sheika tells Solomon of the holy nature 
 of the wood.
 
 27 
 
 CXXXIX 
 
 
 The holy wood is taken up.
 
 Tl^^ /&^/y wfii^^ /V carried into the 'Temple.
 
 
 Abias defpoils the holy wood of its precious covering.
 
 cxlii 
 
 The Jews hury the holy wood.
 
 31 
 
 cxliii 
 
 ^^ig^^i ibs Pool of Bethefda.
 
 The/tck being healed at the Pool of Bethejda.
 
 33 
 
 cxlv 
 
 Tie High Prieft told of the dijcovery of the holy wood.
 
 cxlvi 
 
 34 
 
 7'y&^ /&<?/)' wood is made into the Crofs.
 
 
 ChriJ^ bearing the Crqfs,
 
 cxlviii 
 
 
 The Crucifixion.
 
 37 
 
 cxlix 
 
 Difciples adore the CrofSy thejick are healed, and devils 
 
 cafi out.
 
 cl 
 
 38 
 
 
 The Jews bury the CroJJes.
 
 
 Sf. Helena comes to Jerufalem.
 
 clii 
 
 40 
 
 Sf. Helena calls together the Chief Jews.
 
 41 
 
 cliii 
 
 'Judas is put into a dry well.
 
 cliv 
 
 42 
 
 Judas is liberated from confinement.
 
 43 
 
 clv 
 
 m WW t% 
 
 Judas prays for Divine dire5iion.
 
 ^m i»tii^ tit mxoimt 
 
 The CroJJes are dif covered.
 
 
 
 45 
 
 
 clvii 
 
 
 
 
 W^M 
 
 
 I 
 
 ^^^MfttlVbM 
 
 CClM^fi(i!i^ 
 
 
 ^ii 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 
 St. Helena views the Crojfes.
 
 clviii 
 
 46 
 
 
 m 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 Aff 
 
 S^^\\^*^ 
 
 f 
 
 7V/fl/ of the true Crofs.
 
 A dead maiden raifed to life by being touched by the 
 true Crqfs,
 
 ' ■ clx 
 
 
 Sf. Helena depofits a fortiori of the Crojs in Jerujalem.
 
 49 
 
 clxi 
 
 ^^ J»J5*R«et«tttei)iicort" 
 
 St, Helena gives a portion of the Crojs to Conftantine. 
 
 M
 
 clxii 
 
 so 
 
 Si 
 
 Conftantine depofits his 'portion of the Crojs in Byzantium.
 
 51 
 
 clxiii 
 
 Chojroes commands his people to adore him.
 
 clxiv 
 
 J2 
 
 Meeting of Heraclius and Chojroes' [on.
 
 ■ fllJ. ,1.1 I 1
 
 .J^
 
 55 
 
 clxvii 
 
 Of0 
 
 Heraclius viftts Cbo/roes.
 
 :lxviii 
 
 56 
 
 peo^axitit of ^|r<<g9») ^fy^ 
 
 Heraclius kills Chqfroes.
 
 57 
 
 dxix 
 
 Heraclius crowns and baptizes t kef on of Chofroes.
 
 
 Burial of Chqfroes.
 
 
 Heraclius takes pojfejfwn of the relic cj the Crofs.
 
 cl 
 
 XXll 
 
 60 
 
 
 Heraclius, attempting to enter Jerufalem, is miraculoujly 
 prevented, and is reproved by an angel.
 
 Heraclius divefts himfelf ofjiate.
 
 clxxiv 
 
 62 
 
 Heraclius 'places the relic of the Crofs in its appointed -place.
 
 cl 
 
 XXV 
 
 A portion of the Cro/s is Jent to Rome^ the vejfel bearing it 
 meeting with a Jlorm.
 
 clxxvi 
 
 64 
 
 The relic of the Crqfs exfojed for adoration. 
 
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