Amand

ON SAINT AMAND, BISHOP OF MAASTRICHT, AT ELNONE OR AMANDOPOLIS IN BELGIUM,

IN THE YEAR OF CHRIST 684

Preliminary Commentary.

Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, at Elnone in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0340, 0341

By G. H.

Section I. Aquitaine, distinguished by the birth, monastic life, and preaching of Saint Amand.

[1] Hucbald, monk of Elnone, an erudite man, in the Life of Saint Aldegundis the Virgin on January 30, proclaims that Saint Amand was known to almost the whole world by the most celebrated fame of his virtues: who, as ^a vigorous laborer in God's harvest, Saint Amand, celebrated by the fame of his virtues, both led many nations to the Catholic faith and built many monasteries for men and handmaids of God. A similar account is given by another writer of the Life of Saint Aldegundis, older than Hucbald. We shall here pursue these matters individually. We begin from his homeland and his first monastic formation. Then, having followed the labors undertaken by him in Aquitaine and the rest of France, we shall come to the Belgian provinces, in which most of the older monasteries either venerate Saint Amand as their founder or acknowledge him as the helper of their founders.

[2] Hariger and Milo, to be cited below, assign Aquitaine as his homeland. But that is ^a broader name than that Aquitaine should be understood as bounded by the Garonne River, as in Caesar's age. born in Aquitaine II For with twelve additional peoples separated from Celtica, it was then extended to the Loire River, and in the Notitia Imperii was divided into First, Second, and Third. Baudemund, ^a contemporary of Saint Amand, assigns his homeland as the regions of Aquitaine, not far from the shore of the Ocean. in the maritime part, But from the Pyrenean mountains to the Loire, with the Ocean washing the shores of Aquitaine II and III, that description is far too vague. The anonymous author of the Life from the Chesne MS., whom we judge to have been an Aquitanian by birth, affirms that he drew his origin in the district of Herbauges, not far from the shore of the Ocean of Gaul. Which Abbot Philip explains thus: "Herbatilicus is the name of the place, which, distinguished by the title of his birth, just as it is not very far distant from the Ocean, so it borders upon the region of Aquitaine; being joined, namely, to the part of Armorican Brittany," while this author was living in the twelfth century of Christ. in the district or County of Herbadilicus: Saints Benedict the Bishop and Viventius the Priest, as his Acts report on January 13, chapter 3, reached the city of Herbadilica in the fourth century of Christ. But because the citizens refused to be converted to the faith of Christ by the preaching of Saint Martin, the founder of the monastery of Vertou, the city of Herbadilla is reported to have been swallowed up by ^a chasm in the earth. This Martin is venerated on October 24, having died some years before the birth of Saint Amand. Moreover, both Vertou and the lake of Herbadilla — in French Herboge and Grand-lieu — are in the territory of Nantes, about two leagues from the Loire, now reckoned to Armorican Brittany, formerly to Aquitaine II.

[3] When the city of Herbadilla was destroyed, the name, together with the dignity of the Counts, adhered to the territory spread all around. There, as Ademar testifies among the Norman writers published, and by various records unearthed by Jean Besly in his History of the Counts of Poitou and Dukes of Aquitaine, Rainald, Count of Herbadilicus, fought with the Northmen in the year 835 on the island of Heri; did his parents perhaps have the Counts of Herbadilicus? and in ^a battle in the year 843 with Lambert, Count of Nantes, he was killed on the ninth day before the Kalends of July, which conflict Adreualdus describes at greater length in Book 1 of the Miracles of Saint Benedict, chapter 33. From this Rainald descended the Dukes of Aquitaine and Counts of Poitou, the last of whom was William, converted from the schism of the Antipope Anacletus by Saint Bernard the Abbot, of whom more elsewhere. But let us return to Saint Amand, whose parents Baudemund and the Aquitanian author call illustrious, Philip calls noble by blood, and Hariger adds "according to the dignity of the age." To the poet Milo the father is noble and the mother distinguished. Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium, and Yepes in the Benedictine Chronicle under the year 630, hold the opinion that the father was ^a Duke of the Aquitanians. Joannes Ooghius, in the Life of Saint Amand published in the Belgian tongue, calls him ^a Count of Aquitaine. Let us rather say, if there is room for conjecture, ^a Count of Herbadilicus, but according to the custom of that age ^a beneficiary one, removable at the discretion of the kings, as governors are accustomed to be today.

[4] As ^a young man, Amand withdrew to the island of Ogia — called Oyem by the Aquitanian author, and Oye in the Breviary of Speyer printed in 1477 — for the pursuit of the monastic life, he becomes ^a monk on the island of Ogia, or Oyem, near La Rochelle, which is still called by the same name, opposite La Rochelle, so close to the island of Re (commonly called Saint-Martin) that when the sea-tide ebbs one may cross from one to the other on dry feet. The island of Oyem (from which some trace of an ancient monastery is unearthed) is now under the jurisdiction of the monastery of Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm in the diocese of Lucon, not far distant. From there Amand — because his father would not suffer him to attend to divine matters in peace on Ogia — set out for the sepulchre of Saint Martin of Tours and prayed to God that, as Baudemund says, the Lord would never permit him to return to his native soil; or as he himself says in the poet Milo:

"Lest I revisit my native soil and my abandoned kinsmen,"

thereby indicating that the island of Ogia was also his native soil, distinct from Augia opposite Normandy: perhaps because the County of Herbadilicus extended as far as it. The author of the Miracles of Saint Wandregisel on July 22 says that the island of Augia — ^a word not greatly differing from Ogia — cultivated by the people of the Bretons, lies adjacent to the district of the Cotentin. This Augia is attributed to the monastic foundation of Saint Amand by Massaeus in Book 14 of his Chronicle, Yepes, and others; Lambrecht, Bishop of Bruges, and Rosweyde in the Life published in Belgian, call it Ogia and report it to be situated near Coutances and Saint-Malo, maritime cities, the former of Normandy, the latter of Armorican Brittany, where there are several islands, mostly subject to the English. But that conjecture is sufficiently refuted by what has been said thus far.

[5] Saint Amand is called ^a Bishop of Aquitaine by Ferrarius in his Topography to the Roman Martyrology, and of Bordeaux in the Breviary of Speyer printed in 1509. different from Saint Amand, Bishop of Bordeaux: But this is an older Amand, who is venerated on July 18, to whom several surviving letters were written by Saint Paulinus. The error was easy with the same name, especially on account of the younger Amand's journey to these territories and his instruction of the surrounding peoples in the faith, piety, and Christian morals. Beyond the Garonne lies Aquitaine III, otherwise called Novempopulania. In the sixth century of Christ, the Basques began to occupy this region; the Franks repeatedly subdued them as they gradually grew stronger and were elated by their new dominion. Charibert, King of Aquitaine, after suppressing them in the year of Christ 631, also added them to his kingdom. To this King Saint Amand fled, he teaches the Basques during his exile, having been sent into exile by Dagobert on account of his rebuke of the King's incontinence. Then, says Hucbald in the Life of Saint Rictrudis on May 12, "he most willingly desired to pour out his own blood for Christ, sowing the seed of the divine word through various places: at length among other places he approached the native land of Blessed Rictrudis, namely Gascony, so that there he might illumine both many others and this beautiful star with the light divinely infused in him, with which he burned," reckoning also that, on account of that nation's ferocity, he might there attain the palm of martyrdom. It is added below in the Chesne MS. that he also proceeded to the maritime regions and wished to cross the British Sea to the peoples of the Saxons, that he might preach the Gospel to them and remain in preaching all the days of his life. These had begun at almost that very time to be converted to the faith of Christ in Britain, which they had long since occupied.

[6] Baudemund merely reports that Saint Amand, during this exile, seeking more remote places, and under Clothar III, preached the word of God to the Gentiles; but then he describes his second journey undertaken in the time of Clothar III at number 18, and asserts that the Basques, ^a people spread around the Pyrenean passes through rough and inaccessible places, were devoted to auguries and worshipped idols instead of God. The author of the Deeds of Dagobert, chapter 36, also reports that the Basques had come forth from the rocks between the mountains, where in subsequent times the Bascones — diverse from the other Basques in language, customs, and way of life — lived, as we said on February 2 in the Life of Saint Adalbald, husband of Saint Rictrudis, section 4. Pierre de Marca, in Book 1 of his History of Bearn, chapter 25, number 9, tries to remove all idolatry from the Basques, as if it had been attributed to them by Baudemund and Hucbald out of zeal for extolling the virtue of Saint Amand. He adduces the Bishops of Dax, Lescar, and Oloron; still idolaters let him also add, if he pleases, those of Bigorre and Aire-sur-l'Adour, who attended the Councils of Agde, Orleans IV and V, and Macon II, indeed even Paris IV, whether all of them or some; but these Councils were held before the Basques had settled in those territories. The same Pierre de Marca acknowledges that the Bishops of all Aquitaine subscribed to the Council of Agde, though they were subject to the Arian King Alaric. Why then could not those, especially in the maritime places in the maritime places: to which the Anglo-Saxons and others alien to the Christian faith were landing, have adhered to pagan errors? Thus below, the people of Ghent, Antwerp, and others persisted in the worship of idols, even though at Tournai, Cambrai, and Maastricht, neighboring cities, there were Bishops distinguished for their doctrine and the sanctity of their lives.

[7] The Aquitanian author below at number 16 narrates that Saint Amand (whom, with ^a name not greatly differing, he calls Alan) obtained from King Sigebert ^a place in Gaul which is called Vaurum, and that he built ^a monastery there. did he found ^a monastery at Lavaur? Lavaur (commonly Lavaur) is ^a city in Aquitaine I, made an episcopal see in the year of Christ 1317, from ^a Priory of the Augustinian Order erected in 1098 by Isarn, Bishop of Toulouse; in the foundation charter of which, in Catellus, Book 2 of the History of Occitania, chapter 16, the church of Saint Elan is said to have been formerly built by the faithful, and Isarn to have restored it in honor of the Mother of God Mary and Saint Elan. Saussay mentions this in his Supplement to the Gallican Martyrology on November 25 in these words: "In the territory of Toulouse, Saint Elan, or Alan, Bishop, Patron of the Church of Lavaur on the Agout River in the district of Lauraguais." Saint Alan is also celebrated on November 27 in the ancient Breviary of Quimper in Armorican Brittany, with the same Life of Saint Amand distributed into nine lessons at Matins, in which it is related that he obtained the place where he built the monastery from King Aldebert — who is perhaps Charibert, in whose kingdom Lavaur was situated, neighboring Toulouse, the royal seat — so that it seems more likely that Saint Amand began some monastery there during his exile. It is possible, however, that Lavaur was confused with Vabres, where also an episcopal see was erected from ^a Benedictine Abbey in the same year 1317, he built the one at Nant among the Ruteni: in whose diocese exists the town of Nant, which Baudemund, Milo, and others say he obtained from King Childeric for building ^a monastery. That monastery, dedicated to Saint Peter, still exists in the upper March of the Ruteni, near the sources of the Dourbie, which not far from there empties into the Tarn River at the city of Millau. Moreover, the Abbot is said by Ranchin, in volume 11 of the General Description of Europe published by Pierre Davity, to have full lordship over the town and fortified castrum. The Bishop Mummolus, who then opposed Saint Amand, had his see at Uzes, ^a city two days' journey distant. That Uzes and the Ruteni and neighboring peoples of Aquitaine I were under the Kings of Austrasia, we said on February 1, section 3, in the Life of Saint Sigebert, different from Saint Amantius, Bishop of Rodez. predecessor of Childeric. In the manuscript Lectionary of the monastery of Moissac in the diocese of Cahors, under February 6, ^a shorter Life of Saint Amand is reported, but he is erroneously taken to be Bishop of Rodez instead of Maastricht, the occasion for the error being that ^a certain Saint Amantius was Bishop there, who is venerated on November 4. By ^a similar error, others confuse the said monastery of Nant with Nantua, or Nantuacus, an abbey of the County of Bugey situated between Geneva and Lyon; which we shall more conveniently refute at the end of this Commentary in sections 20 and 21, as also in section 22 those who wish Saint Amand to have crossed into Spain and there died as Bishop of Castellon.

Section II. France cultivated by Saint Amand through pious exercises and the founding of monasteries.

[8] All authors report that Amand lived enclosed in ^a cell among the Bituriges for fifteen years. The Aquitanian author assigns Bourges, city of the Burgundians. He lived enclosed in ^a cell at Bourges for fifteen years: After the death of Clovis I, it had been subject to the King of Orleans, then under Guntram, Childebert, and Theoderic II it was reckoned to the kingdom of Burgundy, the name of Aquitaine, of which it was the metropolis, having been almost entirely effaced. In that part of the Bourbonnais which belongs to the diocese of Bourges, did he found ^a monastery in the Bourbonnais? there is to be seen on the Cher River ^a town named after this Saint Amand, whose church benefices are conferred by the Prior of Montet, or Monticulus-monachorum, of the diocese of Clermont; at whose nomination ^a Priory also exists there. In which place, as far as conjecture can reach, ^a monastery was built by Saint Amand, indicated at number 20 by Baudemund: "When," he says, "he was returning from Gascony into the territories of the Franks" — for the Kingdom of Orleans extended that far. Milo implies the same in Book 4, chapter 2.

[9] Among the places in Francia distinguished by the virtue and teaching of Saint Amand was each of the royal courts: both that of the Austrasians at Metz and that of the Neustrians at Paris. Made ^a Bishop, When he came into Gaul from his first journey to Rome, "compelled," says Baudemund, "by the King and the Bishops, he was ordained Bishop." Joannes Serranus in his Inventory of French History under Dagobert assigns him the See of Paris, not of Paris, as though he would otherwise have lacked the authority to rebuke Dagobert's incontinence. But, as Hariger testifies, according to the custom of that age he was ordained Bishop for the purpose of preaching; and as the poet Milo well explains:

"He did not receive ^a Pontifical See of his own: But just as Paul went among the Eastern peoples, but for apostolic preaching; So this man, sent forth, approached the Western parts, And scattered the holy words of salvation among scattered nations."

Meanwhile, returning more often to Paris, he met with the Kings, either to obtain the authority to found various monasteries throughout the kingdom, he resides at Paris, or to be fortified by their letters so that he might preach the word of God with greater authority, or even to teach the Kings themselves and their courtiers the way of salvation. On his return from exile, he was restored to the old favor of King Dagobert at Clichy, at Clichy, ^a royal estate in the territory of Paris beyond Montmartre. At the same time he baptized his son, Saint Sigebert, at Orleans, with King Charibert receiving him from the holy font at Orleans, as Fredegarius reports in chapter 62 of his Chronicle. Thenceforth he was dear to King Sigebert of the Austrasians, at whose urging he accepted the Bishopric of Maastricht, and with whose permission he resigned it. To the same King Sigebert, residing at Metz, Pope Saint Martin sent Saint Amand as his legate, that he might most prudently admonish him at Metz: and pray that the Bishop might direct to Rome, etc., which are read below in Philip, number 49.

[10] From King Childeric and Imnechild, widow of King Saint Sigebert, King Saint Sigebert had ^a wife named Imnechild, who, surviving her husband (who died in the year 663), governed the Austrasians with Childeric, still ^a youth, having been established as King. Erroneously, however, she and Bildechildis his wife are merged into one and the same person by Jerome Vignier in his Genealogical Tables of Alsace, page 2, Philip Labbe in the Genealogy of the Royal House of the Franks, table 1, number 10, and others. That Saint Amand obtained Barisis from this King Childeric and Queen Imnechild (of whom we said more in the Analecta after the Life of Saint Sigebert, section 1) in the territory of Laon, one league from Coucy and about another from the Oise River and the town of Chauny, is read in our ancient MS., where at the end of the Life of Saint Amand, after various monasteries are enumerated, it says: "Also the small cell which is called Barisis, he obtains Barisis in the territory of Laon, which place, with its adjacent dependencies, King Childeric and Queen Imnechild are seen to have bestowed upon him: we read that all things were built by that divine man." The same things are read in Chesne, volume 1 of the History of the Franks, page 647. Miraeus published the charter of donation in Book 1 of the Belgian Charters, chapter 3, where however the name of Queen Imnechild has been expunged and Bildechildis substituted, who afterward, when he had reached manly age, became his wife. Philip Labbe in his Miscellaneous Curiosities, chapter 4, section 3, judging from the youth of the King indicated in the charter that the name of Bildechildis ought to be absent, decided that Balthild, Childeric's mother, should be restored. But she, together with Clothar, her elder son — also still ^a boy — governed the Neustrians, and on account of the rivalry of the nobles could not have attended to even the slightest matter of Austrasian governance. We subjoin the charter itself as genuine.

[11] "Childeric, King of the Franks, and Imnechild the Queen, to the illustrious man Count Bertuin and Berteland the Vicar. Those who serve on behalf of our parents or even for our youthful age are deservedly aided by the gift of our bounty. with this charter given. Therefore let your greatness or office know that we, for the name of the Lord and for heavenly love, grant to our Apostolic Father, Bishop Amand, our estate called Barisis, situated in the district of Laon, which our treasury has held until now, with most ready devotion, together with all the small estates pertaining to it and with every entirety belonging to it; and we wish it to be granted. Wherefore by our present authority we decree and wish — what we wish to endure in perpetuity — that the same aforesaid estate of Barisis, with all things pertaining to it, both in lands, houses, vineyards, woods, meadows, pastures, and servants dwelling therein, just as our treasury held and possessed them there, the Lord Amand himself may hold and possess for the use of his monks without any contradiction or diminution. Thus therefore we wish this benefit of our concession to be secure in its entirety, so that the said Pontiff, concerning that same estate of Barisis and the properties belonging to it, may have, by our authority, free and most firm power of having, holding, exacting revenues, making dwellings, giving, exchanging, or doing whatever they shall choose. Moreover, we adjure all our successors by the name of the Lord that none of them presume to take away that same estate, with all things pertaining to it, from the Lord Father Amand or his monks, or cause any disturbance. Whoever shall do so, let him bear judgment and incur the sentence of condemnation. And that this authority may be held more firmly regarding the said Pontiff and his monks, and be preserved in perpetuity through succeeding times, I — since on account of my tender age I was unable to subscribe — have signed below with my own hand, and the Queen has subscribed below. Sign of King Childeric. Imnechild the Queen, I have subscribed. Given on the day of the Kalends of August, in the second year of the reign of our Lord King Childeric." Abbot Philip below in the Life, number 60, adds that Andrew, later Abbot of Elnone, was placed in charge of the monastery once it was arranged in fitting order; to which monastery Barisis is still subject.

[12] At Rebais, not far from the Marne River, in the diocese of Meaux and the forest of Brie, ^a monastery was built by Saint Audoin, He dedicates ^a church at Rebais. at whose church dedication the same Philip, number 22, narrates that Saint Amand was present. At Rouen there exists ^a distinguished monastery of Saint Amand, where in the year 1107 there stood an altar At Rouen there is ^a monastery of Saint Amand, at which Saint Amand had once been accustomed to celebrate Mass, as the Abbess testifies below. In the same diocese of Rouen there is ^a parish called Saint-Amand-de-Guillemecourt, with ^a parish church. Neighboring is the territory of Beauvais, cultivated both by ^a blind woman illuminated by Saint Amand and by the divine word preached by him, A Priory among the Beauvaisians. in which ^a priory dedicated to Saint Amand still exists.

Section III. In Belgium, the monastery of Elnone built by Saint Amand: fortified by ^a royal and papal charter. The See claimed for the Menapii.

[13] Saint Medard, as his Acts have it on June 8, grieving over the destruction wrought upon the city of Vermand, which he had undertaken to govern, and fearing ^a renewed irruption of the Pagans, by sufficiently sound counsel established the Episcopal See at Noyon, Saint Amand cultivates the See of Tournai, united to Noyon: in the territory of the Suessiones, among whom the ancient Episcopal Chair nevertheless remained. To this See of Noyon was then joined that of Tournai on the Scheldt River, whose diocese Saint Amand undertook to cultivate; and in the city itself he had ^a cell for himself and his companions, where, with divine favor inspiring him, he won great authority for himself, having raised from death ^a man who had been hanged. Then everywhere, as Baudemund testifies, temples were destroyed and monasteries and churches were built. What was accomplished for the city of Tournai is not equally easy to conjecture from the silence of the ancients; perhaps Saint Amand strove to begin well what Saint Eligius the Bishop completed in deed, when he built the illustrious monastery of Saint Martin there, while Saint Amand was then residing in the diocese of Maastricht. Together with the city of Tournai and the Tournaisis, or Castellany, or Bailiwick, he founds the monastery of Elnone, now called Amandine, as they call it, ^a third member — Amandopolis — constitutes as it were one province with the territory of Tournai; which town grew out of the monastery of Elnone, embracing eight neighboring districts under its jurisdiction. Among the very many monasteries founded by Saint Amand, Elnone stands out above all, in which he both completed his life in holy old age and, once buried, has been present from heaven as ^a benign Patron and worker of miracles until now, so that on that account it has remained known by his name alone. The small stream Elnon gave it its name; thus Milo below, Book 4, chapter 12:

"The place is named from the river, Which the purer Scarpe receives in its broad embrace and sends forth."

The Elnon flows into the Scarpe at the end of the orchard or meadow toward the northern side of the monastery buildings. The Scarpe, moreover, rising in Artois, first washes Arras, then Douai, then passing by the more illustrious monasteries of Marchiennes, Hasnon, and Elnone, mingles with the Scheldt near Mortagne above Tournai.

[14] Abbot Philip below at number 31 reports that the city of the Menapii is that which by its common name is called Tournai, and at number 64 he asserts that Elnone is situated within the boundaries of the Menapii, in the ancient territory of the Menapii, widely spread, bordering on the Propontii and Nervii. Where in our handwritten codex it is noted: "The Menapii are the people of Tournai, the Propontii those of Brabant, the Nervii those of Hainaut." Concerning these two peoples also cultivated by Saint Amand, we shall treat below. But the diocese of Tournai contains moreover, with their territories, the cities of Lille and Courtrai, and those already separated: Ghent with Audenarde, Bruges with Oldenburg, Sluis, and neighboring towns. Whoever would make them one people would call them Menapii and extend them even to the Morini. Concerning both peoples we treated on February 3 in the Life of Saint Anschar, section 5. Caesar in his Gallic War, Book 2, chapter 4; Book 3, chapter 9; Book 4, chapter 38, and elsewhere, and Pliny, Book 4, chapter 17, join the Menapii to the Morini; among the Morini thus Strabo, Book 4, and Dio Cassius, Book 39, establish the Morini as bordering upon the Menapii. Later writers agree: for according to the Deeds of the Normans before Duke Rollo, the Normans, having devastated the city of Tournai and all the monasteries on the Scheldt River with fire and sword in the year 880, and having built ^a fortification at Courtrai for wintering, destroyed the Menapii and the Suevi to utter annihilation and consumed all the land along the rivers Scheldt and Lys. Concerning the Suevi we shall treat below. In the same way, according to an unpublished author cited by Vredius in chapter 1 of Old Flanders, and the Brabanters, the Normans, having devastated Therouanne, the city of the Morini, "traverse and devastate with fire and sword the entire land of the Menapii." under various appellations, "After this they enter the river Scheldt and destroy the entire land of the Brabanters with fire and sword." The same Normans, according to ^a historical fragment concerning the destruction of Corbie in volume 11 of the Historians of France, "destroyed with fire and sword the city of Therouanne, the territories of the Morini, Menapii, and Brabanters — everything that was around the Scheldt River." Sigebert reports similar events in his Chronicle under the year 882. Emperor Louis the Pious, in his Decree for the division of the Empire among his sons, seems to divide this territory of the Menapii into Menapiscus, Medenenti, and perhaps Flanderes, or Flanders, to which he adds the contiguous regions of Brabant, Hainaut, Austerban, Artois, and Therouanne. But that the Flemish then inhabited the maritime places between Bruges and the Straits of Zeeland, and the Medenatenses partly the territory of Lille, we said in the Lives of Saints Adalbald and Anschar. The remaining territory of the Menapiscus is therefore to be attributed to the Scheldt and Lys. Concerning other Menapii, or Genapii, distinct from this people — those of Julius Caesar and Dio, who are called Cugerni by Tacitus and are almost the same as the Cleves — we shall treat elsewhere. Ptolemy, by confusing these Menapii, led many into error. Cluverius, in Book 3 of his Germania, chapter 1, calls him ^a wonderful disturber everywhere among the Germanies, and our Briet corrects him throughout in his Ancient Gaul.

[15] Moreover, the monastery of Elnone, from the charter of Pope Saint Martin soon to be given, is shown to have been in the age of Saint Amand within the borders of the Frankish Austrasians, where we have said elsewhere that the neighboring Austerban was named from the boundary of the Austrasians. in the kingdom of the Austrasians, Abbot Philip adds that Elnone, "just as it is the boundary of the Germanic kingdom and the Roman Empire, so it is recognized as ^a portion of Belgian Reims, and thus as the frontier of the Franks" — namely of the Western Franks, then of the Western Franks, where the descendants of Charles the Bald retained the name of the Franks. Thus the author of the Chronicle of Marchiennes and Sigebert under the year 812, when they relate the elevation of the body of Saint Amand, place the monastery of Elnone in Francia; but the neighboring Cameracensians, Hainaulters, and Brabanters, who had formerly been under the Austrasian Kings and then under Emperor Lothar, are reckoned to the Romano-Germanic Empire. The territory of Elnone is also reckoned under the Archbishop formerly of Reims, ^a portion of Belgian Reims, when it was transferred from the Austrasians to the Western Franks; to which, then the metropolis of Belgica Secunda, the neighboring Bishops of Tournai, Cambrai, Therouanne, and Arras were subject. But with the erection of new bishoprics in Belgium, now of Cambrai, the Bishops of Tournai are subjected to the Archbishop of Cambrai, as are others separated from the French. Finally, the monastery of Elnone is attributed to the territory of Pevele in the Martyrology of that same place, cited below; whence even now, in the territory of Pevele. as Buzelinus testifies in Book 1 of Gallo-Flanders, chapter 17, the Prelate of the monastery of Amand is called Count within the territory of Pevele, and is indeed reckoned to Gallic Flanders. Gallo-Flanders. Two charters given to Saint Amand exist for this monastery of Elnone, one of which is of King Dagobert; the other is commonly held to be of Pope Saint Martin. The former is of this sort:

[16] "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Dagobert, King by the ordering of Divine clemency. We believe that God will be propitious to us King Dagobert, by charter, if we devote our principal care to reforming and confirming the worship of religion, and if we open the hand of our munificence and liberality to those who serve religion. Therefore we wish the diligence of both those present and those to come to know that the venerable Bishop Amand, to Saint Amand who by the grace of God baptized our son Sigebert, having already constructed and well arranged certain churches or monasteries for the increase of divine worship, approached Our Excellency, and as an unfailing cultivator of the Lord's vineyard, trusting in the benefit of our bounty, humbly asked that the place situated between the two rivers Scarpe and Elnon be granted to him by our liberality. donates Elnone Which place, although it was difficult to clear on account of the great density of the forest, nevertheless seemed suitable for his labor, or rather after his labor, for the repose and use of those serving God, whom he was already contemplating he would by God's grace establish there. We therefore, considering the worthy petition of the reverend Pontiff, both for the stability and peace of our entire kingdom and of our offspring, and for the salvation of our souls, have granted the place which he had requested, together with both rivers and the forest growing all around, and confirms it, with ready devotion of spirit, and we establish our concession by the ratified sanction of the laws. We command, therefore, and by royal authority order, that no secular or ecclesiastical person shall attempt to cause any disturbance, opposition, prejudice, or violence to the aforesaid Pontiff or his successors concerning the above-written place with the water and forest granted to the aforesaid Pontiff by our liberality; but rather let both the Pontiff himself and those whom he shall appoint, as well as those who shall succeed him, have and possess this benefit of royal munificence securely and perpetually without any diminution, without any challenge or contradiction. And if Divine mercy shall wish, through the industry of this beloved man and his successors and through the devout generosity of good men, that the place be improved and enlarged, and exempts it from the rights of the treasury. whatever the right of the treasury could have exacted therefrom, whether in legal cases, or in fines, or in meadows, or in divisions and returns of lands, or in any other way, we grant in its entirety to both the aforesaid Father and his successors. Moreover, we wish the place itself and the properties belonging to it, and whatever the bounty of Princes or the devotion of any of the faithful shall henceforth add, to remain under the defense of our protection and immunity. And that this royal authority may endure firm and unshaken in perpetuity, we have signed the present precept with our own hand and sealed it with the impression of our ring; and we admonish our successors also to imitate our example in this matter. Given on the Kalends of May, Indiction *II, in the eleventh year of the reign of Lord Dagobert. Done in the city of Paris, happily, Amen. Gerard the Notary verified it in place of Dado the Chancellor." Thus far the charter. The eleventh year of Dagobert corresponds to the year of Christ 638, in which the Indiction was XII, not II or VII, which is better omitted according to the custom of that age, having been added by later copyists. The other charter, of Pope Saint Martin, is of this sort:

[17] "Martin, Bishop, Pope Saint Martin is believed by another charter last of the servants of God, to all who love God, greeting. We ought to rejoice at the daily progress and increase of the holy mother, the Catholic and Apostolic Church, and we ought to bear aid to those who labor in the Lord's vineyard for their reward. Whence we wish it to be known to the children of the holy universal Church, both those present and those to come, how our son of holy affection, Amand, with the consent and petition of our dearest son of ... memory, Dagobert, King of the Franks, or of his son Sigebert, has sought from us ^a privilege of our authority concerning ^a certain monastery the monastery of Elnone of Saints Peter and Paul to which he gave the name Elnone, and which was also consecrated by him in honor of the most blessed Prince of the Apostles, Peter, and the Teacher of the Nations, Paul, within the course of the two rivers, the Scarpe and the Elnon. We therefore grant ^a privilege of our holy authority to the aforementioned place for our times and future times. We therefore ordain and confirm concerning the stability of that place, concerning its estates and resources, concerning its churches and church tithes, and concerning the household and whatever revenues especially of those serving God there. Moreover, we forbid in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the authority of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, we prohibit — to have exempted it from the jurisdiction of the Bishop; by whose commission, God being the author, we preside over this Roman Church — that no Bishop should henceforth presume to diminish, by any investigation whatsoever, their revenues, properties, charters, or estates in any way, nor to practice any deceits or interruptions, nor to enter their monastery, nor to hold courts, nor to do anything else. But if any case should perchance arise between land coming to the part of ... the church and monastery, and it cannot be settled peacefully, let it be concluded before chosen Abbots and other God-fearing Fathers without willful delay, upon the most holy Gospels.

[18] "When the Abbot has died, let no outsider, a free election of the Abbot, but only one from the same congregation whom the united congregation shall have chosen, be ordained, and let him who is elected be ordained without any deceit or simony. It must likewise be guarded that monks should not be taken from there against the Abbot's will for the purpose of organizing other monasteries or for sacred Orders or the office of the clergy. But if there are enough in abundance who suffice for celebrating the praises of God and promotion to sacred Orders, or fulfilling the needs of the place, from those who are left over, let the Abbot present before him those whom he shall judge worthy. Whoever from the monastery shall have arrived at an ecclesiastical order, let him no longer have power or license to dwell there. We also entirely forbid public Masses to be held by the Bishop in the same monastery, lest in the retreats and dwellings of the servants of God any occasion for ^a popular gathering be afforded; and other things granted for the peace of the monastery, nor let him dare to place his chair there, or have any power of commanding, or make any ordination whatsoever, even the slightest, unless he shall have been asked by the Abbot of that place; so that the monks may always remain under the authority of their Abbot. This page of our writings, therefore, we decree shall be kept firm and inviolate for all future time by all Bishops, so that the Churches may now be content with their own rights, with the Lord's help, and that the Abbot and monks of the said monastery may in no way be subject to ecclesiastical conditions, or forced labor, or any secular services whatsoever, nor serve any lay men; but with vexations removed and all burdens lifted, let them accomplish the divine work with the utmost devotion of spirit. Whoever shall have been ^a sincere observer of the Apostolic constitutions in love shall receive blessing and mercy from the Lord. But whoever shall have attempted to treat as nothing and violate those things which the Apostolic See has established, with anathema appended against resisters. entangled by the bonds of anathema by the authority of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of our Apostolate, let him, as ^a sacrilegious person, separated from the bosom of mother Church and from the participation of the body and blood of Christ, receive the sentence of damnation together with the devil and his angels. Written by the hand of Stephen, Notary and Regionarius and Scriniarius of the Holy Roman Church, in the month of January, Indiction II. Given on the 14th of February, by the hand of Amand the Bishop, librarian of the Holy Apostolic See." Thus far the charter of Pope Saint Martin, in which Indiction II does not agree with the time of his pontificate; IX should rather be placed, so that it may appear to have been given in the year 651, in which we shall prove below that Saint Amand was at Rome, and on the 14th day before the Kalends of February — ^a date which is read below in another charter obtained for the monastery of Ghent.

* alt. VII

Section IV. Churches and monasteries erected by Saint Amand in Belgium, along the Scarpe, Lys, and Scheldt Rivers. The Flemish, the people of Antwerp, and others instructed.

[19] Buzelinus in Book 2 of the Annals of Gallo-Flanders observes that from the monastery of Elnone, Saint Amand went to the neighboring places: "It was easy," he says, "from there to visit whatever places of Pevele, so that the people, as the most diligent Father especially desired, Saint Amand cultivates the neighboring regions from the monastery of Elnone: might be cultivated by the laws of Christ for the salvation of their souls. From there too it was an easy excursion for the same purpose to Valenciennes and Tournai." And ^a little further on: "From that place indeed, after he had placed Ursus in charge of it, now he would go to Tournai, now traverse the region of Pevele, now to Marchiennes, Douai, Lille, and tend elsewhere; everywhere now preaching, now privately holding conversations about divine matters; striving also to reach the point where he might more vehemently impel many wealthy and noble men to piety, as they would surely be an incentive to virtue for others. Among the men of great name in those times stirred to virtue by Saint Amand's pious discourses, I do not hesitate to number three brothers, namely Erchenald, Adalbald, and Sigebert." Concerning these we treated in the Life of Saint Adalbald on February 2, and concerning Erchenoald, Mayor of the Palace of Clovis II, in the Life of Saint Sigebert. Concerning Adalbald, Buzelinus adds: "This I hold for certain, that he gave ^a piece of land to Saint Amand at about this time in the territory of Pevele, for the purpose of founding ^a monastery there. he obtains the land of Marchiennes from Saint Adalbald; It lies on the river Scarpe, not far from Hamagia on the outermost borders of Pevele. That place was then little cultivated, and was rough with many marshy waters, reeds, sand, and woods. But for that very reason Saint Amand had judged it most suitable for containing men whom the zeal for contemplating divine things, having left the world, inflamed."

[20] Here, therefore, as is read in the Chronicle of that monastery, he built the church of Marchiennes in honor of the Apostle Saint Peter on the allodial land of Duke Adalbald. Indeed also ^a monastery, as Hucbald is the authority in the Life of Saint Rictrudis: "Moreover, the place where she," he says, "would devote herself to spiritual exercises, she chose with the counsel and aid of the oft-mentioned Bishop Amand, as being very suitable for her, and he founds ^a monastery there, namely the monastery which they call Marchiennes, built by the same Bishop on the river Scarpe, over the arranging and establishing of which the holy man had placed as Abbot the venerable Saint Jonatus, whose body is still preserved, entombed in the same monastery. given to nuns, And Amand indeed wished monks to be kept there; but Jonatus gathered nuns there. This place, then, sufficiently secluded from the noise of men, the handmaid of God Rictrudis sought out, and with Blessed Amand not only consenting but also reconciling the peace between the King and herself, she obtained it with the privilege of royal majesty, that she might there devote herself entirely to divine matters." It is added in the Chronicle of Marchiennes: Saint Rictrudis placed in charge of them, "since Blessed Rictrudis had consecrated her goods to this place and had resolved to serve God there, the nuns, placed among the servants of God, undertook the office of leadership." But in the year of Christ 1028, as Meyer has it in his Annals, under Count Baldwin the Bearded of Flanders and Gerard I, Bishop of Arras and Cambrai, now it belongs to men: in place of the nuns, Benedictine monks from the monastery of Saint Vedast at Arras were introduced, over whom the Abbot Leduin of that monastery presided for nine years.

[21] The estate called Hamagia above is today ^a Priory annexed to the Abbey of Marchiennes, formerly ^a monastery built by Saint Gertrude, grandmother of Saint Adalbald, did he assist in founding Hamage, at whose house her great-granddaughter Saint Eusebia, daughter of Saints Adalbald and Rictrudis, was raised and formed for the monastic life. Balderic, Book 2, chapter 27, writes that Eusebia built that monastery from her own hereditary properties — which we believe was accomplished chiefly by the counsel and labor of Saint Amand. On the other bank of the same Scarpe, between the town of Amand and Marchiennes, and Hasnon on the Scarpe? is seen the monastery of Hasnon, which was begun to be built by John, ^a most noble man and lord of that place, and his sister Eulalia, for religious of both sexes, while Saint Amand was living as an old man in the nearby monastery of Elnone; and John is believed to have been the first Abbot set over the monks, and Eulalia the Abbess over the nuns. These too were aided by the example, assistance, and counsel of Saint Amand, as far as one may conjecture from the proximity of the place. Saint Vindician, Bishop of Cambrai and Arras, dedicated the church to God and the holy Apostle Peter on the second day before the Kalends of May, in the fourth year of King Theoderic, in which year we prove below that Saint Amand had died. Concerning the origin of this monastery, very much is related in the unpublished monastic records of Francois le Bar, volume 6, part 2.

[22] The city of Courtrai, on the Lys (or Legia) River, refers its reception of the Christian faith to Saints Eligius and Amand. "It is reported," says Meyer in volume 1 of his Flemish Affairs, The monastery of Saint Amand at Courtrai. "that Saint Eligius transmitted the rudiments of piety to the people of Courtrai and made their church magnificent, dedicated to Saint Martin. But the provostship of Saint Amand which exists there, together with the chapel of Saint Mary, formerly very wealthy, belongs to the abbey of Elnone, erected by the most holy Apostle of the Flemish, Amand," as Sanderus reports from the account of the Elnonensians in his Illustrated Flanders. The same Saint Eligius, as is reported in Book 2 of his Life, chapter 3, by Saint Audoin, "preached the word of God to the Flemish, the Antwerpians, the Frisians, the Suevi, and the barbarians dwelling around the seashores." And "he labored much among the Flemish," as chapter 8 says, "fought with constant perseverance at Antwerp, converted many erring Suevi, destroyed temples, and utterly overthrew idolatry." These same things ought by right and merit to be said of Saint Amand. He preaches to the Suevi in Flanders: We showed above that the Suevi were ^a people mingled with the Menapii; their traces are exhibited by the celebrated districts of Zwevegem, one league distant from Courtrai, and Zwevezele, about midway between Courtrai and Bruges, in the Deanery of Torhout, concerning whose town's monastery we treated on February 3 in the Life of Saint Anschar, section IV. This seems to us more likely to have been founded with the aid of Saint Amand, since Saint Bavo, his disciple, he builds ^a monastery at Torhout, as is read in his Life on October 1, "wherever Amand, the sower of the divine seed, went, strove to follow thither, and clinging inseparably to the Master's side, burned to be filled with the richness of holy preaching, and contracted ^a familiar acquaintance with Domlinus, Priest of the Church of Torhout, whom an Angel of the Lord brought to him when he was dying." Concerning this we shall treat at greater length on the Kalends of October, where Sanderus in Book 3 of the Hagiology of Flanders connects Domlinus with Saint Bavo.

[23] The former capital of the Flemish was the city of Rodenburg, which today they call Ardenburg, and at Ardenburg: in which, after other writers of Flemish affairs, Sanderus reports that ^a church had been dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God by Saint Eligius, ^a monastery built by Saint Amand, and another added to it by Saint Ursmar; concerning this we shall treat on April 18. The Frisians inhabited at that time that part of Flanders he preaches to the neighboring Frisians, by which it is separated from Zeeland by an arm of the internal sea (which they call the Honte and the Western Scheldt), divided into four "ambachten" or prefectures, who with the towns of Hulst, Axel, Sas, and Biervliet, like the rest of the Frisians, remained under the Bishops of the city of Utrecht, which was the Frisian metropolis, until the year of Christ 1559, when new bishoprics were erected in Belgium. In the division of the kingdom of Lothar made in the year 870, they seem to have formed with the neighboring Zeelanders the third part of the Frisians, obtained by Charles the Bald together with Taxandria and Brabant, the two parts of the Frisians on both sides of the Rhine, together with the County of Teisterbant and the Batua, being left to Louis, King of Germany. To these Frisians was joined in the estuaries of the Scheldt River Calloo, and to the Calloans. called Chavelaus by Baudemund, Canelaus by Abbot Philip, Chanalaus by Hariger, and Calolo by the poet Milo — which is ^a metathesis by ^a half-learned scribe from Calloo, which is still the name of the place. The patronage of the church of Calloo and of one chaplaincy still belongs to the Abbey of Saint Peter, built by Saint Amand at Ghent, as we shall presently say.

[24] Calloo is distant about one league from the city of Antwerp, whose name is expressly mentioned first of all by Audoin. At Antwerp, he builds ^a church, This city recognizes and venerates as its Apostles, from whom it was taught the faith, Saints Eligius and Amand, and the somewhat younger Willibrord, Bishop of Utrecht, upon whom Rohingus, Prince of the Antwerpians, conferred very many goods by two charters given, in which he mentions certain notable works of Saint Amand there. In the first he says thus: "I, in the name of God, Rohingus, and my wife Bebelina, give to the Apostolic Lord and our Father, Bishop Willibrord, and we wish it to be given in perpetuity — that is, the church which was built within the fortress of Antwerp, on the river Scheldt, which the Lord Pontiff Amand built in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, Princes of the Apostles, in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, and of the other Saints; and we, for that same church and whatever seems to pertain to it, gave our small estate called Tumme in exchange to the venerable man Firminus, Abbot of the monastery of Quercolodora. ... Done publicly at the royal estate of Weimode, when October had completed twenty days, in the sixth year of the reign of King Theoderic," that is, the year of Christ 726. In the second charter he repeats almost the same things in these words: "In the name of God, I, the illustrious man Rohingus, and my wife Bebelina, give to the most holy church of Peter and Paul the Apostles, which the Lord Amand built at Antwerp, where Bishop Willibrord appears to preside, and we wish it to be given in perpetuity, etc." Miraeus exhibits the complete charters in his Code of Donations, chapters 6 and 7. Moreover, just as Saint Eligius is called by Audoin in his Life not only Bishop of Noyon or Tournai, but also of Vermand, Courtrai, Ghent, and Flanders, because each of these cities or territories was governed by its own Counts or Marquises, so Saint Amand also seems to have been able to be called Bishop of Antwerp; just as Saint Willibrord, Bishop of Utrecht, in the aforementioned charter is also said to have presided over the Church of Antwerp, that city then being established under Prince Rohingus. The same Willibrord mentions Rohingus's donations in his testament: "Rohingus," he says, "granted to me and handed over ^a certain church which was built in the fortress of Antwerp on the river Scheldt, in the district of the Rhinelanders, with its dependencies, etc." The fortress or castle is still commonly called the "burg," as is the "burgher church," which — after the city was burned in the year 836, as the Annals of Fulda report, by the Normans — was later restored under the patronage of the holy Virgins Catherine and Walburga. now Saint Walburga's. It is now recognized almost solely by the name of Walburga, as will be more fully said in her Life on February 25.

[25] That Saint Humbert, Abbot of Maroilles, was ^a companion of Saint Amand in converting the Antwerpians is indicated by verses published by Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium on March 25, which begin thus:

"Illustrious Humbert, you who shine with radiant merits, To whose example of life and governance, Barbarous Antwerp once obtained the doctrine of Christ."

Concerning the journey of the same Humbert with Saint Amand to Rome, we shall treat below. What is called in Rohingus's donation the monastery of Quercolodora under Abbot Firminus seems to have been at Deurne, or Turninus, In the district of Deurne which district is commonly called Deurne, one league distant from Antwerp. And indeed it is permissible to suspect that that very monastery was built by Saint Amand for the strengthening of the recently planted faith in that place and its propagation. Moreover, Quercolodora, or Kerckelodora, is so called the monastery of Quercolodora. as if "Kercke-loo-dor" — from the water (which was called "dor" or "dur" or "deur" in the old Belgian tongue) flowing near the forest, or "loo," beside which forest there was ^a church, "Kercke," from the Greek kyriakon. That water, moreover, is the stream Scenda, which washes the district of Deurne. The first believed to have presided over this monastery is Saint Fredegandus, patron of the people of Deurne to this day, venerated on July 17, to whom perhaps the above-mentioned Firminus succeeded. There was ^a great connection between this Quercolodora and ^a certain sharing of goods with another monastery built by Saint Amand on the river Sabis, as we shall say below; to which the body of Saint Fredegandus was transferred when the Normans were laying waste to everything around Antwerp.

Section V. The people of Ghent converted to the faith by Saint Amand. Three monasteries built there.

[26] Ghent, the most noble city of the Flemish at this time, equal in size to the greatest cities of Europe, is called by Baudemund — who lived there in the seventh century of Christ — below at number 12, the "district" and "place" of Ghent, Saint Amand converts the idolatrous people of Ghent; not ^a city, as he acknowledges Tournai to be at number 13. Saint Audoin, somewhat older than Baudemund, in the Life of Saint Eligius the Bishop, calls Tournai ^a royal city, but considers Ghent and Courtrai to be among the towns subject to the prefecture of some Count, and administered as distinct dioceses by Saint Eligius. The Aquitanian author in the Chesne MS. calls it below "on the borders of the Franks and the Gentiles." Among these Gentiles the people of Ghent must be counted, though they were subject to the Franks, who, as Baudemund testifies, "worshipped temples and idols," and were so fierce that no Priest dared to announce to them the word of the Lord. Saint Amand, scorning the danger of death, assailed these people with apostolic zeal and taught them the mysteries of our religion; nor, with his spirit broken by their savagery — even when his companions returned to their homes — did he persist alone, and after long and often-resumed labors he planted the faith of Christ. [he builds the church of Saint Peter and all the Apostles: he receives Saint Bavo;] And according to the Chronicle of Bavo, having shattered the idol of Mercury and overturned its altar, he built ^a church and consecrated it in honor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and the other Apostles.

[27] There also he received Saint Bavo, coming to him from Hesbaye, and having instructed him in doctrine and piety, tonsured him as ^a cleric, and at last committed him, having died most holily, to burial. Saint Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz, in the Life of Saint Livinus, Bishop and Martyr, on November 12, mentions the monastery then founded: and Saint Livinus in the monastery, "When he had visited very many places, he came with his disciples to ^a certain monastery named from the village of Ghent, which the blessed Pontiff Amand, having uprooted the temples of the Gentiles, caused to be founded, and which he himself also dedicated in honor of the Apostle Saint Peter and all the Apostles, having gathered there cultivators over whom he placed as Abbot one named Florbert, ^a guide of holy religion, composed in worthy morals and filled with the example of all uprightness. By whom also and by the other Brothers he was received with the office of monastic charity. There too he found ^a man of wonderful sanctity and an outstanding Confessor of Christ, Bavo, resting in recent death in the Lord, and buried in the monastery of Saint Peter and the holy Apostles by Blessed Amand and Abbot Florbert and the devout Brothers with fitting honor, and shining with glorious miracles." which was afterward called Saint Bavo's, Hence the monastery was afterward called Saint Bavo's.

[28] From there Saint Livinus hastened, by God's disposition, to the land of Brabant, to which territory this monastery is assigned by Louis the Pious in ^a charter published by Miraeus in the Notice of the Churches of Belgium, chapter 27, in these words: "Louis, by the ordaining of Divine Providence, Emperor Augustus. Let the diligence of all the faithful know that the venerable man Einhard, Abbot of the monastery which is called Ghent, which is situated in the district of Brabant, built in honor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, situated in the district of Brabant, where also Saint Bavo, Confessor of Christ, rests in body, brought before our sight the charter of immunity of the Lord and our father Charles, of good memory, most excellent Emperor; and he asked that we too should add our own authority to his father's. To whose petition we gladly gave our assent. Given on the Ides of April, in the sixth year, Christ being propitious, of our Empire, Indiction XII. Done at the royal palace of Aachen, in the name of God, happily, Amen. Sign of Louis, most serene Emperor." That year was 819 of Christ. But eight years before, as the same Einhard testifies in his Annals, Charlemagne, coming to the river Scheldt, had inspected ships built at the place called Ghent, at which time he could have conferred the said immunity upon this monastery. In the year 850 the Normans burned the monastery of Saint Bavo in the town of Ghent. Then in 880, burned by the Normans, in which year we said above that the Normans built ^a fortification at Courtrai, the same Normans in the month of November established ^a seat for themselves to winter in at the monastery at Ghent, as the Chronicle of the Deeds of the Normans reports. An ancient Anglo-Saxon author, published with Bede at Cambridge, adds that the Norman army stayed for ^a year at Ghent in Francia.

[29] That monastery was then restored by Arnulf, Count of Flanders, and his son Baldwin, through the efforts of Saint Gerard, Abbot of Brogne, restored by Saint Gerard of Brogne, confirmed by King Lothar of the Franks, and Lothar, King of the Franks, confirms it by his authority in the first year of his reign, the year of Christ 954, in whose charter, in Miraeus's Code of Donations, chapter 26, the monastery is said to be "situated in the town of Ghent, where the rivers Lys and Scheldt meet, built in honor of Saint Peter, in which also Saint Bavo rests buried in body." That the monks also labored so that the privileges of their monastery might be defended by the Emperors may be gathered from ^a charter of Saint Henry, signed in the year of Christ 1003, ^a portion of which is as follows: "Henry, by the favoring of Divine clemency, King ... Let the industry of all the faithful of the holy Church of God, by Emperors Otto and Saint Henry: both present and future, know that the venerable man Erembold, Abbot of the monastery of Ghent, which is situated where the river Scheldt joins the river Lys, built by the blessed Pontiff Amand in honor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, where also the distinguished Bavo, Confessor of Christ, rests in body, presented to us the charter of immunity of the Lord, our predecessor, namely of the most unconquered Emperor Otto." Miraeus reports the complete text in his Book of Belgian Donations, chapter 17. I omit the charters of other Princes. Finally, in the year of Christ 1537, by the authority of Pope Paul III, destroyed in 1540. the monks of Saint Bavo, having changed their habit, were assumed as Canons, and three years later, having been transferred to the parish basilica of Saint John the Baptist in Ghent, now the Cathedral, Emperor Charles V built ^a citadel in the place of the monastery for the protection of the city.

[30] Another most noble and most ample monument of the labor expended by Saint Amand among the Ghentians is the monastery Saint Amand likewise builds the monastery of Blandinium there, erected on Mount Blandinium in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, concerning whose site and construction the charter of Pope Saint Martin, which they wish to have been granted to Saint Amand in person at Rome, treats. It reads as follows: "Martin, Bishop, last of the servants of God, to all who love God, greeting. We ought to rejoice at the daily progress and increase of the holy mother, the Catholic and Apostolic Church, and we ought to bear aid to those laboring in the Lord's vineyard for the reward of their work. Whence we wish it to be known to the children of the holy universal Church, both those present and those to come, how our son of holy affection, Amand, with the consent and petition of our dearest son of divine memory, Dagobert, King of the Franks, or of his son Sigebert, has sought from us ^a privilege of our authority concerning ^a certain monastery, which he himself is known to have built from the foundations after the abominations of the Gentiles had been cleansed, to which he gave the name Blandinium; and which was also consecrated by him in honor of the most blessed Prince of the Apostles, Peter, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, and the Teacher of the Nations, Paul; situated between the course of the two rivers Scheldt and Lys. We grant indeed ^a privilege of our holy authority to the aforementioned place for our times and for future times; endowed with goods, we ordain and confirm concerning the stability of that place, concerning its estates and resources, concerning its churches and church tithes, and concerning the household and whatever revenues especially of those serving God there; and the ornaments, lights, and custodians of the church, as well as the guests and the poor, at the petition of our dear ones, the most excellent Kings Dagobert and his son Sigebert, we establish, corroborate, and decree to be inviolate by our Apostolic authority.

[31] Entrusted to the governance of the Abbots. "We have therefore decreed that it shall be permitted to the regular Abbot Florbert, presently appointed or established there by our son Amand, both to him and to future Abbots in perpetuity, to arrange and order all things in all the needs of the place, with Divine consolation, without any contradiction or opposition, so that they may freely devote themselves to the commands of the Lord, according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. If anyone, however (which we do not desire), shall presume by reckless daring to act against the public documents of this our Apostolic privilege, let him know that he stands guilty by Divine judgment for the iniquity perpetrated, and let him be made alien from the most holy body and blood of the Lord, our Redeemer Jesus Christ, and thereby in the eternal examination let him be subject to severe vengeance. But to all who preserve the rights of that place and enrich it from their goods, may there be the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that they may receive here the fruit of good action and before the strict Judge may find the reward of eternal peace. Written by the hand of Stephen, Notary and Regionarius and Scriniarius of the Holy Roman Church, in the month of January, Indiction II. Given on the 14th day before the Kalends of February, by the hand of Amand, Bishop, Theatrapus of the Holy Apostolic See."

[32] The charter of Pope Saint Martin concerning it is examined. Thus far the charter of Pope Saint Martin, another of which we gave above, granted to the monastery of Elnone, in which the number of the Indiction has the same defect; in its place we said IX should be substituted, so that it would have been given in the year 651. Then Amand is called there "Bibliothecarius" Librarian, here "Theatrapus." Perhaps his task was entrusted to inspect the codices in the library but not to remove them? For the Greek thea means vision or inspection, and atrapos, or atrapelos, means immovable. Miraeus, having cited the charter in his Book of Belgian Donations, chapter 1, doubts whether these words "according to the Rule of Saint Benedict" are ^a gloss inserted by ^a hand of ^a later age. The same author in his Belgian Chronicle under the year 653 mentions only the charter granted by Pope Saint Martin to the Elnonensians. Perhaps he judged the Blandinian one to be doubtful. Certainly the name of King Sigebert of the Austrasians is repeated twice, while Clovis II, his brother, in whose kingdom Blandinium was, is omitted — the one with whose authority Audoin reports ^a council was held when Saint Eligius was elected Bishop of Tournai, Ghent, Flanders, etc. The name given to the monastery by Saint Amand is said to be Blandinium, by which term Abbot Philip below at number 30 reports it was customarily called from ancient paganism, which charter therefore does not seem to have come to his notice.

[33] In the charter of Charlemagne, in Sanderus, this monastery is called Blandinius, The privileges of this monastery confirmed by Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, "built by Saint Amand in the town of Ghent, consecrated in honor of Saints Peter and Paul." Louis the Pious deserved well of the same monastery by the privilege he gave; Miraeus published it in full in the Notice of the Churches of Belgium, which reads thus: "Louis, by Divine Providence, Emperor Augustus. Let the diligence of all the faithful know that the venerable man, Abbot Einhard, from the monastery of Blandinium, which is built in honor of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, situated in the district of Ghent. which is situated in the district of Ghent on the river Scheldt, brought before our sight the charter of the Lord and our father Charles, of good memory, most pious Augustus, and asked that we also confirm the same charter by our authority. To whose petition we gladly acquiesced, and we ordered this precept of our authority to be made. Sign of Louis, most serene Emperor. Helisachar verified and noted. Given on the fourth day before the Nones of June, Christ being propitious, in the second year of the Empire of the Lord Louis, most pious Augustus, Indiction VIII. Done at the royal palace of Aachen, in the name of God, happily, Amen." That year was 815 of Christ. Very many charters of Supreme Pontiffs, Emperors, Kings of France, Counts of Flanders, and other Princes and illustrious men, granted to this monastery, may be seen in the Supplement to Sanderus's Illustrated Flanders; among which is that of Count Wichmann, established by Otto I, in which the monastery is said to have been built by Saint Amand.

[34] Another of Saint Mary in the district of Mempiscus, A third monastery is reported to have been erected there by Saint Amand, in Sanderus, Book 3 of the Affairs of Ghent, chapter 7. "The first church of this place," he says, "in the district of Mempiscus on the river Lys, sacred to the Virgin Mother of God, built and endowed by Saint Basinus, ^a petty king and Martyr, Blessed Amand, Bishop of Maastricht and Apostle of the Ghentians, adorned with ^a college of Canons, or, as the ancients used to say, ^a monastery of Clerics living in common." These things Sanderus reports from the manuscript records of the same monastery, which is called "the High" in the Chronicle of Blandinium, and "the monastery of Saint Mary on the bank of the Lys," burned by the Normans together with the monastery of Saint Bavo in the year 850. now called Tronchiennes. It is now called Tronchiennes, restored by the Premonstratensians. Saint Basinus is venerated on July 14.

Section VI. Monasteries in ancient Brabant and Hainaut built by Saint Amand. The Diocese of Cambrai cultivated.

[35] We showed above from the division of the kingdom made by Emperor Louis the Pious among his sons that the Menapii are joined with Brabant; Saint Amand in ancient Brabant, indeed, they are distinguished only by the river Scheldt, from the Corbie fragment and Sigebert and others. In the division of the kingdom of Lothar made in the year 870 between Charles the Bald and Louis, King of Germany, four Counties are assigned in Brabant, together with these neighboring Counties: Hainaut, Lomme, Hesbaye, Taxandria, and the third part of the Frisians indicated above. We judge that region of Brabant to be nearly enclosed by the rivers Haine, Scheldt, Rupel, Dyle, and Senne. We reported above that the monastery of Saint Bavo at Ghent is assigned to the district of Brabant beyond the Scheldt. he seems to have cultivated the territory of Dendermonde: The same must be said of the territory of Dendermonde, in which on the right bank of the Scheldt is seen ^a village of Saint Amand, customarily called in ancient writings Basserode of Saint Amand, to which another Basserode is contiguous. David Lindanus, Book 3 of Dendermonde, chapter 2, exhibits the laws prescribed for it in the year 1266 by Robert, firstborn son of Count Guy of Flanders, Abbot of Saint Amand in Pevele, and Leonius, Lord of A. He adds that the Count of Velden and Sponheim, from among the Counts Palatine of the Rhine and Dukes of Bavaria, but under the patronage of the Abbot of Saint Amand, possessed that place, which, situated between Ghent and Antwerp, we believe was once cultivated by the preaching of Saint Amand.

[36] In the territory of Aalst in the same Brabant, now assigned to Flanders, there exist the villages of Essche and Houthem, distinguished by the martyrdom and burial of Saint Livinus the Bishop, in the territory of Aalst both in the heart of this territory, assigned to Brabant by Saint Boniface in the latter's Life. Going from there toward Audenarde, the town of Rotnacum, or Renaix, is seen; concerning which Balderic, Book 2 of the Chronicle of Cambrai, chapter 44, writes thus: he builds the monastery of Renaix, "In the village of Renaix there is ^a monastery of Canons built by Saint Amand in honor of the same Apostles Peter and Paul, where the precious Martyr of God, Hermes, rests. We wonder, however, that Louis the Pious granted this place, so ancient and so wealthy, to be subject to the monastery of Inden." That that monastery had been conferred upon ^a certain Priest named Heridagus by Charlemagne, donated by Charlemagne to Heridagus, when he was planning to erect an archiepiscopal see at Hamburg over which that man would preside, and that when that hope was deferred it was attributed by himself to the monastery of Inden, the same Louis the Pious testifies in the charter by which he confirms the Archbishopric of Hamburg to Saint Anschar. We gave it in full on February 3 in the Life of Saint Anschar, in which among other things he relates the following concerning his father Charlemagne: "He also assigned to the same Priest Heridagus ^a certain cell called Renaix, so that it might serve as ^a supplement to that place, surrounded by dangers on every side. But since the swift departure from this life of our pious father prevented the consecration of the aforementioned man from taking place in his days, by Louis the Pious to the monastery of Inden, and I, while engaged in arranging the many affairs of the kingdom, rather carelessly attended to this project of my aforesaid father, carried out on the borders of the kingdom, at the persuasion of certain persons I conferred the said cell upon the monastery of Inden." So says Louis the Pious, who, having summoned Saint Benedict, Abbot from the monastery of Aniane in the diocese of Maguelone (which is now Montpellier), in Narbonese Gaul, to Aachen, near Aachen, ordered this monastery — called Inden from the name borrowed from ^a stream in the neighboring valley, six miles distant from the palace — to be built with wonderful workmanship. He was present at the dedication of the church and enriched it most copiously from his own fiscal estates, as Saint Ardo Smaragdus, his disciple, writes in the Life of this Saint Benedict on February 12. Hence, as Balderic reports in the same Book 1, chapter 75, "Blessed Hermes, Martyr of Christ, when the Danes were raging and burning the holy houses of God, was transported from the Brabantine village of Renaix — that is, from the monastery which Blessed Amand built — to the monastery of the village of Inden, now called Saint Cornelius's: which is situated near Aachen." That Inden, or Enda, is now called the monastery of Saint Cornelius, whose Abbot Rainard in the year 1280 sold his rights over Renaix to Guy, Count of Flanders. Saint Hermes the Martyr is venerated on August 28.

[37] That part of Brabant which lies between Renaix and the river Haine, among the Propontii now annexed to Hainaut, is called by Abbot Philip below in the Life, chapter 44, the seat of the Propontii, the name being derived from Pont-sur-l'Escaut, which is mentioned also by the Antonine Itinerary and the Peutinger Tables, and ancient ruins of ^a Roman road provide ^a trace of it. Indeed, among the roads which the Bavay region still displays, the sixth, says Miraeus in his Belgian Chronicle under the year of Christ 613, "leads from Bavay to Pont-sur-l'Escaut, today an obscure village one milestone from Conde, and having crossed the Scheldt, separates the forest of the Abbey of Saint Amand from the forest of Marchiennes." he builds the monastery of Leuze: In the same Hainaut, Lutosa, or Leuze, is ^a small town but adorned by the labors of Saint Amand. For according to the oft-praised Balderic, chapter 43 of Book 2, "there is ^a monastery of Canons in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the village called Leuze, which Blessed Amand built, and it is ^a wealthy abbey, where the venerable man of God Baidilo rests," and is venerated on October 8. Concerning these two places, Renaix and Leuze, we read thus in the above-mentioned MS. of ours: among the monasteries built by the same divine man Amand, there is "that to which the holy man himself gave the name Leuze, as well as Renaix, which is nearly contiguous to the aforesaid." Mention of Leuze is also made in the division of the kingdom of Lothar made in the year 870, which we have discussed more often.

[38] In the same Brabant, on the river Senne (or Sinna), which, after washing Halle, Brussels, and Vilvoorde, at his counsel they build monasteries: Forest mingles with the Dyle below Mechelen, there is the district of Senonagus, from which Samo the Frank, King of the Slavs — about whom Baudemund treats below in the Life at number 13 — is said to have come, according to Fredegarius in his Chronicle, chapter 48. Near this Senne, not far from Brussels, is Forest, commonly called Vorst, ^a wealthy Benedictine convent, Saint Alena, celebrated for the veneration of Saint Alena, Virgin and Martyr; in whose manuscript Acts on June 19, it is said that Bishop Saint Amand converted ^a stone house which ^a rich Christian had at Forest, as the Christian religion grew, into ^a church, and solemnly dedicated it in honor of God and Blessed Dionysius. Molanus adds in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium under February 6 that Saint Amand frequently preached among the western Brabanters, especially in the County of Brussels, and that there he had as disciples Alena the Martyr, and in the Nivelles district Gertrude and her mother. Soignies, Saint Vincent, Concerning Saint Gertrude and her parents and relatives we shall treat below, where his Bishopric of Maastricht will be discussed. Near the sources of the same Senne, the town of Soignies grew from ^a monastery which Saint Vincent, called Count Madalgar, built there; who, renouncing the world by the impulse of the life-giving preaching of Saint Amand, "following the salutary teaching of the blessed Pontiff ... became ^a citizen of voluntary poverty, and crowned the laudable purpose of holiness with the outcome of ^a glorious consummation," as Abbot Philip says again below at number 34. Balderic, Book 2, chapter 46, calls it Sungeias; it is called the monastery of Sumniacum in the division of the kingdom of Lothar. Concerning this and its founder Saint Vincent, ^a more thorough discussion will be reserved for his Life on July 14.

[39] among the Nervii Furthermore, the same Philip assigns the Nervii as neighbors of Saint Amand's monastery of Elnone, whom the above-indicated interpreter understood as the Hainaulters, whose region in the division of the kingdom both of Louis the Pious and of Lothar is called Ainau and Hainaut, on the Haine River: Celle, Saint Ghislain, separated from the Brabant just described by the river Haine, or Hagna, as Fulbert calls it in the Life of Saint Autbert on December 13, above which he says ^a monastery was built by Saint Ghislain, "and consecrated by Saint Autbert and the blessed and venerable worshipper of God, Amand, with the great exultation of the surrounding people, to the praise of the Lord and in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul." The same is reported by Balderic, Book 1, chapter 18; Emperor Otto I in Miraeus's Notitia Belgica, chapter 62; and Philip below at number 34, who again treats of another visit of Saint Amand to the monastery of Saint Ghislain at number 54. The town that grew up around this monastery acknowledges, by ancient law and right, the Abbot of this place as its ecclesiastical and civil Lord.

[40] One league from Saint-Ghislain stands Mons, capital of all the County of Hainaut; the ancients called it Castrilocus, Saint Waltrude's at Mons, Castrilocus, in which there is an illustrious convent of noble canonesses, founded from her own estates and dotal benefices in honor of Saint Mary by Saint Waltrude, wife of the said Saint Vincent, who there took the habit of the sacred veil. Saint Vincent's at Haumont; And Saint Vincent founded the monastery of Haumont from his own resources, as Abbot Philip testifies, to which Saint Aldegundis, sister of Saint Waltrude, when she heard (these are the words of Hucbald in her Life, chapter 4) "that Saint Amand and the venerable Bishop Autbert had arrived, hastened there and prostrated herself at their feet ... Then Blessed Amand so strengthened the exhausted spirit of the maiden that she not only rejected the world itself, but was even prepared to undergo martyrdom." Saint Aldegundis, consecrated as ^a bride of Christ by Saint Amand, Led by the holy Bishops into ^a certain oratory of the same monastery, dedicated in honor and reverence of Saint Vedast, "worthily consecrated by sacerdotal blessing from them, and betrothed to her Spouse, the Lord Jesus Christ, she received the veil and habit of sacred religion, the Holy Spirit in the form of ^a dove placing the veil upon the head of the most blessed Virgin; which she, ascribing to the merit of the blessed Priests of Christ, rendered innumerable thanksgivings to God ... and distributed generous possessions to Christ's poor by the counsel of the blessed Bishops Amand and Autbert." That monastery of Haumont, still inhabited by Benedictine monks to this day, is one mile distant from the town of Maubeuge, also situated on the Sambre, Maubeuge. which owes its origins to ^a distinguished convent of canonesses, to which, "by the counsel of the blessed Bishop Amand," as the same Hucbald continues, "Saint Aldegundis committed herself together with two daughters of her sister Blessed Waltrude." One of these was named Madalberta, the other Aldetrudis. The former is venerated on September 7, the latter on February 25, and their mother Waltrude on April 9 — all aided by Saint Amand in attaining an eminent degree of piety and the other virtues.

[41] Finally, when Saint Amand visited the thresholds of the Holy Apostles for the third time, his inseparable companion on the Roman journey was Saint Humbert, Saint Humbert's at Maroilles, who became the founder of the monastery of Maroilles in the same territory of the Nervii, scarcely one mile distant from the town of Landrecies. Concerning their mutual visit — Saint Amand turning aside at the house of Blessed Humbert for the sake of hospitality, and Humbert after his own return from the city descending to Elnone to visit the man of God Amand — Philip treats below at number 65, so that Saint Amand seems to have been the author and counselor to Saint Humbert in the building of this monastery. Concerning him we shall treat on March 25.

[42] Moreover, in the same territory four monasteries were then built, if not with the aid or counsel of Saint Amand, certainly by his example. They acknowledge as their founder Saint Landelin, converted from ^a wicked brigand to Christ by Bishop Autbert, did Saint Landelin build others there with the aid of Saint Amand? the familiar friend of Saint Amand. These monasteries are Lobbes, Aulne, Wallers, and Crespin, concerning which we shall treat on June 15 in the Life of Saint Landelin. And these things concern the cultivation by Saint Amand of the ancient diocese of Cambrai, widely spread through the Nervii and the dependents of the Nervii (whom Julius Caesar called the Centrones, Grudii, Levaci, Pleumosii, and Gorduni, and whom Tacitus and others comprehend under the name of the Nervii), in the age of Saint Amand generally called Brabanters, now partly under Hainaut, partly Flanders, partly still Brabant. The dioceses of both Cambrai and Arras had the same Bishops. In the latter, Autbert and his successor Saint Vindician built the celebrated Vedastine monastery, what was done for the Vedastines? as we said above on this day. What aid was rendered to them by Saint Amand is not clear in the silence of the ancients. He certainly went before them with illustrious zeal and example. Arras is ^a league and ^a half distant toward the Hill of Saint Eligius from Maroeuil, an ancient abbey of Canons Regular, Maroeuil in Artois built by Bishop Fulbert of Cambrai and Arras around the year 940, which King Lothar in ^a charter given in the year 977 monastery, church, and manor of Saint Amand. calls "the monastery of Saint Amand and Saint Bertilia," as was said in the Appendix to her Life on January 3, where also in the History of Miracles, chapter 1, the church is said to be dedicated to Saint Amand, and in the History of the Translation mention is made of the Manor of Blessed Amand at Maroeuil.

Section VII. The Bishopric of Maastricht of Saint Amand. The Episcopal Chair claimed for Maastricht.

[43] What I had prepared some years ago concerning the Bishopric of Maastricht, to be published in this and the following section, I recently published separately in ^a special Diatribe, A Diatribe on the Bishopric of Maastricht published by us, at the urging and persuasion of several leading men, so that — since the vast bulk of our work cannot be polished by us or produced by the printers as quickly as they and we wish — something might be opposed to certain more recent writers who have dared to pronounce that there was never an Episcopal Chair at Maastricht and that no Bishops of Maastricht ever truly existed. Against this Diatribe there soon appeared ^a certain slight and inconsequential writing with the title: "Brief Vindications of the Truth and of the Church of Tongeren." In the conclusion of which the author, here briefly vindicated against detractors. who either did not dare or certainly did not wish to reveal his name, pronounced this dictum: "Henceforth let it be permitted that the Bishops may be called by the people of Maastricht 'Bishops of Maastricht,' provided they understand by that name their habitation, not their See or the head of the nation and diocese." To refute which, we repeat the testimonies of ancient, weighty, upright, uncorrupted authors, none of whom is from Maastricht; to whom, however, it was formerly permitted to set forth the Truth which we investigate, and to call those Bishops about whom the controversy exists "Bishops of Maastricht," and to say that most of them were elected by the Clergy and citizens of Maastricht; it was permitted to call Maastricht the city of the Episcopal See, the proper city of the Bishops; and to attribute to that city, as they truly understood, the See, the Chair, the Episcopal Throne, the Bishopric, the Pontificate, the Province, the Church, the Episcopal dignity — so that I do not see by what verbal formula they could have expressed more clearly what we affirm, or what else the adversary could understand here, unless he wishes to devise new meanings for Latin words.

[44] We began the confirmation of our position in Book 3 of the Diatribe, chapter 3, from Saint Servatius, formerly Bishop of Tongeren, then the first Bishop of Maastricht. His Life and the miracles worked after his death were first briefly touched upon by Saint Gregory of Tours, who lived more than one thousand and sixty years ago, ^a contemporary of Saint Gregory the Great. He, in Book 2 of the History of the Franks, chapter 5, when he narrates those things done by Saint Servatius before he left Tongeren and migrated to Maastricht, begins thus: "There was at that time in the town of Tongeren, Servatius, ^a Bishop of extraordinary holiness, etc." But when he reports the miracles done at his tomb in chapter 72 of the book On the Glory of the Confessors, he speaks thus: Saint Servatius called Bishop of Maastricht by Saint Gregory of Tours. "Servatius, Bishop of Maastricht, is reported to have lived in the time of the Huns, when they were bursting forth to break into Gaul; who is also reported to be buried near the very bridge of the public causeway, around whose sepulchre, although snow fell, it nevertheless never moistened the marble which had been placed above it." This is the very same form and manner of speaking which we have shown was observed by others, where, when they treat of bishoprics transferred from one city to another, they attribute the title of the latter to the Bishops. The adversary admits that this Bishop — so distinguished for his great antiquity, nobility of birth, holiness of life, and knowledge of divine and human affairs — errs here; therefore wrongly exposed to ridicule. ^a remarkable reverence indeed against ^a writer of such authority! What, then, will finally be certain about the first deeds of the Franks, when most of the other writers received their information from him alone? But lest I go on at length here, since in the Diatribe it has been proven regarding each one that they were truly held to be Bishops of Maastricht by contemporary or otherwise very ancient writers, I shall select here only two from the entire number of their Prelates: Saint Amand, on the occasion of whose See this dispute arose, and Saint Lambert, also ^a native of Maastricht, and the principal Patron of the Church and entire diocese of Liege. I shall show, moreover, that either by removing and erasing the ancient records nothing can be known about them according to the adversary's argument, or by establishing those same records, that they were truly Bishops of Maastricht and that the Episcopal See or Chair was at Maastricht.

[45] Baudemund, disciple of Saint Amand, and appointed by him as Abbot of Blandinium, writes thus concerning the death of Saint John the Lamb and the succession of Saint Amand: The Church of Maastricht of Bishop Saint Amand, "The Bishop of the people of Maastricht departed to Christ. The King proposed Amand for governing the Church of the people of Maastricht." The Aquitanian author from the Chesne MS. says: "It happened that the Bishop of the people of Maastricht died. Then the man of God, Amand, compelled by the King, commanded by the Bishops, and elected by the people, undertook the governance of the Church of the people of Maastricht." The poet Milo, Book 3, under this title, "Where the Saint undertook to govern the Church of the people of Maastricht," sang thus before the year of Christ 840:

"An angel raised to the stars of the lofty sky The Pontiff whose See Maastricht held. The See of Maastricht, When the King learned of this, he summoned the holy Amand; Leading with him ^a great host of Pontiffs, He joins honors at the solemnities of so great ^a Prelate. Meanwhile the Saint, exalted in the sacred citadel, Is led and drawn, and placed in the aforesaid See."

Similar things are found in Hariger, Abbot of Lobbes, and Philip of Alms, Abbot of Bonne-Esperance, in the Acts of Saint Amand. The same venerable man Amand, Bishop of the city of Maastricht, is called so by the monk of Saint-Denis in the Deeds of King Dagobert, chapter 24, and by Aimoinus, Book 4 of the History of the Franks, chapter 20. The Bishopric of Maastricht, The same Amand was called Bishop of Maastricht by Hucbald, monk of Elnone, in the Life of Saint Aldegundis on January 30, chapter 1; Stephen, Abbot of Saint-Jacques at Liege, in the Life of Saint Modoald, Bishop of Trier, on May 12; Rainer in the Life of Saint Ghislain the Abbot on October 9; and others. All the printed and manuscript copies of Usuard under February 6 join Saints Vedast and Amand, "of whom the former governed the Church of the Adartenses, and the latter that of the people of Maastricht." The Roman Church still retains the words of Usuard in its Martyrology, the Church approving in the Roman Martyrology. but makes him Bishop of Arras, whereas Usuard has "of the Adartenses," with one word changed for the sake of clarity, the other retained by which the ancient ecclesiastical authority is established. The very words of the Roman Martyrology are these: "On the same day, the holy Bishops Vedast and Amand, whose life and death were glorious with very many miracles, of whom the former governed the Church of Arras, and the latter that of the people of Maastricht." The same are read in the manuscript copies of Ado from the monasteries of Saint-Laurent at Liege and of Lobbes, and in the ancient Martyrology of the monastery of Elnone, where Amand is buried.

[46] Bartholomew Fisen, in Book 3 of the History of Liege and in the Flowers of the Church of Liege under February 6 in the Life of Saint Amand, studiously avoids the name of the city of Maastricht; he does not mention it even in the title alone, and everywhere substitutes Tongeren, even citing those authors who make no mention of Tongeren. But let there be produced anyone who, for the entire four centuries after the death of Saint Amand, called him anything other than Bishop of Maastricht. Notger himself, Bishop of Liege, ordained in the year 971 and deceased in 1007, speaks thus in the Life of Saint Remaclus, successor of Saint Amand: The Chair of Maastricht of the same Amand, "The illustrious King caused Saint Amand to be elevated to the Chair of the people of Maastricht"; or as Surius published: "to be placed in the Chair of Maastricht." And in the Life of Saint Landoald: "he caused him to preside over the Chair of the people of Maastricht." A writer from Notger's circle is Hariger, in whose Life of Saint Remaclus, chapter 49 of the Deeds of the Bishops of Tongeren and Maastricht, the words are: The Pontificate of Maastricht. "When the Blessed John departed from the body, Blessed Amand had succeeded him in the Pontificate of Maastricht." Behold the testimonies of weighty, upright, and solely ancient authors, none of whom (as far as is known) lived at Maastricht. These, moreover, not only call Saint Amand Bishop of Maastricht on account of his mere habitation in that city, but clearly declare that the same was elevated and placed in the Chair of Maastricht, and placed in the aforesaid See, succeeded in the Pontificate of Maastricht, presided over the Chair of the people of Maastricht, and that Maastricht held the See of the Pontiff. Finally, that Saint Amand governed the Church of the people of Maastricht is confirmed after Baudemund, Milo, Usuard, and others by the Roman Church, which I defend; from whose sense on what grounds others depart, let them see for themselves.

[47] [The same is confirmed by the writers of the Life of Saint Lambert, Bishop of Maastricht: Godeschalcus, Deacon of Liege,] I come to Saint Lambert, Bishop of the people of Maastricht, and tutelary Saint of the city and province of Liege. His Life was first written by Godeschalcus, Deacon of the Church of Liege, by order of Bishop Agilfrid, ordained in the year 761, and he asserts that his predecessor, the supreme Pontiff Theodard, "presided over the Pontifical Chair of the town of Maastricht." When Theodard was killed, "Saint Lambert, by the unanimous counsel in the Holy Spirit of the entire people, and at the same time by the King's command, with the Lord's favor, was substituted to preside over the Church of Maastricht." But when Saint Lambert was deposed from the Pontifical See, "they placed Pharamund in his Chair, who after seven years was deposed and expelled from the Pontifical See and Province of Maastricht, and Saint Lambert was recalled with great honor to his own See and returned to his own City." His body was carried after death to Maastricht, "which city of the Episcopal See demanded from its right that he should be buried with them; whom the people of Maastricht followed with lamentations as ^a good Pastor." So says Godeschalcus, who lived in the same century in which the holy Martyr Lambert was killed, and was perhaps even born before his murder. If, however, Godeschalcus lacks authority because he is merely called ^a Deacon of Liege, it will be confirmed and sustained by Stephen, related by kinship to Charles the Simple, King of the Franks (as is shown in the charter in Book 3 of the Diatribe, chapter 8), Bishop of Liege, Stephen, Bishop of Liege, ordained around the year 903, deceased in the year 920, himself also ^a writer of the Life of Saint Lambert, from which I excerpt these things in summary: "The people of Maastricht, assembled together, with the Holy Spirit's clemency going before, elected Saint Lambert to become Bishop and acclaimed him to succeed in the place of his master Saint Theodard: 'Let our Lambert become Bishop! Lambert, you shall be our Bishop!' Thus, consecrated by the blessing of the Bishops, he was established as Pontiff in the government of the Church of Maastricht, elevated upon the Pontifical Throne, and held as the preeminent Pastor of the Church of Maastricht." But when Saint Lambert was ejected from the Pontifical Chair, "the thief Pharamund invaded the pulpit of the Church of Maastricht." Then, "the unhappy invader of the Church of Maastricht was expelled from the Pontifical Chair and ejected from that same Province." Hence "the most blessed Confessor Lambert returned to his own See, received back his flock, and is fittingly relocated in the Chair of the people of Maastricht." So says Stephen, Bishop of Liege.

[48] Rener, monk of Liege, A third Life of Saint Lambert was written by Rener, monk at Saint-Laurent; from it I select the following: "Saint Amand, Bishop of the people of Maastricht." "Saint Remaclus received the Chair of the Church of the people of Maastricht." "Saint Theodard was substituted as Bishop of the people of Maastricht." "Saint Lambert ought to be substituted as Bishop of the Church of the people of Maastricht, more worthy of the Bishopric of the people of Maastricht than all others." "Pharamund is promoted to the Bishopric of Maastricht against right and justice; at last he is expelled not only from the Church of Maastricht but also from the entire Province." "Lambert, pious Father of the people of Maastricht, is restored as Pastor to his sheep and fittingly relocated in the Chair of the people of Maastricht." Anselm, Canon of Liege, Anselm, Canon of Liege, after Hariger, begins his history from Saint Theodard and relates the following: "Blessed Theodard succeeds in the See of Maastricht; to him succeeds Lambert, our Patron, of the most noble stock of the people of Maastricht." When Lambert was expelled from the Cathedral See, "the devotion of the children of the Church of Maastricht, remembering the loss of their Pastor, bring Lambert back to the See of the Bishopric and again elevate him upon the Pontifical Chair." Finally, "Hubert succeeded Saint Lambert. He, together with the bones of Blessed Lambert, transferred the See of the Bishopric to Liege, which until then had been held at Maastricht." So says he. Similar things are found in the additions to Anselm by Giles of Liege, monk of Orval: Giles of Liege: "Blessed Theodard," he says, "succeeded in the See of Maastricht; to him the venerable Patron Lambert," whom "the children of the Church of Maastricht bring back to the See of the Bishopric." "The venerable Prelate Hubert is honorably received by the Clergy and people of Maastricht and enthroned upon the Pontifical Chair. It is he who transferred the See of the Bishopric from the town of Maastricht to Liege." These things are found there, which are related more fully in Book 3 of the Diatribe, chapter 7. Behold the most clear testimonies, not of people of Maastricht, but of five men of Liege — ancient, weighty, uncorrupted. Against whom, however, the author of the Vindications demands that an exception be granted him: that they call these Bishops "Bishops of Maastricht" in no other sense than that by that name habitation is understood, not ^a See or the head of the nation and diocese. What, then, do those so often repeated expressions signify, the most clear opinion of these is repeated, used by those who treated the deeds of the Bishops ex professo: "Maastricht, the City of the Episcopal See," "the proper City," "the proper See of the Bishops," "the Episcopal Chair at Maastricht," "the Pontifical Chair," "the Cathedral See," "the Pontifical See," "the See of the Bishopric," "the Pontifical Throne," "the Bishopric of Maastricht," "the Province of Maastricht," "the Bishops of the people of Maastricht," "the Bishops of the Church of the people of Maastricht," "the Pontiffs of the Church of Maastricht," "the Pastors and Fathers of the people of Maastricht," "Bishops elected by the people of Maastricht"? Let those be brought forward who transmit the contrary to these, or deny these things, or have certainly used the name of habitation, lodging, or domicile.

[49] The Advocate opposes in section 2: "The contrary opinion is maintained among us — that is, among the people of Liege — by whoever loves antiquity and truth. [Did Chappeaville, recently Vicar of Liege, deny, and indeed first of all, the See of Maastricht?] Chappeaville, recently Canon and Vicar of Liege, wrote in its favor, and various others followed him." So says the Advocate. Chappeaville venerates antiquity and transmits it sincerely and intact. Would that others had followed him! Let page VII of the Flowers of the Church of Liege be inspected, where the Liege writers of the Life of Saint Lambert, praised by us, are cited — Godeschalcus, Stephen, Rener, Anselm, Giles — whose words I have drawn from Chappeaville; but the said compiler substituted far different readings. Chappeaville published this title found in the manuscript codices: "Deeds of the Pontiffs of Tongeren, Maastricht, and Liege." Those who followed him expunged the name of Maastricht.

[50] I brought forward in Book 3 of the Diatribe, chapter 2, other authors of that opinion who were unwilling, together with their ancient Bishops and other most religious and most upright men of Liege, to concede to Saint Lambert the honor which ancient records had attributed for nine hundred years. But what will they oppose to the Roman Martyrology? In it this illustrious eulogy, by which the ancient authors indicated by us are approved, is recorded under September 17: "At Liege, Blessed Lambert, Bishop of Maastricht, Saint Lambert is called Bishop of Maastricht in the Roman Martyrology. who, when he had rebuked the royal household with religious zeal, was killed, an innocent man, by the guilty, and entered the court of the heavenly kingdom, to live forever." Thus far the noonday light shines with such ample and pure brilliance that whoever loves antiquity and truth, even among the people of Liege, cannot but embrace this — not an opinion, but ^a clear demonstration of the truth — unless they prefer to confess that nothing can be known about Saint Lambert, with the ancient records erased and pulled up, as I said.

[51] "But our," says the adversary at section 8, "sole and peremptory reason for defending the truth is that in Councils and by Supreme Pontiffs our Bishops have been called Bishops of Tongeren." We are dealing here with twenty-one holy Bishops of Maastricht, the first of whom is Saint Servatius and the last Saint Hubert, concerning whose See no Pontiff is adduced who has determined anything different from what we hold. [The Bishops of Liege were called "of Tongeren," not "of Maastricht," by the Pontiffs.] Concerning the name of Tongeren, used after the Episcopal Chair was transferred from Maastricht to Liege, we treated in Book 3 of the Diatribe, chapter 8, and showed that Stephen, ^a most exact writer, by whom Saints Theodard and Lambert are called Bishops of Maastricht and the See, Chair, and Episcopal Throne are attributed to the city of Maastricht, himself writes in ^a dedicatory Epistle that he is the "humble Bishop of the Tongeren people," the name of Tongeren being resumed in place of Liege, not of Maastricht. Let the Bishops of Liege, then, have been called by the Supreme Pontiffs "Bishops of Tongeren" up to the year 921, just as Stephen also writes that he is Bishop of Tongeren: nothing is thereby concluded against the twenty-one Bishops of Maastricht whom the Church, in Saints Amand and Lambert, acknowledges to have been Bishops of Maastricht and to have governed the Church of the people of Maastricht.

[52] But in section 9 this heading is prefixed: "In Councils, which is the peremptory authority, they were called Bishops of Tongeren." Let the decrees, canons, or other statutes of Councils be brought forward, and an end will be put to the dispute. [Nothing is known to have been decreed in Councils concerning the See of Maastricht.] "Concerning Saint Servatius," he says, "there can be no doubt that he called himself Bishop of Tongeren, from the Councils of Sardica and Ariminum and the Synod of Cologne, in which alone his name is read." But with what trustworthiness are these things so insisted upon? Those Councils were held twenty or thirty years before the Huns burst into the Roman Empire, on account of whose ferocity Saint Servatius, by heavenly admonition, transferred the Episcopal See from Tongeren to Maastricht. How then could he have called himself Bishop of Maastricht at those Councils? The Advocate continues: "From Saint Servatius to Saint Domitian, the names of our Bishops are not read in Synods, and therefore we can establish nothing from them." Nor did Saint Remigius call Falco Bishop of Tongeren. "Unless perhaps," it is added, "we produce the Epistle of Saint Remigius, reported in the first volume of the Councils of Gaul under the year 524, and addressed to Falco, Bishop of Tongeren." But the title of that Epistle is: "To the Lord, truly holy and most blessed brother in Christ, Bishop Falco, Remigius the Bishop" — without the name of the bishopric being added — and therefore nothing can be concluded from it for either side. The adversary therefore wrongly produces as the title of the Epistle the inscription of the subject-matter prefixed by ^a copyist, just as the adversary uses these words, applicable to himself, at section 10. But we do not delay over those inscriptions.

[53] "Concerning Saint Domitian," he says, "the matter is clear. For in the Synod of Clermont, under the year 535 according to the received chronology, there is this subscription: Saint Domitian, Bishop of Maastricht, from his own inscription, 'Domitian, in the name of Christ, Bishop of the Church of the Tongeren people, which is Maastricht, I have subscribed.' Where he expressly calls himself Bishop of the Church of Tongeren, not of the Church of Maastricht, although the name of Maastricht is added to express the place of habitation." So says the Advocate, but far be it, with its notion of "place of habitation" recently contrived and entirely unknown to the ancients. The subscription of Bishop Domitian in the Council is reported, and to it is added this ancient interpretation, approved by Pope Sixtus V in his edition of the Councils: and ancient interpretation, namely that the name of Maastricht is added because the Episcopal See was transferred from Tongeren to Maastricht, and thence afterward to the city of Liege. And thus the authors who immediately followed understood it: Baudemund, Godeschalcus, Milo, Usuard, Hucbald, Stephen, Notger, and others, whose authority the Church maintains with Pope Sixtus V in the Martyrology, when it acknowledges them to be Bishops of Maastricht and to have governed the Church of the people of Maastricht — not of the people of Tongeren, unless it is added "which is Maastricht." Which words must be understood in the Council of Orleans, even if they are not expressly stated. I said, therefore, and say, that the same judgment must apply to the Fifth Council of Orleans. It is cried out that I pass over this in bad faith. How often I could have turned those words against my adversaries in my Diatribe! But I was silent for the sake of modesty. Certainly I gave ^a full solution, indeed more than the adversary himself could require, who with ^a certain contempt calls the Diatribe superfluous and the questions superfluous. I say, therefore, again that Saint Domitian, Bishop of Maastricht, attended the Councils of Clermont and Orleans with very many Bishops of Aquitaine living far from Germania II, who at that time used the Roman law of Theodosius and were called Romans. To give them ^a clearer knowledge of his See, Domitian subscribed according to the ancient List of the Provinces and Cities of Gaul, which was especially known to them, Maastricht, the head of the Church, formerly of Tongeren. to which, however, he added the name of the See of Maastricht, which he then held and under which the Tongeren people had recently been destroyed. Maastricht, therefore, not Aduatuca, is named as the head of the Church of Tongeren in those Councils. But it is objected that the words "which is Maastricht" could be said to be an addition of some interpolator. This is the adversary's last refuge — namely, to uproot and destroy what has thus far been well planted and built. Why does he not rather say that copyists expunged these words, "which is Maastricht" — since they saw that similar phrases were not appended to other Bishops in the Council of Orleans (nor indeed was it necessary) — as superfluous? For this could more easily have been done by more foolish copyists than for such words to be so aptly appended. And he was silent about this — with what trustworthiness? Let him confess, therefore, that the matter concerning Saint Domitian is not clear, and indeed that it is adverse to his position.

Section VIII. The diocese of Maastricht, widely spread: monasteries built in it, and other notable deeds of Saint Amand.

[54] The Diatribe on the Bishopric of Maastricht, published by us, we divided into three books; The diocese of Maastricht, widely spread. of these the first shows, as it were, the very body of the Bishopric — namely the peoples pertaining to it and subject to it. We begin from the very distinction of the See of Maastricht, because some have taken it and the See of Utrecht, at the ancient bed of the Rhine, for one and the same. In Chapter II, the ancient Eburones, Sunuci, Condrusi, Paemani, Segni, and Caeresi are indicated as peoples of the diocese of Maastricht, bordering on the Bishoprics of Cologne, Trier, and Reims, just as in Chapter III the Aduatuci, Tungri, Bethasii, and Taxandri are shown to border on the ancient diocese of Cambrai. Concerning which, for the sake of brevity, I repeat nothing here, content to have indicated to the curious reader and the student of Belgian antiquity that these matters were examined by me there, and that Philip Cluverius and other Geographers of our age were corrected.

[55] In Chapter IV I brought forward the Masaci, Masegauii, or Maselanders, on the river Meuse — which the inhabitants call Masa — Maastricht, the principal city of the Masaci, or Maselandia, and I proved that Maastricht was their principal city. From this city, the principal one of the Masaci, or in the district of Masegovia, outside the territory of the Tongeren people, when the Episcopal See was transferred to Liege by Saint Hubert, the name of the Tongeren people was resumed, not having been used by the Bishops of Maastricht for more than three hundred years. For Liege was, as Godeschalcus of Liege, ^a contemporary author, testifies, ^a village of no great name; hence it seemed less honorable to give the name of the Bishopric from it. It pleased them, therefore, to take the Episcopal name from the territory of the Tongeren people, in which Liege lay, and from the neighboring city of the same region in which the Episcopal See had formerly been — especially because, if the Liege compiler narrates the truth, Liege was an estate of the Church of Tongeren. Lest, therefore, ^a return to the former See of Maastricht might be so easy for successors, the designation of that See was abandoned; because that city was outside the territory of the Tongeren people, in the territory of the Masaci, or Masegovia, or Maselandia. These names seem antiquated to some, though they are royal and imperial. recognized in the charters of Kings and Emperors: That Maastricht was in the county or district of Maselandia is confirmed in their charters by Arnulf the King, later Emperor; Zwentibold the King, his son; and Charles the Simple, King of the Franks. These charters are exhibited by Miraeus in the Notice of the Churches of Belgium, chapters 44, 46, and 49, and by Christoph Brouwer in Book 9 of the Annals of Trier, as we said more fully in the cited chapter 4 of our Diatribe. In the division of the kingdom of Lothar between Louis, King of Germany, and Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, that entire territory of the Masaci was divided into two counties, the upper and lower Masau, or Masegau.

[56] Einhard, Chancellor of the Emperor Charlemagne, ^a man outstanding in knowledge, learning, and virtue, in Book 4 of his History of the Translation of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, chapter 8, as found in Surius under June 2, the district of the Meuse in Einhard, reports that Gangelt (commonly called Gangelt), ^a town of the province of Juelich, distant several leagues from the Meuse, was ^a royal estate in the district of the Meuse. At the time when Saints Lambert and Hubert, Bishops of Maastricht, flourished, and in the time of the Bishops of Maastricht Pippin of Herstal, father of Charles Martel, presided over Austrasia, concerning whom Brouwer in Book 7 of the Annals of Trier, page 435, has the following: "We have inspected an ancient diploma in which Pippin himself, lying ill in the estate of Bakel, while Dagobert was already then reigning, gives to Saint Willibrord the estate of Susteren, which estate he confirms to be situated at the stream of the same name in the district of the people of the Meuse, the district of the people of the Meuse in ^a diploma of Pippin of Herstal: and he provides that it should be under the guardianship of his grandsons Grimoald and Drogo. Finally, since on account of the severity of his illness he was unable to sign it himself, he entrusted the matter to his wife Plectrude, that she should confirm the donation by subscribing it." This Theofrid confirms in his Life of Saint Willibrord as follows: "The same munificent Prince, by ^a written document, in the fourth year of King Dagobert, on the sixth day before the Nones of March, handed over to that same Willibrord an estate situated in the district of the people of the Meuse, called Susteren from the name of the river flowing past it, and acquired by the sagacious industry of the distinguished Blittrude from freeborn men at the expense of money." Susteren, or Sustera, is ^a distinguished monastery of noble virgins with an adjoining town, about three thousand paces distant from the Meuse, the Masaci people in Tacitus. nearly opposite Maaseik, or Maseca, ^a town between Maastricht and Roermond. Nor is the aforementioned Gangelt far distant from Susteren. Finally, I showed in Book 1 of the Diatribe, chapter 5, that Tacitus in Book 4 of his Histories calls the same people Masaci, and joins them with the neighboring peoples of the Sunici, Tungri, Bethasii, and Canninefates: which there is no need to repeat here. The capital, therefore, of the people of the Masaci, Mosarii, Mosani, or Maselanders, was Maastricht, which Giles of Liege called the greatest city of the entire province; where we also gather from ^a diploma of King Childeric, by which he confirms donations to the monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy, that kings were accustomed to reside. "Given — that is, when it was executed — the sixth day of the month of September, in the eighth year of the reign of our Lord King Childeric, at Maastricht, happily." That year was of Christ 672, when Saint Theodard, Bishop of the Church of Maastricht, was ordered to determine with Hodo the Domesticus and the royal foresters the places donated to the monasteries: he was therefore not killed in the year 655, as Bucherius, Fisen, and others report, whose opinion the author of the Vindication of the Church of Tongeren calls the commonly received chronology, and determines that it should be followed by the Belgians and Gauls. But just as these men manifestly err regarding the time of the tenure of these Bishops, so the same author is compelled to infer that they could have erred in assigning the city to the See. We shall treat of the chronology below.

[57] How much Saint Amandus labored in cultivating this diocese of Maastricht, we here briefly inquire. Among the more illustrious families which he bound to Christ, having aroused them to virtue by ^a closer bond, Saint Amandus trained in piety the families of Saints Bavo and Pippin, the first to be reckoned may be that of Saint Bavo, ^a most wealthy Prince among the Hasbani, whose mother and daughter, who are both said to have borne the same name Adeltrudis, and whose sister Adilia, were women conspicuous for their holiness. The second was the equally most noble family of Blessed Pippin the Duke, who among the Austrasians served as Mayor of the Palace under Dagobert I and his son Saint Sigebert. His wife Saint Itta, or Iduberga, and his daughters Saints Gertrude and Begga are honored with ecclesiastical veneration. This Pippin raised from the tomb the sacred body of Saint Hermelindis the Virgin, and established ^a monastery of sacred virgins at Meldert in the prefecture of Kumtich near the town of Tienen, enriching the place with many estates. founders of the monasteries of Meldert and Calvmont: Priests from the monastery of Saint Bavo, which was situated on ^a nearby hill called Calvmont in the Teutonic language, were attached to these virgins so that the divine sacrifice might be offered. But neither monastery now survives, as Molanus writes in the words quoted in his Calendar of the Saints of Belgium under October 29. Indeed, that those monasteries there were erected by Saints Bavo and Pippin on the counsel and at the urging of Saint Amandus, it is scarcely permissible to doubt.

[58] Saint Gertrude, as is read in her Life under March 17, after her father Pippin was removed from human affairs, clinging to the footsteps of her mother who remained in widowhood, since the handmaid of God daily advanced with manifold increases of holiness, and her venerable mother was revolving in her mind the greatest cares as to how she might bring her plans to effect, it happened that the venerable Bishop Amandus came to her house, who was then held to be great in the things of God. Then the venerable Itta earnestly requested he consecrates the monastery of Nivelles, that the sacred veil be imposed upon her by him, and that he consecrate ^a monastery from her house. And so it was done. For she most willingly devoted not only herself but also all that she was able to possess to the Lord. These were the beginnings of the most celebrated monastery of Nivelles, its Abbesses Saints Iduberga and Gertrude, over which, after the death of the mother Saint Iduberga, her daughter Gertrude, formerly tonsured by her, presided as Abbess, and received upon herself alone the entire weight of governance. The same most blessed Gertrude received with great veneration the pilgrims Saint Foillan the Bishop and Ultan, brothers of Saint Fursey, and built for them in an estate of her inheritance the monastery of Fosses above Namur, between the rivers Sambre and Meuse. Saint Foillan the Martyr is venerated on October 31, and Saint Ultan on May 1. King Louis, son of the Emperor Arnulf, in the year 907, assigned this Abbey of Fosses to the district and county of Lomme, and confirmed it to Bishop Stephen of Liege.

[59] Emperor Otto I, by ^a diploma given in the year 966, recorded in the Register of the Churches of Belgium by Miraeus, chapter 62, confirms to the people of Nivelles the inheritance of Saint Gertrude, situated in the district of Texandria, on the river Striene, in the estate called Bergen-op-Zoom. Hilsundis, Countess of Strijen, wife of Count Ansfrid, but separated from his bed, and he having been ordained Bishop of Utrecht, about to found the monastery of Thorn for noble virgins, near the aforementioned town of Maaseik, in which she herself and her daughter Benedicta embraced the monastic life, donated as ^a dowry among other things the church of Strijen, [Saint Gertrude's oratory consecrated by Saint Amandus in the town of Geertruidenberg,] which is consecrated in honor of the Virgin Mary, the Hill of the Shore, where the most blessed Gertrude dwelt in bodily presence and has ^a chapel consecrated by Saint Amandus, as is reported in ^a diploma dated in the year 992, found in the same Miraeus, chapter 73. The said Bergen-op-Zoom, or Hill of the Shore, is now called Berga or Geertruidenberg, and is ^a town of the province of Holland, although situated on the further bank of Brabant not far from Breda, formerly of the diocese of Maastricht, and afterwards of Liege, now of 's-Hertogenbosch. Beyond the strait of Biesbosch there is also an island, whose chief town of that small district is the aforementioned Strijen.

[60] The other daughter of Pippin and Iduberga was Saint Begga, first married to Duke Ansegisus, son of Saint Arnulf, Bishop of Metz (from whose stock descended Pippin of Herstal, Charles Martel, Pippin the Short, King of the Franks, and the Emperor Charlemagne), then, upon the death of her husband, ^a widow. Saint Gertrude's sister, Saint Begga, foundress of the monastery of Andenne. Having received sacred virgins from the monastery of her sister Saint Gertrude at Nivelles, she founded ^a new monastery on the Meuse below Namur, at Andenne, which is accustomed to be called "At the Seven Churches" (for so many were built by her there and are still seen today). All of which, just as they amplify the glorious fame and honor of the holy parents and of their sister Gertrude, so no small part of the praise is owed to Saint Amandus, the Teacher and Master in divine matters of this most holy family.

[61] Their kinswoman Saint Gudula, Related by blood to the same family was Saint Gudula the Virgin, as is said in her Life under January 8, chapter 1: received at baptism from the very font by Saint Gertrude her grandaunt, raised at her feet to adulthood, and imbued with the salt of divine law and letters. Indeed, also Saint Pharaildis, whose Life we gave under January 4, Pharaildis, was lifted from the sacred font by the Blessed Gertrude her kinswoman, and instructed in letters, and cultivated piety admirably from her tender years. She is held to be Saint Gudula's sister by Molanus and others. Certainly Gudula's sister was Reineldis, Virgin and Martyr, Reineldis, Amelberga. who is venerated on July 16. Their mother, Saint Amelberga, given in marriage by the said Pippin to Count Witger, but after having borne several children, her husband having joined the monks of Lobbes, she herself, adorned with the sacred veil, dedicated herself entirely to God at Maubeuge under Saint Aldegundis, whom we said above was consecrated as ^a bride of Christ by Saint Amandus. Concerning Saint Alena in the County of Brussels, held to be ^a disciple of Saint Amandus, we have already treated above.

[62] At the river Sambre, two miles from the city of Namur, the same Amandus built ^a monastery, A monastery founded by Saint Amandus at the Sambre. and consecrated it to God in honor of Saint Peter the Apostle, where that there was anciently ^a congregation living under ^a monastic rule is indicated by the name of the place, Moustier, or Monstier. There are preserved in the collegiate church of Moustier the relics of Saint Fredegandus, translated thither during the time of the Normans from the monastery of Quercolodora near Antwerp, over which we said above that he had presided as Abbot. Concerning this Translation, the matter is treated in the Proper Offices under July 17, on which day Molanus in his Calendar of the Saints of Belgium, Miraeus in the Fasti of Belgium, and Fisen in the Flowers of the Church of Liege, who repeats the same in chapter 3 of the Life of Saint Amandus, attest that Saint Amandus was the founder of that monastery. It is now ^a monastery of seventeen noble virgin Canonesses, and ^a college of ten Canons.

[63] Churches of Saint Amandus at Geel, Among the more ancient baronies of Brabant is Geel, ^a town among the ancient Taxandri with ^a fairly ample territory, where one of the parochial churches, truly elegant, is dedicated to Saint Amandus, and the other to Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr, who is venerated on May 15. Another ancient chapel of Saint Amandus was at Maastricht, at Maastricht, now within the enclosure of the college of the Society of Jesus. Very many make Saint Amandus himself the author of this oratory. In the territory of Juelich near Dueren, Saint Amandus is the Patron of the church or chapel of Gierbertzrode, at Gierbertzrode. as is evident from the ancient Missal of this place renewed in the year 1488.

Section 9. The Gospel was preached by Saint Amandus to the Slavs in Carinthia. Among the people of Worms and Strasbourg there were ancient Bishops: some called Amandus, and Saints.

[64] The Slavs, in the thirteenth year of the Gothic War, the year of Christ 547 and following, having crossed the Danube, obtained Carinthia among other provinces, Saint Amand preaches to the Slavs in Carinthia. for ^a long time without ^a King; then, oppressed by grievous servitude under the Huns, they elected as King Samo, ^a Frank by nation, through whose industry they recovered their liberty. This Samo was from the district of Senonago in ancient Brabant on the river Senne (as we conjectured above), elected King in the fortieth year of Chlothar II, King of the Franks, the year of Christ 623, and reigned for thirty-five years, as we have stated from Procopius, Fredegar, and others in the Life of Blessed Domitian, Duke of Carinthia, February 5, section 4. Having received knowledge of these Slavs and of their King Samo, Saint Amand, perhaps also furnished with letters from the King's kinsmen who had already been instructed in the Christian religion in that same district of Senonago, set out beyond the Rhine and the Danube, burning with the desire either of bringing this nation and its King to the faith of Christ or of obtaining the palm of martyrdom. What was accomplished by this same Saint in the rest of Germany, the ancients are entirely silent. More recent writers report that the Bishoprics of Worms and Strasbourg were administered by him; but we fear that, deceived by ^a similarity of names, they attributed to him what was nobly accomplished by other holy Bishops also called Amandus.

[65] That there was formerly an Episcopal See at Worms, ^a city of the Vangiones, is manifest from the Synod of Cologne held under Constans, son of Constantine the Great, At Worms, Amandus among the first Bishops, after the Consulship of Amantius and Albinus, on the fourth day before the Ides of March, in the year of Christ 346. Victor, Bishop of the Vangiones, was present at this Synod, who, since any others who may have preceded him are unknown, is commonly listed in the catalogues as the first Bishop of Worms. The second was Amandus, who with an innumerable multitude of citizens rushed to the gate to meet Saint Servatius, Bishop of Tongeren, as he was entering Worms; as Jocundus the Presbyter relates in his Life under May 13. Giles, in his additions to Hariger concerning the Bishops of Tongeren and Maastricht, chapter 26, writes that Saint Servatius, as he approached Worms, receives Saint Servatius as ^a guest, was magnificently received by Blessed Amandus, the Prelate of the city. These things are reported in almost the same words in other manuscript Acts of Saint Servatius. Saint Servatius died at Maastricht, to which city he had transferred the Episcopal See from Tongeren, in the year 384, having visited the thresholds of the Apostles some years earlier, and on that occasion having come to Worms. The third Bishop of the Vangiones is held to be Carolus. The fourth, Crotoldus. The eighth, Saint Rudpert or Rupert, whom his ancient Acts of March 27 report to have been Bishop in Worms in the second year of Childebert, King of the Austrasians, the year of Christ 577, but to have been expelled with great injustice, and to have become the first Bishop of Salzburg. That the names of the next four Prelates who governed that Church were lost in so great ^a persecution by the Huns, Goths, Vandals, Alamanni, and other enemies of the Christian religion is reported by Bruschius, Demochares, Cratepolius, Claudius Robert, and other writers of episcopal catalogues.

[66] The tenth Bishop is held to be Saint Amandus, the second of that name, who, as Bruschius testifies, shone forth with such great piety and so many miracles, another Amandus, Bishop there, by which God confirmed the Christian doctrine, that the senate and people of the city of the Vangiones erected ^a temple to him after his death as ^a token of gratitude and devotion, which, still situated today in the suburb, is called the parish of Saint Amandus. Saint Amandus presided over the Church of Worms in the sixth year of the reign of Dagobert I among the Austrasians, in the year 626, that is, the year of Christ 626 or the following, when on the second day before the Kalends of October, King Dagobert, on the counsel of the nobles, under King Dagobert, of Pepin the Elder, Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, and Chunibert, Archbishop of Cologne, donated the city of Ladenburg to the Church of Worms. This donation was afterwards approved by Childeric, King of the Austrasians, Pepin, King of the Franks, and his son Charlemagne, as is established from the latter's privilege, signed in the thirtieth year of his reign. This privilege was then confirmed by King Louis, Emperor Otto, King Henry, and Rudolf, King of the Romans; these charters are reported by Marquard Freher in his book on Ladenburg, afterwards called Laudemburg by posterity. Bruschius also testifies that in the time of Saint Amandus, the tenth Bishop of Worms, the original charter of King Dagobert was still intact in the archives of the Bishop of Worms. Bertram Limburg, formerly Rector of ^a college of our Society among the Vangiones, when questioned by us about the Saints of the city of Worms, responded in the year 1638 that the body of this Saint Amandus, the second of that name, Bishop of Worms, is preserved in the Cathedral church, and that ^a parish church built in his honor stands in the suburb, called Saint Amandus, and that his feast is celebrated on October 26; venerated on October 26. and that ^a Lesson is recited in the Worms Breviary about Saint Amandus, Apostle of Belgium, with no mention made of the See of Worms. So says he. But this Saint Amandus II of Worms is plainly distinct from Saint Amandus of Maastricht, and senior to him, already ^a Bishop when the latter was living as ^a recluse among the Bituriges, still ^a novice in the spiritual life.

[67] At Strasbourg, Amandus as Bishop in the year 346: There likewise, on the river Rhine, is the most noble Church of Strasbourg, adorned with an Episcopal See even under the Roman Emperors. Certainly, at the above-mentioned Synod of Cologne, held in the year of Christ 346, Amandus, Bishop of Strasbourg, subscribed to the condemnation of Euphrates, Bishop of Cologne, having confessed that he had also previously consented to his deposition by his own letters. Whether any Bishops had been there before him, and who they were, cannot be known for lack of written records. The author of the Life of Saint Deicola, Abbot of Lure in Burgundy, which we published on January 18 from the Lure manuscripts, wrote the following concerning Saint Amandus and other Patrons of the city of Strasbourg around the year 965, chapter 1: "The city of Strasbourg, which in the vernacular is called Strasbourg, apart from the principal Relics, rejoices to have its own Patrons, whom it received from the Lord as founders of the true faith and lavish sowers of the Divine Word, namely his Relics formerly preserved there: Amandus, Justinus, Arbogast, Florentius, and certain others, whose names that heavenly region holds assembled in the register of the blessed order without end." So it says there, and the discussion throughout the chapter is indicated to concern the relics of the holy Patrons; in which the Patrons of the monastery of Fleury are said to be Saints Benedict and Scholastica, the Patron of the city of Soissons is Saint Sebastian the Martyr, and so on for the rest. Therefore, the first founder of the faith among the people of Strasbourg must be said to be the elder Amandus, who lived several centuries before Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, whose sacred Relics were always preserved with great veneration among the monks of Elnone, as will certainly be established from what is said below. In the ancient Breviary of Strasbourg, printed in the years 1478 and 1489, venerated on October 26, the feast of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Strasbourg, is celebrated on October 26, with the Lessons recited at Matins taken from the Life of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht; whence an occasion of error was given to others, especially because on the same day Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, is also venerated on account of Relics translated on that date.

[68] James Wimpfeling, in his Catalogue of the Bishops of Strasbourg, printed in the year 1508, reports the following concerning the origin of this Bishopric: Saint Amandus of Maastricht is wrongly said to have been the first Bishop there. "Dagobert, King of the Austrasians and the Alsatians, having learned of the fame of the holiness and virtues of Amandus, brought it about that he, summoned from Maastricht, should be appointed the first Prelate of the Church of Strasbourg in the year 596." That is, when Amandus was two years old, since he was born in the year 594, and fifty years later was placed over the Church of Maastricht; while Dagobert I, King of the Franks, had died some years previously, although he himself was born long after the assigned year 596. Francis Guillimann, in his Commentary on the Bishops of Strasbourg, seeking to correct the chronological error of Wimpfeling, states that Saint Amandus was established by Dagobert the Great, King of the Franks, as the first Bishop of Strasbourg around the year of Our Lord 640, and for the foundation of his Bishopric, whatever right or royal sovereignty in Alsace belonged to him or his heirs in any manner whatsoever, he most freely transferred to Amandus and to his legitimate successors in the prelacy. These words, as if taken from an ancient writer (who, however, is unknown), are highly esteemed by Jodocus Coccius in his work on King Dagobert, chapter 14; and he adds that on the eighth day before the Ides of February, on which Saint Amandus departed this life, honor is publicly given to him in the Calendar of Strasbourg. On which February 6, in the cited most ancient Breviary of the Church of Strasbourg, the Office is performed with solemn rite for Saint Dorothy, Virgin and Martyr, with no mention made of Saint Amandus. Molanus, however, in his additions to Usuard under November 15, has this: "At Strasbourg, of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." Galesini adds: "who, as the first Bishop of that city, rendered faithful service to Christ the Lord and to the Church by his holy deeds and the propagation of the Gospel." So say they, which Wion and Dorgany, for the honor of their Order, understand as referring to Saint Amandus of Maastricht. Wion is followed by Ferrari in his Catalogue of Saints and in his new Topography, where, from the records of the Church of Strasbourg previously cited by Galesini, he asserts that Amandus was Bishop first of Aquitaine, then of Strasbourg, sent there by Dagobert. But they do not specify what records of Strasbourg these are. In the Breviary of Strasbourg cited above, on the said November 15, it is prescribed that the Office be said of the Feria and at the same time of the Octave of Saint Martin, without any mention of Saint Amandus. Nor elsewhere have we found anything among the ancient writers about Saint Amandus being sent to Strasbourg by King Dagobert. Indeed, the one who donated the principal possessions to the Church of Strasbourg was not the elder Dagobert, but his grandson, the son of Saint Sigibert, himself also called Dagobert, as we shall show more fully elsewhere.

[69] Ancient Bishops of Strasbourg Amandus, therefore, who is held to be the first Bishop of Strasbourg, lived in the fourth century of Christ and, as we have said, was present at the Synod of Cologne in the year 346. There followed him in the same See these Bishops: the second, Justus or Justinus; the third, Maximinus; the fourth, Valentinus; whom Wimpfeling and Guillimann report to be called Saints, depicted with diadems, and believed to have been received among the blessed. The fifth, Solarius, whom Bruschius and Demochares also call ^a Saint. The sixth, Biulfus, is established by Bruschius as the successor of Solarius. The seventh, Magnus. The eighth, Goarinus or Garoinus. The ninth, Landebertus. The tenth, Rodobaldus. The eleventh, Magnebertus. The twelfth, Labiolus, called by others Ubiolus. The thirteenth, Gundoaldus. The fourteenth, Aldus, if indeed he is ^a different person, in the time of the Emperor Heraclius, says Wimpfeling -- that is, in the time of Chlothar II, by whom his son Dagobert was given as King to the Austrasians. The fifteenth, Gando (perhaps believed to be Saint Amandus of Maastricht), ^a man of distinguished talent, as Wimpfeling says. The sixteenth, Utho. Wimpfeling adds that concerning the homeland, lineage, life, death, and tombs of these men, he was able to find almost nothing. The seventeenth, Ansoaldus, established by King Childeric, as Bruschius attests; he may have reached the first years of his reign. The eighteenth, Rodtharius, as the same Bruschius attests, born of ducal origin and stock, was appointed Bishop by King Childeric from being ^a Master of the royal court and ^a vigorous man of the equestrian order, while at that time Saint Deodatus was building the monastery of Val de Galilee on the borders of Alsace and Lorraine. The companions of this Deodatus in the wilderness of the Vosges were Saints Arbogast and Florentius; of these, the nineteenth Bishop was Arbogast, created by Dagobert, son of Sigibert, whom the twentieth, Saint Florentius, succeeded; we establish their dates elsewhere. The twenty-first, Wicgernus. He founded the cell of monks which is now called Ettenheimmunster, from the possessions of Blessed Mary, concerning which see the testament of Heddo. So says Wimpfeling. The twenty-second, Wandelfridus. The twenty-third, Heddo or Etho or Ethico, son of Ethico, brother of Saint Odilia the Virgin, Count of Alsace, born of his father Adalric or Athico and his mother Bereswinda, sister of Queen Bilichild, wife of King Childeric.

[70] Twenty-three from the year 346 to 744. Now this Heddo or Etho is said to have been made Bishop of Strasbourg in the year 734, in which same year Charles Martel ravaged Frisia, as those events are conjoined in Hermann Contractus. Pope Zacharias numbers Heddo of Strasbourg among the Bishops of Gaul and Germany to whom he wrote Epistle 6, published by Sirmond in volume 1 of the Councils of Gaul, around the year 744. Behold twenty-three Bishops who presided over the Church of Strasbourg from Saint Amandus to Heddo through four centuries, from the year 346 to the year 744. Nor are more Bishops of other Sees found between those who were present at the said Synod of Cologne in the year 346 with Saint Amandus of Strasbourg and those who are mentioned in the cited Epistle of Pope Zacharias. For of the Bishops of Rouen, Eusebius and Reginfridus are recorded, between whom there were twenty-one Bishops. From Saint Servatius, the last Bishop of Tongeren and the first of Maastricht, to Saint Hubert, twenty sat at Maastricht; after him at Liege, Saint Florebert, and then Fulcarius, mentioned in the epistle of Zacharias. Among the Bishops of Amiens, between Eulogius and Rambert, only fifteen names of Bishops survive, just as only five survive between Jesse and David among the Bishops of Speyer. The reckoning is nearly the same for the remaining Bishoprics whose Bishops subscribed to the Synod of Cologne and to whose successors the Epistle of Zacharias was sent. We have carefully weighed the succession of each one, but lest it create tedium for anyone, it is here omitted. Udo or Utho, Bishop of Strasbourg, whom Possevinus, Voss, and others report to have written in the tenth century of Christ ^a Life of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Strasbourg, we have not yet been able to examine.

[71] Both the people of Worms and those of Strasbourg, therefore, each have their own Bishop Amandus, [The celebrated veneration of Saint Amandus the Bishop on October 26 at Speyer and Mainz.] whom they honor with annual veneration on October 26; which day is likewise dedicated to the veneration of Saint Amandus the Bishop in the Breviary of Speyer, printed in the years 1477 and 1509, when three Lessons are recited at Matins from the Life of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht. On the same day, in the Breviary of Mainz published in the years 1495 and 1507, the memory of Saint Amandus the Bishop is recalled. And let these things said thus far suffice concerning the regions through which Amandus, the cultivator of the Lord's vineyard, Bishop of Maastricht, ran about like ^a rain-bearing cloud, pouring forth rain on all sides, as Hucbald proclaims in those very words in the Life of Saint Aldegundis, chapter 1.

SECTION 10. The chronology established from the birth of Saint Amandus to the year of Christ 636.

[72] Chronology of the age of Saint Amandus, What was proven on the Kalends of February in the Life of Saint Sigibert the King, we here instruct readers to remember: namely, that for distinguishing the times of the Frankish Kings of the first Merovingian line, the years of Christ, of the Pontiffs, of the Emperors, or of the Roman Consuls were not employed, nor even Indictions except in certain Councils; but by indicating only the years of the Kings succeeding one another, resting solely on the succession of Kings, disputes about times were then customarily resolved. The Kings of the Franks under whom Saint Amandus lived are these: Chlothar II, Dagobert, Saint Sigibert among the Austrasians, and his brother Clovis II among the Neustrians, then the latter's three sons -- Chlothar III, Childeric (at first applied only to governing Austrasia, then also Neustria), and Theoderic -- whose times of reign we have accurately demonstrated on February 1 in the Life of Saint Sigibert the King, sections 9, 10, 11, and 12, and in the Diatribe on the Bishopric of Maastricht, Book 2.

[73] A most certain marker of time is set forth in the testament of Saint Amandus, where the second year of King Theoderic is noted, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of May; after which we shall prove below that Saint Amandus died on February 6 in the year of Christ 684. Here those who place his death twenty-three years earlier, in the year 661, seize upon ^a most tangled knot; we shall refute them below in their proper place, after we have shown step by step that both his birth and his remaining deeds must be placed later. Most authorities, together with Milo, hold that he lived altogether ninety years, Saint Amandus is born around the year 594, and therefore was born in the year 571. To us it seems more probable that he was born in the year 594; the seventh day of May is dedicated to his Nativity in an ancient manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of Saint Martin at Tournai, in these words: "On the Nones of May, in the district of Herbauges in the province of Aquitaine, the birth of Saint Amandus." Thus three months would be required to complete the ninetieth year of his age. This year of birth established by us will presently be confirmed by his approach to Saint Austregisilus, Archbishop of Bourges.

[74] From infancy, says Baudemund, Amandus was taught the sacred letters, and when, passing beyond adolescence, he was entering upon the vigor of manhood, he lives as ^a youth on the island of Oye: he sought the island of Oye, where, having seen ^a serpent of wondrous size, the boy was terrified, as his age permitted. But then, enticed by his father's flattering words to resume the secular habit, he left his homeland and parents and made for Tours, where at the tomb of Saint Martin, having cut off the hair of his head, he obtained the honor of the Clerical state. After this he made for the city of Bourges, where he was most kindly received by Saint Austregisilus and his Archdeacon, Saint Sulpicius. So says Baudemund, whom Milo expounds in the same manner. But Abbot Hariger says: "While he was still ^a boy, he sought the island of Oye, and having seen ^a serpent, he was frightened on account of his boyish age. And after ^a short time his father attempted to withdraw him from the monastery; but, the matter unfinished, he unwillingly left the holy boy." He comes to Bourges: Philip, having narrated the arrival at Saint Austregisilus, says: "Blessed Amandus was then passing through the years of puberty in the first flower of adolescence, not separating the fervor of the spirit from the fervor of age" (number 15). That these things could not have occurred before the year of Christ 612, when Saint Amandus would have been completing his eighteenth year of age, is sufficiently manifest; so that one may easily determine at what time he lived on the island of Oye.

[75] whose Bishops of this city died: Saint Sulpicius Severus in the year 591, Austregisilus had as his predecessor Bishops of Bourges Saints Sulpicius Severus, Eustachius, and Apollinaris, of whom the first departed this life in the year of Christ 591, that is, the sixteenth year of King Childebert and the thirtieth of Guntram, as Gregory of Tours, who was then living as ^a Bishop not far from there, writes in Book 10 of the History of the Franks, where, having set forth the years of the Kings in chapter 24, he adds in chapter 26: "Sulpicius, Pontiff of the city of Bourges, also died, and Eustachius, Deacon of Autun, obtained his chair." These things are explained under January 29, the feast day of Sulpicius. John Chenu of Bourges, diligent in describing the Notice of the Archbishops and benefices of the diocese of Bourges, Saint Eustachius in the year 602, reports that Saint Eustachius governed that Church for twelve years and died on the day before the Kalends of January, in the year six hundred and two, as the computation is reckoned, now elapsed. The same Chenu reports that his successor, Saint Apollinaris, held the See for nine years Saint Apollinaris, 611: and died on the third (others say the second) day before the Nones of October; therefore in the year of Christ 611, with the final incomplete year assigned to both Eustachius and Apollinaris alike, so that Saint Austregisilus could not have been ordained earlier. In his Life, ^a contemporary author writes the following under May 20: "Upon the death of Apollinaris, Bishop of Bourges, Austregisilus was substituted, and he administered that office splendidly for twelve years," Saint Austregisilus succeeds, "just as the Angel had predicted to him on that night when he first entered the borders of the city, and at daybreak he related it to the Deacon Sulpicius, who afterwards succeeded him in the Episcopate," namely in the year of Christ 624. We have treated of Saint Sulpicius Pius on January 17, from whose Life, chapter 2, it is established that when Saint Austregisilus was made Bishop, Theoderic, King of the Burgundians, under whom the Bituriges were subject, was still alive. When he died in the year of Christ 613 of ^a flux of the bowels, Chlothar II seized the monarchy of the Franks -- ^a great confirmation of the chronology established by us. Therefore Saint Amandus came to Bishop Austregisilus in the first year of his Episcopate, in the year of Christ 612, when, whether as ^a boy Saint Amandus approaches him around the year 612 or in the first flower of adolescence, he was passing through the years of puberty and thus, passing beyond adolescence, was entering upon the vigor of manhood, being, as we have said, eighteen years old. How far from this age do others place him, according to whom Saint Amandus, born in the year 571, ought to be said to have come to Bourges at forty-one years of age!

[76] With this foundation established, we proceed. At Bourges, as Baudemund attests, enclosed in his cell, serving for nearly three lustral periods, there enclosed in ^a cell for about fifteen years: he sustained his body with bread and water; by which lustral periods the Anonymous Aquitanian, the poet Milo, and Abbots Hariger and Philip express fifteen years. "Thus, therefore," says the latter, "the man of God lived for nearly fifteen years under Saints Austregisilus and Sulpicius Pius, until the year of Christ 627, then he goes to Rome around the year 627, when he set out for Rome." There, admonished by Saint Peter appearing to him, he returned to Gaul to preach the word of God. Milo, having related this Roman journey, concludes his first book with these words:

"I wished to complete in this little book What he accomplished while still youthful, yet not in ^a youthful manner: A fitting work, that as ^a youth I might deserve to praise ^a youth."

Amandus was then, according to our reckoning, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, having completed ^a sufficiently mature youth. According to others, he would necessarily have been in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and having long since passed beyond all youth, would already have reached the years of old age -- years less suited to enduring the great labors which we have thus far narrated.

[77] Abbot Philip, below in the Life, number 20, designates King Chlothar as the one by whom and by other Bishops Saint Amandus, having returned from Rome, is said to have been compelled and ordained as Bishop. But because his skill and method of acting in converting men to the faith of Christ first had to become known to the King and the rest, he is ordained Bishop around the year 628, we judge that this could scarcely have been accomplished before the year 628, in which Chlothar died and was succeeded by Dagobert. The twenty-sixth of October is sacred to this ordination, on which day ^a manuscript Benedictine Calendar has the following: "The ordination of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Upper Maastricht and Abbot of Elnone." A manuscript Martyrology of Saint Martin at Trier: "At Trier, the ordination and translation of Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." King Dagobert was residing among the Austrasians and frequently at Trier, so that the said ordination could have taken place there, to which others have added the Translation made at Elnone. But Molanus, Wion, and Menard substitute the city of Maastricht: "At Maastricht, the ordination of the Episcopate of Saint Amandus, and at the monastery of Elnone, the translation of the body, etc." Ferrari, in his Catalogue: "At Maastricht on the Meuse, of Saint Amandus the Bishop," and he notes that ordination or translation is meant. With the city name omitted, it reads thus in the ancient manuscript Martyrology of Liessies: "At the monastery of Elnone, the translation of the body of Saint Amandus, and his ordination, and the dedication of his basilica, and the dedication of the basilica of Saint Mary, the Perpetual Virgin." But on the following day the following is read in Wion and Molanus from the Martyrology of Elnone: "On the sixth day before the Kalends of November, at Elnone, the Commemoration of the ordination of Saint Amandus the Bishop, which, although it is believed to have taken place on the preceding day, together with the translation of the body and the dedication, is nevertheless more specially recalled on this day."

[78] What the consecrated Bishop accomplished in each year, although it cannot be demonstrated so precisely, we shall nevertheless endeavor to assign his remaining deeds to their proper times by means of probable inference from many and certain documents. And first, He preaches to the Gentiles: the year 629: having received the honor of the Pontificate, says Baudemund, he began to preach the word of the Lord to the Gentiles; and among other works of piety, he would redeem boys who were captives from overseas by paying ^a price, and having regenerated them in the spiritual bath, he ordered them to be instructed in letters. Abbot Theoderic, in the Life of Saint Bavo on October 1, reports that he then preached the word of God to the people of Ghent; but seeing that he was making little progress, he went to Rome and complained to the Pope about his fruitless labor among ^a fruitless nation; having been again encouraged by him for the work of the Gospel, he attacked Ghent again upon his return. The Chronicle of Saint Bavo, written many centuries later, in Sanderus, Book 4 of the Affairs of Ghent, chapter 3, reports that five years earlier Saint Amandus had preached at Ghent, and that after overturning an altar of Mercury, he built ^a church, which was destroyed by unbelievers two years before Saint Amandus, armed with the authority of Aicharius, Bishop of Noyon, and letters of King Dagobert, returned to Ghent. Therefore, having attacked the people of Ghent in the year 629, he appears to have cultivated them for some time; he goes to Rome ^a second time around the year 630, then in the year 630 he went to Rome, and upon returning he learned that the oratory, perhaps previously erected in private buildings, had been pulled down by that fierce nation from which all priests, as Baudemund attests, had withdrawn. Then, pitying their error, having obtained through Saint Aicharius letters of King Dagobert, he preaches at Ghent in the year 631, he fearlessly proceeded there in the year 631. There, having suffered very many injuries, beaten, thrown into the river, abandoned by his companions, he acquired sustenance with his own hands; and redeeming countless captives, he cleansed them with holy baptism.

[79] These things at Ghent. Meanwhile he had ^a cell for himself and his companions at Tournai, At Tournai he raises ^a dead man: into which he had ^a dead man taken down from the gibbet and brought in, and having poured forth prayers to God, he recalled him to life. When this miracle was spread abroad, churches and monasteries began to be built round about. He builds monasteries in the year 632: Perhaps Lutosa and Renaix are meant, situated in ancient Brabant not far from Tournai. At that time also, acquaintance was formed in the rest of Brabant, in the district of Senonago, and in the neighboring Hesbaye, in which places lived Blessed Duke Pippin, father of Saints Gertrude and Begga; Walbert, parent of Saints Waldetrudis and Aldegundis; Witgerus, from whom sprang Saints Gudula and Raineldis -- all men of princely rank and held in great honor at the court of King Dagobert, who around the year 632, as Fredegar writes in the Chronicle, chapter 58, governed the royal government with such great prosperity that even the nations dwelling along the frontier of the Avars and the Slavs eagerly sought him out, so that he might go behind them successfully, and he confidently pledged to subject the Avars and Slavs and the other nations of the peoples to his dominion by public force. He goes to the Slavs in the year 633: We have said above that Samo the Frank, ^a native of the district of Senonago, then ruled over the Slavs; with the intention of attracting him on this occasion to the Christian faith, Saint Amandus set out beyond the Danube into Carinthia and the neighboring provinces, and devoted the year 633, as far as we can gather, to that expedition.

[80] Meanwhile the King, having repudiated his wife Gomatrude, had taken the nun Nanthild as his wife; indeed, as Fredegar attests in chapter 60, given over to luxury beyond measure, he had three women as it were Queens [Dagobert's incontinence having been rebuked, he is banished into exile in the year 634:] and many concubines. As soon as Saint Amandus rebuked this incontinence of the King, at his command he was expelled from his kingdom around the year 634. Charibert, Dagobert's brother, was then presiding over ^a great part of Aquitaine closer to Spain; that Saint Amandus then withdrew to him and formed an acquaintance with Saint Rictrude we have stated above from her Life, authored by Hucbald. There the Basques were then instructed in faith and piety, and perhaps the monastery of Vauret was founded. Meanwhile Dagobert, in the eighth year of his reign, He baptizes Saint Sigibert in the year 635, the year of Christ 635, took Ragnetrude to his bed, by whom in that year he had ^a son named Sigibert. Thus, not without confirmation of the chronology hitherto established, Fredegar in chapter 59, the monk of Saint-Denis in the Deeds of Dagobert, chapter 24, and Aimoinus in Book 4, chapter 20 attest. Then Saint Amandus, who had gone to the maritime regions of Aquitaine, intending to await an opportunity of sailing to the island of Britain to convert the Anglo-Saxons, was recalled from exile by King Dagobert and baptized Saint Sigibert at Orleans, with King Charibert receiving him from the sacred font; and what Saint Amandus had greatly refused, he accepted him as his spiritual son,

"That Teacher about to instruct him in the divine law."

Fredegar in chapter 62, Baudemund, and Milo pursue these matters more fully below in the Life. Nor did King Charibert long survive, having died in the following year, the ninth of Dagobert's reign, the year of Christ 636. All these things are set forth at length on February 1, in the Life of Saint Sigibert, section 9.

SECTION 11. The chronology of Saint Amandus confirmed from the year 636 to 650. The three-year Episcopate at Maastricht.

[81] Having obtained the benevolent disposition of King Dagobert, Amandus returned to his former stations He governs the monasteries begun at Ghent for eight years, and especially revisited the chapel at Ghent, where ^a monastery was then founded, dedicated to Saint Peter and the other Apostles, which was afterwards called Saint Bavo's. Some foundations were also laid for the monastery at Blandinium, afterwards consecrated to Saints Peter and Paul. This monastery, as the Chronographer of Blandinium attests, Saint Amandus governed in his own person, together with the chapel at Ghent which was afterwards called Saint Bavo's, for eight years; and this, as will be established from the time of his successors, from the year 636, from the year 636: after the baptism of Saint Sigibert, when peace and quiet were restored. Certainly we judge that in the following eight years Saint Amandus was frequently at Ghent, and from there more often visited the neighboring peoples -- on the right bank of the Scheldt, the people of Antwerp, Brabant, Hesbaye, and the Nervii; on the other bank, the Flemish, the Suevi, the people of Courtrai and Tournai, and the inhabitants along the river Scarpe -- and refreshed them with frequent nourishment of the divine word and the holy Sacraments of Christ, with certain churches and monasteries built and well ordered for the increase of divine worship. He builds Elnone in the year 638: At which time, as an unfailing cultivator of the Lord's vineyard, he designated ^a site for the construction of the monastery of Elnone and obtained it from King Dagobert in the eleventh year of his reign, the year of Christ 638, in which he elevated his son Sigibert to the kingdom of Austrasia, as Fredegar and others attest. The King granted the site both for the stability of the entire kingdom and of his offspring promoted to the kingship, and for the salvation of souls, as the words of the charter given above declare. At that time the holy married couple Adalbald and Rictrude flourished, parents of four saintly children; He receives Saint Clotsendis from the sacred font in the year 640, of whom we have said that Saint Amandus received Saint Clotsendis from the sacred font around the year 640, in the Life of Saint Adalbald on February 2, section 4. His grandmother Saint Gertrude was also living there, the foundress and Abbess of the monastery of Hamage, who made use of the counsel of Saint Amandus in settling her affairs. Saint Autbert, given as Bishop to the people of Cambrai in the year 643, presided over that See for thirty-three years; that Saint Amandus rendered faithful service to him has been shown elsewhere.

[82] When King Dagobert departed from human affairs on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of February in the year 644, Under the reigns of Clovis II and Saint Sigibert, Clovis II succeeded in Neustria and Burgundy, while Saint Sigibert obtained the full kingdom of the Austrasians. In the same year Amandus appointed Saint Florebert as Abbot over both monasteries at Ghent, so that he himself might more freely promote ecclesiastical affairs in person before both Kings, He makes Saint Florebert Abbot of Ghent in the year 644, and so that he might reside more often at Elnone and either erect neighboring monasteries or foster those already erected. He had also received from Saint Adalbald the land on which the monastery of Marchiennes was to be built. After he had entrusted the church of Saint Peter at Blandinium to Abbot Florebert, it is reported in the Chronicle of Marchiennes that the monastery of Marchiennes was also founded in honor of the same blessed Apostle on the allodial land of the aforesaid Duke Adalbald; He builds the monastery of Marchiennes in the year 645, this was done at the beginning of the reign of Clovis, around the year 645 and the following year. For the completion and adornment of this monastery, as Hucbald attests in the Life of Saint Rictrude, the same Bishop Amandus had appointed his disciple, the venerable man Saint Jonatus, with an order prescribed for gathering monks. Meanwhile, upon the death of Saint Aicharius, Bishop of Noyon, on November 27 of the year 645, Saint Eligius was substituted, and in the third year of Clovis, on May 14, the Sunday before Rogation Days or the Ascension of the Lord, in the year of Christ 646, he was consecrated together with Saint Audoin, Bishop of Rouen.

[83] Saint John the Lamb having died in the year 646 In that same year, Saint John the Lamb, Bishop of Maastricht, died on July 25, which day is dedicated to his sacred veneration. Concerning his election, Hariger writes in chapter 39: The kingdom of the Austrasians...

the young Dagobert was administering the kingdom of Austrasian Francia. His father Chlothar alone was governing the monarchy of four kingdoms. Royal edicts are issued, and it is acclaimed by all that Blessed John should be Bishop of Maastricht: made Bishop of Maastricht under Chlothar, all consent, all rejoice; he is seized and enthroned. This was done before the forty-second year of Chlothar, the year of Christ 625, when the young Dagobert, not yet having taken ^a wife, was governing only northern Austrasia, in which Maastricht lay. That John administered that Church for at least twenty years is shown by the old age at death indicated by Hariger: "Blessed John," he says, "completing the course of the present life, departed this life in ^a good old age." The dates of this Saint John the Lamb are indicated by Sigibert of Gembloux in the Life of Saint Theodard, whom we shall treat below, where he says that at that time, before Saint Amandus undertook that Episcopate, the Church of Maastricht had been stripped of ^a great quantity of its possessions -- that is, in the old age of that Bishop. In the commonly received chronology of Bucherius, Fisen, and others, Saint John the Lamb is said to have been Bishop for only six years, from the year 631 to the year 637, but with no reason added. Our dating, however, will be confirmed by what follows. Therefore, upon the death of John the Lamb on June 25 of the year 646, Saint Amandus is substituted, Saint Amandus, compelled by the King and the Bishops to govern the Church of Maastricht, assumed the Pontifical Chair, and for three years going around villages and fortified places, he constantly preached the word of the Lord to all. So says Baudemund, whom the Anonymous author from the Chesne manuscript explains thus: "Then the man of God, Amandus, compelled by the King, commanded by the Bishops, and elected by the people, undertook the governance of the Church of Maastricht." He governs "Going about fortified places, villages, and estates, by preaching, rebuking, and beseeching, for three years he showed the way of God to the people, and many were converted to the way of repentance." for three years: Hariger also reports that he, having undertaken the pastoral office and bearing the care of those committed to him, went about villages and fortified places for three years and announced the word of life. That three-year period during which Saint Amandus governed this Church we fix at the years of Christ 647 and the two following. Now Sigibert, King of the Austrasians, then ten years old, out of his affection for Saint Amandus as his spiritual Father, and Saint Chunibert, Bishop of the city of Cologne, intimate with his counsels, and metropolitan of Germania Secunda, in which Maastricht lay; Saint Modoald, Bishop of Trier, ^a kinsman of Amandus, born namely from the same Aquitaine, and brother of Saint Iduberga, of whom we shall presently treat; Saint Autbert, Bishop of Cambrai -- whose dioceses all surround the Bishopric of Maastricht -- and other Bishops persuaded him to accept the Chair of Maastricht.

[84] In this diocese, upon the death of Blessed Duke Pippin on February 21 of the year 646, Saint Itta or Iduberga, the widow, sister of Saint Modoald, Bishop of Trier, he consecrates the monastery of Nivelles, avoiding ^a second marriage, received the sacred veil and the habit of holy religion from Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, divinely directed to her, as is read in the Life of Saint Modoald on May 12. Indeed, from her house he consecrated the monastery of Nivelles, as we have said above from the Life of Saint Gertrude; for whom he also consecrated ^a cell at Mont-du-Littoral, now called the Mount or Berg of Saint Gertrude. Then, while Clovis governed the monarchy of Francia together with his brother Sigibert, there lived in Hesbaye Bavo, He instructs Saint Bavo, who in his marriage was turning his mind to things above, and despising the delights of the world, was devotedly applying himself to virtue and living as ^a monk though ^a layman, as Abbot Theoderic relates in his Life. That afterwards, upon the death of his wife, he followed Saint Amandus, as will be said below, suggests that even previously he had been formed in those pursuits of virtue by his instructions. Concerning the monastery of Saint Bavo at Calmthout and the other one at the Sabis in the same diocese of Maastricht, built by Saint Amandus, we have treated above. Saint Jonatus, Abbot appointed by the same over the monastery of Marchiennes, [Saint Jonatus as Abbot of Marchiennes, Ursus of Elnone, being Abbots at that time,] in place of monks gathered nuns, as had seemed right to him, while Saint Amandus was occupied at that time with the administration of his Episcopate of Maastricht; by whom Ursus was then given as Abbot to the monks of Elnone, as Buzelinus reports in Book 2 of the Annals of Gallo-Flanders. All of which things confirm the labors expended during this three-year period upon the Hesbani, the Taxandri, and the other peoples of the diocese of Maastricht. That he did not govern that Church and diocese earlier is shown by the very many things he had previously accomplished with distinction, as we have said, at the rivers Scheldt and Scarpe. Bucherius, Fisen, and others report that Amandus presided over the Church of Maastricht, or as they prefer to say, of Tongeren, in the years 638 and the two following.

[85] But what is the principal strength and support of the chronology established thus far is this: at the time when Amandus was administering the Church of Maastricht, By Saint Martin the Pope, Saint Martin, Pope, presided over the universal Church -- carried off from Rome by Theodorus Calliopas, as he himself testifies in Epistle 15, on the fourth day of the week, the thirteenth day before the Kalends of July. Indeed, he says that the preceding Lord's Day fell on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of July; therefore in the year of Christ 653, the eighteenth cycle of the Sun, with the Dominical letter F. Before which time, as Anastasius the Librarian attests, ^a man zealous in investigating the Acts and exile of the same, he had governed the Church for six years, elected in the year 647, having been created in the year of Christ 647. That Saint Amandus petitioned this Pontiff by letter to be freed from the burden of the Episcopate of Maastricht is established from Martin's own reply to him. This letter was appended to the Acts of the Lateran Council held in the eighth year of the Emperor Constans, on the third day before the Nones of October, in the eighth Indiction [he seeks to be freed from the burden of the Episcopate of Maastricht in the year 649,] (therefore in the year 649), and was published by Abbot Philip below in the Life, chapter 5. "From the report," says Saint Martin, "according to the tenor of the letter of your Fraternity, brought by the bearer of these presents, we have learned of the contest of your labors. For it has been reported to us that Presbyters and Deacons and others of the sacerdotal office, after their ordinations, defile themselves by falling into sin; on account of the disobedience of the Clergy, and that for this reason your Fraternity is seized with excessive grief, and wishes to lay down the pastoral office on account of their disobedience, and to choose release from the labors of the Episcopate, etc." Baudemund expressed this in these few words: "Many also -- which is impious to say -- Priests and Levites, rejecting his preaching, disdained to listen." The same things are narrated by the Aquitanian author, Hariger, and Milo, whose verses are these:

"Sad impiety! Those who ought to have been the first to acknowledge, And to show the people the word of the Lord to be followed, The Ministers duly set in the grades of the Church, Reject, spurn, despise, and look down upon, Set aside and drive away the worthy Patron through reproaches, Whereby they brought not gain but the greatest losses upon themselves."

[86] [In the time of Dagobert, neither did Saint Martin sit as Pope nor did Saint Amandus sit at Maastricht:] We heap up these many things here so that it may more clearly appear that both Saint Martin the Pope and these writers of the Life of Saint Amandus are speaking of the same time, and that these events are wrongly transferred by Hariger and Philip to the reign of Dagobert, who had died some years before; to whose reign nevertheless, whence the occasion of error was given, Hucbald referred the Pontificate of Saint Martin on January 30, chapter 1, in the Life of Saint Aldegundis. But even more carried away from the truth, the Chronographer of Blandinium in Sanderus, by an enormous error, threw the fifth year of the Pontificate of Saint Martin into the year of Christ 610, the fourteenth of the reign of Dagobert. These authors were perhaps deceived by the transitional formula customarily used by Baudemund, by which, having mentioned the baptism of Saint Sigibert, he continues: "These things having been thus accomplished, when the day of his death arrived, the Bishop of Maastricht happily departed to Christ." But the same Baudemund immediately attaches the reign of Childeric, which is nineteen years distant from the death of Dagobert, to the Episcopate of Maastricht, with only these three connecting formulas interposed: "Not long after," "these things having been thus accomplished," and "about the same time, the holy man of the Lord, Amandus, approached King Childeric"; and with no expressed interval of time, but with only these words placed: "after some days." Shall we then say that Amandus also governed the Church of Maastricht under King Childeric? But having indicated these things in passing, let us return to the letter of Pope Saint Martin, in which he prescribes the following to Saint Amandus concerning King Sigibert, not Dagobert: but of Sigibert, King of Austrasia, "Admonish and entreat our most excellent son Sigibert, King of the Franks, most prudently for the remedy of his Christianity: to send to us from the body of our most beloved brethren, Bishops who ought to discharge the legation of the Apostolic See." At the same time Saint Martin sent the Acts of the Roman Synod with an encyclical letter, so that they might be confirmed by ^a Synod assembled by the Bishops of the kingdom of Sigibert; that he also did this with Clovis, his brother, is clear from the Life of Saint Eligius, in which it is said that "Saint Martin the Pope sent the faith published against the heretics in the Council, with the consent of all the orthodox, together with the appended letter, to the regions of Gaul, and of Clovis II of Neustria, commanding and adjuring Clovis, King of the Franks, to have learned Catholic men sent to him as support for suppressing the heresy; on which occasion Eligius, together with his companion Audoin, would most willingly have gone, had not ^a certain matter been an impediment to him." So says Audoin in the Life of Saint Eligius. Nearly the same things are read in the Life of Saint Audoin on August 24.

SECTION 12. The third journey of Saint Amandus to Rome. His successor was not Saint Landoald, but Saint Remaclus.

[87] Using this occasion, Saint Amandus, while informing King Sigibert of the will of the most holy Pope, Saint Amandus, having left Maastricht, at the same time obtained from him permission to go to Rome. Then, "from the time of his entry" (these are the words of Philip, number 51), "the three-year period having thus elapsed, since he saw his labor entirely wasted upon them" (the diocesans), "he withdrew from them, choosing rather to dwell as ^a private person in the house of God than to excel among transgressors by the title of his dignity." And, as Baudemund reports, "shaking the dust from his feet, he hastened to other places." Milo also expressed these things in his poem. "Then the blessed Confessor Amandus" (the words are those of Rainer in the Life of Saint Ghislain), "beloved of God and men, he visits Saint Ghislain: whom the Episcopate of Maastricht held for nearly three years against his will, when he was returning from that Bishopric, burning with the zeal of God, as once Elijah was zealous, it happened that for the purpose of visiting and consoling he came to the place which Saint Ghislain inhabited. When the holy man had been honorably received by him, in his usual manner he refreshed the minds of the faithful who were present with salutary instructions, inflaming them with the fire of the Holy Spirit. They, nourished with the food of sound doctrine and kindled with the ardor of twofold love, and moreover enriched with the heavenly blessing, escorted the holy Bishop as he made his way to Elnone." And having interposed the narrative of ^a fish leaping from the river and of the meal taken, he continues: "These things having been thus accomplished, Amandus, the worker of miracles, revisited the Brethren of Elnone."

[88] The Chronicle of Elnone, in Buzelinus, Book 1 of Gallo-Flanders, chapter 45, agrees he appoints Saint Jonatus over the monks of Elnone: with these words: "Blessed Amandus had established Jonatus as the first Abbot at Marchiennes. But when he had renounced the episcopal charge and resolved to visit the thresholds of the Apostles for ^a third time, having joined to himself Saints Humbert of Maroilles and Nicasius, ^a monk and disciple of Elnone, taking with him Nicasius of Elnone, he likewise judged that the monastery of Elnone should be entrusted to the aforesaid Jonatus of Marchiennes." These things are confirmed in the Acts of Saint Humbert on March 25 as follows: "When Humbert," and Saint Humbert, Abbot of Maroilles, says the author, "had arrived at ^a certain place under his jurisdiction, Saint Amandus the Bishop arrived there with the venerable man Nicasius, who were making their way to the thresholds of the Apostles for the sake of pilgrimage. When they had been received and comforted with hospitality by Blessed Humbert, he sets out for Rome in the year 650, Saint Humbert himself, moved by the same devotion, undertook the pilgrimage with them." So it says there; these things were done in the year 650.

[89] They stayed in Rome for some time, so that Amandus might procure at greater leisure, for himself and his monasteries, the books which he had previously requested to be sent to him by Pope Saint Martin. He obtains privileges from Pope Saint Martin in January of the year 651. There he is also reported to have obtained immunity and other privileges for the monastery of Elnone, by ^a charter signed in the month of January and subscribed by the hand of Bishop Amandus, the librarian of the Holy Apostolic See; therefore in the year 651. From another charter of Saint Martin, which the monks of Blandinium claim was then granted to them, it is established that Saint Florebert, their Abbot appointed by Amandus in the year 644, as we have said, was still surviving and flourishing at that time; the Chronographer of Blandinium, however, reports that he was ordained Abbot in the year 618 and died in the year 639.

[90] He brings Saint Landoald back with him, Concerning the return of Saint Amandus, Notger, Bishop of Liege, writes thus in the Life of Saint Landoald on March 19: "Saint Amandus resolved to go to Rome again. Pope Martin was then administering the universal Roman Pontificate. To him Blessed Amandus set forth the vow for the fulfillment of which he had come, and he requested that assistants be sent to him for carrying out this work. Several helpers were assigned to him, with others, whose names have been lost; among them Saint Landoald the Archpriest, Amantius the Deacon, whom the holy Virgins Vinciana and Adeltrudis also accompanied, along with seven other men and women." So says Notger, who transfers these things to the reign of Dagobert: "At about the same time," he says, "Blessed John, happily governing the Pontificate of Tongeren and Maastricht, died. King Dagobert, who after the death of his father in the year of Christ 628 had auspiciously succeeded to power, summoned Blessed Amandus and caused him to preside over the Chair of Maastricht." And shortly after, having indicated his departure from there after three years, he adds: "It is then unknown for how great an interval of time the people of Maastricht were without pastoral blessing until Blessed Remaclus, except that by report reaching down to us (after 350 years) we have learned that Blessed Landoald remained there, and for nine years discharged the functions of ^a Bishop." Wrongly considered by Notger to be the Vicar of the vacant See of Maastricht. "What makes us readily assent to this opinion is what is reported, that the same Blessed Landoald nurtured Saint Lambert, our special Patron, from earliest boyhood." The same Notger, not sufficiently mindful of himself, writes thus in the Life of Saint Remaclus on September 3: "It is unknown for how great an interval of time the people of Maastricht were without ^a Pastor, until his father appointed him King of the Austrasians in the year 638 and established him to have his seat in the city of Metz. To him the people of Maastricht, with the common election of the Clergy, with ^a throng and audience of the Magnates, with the clamor and acclamation of all orders, presented this petition of their prayers: that none other than Blessed Remaclus ought to preside over them, etc." Notger repeats nearly the same words in the Life of Saint Hadelin on February 3, chapter 1, everywhere joining the Papacy of Saint Martin with the reign of Dagobert; so that it is not surprising that Abbot Hariger, who composed his History in studied consultation with him, reports that the Episcopate was conferred upon Saint Amandus by the same King Dagobert.

[91] There were not lacking afterwards those who, imitating Notger, would have Saint Landoald presiding over the Church of Maastricht for nine years; among them Abbot Theoderic, ^a full century younger than Notger, By Abbot Theoderic, reports the following in the Life of Saint Bavo: "Amandus approached the holy Pope Martin ... he was encouraged with helpers given to him, the venerable Archpriest Landoald and Amantius the Deacon. Having therefore crossed the Alps, they entered Gaul; and when Amandus saw that the harvest was indeed great but the laborers few, he left Landoald at Maastricht, where he also discharged the functions of ^a Bishop for nine years (for Bishop John had very recently died), until the time of Saint Remaclus." So says Theoderic, heaping up other errors, as though Landoald had succeeded as Vicar to Bishop John, not to Bishop Amandus. Similar things are found in Sigibert of Gembloux in the Life of Saint Theodard, Bishop of Maastricht; and by others, Rainer and Nicolas in the Life of Saint Lambert; Giles, chapter 49, in his additions to Hariger; whom Bucherius, Fisen, and others follow, adding that Saint Lambert was committed by his father to Landoald for his initiation in the study of letters. Whether Landoald instructed Saint Lambert as ^a boy, Of this instruction, neither Godeschalcus the Deacon nor Stephen, Bishop of Liege, the principal authors of the Life of Saint Lambert, much more ancient than Nicolas and Rainer, make mention; of whom the former relates in chapter 1 that he was committed almost from his earliest age to wise men and scholars to be taught the sacred letters; but that when he exceeded the years of boyhood, he was commended to Theodard, Bishop of Maastricht, ordained in the year 660, to be instructed in divine doctrines and monastic disciplines; and after he himself as ^a young man had been made wise through the teaching of Theodard, "mature in virtue ... he began to serve both with the Bishop and in the royal household." So says Godeschalcus, to which Stephen the Bishop relates similar things. Born around the year 650? Whence it is established that Saint Lambert does not seem to have been born before the year 650, and that Landoald, sent by Pope Saint Martin to Belgium as ^a companion and assistant of Saint Amandus, could have been numbered among the wise men to whose instruction the boy was committed. Nevertheless we do not immediately approve what, following Giles, Bucherius holds in his Chronological Tables and Fisen in Book 4 of the History of Liege, chapter 1, and in the Life of Saint Lambert, chapter 4: that he was inaugurated as Bishop at the age of twenty-one; for we shall show below that this did not happen before the year 677.

[92] What meanwhile happened to the Episcopate of Maastricht when Saint Amandus departed from there, Baudemund and Milo are silent. At that time Remaclus was present at the court of King Saint Sigibert, Saint Remaclus previously ^a Bishop, having obtained the insignia of the Priesthood, so that, exercising the office of ^a Prelate, he might assist all in their need, as the monk of Stavelot attests in the little book of his Life; which Notger, ^a full century younger, confesses in the Preface of the Life published by him that he extended, because it had been written more briefly than the subject required. In this work we have said that no mention is made of the Episcopate of Maastricht being administered by Saint Landoald for nine years. This man of God, Saint Remaclus, therefore, as the said authors relate in his Life, succeeds Saint Amandus at Maastricht, was substituted for Saint Amandus, by the ordaining Providence of God, and at the request to the King of the people, Clergy, and Senate of Maastricht -- and also, as is probable, with Saint Amandus himself persuading the King to impose that dignity upon him, and exhorting Saint Remaclus to deign to accept it, promising that he would see to it at Rome that Pope Martin would ratify everything. Remaclus was therefore substituted for Saint Amandus in the year 650, in the year 650, and sat for about ten years, which we have demonstrated to be expressed in the manuscript Chronicle of the monastery of Saint-Trond and plainly supposed in the Life of Saint Trudo on November 23, written by Abbot Theoderic of that monastery mentioned above, in the Life of Saint Sigibert the King, section 10, on the occasion of the monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy built by this King in the sixth year of the Episcopate of Saint Remaclus, the year of Christ 655, and dedicated by him three years later while still Bishop of Maastricht; so that it is surprising that Bucherius, Fisen, and others assign him only three or four years. During his occasional absences, perhaps acting at the King's court far from the diocese, or otherwise occupied with the building of those monasteries, Saint Landoald could have supplied his functions, if, as is reported, he lived as Archpriest at Maastricht for nine years under his Episcopate.

SECTION 13. Illustrious deeds accomplished by Saint Amandus from the year 651 to 664.

[93] Saint Amandus returns from Rome in the year 651, Returning to Belgium in the year 651, Saint Amandus, still of sufficiently vigorous body, being only fifty-seven years old -- not, as many others maintain, eighty -- and endowed with remarkable strength of spirit for undertaking the greatest enterprises, having left Saint Landoald at Maastricht, revisited the monasteries he had previously built, especially those at Ghent. His fame having spread far and wide, Saint Allowinus, called Bavo, came to Ghent (the words are those of Theoderic in his Life): "He found Amandus and said he wished to become ^a Cleric. Amandus rejoiced, and when he saw that he did not hesitate at all but was of ^a most ready spirit to endure all things, giving thanks to God, he embraced him as ^a most dear son and led him into the school of the Lord's service, and in the church at Ghent before the altar of Blessed Peter the Apostle, He ordains Saint Bavo ^a Cleric, having professed the warfare of Christ, with beard and hair shorn, he admitted him to the Clerical state. Wherever Amandus, the sower of the divine seed, went, Bavo strove to follow, and clinging inseparably to the side of his Master, he burned to be filled with the richness of holy preaching. Indeed, with the consent of his master Amandus, he girded himself to go around the places of the Saints and the neighboring monks, in the hope that it might chance to discover something previously untried or unattempted, for the accomplishment of which he ought rightly to encourage himself." At which time he also made Domlinus, Presbyter of the Church of Torhout, his familiar friend.

[94] Saint Adalbald killed in the year 652, We have stated on February 2 that Saint Adalbald, having set out on ^a journey into Gascony, was killed by the treachery of the kinsmen of his wife Saint Rictrude in the year 652 in the territory of Perigueux. On this occasion, perhaps while the same year was still passing, Saint Rictrude, as Hucbald relates in her Life, "entered into counsel with the friends of Christ who were familiar to her, and especially with Amandus, most holy Bishop of God, and she took salutary counsel. He persuades Saint Rictrude to embrace chastity, To her that true counselor proposed the monastic life. Therefore, using the counsel of her colleague in ministry, namely the God-bearing Amandus, she invited the King with his Nobles to ^a lavish banquet, and during the meal, according to the salutary counsel of her Counselor, the illustrious Bishop Amandus, she drew forth from her bosom and placed upon her head the veil already blessed by that same Bishop, and chose, with the counsel and help of the oft-mentioned Bishop who was her confidant, ^a very fitting place where she might devote herself to spiritual exercises: and the monastic life, namely the monastery called Marchiennes," which by the same...

Bishop had built over the river Scarpe. Rictrude, after professing to God the continence of widowhood and after taking the holy garment of the religious habit, assumed by her and her three daughters: also espoused her three daughters to Christ alone, while they were still of tender age. Of these, Saint Adalsendis died in her youth on December 24. Saint Eusebia, at the age of twelve, around the year of Christ 657, after the death of her great-grandmother Saint Gertrude, was made Abbess of the monastery of Hamage, and is venerated on March 16. Saint Clotsendis, substituted for her mother in the governance of the monastery, has June 30 dedicated to her veneration.

[95] Meanwhile, as Rainer relates in the Life of Saint Ghislain, when the oratory of the Cell had been faithfully completed, he consecrates the oratory of Saint Ghislain around the year 653: at the entreaty of the same Blessed Ghislain, it was most fittingly dedicated in honor of the Apostles, in the ecclesiastical manner, by the most holy Bishops of Christ, Autbert of Cambrai and Amandus, with the greatest rejoicing of the Clergy and the people, around the year of Christ 653, as far as we can reckon. There, after the people had been fed with preaching, confirmed in the faith, and moreover bestowed with the Episcopal blessing, ^a certain noble Count named Madalgerus He induces Count Saint Vincent to the monastic life; (who is Saint Vincent), moved by divine inspiration at the preaching of the Bishops, having renounced the deceitful world, was tonsured by the hands of the aforesaid Bishop of Cambrai, and because by taking up the cross of the Lord and following in his footsteps he wished to be dead to the world, he was enclosed under the regular habit at Hautmont (which monastery was then built). His wife, Saint Waldetrudis, consenting with her husband, Saint Waldetrudis imitating her husband: after living chastely for some time in the secular habit, strenuously governing her children and estates, hastened at the exhortation of Saint Ghislain to go to Cambrai, and with the blessing of the holy Bishop Autbert, she was invested with the sacred veil, and having become ^a model of salvation and ^a mirror of holiness for all, she built the monastery of Castrilocus, which is at Mons in Hainaut. He labors in the dioceses of Cambrai and Tournai: Not only was Saint Amandus present with Bishop Autbert of Cambrai, and assisted him in building the various monasteries indicated above, but he also frequently visited Saint Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, by whom, as Saint Audoin says, "the Flemish and the people of Antwerp, the Frisians also, and the Suevi, and whatever barbarians dwelling along the coasts of the sea, upon whom no plowshare of preaching had yet made an impression, as if removed to the uttermost parts -- ^a great part of the people, having abandoned their idols, were converted to the true God and subjected to Christ." Of which things some, accomplished indeed under the auspices of Saint Eligius, appear nevertheless to have been done by Amandus in his diocese.

[96] He encloses Saint Bavo in the year 655: Saint Bavo, after living for some time as ^a solitary and then as ^a monk under Saint Florebert, having summoned the holy Bishop Amandus and the venerable Abbot Florebert, begged for the complete enclosure of his frail body, and at length barely obtained it; and he was enclosed by the hands of the holy Bishop on the fifth day before the Ides of November, in the year of Christ 655. From which enclosure, not yet two years having elapsed, on the first day before the Kalends of October in the year 657, delighted by the presence of Angels, he buries the dead man in the year 657, he breathed forth his spirit and was then buried by Saint Amandus; and indeed, according to the Chronicle of Saint Bavo, in the thirteenth year of Abbot Florebert, whose beginning we have placed at the year 644. Abbot Theoderic in the Life of Saint Bavo and the author of the Chronicle of Saint Bavo think otherwise concerning these assigned years of Christ, for, having followed the error of many already frequently indicated, they report that Florebert was made Abbot by Saint Amandus in the year 618 (at which time we have shown above that Saint Amandus was living enclosed among the Bituriges) and that Saint Bavo was enclosed in the year 629, not 631, and died ^a holy death in the year 631 -- and indeed while Martin was administering the universal Pontificate, which he did not receive until sixteen years later. But there are many and even more enormous errors elsewhere. For Bavo is said to have married his wife while Clovis was governing the monarchy of Francia -- when in fact he never held the whole, but obtained the rule of Neustria alone, and indeed still as ^a child, in the year 644, after the death of his father Dagobert. Then, after his wife's death, Bavo sought out Saint Amandus at Ghent, returned from Rome, having been received by Pope Saint Martin with companions Landoald and others. Moreover, the blessed soul of Saint Bavo appeared Saint Gertrude sends burial linens for the funeral, at the very hour of his departure to Saint Gertrude the Virgin, dwelling far away in the monastery of Nivelles, so that she might send the linens necessary for preparing the funeral. So says Theoderic, who nevertheless fixes the year of Saint Bavo's death as 631, in which year Saint Gertrude was born, born in the year 631, who, when her father Blessed Pippin was dying in the year 646, was growing up and was fourteen years old; therefore, when Bavo died according to our reckoning in the year 657, she had reached the twenty-sixth year of her age, died in the year 664, and finally on March 17 of the year of Christ 664, in the thirty-third year of her age, she piously departed. That Saints Bavo and Gertrude were cousins is reported by Othelboldus, made Abbot of Saint Bavo's at Ghent in the year 1019, his cousin, in ^a letter to Otgiva, Countess of Flanders, wife of Baldwin Barbatus, published by Miraeus in the Belgian Notice, chapter 82, where he mentions the book of the Life of Saint Bavo, which we regret is no longer extant -- unless it was interpolated, with the years of Christ incorrectly attached, by Abbot Theoderic of Saint-Trond, who was much younger. "With Bavo, that distinguished Confessor of Christ, now resting in the Lord by ^a recent death, and having been buried with fitting honor by Blessed Amandus and Abbot Florebert, and shining with miracles, Saint Livinus came to the monastery at Ghent, and receiving from the ministry of the monastery the supplies Saint Livinus is crowned with martyrdom in the year 659, necessary for the journey, he set out and hastened, by God's disposal, into the land of Brabant, where at the village of Esse, after many blows had been inflicted, he was beheaded on the day before the Ides of November," as Saint Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz, attests in his Life. The year celebrated for his martyrdom is 659, two years having elapsed since the death of Saint Bavo, according to the Chronicle of Ghent.

[97] We do not doubt that Saint Amandus came many times to the fortress or town of Antwerp for the purpose of visiting the people there and teaching the faith of Christ; Saint Amandus dedicates the Church of Antwerp around the year 660, but we refer to these times -- namely, the third year after the death of Saint Bavo -- the dedication of the church built there in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, that is, to the year of Christ 660, in which Saint Eligius was completing the fourteenth year of his Episcopate. At the same time, perhaps with Saint Livinus and other apostolic men, Saint Fredegandus came to Belgium and was appointed by Saint Amandus over the monastery of Deurne, as we said above. That the word of God was preached at Calloo by Saint Amandus after he laid down the insignia of Maastricht he builds monasteries: is reported by Baudemund, Milo, and others -- in these last years, that is, which we have already related. Among the disciples of Saint Livinus is numbered Saint Foillan the Martyr, by whom, and by his brother Ultan, the monastery of Fosses, between the Sambre and the Meuse, was built on the hereditary estate of Saint Gertrude, as we said above. Perhaps also at the same time, at Tronchiennes, Aardenburg, and Courtrai, the monasteries were founded which we have mentioned above by Saint Amandus, whose churches are reported to have been consecrated by Saint Eligius.

[98] After the monasteries of Hautmont were built by Saint Vincent, and of Mons by his wife Saint Waldetrudis, Saint Aldegundis, the latter's sister, having spurned the allurements of her mother Bertilia who urged marriage, was summoned by her sister to her monastery He consecrates Saint Aldegundis to Christ around the year 661, and confirmed in her resolve to preserve her virginity. Thence she afterwards set out to Saints Amandus and Autbert, whom she had learned had come to the monastery of Hautmont, and having received from them the veil of holy religion, she was consecrated as ^a bride of Christ and built the monastery of Maubeuge. These things appear to have occurred while Kings Clovis and his brother Sigibert were still reigning. Clovis having died after eighteen years of reign in the year of Christ 662, his eldest son Chlothar, the third of that name, was substituted and reigned for about fourteen years among the Neustrians and Burgundians, as was demonstrated in the Life of Saint Sigibert, King of the Austrasians, who himself also died most piously in the year 663. Childebert, son of Grimoald, brother of Saint Gertrude, is said to have been forced onto the throne; when he was expelled, Childeric, the second son of Clovis II, was elevated to the scepter, and he ruled the Austrasians alone until the death of his brother Chlothar. Upon the death of Saint Florebert in the year 664,

[99] Under the reign of Chlothar III, Saint Florebert, Abbot of the monasteries at Ghent, died in the twenty-first year of his governance, in the year of Christ 664, on the Kalends of November. In his place, Aldebert was substituted in the monastery of Saint Bavo's, and John among the monks of Blandinium, both of whom subscribed to the testament of Saint Amandus. The chronology established is admirably confirmed by the Acts of John from the archive of Blandinium, published by Sanderus. He creates as Abbots Aldebert of Saint Bavo's, and John of Blandinium, There "John, ^a chosen vessel of the Lord, clean and holy, in the times of the younger King Chlothar, was made in this tabernacle of God ^a guardian of the vessels of God, appointed Abbot over the monks of Blandinium by Saint Amandus; to whom he offered ^a gift full of all holiness, that is, ^a phylactery which he had obtained from Pope Saint Martin, and bestows various gifts upon him, and ^a cowl worthy of all veneration, with which he himself was accustomed to be vested for the Pontifical office and honor when he presented himself for celebrating the divine mysteries; and ^a curved pastoral staff, which he carried in the time of his perambulation or pilgrimage." Some of these were perhaps given at the time when John subscribed to the testament of Saint Amandus. "At that time," continues the author, "the territory of the district of Ghent, which the Apostolic Father Amandus had first cultivated like ^a heavenly farmer and plowed with the plowshare of the divine word, began under his most holy Father and successor John to extend the branches of its growth and to produce the fruits of perpetual life." So it says there. Saint Mummolenus is substituted for Saint Eligius in the year 665. Under Chlothar III, Saint Eligius also died on the Kalends of December, around the year 665. Saint Mummolenus was substituted for him in the Chair of Noyon, and he too subscribed to the testament of Saint Amandus.

SECTION 14. Chronological distribution of the things accomplished by Saint Amandus in extreme old age; namely, from the year of Christ 664 to 682, his eighty-eighth year. The time of the Episcopates of Saints Theodard, Lambert, and Hubert.

[100] Amandus, seventy years of age, celebrated for his authority and long-standing reputation for prudence and holiness, having traversed all of Gaul, From the year 665 Saint Amandus instructs the Basques: again visited the Basques dwelling beneath the Pyrenees, either at the request of Saint Rictrude, to bring the body of Saint Adalbald, who had been killed some years before in the territory of Perigueux, to Elnone, to his monastery where it was later buried (which we have indicated in his Life that we do not disapprove), or so that he might thoroughly instruct in the doctrine of faith and morals those Basques whom he had formerly begun to teach during the time of his exile. But since they persisted in their blindness, as Baudemund attests, he migrated to other places; He builds monasteries -- perhaps in the territory of Bourbon? and on his journey, ^a blind man, sprinkled with the water in which the Bishop had washed his hands, recovered his sight through his merits. He then came to the borders of the Franks and built ^a monastery, as we have conjectured above, in the territory of Bourbon, under the diocese of Bourges, where ^a town bearing the name of Saint Amandus still exists. At about the same time, according to Baudemund, in the place called Nant, among the Ruteni, given by King Childeric, he founded ^a monastery, another at Nant among the Ruteni: and having suffered many injuries from the Bishop of Uzes, he escaped unharmed by the singular favor of God. From the same King Childeric, in the second year of his reign, on the Kalends of August, the year of Christ 666, he obtained Barisis in the territory of Laon, where he placed Andrew in charge of the cells he had built, another at Barisis in the year 666, as we stated above. He returned for the most part to his Belgian monasteries around the year of Christ 667, when at Arras the body of Saint Vedast was translated with solemn pomp from the Cathedral church of Saint Mary to the suburban oratory, whether he was present at the translation of Saint Vedast in the year 667? at the place where the monastery of Saint Vedast is now seen in the other part of the city, by Saints Autbert and Audomar. Saint Amandus perhaps was present at this translation, as we showed above, but with his name expunged, certain persons, thinking he had died some years before, substituted Saint Lambert -- ^a full decade before the latter became ^a Bishop. Thus Saint Amandus was present with the same Autbert when he consecrated the oratory of Saint Vedast at Hautmont, when the sacred veil was there bestowed upon Saint Aldegundis.

[101] The monastery of Elnone, built in ^a forest and removed far from the throng of men, was especially beloved by Saint Amandus, He dwells at Elnone: and there he chose the seat of his old age and his place of burial. Yet from there he continued to set out from time to time to visit the monasteries he had established or to erect new ones, even to the end of his life; and for this reason, being nearly ninety years old, he provided in his subsequent testament that, if on ^a journey, or wherever the end of life should come upon him, the Brethren and the Abbot of that monastery should have leave to bring his poor body back there. From there, at the request of Saint Rictrude, having gone to the monastery of Marchiennes, He ordains Saint Maurontus ^a Cleric, he saw the head of her son Saint Maurontus encircled by bees; he was tonsured by him with the hair cut off into ^a Cleric, then made ^a Deacon, honored with ^a royal bull, writing as ^a Notary the edicts of royal precepts, as Hucbald relates in the Life of Saint Rictrude and Philip below, number 37. Saint Maurontus is venerated on May 5. When ^a journey to the territory of Beauvais was undertaken, ^a blind woman was illuminated there, and this is counted among the last deeds of Saint Amandus by Baudemund, Milo, and others. When Chlothar III died in the year 676, Theoderic, the third of the brothers, first succeeded, and when he was soon expelled, Childeric obtained the monarchy of the Franks, after he had reigned for twelve years over the Austrasians alone. Upon the death also of Saint Autbert, Bishop of Cambrai, on December 13 of the year 675, Saint Vindicianus was substituted in the year 676, Saint Vindicianus succeeds Saint Autbert in the year 676, who also subscribed to the testament of Saint Amandus.

[102] Up to this time Saint Theodard the Bishop had presided over the Church of Maastricht, from the year of Christ 660 to the year 676, in which, on September 10, he was killed among the Nemetes and obtained the laurel of martyrdom. Bucherius in his Chronological Tables, Fisen in Book 3 of the History of Liege and in the Life of the same, and others who followed their chronology, confine his Episcopate to two years, as though he had been substituted for Saint Remaclus when the latter withdrew to Stavelot in the year 653, and was crowned with martyrdom in the year 655. There exists an illustrious charter of Childeric, King of the Austrasians, signed at Maastricht on September 6 in the eighth year of his reign, [Saint Theodard, Bishop of Maastricht, is present with King Childeric in the year 672,] the year of Christ 672, in which the King confirms various possessions granted by his uncle Saint Sigibert to the monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy. "Wherefore," says the King, "we have ordered our Lord and Father, Bishop Theodard, and the illustrious man Hodo the Domesticus, together with our foresters, to measure and designate those places by the named locations, etc." We have given the full charter elsewhere, to which Queen Bilichild, wife of Childeric, also subscribed. He undergoes martyrdom in the year 676, on September 10. When Saint Theodard was killed in the year 676, it is reported that by the counsel of all the people and by the command of King Childeric, Saint Lambert was substituted for him; so relate Godeschalcus in his Life, chapter 2, and Stephen the Bishop, chapter 4, and Anselm in the Deeds of the Bishops of Maastricht, chapters 5 and 6, all of them close to his own time. Saint Lambert was then about twenty-seven years old, recently ^a young man instructed by Bishop Saint Theodard in divine doctrines and monastic disciplines, according to the same authors. The author of the Life of Saint Theodard, embellished in better style by Sigibert of Gembloux, when he interposes about thirty years between the Episcopate of Saint Amandus begun in the year 646 and the martyrdom of Saint Theodard (during which time the Church of Maastricht was stripped of ^a great quantity of its possessions and agitated by storms rushing in from all sides), necessarily postpones the death of Saint Theodard to the year 676. Saint Lambert was ordained some months after his martyrdom, at the beginning of the year 677, under King Childeric, Saint Lambert succeeds him in the year 677, who, according to Godeschalcus and others, loved him above all Bishops and Nobles, and he administered that Church for three years. But when Childeric was killed by impious executioners in the year 680 in the summer, and his brother Theoderic succeeded to the kingdom, by the order of Ebroin, Prefect of his Palace, expelled in the year 681, he was deposed from his See in the year 681 and deprived of his due honor, and Pharamund was established in his Chair, and he spent seven years in the monastery called Stavelot. Then, when Pippin of Herstal was elevated among the Austrasians to the position of Mayor of the Palace, as they called it, in the year 687, and Ebroin was killed by ^a certain Hermenfrid in the following year 688, restored in the year 688, Pharamund was deposed and expelled from the Pontifical See and the Province of Maastricht; and the Lord Apostolic, Saint Lambert, was recalled to his own See and received with great jubilation by the entire people. And then -- of which no mention had previously been made by any authors -- "directing his feet to preach the Gospel of peace, he took care to refresh the people committed to him with every manner of nourishment of sacred doctrine, and called countless throngs of unbelievers from paganism to Christianity."

[103] Bucherius, in chapter 6 of the Historical Disputation on the Bishops of Tongeren or Maastricht, number 100, states that from the time when Saint Amandus obtained from Pope Martin permission to depart from the Episcopate -- that is, from the year 650 -- [It is wrongly denied that for seventy-seven years no definite marker can be found for dating the last Bishops of Maastricht,] no definite chronological marker for the Bishops of Maastricht appears before the death of Saint Hubert, the first Bishop of Liege, that is, the year of Christ 727, through ^a space of altogether seventy-seven years, in which interval only four Bishops are comprised: Remaclus, Theodard, Lambert, and Hubert, all Saints. Of these seventy-seven years he grants thirty to Saint Hubert and places his accession at the spring of the year 697; he states that Saint Lambert began at the opening of the year 656 and was killed in the forty-first year of his Episcopate, on September 17; and thus only ^a space of five years is left for the Pontificates of Saints Remaclus and Theodard together -- and this, as he confesses, without any apparent chronological marker. And this is that commonly received chronology which the author of the Vindications loudly proclaims the Belgians and Gauls had determined to follow. But against it we have given ^a marker, expressed in the fifth, eighth, and tenth years of the Episcopate of Saint Remaclus, whom we have therefore shown to have sat from the year 650 to 660. We then produced the charter of Childeric, given in the eighth year of his reign, the year of Christ 672, when Saint Theodard presided over the Church of Maastricht; whom we have shown from another chronological marker to have lived until the year 676, in which he was killed on September 10. We have also demonstrated that Saint Lambert was expelled from the Chair of Maastricht in the year 681 (which was done in the early years of his tenure) and restored to the same Church in the year 688, when Ebroin was killed -- whose death the same Bucherius had placed in the year 675, in which we have shown that Chlothar III was still reigning. We assign ^a full fifty years to the Episcopates of Saints Lambert and Hubert, from the year 677 to the year 727. But how many years are to be assigned to each of them is not equally clear. The number of years ascribed to the Episcopate of Saint Lambert was noted by Rainer in chapter 27 of his Life, in the Epilogue: "Saint Lambert suffered," he says, "on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of October, Saint Lambert was not Bishop for forty years, in the fortieth year of his Episcopate, under Hildebert, King of the Franks, son of King Theoderic." But according to our reckoning, Saint Lambert would then have sat as Bishop from the year 677 to the year 716; before which time not only had King Childebert died, but also his son, the younger Dagobert. Rainer is not so precise in computing years, for in chapter 8 he reports that Saint Lambert shone among the holy Bishops of his time -- nor in the time of Saints Austregisilus and Eligius: Austregisilus of Bourges, Eligius of Noyon, and others -- of whom the former died in the year 624, the latter in 665, when Saint Lambert was not yet ^a Bishop and, indeed, was born only around the year 650. Childebert reigned from the year 698 to the year 711, at which time Duke Pippin presided with the most ample power chiefly over the kingdom of the Austrasians; by whose retainer, named Dodo, one of the chief men of the Palace, Godeschalcus writes in his Life that Saint Lambert was pierced with ^a javelin and transmitted his soul to God.

[104] Pippin died in the year 714, after whose son Drogo or Droco died, his son Charles Martel was more greatly loved, and his mother Alpaida was regarded as ^a wife. On account of this incontinence of the Prince being rebuked, Saint Lambert was killed by Dodo, the brother of Alpaida. The contemporary author who, by the order of Count Chillebrand, wrote the last part appended to the Chronicle of Fredegar from chapter 97, belonging to the family of Pippin, narrates these things in chapters 102 and following: Perhaps after the death of Drogo, son of Pippin, "After this, Drogo, son of Pippin, seized by ^a violent fever, died and was buried in the basilica of Blessed Arnulf the Confessor in the city of Metz. Grimoald also begot from ^a certain concubine ^a son named Theudoald. Therefore the aforesaid Pippin took another wife, noble and elegant, named Alpaida, having taken Alpaida as if ^a wife, from whom he begot ^a son, and called his name in his own language Charles. And the boy grew up, elegant, and became distinguished. In those days King Childebert died and was buried at Choisy in the basilica of Saint Stephen the Martyr." So says that author, by order of Chillebrand, the said Charles Martel's brother, born in those last years from Alpaida, whom in Charles's favor he calls another wife of Pippin. Thus Dagobert I had three women simultaneously as it were Queens, as Fredegar reports in chapter 60. That Drogo or Droco, son of Pippin, died in the year 708 is found in the brief Annals written in the monastery of Saint Nazarius on the Rhine, and published by Freher and Chesne. Indeed, the Annals begun from his death, published by Chesne from the manuscripts of Thou and Petau at the beginning of volume 2 of the Writers of Gaul, add that he died in the time of spring. Killed after the year 708? We have said above that King Childebert died in the year 711. Now the events narrated between the death of Drogo and of King Childebert -- concerning the taking or assumption of Alpaida as ^a second wife -- why should they not be referred to the intervening years 709 or 710? For at that time Charles Martel was growing up as ^a boy, perhaps ten or twelve years old. The murder of Saint Lambert could seemingly be referred to about those same years, at least until another chronological marker presents itself. It does not seem at least to be before the year 707. Certainly we judge that he did not die before the year 707, in which he had completed thirty years in the Episcopate. Saint Willibrord, Bishop of Utrecht, and Saint Lambert, "inflamed with the greatest mutual desire of seeing each other, met and related what and how much the divine grace had accomplished among the nations through their ministry," as Nicolas reports in chapter 2 of the Life of Saint Lambert -- by which many years spent by each in the Episcopate are implied. And yet it is reported by Bucherius, Fisen, John Roberti, and others that Saint Lambert was killed before Saint Willibrord, consecrated Bishop at Rome, had returned to Belgium. The reported revelation of the martyrdom of Saint Lambert made to Pope Sergius, because it is unknown to the ancient writers, we have proved elsewhere should be placed among the apocryphal accounts. And we have thought these things should be said about the successors of Saint Amandus in the See of Maastricht, lest from that quarter some deviant path be opened for others to undermine the established chronology.

[105] But let us return to the times of King Childeric, now made monarch of the Franks. [Under Childeric, the Mayor of the Palace was Saint Leodegar. When Saint Nivard died in the year 678,] Saint Leodegar, Bishop of Autun, as the contemporary author Ursinus attests in his Life, "was exalted over the entire house of Childeric, confirmed in Neustria, and made Mayor of the Palace in all things." He, in the presence of King Childeric, subscribed together with Saint Nivard, Bishop of Reims, and Saint Mummolenus of Noyon, to the letter of Saint Bercharius the Abbot, by which the latter bestows several estates from his own inheritance upon the monastery of Montier-en-Der, which he had founded. To which Bercharius the same King Childeric gave ^a privilege at the palace of Compiegne in the kingdom of Neustria, on the fourth day before the Nones of July, in the third year of his reign, the year of Christ 679, with the same Leodegar subscribing, along with Attelanus, Bishop of Laon, and Saint Reolus is ordained Bishop of Reims: Saint Reolus, Bishop of Reims, who was ordained after the death of Saint Nivard, which occurred on the Kalends of September of the year 678. This is Saint Reolus, the third Bishop who subscribed to the testament of Saint Amandus; we shall treat of him on November 25, and of Saint Bercharius the Abbot on October 16. His letter and the privilege of Childeric are published by Nicolas Camuzat in the Promptuary of Troyes, after the Acts of the same Saint Bercharius. Concerning Saint Leodegar, after Theoderic resumed the kingdom of the Franks in the year 680, sent into exile by Ebroin and killed in the year 685, we have treated in the Life of Saint Sigibert the King; we shall treat more fully on October 2, his feast day.

SECTION 15. The time of the testament composed by Saint Amandus, and his death.

[106] Saint Amandus, as the Chronographer of Elnone attests in Buzelinus, Book 2 of the Annals of Gallo-Flanders, Saint Amandus consecrates the church of Elnone, dedicated with splendid pomp the church he had erected at Elnone in honor of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, having summoned to the monastery of Elnone the Bishops: Reolus, Archbishop of Reims; Mummolenus of Tournai and Noyon; Vindicianus of Cambrai and Arras; and the Abbots Bertinus, and composes his testament in the second year of Theoderic, Aldebert, and John; with their subscription he confirmed his testament. And this, as is inscribed in the testament itself, "in the second year of the reign of our lord Theoderic, the glorious King, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of May." Now since Saint Leodegar, after Easter of the year 680, having gone to Luxeuil, conducted himself so strenuously for ^a considerable period of time, doing penance with Ebroin among the communities of monks, that he seemed destined to remain there forever in the monastic institute, before Childeric was killed while hunting and Theoderic attained the scepter of the kingdom, we judge that the eighteenth day of April, on which the testament of Saint Amandus was signed, should be referred to the year of Christ 682, the year of Christ 682, in which, the Easter solemnity having been completed on March 30, the church could have been dedicated on Wednesday or Thursday, the sixteenth or seventeenth of April, and then, induced by those present, Saint Amandus could have composed his testament on April 18, ^a Friday after the second Sunday from Easter. The subscribers confirm our chronology: and first, the Bishops ordained, with three Bishops subscribing, as demonstrated above: Reolus of Reims in the year 679, Mummolenus of Noyon in 666, Vindicianus of Cambrai in 676. Then, besides Saint Bertinus (who, since he presided over the monastery of Sithiu which he had founded for more than fifty years, furnishes evidence for neither party), there are the Abbots of Ghent, [and two Abbots ordained after the year 663: he appoints Baudemund Abbot of Blandinium on March 7 of the year 683:] Aldebert of the monastery of Saint Bavo's and John of Blandinium; upon John's death on the Nones of March in the twentieth year of his governance, the year of Christ 683, Baudemund, ^a man of magnificent holiness, was made the third Abbot after Blessed Florebert, at the ordination of the most holy Father Amandus. "In the time of this Abbot, the most holy Father Amandus entered the way of all flesh." The same Baudemund wrote the testament of Saint Amandus at that man's command, being at that time not yet an Abbot. So says the Chronicle of Blandinium, which compels us to defer the death of Saint Amandus to the following February of the next year. In the same or the preceding year, Blessed Andrew, summoned from Barisis, was appointed Abbot of Elnone by Amandus; he was not yet there at the time the testament was made.

[107] With this order of events extended to nearly every year, we fix the year of the death of Saint Amandus at 684, he dies in the year 684, in which year, in the ninetieth year of his age, about to enter into heavenly glory, he departed this mortal life on February 6, about ^a year and ^a half before Saint Leodegar was killed on October 2 of the year 685. In the year before Saint Leodegar. "From this point," says the Elnone author, to be published in the following section, "we are taught by the evidence of charters, which are still held by us, that Blessed Amandus lived up to the times of King Theoderic. In those same days also Ebroin, the Mayor of the Palace, inflicting abominable calamities upon the kingdom of the Franks, tortured Blessed Leodegar with diverse punishments of torments and made him ^a Martyr of Christ." So it says there, which greatly confirms our chronology, and reveals the ignorance of the author when he assigns the year of Christ 661. The same author assigns Sunday to the dying Saint Amandus, Abbot Philip the night of Sunday, and Massaeus in Book 4 of the Chronicles assigns Saturday. The more ancient authors are silent. In the year 684, in which we have established that Saint Amandus departed this life, on the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday, the sixth day of February fell on ^a Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday, which, from the Saturday Vespers when the solemn hymn Alleluia is omitted, may be considered to have begun. If Saint Amandus died during its night, some would have said he died on Saturday, others on Sunday night, or even, with ^a certain extension, on Sunday, especially if he was then buried. For many do not distinguish the day of deposition from the day of death, as we have noted elsewhere more than once.

[108] Some observe this Sunday because below in the History of the Translation, published from the Lille manuscript and by Surius, Saint Aldegundis saw the glory of Saint Amandus, it is said in number 1 that Saint Aldegundis, on Sunday night, at the very hour in which Blessed Amandus passed away, saw in an ecstasy of mind an old man, venerable with ^a swan-white head, clothed in priestly and splendid garments, holding ^a staff in his hand, as if passing to the heavens. Not then dead, Similar things are related by Philip, number 74, and by Hucbald, monk of Elnone, in the Life of Saint Aldegundis, number 25, who adds that these things are found more fully in the Life of Blessed Ghislain -- implying, of course, that he is rather transcribing that author than the more ancient one in the Life of the same Aldegundis, published by us in the first place from the old manuscripts, where in chapter 2 it reads thus: "At that time, Blessed Amandus the Bishop was nearby, shining with many virtues, who had brought very many nations round about to the title of Christianity by the word of his preaching and the merits of his life, and had advanced many monasteries of monks and colleges of Canons and congregations of maidens to the highest honors. Indeed, it was shown to Aldegundis, as if Saint Amandus were passing to the Lord, and ^a multitude of people who had believed in Christ through him were following him; but still living, and the Virgin of Christ herself was to be* in that same company. The blessed Amandus therefore was receiving from the Lord Jesus the crown of the multitude of men whom he had won for Christ; but the most gracious Aldegundis had merited the prize of the multitude of maidens from her Spouse." So it says there, which commends itself to us as the more truthful account. That vision could have occurred on Sunday night, which others inconsiderately transferred to the hour in which Saint Amandus died, of which no mention is made here.

* perhaps "to be held" haberi.

[109] [The body of Saint Amandus was translated in the year 698, not by Saint Eligius, who died in the year 665;] By ^a similar error, Milo below and others report that "the venerable Confessor of Christ, Eligius, found the body of the holy Father Amandus incorrupt in the sixteenth year after his passing, and translated it on the seventh day before the Kalends of November." This was done in the year of Christ 698 -- as though, as is read in the Life of Saint Audomar on September 9, after the death of Aicharius, Mummolenus had succeeded him in the Chair of the Church of Noyon and conducted himself strenuously for twenty-six years, and then Saint Eligius had been substituted for him. In the Chronicle of Ghent, by ^a similar error, he is said to have preached the word of God in Flanders around the times of Abbots Baudemund and Ferreus, until about the year 700, to have enlarged Blandinium, dedicated the church of Saint Martin at Courtrai, and likewise to have built churches at Bruges, Aardenburg, Rodenburg, and Oostburg. Saint Mummolenus was succeeded in the year 691 by Guidonius or Gunduinus, but by the successor of Saint Mummolenus, and upon his death by Geralphus or Guarulphus, whose Acts are more obscure, and perhaps some deeds were ascribed to Saint Eligius. Another error, common to many, is added: namely, that the body of Saint Amandus was elevated by Lotharius, the sacristan of the holy church, elevated in the year 809, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of October in the year of Christ 809, after it had lain hidden in the depths of the earth for the one hundred and fiftieth year not 150 from his death, from the year of his death. This same year is expressed by Milo both in his sermon on this Elevation of the body and in his poem. In the latter, Milo, where as ^a young man he deserves to praise Saint Amandus, produces these verses:

"The courses of years, with ^a hundred turning in their return, Had passed, and ^a number equally divided and the same, Had elapsed since the venerable man passed to the ethereal court: When the body, raised from the shattered mass of the tomb, Was found intact, and ^a tooth drawn from the mouth Poured forth drops of blood as from ^a living throat."

In these verses, the second line, in order to arrive at the year 809 from the year 684, but 126, should be read as: "a number divided into quarters and the same." For one hundred and twenty-four years, seven months, and fourteen days had intervened, namely from February 6 to September 20. But when the one hundred and fiftieth year from his death is expressed, the year of death 661 is wrongly inferred from this, the year of death 661 is indicated at the same time, by ^a common error inscribed in stone among the monks of Elnone, lest it be obliterated, as will be established from what follows.

SECTION 16. The Elnone document concerning the year of the death of Saint Amandus examined.

[110] Although it may seem that those who refer the death of Saint Amandus to the year 661 have been abundantly answered thus far, nevertheless, lest we seem to have neglected some treasure hidden in manuscript records, The Anonymous of Elnone we add from the Elnone and Marchiennes manuscripts the Argument at what time the blessed Confessor of Christ Amandus was born and died. The Elnone author, presenting it under this title, argues as follows: He establishes that Saint Amandus lived from the year 571 to 661. "We have judged it necessary to insert some matters for the readers' full understanding concerning the time of the birth and course of the life and death of the blessed Bishop of Christ Amandus. He, as we investigate by probable argument from histories and chronicles agreeing with one another, had the beginning of his birth in the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 571, on the Nones of May, in the province of the Aquitanians, and in the district of the aforesaid region called Herbauges, of his father Serenus and mother Amancia -- namely, in the seventh year in which Justinian's successor, the younger, held with his wife Sophia the citadel of empire in the Republic. Under these Roman Pontiffs At which time John, Pontiff of the Roman Church, the sixty-third in the order of Pontiffs, was strenuously governing the Chair of that City in the seventh year of his Prelacy. Now there are counted from the year of the birth of the aforesaid man, the divine Amandus, to his death, sixteen Pontiffs of the Roman See, beginning our count from John, in whose eighth year* of his Pontificate he was born, in this manner. The first, the same John; the second, Benedict; the third, Pelagius; the fourth, the admirable Doctor of the Church Gregory, at the beginning of whose ordination the man of the Lord Amandus was in the twenty-second year of his age, and at the death of that same Pope in his thirty-fifth year, which was the year from the Nativity of the Lord 605, and the second year of the Caesar Phocas, as the venerable Presbyter Bede reports in his Chronicles. And to pursue the reckoning I have begun, the fifth, successor of Pope Gregory, Sabinianus; the sixth, Boniface; the seventh, another Boniface; the eighth, Deusdedit; the ninth, Boniface; the tenth, Honorius; the eleventh, Severinus; the twelfth, John; the thirteenth, Theodorus; the fourteenth, Martin, most familiar to Blessed Amandus; the fifteenth, Eugene; the sixteenth, Vitalian, in the third year of whose Pontificate Blessed Amandus died on the sixth day before the Ides of the month of February. And so, reckoned from the said year of the Lord's Incarnation 571, which was the eighth year of the Prelacy of Pope John, to the year of the Lord 661, which was the third year of the Episcopate of Pope Vitalian, ninety years of the life of the aforesaid Patron are found, in which he fulfilled the gift of the present life."

[111] "In like manner, if you review the Emperors of the Republic, you will find seven who discharged the royal office during the lifetime of the aforesaid Father Amandus, in this order. Emperors in the East, First, Justinian's successor, Justin the younger, in the seventh year of whose reign he was born; second, Tiberius; third, Maurice; fourth, Phocas (in the second year of whose Empire, as we have already said, which was the year of the Lord 605, Pope Gregory died; after whom Blessed Amandus lived fifty-six years); fifth, Heraclius as the fifth Ruler of the Roman Empire; sixth, Constantine; seventh, Constantine of the same name, in the twenty-third year of whose reign, which was the year of the Lord's Incarnation 661, the oft-mentioned Father fulfilled the last time of the present age. And if anyone should wish to inquire about the Princes of the kingdom of the Franks who held the royal authority during the time of his life and Kings of the Franks: (although this may not seem easy to do on account of the incomplete investigation of the histories), examining more diligently with keenness of mind, he will find that during the time of his life the following discharged the royal office among the Franks, in this order. First, Chilperic; second, Chlothar; third, Dagobert; fourth, Sigibert, and his brother Clovis as the fifth, whose sons were Chlothar, Childeric, and Theoderic. But when Chlothar died in his youth, and then Childeric was killed by the chief men of the Franks, Theoderic received the royal dignity which, having recently been tonsured, he had lost. [That he died under King Theoderic and Ebroin as Mayor of the Palace, around the time of the martyrdom of Saint Leodegar.] That Blessed Amandus lived up to the times of this man, we are taught by the evidence of charters, which we still possess. In those same days also Ebroin, the Mayor of the Palace, gnashing his teeth, was inflicting abominable calamities upon the kingdom of the Franks, increasing from day to day his criminal expiations until his late death. He, having thrown the Kings together with all the people into confusion, as the final culmination of all his evils, tortured Blessed Leodegar with diverse punishments of torments and made him ^a Martyr of Christ."

[112] "But if anyone should wish to investigate this discourse, brought forth from the slenderness of our little talent, as if less suitable and supported by truth, by ^a probable argument, This error is inscribed in stone, we advise him first to fix diligently in his memory the year of the death of the aforesaid Confessor of Christ Amandus, which was the year from the Nativity of the Lord 661, because in that year, as our predecessors left written not only in books but also in stones, lest it be obliterated, he passed from this world to the Lord. Whence, with this number firmly established in the mind as ^a foundation, let him then compute, reckoning upward from that point, the number of ninety years in which he lived, and thus he will arrive step by step at the year 571 of the Lord's Nativity, in which the oft-mentioned Father was born. Therefore, with these two calculations -- the one of birth and the other of death -- diligently committed to memory, let him bring to himself the histories of the Kings who held the royal authority at that time, and moreover the chronicles of the venerable Fathers, and also the book published concerning the Pontiffs of the Apostolic See, and like one who has eyes both before and behind, let him look about on this side and that with keenness of mind, and carefully consider what Apostolic Pontiffs, what Emperors or Princes there were while Blessed Amandus was still living in the body. And if, after no small effort of labor, he shall have been able to find the truth of the matter, he will by no means, I think, condemn these words of ours, of whatever quality they may be." So far the Elnone author, wholly occupied with collecting the Roman Pontiffs and the Emperors of Constantinople, as though this controversy were to be defended by those walls and strongholds situated far outside of Gaul. Indeed, as though these were not enough, the date of that year 661 is added, as if fortified with the most secure defense, so that the opinion could not thereafter be overturned. Thus it is appended in our manuscript under the title "On the death of Blessed Amandus": "In the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 661, Indiction 4, Epact 15, Concurrent 4, Easter Limit the twelfth day before the Kalends of April, Easter the fifth day before the Kalends of April, Moon 21, on the sixth day before the Ides of February, ^a Sunday, Moon 1, died Saint Amandus, of about ninety years." So it says there; and these data, except for Sunday, agree with the year 661, Lunar Cycle 16, Solar Cycle 16, Dominical Letter C, as is also established from Concurrent 4 -- therefore February 6 falling on ^a Saturday. What if the date of the year 1661 were similarly appended? Would it therefore be concluded that Saint Amandus died ^a thousand years later? Let this conclusion rather be set forth in the name of those who assert the year of his death as 661, and let it be drawn from the innermost depths of history.

[113] The conclusion of others regarding the year of death 661, Saint Amandus, formerly Bishop of Maastricht, is said by these authors to have died at Elnone in the monastery he had built, in the year of Christ 661; therefore on the Saturday before Quinquagesima Sunday, Solar Cycle 26, Dominical Letter C, and Lunar Cycle 16, Easter being then celebrated on March 28; in the sixty-seventh year of his age, the thirty-third of his Episcopal ordination, the sixteenth of his assumed Episcopate of Maastricht; the seventeenth year of the reign of Clovis II among the Neustrian Franks, and the twenty-third of his brother Saint Sigibert among the Austrasians; ^a full year before Chlothar III (under whom, however, Amandus appointed John as Abbot of Blandinium) began his reign in Neustria, it contains very many contradictions, and two years before Childeric assumed the kingship among the Austrasians -- who nevertheless gave him the land among the Ruteni on which he built the monastery of Nant, and at Barisis in the territory of Laon; and finally, twenty years before Theoderic (under whom he composed his testament), upon the killing of Childeric, received the kingdom of the Franks. By the same reckoning, according to those authors, he died seventeen years before Saint Reolus was consecrated Archbishop of Reims, fifteen years before the Episcopate of Saint Vindicianus, five years before the Episcopate of Saint Mummolenus, and three years before Aldebert was created Abbot at Saint Bavo's at Ghent and John at Blandinium -- yet all of these, both Bishops and Abbots, subscribed to his testament after Saint Amandus's own signature. Finally, twenty-three years before Baudemund was appointed by him as Abbot of Blandinium; seventeen years before the martyrdom of Saint Theodard, Bishop of Maastricht, and the succession of Saint Lambert; and twenty-five years before the death of Saint Leodegar, who suffered martyrdom in nearly those same days, as is reported by the Elnone author. Lastly, not in the third year of Pope Saint Vitalian, as they maintain, but in the fifth, since he was created toward the end of July of the year 656; and not in the twenty-third year of Constantine, but of Constans, the father of Constantine Pogonatus, and confusions of chronology. of whom we shall presently treat, in his twenty-first year. Of these years, meanwhile, neither of the Pontiff nor of the Emperor is any mention made in Baudemund, the Aquitanian author, Milo, and the others who were closer in time to Saint Amandus. Hariger mentions Constans, who is also called Constantine, and expresses his twenty-third year as the year of Christ 665; to this Constans he attaches the ninetieth year of the age of Saint Amandus, which the Elnone author and Abbot Philip also connect with the Empire of Constantine, as they call him, and the Pontificate of Vitalian, both asserting, with ^a remarkable confusion of chronology, that Theoderic was then reigning in Francia. Therefore let this conclusion of ours also be set in opposition to the other regarding his death under this King.

[114] Conclusion regarding the year of death 684, Amandus, formerly Bishop of Maastricht, died at Elnone in the monastery he had built in the year 684; therefore on the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday, Solar Cycle 21, Dominical Letters C B, and Lunar Cycle 1, Easter being then celebrated on April 10; in the ninetieth year of his age, the fifty-sixth of his Episcopal ordination, clear in all respects, the thirty-eighth from his assumed Episcopate of Maastricht; in the third year of the reign of Theoderic, the seventh of the Episcopate of Lambert of Maastricht, the fifth of Reolus of Reims, the ninth of Vindicianus, the nineteenth of Mummolenus; the twentieth year of the Abbacy of Aldebert of the monastery of Saint Bavo's, the first of Baudemund of Blandinium; in the second year passing before the death of Saint Leodegar the Martyr; then under the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, under the Roman Pontiff Leo II, and in the sixteenth year of Constantine Pogonatus, son of Constans, the Emperor. We do not doubt that some have drawn occasion for disturbing this chronology from this Emperor. For Regino, Abbot of Prum, who flourished at the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth, not in the time of King Dagobert, reports that in the time of this Constantine Pogonatus, King Dagobert lived, and that his son Sigibert, while being made ^a catechumen by Saint Amandus, being no more than forty days old, responded Amen in the hearing of all. Moreover, the year of Christ 605 is appended -- either by the same Regino or by another, as we said in the Life of Saint Sigibert, rather interpolated -- nor in the year 605, according to the Chronicle of Regino, and it is said that he reigned for seventeen years, yet that Justinian his son succeeded in the year of Christ 612, ^a full decade absorbed with great carelessness by the forgetful interpolator or by Regino himself. But this Justinian, afterwards called Rhinotmetus by posterity because of his mutilated nose, succeeded his father Constantine in the year of Christ 685. Under his empire the same Regino reports that King Saint Sigibert was elevated to the kingdom of Austrasia, that Clovis II and his son Lothar were born, and that their father King Dagobert died and was buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis. The Chronographer of Ghent reproduces these errors of Regino, transcribed by the Chronographer of Ghent, when he asserts that the monastery of Blandinium was begun "in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 610, Indiction 1, Dagobert's fourteenth year," which same year is found in the Chronicle of Sigibert, and is confirmed by these common verses:

"In the six hundred and tenth year Amandus founded Blandinium, giving Peter as its Patron there: Florebert governed it, King Dagobert endowed it."

But because around that time King Sigibert was born and baptized by Saint Amandus according to the Chronicle of Regino, we judge that to be absolutely the principle and source of all the errors. From that the error was drawn by Abbot Theoderic, establishing that Saint Bavo died in the year 631. By the Elnone monks, From that the monks of Elnone, reckoning the remaining age of Saint Amandus, threw his death into the year 661, which, soon inscribed in stones, was deemed sacrosanct by the Elnone Chronographer, Sigibert in his Chronicle, and Abbot Philip in his Life; and by others. later writers followed as if by blind impulse, thinking that no room for doubt or examination had been left, and that it sufficed to correct the Emperors, whom they saw more clearly than daylight to have been removed from their proper time by an exceedingly gross error; that Saint Amandus could be left alone, as ^a private man neglected by foreign writers.

[115] Among the principal writers who in this last century wrote the History of Belgium, first are Molanus and Meyer, who preserved the year of Christ 661 from the Elnone tables. Molanus is followed by our Rosweyde in the Belgian Ecclesiastical History, by Baronius in the Annals, and by others. The Doctors of Douai depart from the Elnone tradition to the year 645, But the Doctors of Douai, in their notes on Molanus, favor Placentius, who refers his death to the year 645; for which, they say, the fact supports that Saint Lambert (who succeeded him after Remaclus and Theodard) is read to have been present at the elevation of Saint Vedast, which, according to Sigibert, was done in the year 658. But these things have been sufficiently rejected both here and in the Life of Saint Vedast. Only with the peace and pardon of the most religious Fathers of the monastery of Elnone, may we be permitted, having applied diligent study of the truth, to depart from this intruded tradition, which the Doctors of Douai judged should be rejected on almost no ground. Bucherius, John Roberti, Buzelinus, and Fisen, frequently cited, and others, report that Saint Amandus died in the year 662. "Then," says Bucherius, "Saint Amandus dies on February 6, Bucherius and others at the year 662, ^a Sunday." So Meyer. "Therefore in this year," although he himself, with Sigibert, calls it 661, "which is also true, for at that time they first began years from Easter." But that years were then begun from the Nativity of Christ we shall say below. Meyer adds Indiction 4, which Bucherius fixes at 5. Finally, John Cousin departs from the Elnone tables in Book 2 of the History of Tournai, chapter 34, and Malebranc in Book 4 of the Morini, chapter 10, establishing that the death of Saint Amandus fell in the year 672, and others at the year 672 and 671, and that it was the fourth of King Theoderic. These things have been sufficiently refuted above. Concerning the year 671 attributed to his death by Guichenon, we shall treat below in section 21.

* Eln. reads "Prelacy."

SECTION 17. The public veneration of Saint Amandus on various days. His Relics.

[116] Thus far all the years of the life of Saint Amandus have been discussed and the time of his death established. On the day and month there is unanimous consensus of all Saint Amandus is celebrated on February 6, the day he died, who have distinguished him from other saints named Amandus. The day is the eighth before the Ides of February, and the sacred memory of him is celebrated in most Ecclesiastical tables. On that day, certainly, his name is inscribed in an ancient Calendar written before the year 741, and appended to the Martyrology of Saint Jerome. The manuscript Martyrology in various Martyrologies, of the former monastery of Centula, now of Saint-Vaast, under the name of Bede: "At the monastery of Elnone, of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." The Liege manuscript of Saint Lambert, also under Bede's name: "On the same day, the birthday of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." or separately, Bede as printed, Rabanus, Notger: "And at Ellone or Hellone" (correct: Elnone), "the deposition of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." The Tournai manuscript of Saint Martin and the Liessies manuscript have in the first place: "At the monastery of Elnone, the deposition of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor, who, powerful with the virtues of many miracles, is reported among other things to have obtained, after death, from the merciful Judge, God, the life and salvation of ^a condemned man whose life he had been unable to obtain before death from ^a cruel judge." The same things are related in the Martyrology of Elnone in Molanus's Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium, with these words prefixed: "In Pevele" -- whose Count, we said above, is held to be the Abbot of Elnone. Then he is named Bishop of Maastricht, as we have also intimated above. Galesini adorns him with this eulogy: "At Maastricht, of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor. He, born of illustrious lineage in Aquitaine, having embraced the discipline of the monastic life from boyhood, could by no means be turned from it at his parent's entreaty; and thus for fifteen years he mortified his body with every kind of admirable abstinence. Having made ^a pilgrimage to Rome for the sake of religion, he returned to Gaul at ^a heavenly admonition, where he preached the faith in many places, had very many disciples outstanding in the praise of holiness, and brought countless people from impiety to the worship of the Christian religion; and thus, having conducted himself most holily in his entire life, and having piously performed many labors for the sake of the faith, he rested in the Lord." Canisius also has ^a notable eulogy of him in his German Martyrology, in which it is said that he obtained by his prayers ^a son for King Dagobert, whom he then baptized, and who responded Amen -- who was Saint Sigibert; that he was obtained by his prayers we do not read elsewhere. Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium, Miraeus in the Belgian Calendar, and Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology celebrate him with longer encomiums, claiming that he also founded the Bishopric of Strasbourg on the Rhine and was the first Bishop of that city -- which we have rejected above.

[117] On this same February 6 we treated of Saint Vedast, Bishop of Arras, or with Saint Vedast, the other Doctor of the Belgians, whom we said there was joined with Saint Amandus in many sacred calendars, citing the words of the manuscript Martyrologies of Saint Maximin and Saint Martin at Trier, of the Church of Saint Mary at Utrecht, and especially of Usuard from the more ancient codices. The Roman Martyrology nearly agrees with this, whose words we have given above in section 7. In the Brussels manuscript Martyrology of Saint Gudula, with ^a clause added, he is said to have governed the Church of Maastricht upon the Meuse. But in the Martyrology of Cologne, in the manuscript Florarium, and in very many other manuscripts under the name of Usuard, augmented for the use of the Belgian Churches, it is said that "he governed the Church of the people of Maastricht for three years; but seeing his labor fruitless there, choosing the eremitical life, he remained in ^a certain cell near the city of Tours for fifteen years, always covered with ^a hair shirt" (in other manuscripts: "wearing over it") "and sustained with water and barley bread." These things do not agree with the history of his Life: for it was not at Tours but at Bourges that he spent fifteen years in the contemplation of heavenly things, nor after leaving the See of Maastricht, but at the very beginnings of his conversion. These things are expressed differently in the Liege manuscript Martyrology of Saint Lawrence, which is that of Ado, but augmented: "On the same day, the deposition of the holy Bishops Vedast and Amandus, whose deeds and miracles and the consummation of their life are held illustrious and celebrated in the Churches" (and it was added in an ancient hand) "Vedast governed the Church of Arras, in which he also rests. Amandus, however, governed the Church of Maastricht for three years; but seeing that his labor was fruitless there, he chose the eremitical life, passing into the forest of Bevium, where he now rests with honor upon the river called the Scarpe." In Molanus's supplement to Usuard, it is added that he, "having received ^a blessing from Bishop Aicharius, fearlessly announced the word of the Lord in the district beside the streams of the river Scheldt, which is called Ghent." Maurolycus adds that he governed the Church of Maastricht in the time of Heraclius, who reigned from the year 610 to the year 641; after whom his sons Constantine, then Heracleonas, reigned, each for only ^a few months; then Constans, son of Constantine, grandson of Heraclius, under whose empire we have proved above that Saint Amandus governed the Church of Maastricht for three years. The year of death is added in the German Martyrology as 653, in the manuscript Florarium and others as 661 -- which error has been refuted above.

[118] Or with the other Bishops of Maastricht. In the Church of Maastricht, on this February 6, Saint Amandus is venerated together with the other Bishops of Maastricht, with ^a double office, as may be seen in the ancient Breviary of Saint Servatius. Saussay, Galesini, Canisius, Ferrari, Molanus, and others recall this same commemoration of all the Bishops, and we have treated of it at length above on this day among the Saints remitted to another day. Wion in the Monastic Martyrology and Dorgany in the Benedictine Calendar also treat of this celebration of all the Bishops of Maastricht, because some of them are commonly thought to have been Benedictine monks, and for that reason the same Wion and Dorgany treat of Saint Amandus separately, as do also Menard and the manuscript Benedictine Calendar, with these words: "Of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Upper Maastricht, formerly Abbot of Elnone, to whom, when ^a certain Bishop gave him water for his hands out of humility and hospitality, ^a blind man was illuminated from the washing water." We have treated above of the day of his birth and of his Episcopal ordination.

[119] Milo, in the History of the Translation of the body of Saint Amandus, number 4, reports that on the seventh day before the Kalends of November, [The commemoration of the Ordination, Translation, and Dedication of the church on October 26,] or October 26, ^a threefold commemoration of Saint Amandus is celebrated with ^a numerous gathering of the people and with due honor, namely: the Dedication of the sacred basilica, the Translation of Blessed Amandus, and the assumption of Episcopal honor. The ancient manuscript Martyrology of Saint Martin at Tournai records these things thus: "At Maastricht, the ordination of the Episcopate of Saint Amandus; and in the district of Tournai, at the monastery of Elnone, the Translation of his body from the church of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul into the basilica of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, performed by Blessed Eligius the Bishop; and the Dedication of that same basilica." The same things are found (with only the words "in the district of Tournai" omitted) in Wion and Menard in the Benedictine Martyrology, and in Molanus from the Martyrology of Elnone in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium and in the later edition of his supplement to Usuard. The manuscript Florarium of the Saints says more fully: "The Translation of Saint Amandus, formerly Bishop of Upper Maastricht, and Confessor; whose body, when it had remained buried for sixteen years in the monastery he had founded, to which the name of Elnone adhered, was found after so long ^a time to be incorrupt by Saint Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, who flourished in the year of salvation 649; and he gave thanks to the supreme Deity that the holiness which had shone forth in the living man did not lie hidden in the dead." These words are taken from the History of the Translation written by Milo, who also says that Saint Eligius was still surviving -- which we have refuted above. Some Martyrologies record Saint Amandus on the same day with no added reason for the solemnity; thus Bede as printed, the Viola Sanctorum, Bellinus, and some printed and manuscript works under Usuard's name: "On the same day, of Saint Amandus, Confessor." Other manuscripts under Usuard's name: "On the same day, the Elevation of Saint Amandus, Confessor." Hermann Greven and the ancient Martyrology of Cologne: "The Translation of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Upper Maastricht and Confessor." The manuscript of Saint-Riquier: "At the monastery of Elnone, the Translation of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." Others add Saint Vedast, the companion joined to him on February 6. Ado as published by Rosweyde: "On the same day, the commemoration of the holy Bishops Vedast and Amandus, whose life and death were glorious with very many miracles." The same things are found in the first edition of Molanus's supplement to Usuard, in the German Martyrology, in the Trier manuscript of Saint Maximin, and nearly in Galesini. Wandelbert sang of both thus:

"The seventh day displays the Bishops, illustrious for fame, miracles, and tombs: Amandus, true to his name, And Vedast, joined alike in merits and in time."

Very many Churches celebrate this solemnity on the said October 26, as may be seen in the ancient Breviaries of Cambrai, Liege, Utrecht, Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels, Tournai, Arras, Blandinium, Cologne, etc., in some of which ^a double feast is observed, in others only ^a Commemoration. Concerning the most celebrated veneration of Saint Amandus on the same October 26 among the people of Strasbourg, Speyer, and Worms, we have treated above in section 9; Some on October 25 or 27. on which day Saint Amandus, Bishop of Worms, is also venerated, as is another Amandus, Bishop of Strasbourg. The Liege manuscript Martyrology of Saint Lambert has on the preceding day, that is, October 25: "Likewise, the Translation or Ordination, or Dedication, of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." That the commemoration of the Ordination of Saint Amandus is more specially recalled on the following day, October 27, we have said above.

[120] The second Elevation of Saint Amandus, which was performed in the year of Christ 809 by the custodian Lotharius, of the Elevation on September 20, is celebrated on September 20; on which day in the Martyrologies of Elnone and of Saint Martin at Tournai, the following is read: "On the twelfth day before the Kalends of October, at Elnone, the Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor, whose body, one hundred and fifty years after his passing, was found intact, and from his mouth, two teeth having been removed by the discoverer, drops of blood are reported to have flowed." Molanus in his supplement to Usuard, Wion, and Menard have the same. Ferrari and the Brussels manuscript Martyrology of Saint Gudula also mention the same. In the manuscript Florarium, this Elevation is recorded on the preceding day, September 19, others on September 19, with these words: "In Francia, at the monastery of Elnone, the Elevation of Saint Amandus, formerly Bishop of Upper Maastricht, consecrator of Saint Gertrude, the Virgin of Nivelles, performed by the custodian Lotharius in the year of salvation 812, about the one hundred and fifty-second year from his deposition; when his body was found still intact, and his hair and nails, which appeared to have grown, were cut, and teeth were extracted from his mouth with forceps, blood flowed forth, which is still preserved for the memory of posterity." So it says there, with most of the numbers erroneously expressed: the day was September 20, the year 809, which for Milo and others is the one hundred and fiftieth from his passing, for us the one hundred and twenty-sixth, as was proved above. The body then remained exposed to the view and veneration of all for thirty-two days, of the Repositioning on October 23, and was then placed back, or restored to its sacred burial, on October 23, which day is held as celebrated in the Martyrology of Elnone in Molanus: "On the tenth day before the Kalends of November, at Elnone, the restoration of the body of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor." Wion and Menard have the same. Finally, on the Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord, the last translation of his Relics is celebrated.

[121] On the Kalends of October, on which day the translation of the Relics of Saint Vedast is venerated, Another veneration on October 1, the following is read in ^a certain manuscript Benedictine Martyrology, though neither very ancient nor very accurate: "The Translation of Saint Amandus, Abbot of Elnone and Bishop of Maastricht." Gemeliacum, now Gembloux, is an ancient town of Brabant with ^a monastery, in which the veneration of Saint Amandus (on account, perhaps, of ^a church once erected there and peoples instructed in faith and virtue) is noted on June 25, on which day Molanus in his supplement to Usuard records: June 25 "At Gembloux, the birthday of Saints Amandus and Domnolenus, Confessors." Saussay calls the companion Domnelus. The ancient Liege manuscript of Saint Lawrence and the Trier manuscript of Saint Maximin: "At Gembloux, the Birthday of Saint Amandus." The Florarium: "At Genuliacum, of Saint Amandus." So it says there. Whether the one who is Domnelus or Domnolenus should be considered as Domlinus of Torhout, of whom we treated in number 22, is not established. In ^a manuscript supplement to Usuard from the Brussels Charterhouse, not ancient, the Elevation of Saint Amandus is recorded on the same June 25; but what that Elevation was, we have not yet read. Ferrari, on June 24, citing the tables of the Church of Limoges transmitted to him, writes: and June 24. "At Limoges, of Saints Amandus and Domnolenus, Confessors." Below, in the note at letter ^h of chapter 5 of the Life by Baudemund, we question whether ^a blind man was illuminated by him at Limoges. The body of Saint Amandus is preserved at Elnone, thence called Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, The body at Elnone, enclosed in ^a most skillfully wrought gilded reliquary. But Raysse writes in the Belgian Hierogazophylacium that the Recollect Fathers in the convent at Courtrai possess ^a large part of his skull, that some relics are also in the noble convent of nuns at Broekburg, some relics elsewhere, and that the monks of Maroilles boast of having obtained his sudary and garments. Gelenius reports in Book 3 of Cologne Agrippina, section 7, paragraph 4, number 17, that some relics of Saint Amandus may be seen at Cologne in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Steps. Relics of Saint Amandus and other Saints were brought on January 19 of the year 894 to the estate of Nemptiacum in the district of Vermandois, to ratify ^a contract, as is stated on January 4 in the Translation of Saint Rigobert, chapter 5. And on January 17, ^a commemoration of Saint Amandus is made in the old Premonstratensian Breviary.

SECTION 18. The Life of Saint Amandus written by various authors.

[122] When Saint Amandus made his testament, or solemn adjuration concerning his burial, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of May, in the second year of King Theoderic, the year of Christ 682, Baudemund, then his disciple, wrote it, as he indicates at the end with these words: Baudemund, writer of the testament of Saint Amandus, "I, Baudemund, ^a sinner, at the command of my Lord Amandus, wrote and subscribed this letter of his resolution." According to the things said above from the Chronicle of Blandinium in number 106, he succeeded John, Abbot of Blandinium, who had subscribed to the said testament, and who died on the Nones of March of the year 683, created Abbot of Blandinium in the year 683, becoming the third Abbot after Blessed Florebert, at the ordination of Saint Amandus, who died in the following year, 684. How long Baudemund survived is uncertain, the records of the monastery of Blandinium being corrupted, in which he, together with his successor Ferreus, is said to have governed for ninety-five years -- which we judge to have been only twenty-three. For Hatta, the first Abbot of the monastery of Saint-Vaast at Arras, was also given as Abbot to the monks of Blandinium, from whom he had been taken, in the year of Christ 706, as is reported in the Chronicle of Saint-Vaast; he then departed from the living on the Kalends of February of the year 710, as Locrius writes from that Chronicle. Celestinus, who succeeded Hatta, was expelled by Charles Martel because he had adhered to Raginfrid, defeated by him in the year 717. These things concern the time when Baudemund and his successors presided over the monastery of Blandinium. This Abbot Baudemund wrote the Life of Saint Amandus, he wrote the Life of the same, which we give in the first place. Concerning him, we read the following in the Martyrology of Elnone under this February 6: "Baudemund, who wrote the Life of Saint Amandus, says that ^a certain good Presbyter narrated to him that he was present when Amandus at Tournai failed to obtain from the judge the liberation of ^a thief, whom he recalled to life after he had been hanged." These things, related in number 13, reveal the age of the author. In the same manner, in number 22 he says he learned these things from the narrative of the venerable and faithful man, the Presbyter Erchengisilus. And in number 3 he writes from the mouth of Saint Amandus: "as the same man of God was accustomed to narrate." And in number 20 he says he later saw many of the Brethren trained by Saint Amandus in the monastery who became Abbots or men of honor. It appears that Baudemund composed this Life before the first elevation of the body of Saint Amandus, before the year 699, performed in the sixteenth year after his death, the year of Christ 699 -- which he would not otherwise have passed over so silently; indeed, Baudemund himself perhaps did not live so long. The same author omits the very many monasteries and churches which he built throughout the Belgian provinces, as being well enough known to those for whom he was writing. Surius published that Life, and indeed, as he prefaces, written by Baudemund, as the codices at Saint Amandus indicate; but perhaps rendered in ^a better style by the monk Milo of Saint Amandus, who appended another book to this history. This book concerns the vision of Saint Aldegundis, the elevation of the body of Saint Amandus, and his saintly disciples, appended by Surius to this Life; which we here separate, intending to give it below when we treat of the Translations, and we shall show that it was published not by Milo, of whom we shall presently treat, but by some more recent author, not without various errors, as was said in numbers 108 and 109. here published from various manuscripts. We therefore give this Life written by Baudemund, collated with two very ancient manuscript codices from the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp, and from the monasteries of Blandinium, Elnone, Marchiennes, Saint Maximin, Rouge-Cloitre, as well as from William Lindanus and Cornelius Duyn. Our Rosweyde also collated it with another manuscript. It also exists in ^a codex from Saint Martin at Utrecht, but with the phrasing frequently changed.

[123] We received from Paris, from Andre du Chesne, another very brief Life, but under the name of Saint Alan; ^a portion of which Chesne himself published in volume 1 of the Writers of the History of the Franks, page 657. Brief summaries are appended: one from ^a French manuscript, The same is found in the Prague manuscript of Bernard Gui; and it was also published in the ancient Breviary of Quimper for November 27, as we said above. We judge the author to be either an Aquitanian, and so we call him by way of distinction, or else an Armorican Breton. He has some things not related by others, and therefore worthy of being appended here. A similar summary in the Deeds of the Bishops of Tongeren and Maastricht was published by Hariger, Abbot of Lobbes, created in the year 991: another of Hariger from the Deeds of the Bishops of Maastricht. which we here append all the more so that the truth of the matters discussed above may appear more clearly. We have frequently treated of Hariger above.

[124] Philip of Harveng, commonly called "of Alms," the second Abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery of Bonne-Esperance near Binche in Hainaut, Philip of Harveng, called "of Alms," Abbot of Bonne-Esperance, ^a contemporary and intimate of Saint Bernard, described the Life of the same Saint Amandus in an elegant style. In the eulogies of the Abbots of Elnone, the following is reported about him:

"The praise of eloquent Philip must not be passed over in silence by me, The fragrance of whose speech creeps everywhere, And it blooms in the age of Hugo: under whose direction He applied his pen, Bishop Amandus, to your deeds."

Philip wrote to this Hugo the first Letter placed before the Life of Saint Amandus as ^a kind of Prologue, and when he died in the year of Christ 1169, he wrote ^a second Letter to Abbot John, his successor; under whom he published the Life of Saint Amandus around the year 1170. Around the year 1170 he wrote the Life of Saint Amandus, He died at length in the year 1183, having abdicated the burden of governing the monastery some months before. The following epitaph of his is read:

"The flower of flowers, Philip, fades, the way of morals: May he be ^a companion of your Saints under me, O Christ. Christ Jesus, grant that Philip be not Harmed by the second death, but bestow upon him to live forever."

Voss treats of this Philip in three places in his books On Latin Historians, and in Book 2, chapter 49, he calls him Philip of Alms, Abbot of Bonne-Esperance; then in Book 3, part 2, letter P, he mentions Philip, Abbot of Bonne-Esperance, as though different from the former; and immediately produces Philip, Abbot of the monastery of Elnone, as the writer of the Life of Saint Amandus, cited by Meyer under the year 661 in the Annals of Flanders. Possevinus likewise reports the Elnone author as different from the Abbot of Bonne-Esperance. Josias Simler has but one, and makes him Abbot of Elnone, relying also on the authority of Meyer, whose words are: "Philip the Abbot, concerning the situation of the monastery of Elnone, says: 'The place is on the borders of the Menapii, neighboring the Propontii and the Nervii.'" Philip has these words below in number 64. We have transcribed this Life from the manuscripts of the monastery of Blandinium and of Nicolas Belfort, here published from manuscripts and printed works, and have collated it with the Douai edition of the works of Abbot Philip, and another old manuscript codex of the monastery of Elnone; it also exists in manuscript in the library of Saint-Vaast. Miraeus in the Belgian Calendar and in his work On Ecclesiastical Writers, and Valerius Andreas in the Belgian Library, mention this Life written by Philip; but the latter, in the first edition of his work, writes that Saint Amandus was Bishop of Utrecht, and in the second, of Liege -- which sufficiently indicates that the Life was not known to him. We began above to correct Philip's chronology, which is not sufficiently accurate, and shall emend it more fully in the Life itself. Other things published under Philip's name belong to Milo.

[125] Milo follows, ^a monk and Priest of Elnone, much more ancient than Hariger and Philip; but the order of the things written by him demands this place. And first we give, Milo, Presbyter of Elnone, from the manuscript codex of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp and another from Saint-Amand, the Life of Saint Amandus composed in prose by Baudemund, rendered in verse by Milo in four books and in altogether 2,318 heroic verses, in the last book of which he wove in the miracle of blood flowing from ^a tooth during the elevation of the body performed in the year 809. He published the Life of the same Saint in heroic verse, Sigibert mentions this poem in his work On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 106, with these words: "Milo, monk of Saint Amandus, distinguished for his knowledge of letters, wrote in metrical style the Life of Saint Amandus. He also wrote in meter ^a book On Sobriety, addressed to King Charles." To which passage Miraeus notes that this most learned man wrote the Life of Saint Amandus in both verse and prose; and that Surius published it under February 6 -- which we have already rejected, nor, as Surius says, did Milo render it in ^a better style, but in ^a metrical one. The same metrical Life is mentioned by Trithemius, Possevinus, Gesner, Voss, Valerius Andreas, and others, some of whom, with Miraeus, also wrongly attribute to him the Life published by Surius. That he wrote this work as ^a young man he indicates at the end of Book 1:

"A fitting work, that as ^a youth I might deserve to praise ^a youth."

He dedicated it to his teacher Haiminus, ^a monk of Saint-Vaast, ^a former disciple of Alcuin, who died in the year 843, as we said in the Life of Saint Vedast, where we gave some of his treatises. Wulfaus the monk approved this poem in an appended Elegy, mentioning illustrious men before the year 840, whose judgment had been satisfactorily demonstrated. These are the Bishops Hincmar of Reims, Theuderic of Cambrai, and Emmo of Noyon; the Abbot Adalard; and the monks Haiminus and Teudingus, concerning whose dates we treat below in the notes on this elegy. From these we gather that Milo completed his poem around the year 840, and he also indicates that witnesses of the elevation performed in the year 809 were still surviving, in these verses:

"If you seek witnesses, wavering in the power of faith, Come here, I advise: you will see diverse ranks Of men, and many old men, venerable in age."

SECTION 19. The History of the translations and miracles of Saint Amandus, written by various authors.

[126] The same Milo wrote in prose the history of the Translation of the body of Saint Amandus, performed fifteen years after his death. [The same Milo wrote the Histories of the Translation and Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus.] He attests in number 1 that he reports what he received by tradition from Fathers faithfully relating it, and adds that he delivered another sermon on the elevation of the incorrupt body. In this sermon or history of the Elevation, he says in number 12 that he heard these things from the Fathers who were present at these events and still survive in great numbers, as we saw said before by the same author in his poem; and so in both places he compares the blood which flowed from the extracted tooth with the precious blood of the side of Christ. In this same history, number 9, he asserts that he is ^a son of the monastery of Elnone, although ^a degenerate one, "existing with unspeakable piety." Finally, he says in number 16 that he was present at the miracle of ^a candle lit by divine power: "I myself, who write these things, such as they are, placed there in person, both heard with my ears and saw the fire with my eyes; I also spoke these little verses in the chants themselves to so great ^a Bishop" -- where he reveals himself as ^a poet. With the miracle of ^a candle divinely lit in the year 855, witnessed by him. And before that, in number 13, he reports that miracle occurred in the year 855; so that it is surprising that this history was published under the name of Abbot Philip, which we have collated with manuscript codices. From these we have appended the hitherto unpublished history of the Translation, chiefly from the Utrecht manuscript of Saint Saviour, and ^a double codex, both of which we redeemed by purchase from bookbinders lest they be torn apart; from one of these we also give Milo's poem. It also contains ^a hexameter poem by the same Milo, On the Cross, most ingeniously made in the shape of ^a sphere, with this beginning addressed to King Charles the Bald:

"Accept, Charles, I pray, this song with serene piety."

We have refuted Milo's chronological errors above and indicate them in their proper places. He judged the year of death of Saint Amandus to be 661 and that Saint Eligius was present at the Translation of his body, as he narrates in both the history of the Translation and that of the Elevation.

[127] There exists another history of the Translation of the body of Saint Amandus, excerpted mostly from the account of Milo, with the vision of Saint Aldegundis appended at the beginning, An Epitome is added, concerning which we treated above in section 15, number 108. From number 6 the disciples of Saint Amandus are enumerated, illustrious for their virtue and holiness, among whom is counted Saint Landoald, whose relics are reported to have been translated also to Ghent (which was done toward the end of the tenth century) and to bestow benefits upon the faithful people; written after the year 1000, around which time the opinion grew that the same Landoald, as is also narrated here, exercised pastoral care in the place of Saint Amandus in the Bishopric of Maastricht. We give this history from the Lille manuscript of the Society of Jesus and the Blandinium manuscript; Surius also appended it to the Life of Saint Amandus written by Baudemund, as another book, as he prefaces, written by Milo; whereas the author, hitherto unknown, is about two centuries more recent than Milo. To this history we append ^a small fragment of the Chronicle of Elnone, with ^a fragment of the Chronicle of Elnone, in which certain things pertaining to the history of the Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus are touched upon, and from which it is confirmed that the beginning of the year was then customarily reckoned from the Nativity of Christ, or December 25.

[128] There follows the History of the miracles of Saint Amandus, described by Gilbert: Gilbert, an eyewitness, wrote the earlier History of miracles, concerning whom the following is reported by Le Bar from the records of Elnone: "Gilbert, ^a venerable Priest, first Dean of Saint Andrew at Elnone and afterwards made ^a monk of Elnone, ^a man learned in the divine Scriptures and also distinguished for his life and the conduct of his holiness, who manfully fought against the tumults and wiles of vices, and who, as long as he lived, shone forth as an outstanding Teacher and distinguished Preacher for both Clergy and people. He published works of no contemptible reading: on the fire at his monastery of Elnone, on the carrying about of Saint Amandus through Francia, on the miracles performed by Amandus along the way, and on the restoration of the same monastery, in prose style." All these things are contained in the History of miracles, which was augmented several times, and are here published from the Ghent and Belfort manuscripts and from the edition of the works of Philip of Alms. They also exist in manuscript in the library of Saint-Vaast. The author prefaces that nothing is written except what "the observation of the writer evidently proved, with monks of the same time, Clerics, and also laymen of venerable memory and distinguished reputation bearing testimony." These things are understood to refer to the first part written in prose; but where he describes in verse ^a man freed from prison, he forewarns that it is

"A deed of Cocceius, after we ourselves had returned: Which we have now proved not by the eyes, but by the source of the ear."

Then, treating of the man once hanged and raised by Saint Amandus, he takes care to make known to those who wish to read it, by means of whatever writing, the miracle "as he learned it from the account of certain persons." At what time he lived is established from the fire by which the monastery was destroyed in the year 1066. Whether he then survived to the year 1090, and also wrote the things we have appended in the last chapter, is doubtful. We suspect they were rather added by other learned men of the same monastery.

[129] Another History of the miracles of Saint Amandus is added in the same manuscripts, when his body was carried through ancient Brabant in the year 1107: The later one was perhaps by Gunter, ^a contemporary author, at which time Gunter, ^a monk of Saint Amandus, lived, who, as Sigibert attests in his work On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 166, wrote the martyrdom of Saint Cyricus in metrical style, and this history too could have been composed by his pen. Both these Histories of miracles were published under the name of Philip of Alms with the rest of his works; but just as the former had Gilbert of Elnone as its author, so the latter should rather be referred to the said Gunter or another alumnus of the monastery of Elnone. The miracle by the Abbess Marsilia. The History of ^a woman hanged at Rouen and recalled to life in the same year 1107, which follows, is published from the Elnone, Lille, and other manuscripts, and from the works of Philip of Alms; it was written by Marsilia, Abbess of the monastery of Saint Amandus at Rouen, perhaps rendered in ^a more polished style by the said Gunter or another writer of the last miracles. Finally, we conclude this our labor with two Hymns formerly customarily sung in honor of Saint Amandus, and appended in our manuscript codex to the Life of Saint Amandus published in verse by Milo.

[130] Besides what we give concerning Saint Amandus, there exist some things which we deliberately omit, Other things are omitted here; ^a manuscript Supplement, gathered in prose under various titles. The first of these in the Elnone and Blandinium manuscripts is of this kind: "A supplement which was added to the little book of the Life of Saint Amandus by Milo, monk and Priest of his monastery" -- as though Milo were the author of this supplement. In our manuscript codex, in which the first leaves have been supplied by ^a recent hand, it reads thus: "Supplement to the Life of Saint Amandus written by the monk Milo and published by Laurence Surius, volume 1, February 6." We have shown above that the Life of Saint Amandus through Baudemund was wrongly attributed to Milo, who lived several centuries after the author of the Epitome of the translation and Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus, published together with the Life by Surius. That supplement begins with these words: "Now that the little book published on the virtues of Saint Amandus has been set before the reader, it should be known how great ^a man he was and in what honor he was held among men, although he himself always desired to shun the honors of the world." Then, after very briefly indicating some monasteries built by him, his friendship with Pope Saint Martin is explained, and the latter's vigilance against the Monothelite heresy is praised. There follows under ^a new title the Letter of Pope Martin to Saint Amandus, which is given below in the Life by Abbot Philip. The following titles are: "On the death of Blessed Amandus." "At what time Blessed Amandus, Confessor of Christ, was born or died." This document was given and examined above in section 16, in which, since the author scrupulously collects the Roman Pontiffs and the Emperors of the East -- whom Milo never once touches upon in the above-mentioned works -- the author is ^a different and much more recent one, who reports that the year of the death of Saint Amandus was inscribed in books and carved in stones by his predecessors; which was done partly by Milo and partly in his time.

[131] Appended is ^a sermon to be read on the passing or deposition of the thrice-blessed and glorious Bishop of Christ, Amandus: and ^a manuscript Sermon to be read on his feast day, in the exordium of which he states that the day of deposition among the Saints is called the birthday; then he compares the death of Saints with the crossing of Israel into the Promised Land, and says that while they live, they are nourished in the desert with the heavenly manna of the body of Christ. He then shows at length, by the example of Saint Amandus, that homeland, parents, and riches ought to be despised; then he adds to the glory of his adolescence spent on the island of Oye the glory bestowed in heaven, and invites others to it, insisting on faith, hope, and charity with works of mercy, and concludes with the sentence of the Last Judgment. Who was the author of this sermon is unknown to us. Someone, imitating Milo, composed it to be read on the feast day, just as Milo's treatises were read at the Translation and Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus; in which he nowhere mentions this sermon, but only the Life written by Baudemund: "Because," he says, "the little book published on the life of the thrice-blessed and God-beloved Confessor of Christ Amandus is recognized to have treated the matter fully and sufficiently enough." We here omit this sermon, because there is nothing in it pertaining to history, indicating only the first words, which are as follows: "Since you have gathered, most beloved Brethren, with the religious zeal of devotion for the annual and most sacred solemnity of the most blessed Father Amandus, I judge it fitting that by the exhortation of our sermon you should come to know the glorious deeds of his works, etc."

[132] Many others have written the deeds of Saint Amandus: Vincent of Beauvais in Book 21 of the Speculum Historiale, chapters 119 and 120; Other writers of his Life, Saint Antoninus in Part 2, Title 12, chapter 8, section 9; James of Voragine in the Golden Legend, who, besides other errors, report that he lived for fifteen years enclosed in ^a certain cell at Tours at the tomb of Saint Martin -- whereas this was done at Bourges. Peter de Natalibus in Book 3, chapter 100, and George Witzel, who write that he died under Heraclius in the year 620. Francis Haraeus, Cornelius Grasius, and very many in foreign languages; then various ancient writers in the Acts of other Saints, most of whom we have touched upon above.

[133] Abbot Everhelm, in the Life of Saint Poppo on January 25, chapter 5, describes ^a vision made to Blessed Adelwiva, his mother, by Saint Amandus appearing, as follows: Blessed Adelwiva, mother of Saint Poppo, "Adelwiva, having been brought to the monastery of Elnone to Saint Amandus together with her son, there received the assurance of her desire from the oracle of ^a heavenly vision..."

she obtained the assurance of her desire from the oracle of ^a heavenly vision. For before the relics of Blessed Cyricus, while she was spending the night in vigils and prayers, and after ^a little while half-waking from her long weariness, because the heavenly hearing had looked upon her, ^a vision divinely brought to her revealed itself in the following manner. With ^a strange new appearance of things, she saw very many Priests of Christ in white robes in their consistories, whom the divine vision placed on either side in the manner of ^a crown for her to behold. By Saint Amandus appearing in ^a vision, Among them Blessed Amandus also, as the first of that place, was seen to be seated more prominently and more honorably than the rest, and at his judgment, as befitted him in that place at that time, the gaze of all was suspended. She also saw Blessed Cyricus shining all over with silk and gems, and that he had assumed the countenance of ^a beautiful boy, and that he had then conversed with each of the Priests, and had poured forth prayers for her, prostrate there in their midst. Commended to Saint Cyricus, To whom Saint Amandus, together with the unanimous consent of those sitting with him, said: "Come now, boy of good character, it is your part to extend the right hand of mercy along with prayers also to this widow, who does not cease to offer continual prayers before your most holy relics." Having been made more certain by this authoritative pronouncement, the venerable boy Cyricus approached her, and she saw him raise her whole self, as it were from the ground where she had lain prostrate. And this vision had its end here, and the mother of Blessed Poppo, soon awakened, returned to herself. She becomes ^a nun. She related this vision to her son, and with him, having been made more courageous by the assurance of the same vision, she betook herself to Verdun, and with the veil of pious conversion placed upon her at the counsel of the blessed man, she smiled upon the resolve of the monastic life in righteousness and conduct. Saint Cyricus or Quiricus is venerated on July 16.

SECTION 20. Was the monastery of Nantua in Bugey built by Saint Amandus?

[134] A twofold postponed discussion comes at the end of this Commentary: whether Saint Amandus died far from Belgium, in the lands of the ancient Burgundians, In Bugey, adjoined to Bresse, or indeed among the Spanish. The peoples of Bugey, now attached to Bresse, were counted in the age of Saint Amandus within Burgundy; and recently, after they had previously belonged to the Dukes of Savoy, their dominion was exchanged for the Marquisate of Saluzzo and transferred to the French Crown. Samuel Guichenon illustrated the history of that nation in an equally erudite and laborious commentary; in the continuation of Part 2, pages 75 and following, The origin of the monastery of Nantua wrongly attributed to Saint Amandus, he treats of Nantua or Nantuacum, ^a Benedictine monastery situated in the middle of Bugey, on the road from Lyon, in whose diocese it lies, to Geneva and into Switzerland. The local inhabitants believe that it was built by Saint Amandus, and that he died there and was buried in its tomb. Lest this belief seem vain to anyone, an ancient Life is produced, written by Baudemund but horribly corrupted. Our Pierre-Francois Chifflet sent it to us from Dijon, transcribed from two Nantua codices; Guichenon also published it from the Nantua Breviary in the proofs for the history of Bresse and Bugey, pages 210 and following.

[135] What Baudemund narrates in chapter 6 is here amplified as follows: "These things having been thus accomplished," says Baudemund, "the same man of the Lord, Amandus, returned to the borders of the Franks and chose for himself ^a place suitable for preaching, In the Life of Saint Amandus, there interpolated, in which, with the Brethren who had suffered many afflictions with him for the name of Christ through various provinces, he built ^a monastery; and of these same Brethren we later saw many become Abbots or men of honor." And these are indeed truly Baudemund's words. Then it continues thus: "At about the same time, etc." In the Nantua codex these things are read: "In the times of the Emperors Maurice and Phocas, therefore, returning from the aforesaid Basques and the Pyrenean mountains, Saint Amandus, the man of God, the fictitious Episcopal city of Ozindins is attached to Bugey, having traversed nearly the borders of the Franks, seeking to find ^a secluded place in which he might lead ^a solitary life and more freely devote himself to God, at length arrived at ^a certain small city, called Ozindins, situated in the borders of the Lyonnais, very fittingly surrounded by prominent towers, which was afterwards devastated and demolished to the ground by the Saracens, Vandals, and Goths. This city had on the north ^a certain mountain called Helnon, the mountain Helnon and the Helnon region: from whose name the entire surrounding region was called Helnonensis; on whose summit ^a notable fortress was held, built of squared and polished stone, the fortification and defense of the city. Around its circuit there appears ^a pleasant plain, fertile with pastures and well-watered, planted with groves, handsome in forest, convenient for hunting and fishing, into which flow two streams, the Onyx and the Lengis. On the north side, Mount Dunicus encircled it, in like manner fortified with copious defenses. Outside its circuit ^a certain hill was seen, which nature leveled to an even grade in ^a slightly retreating bay, through which ^a river, running along the plain, called the Merulus, coming from the Alps, courses swimming in ^a forked channel into ^a certain pool placed near by, affording the inhabitants no small profit of fish. It was also protected by the triple-ridged summits of the mountains, namely the Dunicus, and Nantua, said to be named from 'swimming,' the Ibicus, and the Heencus. Moreover, ^a most clear spring flowing from the rocks waters the valley with most wholesome waters, whose name the village has entirely retained to this day. Embracing this place, the holy man, as if it were offered to him from heaven by God, returning to Francia with swift step, approached King Childeric, humbly requesting that he deign to bestow this aforementioned township for the construction of ^a habitation of monks. For it was so remote and secluded from travelers and wayfarers that no guest ever turned aside there except for the sake of hunting, apart from ^a few country folk dwelling there, who from jointed timbers had long since built ^a church there in honor of the Apostle Andrew. This the King most willingly granted, and King Childeric, son of Clovis and brother of Theoderic, gave him the place called Nantua, also said to be called Elnone: which was also called by another name according to the designation of the region, namely Elnone, in which the man of God with keen zeal began to build ^a monastery, not for the sake of ambition but for the salvation of souls. But Mummulus, the Bishop of the aforesaid city of Ozindins, took very badly the fact that the same man of God had obtained this place from the King, etc."

[136] So says the Nantua interpolator, for which Baudemund has these few words: "At about the same time, the holy man of the Lord Amandus approached King Childeric considered to be what Baudemund mentions and humbly petitioned him to deign to bestow upon him some township for the construction of ^a monastery, not for the sake of ambition but for the salvation of souls. And the aforesaid King gave him ^a place called Nant, in which the man of the Lord with keen intent began to build ^a monastery. But ^a certain Mummulus, Bishop of the city of Ozindins, took very badly the fact that the same man of the Lord had obtained this place from the King, etc." So says Baudemund, whom we have shown above in number 7 to be speaking of the monastery of Nant among the Ruteni near the sources of the river Dourbie, Nant, the monastery among the Ruteni, built by Saint Amandus, and of Mummulus, Bishop of Uzes. But the interpolator here, intending to apply these things to his monastery of Nantua, ingeniously invented ^a nearby Episcopal city of Ozindins, hitherto unknown to the other writers, which he asserts was demolished by the Vandals and Goths -- but at what time? The fictitious city of Ozindins demolished by Vandals and Goths: Perhaps in the year of Christ 406, when, according to the Chronicle of Prosper, under the Consuls Arcadius VI and Probus, the Vandals and Alans crossed the Rhine and entered Gaul on the day before the Kalends of January; and three years later, under the Consuls Honorius VIII and Theodosius III, occupied Spain? The Goths followed the Vandals and, under the Consuls Honorius IX and Theodosius V, entered Gaul under King Athaulf in the year 412. In the following year the Burgundians occupied this part of Gaul in which Bresse and Bugey also lie. But this writer could have confused these times as much as those about which he reports that his Nantua was built by Saint Amandus with permission obtained from Childeric in the times of the Emperors Maurice and Phocas. With chronological confusions. Maurice obtained the Empire in the year of Christ 582; Phocas wrested it from him in the year 602 and was himself killed in the year 610 -- when Saint Amandus, born around the year 594, was living as ^a youth on the island of Oye, A letter of Saint Gregory the Great to King Childeric is fabricated, and Chlothar II, great-grandfather of the said Childeric, was ruling over the Franks. Nevertheless, the monks of Nantua defend whatever chronological arrangement (or rather, chronological confusion) this is with ^a double charter preserved in their archive, and thence published by Guichenon in the Proofs, pages 212 and following. The first is of Saint Gregory the Great, who died in the year 604 while Phocas was reigning, whose words are reported there as follows:

[137] "Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to Childeric, King of the Franks. Since the world is shaken by countless storms ... what is happening in other parts of the world, I do not know. Only from our Blessed Amandus, our fellow Bishop, as if he, at the request of Saint Amandus, have we learned that by the most honorable governance of your spiritual affairs, your kingdom, by Christ's grace, excels above the rest in peace and tranquility. He also reported that your munificence had once granted him ^a monastery situated in the borders of the Franks, called Helnone or Nantua, had founded Nantua now most abundantly endowed and enriched by you from your revenues and estates and treasuries for the sustenance of the Brethren; for which we have sent you gifts of thanksgiving together with our blessing. For when I was serving in the business of the Church, and on this account was returning thither to our venerable predecessor, at the request of the aforementioned Father Amandus and Abbot Latercenius, together with many most religious men endowed with holiness, and had dedicated ^a church in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, I honorably consecrated the church of that place in honor of Peter and Paul and all the Apostles, and I granted to that place such ^a privilege that no Prince, nor Bishop, nor any judicial power should dare to appoint an Abbot there, privileges, unless one whom the united congregation shall have elected by common counsel and will, according to God, as Father Benedict commanded. After he has been elected by them, immunities, let him first receive the gift of the Roman See and enjoy its blessing, unless by its consent permission is granted to someone else. But neither to the Archbishop of Lyon himself, nor to any Bishop, do we commit the power of inflicting the sentence of excommunication upon that Church in any way, except by Apostolic deliberation. And if anyone of the faithful, intending to go to Rome, and had granted indulgences, should lack the means, let him go to that aforementioned place and there bestow alms upon the Brethren according to his ability, and he shall without doubt receive the Apostolic blessing in the same form there, just as if he had reached the thresholds of the Apostles. We decree furthermore that no one should in any way dare to violate this place, nor to inflict violence upon it; and if anyone should break this by rash daring, let him be condemned by the penalty of anathema, so that henceforth this our precept or interdict may be preserved inviolate and unimpaired."

[138] The second charter is of King Childeric, of entirely the same import, and Childeric himself had sent that letter to Saint Amandus, which begins thus: "King Childeric, son of Clovis of blessed memory, to Amandus, Bishop and Abbot. I rejoice, dearest Brother, that your holiness and the reputation of your religious life are spread throughout the whole world. For when we had come to the city of Paris, the writings of Blessed Pope Gregory were brought to us, in which he marvelously adorns the monastery of Nantua built by you, and exalts it with his praises. These we have taken care to send to your holiness, so that they may be preserved there as ^a great gift. The above-mentioned Pope himself also entirely requested that the things which he himself authorized, we should approve and confirm in the royal manner ... All the aforesaid things we grant to you and to the Brethren dwelling in the said monastery, approving all things, both present and future, by the firmness of our privilege, so that you may unceasingly implore the clemency of Almighty God for our safety and for the prosperity of our kingdom. This gift, moreover, my brother Theoderic approved and granted out of his love for you. As also his brother Theoderic: This gift or privilege was enacted in the city of Paris in the fifth year of King Childeric." So it says there. Childeric reigned among the Neustrians and Burgundians from the year of Christ 676 to 680, killed in the fourth year of his reign. His brother Theoderic had then been driven from the kingdom and enclosed in the monastery of Saint-Denis, living tonsured among the monks -- whose approval was fabricated in vain in this discord. But how far these times are distant from the age of Saint Gregory the Great, and indeed from before his elevation to the Pontificate, nearly ^a full century younger than Saint Gregory, so that, while serving in the business of the Church for his predecessor Pope Pelagius II, he could have consecrated the church of this monastery -- and consequently before the year 590, in which Pelagius died!

[139] Claudius Robert in his Gallia Christiana writes that Nantua was founded in the time of Pope Gregory the Great, with King Childebert as the endower, who, since he was King of the Austrasians, Was Nantua founded by King Childebert of Burgundy? succeeded his uncle Saint Guntram in the kingdom of the Burgundians when the latter died in the year of Christ 593, and himself died in the year 596, having scarcely entered the fourth year of this kingdom, so that the charter of foundation could not have been given in the fifth year of his reign -- much less at Paris, where King Chlothar II was then residing. These words, however, were transferred from the above charter of King Childeric to Childebert by Claudius Robert. Moreover, that the foundation of this monastery should be referred to the times of Saint Gregory the Great is suggested by the charter of the Emperor Lothair, published by Guichenon in the Proofs, page 214, from the Nantua archive, of which we give ^a part here: "In the name of our Lord Jesus, the eternal God. Lothair, Emperor Augustus by the command of divine Providence. Be it known to all the faithful of the holy Church of God and ours, both present and future, that the monks of the monastery of Nantua have reported to our Highness that by certain foreign Abbots coming from elsewhere, the properties of their church, its church dedicated by Saint Gregory, from which they should have had their sustenance and clothing continuously, and by which the household of that place was accustomed to render them service, were being despoiled and consumed ... Wherefore we asked what they wished in the matter, and bending their knees and kissing our feet, they cried out unanimously that they wished to have an Abbot from among themselves. Granting our assent to their petitions, out of veneration for Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, in whose honor the aforesaid monastery is known to have been dedicated by Blessed Pope Gregory, we have ordered these letters of our Serenity to be drawn up, etc." Behold how they then believed that the monastery was built in the time of Saint Gregory. This opinion is confirmed by the above-related times of the Emperors Maurice and Phocas, assigned to that same building. Since all these things are absent from the Acts of Saint Amandus, we judge them to have been proper to this monastery alone; to which the Nantua author stitched on the rest, having supposed his Nantua monastery to be the one which Baudemund had written was built by Saint Amandus, by the name of Nant -- but situated among the Ruteni, peoples subject, along with the neighboring Arverni, Gabali, Cadurci, Albigenses, and Uzecians, to the kingdom of the Austrasians, over which Childeric then presided.

SECTION 21. The death of Saint Amandus attributed to Nantua. Was that monastery called Saint Amandus?

[140] A second ornament had to be added to the same monastery, in which very many monks round about took glory: namely, that its founder should be said to have been ^a Saint, and to have departed this life in his own monastery, and to be magnificently buried in it, Saint Amandus died at Elnone in Belgium, and that by his patronage many miracles were performed there. Since Baudemund attributes these things to ^a place called Elnone, the one who patched together these Nantua antiquities affixed that name to ^a neighboring mountain, and to ^a castle built on its summit, whence the entire surrounding region was said to be called Helnonensis, and Nantua itself also called Helnone according to the designation of the region. But he had either not seen, or carelessly passed over, the ancient and certain records which place Elnone in Belgium, and which are especially mutually consistent -- among which are the charters of King Dagobert and of Pope Saint Martin. If he had seen these, he would have derived not ^a mountain Elnone but ^a river, and also the other river Scarpe from that mountain. King Dagobert asserts that the place given to Amandus is situated between the two rivers Scarpe and Elnone. And Pope Saint Martin establishes the monastery "upon which the name of Helnone was bestowed, within the course of the two rivers Scarpe and Helnone." The monks of Nantua protest that the name of their Patron Saint Amandus is inscribed in their Martyrology in this manner: "On the eighth day before the Ides of February, in the diocese of Lyon, at the monastery of Nantua, of the most holy and most worthy of all praise, the bountiful Amandus, not at Nantua: who founded the said monastery; whose precious death and life, illustrious with virtues and miracles, shone forth in heaven and on earth; who was formerly Bishop of the people of Maastricht, and afterwards Abbot of the said monastery, where he rested in ^a blessed end." So it says there, amplified from the Martyrology of Usuard, in which it reads thus: "On the same day, of the holy Bishops Vedast and Amandus, whose life and death were glorious with very many miracles; of whom the former governed the Church of the Adartenses, and the latter that of the people of Maastricht." But because at the time of that Nantua writer there was no longer an Episcopal See at Maastricht, which had long since been translated to Liege, he substituted Utrecht, an Episcopal city very celebrated in later times, which was indeed, while Saint Amandus lived, the metropolis of the Frisians -- but of those still abhorring the Christian faith.

[141] The year of the death and burial of Saint Amandus among the people of Nantua is assigned as 671 from the Nantua Martyrology by the same Guichenon. But how many years would he then have had to be, if he had founded that monastery at an advanced age, which Gregory the Great had dedicated at least eighty years before his death, before his Pontificate? And did Saints Reolus, Archbishop of Reims, The testament of Saint Amandus, and Bishops Saint Mummolenus of Noyon and Saint Vindicianus of Cambrai also subscribe to the testament of Saint Amandus (for it mentions him too), having been summoned from Belgium instead of the Lyonnais? And did the Bishops subscribe in place of the neighboring Bishops of Belley, Macon, or Geneva? And did the Abbots -- Saint Bertinus of Sithiu and the two Ghent Abbots, Aldebert of the monastery of Saint Bavo's and the various translations of the body show and John of Blandinium -- subscribe in place of Abbots of those regions? Was the church of Elnone then dedicated there by those Bishops, which we have said was done among the Belgians at Elnone? Was the body of the same Saint also translated there in the year 698 and elevated in the year 809? Was the same sacred body, to omit the rest, carried from there to Tournai, Ghent, and through other places of Flanders and ancient Brabant in the year 1107? Certainly the ancients did not know the name Elnone affixed to Nantua. That Nantua was not called Elnone. Thus King Pippin, in ^a privilege given to the same monastery in the sixth year of his reign, calls Siagrius the Abbot of the monastery of Nantua. Louis the Pious, in the decree concerning monasteries that owe the King military service, gifts, or prayers alone, places the monastery of Nantua in the second class, of those who contribute gifts without military service. The Emperor Lothair, in the aforesaid charter, spoke of the monks of the monastery of Nantua. The Counts of Geneva, Albitius and Odda, in the tenth century, confer various donations upon the most holy monastery of Saint Peter at Nantua. Pope Paschal II in the year 1100, among other monasteries subjected to the Cluniacs, reduces Nantua to ^a Priory. Pope Eugene III in the year 1146, in ^a Bull addressed to the Prior of the monastery of Nantua, confirms its privileges. All these are exhibited by Guichenon in his Proofs, but in them the name Elnone or even Amandus never appears; so that it is clear that all that fable was forged by posterity from the single word Nanto. There also exists in the same Guichenon the epitaph of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks and Emperor, who was buried in the monastery of Nantua in the time of Helmedius, the eighth Abbot. The occasion for this is related as follows in the Bertinian Annals of the Franks: "Those who were with him, opening the body of Charles who had died in ^a most wretched hovel on the fourth day before the Nones of October, Charles the Bald was buried at Nantua, removed his entrails, poured in wine and whatever aromatics they could, placed him in ^a coffin, and began to carry him toward the monastery of Saint-Denis, where he had requested to be buried. Unable to carry him on account of the stench, they placed him in ^a barrel pitched inside and out, which they wrapped in hides; which did nothing to remove the stench. Whereupon, barely reaching ^a certain cell of monks belonging to the Bishopric of Lyon, which is called Nantua, they committed that body, together with the barrel itself, to the earth."

[142] Published in the Cluniac Library, column 313, is the Charter of King Lothair concerning the monastery of Saint Amandus subjected to the Cluniac Abbey in the time of Saint Maiolus the Abbot; Charter of King Lothair, which monastery Guichenon, having judged it to be Nantua, published the same Charter, transcribed by our Pierre-Francois Chifflet from the Cluniac archive and communicated to him, in the Proofs, page 216; which we give here. "In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Lothair, by the grace of God, King. We uphold the customs of our predecessor Kings if we graciously hear our faithful subjects in fitting petitions. Wherefore we wish it to be known to the minds of all the holy Church of God and all our faithful, both present and future, that my Lady mother, the most glorious Queen Gerberga, concerning ^a certain monastery of Saint Amandus, with the consent of her own and our faithful, approached the serenity of our presence, requesting with maternal commands that we subject the monastery situated in the County of Varesino*, dedicated in honor of Saint Amandus, by subjecting it to the Cluniacs, since it was without governors and as it were in uninhabitable places, to the monastery of Cluny and its governors, with all things pertaining to it, both in estates and in all properties, with serfs of both sexes, meadows, vineyards, forests, waters, and watercourses, and entrances and exits. Granting our assent to this, we accepted the petitions in this command as in others, since it was just, and we granted the aforesaid monastery of Saint Amandus, with all its integrity as has been said, by subjecting it to the said monastery of Cluny, on this condition: that insofar as God shall supply them with assistance, they should restore it and make the place habitable as best they can, so that Almighty God may be continually praised there with the Saints, and that my Lady, my most glorious mother, who established this, together with us may be endowed, by Christ's bounty, with the reward of eternal happiness. And that it may be more firmly believed and more stably possessed, we have signed with our own hand below and have ordered it to be marked with the seal of our authority. The sign of the Lord and most glorious King Lothair. Gebe, the humble Quaestor, in place of Artoldus the Archbishop and highest Chancellor, verified. Given on the ninth day before the Kalends of December, in the reign of the most glorious King Lothair, the fifth year, Indiction 3. Done at the palace of Dijon, happily, Amen." So it says there. Lothair was anointed as King by Artoldus, Archbishop of Reims, on the day before the Ides of November, in the year of Christ 954; accordingly, if the following entire year is attributed to the first year of his reign, the fifth year will correspond to the year of Christ 959, in which Indiction 3 had begun to be counted from October. Guichenon omitted the year of reign, perhaps judging that it was less consistent with Indiction 3.

[143] But the greater difficulty for the same author is to prove by what argument he writes that the aforesaid place, called the monastery of Saint Amandus, is not to be distinguished from Nantua, it does not suit Nantua, which was dedicated to Saint Peter, which, however, in the charter of the Emperor Lothair is said to have been dedicated by Blessed Pope Gregory in honor of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles; indeed, in the instrument of donation made by Albitius and Odda around the time of Louis d'Outremer, from whom King Lothair was born, it is called "the most sacred monastery of Saint Peter at Nantua," and afterwards "the monastery of Saint Peter," over which Abbot Alranus, formerly Bishop of Macon, then presided. Nor can it easily be understood how that monastery could soon have been "without governors then very celebrated, and as it were in uninhabitable places," as was said of the monastery of Saint Amandus, when the Counts of Geneva had donated to it, for lights, sacrifices, and psalmody alone, the revenues of many estates or districts and five churches in them. Moreover, that Nantua was held among the more celebrated monasteries, we gather from the eleven Priories immediately subject to it, which are enumerated in the Catalogue of Abbeys, Priories, and Deaneries subject mediately and immediately to the monastery of Cluny. But when the monks of Nantua accepted this Cluniac reform is not established. In the above-mentioned Bull of Pope Paschal II, Nantua is placed after the monastery of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, with Souvigny, Virgeaux, and Gigny interposed. Subjected to the Cluniacs afterwards, That the monastery of Saint-Martin-des-Champs was founded by Henry I, King of the Franks, in the year of Christ 1060, the charter of foundation itself teaches, published together with the rest of the history of this monastery by Martin Marrier. Some years later, Saint Hugh, Abbot of Cluny, translated the body of Saint Maximus to the Church of Nantua, with Odo, Bishop of Ostia, assisting, who had then been sent to Gaul by Blessed Pope Gregory VII, who presided over the Church from the year 1073 to 1086. Mention of Odo is found in an old inscription placed in the year 1085, in the eleventh century, in Ughelli's Italia Sacra. After the reform introduced by Saint Hugh, the first Prior there was Francis, who, according to Guichenon, is reported to have entered into ^a certain exchange of goods in the year 1099 with Count Amadeus of Geneva. In the same year Pope Paschal II was created, who, abolishing the name of Abbots, wished all those who presided over monasteries subject to Cluny to be called Priors. Finally, in the aforesaid Cluniac Catalogue, the following is stated about Nantua: "The Priory of Nantua, of the diocese of Lyon, where there should be twenty-five monks, and three Masses with chant should be celebrated there, and alms should be given three times in each week to all who come, and thirteen prebends should be given to thirteen poor people, on the feast of Blessed Mary Magdalene and of Saint Peter, namely the Patron."

[144] Lastly, even if everything matched the times of King Lothair, In the time of King Lothair, subject to Conrad, King of Burgundy, and the name of Saint Amandus were proper to the said monastery of Nantua, whence did this King have the right to make dispositions concerning ^a monastery situated outside his own kingdom? At that time Bresse and Bugey were subject to Conrad, King of Burgundy, Alemannia, and Provence, to whom the sister of King Lothair, given in marriage, had brought as ^a dowry the city and dominion of Lyon. This Conrad was the son of Rudolf II, grandson of Rudolf I, likewise Kings of Burgundy. Chesne treats of them in Book 2 of the History of the Kings and Dukes of Burgundy, chapters 22, 23, and 24, and Guichenon in Part 1 of the History of Bresse and Bugey, chapter 9. Perhaps the Nantua writer deceived him, the charter of Lothair having been adapted also to his own monastery.

[145] But why no monastery of Saint Amandus is read in the catalogue of monasteries subject to the Cluniac Abbey, nothing certain occurs to us by way of answer. Perhaps it was afterwards destroyed Where was that monastery of Saint Amandus? or obtained another name. What if, with the monks protesting, it did not accept the Cluniac reform, or afterwards returned to its former institution? We have also not yet been able to ascertain with certainty the location of the County of Trahesino or Varesino.

* Others read "Tahesino."

SECTION 22. Was the Bishopric of Castellon administered by Saint Amandus?

[146] So great was the celebrity of the virtues of Saint Amandus throughout nearly all of Europe that after some centuries many desired that he had formerly been their Bishop or Abbot. Therefore ^a new question is raised by the Spanish, reserved by us for this more convenient place, as being untouched by other writers and to be resolved from the things said above, especially by chronological reasoning. The foundation is laid in the Chronicle of Julian Perez, Archpriest of Saint Justa, Saint Amandus, Bishop of Castellon, in the Chronicle of Julian, in which the following is read under the year 660, number 336: "Saint Amandus, Bishop of Castellon in Spain, flourishes at this time, to whom Pope Saint Martin sends letters. A Council is convened against the Monothelites at the instigation of Amandus in the year of the Lord 650, erroneously." Tamayo Salazar reads the year 650, in the year 650, of whom we shall presently treat. But Julian continues in number 337: "Saint Ildefonsus, Bishop of Toledo, flourished, who on the first day of December of the year 659 was received to the See of Toledo in place of Saint Eugene III, who died and was taken to heaven on November 13. But Justus succeeds Ildefonsus of Toledo in the governance of the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian. And the holy Ildefonsus on the seventh day before the Ides of November of this year convenes ^a Council at Toledo against certain heretics who hold erroneous views concerning the virginity of Blessed Mary -- that she gave birth, with the virginal gates dilated as with other women, without ^a new kind of miracle. In the year of the Lord 666," as he continues in number 338, and 666, "he confutes the Gallic heretics Theudius and Helladius, who were speaking about the manner of childbirth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in books published which he had dedicated to the nuns of the monastery of Delivium (others: Deibium), situated in the territory of Toledo. He convenes ^a Council of many Bishops, among whom was one Saint Amandus, formerly the first Bishop of Maastricht, then of Castellon in Spain, ^a learned and holy man."

[147] So says the Chronicle of Julian; moved by whose authority, John Tamayo Salazar inscribed Saint Amandus in the Spanish Martyrology with these words: "Among the people of Castellon in Spain, of Saint Amandus, first Bishop of Maastricht, afterwards of Castellon, who, having traversed the provinces of Italy, In Tamayo Salazar's Spanish Martyrology, Gaul, and Germany, went to Spain, dear to Ildefonsus, Bishop of the See of Toledo, at whose exhortations the blessed Prelate of Toledo proclaimed ^a Council against the Monothelites, at which Amandus was present; afterwards, having returned to his homeland, he rested in ^a glorious end." He then appends Acts collected from various writers, and with Acts appended, in which, after narrating that the Episcopate of Maastricht was left by him, he adds: "Therefore, having burst the fetters of the Episcopal burden, in order to fulfill the pleasure of the Pontiff wherever he might, he visited his own Aquitanians at their request. There, recognizing what great errors the Basque nation, as it is called today, living on both sides of the Pyrenees, was entangled in, pitying their ruin, descending upon those peoples with the zeal of faith by which he burned, he undertook to preach to them, so as to draw them away from the foul servitude of idols; at length he arrived among the people of Castellon, where, performing wonders, he offered by the seed of the Evangelical word an innumerable harvest to Christ. Made Bishop of Castellon from that, he traversed all of Hispanic Gascony. But having heard the report that the heretics Theudius and Helladius, having entered Spain from Gaul, were determining to spread the poison of their error into the tender entrails of the faithful, he petitioned Blessed Ildefonsus, Bishop of Toledo, by letter, that having convened ^a Synod against the heretics, the sword of ecclesiastical punishment might shine forth sharply. Ildefonsus, who had also been admonished by Genesius, Bishop of Clermont, immediately proclaimed ^a Council at Toledo, at which Amandus also was present; in which, with the Gallic heretics and others being condemned according to the decrees of the Lateran Council, of which Amandus had been the Apostolic executor, that turbulent sedition of the heretics was easily calmed. Having accomplished these things in Spain, he returned to Gaul, and by the munificence of King Childeric, founded the illustrious monastery of Elnone, which, after he had established it with monastic institutions and the example of his life and dedicated its church, he flew up to heaven to the crown merited by so many labors, about the ninetieth year of his life, on the eighth day before the Ides of February, in the year of the Lord 671."

[148] So far Tamayo Salazar, who, being entirely confident about the Episcopate of Saint Amandus among the people of Castellon from the year 650 to 666, and about his arrival at the Council of Toledo at that time, searches at length for that See of Castellon; and he assigns three cities of Castellon or Castulo: his double Office is recited in the diocese of Jaen, one in Catalonia at the foot of the Pyrenees, another in Navarre, and ^a third in Baetica, which today belongs to the Bishopric of Jaen. Therefore recently the Bishop Cardinal de Moscoso y Sandoval, then Bishop of Jaen, afterwards Archbishop of Toledo, commanded that all Clerics of that diocese, both secular and regular, who are obliged to recite the Divine Office, should recite that of Saint Amandus, Confessor and Bishop, with ^a double rite, on February 6; having issued the letter on July 3, 1640, when some years earlier Francisco de Rus-Puerta had published the Ecclesiastical History of the kingdom and diocese of Jaen, and in it, in the seventh century, chapter 2, had written that Saint Amandus had been Bishop of Castulo there. But Tamayo Salazar opposes to this the following statement of Cardinal Baronius in his Notes to December 10: "The holy Martyrs are venerated everywhere" (the same must be said of others) "whose God is all in all, and rich toward all who call upon them." He then rejects this Castulo in Baetica, which the Spanish call Cazlona, because Bishop Marcus of Castellon subscribed to the tenth Council of Toledo in the year of Christ 656, the Spanish Era 694 -- when Saint Amandus was already Bishop of Castellon.

[149] Marcus Amandus is established in Catalonia by Ramirez de Prado, But why was not this Marcus Bishop of Castellon in Catalonia rather than in Baetica, since he claims that the city in Catalonia was once called Castulo? Secondly, why not someone bearing two names, and called Marcus Amandus? So holds Laurence Ramirez de Prado in his Notes to the Chronicle of Luitprand, in which under the year of the Spanish Era 687, of Christ 649, it is reported in number 85 that ^a Synod of Seville was then held against the Monothelites; to which he adds:

"In order that this may be better understood, it is necessary to observe that the holy Bishop Pope Martin I signifies by letter to Marcus Amandus, Bishop of Castellon (Castellon de la Plana in common usage), in the kingdom of Catalonia, the discovery of the books sought by Taio, but did not wait for the Moralia to be written ... Concerning the subject matter of this Council, Saint Martin writes to the said Bishop thus ... Marcus Amandus, having received the letters from Pope Saint Martin, is sent to the Kings, who are to command Eugene to convene ^a Synod at Toledo. This is against the Monothelites, that we may see how great is the observance of the Kings of Spain toward the holy Roman See, and the obedience of the Bishops, who, having held ^a Synod at Toledo where the Lateran Synod was received with honor and they abjured and detested the Monothelite heresy, send this Synod to Rome with the Bishops Taio and Marcus Amandus. And it is astonishing how this Synod has perished, although we find its traces, clear and expressed, in Onuphrius, Rodrigo, and Julian of Toledo." [The letter of Pope Saint Martin to Saint Amandus of Maastricht applied to this person.] So says Ramirez de Prado concerning the two-named Marcus Amandus, having inserted part of the letter of Pope Saint Martin given to Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht; and having omitted the earlier part pertaining to the See of Maastricht, he begins from these words: "But we believe it has reached you, how from the disturbance of the true faith and the trampling of the Catholic Church, more than twenty-four years ago" (others: twenty-five) "from Sergius, the false Bishop of Constantinople, with the Emperor Heraclius aiding him, an execrable and abominable heresy sprouted forth." From which words we begin number 48 below in the Life of Saint Amandus by Abbot Philip. Some things interposed about King Sigibert of the Franks in number 49 are omitted; the following things are prefixed, which in number 50 are reported concerning the relics of Saints donated and the books to be copied. Does any codex of the Councils exist anywhere in which these things are reported separately? Why is it not cited, if it exists? If it does not exist, whence are these things pushed into the light in this manner? In Onuphrius Panvinius, cited by him, these words, "The Synod of Seville against the Monothelites," are repeated from Luitprand under the year of Christ 650. But Rodrigo of Toledo, in Book 2 of his History, chapter 22, asserts that the mystery of the Holy Trinity was handed down in ^a Council of Toledo under Eugene the Metropolitan, without any mention of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Castellon -- at whose instigation that Synod is written to have been held in the Chronicle of Julian.

[150] Our Saint Amandus was not in Spain in the year 649 or following. Having set forth these things, we judge that if there was at that time in Spain ^a Saint Amandus, Bishop of Castellon, he must necessarily be established as different from Saint Amandus, then Bishop of Maastricht, to whom Pope Saint Martin sent his distinguished letter, hitherto published, appended to the Lateran Synod held in the year 649. He, having left the See of Maastricht, as was demonstrated in section 12, sought Rome -- not with any Taio the Spaniard, but having taken as his companions Nicasius of Elnone and Saint Humbert, Abbot of Maroilles. Then from Rome he returned not to Spain but to Belgium in the year 651, having received as helpers Saints Landoald the Archpriest, Amantius the Deacon, the Virgins Vinciana and Adeltrudis, and seven other men and women. And immediately he ordained Saint Bavo ^a Cleric, enclosed him in ^a cell in the year 655, and buried him after his holy death in the year 657. When Saint Adalbald was killed in the year 652, he persuaded Saint Rictrude to embrace continence and the monastic life. By the preaching of the divine word, while consecrating the oratory of Saint Ghislain with Blessed Autbert, he induced Saint Vincent Madalgerus to the monastic life. Then around the year 660 he dedicated at Antwerp the church built by him and founded various monasteries in Belgium, and preached at Calloo on the Scheldt -- whose town Chauelaus in Baudemund some have vainly dreamed to be Castulo or Cazlona in Baetica. Finally, when Saint Florebert died among the people of Ghent on the Kalends of November in the year 664, Amandus created as Abbots Aldebert of the monastery of Saint Bavo's and John of Blandinium. All of which things are confirmed above in section 13.

[151] He visits the Basques, then the Ruteni, after the year 664. After these times, as we indicate in section 14, he set out toward the Pyrenean mountain passes to instruct the Basques. But since they persisted in their blindness, he returned to nearer Francia and built monasteries -- one, as far as we can conjecture, in the territory of Bourbon, and another clearly expressed as Nant among the Ruteni, peoples entirely neighboring the Arverni, whose Bishop Saint Genesius, as Luitprand reports in his Adversaria, number 220, admonished Saint Ildefonsus in the year 665 by letters concerning the heresy of Jovinian stirred up by certain persons who said that the Blessed Virgin remained corrupted in childbirth, etc. We shall treat of Saint Genesius on June 3. Saint Amandus could have written to Saint Ildefonsus either by shared zeal with Saint Genesius or spontaneously and incited by his own zeal, and thus given occasion for confusing the deeds of this and another Amandus, Bishop of Castellon -- as we said above was done with Saint Amandus, Bishop of Bordeaux, Saint Amantius, Bishop of Rodez, Saint Alan or Elan the Bishop, Patron of the Church of Vaurais, Saint Amandus, Bishop of Strasbourg, and Saint Amandus, Bishop of Worms; although some of these were distant by several centuries from Saint Amandus of Maastricht.

[152] Whose Amandus's relics are preserved at Perpignan? Anthony Vincent Domenec, in his book On the Saints of Catalonia under February 6, reports that the sacred relics of Saint Amandus, Bishop and Confessor, are preserved with great veneration in the Eulalian Church of the city of Perpignan in the diocese of Elne; which Tamayo Salazar attempts to explain as ^a not inconsiderable part translated from Belgium. But just as the Relics of others called Saint Amandus were preserved among the people of Strasbourg and Worms, although the Ecclesiastical office of Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, was recited there, so we entirely believe that the Relics of another Saint Amandus are preserved in Catalonia, where Saint Amandus is reported to have been Bishop of Castellon. Francis Portacarrero of our Society, in chapter 14 of the Life of Saint Ildefonsus, mentions Amandus, Bishop of Castellon, and places his See in Baetica at the place now called Cazlona.

Life by Baudemund, his disciple, Abbot of Blandinium, From eleven manuscript codices and Surius.

Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, at Elnone in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0332

By Baudemund, from the manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] As I set about writing the life of Blessed Amandus, I invoke the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, The author selects ^a few things concerning Saint Amandus, that He who deigned to bestow virtues upon him might also grant me the speech to narrate them; so that I may both render to your charity the due office of service, and ensure that he who is in every way to be imitated does not remain hidden. For although I am unequal in talent to so great ^a subject, and am weighed down by the burden of triviality or sloth, yet I raise my hope to Him who said: "Open your mouth, and I will fill it" Psalm 80:11; and relying especially on your prayers, so that what I cannot obtain by my own merits, with your blessedness praying for me, I may be able, with heavenly grace assisting, to undertake ^a work so arduous and difficult, and hitherto unexamined by me. For first I wish you to know that I am quite unable to touch upon all the virtues which the Lord deigned to work through him. And although I cannot reach all his deeds, yet, as the Lord shall infuse strength, I shall endeavor to take up ^a few things from among many, rapidly and concisely, and, so to speak, briefly. For it is unworthy that anyone should dare to be silent about so great ^a man, since the merciful Arbiter of all things established such ^a cultivator in the field of ecclesiastical culture, through whom, as he tended His field with the diligent labor of the rake of faith, the harvest of Christ should grow to ^a hundredfold return. For the provisions of the immense Divinity are sufficiently solicitous for the human race, since it deigned to send such ^a one for the illumination of his country, at the counsel of mercy. And although he was unwilling to make himself widely known through rumor-mongers, yet, as the Truth Himself says, "a city set on ^a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5:14 And, may it be permitted me to confess this with the peace of all the Saints, he is second to none among them in merits, whom he judges second to none of the Saints, whose virtues we have come to know. Therefore, lest ^a prolix discourse strike horror and generate, as it usually does, tedium in the reader, I shall take care, despite my rustic and common speech, yet for the sake of example and imitation, to commit to memory, setting aside bashfulness, the life of Saint Amandus -- how he lived from boyhood to his full maturity, how he conducted himself before and during his Episcopate, what kind of man he was near his blessed end, and how he maintained the rigor of his mind and purpose.

CHAPTER 1

The Life of Saint Amandus in his homeland, the island of Oye, and at Bourges.

[2] The most holy and most devout Amandus, therefore, was born ^a boy in the regions of Aquitaine, not far from the shore of the Ocean sea, of Christian and illustrious parents. Saint Amandus, Aquitanian by birth, His father was named Serenus, and his mother was called Amantia. But when, passing beyond adolescence, he was entering upon the vigor of manhood, and was burning with immoderate desires in the love of Christ, leaving his homeland and parents, he sailed with ^a prosperous course to the island of Oye, which is forty miles distant from the shore of the Ocean sea, and at length reached the port of the monastery, he is trained among the monks of the island of Oye: and there he was received by the spiritual Brethren with great joy. And because he had learned the sacred letters from infancy, from this point, kindled with greater desire, he daily grew more and more in the things of God.

[3] On ^a certain day, therefore, when the Brethren had commanded him, for the sake of obedience, to walk through the island, there suddenly came upon him ^a serpent of wondrous size -- as the man of God himself was accustomed to relate -- so huge and monstrous that its like had never been seen on that island, either before or since. Seeing it, the boy was terrified, as his age permitted, and knew not what to do. Then, suddenly looked upon by heavenly grace, he fled to the aid of prayers. [Seeing the enormous serpent, he is terrified; he drives it away with the sign of the cross:] Immediately prostrate on the ground, after he had devoted himself to prayer for some time, he opposed the sign of the Cross against the monstrous serpent, and by the powerful virtue of his words, he commanded it to return to its lair as quickly as possible. The serpent, obedient to his word and fleeing at the sign of the man of God, returning with rapid course to its lair, was nowhere further seen on that island. And thus through the prayer of the blessed man Amandus, Almighty God delivered that island from imminent danger. This first of his signs was brought to us by the widespread report of many.

[4] Then, while he was still of boyish age, his father began to entice him with flattering words He resists his father who urges the secular habit: to leave the monastery as soon as possible and resume the secular habit. And when by these and similar persuasions he was trying to overturn his mind, protesting that unless he quickly gave his consent to leave the monastery, he would be deprived of his paternal inheritance, he is reported to have answered: "Nothing, Father, seems to me more fitting than that I should take up the service of Christ, who is my portion and my inheritance. For I desire to obtain nothing of paternal possessions: only permit me to serve Christ."

[5] He goes to Tours, to Saint Martin: And so, persisting in the same desire, leaving his homeland and parents, he made for Tours, to the tomb of the most holy Martin. And there, prostrate and pouring forth abundant tears in prayer, he petitioned with the whole affection of his heart that the holy man would deign by his prayer to obtain from God that the Lord would never permit him to return to his own homeland, but that he might spend the whole course of his life in pilgrimage. And when he had risen from prayer, he immediately cut off the hair of his head, and having obtained the honor of the Clerical state, he is tonsured as ^a Cleric: he surpassed all grace in the Clergy.

[6] After this, having received ^a blessing from the Abbot of that place and from the Brethren, he made for the city of Bourges, to the holy Austregisilus, who was then held to be magnificent and distinguished in the things of God. And when he had been most kindly received by him [He lives as ^a solitary for fifteen years under Saints Austregisilus and Sulpicius Pius.] and by his Archdeacon, the most holy Sulpicius, who afterwards shone as ^a Bishop, with every kindness shown to him, they had ^a cell built for him near the church in the upper wall of the city, in which cell, for the love of eternal life, for many days covered with ^a hair shirt and ashes, worn out by fasting and privation, content with only barley bread and water, he barely sustained rather than nourished his body. And so there, serving for nearly three lustral periods, he abstained entirely from wine and strong drink.

CHAPTER 2

The twofold Roman journey of Saint Amandus. His Episcopal ordination. A storm calmed.

[7] These things having been thus accomplished, inflamed again with heavenly desire, the thought occurred to him that he ought to hasten to the thresholds of the most blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. And taking with him only one companion, traversing squalid and trackless places, He goes to Rome: he at length reached Rome. And there, satisfied with his holy desire, pressing most sweet kisses upon the thresholds of the Apostles, he would by day go around the places of the churches of God, he visits the sacred places; but by night he would return to the church of Saint Peter.

[8] On ^a certain day, as evening was now approaching, when the custodians had made their rounds in the church according to custom, expelled from the church, the holy man of God, Amandus, lingered ^a little in the church after all had gone out, desiring out of devotion to keep vigil there the whole night. But one of the custodians found him, treated him contemptuously with insults, and cast him outside the church. But as he sat in an ecstasy of mind on the steps before the doors of the church, suddenly the holy Peter appeared to him, addressed him gently and softly, and admonished him that he ought to return to Gaul to exercise preaching. He is sent back to Gaul by Saint Peter appearing to him: By this vision the holy man Amandus was made more cheerful, and having received the blessing and patronage of the Apostle, he happily returned to Gaul.

[9] In the meantime, after ^a few days had passed, compelled by the King and the Bishops, he was ordained Bishop. And having received the honor of the Pontificate, he began to preach the word of the Lord to the Gentiles, he is ordained as an Apostolic Bishop, and to present himself in all things as an example of good works. He was most merciful and filled with all goodness, serene of countenance, generous in almsgiving, sober in mind, chaste in body, and standing in the middle between rich and poor, endowed with every virtue: so that the poor regarded him as one of themselves, and the rich esteemed him as their superior. Devoted to vigils and prayers, cautious in speech. If he found any captives or boys from overseas, he would pay the price to redeem them, he redeems captives and instructs them: and regenerating them with the spiritual bath, he ordered them to be thoroughly instructed in letters, and having granted them freedom, he distributed them among various Churches. And we have heard that many of these later became Bishops, Presbyters, or honorable Abbots.

[10] On his second return from Rome This also should not be omitted: that the same man of God, Amandus, returning ^a second time from Rome, having embarked on ^a ship, arrived at the place of Civitavecchia. On ^a certain night, while he was praying alone, as was his custom, an unclean spirit seized the hand of one of his servants and was dragging him to the sea, wishing to drown him there. But the same boy who was being dragged began to cry out with loud voices, saying: "Christ, help me! Christ, help me!" He rescues ^a servant about to be drowned by the devil: The evil spirit immediately insulted the boy, responding: "What sort of Christ?" But when the boy who was being dragged gave no answer, Saint Amandus said: "Tell him, son: Christ, the Son of the living God, the crucified." And immediately at his voice the enemy vanished like smoke.

[11] Not long after, when on ^a certain day he was sailing through the middle of the sea and was teaching the sailors the word of the Lord, there suddenly appeared to them ^a fish of wondrous size. As ^a storm rages, The sailors, having cast their net into the sea, caught the same fish. And while they were feasting, and exulting with mutual applause, suddenly an unexpected storm arose, which turned all their joy to mourning. They began to throw into the sea whatever they had on the ship, both provisions of food and all supplies, and even the ship's rigging, and they labored vehemently to reach land, but they could accomplish nothing at all. The ship, battered, was carried hither and thither by the waves. And so all had abandoned every hope of life, and immediately the sailors ran to the servant of God, Amandus, begging him to implore the Lord that through his prayer He might deliver them from the imminent danger. But the man of the Lord, Amandus, gently consoling them, bade them have confidence, he comforts the sailors, and faithfully admonished them to have trust in the Lord's mercy. But the sailors, exhausted by excessive labor, lay here and there in the ship, overcome by sleep. The Saint himself also sat in the stern of the ship, resting. Then unexpectedly the holy Peter appeared to him, passing through the stern of the ship; Saint Peter appearing, and rousing him and addressing him gently, he said: "Fear not, Amandus: you shall not perish, nor those who are with you." And immediately at his word, the storm was calmed, he obtains tranquility. and great tranquility was restored. And when morning came, all who were on the ship with the man of God disembarked safe and unharmed onto land.

CHAPTER 3

The Word of God preached by Saint Amandus to the people of Ghent. A dead man raised at Tournai.

[12] Now at that same time, when the man of the Lord, Amandus, was going about various places and dioceses out of concern for souls, he heard that there was ^a certain district beyond the streams of the river Scheldt, the name of which is Ghent. The ancient wickedness of the devil had so vehemently ensnared the inhabitants of that place round about with his snares He approaches the people of Ghent, who are strangers to the faith, that the inhabitants of that land, having abandoned God, worshipped trees and wood as God, and adored shrines and idols. On account of the ferocity of that people, and the barrenness of the land, all priests had withdrawn themselves from preaching in that place, and no one dared to announce the word of the Lord in that same place. Hearing this, the holy man, pitying their error more than fearing for the danger of his own life, went to Bishop Acharius, who at that time presided over the priestly chair of the city of Noyon, and humbly requested him to go as quickly as possible to King Dagobert and receive letters by his command, so that if anyone were unwilling to be regenerated of his own accord through the bath of baptism, he might be compelled by the King to be washed in sacred baptism. And so it was done. Having received authority from the King and ^a blessing from the Bishop, the man of the Lord Amandus proceeded there fearlessly. For scarcely could anyone worthily narrate he suffers much from the unbelievers: how many injuries he endured there for the name of Christ, and how frequently he was beaten by the inhabitants of that place, and not without insult was he repulsed by women and by rustics, but was even often cast headlong into the river. Counting all these things as nothing, the holy man did not cease to proclaim the word of the Lord, remembering that saying of the holy Gospel which says: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:15 Even his companions, who had followed him out of brotherly love, returning to their own homes on account of the want of food and the barrenness of the place, left him there alone. But he himself, persevering in the office of preaching, acquired food by his own hands. He redeems captives: Indeed, redeeming innumerable captives, he cleansed them by sacred baptism, and faithfully exhorted them to persevere in good works.

[13] We also thought it worthwhile to append to this account what we learned from the narration of ^a venerable Priest, ^a man named Bonus, who testified that he was present when this thing was done. For he related that ^a certain Count of Frankish descent, surnamed Dotto, having assembled ^a not inconsiderable multitude of Franks, in the city of Tournai, as he had been charged, had sat down to adjudicate cases. Then suddenly ^a certain criminal was presented before him by the lictors, whom the whole crowd cried out was worthy of death. For the same thief had already been cruelly afflicted with blows, and severely beaten, a thief who had been hanged and was even half-dead in body. When the aforesaid Dotto had decreed that he should be affixed to the gallows, the man of the Lord, Amandus, arriving, began with earnest prayer to request that he deign to grant the man his life. But as he was fierce and more cruel than every wild beast, he could obtain nothing from him. And at length the same thief was affixed to the gallows by the officers and attendants, and breathed his last. Dotto therefore returned home, accompanied by ^a throng of people. But the holy man of the Lord Amandus ran quickly to the gallows, and found the man already dead: and having taken him down from the wood, he had him carried to the chamber in which he was accustomed to pray in private, and when the brethren had left the cell, he himself bent over the limbs of the dead man in prayer for so long, pouring forth tears and prayers to the Lord, he raises him from death: until at God's command the soul returned to the body, and the man began to speak with the man of God. And so when morning came, having summoned the brethren, he ordered water to be brought. But when they supposed that he intended, as is the custom, to wash the body for burial, suddenly entering the cell, they saw the same man whom they had left for dead sitting healthy with the man of God, and conversing in good health: and they began to marvel greatly that they saw alive the one whom ^a little before they had left dead. He seeks to have the miracle concealed. Then the holy man of the Lord Amandus began most vehemently to adjure all those present that they should never reveal to anyone what the Lord had deigned to work through him; asserting that this was not to be ascribed to his own virtue, but to the mercy of the Lord, who deigns to be present everywhere to those who hope in him. And so, having washed his whole body and the wounds, he restored flesh to flesh, so that of the wounds which he had previously endured, no trace appeared on his body. And thus sending him back to his own home, he restored him safe and sound to his parents.

[14] But when this miracle had been published far and wide, immediately the inhabitants of that region ran with swift course to him, and humbly requested that he make them Christians. He builds churches and monasteries. Even the shrines which they had previously been accustomed to worship, destroying them with their own hands, they all came unanimously to the man of God. For where the shrines were being destroyed, the man of the Lord Amandus, both from the munificence of the King and from the contributions of religious men and religious women, immediately built monasteries or churches: and refreshing the people with the food of the sacred word, he illuminated the hearts of all with heavenly commandments.

CHAPTER 4

The Journey to the Slavs. The Exile of Saint Amandus. The Baptism of Saint Sigebert.

[15] When now the holy man saw that some were being converted to God by his preaching, from this he burned with even greater desire that still others might be converted. He heard at length that the Slavs, deceived by excessive error, were held oppressed by the snares of the devil. And confident that he could attain the palm of martyrdom there, having crossed the Danube, he went around those same places, He preaches Christ to the Slavs: preaching the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles with ^a free voice. But when only ^a few of them had been regenerated in Christ, seeing that the fruit was not sufficiently increasing for him, and that the martyrdom which he always sought he would not yet attain, he returned again to his own flock, and caring for them, led them by preaching to the heavenly kingdom.

[16] Meanwhile King Dagobert, given over to the love of women more than was fitting, and inflamed with every filth of lust, seemed by no means likely to have offspring: yet he took refuge in the Lord's aid, and earnestly besought that He might deign to give him ^a son who after him would govern the scepter of his kingdom. And so, by God's gift, it was done. And when it had been reported to him that the Lord had deigned to give him ^a son, immediately filled with great joy, he began to think to whom he should entrust the boy, who ought to regenerate him in sacred baptism. And immediately having summoned his ministers, Rebuking the incontinence of King Dagobert, he is banished: he commanded with eager intention that they should seek out Saint Amandus. For the Bishop himself had long since, because he had rebuked the King for capital crimes — which none of the other priests had dared to do — at the King's command, been expelled from his kingdom not without insult. But he, seeking out more remote places, was preaching the word of God to the Gentiles. He is recalled:

[17] When he had at last been found by the ministers, and admonished that he should go to the King, remembering that precept of the Apostle, that one should submit to the higher powers, he at length came to the King, who in those days was residing in the estate the name of which is Clichy. Romans 13:1 And when the King saw the most blessed Amandus, he was filled with great joy: and prostrate at the feet of the blessed man, he besought him to deign to grant pardon for so great ^a crime as he had perpetrated against him. But he, as he was most gentle and patient beyond measure, quickly raised him from the ground and most mercifully forgave the wrong perpetrated against him. Then the King said to Saint Amandus: "I greatly repent that I acted foolishly against you. The King seeks pardon, I pray therefore that you not remember the injury which I inflicted upon you, and that you not disdain to consent to my request which I most earnestly make. The Lord has given me ^a son, not by my preceding merits, and I pray that you deign to wash him in sacred baptism and receive him as your spiritual son." The man of the Lord vehemently declined this, knowing it to be written that one who serves as ^a soldier of God ought not to be entangled in secular affairs, and that, quiet and retired, at the entreaty of Saints Audoenus and Eligius, he ought not to frequent the royal palaces, and he withdrew from the King's presence. 1 Timothy 2:4 Immediately therefore the King sent to him the illustrious man Dado, and with him the venerable man Eligius, who at that time were living in the King's palace in secular attire, whom however afterwards many knew to have been outstanding priests, and distinguished in merits, signs, and virtues. These humbly petitioned the man of God that he would give his assent to the King's prayers, and deign to wash his son in the sacred font, and that he would consent as soon as possible to nourish him and imbue him with divine law, saying that if the man of God would not refuse this, through this familiarity he would more freely have license to preach wherever he chose in his kingdom, and they declared that through this favor he would be able to win over many nations. At length, wearied by the prayers of both, he promised that he would do it. But when the King heard that Saint Amandus would not refuse his prayers, he immediately ordered the boy to be brought, who was said to have no more than about forty days from his birth. The holy man therefore received the boy in his hands, and blessing him, made him ^a catechumen. He baptizes Saint Sigebert, who responds "Amen." And when the prayer was finished, and no one from the surrounding multitude had responded "Amen," the Lord opened the mouth of the boy, and in the hearing of all, he responded in ^a clear voice, "Amen." And immediately regenerating him in sacred baptism, and imposing the name Sigebert, Saint Amandus then filled the King and his entire army with great joy.

g. Around the year 634.

CHAPTER 5

The Bishopric of Saint Amandus at Maastricht. The Calloani and Gascons instructed in the doctrine of the faith.

[18] These things having been thus accomplished, when the day of his death arrived, the Bishop of Maastricht happily departed to Christ. The King, therefore, learning of the death of this venerable man, He becomes Bishop of Maastricht: had Saint Amandus summoned. And having assembled ^a multitude of priests and no small throng of people, he appointed him to govern the Church of Maastricht. But when he refused and protested that he was unworthy, all cried out with one voice that he was worthy of the priesthood, and that out of concern for souls he ought to take up the Church rather than the pursuit of money. Compelled therefore by the King and the priests, he received the pontifical chair. And so for nearly three years, going about villages and strongholds, he preached the word of the Lord steadfastly to all. Many also (which is ^a shameful thing to say) priests and deacons, spurning his preaching, disdained to hear him. But he, according to the precept of the Gospel, shaking the dust from his feet as ^a testimony, hastened to other places. Matthew 10:14

[19] At length, therefore, finding ^a small island, the name of which is Chavelaus, near the river Scheldt, he endeavored for some days to serve Christ there with his spiritual brethren. He preaches to the Calloani, But ^a great plague afflicted the despisers of the word of God for nearly two years, so that houses were overturned and fields were reduced to desolation: and even villages and strongholds were destroyed, (the people of Maastricht being punished) and scarcely anyone remained in those regions who had despised the man of God when he preached.

[20] Not long after, when he was asked by the brethren whom he had left in various places for the care of souls, to visit them with his presence and deign to refresh them with the food of the sacred word; at length having accepted their request, he came to them, and heard from them that the people which antiquity called Vaccaea, which is now commonly called Gascony, was so deceived by excessive error that, given over to auguries and every sort of error, they even worshipped idols instead of God. This people was spread over harsh and inaccessible places around the Pyrenean passes, and trusting in the agility of their fighting, frequently occupied the borders of the Franks. But the man of the Lord, Amandus, pitying their error, began strenuously to labor to recall them from the service of the devil. and to the Gascons: But while he was preaching the divine word to them and announcing the Gospel of salvation, one of his attendants rose up, frivolous and slippery, as well as proud, and laughing with words suited to mockery — whom the common people call ^a buffoon — and began to disparage the servant of Christ and to count the Gospel which he preached as nothing. But in that very hour the wretch, seized by ^a demon, began to tear himself with his own hands, and was compelled publicly to confess that on account of the injury which he had inflicted upon the servant of God, he deserved to suffer these things. And so, while still in that very torment, he breathed his last.

[21] But while they still remained in their blindness, when the holy man was departing to other places, he came to ^a certain city. There, when he had been honorably received by the Bishop of that city, and the Bishop, in the manner of hospitality, was pouring water on his hands, he secretly instructed his minister to carry the same water, in which the man of God had washed his hands, to be carefully preserved in the sacristy of the church. And so it was done. For the aforesaid Bishop of the city was quite confident that the same blessing of the man of God could restore health to the faithful. At that same time also ^a certain blind man was sitting before the doors of the church begging, who had long since lost his bodily sight. To whom the Bishop of that city said: "O man, if you have faith, wash your eyes with the water A blind man's sight was restored by the water in which he had washed his hands, in which the man of God Amandus washed his hands. For I am confident that through his holiness you will obtain your former health." And when the same blind man had washed his eyes with that same water, immediately at God's command he recovered his former sight, so that he saw all things clearly.

CHAPTER 6. Monasteries built by Saint Amandus, miracles performed.

[22] These things having been thus accomplished, the same man of the Lord Amandus returned to the territories of the Franks, and chose for himself ^a place suitable for preaching, He builds monasteries: Amandinum in which, together with the brethren who with him had suffered many trials through various provinces for the name of Christ, he built ^a monastery. And from those same brethren we afterward saw many become Abbots or honorable men. About the same time the holy man of the Lord Amandus went to King Childeric, and humbly requested him to deign to grant him some township for building ^a monastery, not for the sake of ambition, but for the salvation of souls. And the aforesaid King gave him ^a place called Nant. In which the man of the Lord with eager intent began to build ^a monastery. and Nantoene:

[23] But ^a certain Mummulus, Bishop of the city of Uzes, bore it very ill that the same man of the Lord had obtained that place from the King: and inflamed with the torches of envy, he endeavored to destroy the same man of the Lord. And having sent swift men, he commanded them to cast the same man of God contemptuously from the place with insults, He is led away, to be killed by treachery, or at least to punish him in that very place. And coming to him, the ministers said with feigned deceit that they ought to show him ^a place suitable for building ^a monastery: he should only hasten thither with them. But their deception could not be hidden, God revealing it. And when they pretended to lead him to the aforesaid place, the man of the Lord Amandus was not unaware of the place where they planned to kill him. At length therefore they came to the brow of ^a hill, to behead him there. Yet the man of the Lord was unwilling to reveal this beforehand to his companions, because he was hastening most willingly to martyrdom. But suddenly ^a storm of rain and hail arose, he is freed by ^a sudden tempest and blindness sent upon the assassins; and dark clouds covered the entire area of that hill, so that the officers who had been sent to kill him, having lost their sight, could see nothing at all. Having now no hope of life, prostrate at the feet of the holy man, they begged pardon, and he heals them with prayers: humbly besought him to let them go alive. Then the man of the Lord had recourse to his customary aids, namely the help of prayers, and pouring forth tears most abundantly, he bent over in prayer until, with serenity restored and sight also recovered by the officers, they returned to their own homes not without fear and astonishment. And with the ministers thus struck with such terror, the man of the Lord escaped death unharmed.

[24] Nor did I think this also should be passed over, which I learned from the narration of ^a Priest named Erchengisilus, ^a venerable and faithful man. On ^a certain day, while the man of the Lord Amandus was preaching the word of the Lord in the district of Beauvais, he came to ^a certain place the name of which is Ressons, beside the river Aronde. And there was ^a certain blind woman, [a woman who, because she worshipped ^a tree dedicated to ^a demon, had been made blind,] who, having long since lost her sight, knew nothing but darkness. But the man of God, entering her house, began to inquire of her how this blindness had come upon her. And she replied that this blindness had befallen her for no other reason than that she had always worshipped auguries and idols; moreover, she showed him the place where she had been accustomed to worship the aforesaid idol, namely ^a tree that had been dedicated to ^a demon. To whom the man of the Lord said: "I do not wonder that you have been made blind for this folly: but I marvel at the clemency of the Lord, who sustains you by waiting for you so long, in that, when you ought to worship your Creator and Redeemer, you worship demons and mute idols, which can profit neither you nor themselves. Now therefore take an axe, he commands the tree to be cut down and hasten to cut down as quickly as possible this abominable tree, through which you lost the light of your body and forfeited the salvation of your soul. For I am confident that, if you believe firmly, you can obtain from the Lord your former sight." And so the woman, led by the hands of her handmaid, quickly reached the tree and endeavored to cut it down. Then the man of the Lord Amandus, calling her to himself and impressing the sign of the Cross upon her eyes, and illuminates her with the sign of the Cross. invoking the name of Christ, restored her to her former health. Leaving her instructed as to how she ought to conduct herself: all the days of her life she showed herself chaste and sober, and leading ^a more correct life thereafter, she changed her ways for the better.

CHAPTER 7. Disobedience punished. The death of Saint Amandus.

[25] This also, which the Lord deigned to show for the increase of his praise, does not seem proper to be covered in silence. And so at ^a certain time, when he had commanded ^a certain monk, namely the Provost of his monastery, named Chrodobaldus, He strikes ^a disobedient monk with paralysis, through ^a certain messenger, to prepare wagons to bring wine for the use of the brethren to the monastery, the man is said to have been disobedient. But divine punishment followed him that very night. For while he was making his journey to go to the man of God for the purpose of excusing himself, saying that he had no wagons at all, he is said to have been so dissolved by ^a total paralysis of his body that he could not move even his hand or foot. And now with all his flesh as if dead, the vital spirit gasped in his breast alone. And with ^a faint breath he strove to confess, as he was able, that he deserved to suffer these things on account of his disobedience and stubbornness. And so the brethren, placing the aforesaid monk in ^a boat, brought him to the monastery whose name the founders gave as Elnone, to the man of God Amandus. And when the day was already growing late, after the solemnities of the Mass and the evening office had been completed, the man of the Lord had gone to take his meal according to custom, when suddenly it was reported to him how the same monk was ill. And gently, as they say, smiling, he is reported to have said: "He will yet endure greater perils, because he was greatly given to boastfulness and disobedience." But nevertheless he ordered ^a certain Priest, ^a faithful man, to be called to him, having sent bread and wine, he heals him: and through the same Priest he sent ^a cup of wine and ^a piece of bread to that same monk, and sent him word, saying: "Go, and tell that monk to take some of this bread and wine, and tomorrow, God willing, when I go to visit him, let him come forth to meet me, and let him not suffer himself to lie in bed." And so it was done. The same monk, having received the Father's blessing, so recovered the health of his entire body as if he had never suffered any injury at all. And so when the holy man arrived, the monk went forth to meet him and began to speak with him. And the brethren began to marvel greatly that they saw alive and well the one whom they had almost suspected to be dead. But the man of the Lord Amandus, having granted pardon to the brother, admonished him to change his ways henceforth for the better, and sent him back healthy to the monastery.

[26] There are indeed many other things which the Lord deigned to work through him, he performs many miracles: unknown indeed to us but known to God. But as for what has come to our ears from the narration of faithful men, if I should wish to pursue all of it, the day, I think, would run out before the discourse. For what virtues did the Lord not display through him, since he restored life to the dead, sight to the blind, the power of walking to the paralyzed, cleanliness to the lepers, hearing to the deaf, and health to those oppressed by demons?

[27] And so the most holy Amandus of the Lord, having faithfully completed his course, he dies in holiness: and filled with the fruit of all good works, when the day of his most holy death arrived, happily departed to Christ. And he was buried with magnificent honor in the place the name of which is Elnone. In which place many benefits are effected through his prayers, and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is praised there by all: He is buried at Elnone. to whom with the eternal Father and the Holy Spirit belongs virtue and honor, glory and dominion, praise and power through the infinite ages of ages, Amen.

ANOTHER LIFE

By an anonymous Aquitanian author, From the manuscript of Andre du Chesne.

BHL Number: 0335

By an Anonymous Aquitanian Author.

[1] The Blessed Amandus drew his origin in the district of Herbauges, not far from the shore of the Ocean in Gaul, Saint Amandus born in the district of Herbauges, from illustrious and Catholic parents: his father was called Serenus by name, and his mother was named Amantia. Having been instructed in letters from infancy, with divine grace inspiring him, leaving his parents and homeland, choosing the life of cenobites, he sailed to an island named Oye, which is distant from the shore of Gaul by forty miles: a monk, and there in ^a certain monastery, taking the habit of religion, he was received with joy. On ^a certain day, while walking through the island, he saw ^a serpent, or snake, of wondrous size. At the sight of which the boy Saint Amandus was terrified, he puts ^a serpent to flight with the sign of the Cross: and prostrate in prayer, he opposed the sign of the Cross against the serpent, and compelled it to flee to its lair so as never again to come forth, nor did it appear from that time. And thus he freed the inhabitants of that island from the peril of the serpent. His parents indeed wished to bring him back home, to which he by no means consented.

[2] After this, Amandus, requesting leave and ^a blessing from the Father of the monastery which was near the sea, for the sake of pilgrimage, journeyed alone in the land of the Burgundians, in the city of Bourges, for many days, he is enclosed at Bourges: that is, for fifteen years he lived as ^a pilgrim, and was kindly received by Saint Austregisilus, Bishop of that city. There, having built ^a cell near the church, clothed in ^a hair shirt and sustained by barley bread and cider, he led an austere life. Now on ^a certain day, when he desired to go to ^a certain place of prayer, at about the sixth hour of the day, suffused with ^a most brilliant ray, for ^a moment the whole world seemed to appear before him.

[3] Then, taking one companion and riding on ^a donkey, penetrating Italy through the byways of the Alps, to visit the thresholds and shrines of the holy Apostles and Martyrs, At Rome he came to the city of Rome. There, walking about the holy places by day, he would return by night to the church of Saint Peter. And while sitting on the steps of the church in an ecstasy of mind, Saint Peter appeared to him with ^a serene countenance, he is visited by Saint Peter: and with ^a gentle speech told him to return for the sake of preaching. Rejoicing at the vision, he knew that he had found the grace of God which he had sought.

[4] After this, Amandus returned to Gaul, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God. He was serene of countenance, he preaches in Gaul: chaste in body, given to vigils and prayers, cautious in speech. Thus among the nations he led the life of an anchorite. He purchased very many boys from overseas and cleansed them through the bath of baptism.

[5] Again, with ^a retinue of clerics, he went to the city of Rome and was honorably received by the Pope. The boys whom he had brought, He goes to Rome: he donated to the holy places. Returning to Gaul, he brought with him the divine codices of both Testaments and treatises. When he had sailed through the sea of Sardinia, he preached to the sailors concerning peace and charity. While they were eating and drinking, ^a great fish appeared, which was caught by the art of fishing, at which the sailors rejoiced. But when ^a great storm arose, returning, he is comforted by Saint Peter in ^a storm: despairing of life, they cast into the sea all that they had. Then all besought the servant of God Amandus that through his prayer God might deliver them from the danger of death. But he, consoling them, fearlessly preached the word of God. And the blessed Apostle appeared to the man of God Amandus, saying: "Fear not; for you shall not perish, nor those who are with you." And when morning came, tranquility was restored, and all arrived safe and sound at port.

[6] He preaches to the people of Ghent: After some time had passed, Saint Amandus heard that on the borders of the Franks and the Gentiles there was ^a certain place, the name of which is Ghent, near the streams of the Scheldt: which, on account of the ferocity of the people and the barrenness of the land, had been abandoned by preachers, but was profane and given over to idolatry. Therefore Amandus exposed himself to danger in order to free the inhabitants of that place from the snare of the devil, and with God as his guide he proceeded thither, where he endured many tribulations for the name of Christ, and when his companions returned to their own homes on account of the lack of food and clothing, he remained alone: he suffers much: and with his own hand he turned the millstone, and made the bread mixed with ashes which he ate. Often also, while he was destroying shrines, he was struck by women and men and cast into the river. Nevertheless, redeeming captives from servitude, he brought them to the grace of baptism.

[7] Now on ^a certain day, when Amandus the worshipper of God came to the court of the Franks, in order to preach the Gospel to the Franks as they assembled together, the Counts brought to him one man bound, half-dead, struck with the most grievous wounds. The man of God pleaded on his behalf, that he might lead ^a religious life if he could escape from those wounds: but he could obtain nothing from that Prince; and the Count ordered the man to be hanged on ^a gibbet. a man who had been hanged Therefore they hanged him, and leaving him dead, returned home. But the servant of God Amandus ran to the stake, and ordered his body to be carried to his cell, where according to custom he was accustomed to pour forth prayers alone to God alone for himself and for all the people. And he ordered the brethren to rest and to close the doors of the cell. And spending the whole night in vigils, tears, and prayers, when the signal for Matins was given, he ordered water to be brought, he raises him from death, which the brethren supposed in the manner of men to be necessary for burying that man. And when they had entered the cell, they found the man whom they had left for dead sitting and speaking, at which they began to marvel exceedingly. Amandus then with his own hands bathed those wounds with oil, and joined flesh to flesh, and with heavenly medicine permitted him, healthy and alive, to go to his own home.

[8] Now when such ^a great deed had been heard of, the people of both sexes began to run to the grace of baptism and the laments of penance, he builds monasteries and churches: and they burned their idols and shrines with fire, and in those places where the enemy of the human race had dwelt, Saint Amandus built monasteries, founded churches, and led the people to the worship of Christ, and illuminated souls blinded by error with the light of truth.

[9] Then he went beyond the Danube to lands where Christ was not named, to preach, prepared in spirit for the palm of martyrdom, he preaches to the Slavs: where, preaching the Gospel of salvation with ^a free voice, he brought some to the grace of baptism; but as yet, sins demanding it, others were unwilling to hear the word of God.

[10] These things having been thus accomplished, it came to pass that the Bishop of Maastricht died. He becomes Bishop of Maastricht: Then the man of God Amandus, compelled by the King, commanded by the priests, and chosen by the people, undertook the governance of the Church of Maastricht. Going about strongholds, villages, and estates, preaching, reproving, beseeching, for three years he showed the way of God to the people, and many were converted to the way of penance. But the priests and deacons — in title only, not in the merit of their office — disdained to hear the man of God when he preached and showed them the way of salvation. But Saint Amandus, having shaken the dust from his feet as ^a testimony to them, went into the wilderness, and there dwelt for some time on ^a small island. He departs, the contumacious being punished by God: But ^a great plague from heaven followed those despisers of the word of God. Whence for two years, by an unforeseen pestilence, strongholds were deserted, houses were empty, and fields were reduced to desolation. Throughout that entire region where he himself had wished to preach, scarcely anyone remained who had been opposed to his preaching.

[11] After ^a space of time, having visited the brethren to whom he had entrusted monasteries and churches to govern throughout various provinces, he heard that there was ^a certain most fierce people deceived by error, which is now called Gascony. He preaches to the Gascons, This people was spread through the Pyrenean passes, through harsh and inaccessible places: who by frequent incursions, with the agility of fighting, had widely devastated and crushed the borders of the Franks. Thither therefore he went for the sake of preaching, that he might snatch them from idolatry and plunder and from the deceit of this world. On ^a certain day, however, while he was preaching, one of them rose up, and with words suited to laughter, mocking the Gospel of Christ and the servant of God Amandus with detraction, drew the people after him with that vain merriment. In that same hour, by divine vengeance, an angel of Satan invaded the wretch, and immediately contracted all his limbs, when the mocker was suddenly struck dead: and confessing amid his torments that he was suffering because he had mocked the servant of God Amandus, he miserably expired.

[12] Departing from the borders of the Gascons, when he had come to ^a certain city, the Bishop of that place received him, and out of reverence for hospitality, brought water to wash the hands of Saint Amandus, and instructed his minister to preserve that same water. Having washed his hands with water, he illuminates ^a blind man with it. And there was ^a man there who had lost the sight of his eyes: to whom that Bishop said: "If you have faith, believe, and wash your eyes in that water in which Amandus washed his hands, and you shall receive your sight." And when he had washed his eyes, his eyes were opened so that he could see clearly.

[13] The venerable elder Amandus, with Christ as his guide, returning, directed himself to the farthest regions of the Franks, and there carried out open preaching for the name of Christ, and through various provinces endured many injuries. He teaches everywhere in the kingdom of the Franks: He built ^a monastery, and like ^a shepherd daily instructing his children in Christ with divine words, he taught some by word and trained others by his own example.

[14] On ^a certain Lord's Day, when Saint Amandus had preached to the lords of the palace, being asked by the Bishops and by King Dagobert, he celebrated the solemnities of the Mass: but when the prayer was finished, He rebukes King Dagobert: he privately sought ^a more secret conversation with the King, and began to reprove the King himself for his capital crimes. But the King, puffed up with the swelling of pride, was unwilling to hear the words of the man of God, and in anger ordered him to leave his territories. But when the servant of God Amandus, filled with joy, departed from the King's presence... he went to ^a seaside place wishing to find ^a ship, and wished to cross the British Sea to the peoples of the Saxons, in order to preach the Gospel to them, he is driven into exile: and wished to remain in pilgrimage all the days of his life.

[15] After this, the King, seized with fevers, recognizing the fault which he had committed against the man of God Amandus, he is recalled: quickly sent for him to return to him: asking humbly that he would pardon him, and baptize his son Sigebert, he baptizes Saint Sigebert, who had been born to him. Saint Amandus graciously forgave the King his offense, but fearing to be entangled in secular affairs, at first refused to baptize the boy, but at length, urged by the prayers and insistence of Saint Eligius and Saint Audoenus, who were then residing at the King's court, he baptized the King's son. And when the collects and prayers of the catechism and baptism had been completed, who responds "Amen." while all kept silence, that infant, the King's son of forty days, responded in ^a clear voice, "Amen." Hearing which, the father was filled with joy, and held his spiritual co-father in great reverence and favor all the days of his life.

[16] Saint Amandus obtained from King Sigebert ^a place in Gaul which is called Vaur, and there built ^a monastery. He founds the monastery of Vaur: But the Bishop of the nearest city bore this ill, and ordered his servants either to cast him out from there or indeed to kill him. But Blessed Amandus, knowing their malice by God's revelation, went with them to the summit of ^a hill where they wished to kill him, and did not reveal this to his companions, About to be killed, he is protected from heaven: because he desired martyrdom; but suddenly ^a storm arose, and rains and hail so covered the hill that the wicked men who wished to kill him could see nothing. Then Saint Amandus prayed until, with serenity restored and sight recovered, they returned to their own homes. Many other miracles indeed did God perform through the merits of Saint Amandus, which are not written here. He dies in holiness. He also, full of days and good works, departed to the Lord.

p. Others say nothing about these Anglo-Saxons.

q. Concerning Vaur, an accurate discussion was given in section 1, number 7: others name Childeric as King and the monastery as Nant: the Breviary of Quimper calls the King Aldebert, and omits the name of the place.

ANOTHER LIFE

By Hariger, Abbot of Lobbes. From the Deeds of the Bishops of Tongeren and Maastricht.

BHL Number: 0336

By Hariger the Abbot.

Chapter 41

[1] After this, Saint Amandus was appointed as the twenty-sixth Bishop, Saint Amandus, born of noble and Christian parents, concerning whose life, because it is recorded as full of virtues, it pleased us to excerpt ^a few things from here and there, and to repeat the very beginnings of the deeds before his episcopate. Born therefore in Aquitaine, he had for his father Serenus, and his mother was named Amantia: not only illustrious according to the dignity of the world, but most Christian.

Chapter 41

[2] While he was still ^a boy, he left his homeland and parents: he sought the island of Oye to the west of the Ocean sea. a monk on the island of Oye, There he was joyfully received by the brethren: and, since he was learned, he ardently pursued the service of God. Now the first beginning of his signs was this. As he went along the road on ^a certain day, ^a serpent of enormous size met him. And at first indeed he was frightened on account of his boyish age, but then, rising after prayer poured forth, he opposed the sign of the Cross, he puts ^a serpent to flight with the sign of the Cross: and bade it return to its lair. Immediately the serpent, obeying the command, quickly returned: and on that same island it did not appear thereafter. After ^a short time his father pursued him and attempted to withdraw him from the monastery; but the enterprise unaccomplished, he unwillingly left the holy boy.

[3] Afterward, seeking the city of Tours for the sake of prayer, he visits Tours, he visited the tomb of the blessed Bishop Martin, where, cutting off the hair of his head, he obtained the honor of the clerical state. Thence coming to Bourges, he was devoutly received by Saint Austregisilus, Bishop of that city, and Bourges, and by his Archdeacon, Saint Sulpicius, afterward Bishop. At their persuasion he built himself ^a cell there, where he is enclosed in ^a cell for fifteen years: which he inhabited for nearly fifteen years, covered with ^a hair shirt and ashes, accustomed to vigils and fasts, content with barley bread, he abstained from wine and sustained his body with water.

[4] After this, touched by ^a holy desire, he set out for Rome, that he might visit the thresholds of the blessed Apostles. And he goes to Rome: when on ^a certain night, after the custodians had gone out, he himself lingered secretly in the church and had spent the night in prayer, the following day he was found, he is commanded by Saint Peter appearing to him to return to Gaul: treated with insults, and driven out of the church. For this reason, as he sat at the doors, detained by an ecstasy of mind from the sadness of his heart, the holy Apostle Peter appeared to him, and gently soothing him, exhorted him to return to Gaul for the sake of preaching. He indeed, rendered more cheerful, returned to Gaul.

Chapter 42

[5] Without delay, compelled by the King and the priests, according to custom he was ordained ^a Bishop for the purpose of preaching. Ordained Bishop, But he himself, strenuously fulfilling the office committed to him, announced the word of God to those stationed all around, building monasteries, he took care to enlarge the faith: and he enriched those same monasteries from estates and wealth he helps his neighbors: conferred upon him by the King and the Princes. He redeemed captives for ^a price, provided clothing to the naked, and refreshed the hungry with food.

[6] Likewise, the thought came to him to set out for Rome, and it happened that on his return he lodged at Civitavecchia. And while he was there, returning again from Rome, the devil, seizing one of his servants, was dragging him to the sea to drown him. When the servant invoked Christ for his deliverance, and the devil, mocking, he frees him from being drowned; inquired who this Christ was, Blessed Amandus said: "The Son of the living God, crucified for the salvation of men." At this voice, the devil vanishing, the man was rescued. Through the same sea, as they were sailing, ^a fish was caught; the catching of which had increased joy among the sailors. he calms the storm with prayers, But ^a storm suddenly arising disturbed this joy of theirs, which compelled them, despairing of life, to flee to the man of God. While the Saint prayed, Blessed Peter, passing through the stern of the ship, Saint Peter appearing, he calms it. appeared, bade them have confidence, and promised that all would be saved. The storm was soon calmed, the tempest put to flight. At daybreak all went forth onto land unharmed.

Chapter 43

[7] Meanwhile, entering the town of Ghent, situated on the streams of the Scheldt, he found it so ensnared by the devil's traps that the men of that place worshipped wood and trees instead of God. He preaches to the people of Ghent: While the peoples stationed all around were subject to the faith of Christ, these, whether on account of their fierce customs or the barrenness of their soil, still served idols. Therefore, with the support of Acharius, Bishop of Noyon, and moreover with royal authority pressing upon them, he opposed himself to such great peril, exceedingly inflamed with fervor of spirit. How often was he insulted, how often beaten with stripes, how often disfigured by dishonorable women? How often was he cast headlong into the river? At last, his companions having fled, he remained alone, constant in preaching. He built ^a monastery of Saint Peter there: he converts Saint Bavo. he converted Saint Bavo, ^a brigand from Haspengau, and having built ^a cell across the river, he enclosed the penitent therein.

[8] In the same district ^a certain criminal was presented for judgment. The holy man, coming upon the scene, humbly poured forth prayers to the Count on his behalf, that he might not die. But that hardened man did not heed the prayers of the blessed man; rather he ordered the condemned man first to be beaten, one who had been hanged and then commanded him to be affixed to ^a gibbet. Afterward, when all had departed, the body of the now dead man was left on the gallows; he raises him from death, but the holy man, intending to visit the wretched man, returned shortly after. And when he found him already dead, he had the body taken down from the wood and carried with him to the chamber where he was accustomed to pray. And when he had spent the night in prayer beside the body, in the morning, calling the brethren together, he returned the man washed with water, alive, so that not even the scar of his wounds appeared. The novelty of this miracle he converts many: so greatly profited the inhabitants of that place that, running together to him from every direction, they demolished their idols with their own hands and expended them in building churches.

[9] After their conversion, having crossed the Danube, he resolved to preach to the Gentiles, he preaches to the Slavs: but while most of them persisted in unbelief, he nevertheless regenerated ^a few in Christ, and afterward returned to his own land.

Chapter 44

[10] Meanwhile it came to pass that King Dagobert received ^a son from his wife: and exiled for having admonished the King, because the same King, overtaken by sudden anger, had long since expelled the blessed man with insult from his kingdom, because he was being reproved by him for ^a certain crime, led by repentance, he wished to reconcile him to himself on the occasion of the boy's baptism: and therefore, having sent more honorable men, he is recalled: namely Eligius and Audoenus, he first begged pardon for the offense committed against him, and then earnestly entreated him to come to baptize his son. At length the man of the Lord Amandus was found and, coming, complied with the royal request, forgave the wrong, he baptizes Saint Sigebert but humbly refused to baptize the son of so great ^a Majesty, as if unworthy. But as the King persevered in his entreaty, he catechized the boy who was forty days old from birth. While those standing around were occupied with other things and did not respond, who responds "Amen." the boy responded in ^a clear voice: "Amen." And so, having been baptized, he was named Sigebert, while all who were present both marveled and rejoiced.

[11] After this, when Blessed John, Bishop of Maastricht, had been translated to the heavenly realm, King Dagobert, having summoned ^a great many priests, appointed Saint Amandus over the people of Maastricht. He becomes Bishop of Maastricht: But he, having taken up the pastoral office, bearing the care of those committed to him, went about villages and strongholds for three years, announcing the word of life. But seeing that he was accomplishing nothing; indeed rather perceiving that the priests and deacons were insulting him, he left them and transferred himself to other places.

Chapter 45

[12] Afterward he came to Chavelaus, an island of the river Scheldt: and there he remained for some time with the religious brethren. He preaches to the Calloani. But ^a cruel plague afflicted the despisers of the word of God for two years, so that in that place none remained of those who had despised the holy man when he preached. Afterward, withdrawing to Gascony, he preached the word of salvation to the Gentile peoples. and to the Gascons: A certain buffoon mocked the servant of Christ, annulled the Gospel, and was immediately seized by ^a demon, tearing himself with his own hands, and with ^a miserable look ended his life. But even there accomplishing little, when he was returning, he entered ^a certain city for the sake of lodging. He was honorably received by the Bishop of the city, and the water poured on his hands, by the Bishop's command, he illuminates ^a blind man: was preserved: from which ^a certain blind man, while dipping his eyes, received his sight.

Chapter 46

[13] Afterward, returning to Francia, when he determined to dwell there, he asked King Childeric to deign to grant him ^a place suitable for building ^a monastery: he builds the monastery of Nant: which he immediately obtained. But Mummulus, Bishop of Uzes, bore this ill, and soon, stirred by the most burning envy against the man of God, he aspired to his death. He immediately sent officers who should pretend to show him ^a more suitable place: from the peril of death, so that, when they had drawn him away from his people, they might secretly kill him and throw his body in ^a hidden place. When the Blessed man, the Spirit revealing it to him, his enemies being blinded, he is delivered: had learned of this, yet thirsting for martyrdom, he followed them to ^a certain hill: and there the enemies were struck with blindness; but repenting, while the Saint prayed, they were healed.

[14] Returning, however, to the district of Beauvais, he lodged at the house of ^a certain blind woman. Having inquired into the cause of her blindness, he illuminates ^a blind woman: he learned that she had worshipped ^a tree dedicated to demons: he immediately ordered it to be cut down, and the woman received her sight.

[15] He commanded the Provost of ^a certain monastery to prepare wagons for transporting wine for the brethren. He falsely replied that he had no wagons, the disobedient one, struck with paralysis, and delayed in obeying his command. Soon dissolved by paralysis, he recognized the crime of his disobedience, and being placed in ^a boat, was brought to the monastery of Elnone to the man of God, from whom receiving wine and bread, he heals him: as soon as he tasted them, he was completely restored to health, and was corrected in his evil ways for the future.

[16] He performed many other wonderful things, built innumerable monasteries, He dies in holiness at Elnone. and enriched them with wealth. At last he inhabited the monastery of Elnone: where he also reached the end of his life, on the eighth day before the Ides of February, in the twenty-third year of Constans, who is also Constantine, in the year of the Lord 665, in the ninetieth year of his age.

h. Rather at Tournai.

ANOTHER LIFE

By Philip of Harvengt de Eleemosyna, Abbot of Bonne-Esperance of the Premonstratensian Order. From two manuscripts collated with the Douai edition.

BHL Number: 0334

By Abbot Philip, from manuscripts.

Dedicatory Epistle to Abbot Hugo.

[1] To the Reverend Father in Christ, Hugo, by the grace of God venerable Abbot of the monastery of Elnone, and to the brethren gathered there in the Lord, Brother Philip de Eleemosyna wishes to be counted among the seed which the Lord has blessed.

To adorn the merits of the Saints with flowers of discourse, and to embellish with the office of writing the praises of ^a chosen race, is proved to be difficult and arduous: especially where neither the life is fitting nor knowledge lends its support. For he who proposes to proclaim the ways of the Blessed, to unfold their life, to retrace their deeds, ought so to live as he speaks, and adorn with deeds what he commends in speech: lest, reproved by the testimony of his own voice, he fail by imitation to approve what he pursues by assertion. From the desirable and holy college of your entire community, the Life of the most blessed Amandus is offered to me for correction, so that by diligent exercise the obscure points may receive light, the superfluous points measure, the gaps connection, The author, asked by the monks of Saint-Amand, and the deficient parts, supplementation. But who am I, or what am I, for whom neither the merit of life, nor the seasoning of wisdom, nor the cultivation of learning, nor the practice of writing, promises equality with so distinguished ^a work? I indeed praise the diligence of the first writer, I venerate the antiquity: the industry pleases me: if the style falls short, I do not refute the arrangement. But envy easily befalls those who forge new things, nor does boiling malice lack the stings of detraction: especially when novelty seems to be introduced in earnest to the disgrace of the ancients. And so the injury to the ancients is lamented, as if whatever accrues to the new were lost to them. The envy of others being set aside, But the judgment of truth is awaited more securely than the murmur of envy is feared, which has no place in the court of charity. It is charity that provides support for our inexperience, supplies strength, furnishes boldness, and drives the little vessel of timid diligence into the stormy sea. Yet if humility be given as the helmsman of this vessel, obedience as the rudder, truth as the mast, discretion as the yard-arm, diligence as the oar, authority as the sail, which the favorable breeze of heavenly grace may lift on high, it will easily be able to sail with ^a prosperous course over the wave-crested summits of the turbid brine, and the sad gulfs of envious commotion. he writes the Life of Saint Amandus: Since therefore I am bound to your sincerity by the affection of charity, I am unable to deny if you enjoin anything upon me, especially since execution ought always to attend as ^a companion upon honorable commands, and to bring the fruit of joy to those who give holy mandates. For what honor commands ought not to be burdensome; what love dictates, difficult; what utility persuades, onerous.

[2] But what can be judged more useful than to form examples through spiritual exercises, to sow discipline among morals, to celebrate the virtues of the Saints, and to hand on to posterity what they may follow in holiness and righteousness before God? Surely, what else is the life of ^a Bishop worthy of God than an extraordinary light of living well, ^a mirror of holiness, ^a title of justice, ^a teaching of piety, ^a pattern of doctrine, ^a sanction of discipline, an example of religion? Every sex, age, condition, rank, order, and state has in him by which all are instructed, something to choose: and the holy serenity of this light abundantly flows out to all. Childhood finds in him something to admire, adolescence something to imitate, manly strength something to desire, the watchfulness of old age something to follow. The nobility is instructed therein to desire the delights of the soul more than those of the flesh, and to adorn the dignity of birth with the beauty of virtues. The state of the ordered life is taught to be humble and obedient, lest the mind, carried above itself vainly by the breeze of ^a perverse whirlwind, the noble, swell with exultation, and seem to belong to the lot of him who is king over all the sons of pride. Princes, Power is taught not to think highly of itself, but to fear: and to submit humbly the eminence of earthly grandeur to heavenly commands, and not to resist the divine will. Pontifical authority is formed to be raised with the zeal of rectitude against transgressors, yet not to abandon the gentleness of meekness; Bishops, and so to pursue the equity of judgments that indulgence not savor of laxity, nor vengeance of cruelty. Preachers, The life of preachers is admonished to set the Gospel not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the manifestation of the spirit and power: lest, seeking glory from men, it fail to obtain the glory that is from God alone; and being poured out externally, it be emptied of the gift of internal reward. the people: The state of the peoples is ordered not to withdraw from the foundation of the faith, to persist in the law of the Covenant, to be subject to princely edicts, and not to oppose public administrations. Thus all are made fruitful by the example of one man, and in his every work the worship of piety and the path of truth shine forth.

[3] Let us praise the Lord who made him, who, just as He is always and everywhere wonderful in His Saints, so He is worthy of praise in the wondrous virtue of the most blessed Amandus. He Himself in him gives glory to His name, with praise, who magnified him in praise, who made him exalted in the word of glory, and by his words calmed portents. Under the patronage, therefore, of your prayers, timid indeed on account of my inexperience, but presuming on charity, he gives thanks to God the giver of holiness: with obedience as guide, I undertake what you have commanded, satisfying as best I can the command of charity. Yet I do not ascend to correct what has first been set down, lest I seem to infringe with less reverence upon the reverence of antiquity, nor should the variety of style produce an incongruous work, which does not join the weight of ideas and the glory of the material in the unity of ^a compatible juncture. Therefore, preserving the tenor of the theme and disposing the chapters under ^a fixed arrangement, under the help of divine piety and your devotion, he implores His grace. with the grace of the Holy Spirit I begin the work that has been commanded.

Epistle of the Same to Abbot John.

[4] To his beloved Father and friend in Christ, John, by the grace of God Abbot of the monastery of Elnone, and to the holy community of the same place, Brother Philip de Eleemosyna wishes them to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. By ^a perpetual rite, fire is commanded to burn continually upon the altar: to which the priest, placing wood upon it each day, supplies fuel for the consummation of the sacrificial offerings. The authority of the written law keeps watch before the doors of the tabernacle, the Holy Spirit signifying this inwardly, that the altar of the heart ought always to glow with the fire of charity: to which, as ^a daily kindling, the faithful and diligent worker ought to furnish continual works of piety. For the form of ^a burnt offering is not praiseworthy if in the sight of the Lord the incense of mutual love does not ascend as an odor of sweetness. This consideration does not permit ^a blameworthy failing to sprout in my love for you, but the studious mind, moved by sincere charity, keeps watch in the affections of pious devotion concerning your service, so that our service may be rational before God, and the salutary sacrifice of this oblation may profit on both sides. But also, when I recently proposed to come to meet your holiness, ^a lion appeared to me in the way, ^a horned serpent in the path: the onset of harsh suddenness. I heard and my bowels were troubled, He mourns the dead Abbot Hugo: at the sound my lips trembled, my senses were confounded, and the composure of my mind withered: because so suddenly there was taken from our midst that lofty column, powerfully shaped by the hand of the supreme Artificer with the mark of holiness, glory, and honor. The Good Shepherd has departed, the honor of the order, the example of piety, the sower of discipline, the ornament of religion, the dwelling of virtues, the counsel of peace, the way of rectitude, the surveyor of public utility: the liberator of the poor, and the arbiter of equity. His abundant wisdom, his celebrated industry, the state of the monastery in the cultivation of justice before God, and in the sight of men the distinguished buildings more fully attest. Who will give my head water, and my eyes ^a fountain of tears, that I may bewail not the sons of my people slain by the sword, but the passing of ^a common Father, the sad separation from ^a most sweet friend, the lamentable misery of public desolation. The extremity of this necessity is thrust upon us, that we expend our tears on funeral rites: there is nothing lamentable for him who, stripped of the chaff of the flesh, happily migrates to the heavenly granary. Although we lack his delightful presence, we ought nevertheless to store up in the treasury of memory something about him to admire: something sweet to imitate, something gracious to set before others.

[5] Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place, who in the setting of so great ^a light preserved your place from darkness, restrained the whirlwinds of division in such great disturbance, and after sorrow brought back the grace of pious consolation. Rejoice, O Shepherd, in the praiseworthy unity of the chosen flock, he rejoices that John has been appointed to succeed him, in the faithful constancy of singular grace. Rejoice in the advancements of the order and the exercise of discipline; rejoice in the cultivation of justice and the works of holiness. Rejoice, holy community, in the appointment of ^a new Shepherd, who entered not through the lattices of Simon, nor through the tunnels of falsehood, as ^a hireling: but with your concord serving, called by the Lord as Aaron, he has been made ^a minister of Peter and ^a successor of Amandus. Whom I desire to be found firm with Peter and lovable with Amandus. If anyone judges his age less than sincerely as unequal either to the burden or to the honor, whose youthful age he excuses. let him hear the Apostle saying to Timothy: "Let no one despise your youth." Let him read and understand that Jeremiah was called as ^a boy to preach, Daniel as ^a boy was raised sternly and humbly against the shameless elders in the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. 1 Timothy 4:12; Jeremiah 1:6; Daniel 13:45 At about that age David was chosen by the Lord and anointed as King, John the Evangelist was elevated to the order of the Apostolate. 1 Kings 16 Adolescence with the manners of old age is more useful and far more commendable than aged senility entangled in the sports of youth and subject to levity. For the senses of ^a man are his gray hairs, and useful old age is ^a spotless life. Let us rejoice in the Lord, brethren, that you are so united by ^a spiritual bond, that the zeal of your charity toward one another may burn, bearing the light of integrity and the example of piety.

[6] And behold, what you have sought is at hand; what you have commanded is fulfilled; what you have ordered is presented. Not indeed as was fitting is it composed, nor as the reverence of so great ^a Patron or the dignity of the material demanded; He sends the Acts of Saint Amandus written by himself. but as the slenderness of ^a poor intellect and manifold occupation allowed. And now my mouth is open to you, my heart is enlarged toward you; but the fruitful progeny of my necessities begrudges my presence to you, which so draws and distracts me that I do not do what I will, but am often compelled to discharge what I hate. Our common son, Brother Albert, will present in our stead what we send to your charity. Farewell always in the Lord, and pray for us.

CHAPTER 1. The birth, childhood, and monastic life of Saint Amandus.

Chapter 1

[7] The glorious Confessor of Christ, Amandus, therefore, born of parents illustrious in faith and blood, Saint Amandus, noble in birth, distinguished the dignity of his birth by the merits of his life. His father Serenus, and his mother Amantia, by so celebrated ^a naming announced the name and glory of their holy offspring with ^a happy presage. Herbatilicus is the name of the place: which, distinguished by the title of his nativity, just as it is not very far distant from the Ocean, so it borders upon the region of Aquitaine. Accordingly, when the industry of paternal circumspection was exercising itself concerning the son received, he was handed over to the diligence of an instructor to be imbued with sacred letters: so that the distinguished cultivation of liberal studies might raise up the first rudiments of his earliest age; and that, with grace seasoning his instruction, he might suck from the breasts of wisdom the understanding of the divine law. Already at that time the marks of future holiness were shining forth in the boy: he shows signs of future holiness: and the aspect of ^a bright flower bore about it the abundance of the fruit to come. For the hand of the Lord was with him; by whose working power, as ^a young calf about to be put to the plow, he was producing horns and hooves: with which he might trample the uncleanness of the ancient enemy and scatter his malice. In him flourished the exercise of heavenly discipline, and in the camps of the King his devout mind, about to fight, was bringing fire and sword to the sacrifice. His speech was faithful, his faith affectionate, his affection sincere, his sincerity firm, his firmness constant, his constancy persevering, his perseverance unwavering. He indeed led ^a kind of celibacy of chastened conduct adorned with the manners of old age; and in ^a fragile body ^a manly spirit and mature counsels had come together. And because the estimation of truth always represses vanity, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, the pious soul desired to be reformed into the liberty of the glory of the Sons of God. And already the birth of salvation, he resolves to abandon the world; which the holy mind had conceived from the fear of the Lord, was eager to burst forth into the light: and the faithful affection was sighing beforehand toward flight from the world.

Chapter 2

[8] Therefore, with ^a sacred desire stimulating his soul, having left his parents and his father's house, he was conveyed with ^a favorable voyage to the island of Oye, which is distant from the shore of the Ocean by nearly forty miles. There, received with the joyful devotion of the brethren who served God, he concludes the secret of his conceived resolution with ^a celebrated effect: and crushes the glory of the world with the argument of heavenly philosophy. He flees to the monastery on the island of Oye: He renounces the distinction of his lineage, that he may live as one cast down in the house of God; he flees the allurements of the flesh, casts off the illusions of vanity; he renounces the insignia of dignities, sets ^a limit to desires, affixes boundaries to curiosity: he holily observes the monastic rule, he declares war on vices, gives preeminence to the service of virtue, and with an unfeigned heart enters upon the way of truth. Having become poor, he follows the poor Christ, and with all diligence the new cenobite embraces the cultivation of regular discipline. He is nourished by fasts, refreshed by vigils: he rejoices in labors, breathes in prayer, is fattened by the courses of his readings. He overcomes tedium with occupations, wipes away disgust with variety, adorns silence with meditation, composes his impulses with stability, delights in the pursuits of the brethren, profits by imitation, is kindled by examples, and is formed by exhortations. He illuminates the way of justice with the services of charity, and adorns the grace of his work with the ornament of salutary obedience. The faithful community of brethren is astonished at such great perfection's adornment in so fragile an age, and marvels as at the rising of ^a new star: and for the fellowship of so great ^a warrior among them, in the sight of the Lord there resounds an act of thanksgiving and ^a voice of praise.

Chapter 3

[9] Biting envy is accustomed to waste away at the progress of others, and it is the characteristic of wickedness not to contemplate with ^a serene countenance the advances of innocence. The sinner sees and is angry, gnashes his teeth and wastes away: and is confounded with turbid indignation at the glory of holiness. He renews the stratagems of ancient fraud, and through an instrument familiar to him, strives either to extinguish or to disturb the radiant flame of the new light. The holy boy was at one time making ^a solitary journey without witnesses through the island, walking alone through the island, summoned by the command of his superiors: nor did he refuse the service by which he might merit grace. He went therefore wholly intent upon himself, and handling heavenly things in his mind, before the golden altar which is in the sight of God, he was burning the incense of pious devotion. He was celebrating ^a solemn feast day in the thickets even to the horn of the altar: he feasted exulting from the table of the showbread, and delighted in gladness. Most often pleasant rest becomes the origin of peril: and from the harvest of joys ^a plant of sorrow has sprung up. Goaded by the stings of envy, the enemy of the human race appeared: bearing that same form and that same nature he is frightened by ^a serpent meeting him: by which he had inflicted the wound of death upon our first parents; and, broken by the allurement of his fraudulent promise, had consigned them to the yoke of wretched captivity. For suddenly ^a serpent, immense in body, terrible in form, horrible to behold, cast itself before his sacred eyes: and translated the sabbath of his mind into stupor. Unexpected things easily shake untried souls, and ^a sudden onset lightly overturns the composure of the mind. At the encounter with the monster the boy of the Lord is seized with fear, troubled with anxiety, confounded with trepidation, anxiously meditates flight, but dreads the serpent's pursuit; nor is it clear to him whether it is safer to flee or to stand firm.

[10] The regard of the Lord is always upon His elect, nor does He abandon His Saints in the day of evils, nor in the time of the proud without help. Divine mercy suddenly restores the wavering one, revives the trembling: and raises the movements of the agitated soul to the profit of confidence. Turned therefore to heart, he grows warm again in his former fervor. He gathers anew the armaments of ^a more joyful hope: and expects from the storehouse of divine piety the ensign of ^a happy victory. strengthened by confidence in God, And so, prostrate on the ground, he is pricked with compunction for his former disturbance, gives thanks for the visitation: and ^a brief and effective prayer is directed to the throne of grace for relief. His cry is heard on high: and from the heavenly mercy seat the gift of hearing is brought back in aid. Immediately he rises fearless, he puts it to flight with the sign of the Cross. and having made the sign of the Cross against the enemy of the faith, by the powerful virtue of his words he commands the malice of the serpent to depart from the borders of the island; and not to bring harm henceforth upon the inhabitants. As if struck by ^a Balearic engine, by the virtue of his powerful command the power of the serpent is shattered: with bowed head it departs in confusion; nor does it kick against the edict of the one commanding. The devil is conquered in the serpent and is clothed as with ^a double garment in his own confusion: in return for the fear he had inspired, he receives sheaves of grief and anxiety, and the more the age of the victor appears weaker, the more he is struck with heavier madness: he is more vehemently disturbed, and blushes the more.

Chapter 4

[11] The foolish soul does not derive ^a lesson from the past: and irreverent impudence continually frequents the tents of calumny. He whom the adversary could not break by terror, he tries to enervate by blandishments: and strives to recall him from his holy purpose by the agency of captious piety. He strikes the heart of his father to visit him: he causes already lukewarm affections to relapse in him. By new suggestions he stirs up old desires: and generates ^a new ardor in the mind of the parent. of his parent trying to withdraw him thence, The mind of his father Serenus, sprinkled with these shadows, falls from serenity: he cannot bear to be deprived of so sweet ^a pledge: and as if after the ashes of the grave, while his son lives, he believes himself bereft. Therefore, having cast aside the regard of divine fear, he plans to tear from the monastery the one whom the votive offering of paternal authority had not assigned: and deliberates to recall to the right of the despised inheritance the fugitive heir. Having sailed the sea, therefore, he descends upon the island, coming to the monastery he is gladly received: and having saluted the brethren, he requests from the Prior of the place an interview with his son, and obtains it. When the son had been called aside more secretly, after sweet kisses and miscellaneous conversation, mature counsels proceed concerning the casting off of the girdle of sacred religion, concerning return to the homeland, concerning the recovering of the inheritance, and ^a serious persuasion is introduced. The title of paternal bereavement is set forth, the continual and anxious grief of maternal tenderness, the injury to the nobility, the frequent complaint of kinsmen, the general wish of their household for his return.

[12] All these things are regarded by the boy of the Lord as ^a gentle whisper of wind, the father's prayers are rejected, his blandishments are spurned, he spurns blandishments, threats, his counsels are condemned beforehand. Serenus puts on ^a cloud of indignation not serene: he swells in spirit, and is entirely raised to anger, he heaps up threats to cause terror, and cannot calmly endure his own contempt. Touched therefore with sorrow of heart within, he disinherits his son, tears up the rights of succession: and pronounces the sentence of disinheritance. The son, placed on the high watchtower of his mind, higher than the world, counts all these things as nothing and vanity: and with face and mind immovable, he looks down upon his father equally when flattering and when threatening: yet so as not to confound the rights of reverence, nor to infringe upon the duty of piety. the inheritance: Retaining indeed the temper of inner moderation, he disposes his words in judgment; "Let the inheritance be yours, Father," he says: "the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup, He it is who shall restore my inheritance to me. The heavenly generation is more worthy than the earthly. It is fitting to prefer the immortal Father to ^a mortal father." Frustrated in his hope, the father departs troubled at these words, and his enterprise routed, he withdraws empty and returns to his own. In this the Lord for ^a second time made His Saint wondrous, glorifying him who feared Him: and in His sight the malicious perversity of the ancient impostor was brought to nothing.

Chapter 5

[13] It is not shameful to change counsels along with circumstances: nor blameworthy to give consent when causes press. Moved, as is believed, by this impulse, the servant of the Lord resolved to go on pilgrimage: so that by the urgency of labor the mortification of the flesh he had taken up might grow more excellently, and he might avoid similar attacks in the future. For just as vices are to be fled along with their causes, so the occasion of imposed temptation is to be avoided. For the impulses of carnal relationships incline one more easily to evil than the terror of swords or the ferocity of power: and human nature is accustomed to be always readier to follow than to be dragged. Therefore the first steps of the desired pilgrimage are directed to the city of Tours: so that under the patronage of Blessed Martin the destined intention might be directed, He goes on pilgrimage to Tours, to the tomb of Saint Martin: and the work undertaken might be promoted by the assistance of the Saints. Coming indeed to the tomb of the glorious Confessor in the spirit of humility, amid the devout ascents of sacred confession, he especially asks that this be obtained for him through the merits of the holy Father before God, that all approach for returning to his homeland in the future be closed to him, and every occasion cut off. For, just as it is not safe to sleep near ^a serpent, so among acquaintances and relatives given over to secular things, there is no secure way of life for those professing piety. Having lingered for some time in the same place, he is admitted to the Clergy: he offered the first-fruits of his head to God, receiving the sign of the royal priesthood, and initiated into the clergy by ecclesiastical tonsure.

[14] Having sought ^a blessing from the brethren of the place, he went forth and resumed his interrupted journey. Thence, with the Lord leading, he came to Bourges: he goes to Bourges, and turned aside to the Bishop of the city for the sake of hospitality. At that time the Blessed Father Austregisilus, ^a man of venerable life, presided over the church, where he is received by Saints Austregisilus and Sulpicius Pius: whose college the distinguished Confessor Sulpicius, the Archdeacon, adorned with celebrated holiness, who by the merit of his life and the grace of his character was soon to become Bishop after the holy man. These received the servant of God coming to them with the proper office of humanity: and from the goodwill of charity, they furnished suitable aids for his need.

Chapter 6

[15] The Blessed Amandus was passing through the years of puberty, in the first flower of adolescence, not dividing the fervor of the spirit from the fervor of his age: so that the virtue of the soul might take its increase equally with the body; and in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth he might consecrate to the Lord ^a devoted youth. This man, full of God, understood that something more secret was to be undertaken by him: whereby by ^a stricter guardianship, ^a readier zeal, and ^a purer vigilance, he might weaken the unformed impulses of his slippery age and the natural appetites of the flesh. about to subject the flesh to the spirit, For to those tending toward eternal things, ^a severe censure of chastisement must be applied to the domestic impulses: lest the soul wretchedly serve, which ought to have nobly ruled. The chosen man desired with desire to eat this Passover with the perfect, and to seek victory over the enemy in single combat; according to the word of the Wise Man which says: "Blessed is the man who has borne the yoke of the Lord from his youth; he shall sit alone and be silent, and shall raise himself above himself." Lamentations 3:27-28 A holy intention easily obtains suitable successes: and capability scarcely deserts an affection which the pursuits of piety have aroused. At his petition, by the men of mercy — the holy Bishop and the faithful Archdeacon — ^a cell was quickly built above the wall of the city, he is enclosed in ^a cell: where by ^a happy kind of pilgrimage, ^a pilgrim from the world, ^a pilgrim from the flesh, ^a pilgrim from the senses and the fellowship of vanities, he might more freely adhere to God alone, devote himself more ardently, serve more faithfully, and fight more fruitfully. Into this prison of voluntary necessity, the man of God, bound by the fetter of charity, enters, about to fight with modest and humble circumspection against the vices of flesh and spirit, against the glory of the world, against spiritual wickedness.

[16] A hair shirt becomes the fighter's garment, barley bread his food, common water his drink: he afflicts his body: the earth strewn with cheap coverings becomes his couch. Continual abstinence, frequent vigils, unwearied prayer, faithful silence, he contemplates divine things. assiduous meditation on the sacred law, and effective study of divine reading become his way of life. And so manifold occupation was balanced, that hostile idleness might find no progress, and the cunning enemy might find no access, and with the door closed from without, divine guardianship might keep the just man hidden within the ark of wisdom against external storms. Thus for nearly fifteen years the man of God lived, fifteen years. and in such ^a manner the life of his spirit, drawing branches of the virtues from eternal life, and germinating holiness from the drops of grace, after the outstanding labors of his desired prison, after the faithful watches of his remarkable struggle, after the continual torments of his mortified body, the impulses of his age having been powerfully subdued, when the span of time which we mentioned had elapsed, the desire for his vowed pilgrimage revived afresh: and by the memory of his prior purpose he was not sluggishly raised up to the journey first planned.

CHAPTER 2. The first Roman journey of Saint Amandus. The Word of God preached.

Chapter 7

[17] The solitary dwelling is abandoned, the busy leisure of sweet retirement is released into the open: the hiding place of hidden life Stirred by the Spirit of God, he abandons his cell: is brought forth under the gaze of the sun. Yet we do not believe that the servant of God was moved by levity in this, nor that he proceeded without an intimate command, which the pen of the scribe writing swiftly had impressed upon the pages of his heart. For the spiritual man judges all things, and is himself judged by no one, and while the virtue of the Saints is always to be imitated, their actions are not always imitable: and most of their works express not ^a pattern of living, but the privilege of ^a divine gift, in which they are handed down for admiration, not for example. Let it be permitted to admire the servant of God in this, but let it not be permitted to imitate: because ^a private concession does not pass into ^a general edict: nor is ^a special grace diffused to all. For the Holy Spirit breathes not everywhere, but where He wills, and gives precedence to the voice of power over His own voice: so that he who is taught inwardly may hear what it speaks: and from the commandments may understand, choosing the paths of truth. In such manner, as is worthy to be believed, the holy man, content with only one companion, goes forth: and undertakes the journey which, at the dictation of the Holy Spirit, he had conceived, about to be rewarded with the benefit of spiritual grace. And having traversed the road, after the dreadful and arduous way through the Alps, after the winding and slippery summits of the Apennines, he arrives at Rome: after the perilous and difficult river crossings, he joyfully enters the City of the Apostolic See with ^a happy arrival. There, reverently prostrate with tears and prayer at the confession of Blessed Peter, he indulges with devoted mind in sacred supplications, he visits the holy places: he asks for things profitable for the remaining time and order of his life, relies wholly on divine piety, and in the jubilation of his heart repeats his act of thanksgiving for the gratuitous aid. Thence he is carried about with eager avidity to the memorials and shrines of the Martyrs and Saints, and entreats their intercession that fruit be assigned to his work by the Father of lights.

Chapter 8

[18] Just as justice strives to accomplish what is its own, so wicked envy does not withdraw from its deadly purpose. For the obstinate malice of Satan besieges the paths of the just and flies around them in ambush: to turn the pursuits of piety into ^a stumbling block. Wishing to spend the night in prayer, Blessed Amandus had returned on one of those days, as was his custom, from the votive circuit of his sacred visitation, that the day might be completed in the basilica of Blessed Peter, and his prayer might continue. And when after the evening synaxis, while the others were withdrawing, he wished for this purpose to linger there alone; one of the sacristans appeared, searching the holy places in the order of his turn, lest anything should occur which might disturb the service of his duty. he is driven from the church, When this man had found the servant of God, unknown to him, in ^a hidden place; disturbed by ^a sudden impulse, treating him less than civilly, with words of abuse, he violently and irreverently thrust him from the precinct of the church. and bears it patiently. The servant of God, containing himself within the enclosures of patience, in the spirit of meekness bears the injury, despises the calumnies, resists the annoyance. Stirred up by reproaches, he does not withdraw from the work of holiness; but in hymns and psalms and spiritual canticles, with the ministry of heart and voice in concert, he discharges to the Lord the task of his service with all humility. Here too the ancient mocker is blunted, and he is mocked by the judgment of truth: because bruised humility obtains consolation, and in the desire of his heart the fraudulent impiety finds no rest.

Chapter 9

[19] When, therefore, thus excluded, he was sitting on the steps of ascent before the doors of the church; after the course of prayer, after the tears of piety and the holy sighs of intimate love, suddenly rapt, at Saint Peter's command, in an ecstasy of mind he sees Blessed Peter standing near, with ^a joyful appearance, ^a serene face, gleaming with the garb of brightness. After the gift of the pious visitation had been bestowed, after the communion of sweet conversation, after the gentle consolation of holy familiarity, he announces that his journey must be redirected to Gaul; that he may labor more attentively in the field of the Lord, and over the harvest which had greatly increased, may keep watch as ^a ready minister. He, certified by the heavenly oracle and strengthened by the exhortation of the Apostolic voice, he returns to Gaul: turns his way toward Gaul: and by his work he gives proof of what he understands from the commandments.

Chapter 10

[20] At that time Clothar was reigning in Gaul, ^a man vigorous in matters of war, no less in virtue than in glory, and ^a distinguished champion of the Christian faith. under Clothar II. This man, the fourth from Clovis (whom it is established was baptized by the ministry of Blessed Remigius), displayed clemency in his power, titles of character in the eminence of his dignity, and in the abundant prosperity of affairs he demanded the grace of meekness. He reverenced the Pastors of the Church with honor, adorned the churches with frequent donations and estates: and propagated the glory of the kingdom with continual increases. When the celebrated reputation of the blessed man had reached him, with the illustrious men Audoenus and Eligius making no small effort — who among the courtly Princes, while still in secular attire, were preeminent in no ordinary degree — he was summoned to the King: through the efforts of Saints Audoenus and Eligius, he is ordained Bishop: and with pontifical authority having been conferred, by the will of the Prince and the approving consent of the Magnates, he was ordained ^a Bishop for the office of preaching, as the custom of that time demanded, and was sent with the favor and grace of all to disseminate the evangelical decrees among the Nations, to spread abroad the name of Christ to unbelievers, and to lay the foundations of the faith.

[21] The holy man, reverently taking up the office imposed upon him, strives diligently to fulfill the work of an Evangelist: strives to profit all by word equally and by example: he preaches the word of God: strives to faithfully distribute the talent entrusted to him for spiritual gains: strives to dispense with grace the provision of faith to those ignorant of the faith: and labors earnestly to recall those going astray from the worship of idols to the way of truth. And because he preaches the grace of eternal redemption, he compassionately devotes himself to the redemption of captives: so that in them he may loosen the yoke both of worldly and of diabolical servitude equally, he redeems captives, and that the estimation of piety may lend weight and grace to his holy preaching. If, moreover, chance assigns any within the limits of childhood to redemption, he applies them, purified by the wave of baptism, to the study of letters, lest lack of discipline confound the newborn, or ignorance overwhelm those to be advanced. From these afterward not ^a few, by the aid of the blessed Father, and raises them into distinguished men: became outstanding assertors of truth, chosen Priests, Doctors of the Churches, and holy professors of the monastic life placed over monasteries.

Chapter 11

[22] While the blessed man was crowning the beginnings of his ordination with such pursuits, he was invited by the illustrious man whom we mentioned above, Audoenus, to the consecration of ^a monastery which he had built by the command of the aforesaid King. Blessed Faro, Bishop of Meaux, was summoned, and labored more diligently with Blessed Agilus to consummate the destined work with faithful effort. And when, all things having been duly performed, the holy Bishops had approached the consecration of the altar; at the consecration of an altar the marble placed upon it appeared to be set in an unequal position: the holy mysteries are deferred for ^a time, they prepare to correct the unevenness found; and they attend carefully to restoring the condition of the tilted table. While the holy men were supporting the marble, which had been moved from its place, with their hands and handling it somewhat carelessly, the marble suddenly slipped and fell to the ground, marble broken by ^a fall and being violently dashed, it sprang apart with ^a sudden division into two pieces. The venerable men, disturbed and terrified, were not ^a little saddened, and they marked the inconvenience of the pressing accident with words of ceremony. Then Blessed Amandus with the Blessed Faro and Agilus, having presumed hope from the Lord's piety, fell to prayer with tears: and with an affection penetrating the heavens, they awaited from the clemency of the eternal Father consolation for the sad inconvenience. And rising from prayer, he restores it with the sign of the Cross. the sign of the life-giving Cross having been made over the stone, they beheld the marble reconsolidated in the integrity of its former state; but as ^a sign of the miracle and ^a memorial of the sign, ^a thin line appeared in the middle of the place of the fissure, like ^a linear mark. A solemn congratulation was made for the divine gift, the work of consecration was completed in joy, and abundant thanks were given to the Bestower of so celebrated ^a mercy. Therefore the illustrious man Audoenus, lest either antiquity should consume or oblivion should conceal so worthy ^a work, ordered the aforesaid marble to be inscribed with prominent letters, conveying the definite meaning that the present altar had been consecrated by the ministry of Blessed Amandus. Moreover, the holy Fathers ordered that the place be called Jerusalem by its inhabitants, on account of the frequent visions of spiritual revelations and the continual benefits of miracles which divine piety deigned to work there in manifold ways in his servants.

Chapter 12

[23] Thence, lest anything fall away from the title of glory, lest anything from the sum of reward, the Blessed Amandus, beloved of God and men, went forth to more remote places and to peoples ensnared in the worship of idols, He preaches the word of God to the Gentiles. to give the knowledge of salvation to the people of the Lord for the remission of their sins: so that the light of Christ might shine in the darkness, and the salvation of the Lord might be made known, and the worship of justice and the grace of truth might be revealed to unbelievers. This was the labor, this the study of the man of God; to this work he devoted himself by day and by night, and was enlarged by spiritual gains, the Lord cooperating and confirming the word with signs that followed.

CHAPTER 3. The second Roman journey of Saint Amandus. The people of Ghent and others instructed.

Chapter 13

[24] True humility never presumes of itself, and the higher it is raised to the citadel of virtue, the more closely it gathers up its own imperfections, and esteems itself less than those by whose estimation it is said to be more sublime. The heavenly authority and the faithful injunction of the Apostle Peter could have sufficed for the man of God, at whose command he had undertaken the burden and work of preaching. He returns to Rome: But lest the spirit of envy should inflict upon him the mark of presumption, if without the Vicar of Christ he should preach Christ among the Gentiles, he directed his course to Rome by ^a repeated journey: He reveals to the Pope his vow of preaching: and before the Supreme Pontiff, with the humility of submission, he sets forth the sum of his labor and intention, pursues the affection of his heart with sparkling words: and presses upon the holiness of the Supreme Father the flame of his holy desire. He teaches that the abundance of the Lord's harvest is in need of workers, and asks that his own poverty be relieved by paternal assistance. He is praised: The Bishop worthy of God admires the zeal of the man of God, approves his industry, commends his learning, venerates his purpose, praises his persistence, extols his labors, sympathizes with his perils, delights in his progress. For the supplementation, therefore, of his fellowship and labor, he delegates to Gaul with Blessed Amandus, by Apostolic authority, he obtains companions: estimable and industrious men — Landoaldus the Archpriest and Amantius the Deacon, separated for the work of holy ministry, together with others whose names we do not retain. He, having obtained his wish, departing from the City with the Father's blessing, was transported by ship to Civitavecchia; he conceives great hope and glories in the fullness of his faithful band.

Chapter 14

[25] The ancient transgressor always threatens those who are joyful; and strives to stain with foul aspersion the joys of the blessed. In the evening, as was his custom, the man of the Lord was more secretly engaged in prayer; when suddenly ^a malignant spirit, a boy about to be drowned by ^a demon, having seized one of the boys, with violent shaking was dragging him to the deep to be drowned. The boy, surrounded by the terror of night and the horror of the enemy, with terrible shrieking, as much as he could, more and more frequently called out the name of Christ, tearfully implored the aid of Christ, and faithfully commended himself to Christ. The iniquitous invader mockingly responded to the one crying out: Who was this Christ, to whom he so earnestly commended himself? When the boy was silent, at this voice the blessed man groaned within, and with ^a loud cry addressed the boy, saying: "Respond, my son: Christ who was born of the Virgin, he frees him by the confession of Christ. who suffered for us and rose from the dead." At the voice of this confession the demon, confounded, vanished, and by the merit of holiness the boy was freed from the imminent shipwreck.

Chapter 15

[26] Having then boarded ^a ship, he traversed the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea and passed by the winding turns of the shores. And while he was pouring out to those sitting with him in the ship, as was his custom, like ^a heavenly cupbearer, the nectar of the divine word, ^a great fish unexpectedly presented itself to the sight of the sailors, and began to press upon the ship with close approaches. The experienced fishing crew, observing it more carefully, surrounded it and drew it up with the tackle of sea-hunting. Joyfully therefore they give thanks for the divine gift: during the sailors' feast. and from so magnificent ^a catch, the provisions of refreshment are prepared in common. They feast and rejoice and spend the festive day in gladness, celebrating the welcome rewards of ^a happy success. The weakness of mortality is always uncertain of itself, and just as it does not comprehend the causes, so neither the outcomes of events. Amid the feast and words of joy, suddenly the face of the sea grew terrible, the sad sky, the sun being withdrawn, passed into darkness: and the spirit of storms, pressing more vehemently, with the violence of the whirlwind and the frequent assaults of the waves, about to calm the storm, he prays: swallowed up the minds and the state of security of those rejoicing. Everything that was kept for provisions was thrown overboard into the sea, baggage was cast off, vessels with utensils were jettisoned, the ship was emptied of everything, so that it might ride the wave-crested summits with ^a lighter leap, and with their goods lost, at least life alone might be preserved. Everywhere fear, everywhere the very image of death, and despair, the companion of miseries, thinks of nothing but the end. They supplicate the man of God to interpose his influence with the mercy of the Judge: and for the common peril, to offer to the Redeemer the sacrifices of prayers. The blessed man consoles the terrified, and urges them to be converted with their whole heart to the Lord, and to hope for the outcome of salvation from the clemency of the Almighty. Thence he turns to prayer, the familiar refuge in every tribulation, and for his own and his companions' salvation, he extends his prayers to the Supreme Majesty. He beats upon heaven with his affections, with his devotion he transcends the heights: and with the powerful advance of his mind, he invites the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation to the remedies of His accustomed piety.

Chapter 16

[27] While praying, the man of the Lord is suddenly seized by sleep, and in the vehement labor of the spirit, confirmed by the appearing of Saint Peter, the weakness of the flesh subsides. The heavenly keeper of the keys presents himself to the one resting, and into the inner chamber of mercy, through the door of gentle consolation, leads him in, saying to him: "Arise, Amandus, fear not, you shall not perish: and they shall escape the danger, whom the fellowship of this necessity has joined to you." With this said, sleep and storm alike are dispersed, he obtains serenity: and the joyful serenity of the desired tranquility shines forth. And so at daybreak, the ship having been set free, all are poured back onto dry land, and giving thanks for their deliverance, they are directed to their own homes. Glorious is God in His Saints, who heard His servant crying to Him so mercifully, aided him powerfully, and delivered him effectively. He too is worthy of proclamation, whose outstanding merit, praiseworthy life, and distinguished work, merited to obtain so much from the grace of his Lord; so that not only for himself but also for others it might profit unto salvation, and the sad peril rising up toward common destruction, he might repel by the benefit of holy prayer.

Chapter 17

[28] Meanwhile, when King Clothar had entered the way of all flesh, Dagobert was appointed as his successor, ^a vigorous imitator of his father's governance and likewise of his virtue and piety. Under his reign, Blessed Amandus, returning from the City, began to exercise more diligently the ministry of the word, as he was accustomed, and to work for the gain of souls by the advance of the divine gift. He comes to Ghent, For this purpose he proceeded to Ghent, and labored to fulfill the barrenness of that unbelieving people with the fecundity of the divine seed. Here, so that he might more freely and securely rise up to the work of evangelical sowing, through the intervention of Acharius, Bishop of Noyon of holy memory, furnished with letters of King Dagobert: he received letters from the aforesaid King, so that no one might refuse the word of life, the yoke of faith, or the sacraments of grace: and thus, with the earthly King serving the heavenly King, the holy word might run swiftly, and for the destruction of death and the slaying of the devil, two swords might come together: for blessed and joyful is the communion when, at the trumpet call of spiritual warfare, the retinue of earthly dignity is raised up.

Chapter 18

[29] But that people, barren and famished both in the richness of the soil and in the abundance of grace, was devoted to the rites of fanatical error and the sacrifices of idols. On account of the stubbornness of the people of Ghent, And so, at the instigation of the adversary of salvation, with ^a hard forehead and an untamable heart, it rejected the counsel of eternal peace, and with ^a stiff-necked effort resisted the salutary admonitions. The man of the Lord nevertheless labored with obstinate zeal and constant effort to lead those who had been brought into the hostelries of death into the kingdom of life through the grace of sanctification. Impiety resisted the services of piety: and strove by frequent stratagems to drag the minister of life to death. he suffers many adversities, He, spurning the death of his own body, often beaten, afflicted with outrages, struck with injuries, provoked with reproaches, frequently cast headlong into the river, endured the injury of persecution even from worthless women. In whom the weaker the sex, the more wicked the mind, the more wicked the passion, and is abandoned by his companions: and their malice is accustomed to be more shameless. And so the brethren who had followed him, bound by his exceeding charity, and rendered familiar service in the work of God, compelled by fear of death and the wretchedness of famine, broken in spirit, withdrew, returning to their own homes and leaving him behind. He acquires food by his labor: He, so as not to burden anyone and so as to place the Gospel without cost, labored with his own hands for his livelihood, and so that according to his means he might minister to those suffering need.

Chapter 19

[30] Nothing is so arduous or so difficult that persistent labor cannot storm it and frequent filing smooth it; especially when grace, the companion of diligence, lends its aid. He converts the people: At length ^a great door is opened to his holy labors, and with the nobles flocking to the faith together with the people, the holy man in the power of God breaks the idols, destroys the temples, he casts down the idols: demolishes the altars, shuts out the worship of wretched superstition, and rejects the errors of deceived paganism. To the praise and glory of the name of God, therefore, the triumphal banner of the life-giving Cross is raised: with the rite changed, salutary sacrifices are offered on behalf of the faithful: and the bloody libation of slaughter having been removed, the gracious worship of the Catholic religion is restored. He builds churches: In the same place ^a celebrated structure is built at the expense of the faithful, which, having been solemnly consecrated with the sacred rites as ^a domicile of the faith, under the honor and name of the Prince of the Apostles, is consecrated by the ministry of Blessed Amandus. Likewise another church is built for divine worship in ^a place which the pleasure-seeking ancient paganism had been accustomed to call Blandin: because it seemed gentle with its charms and distinguished by its pleasantness. There, having established the proven offices of clergy serving God, he handed over the office of pastoral care his disciples are Saints Florbertus and Bavo: to his disciple, the venerable man Florbertus. Under his happy guidance, Saint Bavo entered the seclusion of his desired enclosure, after he had been converted from the vanity of the world by the preaching of Blessed Amandus, and tonsured with the grace of ^a blessing according to ecclesiastical rite. In which state, suitably intent on vigils, fasts, and prayers, he labored faithfully to present himself to God the Father as ^a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing, according to the instruction of the man of God.

Chapter 20

[31] The Divine goodness, always glorious and effective toward His own, places better things beneath the good, and crowns the best with the approach of perfection. Great and admirable was the glory of Amandus in the holy salvation: great glory and beauty had the Lord placed upon him; but how great was the perfection of his virtue and holiness is declared by the attestation of the following miracle. The blessed man had come to the city of the Menapii, which is called by the common name Tournai, he asks to free ^a man condemned to death, and does not obtain it: illuminating his homeland with the glory of holiness and infusing the grace of sweetness upon ^a people now believing. There sat the Count Dotto, ^a judge delegated by the King to the province, to give order to public proceedings, an end to controversies, form to judgments, punishment to offenses, and justice to those deserving it. While he was sitting at the tribunal, ^a man was presented by the lictors, corrupted by infamy, seized in his crime, wretched in punishment: for whom the people terribly cried out the sentence of death. The judge, as he was somewhat too savage and indulged his anger more than was just, at the clamor of the crowd, hurled against the wretched man the fatal decree of hanging. But the blessed man, who always abounded with the whole of his being in the Lord with the bowels of mercy, pitying the condemned man, humbly interposed his influence with the judge: he extended prayers for the release of the one about to perish: and asked that the life which the sentence of supreme condemnation had enveloped be given to him. Obstinacy is usually born of pride, and merciless contempt is born of obstinacy. The animosity of the judge remains immovable, and does not heed the merit of holiness; but having rejected the supplication of his prayers, he decrees that the condemnation which had once been pronounced must remain irrevocable. Therefore the wretched man is dragged to the gallows, more wretched in his torment than in the cruel sentence; and now almost entirely consumed by his wounds, he appeared not ^a man but ^a corpse snatched from ^a beast.

[32] A humble mind is not confounded by rejection: but breathes in the pity of Him who does not abandon to the end, nor does He turn away the prayer of the poor. Immediately the holy man went forth from the face of the judge and proceeded in haste to the place of execution; but the violent hand of the executioners had outrun the steps of mercy, he has the hanged man carried to his cell: and with his life wrung out by the noose, there had been the sad separation of flesh and spirit. He therefore takes down the lifeless body from the wood, and orders it to be carried by the hands of those standing by to the cell in which he was accustomed to pray. Then with all removed, he devotes himself wholly to prayer; holy sighs proceed from his inmost breast: he bathes his face with ^a stream of pious tears, and with all the powers of his soul rises to meet the Divine compassion: so that the one thus extinguished may return to life, and be restored anew to the remedies of salvation. The stream is not cut off from the spring, by his prayers he revives him: nor is the vein cheated of the benefit of its own source. The pious affection is gathered into the embrace of piety with ready benignity, and the paternal goodness does not turn away the petition of the son. The fugitive spirit returns to the right of the seized possession, and the dead flesh, endowed with revived senses, is raised up; the shadows being expelled, the eyes are rolled back into light, and the rigidity of the prostrate body being relaxed, the office of speech is renewed in the tongue of its former discourse. And so at daybreak, having called the brethren together, the holy man ordered water to be brought, so that the devout minister might wash the filth of the wounds and the spatter of flowing blood, lest anything be lacking to the office of piety. They believe that the service of washing is being required for the rites of burial, and they suppose that the body is to be granted the benefit of sepulture. But entering the cell, they behold the one whom they had left dead speaking and sitting beside the man of God, not without amazement and admiration, magnifying in so solemn ^a work the mercy of the Redeemer. He seeks to have the miracle concealed: The holy man humbly beseeches and adjures them in the Lord not to publish this secret; but to suppress it with more cautious silence; because it had been obtained not from the merit of human frailty but from the indulgence of the Divinity. For the holy mind, never departing from the tenor of humility, sought nothing else in its works except the glory of the Divine name and the glory of the heavenly kingdom; the allurements of human favor and the praises of men, it abhorred as ^a horrible poison. Having therefore washed the body, he so healed the gashes of the flesh and the gaping wounds that no trace of the former corruption remained. Sending him thus rewarded back to his own home, he restored him healthy and unharmed to his parents.

Chapter 21

[33] In vain is ^a hiding place sought when fame speaks in public, nor does the ornament of glory fail him whom the eternal Majesty has resolved to glorify. The name and glory of the lovable Amandus grows daily and is widely diffused, and as if from ^a storehouse of light, the sincere serenity of ^a more glorious magnificence gleams forth from the admiration of so great ^a miracle. He is honored by the Pagans: From the eminence of such great virtue he receives more abundant grace: with their rigidity laid aside, the necks of the Gentiles, previously hard, grow soft; with the stings of hatred buried, the malice of persecution flows into love: and the thorns of malice bear the sweetness of charity. They willingly submit their necks to the sacraments of the faith: and having overthrown the seats of the idols, he obtains from them the erection of churches and altars. just as they bring an end to their error, so they bring extermination to their ferocity. They raise the splendid ensigns of the Lord's passion: and in honor of the Savior they establish churches and holy altars, and with faithful obedience they follow the admonitions of the holy Father.

CHAPTER 4

The conversion of various persons to the monastic life. The exile and return of Saint Amandus. The baptism of Saint Sigebert.

Chapter 22

[34] For ^a long time Blessed Gislenus had been desiring to see him, who, like an extraordinary star whose gleaming splendor shines from east to west, He is visited by Blessed Gislenus: led by ^a heavenly oracle, had migrated from the borders of Greece to Gaul. When he had been instructed equally by the vision and conversation of the man of God, and was advancing in his holy work with continual fruitfulness; seizing the occasion of the dedication of his monastery, which he had newly built, he endeavored more diligently to summon the servant of God: so that together with Blessed Autbert, Bishop of Cambrai, he might consecrate the structure of the new work as ^a habitation of heavenly grace. While the two of them were equally devoting themselves to the sacred mysteries, and were laboring to suitably impress upon the minds of the faithful the model of the visible form, the Count Madelgarius, who was also called Vincent, was moved by the pious hearing, and was converted from the vanities of the world to the service of divine piety. He converts Saint Vincent Madelgarius: This man, while among the Palatine Princes he was held to be illustrious and noble, and most dear to the King; renouncing the world, by the impulse of life-giving preaching, according to the salutary doctrine of the blessed Bishop, learned to turn his heart from his own desires, to resist the passions of the flesh, to have nothing of his own: and he was made ^a citizen of voluntary poverty, and crowned the praiseworthy purpose of holiness with the outcome of ^a glorious consummation.

Chapter 23

[35] A tree is praised by its fruits, and balms are approved by their odor. Value is ascribed to wares by their appearance and use, the beauty of the work commends the craftsman; what constructs the celebrated adornment for the servant of God is the noble fecundity of the offspring received, which he begot in Christ through the Gospel. The illustrious virgin Aldegundis, whom the grace and faithful instruction of her character had made more worthy than the endowments of her beauty and the dignity of her birth, Saint Aldegundis, fleeing the suitors of her modesty and the allurements of the marriage bond, more ardently desired to arrive at the chamber of eternal incorruption with the title of virginity. fleeing marriage, She, by the benefit of ^a secret flight and ^a forest hiding place, having slipped from the hands of those seeking her, when she learned that the aforesaid Bishops had come to the monastery of Hautmont; with desire not delayed by the slowness of the body, she hastened to fly to them as to ^a city of refuge. Falling prostrate therefore at the feet of the Saints, she taught them what she feared, revealed what she wished, and asked to be instructed as to what would be expedient. He consecrates her to God: Blessed Amandus, refreshing her wavering soul with eloquent speech, raised her to the citadel of ^a loftier purpose: and having imposed the use of the sacred veil, he consecrated to the virgin Spouse ^a virgin bride. She, having obtained her wish and more happily strengthened, returned to Maubeuge, where she had first hidden. There, with the holy Bishop assisting and the munificence of King Dagobert aiding, she built ^a monastery of women serving God.

Chapter 24

[36] By ^a similar example, Blessed Rictrudis, with her daughter Saint Eusebia, animated by the counsels of the glorious Bishop, fortified by his advice, aided by his prayers, and raised by his support, he places Saints Rictrudis and Eusebia in ^a monastery: at the monastery of Marchiennes, which the holy Father had previously founded, under its Abbot Jonathus, ^a disciple of the same, vowed and discharged to the Lord the celibacy of salutary continence.

[37] Her son Maurontus, while the holy Father was celebrating the divine mysteries, was standing reverently at the sacred altars; and the same holy Bishop saw his head encircled by ^a bee flying around it. The perceptive spirit of the man of God conceives something deeper here, and because the little bee is ^a servant of sweetness and ^a mother of chastity, he conjectures with ^a faithful augury He sees Saint Maurontus encircled by bees: that the grace of perpetual sweetness would be propagated in him by the merit of chastity. Thence, calling the young man aside more privately, he indicates what he has seen: he explains what the vision portends: and invites him to the form of ^a holier purpose. He, although by the persuasion of friends, and the conniving counsel of his mother, and the provocation of the failure of his bereft inheritance, he was being drawn more inclinedly toward the bond of marriage; breaking the chains of necessities, he makes him ^a monk: he bows his mind equally with his head to the salutary admonitions: and having solemnly taken the vow of continence, according to the ecclesiastical custom, he was tonsured by the ministry of the blessed Bishop, and was effectively devoted entirely to the divine service.

Chapter 25

[38] Holy diligence leaves nothing untried, nor does the obstacle of difficulty crush the affection of true piety, nor does the thing of fear generate distrust in holy love. The man, therefore, lest any merit or favor should flow away from him before the Lord, resolves not to spare himself in order to consult the salvation of others, and does not refuse to offer the sacrifice of his own blood in order to gather the perishing. He therefore directs his journey to the Slavs, to whom Christ had not yet been announced: He sets out to the Slavs for the purpose of preaching the Gospel: that he may gather strangers into the camps of the faith, and teach them to fight under heavenly standards to the glory of the eternal King, and to resist the tyrannical laws of Satan. But faith is not of all, nor do all obey the Gospel: for the darkness does not receive the mystery of the light; nor is the earth suitable for sowing, which is not made fruitful by the expenditures of its own moisture. Having converted ^a few, however, to the faith, having converted ^a few, he returns to Gaul: he delegates the care of the divine word and arranges the sacred ministries, lest anything should be wanting for those to be saved. He himself, however, returns to his own sheep, since the rest of the crowd persistently and promiscuously lay in the wrappings of their errors: nor did it seem suitable to him to cast the pearls of the Lord before swine, and to give what is holy to dogs. And so, having shaken the dust from his feet against them according to the Lord's precept, by ^a happy journey he was called back to Gaul, and resumed the interrupted work of preaching.

Chapter 26

[39] Meanwhile Dagobert, made more haughty by his enormous victories and by affairs prosperous beyond belief, rebukes King Dagobert, given over to luxury, turned his heart from the way of justice to crime, and defiled the royal dignity with disgraceful deeds. He violated the sacrament of marriage: and having rejected his lawful wife, he moved into the embraces of ^a concubine he had taken. When this came to the holy Bishop's hearing, he was consumed with sorrow, and with anxiety of mind he lamented the state of innocence, the ruin of virtue, the injury to royal majesty, the mark of ^a fatal example. And because the just man is confident, like ^a lion, and tried virtue corrects the foolish, he enters boldly before the King, he rebukes him: and so corrects the man as to defer to his rank, and so sets forth the word of reproof as to seek place neither for offense nor for favor. The ferocity of ^a lion is governed not by blows but by blandishments; royal dignity is not corrected by reproof but leaps into fury. At the admonitions of the man of God, he is driven into exile: the King's spirit swells into wrath: trampling on the honor of the Divinity, having cast aside the regard of piety, he commands the minister of truth to depart from the borders of his kingdom: reckoning to find solace for his shame if the cruel vengeance should remove the presence of the man of God. The servant, not forgetful of the divine voice: "If they persecute you in one city, flee to another," gives place to anger, and at the King's threat he departs, penetrates more remote places, seeking in exile and labor ^a resting place of peace. Matthew 10:23

[40] Yet the soul never goes into exile from divine things: but the Lord grants the word to him who preaches the Gospel with great power, and in the day of cloud and darkness comforts his innocent servant. He inflicts punishment upon the guilty, and deprives the adulterous woman of the fruit of the womb: When the King is punished because according to the word of the Wise Man: "Spurious shoots shall not take deep root, and the seed from an unlawful bed shall be exterminated." Wisdom 4:3 The King therefore, despairing of succession, sends ^a bill of divorce to the adulteress, and passes entirely to other affections: especially desiring this, and seeking it with diligent vows, that the scepters should not lack rulers, nor the royal dignity be cheated of the posterity of children. A third marriage chamber is prepared, and according to the King's will ^a noble and fruitful maiden is introduced: who might reward her husband with offspring, her subjects with ^a ruler, and the kingdom with ^a successor. Meanwhile Dagobert, not unmindful of the transgression he had committed, then repenting, is converted to the Lord from the misery of his sin, while the terrible thorn of judgment is fixed in his heart. He redeems his sins with almsgiving, and frequents heaven with prayers and the altars with offerings. The Lord looks upon the humility of his servant, and when ^a son is born to him, and ^a son is given to him by the divine gift, the glory of his parents, the restoration of his race, the title of good hope, the joy of his subjects. The glad and anxious father therefore deliberates to whom he should especially entrust the little one, to receive the salutary Sacraments of holy regeneration: whom he should wish to be the guardian of so great ^a gift, whom he should prepare as the protector of his hope, the minister and nourisher of the royal succession.

Chapter 27

[41] The memory of the Saint occurs to the mind of the one pondering many things, and by the judgment of undoubted estimation he alone is found especially worthy to whom so sweet ^a bundle of so great reverence should rightfully be assigned. Immediately, with runners sent out in every direction at the King's word, the servant of God is sought, he is recalled, and being found with much labor, he is brought back with joy and exultation. Dagobert, cheerful and joyful, goes to meet the one returning, and mindful of his injury, and forgetful of the royal dignity, he humbly embraces the feet of the one entering, asks pardon for his offense, and detests his error with humble confession. The precious Confessor of the Lord, as he was always mild he receives the King meekly, and humble of heart, and readier to exercise pardon than vengeance, anticipates the one thus prostrate with the service of humility, raises him as he lies, and compensates the injury with grace. Made more secure by the kindness of the man of God, the King reveals what he asks: and with much supplication he requests that he renew with heavenly Sacraments the little one granted to him from heaven. The man of the Lord, and agrees to the baptism of his son: who sought nothing in the world except the will of the Lord, nothing except the heavenly command, lest he should seem to have wished to usurp the familiarity of the earthly King by such ^a transaction, at first indeed refused: but with the suppliant urgency of the King pressing, and with the glorious men Audoenus and Eligius (whom the royal familiarity still celebrated among the Palatine Princes with ^a special example of love and fidelity) further persuading the same, he reverently assented to the requests and promised pious compliance with the royal will.

Chapter 28

[42] When therefore the Magnates and Chief men of the kingdom had assembled at Orleans, He baptizes Saint Sigebert, according to the King's edict, the little one was brought to the baptistery to be renewed with the sacred mysteries by the ministry of the holy Bishop. And when with ^a solemn pre-signing, according to ecclesiastical custom, he had made him ^a catechumen, Divine piety declared by ^a wonderful judgment in the sight of men how great he was in virtue and grace before God. For the boy, having nearly forty days from his birth, when the prayer was finished and there was no one in so great ^a multitude to fill the place of the respondent, responded in ^a clear voice, "Amen," who responds "Amen." and turned upon himself the eyes and hearts of all who heard. They marvel and are amazed at so unusual and so solemn ^a miracle: they proclaim the King blessed on account of so happy an augury of the offspring received: they prophesy for the boy the marks of future probity, they commend in the novelty of the thing the goodness of God, the merit of the holy man, and the grace of the Sacrament. The little one is therefore renewed by the salutary Sacraments, and by the divine gift is translated into ^a new creature. There is common exultation among all; thanks are given by all to the Giver of so great ^a gift, and each one returns to his own home with sheaves of joy. Thus the favor and grace of the servant of God is more gloriously augmented, and the more widely it is spread about, the more sweetly it shines.

o. In the year 645.

p. Saint Jonatus is venerated on August 1.

q. Hucbald reports this same history in the Life of Saint Rictrudis. We said in section 14 that this occurred in the old age of Saint Amandus.

r. The other codex reads arctioris.

s. Around the year 633, as said in section 10.

t. Gomadrude, because she was barren.

u. He entered the kingdom of Charibert, brother of Dagobert, as an exile in the year 634.

x. In the other manuscript, exercere.

y. In the year 635.

CHAPTER 5

The Bishopric of Saint Amandus at Maastricht. The Epistle of Saint Martin the Pope.

Chapter 29

[43] Indeed, after the death of Blessed John, Bishop of Maastricht, when the affection of King Dagobert was burning toward the man of God, by the election of the Clergy, the petition of the people, the assent of the honorable men, and the wish of the co-provincials, the servant of the Lord was reverently and urgently sought, He is elected Bishop of Maastricht: resisting and unwilling he was drawn to the Chair, and worthy of pastoral care, he was acclaimed by the voice and desire of all. He constantly declares himself unworthy of the honor, confesses himself unequal to the burden, not sufficiently useful for the care, less suited for the dignity. But the efforts of the many, supported by the zeal of piety, prevail, and he is favorably placed in the pontifical Chair by the general assent of all. For it was judged by all to be unworthy if so illustrious ^a See should not be adorned with the consolation of so great ^a Father, if so great ^a Father should for so long ^a time have to serve without ^a title, if the royal house should be deprived of so faithful and sweet counsel. To the urgency of such sincere devotion the blessed man, He reluctantly accepts the Bishopric: complaining, sad, and anxious, acquiesces, and the more he proclaims himself unworthy, the more worthy is he esteemed by all, and by the worthy acclamation of the whole community, the exhibition of holy humility is commended. When therefore the things had been accomplished which are accustomed and ought to be solemnly performed in the ordination of ^a Bishop: the holy man with all sagacity and zeal labors to honor his ministry, correcting what is crooked, sustaining what is weak: consolidating what is broken, preserving what is sound, gathering up what is scattered. He does not display the type of one lording it over the Clergy; but having become ^a pattern of the flock, he presents himself to all as an example of humility, ^a way of justice, ^a mirror of innocence, an honor of chastity, ^a title of holiness. He shows himself equable to the humble, and rises with the zeal of rectitude against the haughty: he excels in every kind of virtue: he corrects the erring in meekness: he restrains the rebellious by the censure of pious severity. He cultivates his subjects with diligence, his equals with services, his superiors with reverence, ^a restorer of the poor, ^a consoler of the sorrowful, the delight of the people, the glory of the Magnates: ^a propagator of salvation and grace to all.

Chapter 30

[44] But, as it is written: "Behold, they that serve Him are not stable, and in His angels He found perversity"; the evil life of the Clergy of Maastricht there was found in the ministers of the altar ^a sad and wretched calamity, and their miserable conduct was found to be less than adequate when weighed in the scales of the sanctuary. Job 4:18 For the priests and deacons, who ought to have been more strictly and sincerely bound by the heavenly ceremonies, having cast aside the regard of divine fear, were devoted to feasting and drunkenness, to lewdness and impurities, caring for the flesh in its lusts, fulfilling with the obscenities of pleasure the desires of their father the devil. The blessed man was anguished in soul, He strives to correct them. and raising himself in the zeal of fortitude with just severity, he constantly pressed the erring, reproved, rebuked, besought in season and out of season, preached the way of innocence, and strove to tear out with the hoe of correction the density of thorns from the Lord's vineyard. A desperate illness does not easily yield to the remedy, nor does hardened malice willingly receive the word of truth. The salamander lives amid devouring flames, and what are given to man for his destruction furnish life to the serpent. Thus unhealthy impiety rests in its dregs, and unhappy fecundity sprouts the bushes of prevarication from an evil root. The hedgehog, when caught, rolls itself into ^a ball and makes the hand of the one touching it bleed with the pricks of its spines. Thus the rebellious and fraudulent mass of the malignant not only does not obey the salutary admonitions; but assails the innocent with harmful machinations: and in return for the benefit of holy assistance, stirs up persecutions and offenses.

Chapter 31

[45] Meanwhile King Dagobert closed his last day, his sons reigning in his stead — Clovis in Francia and Sigebert in Austrasia, whom Blessed Amandus had received from the sacred font. The same man of the Lord, considering that his diligence was accomplishing nothing, that his solicitude was conferring nothing, that his goodwill was earning nothing except the stings of contradictions and the tunnels of hatreds, resolved to hide and to go forth from the midst of ^a wicked and perverse nation, lest either the burden of their rebellious guilt should increase on their account, or, their sins demanding it, his labor should appear more fruitless. But because it is the wise man's part to examine his counsels, and not quickly to slide into new things with easy changeableness, as is said through Solomon: "Do all things with counsel, and after the deed you will not repent," having sent ^a delegation to Rome, he directed to Blessed Martin, He sends an embassy to Saint Martin the Pope: who was then the Roman Pontiff, in sealed letters, the troubles of the labor he had undertaken and the desire of his heart, wishing to use the counsel of him under whose power he was. Sirach 32:24 The Apostolic man, reading these with eyes full of veneration and with ^a pious understanding, wrote back ^a letter full of consolation and reverence, exhorting him to the virtue of perseverance, by which the merits of all the faithful are crowned. For already, with the report of fame running about, the holiness of his life, the persistence of his preaching, and the grace of his virtues had become known to the blessed Pope, and he whom God had suffused with grace was loved by him more sincerely and ardently. Besides this, he sent him the relics of the Saints which he had requested, he receives gifts from him. and an excellent volume of synodal decrees, which, divided into five parts, he himself had composed, and he transmitted mandates to be delivered to King Sigebert. Whence it is given to understand that Blessed Amandus was of great merit and renown: whom so great ^a Confessor, ^a pillar of the faith, and Father of the Universal Church, rewarded with the tokens of such great esteem, whose absent presence he gathered up with ^a familiar gaze, whom he cherished in that better part of himself the more worthily and sweetly, because the bond of friendship is possessed more faithfully and joyfully. But so that the assertion of our aforesaid statement may be confirmed, the cloud of doubt being wiped away, it pleased us to append to this discourse of ours the aforesaid epistle of the same Pope directed to Blessed Amandus, the tenor of which is as follows:

Chapter 32

[46] "To our most beloved brother Amandus, Martin. Our soul is known to be relieved upon receiving the letter of your fraternity, compiled with the zeal of piety: Saint Martin the Pope praises his labors, inasmuch as, despising the wave-tossed and transitory pleasures of this world, it is certain that you seek those perpetual and sublime gifts which are bestowed for the services of the Lord our God. From the report, therefore, according to the tenor of the letter of your fraternity, of the bearer of the present, we have learned of the contest of your labors, from which, with humbled minds and afflicted bodies, the gifts of future joys are to be bestowed upon you for the ascent to the heavenly fatherland. For since what is compensated by our Creator for good services is by no means to be equated to any comparison, to be rewarded by God: while the labors which we sustain for love of Him are ended in ^a brief and small space of time; by the consideration of refreshment we ought with ^a willing spirit to tolerate the straits of the present life. But, as much as the operation of your labors brings us ^a great abundance of joy, so much are we grieved on account of the hardness of the priests of that people, he exhorts him to perseverance; in that, having set aside the supports of their salvation, and despising the service of our Redeemer, they are burdened with the bonds of vices. For whom, to prepare their salvation, inasmuch as it is necessary for us to press upon them with importunate preachings in proportion as the assignation of the talents entrusted to us doubles the reward of ^a perfect transaction, and the assertion of the Lord's voice persuades us to take up His rest. For it has been reported to us that priests, or deacons, and others of the priestly office, after their ordinations, are defiled by ^a fall, and that on this account your fraternity is being bound by excessive sorrow, and that you wish to lay down the pastoral service on account of their disobedience, and to choose ^a vacation from the labors of the episcopate, and to spend your life in silence and leisure; rather than to remain in those things which have been committed to you: the Lord saying, 'Blessed is he who shall persevere to the end.' Matthew 10:22 and 24:13 For whence comes blessed perseverance, except from the virtue of patience? For according to the apostolic preaching, all who wish to live piously in Christ will suffer persecutions. 2 Timothy 3:12 And therefore, dearest brother, let not the bitterness of afflictions narrow you to withdraw from the pious purpose of your mind, considering how much for our absolution and liberation our Creator and Lord endured, and to what outrages He delivered Himself to be afflicted, in order to free us from the chains of diabolical power.

[47] "On this account you should by no means show compassion to those who sin in this manner of offense, to the destruction of the canons. He counsels that fallen clergy should not be promoted to sacred orders: For whoever has once fallen into ^a lapse after his ordination; henceforth he shall already be deposed, and shall be able to obtain no rank of the priesthood; but let it suffice for him to continue in that same penance with constant lamentation and weeping as long as he shall live: so that by divine grace he may be able to extinguish the offense committed. For if we seek such men to be promoted to the sacred orders as are hindered by no blemish and no contagion of life; how much more, if anyone after his ordination shall have fallen into ^a lapse and be found guilty of the sin of prevarication, is he to be altogether prohibited from handling with muddy and polluted hands the mystery of our salvation? And so, such ^a one shall always according to the statutes of the sacred canons in this life be deposed, so that by Him who examines the interior of the mind and rejoices that none of His sheep should go astray, when He shall have beheld the sincere penance of such ^a one, he may have him reconciled in the terrible judgment. And therefore again we exhort your charity, by the example of Him who willed to suffer and to die for us, to remain ready in all His services. Nor let it grieve us to endure temporal torments for the name of Christ: but let the advantages of future reward persuade us to tolerate the vexations of this world. Psalm 115:12-13 For it is written: 'What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.' For only so much is demanded of us as we are able to furnish of the services of our devotion. And since all things which could be ministered to us for the strengthening of the minds of your fraternity are without doubt manifest to you, by the bounty of the clemency of the supreme Majesty, it remains for us to signify to your fraternity concerning the other matters on which he has consulted us through his writings.

[48] "For we believe it has come to you, how in the disturbance of the right faith, and in the trampling down of the Catholic Church, more than fifteen years ago, the execrable and abominable heresy of the Apollinarists sprouted from Sergius, the false Bishop of Constantinople, he reports the heresy of the Monothelite Bishops of Constantinople, with the help of the then-reigning Heraclius, renewing the error of the Severians, Eutychianists, and Manichaeans. Which his successor Pyrrhus, himself also ^a Bishop, who by the pomp of ambition seized the See of Constantinople, increased to worse. On which account the Apostolic See repeatedly admonished them with persuasions, protestations, and very many rebukes; that they should withdraw from such error, and return to the light of piety from which they had fallen. And not only were they by no means willing to do this; but now his successor Paul, ^a violator of the faith, Bishop of Constantinople, has devised another more wicked attempt in prejudice of the Catholic faith: as if destroying what had been heretically set forth by his predecessors, and with sacrilegious boldness he persuaded our most clement Prince to issue an imperial decree, full of all perfidy, in which it was promulgated that all Christian peoples should be bound to believe. And therefore we deemed it necessary, lest through any negligence and to the detriment of the souls which have been committed to us, we be bound by the fault of guilt: to have been condemned in ^a Roman Council: to convene ^a general assembly of our brethren and co-Bishops in this Roman city. In whose presence the wicked writings of the aforesaid heretics were examined and laid bare, and by the Apostolic sword, and by the definitions of the Fathers, with one mouth and one spirit, we condemned them, so that all, recognizing the error contained in them, should by no means be stained by their pollution. Whence we have determined to send to you in the present the volumes of the synodal acts, together with our Encyclical, from the series of which you can learn all things in detail, and extinguish their darkness with us, as children of light.

[49] "On this account, let your fraternity strive to make the same known to all, so that they may execrate with us so abominable ^a heresy: and that they may be able to learn the sacraments of their salvation, and that ^a synodal convention of all the brethren and co-Bishops of those parts having been assembled, he asks for signatures from the Bishops of Francia: according to the tenor of the Encyclical directed by us, they may join in celebrating the proceedings, together with your subscriptions to be sent to us: confirming and consenting to those things which for the orthodox faith, and for the destruction of the heretical madness recently arisen, have been decreed by us. And admonish and pray the most excellent Sigebert, our son, King of the Franks, most advisedly, for the remedy of his Christianity, and for some of them to be sent to Rome by King Sigebert: to send to us from among the body of our brethren, most beloved Bishops, who, with divine propitiation granting it, ought to fulfill the legation of the Apostolic See, and who shall without doubt cause the things accomplished in our Council, together with these synodal letters of ours, to be carried to our most clement Prince, so that having been made ^a sharer in our labors, he may be able to attain the sum of reward and find Him the protector of his kingdom, whose cause is recognized to be at stake. For we know that in his letter also we exhort him to this."

[50] "The relics of the Saints, concerning which the bearer of the present admonished us, we have ordered to be given. He sends him relics. For the codices have already been exhausted from our library, and we had nothing from which to give him: moreover he was unable to transcribe them, since he hastened to return quickly from this city. Having therefore touched upon these matters, we exhort your fraternity to put into effect what has been written to you by us through this letter. May God keep you safe, dearest brother."

p. Thus in the said Synod session; Saint Martin the Pope reports that Sergius established one will and operation in Christ, according to the impious Apollinaris. This heresy began under the Emperors Valens and Valentinian, condemned by Saint Damasus the Pope at Rome in ^a Synod in the year 373: Sozomen treats of it in Book 6, chapter 25.

q. Severus lived under the Emperor Zeno. Severus the heretic. Saint Martin the Pope in the place cited says that Cyrus of Alexandria preached one operation in Christ after the manner of the Acephalous heretics.

r. Eutyches removed every distinction of natures in Christ, condemned in the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon.

s. The Manichaeans had fabricated very many fables concerning Christ, which Timothy the Priest reports, in Combefis in the History of the Monothelites.

t. The successor of Sergius was ejected under Constans in the year 642.

u. Especially the predecessors of Saint Martin, John IV and Theodore.

x. Paul sat from the first year of the Emperor Constans to the second, from the year of Christ 641 to 652.

y. The author of the Life of Saint Martin calls the Decree ^a disease of invented heresy, The Decree. by which Catholic dogma is destroyed, and all the voices of the holy Fathers are altogether enervated; and it is not permitted to confess either one or two wills or operations in Christ the Lord.

z. In the sixth Indiction, the year of Christ 648.

aa. Saint Martin, as is read in his Acts, sent copies throughout all the Churches of the East and West, and directed them through the hands of orthodox faithful.

bb. Sirmond in the Councils of Gaul reads "vestris" yours.

cc. Thus the manuscripts. But Sirmond omits faciemus.

CHAPTER 6

The instruction of various persons. Miracles performed by Saint Amandus. Monasteries built.

Chapter 33

[51] Having received the admonitions of so great ^a Father, the blessed man persisted in the ministry of the governance he had undertaken, sustaining heavy stings of grief from the transgressions of his subjects, and recalling with sagacious persistence those who refused the remedies of salvation. But, as is said through the Prophet, "We have healed Babylon, and she is not healed," the hardened perversity rejected the antidote of holy medicine: so that the blessed man could rightly say: "All day I have stretched out my hands to ^a people not believing but contradicting me, who walk in ways not good, but after their own sins." Jeremiah 51:9 When therefore ^a three-year period from the time of his entry had thus elapsed, and he saw that his labor was being entirely wasted upon them: He abandons Maastricht: he withdrew from them, choosing rather to dwell privately in the house of God than to excel among transgressors with the title of dignity. Romans 10:21 For the innocence of poverty and the lowliness of ^a private retreat are safer than the luxury of ^a sinful affluence and the exaltation of ^a swelling power. He went therefore bitter in soul, in the indignation of his spirit, pitying the malice of the wicked, fearing their perdition, and showing the affection of holy compassion for their sad peril. Nevertheless the hand of the Lord was with him, comforting him, which, in return for the barrenness abandoned, would repay the abundance of precious fruits.

Chapter 34

[52] There was in that same region ^a noble matron, Itta by name, surpassing the glory of her birth with the titles of her conduct and character. Blessed Itta the widow She, recently bereaved of the companionship of the glorious Duke Pippin, who had died, was sustaining with ^a sorrowful mind the sad divorce of ^a happy union. It often happens that temporal trouble becomes the joyful advance of ^a holier purpose, and sometimes harsh necessity is transformed to the use of virtue. The dove flies back to the bosom of the ark, when, while the flood reigns, she does not find where to rest her feet in quiet. And this holy woman was thinking amid her anguish, given to piety, he visits her: deprived of the solace of her husband, how she might please Christ alone, and bring the desired honor of chastity into the treasury of the heavenly treasure: because after the shipwreck, the second plank is to be regained in consolation for the loss of virginity, by the merit of widowed continence. The blessed man turned aside to her for the sake of consolation, persuaded by the commerce of ^a holy familiarity long since entered upon. A gracious cheerfulness is shown to the one entering, services befitting holiness are offered, ^a pleasing communion of modest conversation is exchanged. When the man of the Lord was admitted to the secret of her innermost will, he confirms her pious purposes: and was able to discover what the pious intention of the holy widow sighed for, he cherishes her with congratulation, raises her with admonitions, and confirms with examples the faithful purpose of her holy desire. She, made more robust by the exhortation of the holy Bishop, binds herself with the vow of chastity, and obliges herself with the stricter rules of living well. And because love cannot be idle, but by its works gives proof of how great it is, Blessed Itta consecrates her possessions and estates to the heavenly Spouse whom she has chosen, and asks that her house, purified by the heavenly sacrament, be consecrated as ^a Church. And there, during the sacred solemnities of the Mass, from the hand of the holy Bishop, he confers upon her the sacred veil: she received the sacred veil, the sign of humility and chastity. After ^a community of women serving God had been gathered together, she enlarged the same place with possessions, and adorned it with manifold ornaments of various kinds, striving to become for all an example of obedience and humility.

Chapter 35

[53] She had an only daughter, Gertrude by name, who, distinguished by the gifts of her lineage and beauty, stirred up many suitors for herself, and whose pious mother, desiring to free her from the muddy whirlpool of corruption, He consecrates Saint Gertrude as ^a bride of Christ: having cut her hair and changed her attire, applied her to the sacred altars and offered her to the holy Bishop to be consecrated. For she most earnestly desired that what had withered in the root, the integrity of the shoot might exhibit: and that what she could not possess in herself, she might possess the title of virginity in her daughter. Having therefore been initiated in the sacred mysteries, and crowned with the mystic veil, she began to surpass the other virgins greatly in her way of life, grace, faith, character, and discipline. Not long after, by divine clemency working, she was placed over the monastery of Nivelles, and by the drawing of canonical election and the harmony of concord, she was ordained as Mother of the Virgins, by the appointment of the holy Bishop. There afterward, full of good works and most celebrated by the merit of her virtues, she rested in Christ with ^a blessed end.

Chapter 36

[54] Departing thence, the man of the Lord directed his steps with ^a joyful advance to the monastery of Blessed Gislenus, of which we have treated, and being gladly received by the brethren, he communicated with cheerful disposition the provision of salvation to those who sought it. Narrow poverty often suffers severe gaps: He exhorts the monks of Saint Gislenus: and what is not sufficient for itself cannot provide sufficiency for another. Since they had nothing which they might judge worthy of the table of so great ^a guest, the holy Bishop went forth unfed, not without the manifold complaint of the brethren, when the rich affection endured penury: nor could the hand find what the spirit yearned for. He was therefore led to ^a boat to cross the river Haine, as the necessity of the journey required. he is refreshed by ^a fish offering itself of its own accord: And when the holy men, Amandus and Gislenus, were bidding each other farewell, suddenly ^a great fish, which they call ^a pike, leaped of its own accord from the river onto the land, which by its size could refresh many feasting. At the spectacle of this new thing all came together with exultation, and they followed the God who was the author of the gift with an act of thanksgiving and ^a proclamation of praises. By this benefit the anxiety of the former confusion was relieved, the pious compassion of the holy Bishop was gladdened, the harsh necessity of fasting was removed from their midst, ^a feast was prepared, and the man of the Lord was recalled with joy to the monastery. There arose among the holy Fathers ^a humble and pious contention, while the holy Bishop attributed this gift to the merits of Gislenus, and the simple and devout judgment of Blessed Gislenus ascribed the same to the holy Bishop. There was altercation without rancor, dissent without annoyance, contest without transgression, and the judgment varied on both sides without prejudice to truth: because dissent is always foreign to the peace of minds, nor is the unity of will violated by those who think the same things. When therefore the refreshment of the divine gift had been accomplished, they returned with joy to the river, and saluting one another with ^a holy kiss, with the boat serving them, they were separated from each other's sight by the course of the river. He comes to Calloa: Having then been carried to an island, which is commonly called Calloo, near the Scheldt and not far distant from Ghent, he resolved to have ^a brief resting place from his labor with the God-fearing men who dwelt there.

Chapter 37

[55] After the passage of some time, after his name had gone out in public, he began to announce the way of truth to the neighboring peoples, and by the benefit of salutary doctrine, he preaches the word of God, he labored to turn the erring from the error of their ways. But the attentiveness of ^a physician perishes when the sick man refuses to be healed, and words of wisdom do not reach the mentally captive for their correction. The inhabitants deny their appetite to vital nourishment, and as if having suffered ^a disagreeable abscess, they reject the drink of salvation with ^a languid stomach. The servant of God is despised by the impious; nay, in his servant Christ is rejected, when the despisers are struck with pestilence: who had come in him to seek and to save what had perished. The Lord sends them ^a bill of divorce in return for their rejection, and His clemency, being despised, abandons the deserters in the mire of the deep; and since, just as humility merits pardon, so contumacy merits punishment, heavenly vengeance proceeds as against those guilty of treason, and for nearly two continuous years ^a devastating plague of pestilence raged against them, until all were consumed who had proudly resisted the happy teachings of the man of God.

Chapter 38

[56] Not long after, when the man of the Lord with careful circumspection was visiting his brethren, whom he had left in various places for the salvation of souls, he preaches to the Gascons, he entered the borders of the Gascons, whom he had heard to be occupied with the worship of idols, with auguries, and with various errors. When therefore in ^a public assembly he was preaching the word of truth and the order of salvation to the perfidious multitude, ^a certain one from the crowd, frivolous and slippery, raising his voice, when ^a blasphemer is seized by ^a demon, from the abundance of ^a perverse heart began to babble shameful blasphemies, and to hurl at the servant of God and at the doctrine of the faith, not without laughter, words full of insults and most discordant. He was immediately seized by ^a demon, and began to attack himself with his own bites, and having become the butcher of his own body, began to open more horribly that gaping mouth which he had irreverently raised against the holy Bishop. He confessed nonetheless amid his very torments that he was suffering such things on account of the injury to the servant of God, and miserably struck dead. and so brought to his end, he exhaled his shameless spirit under the pressure of his punishments.

Chapter 39

[57] Thence, when for the sake of preaching he had entered one of the cities, he was reverently received in hospitality by the Bishop of that place. When the aforesaid Bishop had ministered water to his hands with the service of devout hospitality, he ordered that what had been received be preserved in the sacristy. With the water in which he had washed his hands, A man who had been blind for ^a long time was sitting at the gate of the church, begging, to whom the faithful Bishop, approaching, said: "Son, if you can believe, trust in the Lord, and wash your eyes with the water from which the man of God Amandus washed his hands, and you shall receive your sight, free from the inconvenience of blindness." the blind man is illuminated by it. The man, animated in faith by the word of the Bishop, conceived ^a more ample hope, and bathing with the wave of washing his eyes oppressed by ^a cloud of darkness, he was recalled from the shadows into the light, and performed the function of the sun, which he had previously not known. Thus the Lord saves the humble of spirit, and with the rod of His fury represses the malice of the wicked. And by the just judgment of God, neither does the confession of truth free the blasphemer from punishment, nor is the believer released from the bond of blindness. Thus the Lord glorifies the life of His servant, glorifies his work, and commends his merit, and demonstrates by sure signs that He lives in Amandus.

Chapter 40

[58] Meanwhile, the man of the Lord, having left the borders of the Gascons, returned to Francia: and coming to Childeric, King of the Franks, he requested ^a place where he might suitably build ^a monastery. Who, according to royal magnificence, conferred upon him an estate by the name of Nant. There the holy man with prompt eagerness, persistent zeal, He builds ^a monastery at Nant: and diligent labor, began to lay the foundation of ^a new plantation, and to prepare suitable buildings for the children of grace gathered in it. But ^a certain Mummulus, Bishop of Uzes, bearing ill the King's liberality by Bishop Mummulus and the holy man's purpose, infected with the poison of pestilent envy, dispatched sons of Belial, separated for the work of evil, to demolish the works of holiness and cruelly to drive out the servant of God from the aforesaid place. Coming therefore to him, they speak peaceable words with guile, and promise that they will shortly show ^a place where he might more suitably build. Holy simplicity follows the ministers of wickedness, he foreknows that snares are being prepared for him: and although, with the Spirit revealing it, he is not ignorant of the machinery of the impious scheme; yet in heart and soul he devoutly aspires to martyrdom, and desires to crown the outcome of his long-extended labor with the shedding of his blood. Yet he was unwilling to indicate this to his disciples, lest either they should create an impediment for the one tending toward the end, or be more gravely disturbed by the imminent danger.

[59] When therefore they had reached the brow of the hill, where the executioners had planned to slaughter the servant of God, justice converted into judgment looked down from heaven, scourging the impious and protecting the just with the aid of pious defense. A sudden storm arose, by ^a sudden storm of the air the face of the sky was thickened into darkness, the air was suffused with the horror of gloom, and ^a stormy whirlwind enveloped the splendor of the sun. The appearance of things was hidden and rolled up in ^a uniform confusion, the light was snatched from the officers, and struck with sudden blindness, the plotters are struck down, they shuddered at the peril of imminent death, cruelty was turned into fear, ferocity passed into supplication, stiff-neckedness was inclined to abasement, and the one whom they had come to slaughter, with humble urgency they begged to be permitted to go free. The piety of the man of God was moved to indulgence, and bathed in ^a great flow of tears, he faithfully bent to prayer, with prayers poured forth and asked for the absolution of the guilt of the wretched men. The door of mercy was opened to the one knocking, the snatched-away serenity returned, the storms being removed the state of the air was repaired, and the eyes being released to the light, in the use of the daytime splendor, the blindness being removed, the wretched men were restored. Led therefore by repentance, they give thanks for their deliverance, he frees them. they venerate the servant of God with worthy admiration: and returning in peace to their own homes, they more fully relate the mighty works of God which they had seen. Thus the Lord protected him from the seducers, and like running water, the malice brought to nothing before him, neither escaped the scourge of worthy severity, nor was alien from the benefits of mercy.

Chapter 41

[60] And so about the fifth year of the aforesaid King Childeric, while he was residing at Laon, the most blessed Father Amandus came to him, and by God's doing, he found favor in his eyes. For the enlargement of the service of divine worship, therefore, and for the propagation of the order of regular discipline, he delivered by royal liberality and due freedom, to the blessed man, the noble estate by the name of Barisis, with all its appurtenances, He builds ^a monastery at Barisis, which he, accepting it kindly with thanksgiving, for the opportunity of the place and time, established there ^a monastery with ^a suitable arrangement, and having gathered in it God-fearing men who had professed the soldiery of Christ, with provident dispensation he placed over them the venerable and God-worthy Andrew, his disciple, who was soon to be his successor in the monastery of Elnone. and places Andrew over it:

Chapter 42

[61] And when, as was his custom, for the sake of evangelizing he was going about the neighboring places, he came to Ressons, which is known to be situated in the district of Beauvais, on the river Aronde. There was there an unbelieving woman who, as the penalty of her unbelief, a blind woman, was sustaining the inconvenience of blindness: and on account of the works of darkness, consigned to darkness, she was leading ^a useless life, full of the image of death. The man of the Lord, entering to her, inquires into the causes of her misfortune, which the anxious woman confesses to have justly befallen her on account of the worship of demons and the observation of auguries. Then by the sign by which she prevails, she shows the tree under which, steeped in profane rites, she had been accustomed to sacrifice to ^a demon. To whom the holy man said: having rejected the diabolical worship, "If you wish to recover your former health, first, in contempt of superstition, put the axe to the tree to be cut down, and you shall be healed from the horror of blindness." The woman, trusting the man of God, led by the service of her handmaid, promptly swings the iron against the tree: and what her own strength does not accomplish, she bids and rejoices to see fulfilled by the hands of those standing by. The man of the Lord therefore standing over her, having invoked the name of God, with the sign of the Cross, he illuminates her with the sign of the Cross. touched the workshops of light, and by divine grace restored them to the office of sight. Then, having instructed her how she ought to live henceforth, he taught her in the fear of God to keep her heart with all diligence, and to guard the acts of her life more carefully: so that just as the light shone outwardly in her head, so the splendor of truth might radiate inwardly in her mind. The woman, therefore, faithfully taught according to the admonitions of the holy Bishop, and having become more correct in all things, was living in holiness and righteousness before God all the days of her life.

l. Rather Uzes.

NOTE: In the following chapter 7, the letters ^d, ^e, ^f, which have been incorrectly placed, ought to be transferred to the following ^g, ^h, ⁱ, and these should take the places of the following.

CHAPTER 7

The third Roman journey of Saint Amandus. The Praise of the monastery of Elnone.

Chapter 43

[62] Around the same time, the holy man was planning to set out for Rome now for the third time: so that by the labor of his pilgrimage About to set out for Rome ^a third time, and the fruit of his prayers, just as he had dedicated his beginnings, so he might advance the last times of his life. Having undertaken the journey, he turned aside for hospitality to the house of Blessed Humbert. He was received by him with all the reverence of charity, he joins Saint Humbert to himself: and all humanity was diligently shown in his care. During the meal, the holy man inquired of his host whether he wished to take upon himself with him the weight of the undertaken labor, whether he wished to share in the reward of the labor, and to present himself at the Apostolic thresholds. Blessed Humbert assented, and followed the fellowship of the holy Bishop with all cheerfulness.

[63] [He commands ^a bear to carry the burdens of the beast of burden which it had killed,] On ^a certain day, as is the custom of travelers, when for the sake of dining they had sat down near ^a forest adjacent to the road, ^a bear came forth and killed the animal with which they were accustomed to transport their baggage. Binding it by the virtue of the divine name, they led it to the baggage, and used it in place of the beast of burden for the conveyance of their domestic equipment, and made ^a carrier out of ^a plunderer. As the men of God were thus approaching the City, the Roman Pontiff, instructed in familiar conversation by an Angel, secretly sent word through ^a messenger, that they should release the beast from this service: lest they appear to enter the city more pompously than religiously, which ought to be the head of religion and integrity among the nations: and lest by the novelty of the spectacle they should stir up ^a rush of people, and turn upon themselves the voices and mouths of all. then he lets it go free: The holy Fathers obeyed the Apostolic command, and permitted the beast, released from the imposed obedience, to return to the lairs of the forests, while it kept looking back and showing its submission by such signs as it could. Thence, having entered the city, they were worthily and reverently received by the Supreme Pontiff: he returns: and having accomplished all things for which they had come, and having sought the intercession of the Saints, they returned with joy to their own homes.

Chapter 44

[64] When Blessed Humbert turned aside to Maroilles, the man of the Lord Amandus retired to Elnone, ^a place which the munificent hand of King Dagobert had long since granted to him; and for the amplification of divine worship, He builds ^a monastery at Elnone, had liberally assigned it by solemn donation. The place itself, situated within the borders of the Menapii, neighboring the Atrebates and the Nervii, just as it is the boundary of the German kingdom and the Roman Empire, so it is known to be ^a portion of Belgic Rheims and the frontier of the Franks. Here two rivers converging into one, the Elnone and the Scarpe, ^a spacious angle stretches out between them, around which, irrigated by the streams, meadows, pastoral abundance, and productive fishing extend; and then beyond, ^a forest suited to hunting offers ^a more extended retreat. The soil is neither supremely fertile nor barren; it furnishes an abundance of milk and honey for the use of the inhabitants. Coming hither, the servant of God, with the prophetic gaze of his mind, resolved to have ^a resting place from his labor, ^a domicile of peace, ^a habitation of quiet, the title of his consummation. But since he had not yet established buildings suitable for the religious life there, he began carefully to consider where he should lay the foundations of the new construction. Entering therefore the aforesaid intervening angle, he began to cut down the thickets, to tear up the bushes, to root out the sedge, and felling the trunks of the riverside trees, and demolishing the reed-beds, stripping the earth of its native covering, he leveled the horror of the former density into ^a clearing, and prepared ^a most suitable place for the regular workshops. And so, having laid the foundations, he founded ^a church in honor of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, whom he had frequently had as the chief author of his preaching, the guide of his labor, and the consoler of his trouble. Here he built with burning zeal workshops befitting the monastic order, which would savor neither the extent of superfluous curiosity nor the narrowness of threadbare poverty. Then the diligent fisherman casts his nets for the catch, and strenuously gathers from every side helpers for the work begun, and most faithful providers of regular institutions. Men fervent in spirit, zealous for the law of the Lord, more eagerly embracing the commandments of life, came to him, and pursued the erected school of divine service with celebrated persistence. The faithful pastor rejoices at the increase of his good flock, and the devout flock in turn, under the governance of so great ^a Father, is gladdened by the progress of common goods. Then he ordered ^a new church to be built from the foundations in honor of the Blessed Apostle Andrew: and ^a church. which he adorned with worthy services of those serving God. He himself, as an outstanding steward, now undertook the storms of external affairs, now proceeded to the interior of the veil, not without the incense of prayer and the fire of holy fervor, that he might hear what the Lord God spoke in him, and might ask for his servants peace and progress.

Chapter 45

[65] Not long after this, when Saint Humbert was returning from the City for the second time, he was going down to Elnone to visit the man of God. And when he was now drawing near the place, an Angel of the Lord approached Blessed Amandus, and admonished him to go forth to meet the servant of God, and to recognize by the sign which he bears on his head how great his merit is before God. He is made certain by an Angel of Humbert's arrival: The blessed man went forth, and rejoiced at the arrival of so great ^a guest, and having given the kiss of peace, uncovering his head he perceived the sign of the Cross radiating on his crown, He sees the Cross shining on his head: which, however, was not given to all to behold, but only those whose eyes the divine power illuminated. There was ^a common and great joy between them, which breathed not the paint of flattery but the scent of holy sincerity; nor reported anything unusual which did not befit the purpose of both, which was not suited to holiness and order, and could not be at odds with the laws of holy hospitality. Having lingered with him for as long ^a space as he pleased, after the sacred conferences of mutual exhortation, after the sweet conversations of holy piety, with ^a blessing mutually given, Blessed Humbert was brought back to his own with joy.

Chapter 46

[66] There was in the monastery of Elnone ^a certain Provost, Chrodobaldus by name, assigned to the services of the brethren, and appointed to the exterior care by the command of the holy Father. a disobedient monk, Having received from him the command to minister the drink to the brethren at the proper time according to custom, he despised the just edict of the one commanding. But he did not escape the vengeance of the just Judge. To excuse his excuses in sins, he was preparing to go up to the man of God, that he might cloud over the contumacy of his guilt with the veil of an excuse: when suddenly he was convulsed with the horror of paralysis, his senses were routed, his memory grew dull, his sight grew dim, his hearing was blunted, struck with paralysis, and with all his limbs as if dead, the vital spirit still palpitated in his breast alone. Yet with such voice and effort as he could, he confessed insistently that the guilt of disobedience had brought upon him such great evils. Placed therefore in ^a boat by the ministry of the brethren, he was transported by the current of the river to Elnone. These things were reported to the man of God, who smiling is reported to have said: "He will yet endure greater things; because he follows boastfulness and does not heed the grace of obedience." Then through ^a faithful Priest he sent ^a piece of bread and ^a little wine with ^a given blessing, having given ^a blessing, he heals him: and declaring that he should be refreshed with these, he commands him to come forth to meet him the following day when he would visit, without delay. The Provost, having tasted the blessing of the Father, was restored to his former health, and obedience repaired the strength which the guilt of disobedience had taken away. On the following day, he presented himself with ^a joyful meeting to the servant of God who was coming to him, asking pardon for his offense, and giving thanks for the benefit. The whole community of brethren marveled that they saw healthy and with vigorous body the one whom they had seen miserably lying down, brought in by the hands of others as if lifeless. Praise was given to God in common, and the virtue and merit of the holy Father was more gloriously proclaimed. He himself, however, gently and mildly sent the corrected brother back to Marchiennes, and exhorted him to be more careful for the future, and to labor to reform his ways more profitably.

Chapter 47

[67] Meanwhile Blessed Florbertus, whom he had long since placed over the monastery of Blandin, was gathered to his Fathers, On the death of Florbertus, he is sought by the people of Ghent as their Father, having entered into the joy of his Lord, inheriting the kingdom and glory of immortality. But the brethren of the place, with equal vow and unanimous will, having sent an embassy, with the supplication and the unfeigned beseeching by which they prevailed, struck the affection of paternal piety, that the holy man should come to them, should provide for the monastery which he had founded, should nourish the sons whom he had received from spiritual generation, should more abundantly water the plantations which he had set, and not suffer the devoted flock to go into the loss of dispersion. Blessed Amandus, shaken by the petition of his sons, suddenly pierced at the same time by the onset of fear and love, was unwilling either to leave Elnone or to dismiss without counsel the sons who were supplicating. Thus divided by the zeal of piety into parts, after many movements of holy deliberation and carefully sought counsels, with bland humility he responded to those requesting: "Do not, my sons, he declines that dignity, do not disturb the repose of your Father, do not call back from port into the deep; my poverty suffices me, that it may be counted as riches; this is my rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have chosen it. The power of heavenly aid, or the help of our solicitude, will not be lacking to you, by God's favor." The brethren, shut out by this declaration from the course of their proposed intention, implored that they might not return empty, and consulted the wisdom of the holy Father with all devotion, as to what he thought concerning the ordering of the monastery of Blandin, what he judged ought to be done. The holy Father Amandus, who could neither abandon his own monks of Elnone nor fail the desolate flock, delivered to them ^a man of proven conduct, distinguished in character, outstanding in moderation, John, his disciple: to whom having given his blessing, he committed the care of the brethren, he places John over them, and sent him back to Blandin with exultation.

Chapter 48

[68] The blessed Father Amandus was already from that time feeling the decline of his body, worn out by labors and old age, and he had foreseen by ^a secret inspiration that the day of his departure was not far distant. Having therefore summoned to himself the venerable Andrew, whom he had previously placed as Abbot over Barisis, he appointed him over his household, which with the Lord's help he had gathered, so that in his hand the strength of order Blessed Andrew over those of Elnone: and the severity of discipline might flourish with provident moderation, and to himself ^a more secret and freer entrance for attending to God might be opened. He decreed, however, that whatever he had previously possessed at Barisis from the munificence of King Childeric should be recalled into the perpetual possession of the monastery of Elnone, which up to the present day is irrefragably maintained according to the dispensation of the man of God.

CHAPTER 8

The testament, death, and burial of Saint Amandus.

Chapter 49

[69] Paternal piety is accustomed to be more attentive toward the last-born offspring, and always reserves the ardor of natural charity for the final affections. Thus the Master of piety, when He had loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end, and to His still weak and untrained disciples He exhibited the life-giving medicine of His death. The blessed Father Amandus, an imitator of Him, when he knew that the moment of his departure was at hand, having summoned the brethren to himself, after words of exhortation, after the gentle conversations of pious consolation, after the inculcated commandments of eternal salvation, indicated that the time of his calling was drawing near; and he foretells his death: by clear signs he declared how much he had loved them while living, when not even in death could he bear to be separated from their sweet fellowship. Having therefore made his testament for them, as is contained in the archives of this monastery, he confirmed ^a binding decree concerning his body, and the same he constantly adjured, besought, admonished, exhorted, and commanded to be inviolably observed. There had come to him, allured by the fame of his holiness, by the reputation of his virtues, by the fruits of his merits, and by the signs of his works, Fathers of revered authority and outstanding excellence: Reolus, Metropolitan of Rheims, Mummolenus, Bishop of Noyon, Vindicianus, Father of Cambrai, Bertinus and Aldebertus, Abbots, John, outstanding Pastor of the monastery of Blandin, together with other God-fearing men, by whose authority and counsel he confirmed the effect of his disposition. He therefore arranged under the threat of ^a terrible sentence, he determines concerning his burial: that it should not be lawful for anyone, whether an ecclesiastical or secular person, to remove his body from the monastery of Elnone, or to transfer it on the pretext of any occasion whatsoever; but that with the brethren, who at his urging had conquered the world, the place of his deposition should immovably possess the presence of his body: and that he should faithfully await with them the day of the last resurrection, whom he could not bear to desert while living, nor while dying to permit to be in any way disturbed. Therefore, that we may remove all ambiguity from those wishing to know this matter, it has pleased us to insert the testament of the pious Father into this work.

Chapter 50

[70] "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I, Amandus, most wretched and ^a sinner. We believe that divine piety everywhere governs us and mercifully wills to save us, he makes his testament: because He Himself foreknows from before the ages both our entrance into the world and our departure from the world. Accordingly, it is not unknown to all, how we have traveled far and wide through all provinces and peoples, for the love of Christ, to announce the word of God and to impart baptism: and the piety of God has snatched us from many dangers and has deigned to lead us up to this time. But since, with our body now weary and exhausted by many labors, already in the utmost old age with our body nearly dead, we hope to have our departure from this world at hand, and because God has deigned to lead us to this small place, he chooses his burial among those of Elnone: which is called Elnone, which by royal liberality and our own labor we manifestly built; if God shall have decreed that we should depart this world there, I ask and dare to adjure in the presence of Christ Jesus the Son of God, that it should not be contrary to the will of any Bishops or Abbots, or secular men, or any powers whatsoever, that our poor body should rest in that same monastery which we mentioned above, Elnone, among those brethren, to whom we have already commended ourselves both in body and soul.

[71] "And if on the road, or wherever our end should come, the brethren or the Abbot of that same monastery of Elnone should have leave to recall our poor body to that same place which we mentioned above. But if anyone should wish to contradict, or to remove my body from that monastery by force, or to contradict with ^a rash spirit; he pronounces anathema on transgressors. let him first incur the offense of the holy Trinity, and let him appear excommunicated from all Catholic Churches, and be made ^a stranger from the fellowship of the Saints: and let him sustain the condemnation which Dathan and Abiron sustained, whom hell swallowed alive, and let him be anathema maranatha, which is perdition, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And not even so let him be able to change our will; but let this our determination remain firm and inviolate in perpetuity. And that you may more certainly believe, I have subscribed with my own hand: and we supplicate and ask all God-fearing men to subscribe." Which letter we asked our brother Baudemundus the Priest to compose. This letter was made in the monastery of Elnone in the second year of the reign of our lord Theoderic the glorious King, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of May. He subscribes with various others. "I, Amandus, ^a sinner, have consented to and subscribed this letter made by me. I, in the name of Christ, Reolus, sinner though I be, have subscribed. I, in the name of Christ, Mummolenus, Bishop, have subscribed. I, in the name of Christ, Vindicianus, sinner though I be, Bishop, have consented to and subscribed this letter, at the request of the Lord Amandus. I, Bertinus, Abbot, have subscribed. I, Aldebertus, Abbot, have subscribed. I, John, asked by the Lord Amandus, consenting, have subscribed this letter. I, Baudemundus, ^a sinner, at the command of my Lord Amandus, have written and subscribed this letter of his determination."

Chapter 51

[72] Praiseworthy zeal, invincible love, delightful grace, joyful sweetness, wondrous union of charity, which had so bound the soul of the holy man with the indissoluble bond of piety: that in the ecstasy of his own dissolution, he esteemed it ^a loss of the holy covenant to be separated from the brethren. When therefore the day of the revered departure of the glorious Bishop was imminent, he dies being in the oratory of Blessed Andrew, after the gift of prayers, after having received the Sacraments of the heavenly mystery, among the hands of his disciples, having finished the course of his life, he departed to the Lord; and was gathered to his Fathers with glory. Happy in the merit of his works, happy in the grace of holiness, happy in ^a praiseworthy consummation, before the altar of Blessed Mary: to whom it was divinely granted to render his last breath before the altar of the Blessed Virgin, whose merits he most devoutly asked to be aided by, whose sacred footsteps he had striven with the whole effort of his mind to imitate. For no one's intercession before God can be more familiar, no one's grace more effective, than hers who merited to be the mother of Him whose Father is God. In whom, by the wondrous working of the Holy Spirit in the Deity, on the fourth day he is buried. with the properties of both natures preserved, the embrace of divinity and virginity communicates the begetting of the eternal Word.

[73] The holy solemnity of the funeral rites was deferred indeed to the fourth day, so that with religious men assembling from every side, with ^a great concourse the just rites might be paid to the holy funeral, and the deposit of the precious treasure might be more favorably celebrated. The neighbors, stirred by fame, in ^a great concourse assembled from towns and villages, to venerate the obsequies of so great ^a Father, and with the office of piety to attend upon him dead whom they had loved while living. There was present the holy multitude of his disciples, summoned from various parts. The sons of piety, the Clergy and people of the neighborhood, were present: and the faithful throng accompanied the clod of the most holy body, borne from the place of his departure to the place of burial, with psalms, hymns, and celestial canticles sounding forth. Although this multitude felt that there should be joy over the happy victory of so great ^a Father, nevertheless the affection of piety wrung forth tears of sorrow: and from one and the same source, springing in equal tenor, stirred by disparate causes, the vein of grief and joy proceeded; since piety owes to the one triumphing that it should rejoice, and it is fitting at funeral rites to display that it should grieve. He was therefore buried in the oratory of Blessed Peter, in the oratory of Saint Peter, which he himself had founded: so that he who had been the author of his preaching, the helper in opportunities, and the consoler in tribulations, might stand ready at the last, might open the gates of justice to the one entering, and might cherish in the bosom of the earth the one resting. Outstanding benefits are bestowed at his tomb upon those who ask, which more fully attest the merit of the holy Father, and the divine visitation, gleaming with miracles, commends His Confessor, and Christ demonstrates by glorious signs that He lives in His servant. Who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God: through the infinite ages of ages. Amen.

Chapter 52

[74] Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints, which, although to those of lesser understanding it may seem the path of destruction, yet heavenly authority magnifies them, and proclaims in the dead the glory of eternal resurrection. When Blessed Amandus, having laid down the burden of the flesh, departed to the Lord on the Lord's night, the illustrious virgin Aldegundis, in the monastery of Maubeuge, before the venerable altar of the holy and perpetual Virgin, was more ardently engaged in vigils and prayers. Blessed Aldegundis sees him led into heaven, When suddenly rapt in an ecstasy of mind, she saw ^a man of revered gray hairs, resplendent in sacerdotal vestments, leaning on ^a pastoral staff, ascending to the heights with the immense glory of gleaming light. Going before and following after him was an innumerable host of those clad in white, whom she desired to follow in their footsteps, to be joined to their sweet fellowship, to share in their happy joys, and with what effort she could she followed their steps. She was asked by an Angel, the guide of the journey, whether she knew who that elder of such reverence and glory was, whom so solemn ^a company of the white-robed multitude attended. And when the virgin of the Lord confessed that she did not know; "This is," he said, "the servant of the Lord Amandus, who, having laudably and innocently completed the course of the present life, hastens with sheaves of joy to enter into the joy of his Lord, so that the joyful dwelling of rest after labors may be for him, and translated from hope to the reality of manifest contemplation, he may be satisfied with glory. attended by many Saints instructed by him: Moreover, that splendid throng of the white-robed multitude which follows behind or goes before, are those who, trained in his sacred teachings, are preordained by divine decree to life: the sign of his apostolate in the Lord, companions of glory and reward on account of their holy imitation."

[75] The virgin of the Lord, concealing the vision in silence, was unwilling to reveal it to any of her own; she reveals it to Saints Waudru and Gislenus; but having sent ^a messenger to her sister Blessed Waudru to speak with her, she at the same time summoned the man of God, Saint Gislenus. Meeting them at the place which is called Mervius, in ^a familiar conversation she explained the mystery of the sacred vision. Which the holy man, prudently observing, said: "Give thanks to God, faithful virgin, to whom the divine condescension wished to indicate both the merit of His servant and the approaching day of your own departure. Therefore, what you have begun, carry out suitably and skillfully, so that, whose counsel of exhortation you have embraced, you may be united to his fellowship in the glory of eternity." in what year according to this author he died? With these words they departed from one another, and ^a faithful departure applied faith to the words.

[76] Blessed Amandus passed on the Lord's night, on the eighth day before the Ides of February, in the year from the Incarnation of the Lord six hundred and sixty-first, in the third year of the presidency of Pope Vitalian, in the twenty-third year of the empire of Constantine, who governed the state as the third from Heraclius. In the reign of Theoderic in Francia. In the ninetieth year of the life of the blessed Bishop. Through the Lord Jesus Christ: to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit is honor and glory through the infinite ages of ages. Amen.

i. In the year 684.

ANOTHER LIFE IN VERSE

By Milo, ^a monk of Elnone. From the manuscripts of Antwerp and Elnone.

BHL Number: 0333

By Milo, from manuscripts.

EPISTLE OF MILO THE DEACON,

afterward Priest, directed to the venerable Father Haiminus, Priest of Christ.

To the most reverend Father Haiminus, Milo, the most devoted of his sons, wishes the unfading joy of eternal happiness.

Having once enjoyed the most kind address of your gentleness, namely at that time Relying on the friendship of Haiminus, when, received by you, I merited, though unworthy, to be gladdened by your conversation and to be cherished by your honey-flowing sweetness, I render thanks. Indeed so great was the kindness of your excellency toward my insignificance, that from that time the fire of love for you, once kindled in my heart, did not cease to burn. And not undeservedly: for belching forth, full of the honey of most sincere love, the deeds of heart and body, which had their chambers in the interior of your breast, you easily obtained that no mention of your lovable name should at any time slip from my heartstrings; but should be preserved eternally renewed and endure with an unfading bloom. For which reason, trusting in your so praiseworthy paternity, as ^a son I have placed in your hands the inept trifles of my imprudence, a poem on the Life of Saint Amandus namely the first exercise of my small talent on the life of the most blessed Amandus, humbly beseeching that, if in these you find anything less consonant with the Catholic faith or incongruous with the metrical law, he subjects it to his censure, you would mercifully, in the fatherly manner, reduce it to the standard of the correct rule: and I testify and beseech by the blood of Christ, which was shed for the salvation of the Christian people, that you not dismiss me to my own error. But if, with the mercy of the supernal Majesty going before, the text of my poem should have obtained equal parts of approval; then with me, render with due exultation the praises of thanksgiving to the bestower of this gift, namely the Holy Spirit: by whose bounty I was able somehow or other to put together so great ^a work. But it is necessary to grant pardon for my rusticity, because agriculture, as ^a certain one says, written in ^a humble style. has been created by the Most High. And although I could have used more difficult circumlocutions of words in some places, I was prevented from doing so, because I also believed that this work would be more pleasing if it were open to the ears of all the brethren. Let your excellency, therefore, favor not my faults but my labors; so that you may receive in the heavenly places what mortal eye has not seen. We wish you well for the progress of all the faithful eternally.

RESCRIPT OF HAIMINUS TO THE SAME.

By Milo, from manuscripts.

The lowest servant of Christ, Haiminus, to his Milo, greetings. The poem which you presented to me, most beloved Brother, I have read through with eager mind: but since it is not enough to have read it once, it pleased me to see it again and again. Whence, returning from the beginning, not without judicial censure, what I had previously touched upon only at the surface, reading and studying the whole from the very start, Haiminus approves the poem. I expended all the powers of my attention upon it. For at first, I confess, I thought I had placed my foot on level ground; but when I realized that my insignificance was not merely being irrigated by ^a cup from the fountain, but was about to be overwhelmed by the floods of eloquence, not without caution I thereafter showed the brethren who are with me how the whole river should be navigated. And because in it I found neither ^a reef that opposes the faith, nor anything that contradicts metrical law; I exhort our brethren, and commends it to others, who do not shrink from such studies, to willingly receive this gift, and I beseech them that they would rather wish to be provoked to ^a similar pursuit than to be consumed by the torches of envy. For we know that citizens always envy citizens, and according to the Savior's saying, no Prophet, or, as you are accustomed to say, no Poet, is accepted in his own country. Luke 2:24 But since envy kills the little one, he who envies is known to be less than he who is envied. Amazing! I marvel that one whom I thought could scarcely exhibit even ^a taste to the poor was able to prepare ^a sumptuous banquet for the rich. Plainly I attribute this to the merits of the most beloved Amandus, in whose praises I do not cease to exult and to praise Christ. The discourse therefore is sweet and the poem sweet with wit, from the sweetness of the style: the speech flows on with ^a gentle glide and smooth language. What more? Let companions say and judge as they will: but I make public the secret of my heart: that the praises of so great ^a Father, my dear friend, you have sufficiently and abundantly illustrated with your poem. Yet do not, I beseech you, desist from what you have begun; do not succumb to sloth or idle leisure; do not neglect the grace that is within you; but while you have the opportunity, he incites the author to similar studies. always exercise yourself in good studies; and do not refuse to others what you have received freely: do not wish to possess alone the common good. This alone is the coin which knows how to be increased by spending: this alone is that which grows when scattered, and gains profit when disbursed: this is also that which condemns its concealer to punishment, and marks the good steward with the glory of an eternal reward.

New courage! Farewell, Milo, best of bards, And say, may God have mercy on your Haiminus.

PROEM OF THE FOLLOWING WORK.

The venerable feasts of our Patron were drawing near, And the day celebrated by earth-dwellers was at hand. The holy company of the flock was adorning The lofty dwellings of the shining temple Another, preparing the triumph of the Birthday, With watchful care. They were placing gleaming tunics and ornaments upon the altars, Woven with purple thread. The pavements were being prepared in the customary manner, fittingly, With varied rows of mingled marble. Some were fitting fragrant lights with wax, And the honey-flowing choir was forming canticles. Others, hanging vessels from olive-bearing crowns, Were pouring forth light, bright from hand and heart. Then this work seized me, anxious lest among such great throngs I should appear empty of ^a gift, The author writes this poem, That I might sing in sweet-sounding meter the flourishing deeds Of the gracious Bishop, fitted for pious praises. Sweet honor, ^a work of piety, the love of faith persuaded me To compose in verse the life of the Bishop. Impelled by the counsels of certain brethren, I undertook an enormous weight with feeble powers. Alas, the ancient poets were not ashamed to be silent, In whom learning was vain, fleeting, and light. The zeal of deceiving mocked them for every age, And their whole life was devoted to crimes. not in the manner of the Gentiles, To carry in the buskin of distinguished words with verse arranged apart, And to seek the name of praise through sin. And while they went through errors in various windings, They accomplished nothing else except the work of death. Equally deceived, consigned to hell and tombs, With continual weeping they atone for such deeds. My tongue will grow mute and languish upon ^a dry palate, And I who condemn falsehood, can I keep silent about the truth? For along ^a better way, the hope of ^a good faith counsels To celebrate the trophies of Christ, with ^a view to the gift. That highest praise be to God, and due veneration to the Saint, And an example also for Christian peoples. but from love of God and Saint Amandus. And may my reward grow with accumulated interest, And may I be transferred to the stars by the prayer of this Just Man. Yet this subject is attempted for the first time in this form, And what I have not learned, I strive in love to speak. Therefore, trusting in God's goodness and the gift of the holy Spirit, I undertake, ignorant, this path. Whoever there shall be who prefers to gnaw at our poem, Is gnawed by the fierce worm of just envy. And whoever desires to rejoice with so just ^a labor, Born of God the Father, this one is ^a lover of the Father. Therefore it is fitting first to run through the evangelical text, And its seven sacred seals. Then better shall I be able to hasten through the deeds of the Saint, If the pious members have such ^a beginning.

BOOK ONE

By Milo, from manuscripts. Book 1.

CHAPTER 1

Poetic Introduction, from Christ and the Apostles to Saint Amandus. His birth.

[1] The almighty Arbiter, Creator of men and things, Pitying the world as it perished in the darkness of errors, Entered the chamber of the Virgin, and prepared for Himself An untouched lodging, Christ Incarnate by the name of whose closed gate Ezekiel signifies, which no created being enters, Save Christ alone, to whom closed habitations stand open. And that you may marvel the more, and what is wondrous to tell, The heavenly portal penetrated the closed gate: Ezekiel 44:2. Whence Mary, made the mother of her own parent, Washed away the transgression of the ancient virgin Eve, And brought forth to the world the true fruit without seed. Therefore when the Redeemer came forth with conspicuous honor, He is recognized by all creation And shone upon the world more brightly than the very sun; The shepherds of flocks, first and stricken with fear, With upright ears heard the conspicuous citizens Singing ^a heavenly song among the stars: that the Author And Restorer of the world had come to earth, At whose rising there was glory in the heavenly kingdom And on earth holy peace for the man of good will. The stars perceived that He was their Maker, And sent to His cradle ^a gleaming star, And the sea had recognized that He was its Lord, And offered itself beneath His feet to be trodden. The kindly Sun also grieved when it saw fixed upon ^a tree, The servant weeping, its Lord, veiled in ^a dark garment. And the earth recognized Him when it was shaken with ^a terrible Tremor, when the tombs of the Saints were duly broken open. And hell, terrified, trembled when it saw its bars torn away, With the doors drawn back in the sight of the conspicuous light.

[2] But because the earthborn did not yet believe that He was The King above all things, thinking abominable images, Alas, to be Gods; He suffered these things no longer to remain, Nor to see the losses of the ancient ruin, He chooses the Apostles, He chose certain ones, whom grace alone had blessed: Through whom He might save the peoples under the fourfold hinge of the world; To whom He showed great miracles, Granting life to the dead, giving light to the blind. And since the Redeemer had come from His heavenly seat, That with His own blood He might save the whole world, Mocked, beaten, condemned, stripped, By an unjust judgment the most just Judge, the guide Of justice, at the last crucified, and thence buried, He dies, He raised up His manifold spoil to the heavenly breezes. He rises, Thence penetrating heaven, He sent to His aforesaid Disciples the gifts He had promised, to whom the holy Spirit Was present in the form of fire, granting the gifts of tongue, He sends the Holy Spirit: By which they might report to the world the mighty things they had seen.

[3] These also, fulfilling His commands with watchful labor, Went to the parts of the earth divided among them, Gleaming with conspicuous light in the manner of ^a lamp. The lofty Princes, Peter and Paul, the foremost, Hasten to the steep walls of Romulean Rome; The Apostles preaching Christ to various peoples throughout the world: And wash the Romans better than with the whirlpool of the Tiber; And there they establish the foundation of the chief honor. Hence the manly Andrew, hastening, seeks Achaia, And by manly deeds fulfills his own name. Hence the twin Jameses adorn Judea with their laws, They teach the ancient things to resound in ^a similar tenor with the new. Then Asia comes, converted by the counsels of John: Which, thirsting, he gives to drink from ^a paradisal stream. Philip shone with the countenance of ^a lamp for Scythia, And there he fulfilled what his name signifies. Matthew, the excellent, as the Gihon, washed with ^a sacred stream The Ethiopians, burned by ^a torrid heat, And made those washed gleam with ^a snowy appearance. Bartholomew scattered the darkness of the Indians, And made them shine with the splendid light of brightness. The solicitous Thomas examines the Parthians with blessed fingers In the manner of ^a kinsman, and tells of the wounds Which he saw in the body of the living Lord after His death. Simon, accompanied by gentle Jude, subdued Persia, which had been warlike, with the sword of the word. The land of Egypt, better than the flooding Nile, Mark also fills with the rich harvest of the Gospel, Bearing holy seeds. Holy Luke with his heavenly discourse And life-giving baptism cleanses the peoples. Those Doctors also, duly sent after these and following them, followed by various Doctors; Scattered throughout the world, scattered the words of salvation: Whose deeds, recorded in prose speech, Still remain, and will remain through all ages, And indeed the deeds of some are sung in verse: And in brief lines are bound, never to be abbreviated:

[4] From their number the Confessor Amandus shone forth, To whose deeds now our hand and new pen We direct, from these Saint Amandus, and with ^a tight effort we touch upon these very great things, God inspiring us: for ^a great share of praise it is To unfold with the pen his various labors: And to write his lineage and homeland or mighty deeds To the praise of the Lord, by whose virtue he accomplished these. For whatever we sing in praise of good servants, Looks back to the Lord; by whose gift they receive this, When the Saints produce something good, just, and praiseworthy With mind, hand, and tongue — by meditating, working, and speaking; Without whom man is dust; with whom nothing more precious exists.

[5] For how great he was whose deeds are described; What virtue in him, what piety, what devotion, No one could express with ^a hundred tongues, If he should bellow in the manner of thunder with ^a thousand-voiced throat: Much less shall I be able to relate these in slender speech, The Poet, unable to praise him worthily Who, being rude, have scarcely yet Learned the rudiments of letters, dry of doctrine and the flow of speech. What shall I do? Shall I speak or be silent about the pious deeds of my Patron? Since I cannot compose these in worthy verse, But that hope assists the trembling, and confidence strengthens, That the Saint will be able to furnish me the power Of speaking, he will be present, he who was able to grant speech to the mute By his sacred prayers, when firm hope asked for this; In whose beautiful hands the Royal Infant Learned speech, which he had never performed by bodily use, And it was ^a small thing to utter Latin Words, but he uttered the sweet "Amen" in the utterance of the Hebrew tongue, Fulfilling the pious vows of the man who prayed. Therefore, that I may duly be able to note the praises and deeds Of the great Bishop, I humbly ask the help Of the divine Spirit, which contains all things, filling The stars, with the aid of God procured. the sky, the sea, the lands; by which all things are ruled: With which the tongue prevails; without which eloquence is mute. If what I narrate is yours, O God, now to the one praying Grant to speechless me the gift of an honorable tongue.

[6] But first love yearns to celebrate the lineage sprung from ^a bright citadel, And swiftly to note the blessed progeny of the Just Man, and to relate the first things first, So that the page, preserving the root fixed Of the outstanding tree, may at last raise the lofty shoot Of branches and the high summit to the stars. There is ^a region called Aquitaine by the ancient settlers, Mighty in war, Born in Aquitaine, fruitful, and ^a populous land: Yet she is more fertile and much more fruitful because of this, That she brought forth such ^a fruit with ^a venerable birth. She sent you Amandus, whom Gaul duly worships; He had ^a noble father, who was rightly called Serenus, father Serenus, mother Amantia, because he merited to beget ^a serene one. And his distinguished mother is called Amantia. I marvel amazed at the thing done by divine gift, That father, mother, and son are suited to each other By worthy names proclaiming the bounties of gifts: For Serenus rejoicing and Amantia the mother prevailing, It is no wonder they should rightly beget such ^a boy, Who should be remembered by the name of holy love, Amandus. O happy region, which merited to behold, To bear, to nourish such ^a man! If you had held him, Such great storms would not now shake you from every side. Therefore, Father Serenus, hail for such ^a pledge: Illustrious mother, hail, you who bloom with glorious offspring.

CHAPTER 2

The monastic life of Saint Amandus on the island of Oye. The serpent put to flight. The promises of his father rejected.

[7] As ^a boy from the cradle, by chance refusing To take lesser beginnings, he gave ^a sign that he wished To follow nothing imperfect: he raised his step To the highest citadel of justice, the Blessed one growing in age. Burning with immoderate fervor of love for Christ, leaving his homeland, He abandoned his homeland, like the venerable Abraham, And leaving his kinsmen he sought foreign lands. There is ^a place distant from the shore of the great Ocean, Indeed by forty miles, as it is reported, equally: An island where Oye offers ^a port to those who come; he seeks the island of Oye, Coming thither, ^a lamb white with gleaming fleece, He was kindly received, the snowy flock rejoicing: And in ^a brief time he shone with the highest merits. And because he had taken care to learn the sacred Scriptures, Which are ^a labor at first, instructed in sacred Scripture, but afterward the precious Rewards of labor, to be filled with the manifold fruit of virtues; Which feed souls burdened with mortal flesh, Sanctify, cure, save, invigorate, and adorn; The protection of Christ was not lacking To his holy desire; but raised to the highest summit of honors Amandus, seeking, thirsting, and loving such things.

[8] Hence pursuing the greater miracles of his deeds, I shall tell What battles the devoted lover of the Lord endured At the beginning, and what great triumphs thence He won in body and merits, the enemy having been overcome. By chance ^a certain day was at hand, on which ^a cause Of the aforesaid monastery required attention, swift in obedience, and on which The excellent brethren, wishing to have the kind boy carry out The tasks of the work, laid upon him the causes; which he straightway Carried out eagerly, ready to serve all, A servant swiftly obedient in every service. But while the Saint was traversing places less known by chance, He met ^a serpent of dreadful body, Fierce, scaly, terrible, vast, savage; Whom the boy, beholding, and at the same time trembling with horror, Was terrified, was stunned, marveled, and clung in anxiety, the serpent meeting him And trembling, astonished, was distressed about where to turn his step. But when the heavenly grace of the Lord soon shone upon him, He fell upon his face, and pressed the earth with his body, Humbly prostrate, but borne in mind to the stars. Then also the standard, on which the sum of our salvation Depends, he opposed with powerful virtue to the serpent: he puts it to flight with the sign of the Cross, And commanded it to return to its known lairs. But the death-bearing hydra, repelled by the virtue of the sign, Fleeing, returned, and slipping back to its known cave, Never again appeared to any human being, And the said place was freed from so great an enemy. There is ^a report that the Marsi, accustomed to disturb serpents, Make for themselves ^a wall of ^a small amount of earth, Which the numerous band of harmful creatures cannot cross. But by ^a much better way, far more excellently, this one Repelled with the divine breath the fiery jaws Of the serpent, the Saint lying prostrate on the ridge of the earth, Through the standards of the Cross, which he traced with his fingers on the fields. This was the first work he performed; which, duly noted, We leave; let this page hereafter narrate it to future generations. Therefore with ^a humble vow we pray you, Pastor Amandus, That you would drive away the ancient serpent, who, not content To tear our bodies, about to drive away the devil afterward. rather desires to pour Bitter poisons with his wounding fang into our souls, Flame-belching, breathing fires, fiery: Who sent to you, holy Father, his own nursling, A serpent ^a fierce serpent (but by sowing fierce things A fiercer one came, whose minister that one was) In the city of Civitavecchia: which then, with Christ as guide, In its proper order, when I shall have come to that point, I shall relate. Now I proceed on the journey begun, and leave the hydra behind. Grow, boy, in new virtue; thus you shall go to the stars.

[9] While the Blessed one was still growing in the flower of boyish age, Intent upon the honorable pursuits of virtues, He was ^a youth in body, but an elder grey-haired in conduct: Whom his father, addressing with many words, besieges, his father trying to withdraw him from the monastery Admonishes, exhorts, flatters, demands, entreats, That leaving the sacred halls of the holy monastery, He should turn his course back and attend to worldly affairs: In which all labor is present, by which all things are without rest, Fraud, fury, envy, violence, care, tumult, Plunging the minds of men into various calamities. The Saint, scorning the words of his father like poisoned darts, Rejected them, relying on the opposing bulwark of faith. But the anxious father, seeing his words poured forth In vain attempt, the man pressing to prevail with such threats: He declares that unless he abandons the work begun and the habit, And swiftly turns himself to worldly pursuits, He would make him, now despised, an empty heir Of all the things that were to be bestowed in the paternal custom. But the holy boy, spurning these lashes of words, Full of the teaching of the divine Spirit, said: "Remember, he replies excellently: dear father, that nothing is so much my own As to serve the Most High God as long as I shall live; and when He shall have been my portion, I shall deserve to be His portion. It is recorded in the sacred voice of the Gospel book That God promised to Peter when he asked such things: Matthew 19:27-28 'You who, having cast aside all things, following my commands, Have spurned all the heights of perishable honors, When God shall have sat upon His heavenly tribunal at the end of the world, And the swift fire shall have overturned the whole globe, Burning up the lands, the sea, and the sky, Then He shall cause you twelve to sit upon thrones, and To examine the world with righteous judgment. For everyone, whoever, drawn by love of me, Sets aside the world, or the dear names of parents, Shall receive ^a hundredfold, and everlasting life.' Therefore, Father Serenus, I do not hear with deaf ears What the holy page of the excellent book records; The words of the Psalmist are also briefly cited to you, Those by which he sings: Psalm 118:57 'The Lord alone is my portion.' The law inscribed on tablets cut from the rock commands That the Levites shall not take ^a portion among the brethren. Numbers 18:20 Wherefore, father, I care for nothing of my own, nor do I seek anything Earthly; he spurns riches I scorn gleaming and tawny metal. Let the earthborn hold their lands, themselves to be held by the earth. What have I to do with the world, father, to which I am dead? The gracious Mary wrapped God, veiled in the covering of flesh, In ^a cradle with the covering of ^a humble cloth; And must ^a garment be woven for me with tawny metal? The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have shade; Yet our Lord, who founded the whole world, Has not even ^a small roof under which to lay His limbs; And must ^a great house be painted for me in various colors? For he is not ^a good soldier here who, under the airy covering, Deserts the King who is rightly to be honored, And himself, fleeing, seeks the shady heights of ^a roof: He shall surely not be preferred over ten cities, And the palm that shall have been without ^a hilt must be denied as ^a palm. My King is Christ, and His kingdom is Heaven; And I am the soldier Amandus, never to be conquered, If I keep my military service; and I embrace Him, And rightly I follow Him, by whose name I am called: I beseech you, father, do not begrudge me such great honors. Christ is my love, my clothing, my possession, my sustenance, And my house, and my homeland, and my place, and my substance, and my gold, My life while I live, and my gain in dying; Without whom I desire nothing, and with whom I shall hold all good things." These words the Blessed one reported to his astonished father, In the manner of ^a bee gathering flowers from the growth of Scripture. Passing over very many things in the interest of brevity, I omit them, And I hasten with swift speech to those things that remain.

CHAPTER 3

The clerical state of Saint Amandus. His anchoretic life. His first journey to Rome.

[10] Hence, with the desire by which he had begun further increased, Saint Amandus went to Tours, and sought the sacred tomb Of Martin, and prostrate in the holy fields, Weeping with the affection of his heart, and striking his honorable breast With blows, drawing long sighs, He prays at the tomb of Saint Martin, He poured forth these words praying from the depths of his breast: "O sacred Martin, whom the heavenly kingdoms retain, I beseech you to obtain from Him whose you are, And to whose service you are perpetually joined and cleave, That I may not return to my native soil, nor to the kindred I have left; And that He may direct my steps on the salutary path, So that I may complete the course I have begun as ^a pilgrim and exile, Even to the end, until I am released from the prison of the flesh." These things the Saint, clinging to the tomb of the sacred body, Uttered with many complaints and varied speech, Pouring tears from his eyes, words from his mouth. Then he cut off the hair of his head with iron in that place, his hair laid aside, he becomes ^a Cleric, And changed his habit, having obtained the honor of the clergy. And just as ^a soldier of an earthly King in the court, Receiving his belt, is accustomed to bear the weight of labor Under an iron garment, so this warrior, Ready to bear whatever evil might assail him in the world, Took up the victorious arms of the Cross as ^a gracious standard-bearer: And strong against the enemies of both body and mind on every side, Winning manifold triumphs duly on this side and that. And as ^a prudent bee, attending to nourishing flowers, Seeks out the violet, which rises close to the ground, Yet nevertheless provides an excellent color by its dyeing, And makes Kings purple-clad and formidable to their peoples. So he maintained ^a humble mind, which is close to the earth, Yet nevertheless, when preserved, it bestows an angelic beauty: And he adorns the distinguished senate in the heavenly seat, he shines with virtues: Where this holy one, adorning the inner chambers of the heart more beautifully, Surveyed the lilies on this side, and on that approached the rose gardens, Running back through each camp in alternating turns: Whatever he saw flourishing with the conspicuous flower of virtues, This he drew, thirsting, to his own deeds.

[11] And while he was pursuing the journey begun on ^a happy course, He came to where the walls of the city of Bourges hold power: In which, with ^a conspicuous pontificate, there flourished The holy Saint Austregisilus, sanctifying that people, he visits Saints Austregisilus, Bishop of Bourges, and Sulpicius his Archdeacon A magnificent Prelate, and distinguished for honorable deeds; And joined to his service in the church there thrived Sulpicius, who was then Archdeacon, and afterward Became ^a Prelate illustrious in merits and in rank. He knew how to quench raging fires with his fingers, And to restrain great flames with the sign of the Cross. These Saints together kindly received Saint Amandus, Dutifully honoring him with the love of piety: And they graciously built ^a cell in the wall of the city, In which the man of God, enclosed for the love Of eternal life, dwelt striving toward lofty things, he lives as ^a recluse Covered with ^a hair shirt, sprinkled with ^a heap of ashes. What ruins could you then fear, O city, Which were sustained by such strong columns? What weapons of warriors could you then dread, You who shone forth defended by such great Patrons? What others did, you know: for this warrior Stood firm in your citadel for fifteen years; for fifteen years, And his constancy strengthened your walls. But if you shine, trusting in your distinguished masters, You do not surpass us: here the beautiful Amandus gleams, Brighter than Phoebus, more radiant than all gold, Who, enclosed within you, drove away the liquid of wine from his mouth, Not sated with sleep nor with any sustenance of life, in great abstinence: Who took barley as food for his late meal, Then, thirsting, drew draughts of thin water; And he steadfastly led ^a heavenly life on earth; And crucifying his body, he nourished his soul with the honorable Banquets of virtues, having followed the precepts of Christ: For whom he bore manifold labors on land and sea, Anxious, afflicted, despised, destitute, breathless, Humbly rendering praises of glory to Christ, He endured, and therefore he now enjoys everlasting light: He who often hungered is now fed with the bread of heaven: And he who thirsted frequently now drinks from the celestial fountain: And he who was once naked is now covered with the fleece of the Lamb: He who was once poor is now rich with the gift of the kingdom, For whom we pray with body and heart that he may be mindful of us.

[12] And because holy love always knows how to increase, And to heap up manifold sheaves with its labor; The man of God was always ablaze with great love, Wearied in body, but strong in the vigor of his mind: So that he might hasten to the walls of lofty Rome, he sets out for Rome: Where Peter and Paul, beautiful on earth and in heaven, Hold their lofty tombs, shining throughout the whole world, The Leaders of the Church gleaming in the manner of ^a lamp: Whose tongue has the power to open and close heaven. Therefore, having undertaken the journey, with ^a certain attendant accompanying him, Traversing squalid places and passing through every byway, He arrived at Rome, inflamed with wondrous love. Behold now what companions he took care to have: Peter, he venerates Saints Peter and Paul: to whom the key of the starry gate was entrusted, And Paul, the excellent Master of the world through the ages. O if the fires of love could be described, Or if ^a letter could know how to speak the sighs of the heart! I would attempt to say how much he loved those On whose sacred doors he pressed his kisses. What do you think he would have done if he had seen them in the flesh? Meanwhile on all days through each of the churches He ran, associating with himself many companions in honor. And he entered breathlessly into the church of the Prince Peter, When the sun was dipping his light-flowing garments in the sea.

[13] These things having thus been traversed, let us sing what deeds remain: For the first part of the little book now tends toward its end. Therefore, fervent in faith, while he was going around the sacred churches, He entered bowing into the most beautiful hall of Peter: The flame-haired sun was already preparing to swim into the great Ocean, and Hesperus was shining with its ruddy rising. Meanwhile the care of the temple guardians drove out The mingled crowd, expelled from the temple, and closed the open doors: And pausing ^a little, the holy man remained in the church, Desiring to spend the whole night in prayers: But the guardian of the temple, while inspecting the sacred altars, Found the Blessed one keeping vigil with psalms and prayers: Therefore, moved with bile, pressing the gentle man more violently With senseless beatings, patiently bearing all things, He expelled him, and sent him out through the opened gates. Nor was the swelling anger of the man able to disturb The man full of sweetness, for he bore all these things willingly.

[14] Meanwhile, as the Blessed one sat before the doors of the temple In an ecstasy of mind, penetrating the throne above; Peter the Apostle, the doorkeeper of the ethereal court, Cheerful in his garment, Saint Peter appearing sweet in his countenance, gentle in his speech, Appearing, consoled him with kind words; And encouraged his friend with words of piety, That he should retrace his journey, returning whence he had come, And sow the seeds of eternal life among the peoples Of the Gauls with divine words, and cultivate and water them, And wash the converted in the stream of holy baptism. he is commanded to return to Gaul, So that, approaching the Lord fruitfully with the reward of such great labor, Carrying sheaves of the harvest, He might receive more abundantly the rewards of the heavenly kingdom.

[15] The Saint, having at last obtained the Apostolic discourse, Leaving distinguished Rome from its lofty height, Departed, and went to the Gauls as ^a salutary medicine. What hope, I ask, was it to go undoubtingly alone To peoples so fierce, shut in by diverse boundaries, To penetrate the Basques, the Gauls, the fierce Slavs? What one laborer accomplished in so great ^a harvest, about to teach the barbarians Is evident: for coming through many proofs of labor, He bore evil, uprooting all impious things. Thus he fitted the peoples to evangelical uses, And bearing holy words he carried his gains back to the heavens: Where he enjoys the eternal gifts according to his merits. Although I shall compose ^a poem singing his deeds In foolish speech, I wished to complete in this little book What he accomplished while still youthful, yet not in ^a youthful manner. A fitting work, that as ^a youth I might deserve to praise ^a youth, If I were free from the great weight of immense sin, By his prayers By which, nevertheless, I trust I can be lifted by the Lord Through the prayers and blessed merits of this Bishop, Who was of benefit not to himself alone, but to the whole world. I beseech, I ask, I pray, and I urgently petition with continual vows, Humbly suppliant, that pitying his least nursling, the Poet asks that his sins be forgiven Christ the Almighty, Restorer and Author of mankind, By pardoning may burst the chains of my guilt. I ask, before the golden thread of my own life May flow away, and the silver cord, fleeing, may shatter The vessel of the flesh, and pour out all its liquid. I fear justice: I run to benign mercy. May He be merciful to me, I pray, and may He be most just to the just. Therefore let the good hold the palm earned as ^a reward. But for me it is enough to have passed through the flames of Gehenna, And to have merited pardon for great sin. Scattering dark seeds through the white fields, Wearied with ^a heavy burden at the completed light of day, I now cease to scatter, and here, having made an end, I rest.

BOOK TWO

By Milo, from the manuscripts. Book II.

CHAPTER 1

The episcopal order conferred upon Saint Amandus. Captives redeemed and instructed by him.

[1] Since I was singing the illustrious deeds of the pious Amandus With slender powers, looking out equally for the common labor Of both the writer and the reader, I wished to divide these same things duly into four Small books, so that you may find relief at the end, And only lighten the labor by dividing the burden. For you, prudent Reader, will be able to recognize, if you wish, That this speech does not proceed by the grammatical rule, But rustic songs are woven with foolish words. I do not send this work to be recited by the Masters of the world, Whose speech flows like the current of ^a torrent, This poem is not for vain philologists, Who, belching forth the grand words of the Mantuan Maro, Produce from their throats the harmony of ^a swan-like voice: And who, while they equal their song to sweet muses, Display what is vain and suited to no profit. Therefore I do not transmit my verses to these to be declaimed, But to monks, in whose mouth the salutary Treasure rests, but written for pious monks psalms and hymns or canticles, which they sing To Christ through the churches, bellowing like thunder with their voice. Peter the fisherman, fishing for peoples, is preferred Above all Poets, who, full of the holy Spirit, Turned manifold crowds with ^a single speech. By which deed he taught that the kingdom is not procured By speech, but is raised up by the solid virtue of the Lord. Go, book, go, poem. Come, O gracious Spirit, And enter fully the inner chambers of our breast, That I may be able in worthy narration to write The deeds of the man, to be scattered throughout the whole world.

[2] Amandus returning from Rome to Gaul, Meanwhile the holy man, returning from the city of Rome, Went, directed from heaven, to the peoples of the Gauls. And just as ^a lamp shining bright, covered under ^a bushel, Brings no benefit to human sight; But placed upon ^a stand, with the light of its splendor It dispels the darkness, and displays its gifts to one entering the house; So, so this Amandus, resplendent with the light of Christ, That he might shine for all His servants in His church, And strip many men of their foul darkness, Compelled by the commands of the Prince, he is consecrated Bishop and overcome By the counsels of the Bishops, was made ^a Bishop; and what He had already been in merits for ^a long time, he then received in rank. Nor did he receive his own Pontifical See, But just as Paul went forth to the Eastern peoples, for the conversion of the Gentiles So this one, being sent, went to the Western parts, And to the scattered nations he scattered the holy words of salvation.

[3] Rejoice, glad Gaul, this is the illustrious Apostle Granted to you. When the Lord was sending to the world The lights of the Doctors, like stars shining with light; Then by ^a holy lot He preserved our Amandus for you: Gaul should rejoice By whom, radiant with the holy light of virtues, you were made Splendid to the earthborn under the fourfold clime. Through whom, believing in the King enthroned on high through the ages, You shall always be ^a holy, having obtained so great ^a Patron beautiful, and noble kingdom: Who, when the conspicuous Judge of the world shall come, Shall lead you, gathered from everywhere, like ^a shepherd his sheepfold, To the throne of Christ; coming to which, you shall receive The gifts of the great Lord, with so great ^a Patron going before: And Amandus shall hear the voice of the supreme Shepherd: "Well done, good servant, rejoice in eternal triumphs; And you who were once faithful to me in ^a few things, Over many things I shall set you; enter into our joys." And then to your dear people the King shall say such things: "Come, blessed flock, now receive the kingdom prepared, Sought by holy merits from the foundation of the world." You, Gaul, shall receive such great gifts from your King, If you now imitate the magnificent deeds of Amandus: Who accomplished by his own action whatever he taught, Who, perpetually preserving the sacred love of piety, And making serene his countenance with the goodness of which he was full, Showed by his appearance he accommodates himself to each one what the treasury of his heart contained. Sober in judgment, he shone with ^a chaste breast, And generously he offered abundant gifts to the poor: On this side and that, while he conforms himself as ^a middle course to all, Rich with the rich, he is joined as ^a poor man to the needy. He who, watchful and vigilant, was devoted to praying at every Time, was sparing in speech and gentle in spirit.

[4] This Saint, duly loosening the chains of men, If by chance he saw any boys held captive; he redeems captive boys, Or could see any carried across the sea for sale, Straightway the eager buyer redeemed them at ^a large price, Breaking in compassion the harsh chains of the bound. Nor was he lacking in this zeal and the labor he had begun; But those whose bodies he freed from chains, to all of them He put to flight the inner darkness of the heart by shining light, he instructs them, And drove away all filth with holy baptism. And pouring the holy liquid into clean vessels, He placed sweet honey in dew-bearing baskets, Drenching the new-born in the font of doctrine; And the Saint left these throughout friendly churches, With liberty nevertheless granted in ^a salutary manner: he places them in churches, Of whom we have heard that many held distinguished Episcopal chairs, Bishops and holy men lovely in deed and speech, And nourishing Abbots, raised in honors. Such gifts the Saint scattered throughout the whole world.

[5] O memorable Father, with what praise I should now celebrate you I do not know, marveling at the tokens of such great things. You bestow the price, you loosen the chains of captives, And by this art you cause coins to ascend to heaven: And both the price and the captives purchased you place above the stars. with his eternal praise And you empty the purse while you fill heaven with ^a gift, And because you were ^a merchant, it was fitting to be such ^a one. For if devout men send you gifts, You do not prepare larger storerooms for purses to be kept: Nor is it enough for you, holy Father, to serve heavenly Duties alone, and to have gathered the nations called from here and there, And to have renewed them in the sacred and living font: Nor does beautiful France now fulfill your love, And the hunting of lands has become too narrow for you. Rather you also gather those carried by sea and conveyed across the vast waters, And no greedy desire for price delays You, O Father to be celebrated, nor any dear seller. He receives ^a coin stamped with the name of ^a King; And you return ^a coin that you stamp with the name of Christ. That seller carries his own back to earthly profits; and with heavenly gain: And you, the buyer, keep yours for heavenly profits. He loses his own, or hides it in locked chests, And you, by preserving yours for Christ the King, Fashion ^a distinguished crown, and place it on His lofty head. And you convert cruel wolves into gentle lambs, And you bid them stand in the sacred folds as singers, And fierce robbers, for whom the life of plunder Had once been their zeal, you make into sweet doves without gall, So that they may spend their own goods who once devoured the goods of others.

"Ulysses would not leave you as you spoke, Who left the melodious Maidens as they sang,"

that is, the singing Sirens. Thus Sidonius, book 9, epistle Melodi 15, "to sound with melodious beats." Prudentius, hymn 9 of the Cathemerinon:

"Give, boy, the plectrum, for the choruses That I may sing to the faithful A sweet and melodious song, The glorious deeds of Christ."

CHAPTER 2

The second Roman journey of Saint Amandus. A boy saved from drowning. A storm calmed.

[6] Nor do I pass you by, O city, but visit you with our verse, Called by such ^a name from Centumcellae: You who are accustomed often to relieve the perils of the sea, And you restore the sailors, and raise up their weary limbs. Nor did he pass you by, to Centumcellae while the Saint departed From the city of Rome ^a second time, having set out by ship from that city, He arrived at you, about to bear his accustomed contests, And there in his custom, when in the darkness of the dark night He was praying alone, already, I believe, praying at night, you perceive that Jesus' Servant bore ^a labor similar to His example. A night full of horror and darker than the black darkness Of night arrived, desiring to darken with noxious smoke The lamp shining with the brilliance of the Lord. And although he always rebels with his accustomed ferocity, And the wicked one desires to renew his iniquitous rays; Yet then he did not dare to touch the excellent Amandus. Perhaps he was mindful that he had once sent ^a serpent To the boy, and had seen it with swift flight Retreating backward, trembling, on winged feet; When with two fingers the Saint drew, as if arrows, The mighty sign of the Cross, penetrating all walls. a boy about to be drowned, Therefore the reckless enemy seizes one of his servants, And drags him to the sea — you ask why? — that he might drown him; And as ^a savage wolf drags from the white flock A woolly sheep to be devoured in its dark jaws, No otherwise this plunderer, while he burned with the love of prey, And was carrying the seized one to the perils of cruel death; That boy kept repeating these words with his voice: "Christ help me: Christ help." Straightway that insolent one Said, "What Christ?" Nor did the conquered youth dare To return ^a word; until the warrior Amandus, Not suffering his disciple to be devoured in his presence By the fierce jaws and submerged in the dark waves of the sea, having driven away the devil, Seized his arms, took up his quiver, and hurled the arrow Of salvation to the boy, but rightly the arrow Of wounding to the proud Satan, ^a victor conquering by force with the lash of the word: "O son who are being dragged, say to the enemy," said Amandus, "Christ crucified is Himself the Son of the living God." At which sound the sluggish enemy, trembling with the greatest horror, Did not presume to stand in that place; But wandering, fleeing, he vanished into the empty air. And the prey remained unharmed, the enemy having been driven far away. he liberates him, Thus the distinguished warrior Saint triumphs in the world.

[7] O sluggish, accursed, fierce, cruel, wicked enemy, Whose name, rebelling with your accustomed ferocity, You now despise — He once bore for you, O savage tyrant, The dominion of the world, great infamy of the devil which you held captive by fraud. Nor is there ^a place in heaven for you, and earth also is denied to you: Tartarus alone lies open; its threshold, once open To one entering, now remains closed to one wishing to leave. Where you, in the fiery heat of ^a flame-belching furnace, Bound in bitter chains in pitch-black horror, Are burned, and groaning "Woe, woe" you shall sound forth in weeping. And if now, as ^a cunning deceiver, you increase some followers, And associate them with the fierce cauldron to be roasted in flames, to be tormented eternally, Know that as many gains as you increase, so many punishments increase for you, More harmful to yourself, thrice-accursed devourer. That place is fitting for you; these are your worthy rewards. These kingdoms they prepare for themselves who do not bravely resist you. And although whoever strives to ascend to heaven Must be ^a debtor to contend with you in continual wars; Yet lest you depart unpraised in our poem, I have produced fitting verses for you with charcoal. And rightly: because you remain forever ^a burned coal. Flee, seeking the kingdoms prepared from the foundation of the world. Thus far, therefore, Father, we have hurled upon the common enemy Reproaches, blows, mockery, wrath, curses, laughter: And spittle, not verses, we have given. Now we all beseech, That as you were once the protector of that boy, from whom we are to be freed everywhere May you thus always be the saving salvation of your servants. Be present as our Shepherd; this is ^a most devoted flock. Protect, bear care, guard, love, preserve Us from the tooth of the wolf, by the patronage of Saint Amandus from the jaw of the ancient serpent; And because, relying on the virtue of the Lord, he could not Conquer, terrify, prostrate, possess, devour you; Rescue, O Shepherd, the sheep that you feed in the venerable fold From the snares of him who circles these sheepfolds, Lest he who was once conquered through you may conquer in us, If the helpless enemy should devour us.

[8] Once while crossing the mid-sea by ship You went, O blessed Father, teaching the divine Words, you gave them to the sailors, while sailing, and sowed the holy seeds Over the wave-tossed sea, nor were you idle then in working: Believing the examples of your Master should be imitated, Who once, sitting on the stern, taught the crowds. While he was intent upon such deeds, as the Acts relate, A great fish appearing to the sight of the sailors Poured ample joy into their astonished minds, And having cast their nets they seized the watery plunder. What fish, O gracious Father, would not come to your uses? Perhaps the whole company first would run joyfully To offer service, if it believed its own fitting, a fish caught for food, Happy would that one be: enclosed in ample meshes, The sailor rejoices that greedy prey has been found for him, And the fish exults because it has come to your table. happy sailors The oars rejoice, the net brings forth gladness; No one was not eager, because no one lacked ^a portion. But the envious enemy, not suffering that those Holy vows of joy should remain for the men; began to stir up The sea with his trident, and to churn it up from the very bottom; An unexpected storm rushed in, and ^a great tumult Fell upon them; the waves rose up and the ship was shaken: The sailor flies upward, carried by the surge to the stars, a sudden storm disturbs them, Then plunges to the depths, and plows the water-logged sands. Joys they exchange for sorrow, and near to happy things They scatter everything, they cast away the ornaments of the ship, They struggle at least to save their bodies from death. But this gift was preserved for the Saint as ^a reward, That his virtue and ample merit might shine forth; And although all were troubled by violent commotions, And the lookout could not lend assistance To his own and the battered vessel; they do not utterly lose All counsel, but rather they swiftly and unanimously Approach the Saint Amandus, and beg him to bring them aid; Who, accustomed to encouraging the fearful with sweet speech, Consoles the sailors, Amandus consoles them, promising that the merciful Lord would be tried, that the danger would be dispelled with peace. At last, wearied, they are laid low by listless sleep. He himself also, the just one, resting on the stern, is at rest.

[9] Yet lest, submerged in the immense waves of the sea, He perchance, lesser in merits, and dear one, should lie hidden among the stars; The illustrious Peter, key-bearer of the ethereal court, Not suffering those waves to be carried without him, Saint Peter cheers him, Greeting the one reclining on the stern with ^a fraternal voice, Was present, thenceforth more secure in so great ^a danger, Because he had been tossed about in ^a similar shipwreck, he thus began to his friend: "Brother Amandus, dear to your King through the ages, Do not fear, for it is shameful for you to have feared with fear. For although the swelling waves are raised to the sky, They shall not submerge you, nor now, believe me, shall you perish, Neither you nor your sailor who sails the present sea. But the right hand that once snatched me from the waves Lest I be drowned, now saves you from this peril." Soon also the wind departs, every storm is driven away; And the sea is calmed, peace having been quickly sent over the waters, restoring serenity And then happy things return, when the dark night recedes. The unharmed sailors swiftly pressed the wet sands With their feet: singing the rowing-song, With their voice they applaud God, and in the praises of the gracious servant They magnify Him, at whose command the violent Storms yielded, the sea stood still, the wave was quiet. And if the wave of the dark deep terrified them, It did not swallow any of them with ^a voracious jaw.

CHAPTER 3

The people of Ghent converted to the faith by Saint Amandus. His disciple Bavo, celebrated for holiness.

[10] Thence, while the Saint went with salutary steps, He scattered the word to the peoples, and taught holy things, Announcing to the nations the rewards of the eternal kingdom: Saint Amandus burns with zeal for the propagation of the faith What gifts are prepared among the stars for the troops of Christians; And what punishments are stored up in caverns for the wicked. And thus, going eagerly, he ran into all regions, Zealous to carry the gains of souls to Heaven: Considering these his profits, and taking care to lead these with him. Therefore, while the Blessed one eagerly traversed the fields of these, He heard that the district of Ghent, past which the river Scheldt flows, Was held bound in the chains of sin by the ensnaring enemy, the people of Ghent And weighed down by the excessive burden of transgression: Nor could those blinded by ancient darkness Recognize the true light which shone upon the whole world. From the wood of the forests, fitting things for blazing furnaces, Idols adorned by the hand of artisans and images they worshipped With suppliant vows in the name of divine honor. idolaters Alas, it is ^a shame to have worshipped gods whom ^a flame Could change, burned, into coals and incinerated ashes: And to have reverently bent proud necks Upon the stiff branches of ^a tree to ^a God, and enemies of Apostolic men subject to the malignant enemy. For no one had plowed this land with the plow of faith; No one had cast therein the seeds of the divine word. For the fierce region and unfruitful land had driven away All Bishops, nor did anyone dare to approach The woodland boars, the cohorts savage in their ferocity. But this arduous labor was reserved for our Amandus. about to approach them, Therefore seeking ^a way by which he might rescue So many peoples from the snares of the enemy and the cruel tyrant, And somehow shake loose the prey and carry back the spoil; He sought Aicharius, who was giving laws to the flock to be governed From the city of Noyon, with the aid of Saint Aicharius the Bishop that he might humbly go to the court Of the King — for at that time Dagobert the Ruler was managing The opulent kingdom of the Franks with strong reins — and of King Dagobert And by his command bring back orders for himself: So that any of them who would not wish to wash themselves In the sacred font protected, should be compelled to be cleansed. With God granting, Amandus swiftly merits his desires. He hastens to Ghent, trusting in heavenly virtue.

[11] With what writings, then, am I able to show the labors Which he bore there, while he brought the Word to cruel crowds, Plunged repeatedly into the waves of the rivers? Yet he could never be compelled to desist From his undertakings, or to be put to flight by the raging populace, Not caring for wounds, nor refusing to bear blows; Until, with the darkness dispelled by the heavenly light, He washed the nation, the situation now reversed, in the life-giving font. For if the Saint, rejoicing, having boldly seized his arms, Attacked the fierce enemy, he assails the devil residing there, and the mighty tyrant In the aforementioned stronghold, where he then had the head of his citadel; To which, driven from all the territories of the Gauls By the various and many triumphs of the leaders of Jesus, He had come, thus surrounded on all sides by walls and rivers; Yet that one was not entirely defrauded of his art. For indeed, having selected innumerable companies from here and there, And he himself accompanied by twice four princes, He brought forth his weapons, and displaying his left hand dripping With blood, the savage one sounded the fierce trumpets with all His forces, and, conquered and about to be conquered, he entered the battle, Ready for every evil. Fierce in close combat, The atrocious enemy came forth from here in open battles, From there with various deceits and ^a thousand colors, the serpent, Confused, trembling, weary, defeated, breathless, Resisted, with concealed poisons behind his coiled back, Waging his wars with ambushes, so that perhaps stealthily Creeping up he might prepare ^a deadly blow through hidden darts. Why should I speak of greater things? With wars laid low on every side, And so many enemies subdued with Christ as guide, and he conquers: The noble victor Amandus, driving out the captive host, Went forth, and with the tyranny of Satan perishing, the people He washed with eternal baptism, better than the Scheldt River, flowing from the left, swelled with water. he baptizes the inhabitants, And lest by chance the revived enemy should rise again, And Cerberus with his triple jaws, burning with the ardor of devouring, Should raise his deadly head against the Christians; Those clothed with the breastplate of faith, and instructs them: helmeted with hope, He imbued, instructed, strengthened, consolidated, He established the city, and raised up rich towers, Foreseeing, and prepared holy standards in the midst, Not ^a dragon breathing flames from its gaping jaw, But the figure of the Cross he impressed with his fingers on their foreheads; he raises the Cross And in place of the sound of the trumpet there was an abundance of signs, Where Christ the King has His servants and holy faithful ones.

[12] These strongholds also he afterward commended to his friend, The warrior hastening to go to other parts, Saint Amandus' disciple, Saint Bavo, Where the strong leader would not be lacking to those peoples. O blessed Bavo of God, the present page marks you: Once led by the Captain of the Lord, Amandus, You spurned the world, you trampled the fleeting age, Taking up the arms of the Cross, with swift foot you sought battles, And you carried away much spoil from the truculent enemy: Among which the prey, which he joyfully carried off, and In his own kingdom desired, if perchance it had been Possible, to enclose in the fire-breathing caverns of prison: You, pouring forth holy tears, pious vows, and prayers, Making war, blessed one, bellowing in blessed battles, You saved, and gave your gifts to the supreme King. What I say, you recognize; for your deeds are being sung. he raises the dead Namely, that enemy, brandishing ^a missile weapon, Cast it upon one placed on ^a cart, and struck down one Of the servants, and there was ^a hunt for the fierce dogs. But nevertheless he poured forth his attempts in vain at that time; For because afterward, praying, you called back on the returning path The ox-driver from the darkness of death, restored to the light, Having used many other holy arts besides, By this one thing he learned that you were never to be conquered. O how magnificent ^a master he had been for you, O Saint, And with what signs your teacher Amandus Shone forth! What things made you such ^a servant! For indeed in your deeds we perceive the gracious Doctor, Excellent, beautiful, admirable, to be glorified. It is sweet for me to run through the text of your life; But the measure of verse to be completed draws back my step. Yet lest these verses be poured out for you without interest; Return the favor, and guiding me with your prayers, I beseech, Obtain pardon for me, pitying my guilt, And joined to your King through the ages, farewell.

[13] And you, O happy place, O region more brilliant than gold, Illuminated by the holy light of the just, hail: And you, O people sufficiently beautiful, Both Ghent honors its Patron gathered with much labor By twin fathers, it is worthy that by loving you follow Those whom the Almighty in His pity assigned to you As sweet Patrons, and in His mercy gave you such friends; And if our Amandus, departing hence in body, abandoned you, By his merits, if you believe, he governs everywhere. While he also protects us with sacred prayers and merits, Remembering you as well, he opens for you the gates of Heaven. Sing sweet-sounding hymns to such great Shepherds; Lest you seem to other flocks an ungrateful sheepfold. Mingling songs with papers, as the Muse runs on, I shall sing with you, offering the tokens of my love Toward them, memorials of my love remaining without end, Whom, because the wing of virtues lifted them, conspicuous, To the starry kingdom, they showed you, as you hasten thither, That the doors of holy life can lie open. But I, bristling with sins like ^a rough goat with its bristles, And naked of the white fleece of ^a gleaming garment, the Poet hopes to be aided by their prayers, Am wretchedly dragged to the cruel halls of miserable death. Extend, I beg, your hands, and lift me from the jaw of the devourer; For, seized, I am unable to return by my own strength; And although this one's jaw has ^a gaping opening, Perhaps through this I can proceed, If I am helped by your aid and brought back by your prayers. I ask that this also be done for the name of Christ. So that when your sagacious industry has been joined To the heavenly seats, may I, trembling, I beseech, be sought out As the last, and be enclosed by the key of Blessed Peter, Where, when life, salvation, and the everlasting glory of the palm Shall have been happily with you through every age, Then may there be for me, wretched one, I pray, pardon at least Through Christ the Lord, who reigns through all the ages.

BOOK THREE

By Milo, from the manuscripts. Book III.

CHAPTER 1

A dead man raised by Saint Amandus.

[1] With God inspiring, describing in verse the holy life Of the excellent Bishop Amandus swiftly; Things which would rightly have been noted in long periods, If I had an abundant or great faculty of speaking. Already, hastening, going by ^a shorter way, I cross The middle, and placing two feet alternately I count three times two, while I run through shortcuts. Thus the journey is measured out; and the remaining praises, For which rhetorical speech lies flat and eloquence languishes, Hence I attempt, ^a rash arbiter of these things, To compose in brief little verses, to be completed by no narration; Even if the word-flowing world should conspire upon these deeds, And all poets should come together under one roof, Let them argue, The poets are invited, let them compose verse, let them philosophize. I confess indeed that true things — not all the praises of virtues — They will be able, I believe, to bring forth in verse as is worthy; And if, however they can, they can relate the outward deeds, I confess, by no modulation of voice will they be able To express according to his merits the rewards which he received among the stars. He flies higher than the chattering tongue can pursue. Behold, the poets sing fictions in lyric speech; that, having left fictions behind Why do you read these, O loving reader, when they bear no gains Of salvation for souls — labor of the mouth, pasture of the wind? What will the warring phalanxes be able to bestow upon you? With what garment will torn Discord cover you? Why should you grieve over the troops slain in that slaughter? Let the dead sing dead things; you, the living, compose things of life. Behold, better deeds are narrated in my poem: It does not tell of swords, nor weapons, nor the quiver of Camilla; But it records death conquered under Christ as Leader: And what gifts He gave graciously to His dear friend. they should sing about one raised from death How also once the beloved Amandus of the Lord, Still remaining under the law of death and weighed down by flesh, Abolished the rights of death; raised from the dead and one enclosed in the prison of Avernus He rescued, and brought back the man from death to life. I recall, stunned, with dread of so great ^a deed.

[2] There was once ^a city, as its vestiges still show, Tournai, now prostrate with manifold ruin Utterly, at Tournai alas, it weeps that its proud towers have fallen. Yet it is frequented because it abounds in water and merchandise; And it leans upon two columns, not about to fall again, For indeed in the middle of the citadel, with ^a beautiful temple rising, It holds the pontifical throne: nor far removed, Nicasius lies, ^a precious Martyr, in his urn, The Bishop of Rheims, to whom life provided ^a crown And ^a radiant palm for the shedding of his blood. What next? Surrounded by many soldiers of the Franks at the castle, The stern Count Dotto, sent from the royal court, Had come; and the court was filled with complaining crowds. Behold, there was dragged with ^a great throng surrounding him A thief, bound with many knots for ^a great crime; a thief All cry out; the whole populace standing close by Agrees that he is guilty: they acknowledge nothing pardonable in these matters. Into these crowds the Saint Amandus threw himself in the midst: He weeps, groans, implores, grieves, wails, beseeches, prays: That they might have mercy on this wretched one and spare him: So that Christ the Almighty might have mercy on them. But the Saint did not obtain what he asked for in tears. For Count Dotto, swollen, was crueler than any Beast, and ordered the thief, fixed to ^a stake For his crime, to pay the deserved penalties. Meanwhile he was led forth, suspended; the one suspended and soon also, conquered By fierce death, he sent his soul to the dark shades. What are you doing then, holy Father, to be remembered throughout the whole world? As ^a lamb you lie prostrate, clinging to the feet Of the savage wolf — flee lest he swallow you yourself. Rise to the Lord; for what you seek, He Himself reverently Granting will graciously bestow ^a lasting honor. Therefore Dotto returned home with the people accompanying him: The Saint hastened more quickly, breathless, to the man, And where the compassion of the life-giving spirit saw the dead wretch, Strengthening the mind with the breath of the life-giving spirit, Saint Amandus takes him down, He swiftly carried the one taken down to the familiar church: Where he was accustomed to knock upon the gate of heaven, He is laid low upon the fields, but thence closer to the stars: And he pours forth at once both prayers and rivers of tears: Which, although they moisten the nearby boundaries of the earth, and by prayers Fly higher, ascending, to the lofty tribunal, Carried above the sky, with the angelic choir applauding. Deeds prove these words; fulfillment confirms the promise. For the Saint applied himself to prayers, prostrate on the fields: Nor did the happy prayer come to its end sooner he raises him from death Than both at once, at separate moments, standing together in close proximity (wonderful to behold), Rose — the dead man from death, and the Saint from the dust of the earth.

[3] O how conspicuous ^a nursling the Lord loved, To whom He granted so many tokens of His love. Indeed, as the present writing reveals to us, He prevailed with sacred prayers and blessed merits To restore the life taken away for ^a great crime To the dead man, and for the soul already on the verge of slipping into Tartarus He obtained salutary pardon, Christ being merciful. Let there be supreme praise to God, who, adding gifts to the faithful, So that souls can come forth from the prison of Avernus, Shattering Tartarus, pulls up all obstacles. Meanwhile, when the dew-wet hairs had been dispersed, The dawn, preceding with her lights the sun about to follow; Had shown her coming to the earth-dwellers by her own rising. But the virtue, filling the limbs of the revived body, Had added restored forces with strengthened vigor. Therefore the victor, joyful, and the restorer of life, The Confessor of the Lord, distinguished with honorable signs, Asks for water; they run swiftly, thinking that he sought Water for the washing of the man's body, to be buried in the customary manner: Entering, they find him unharmed (wonderful to tell), In ^a reversed situation, they see him sitting reverently. What astonishment there was at this, the excellence of the deed reveals. For the revived thief narrates his life and pardon: And the Saint rejoices at the honor bestowed upon him by God. Then therefore Amandus solemnly adjures the people of the Brethren Under the name of Christ not to make the deed public among the peoples, Until he should depart from life when his time is completed. The holy hand, while it touches each wound, The happy medicine restored swift health; Nor does ^a scar remain where the honorable finger ran. Speak, you eloquent ones; bring forth worthy things, you learned ones. What kind of physician is he? he heals wounds by his touch By whose touching no scar Lies open from the wounds, all having been closed on every side. Whence flows this salvation? From what ointment flows this power? Cease, chattering tongue. This is the work of the Almighty: Through whom whoever is His servant has such great power.

"It has already fallen from it, alas! that very column."

"A certain Bishop of Noyon obtained certain relics of this Martyr, and carried them to his own city. Which are reported, both at Noyon and at the castle of Tournai, where they are said to be preserved even now, to have been illustrated by famous miracles." Concerning these, we treat on that day.

CHAPTER 2

The faith propagated by Saint Amandus. The Slavs visited. The punishment of exile imposed.

[4] Therefore, when the winged fame spread the memorable sign, Suddenly there was ^a great concourse of the people to him; As you may marvel to see bees swarming through meadows, through gardens, Around purple flowers, and seizing with their bite What they may carry back on curved feet to their dear hives. No otherwise might you see these nations pressing upon Amandus, A conspicuous flower, green in both winter and summer; That they might be able to receive the most sacred baptism, the Gentiles, And that they might carry back the feasts of virtues like sweet honey, By which the Lord of the world is fed with ^a most sweet draught. Thenceforth the profane shrines are stripped of their empty honor, the idols destroyed, And those things fall whose growth had come through their labor. Then, where the shrines fall, the holy man rebuilds churches, Establishing basilicas and cloisters of monasteries: He crushes faithlessness with the keen edge of faithful faith. O how great ^a grace was granted to this just man, Who merited manifold fruit from ^a single seed! The inhabitant is consecrated, being reborn in the life-giving font; he baptizes; Let the splendid walls of the excellent Church rise. Happy that death by which very much pestilence dies; But nevertheless that salvation stands as much more happy, By which, one rising, many rise again in heart. This is, unless I am mistaken, the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High. Love grows in the Saint, the celebration of praises in Christ, While in His aid, as he preaches the word to every People, ^a fruitful crop rising from the turf Returns ^a hundredfold harvest with the grass of virtues.

[5] Nor should you grieve, O land of the Slavs, Never purged by the Apostolic axe, Nor cultivated by any plowshare in the furrows of faith, That this man has passed through you. For just as when much wealth grows for the greedy, he goes to the Slavs, Love grows, and completion begets the highest hunger; So here, if it is permitted to compare kindly things with foolish, Preparing to accumulate the gains of good virtues, To grow in that by which he had grown, and standing as more greedy still. And when in many regions, with the seed of the word scattered, The illustrious harvest was rising felicitously on this side and that, He discovered the Slavs bound by the error of the enemy: Trusting that he could merit martyrdom for Christ, The Saint crossed the icy Danube. in hope of martyrdom: He begins to break open the clods of the hard earth, Then he scatters the seed of the Gospel everywhere, Casting it through places and through houses, through fields and crossroads; He pours waters from the heavenly springs upon the dry fields, He suggests, sends in, encloses, rains upon, surrounds. he labors much, Nothing remains to be done that he considered worthy of doing. Yet when he sees that the crop does not respond to his own Wishes with full grain, and that in vain He grieves to bring his labor to the stones, seeing The conspicuous iron of the supporting plow recoil backward: And searching through the void for ^a harvest among thorns, And unable to seize the holy palm of martyrdom; He returned again to his own lands with Christ accompanying him, Both shepherd and lamb to his sheep, the leader himself of his own flock: with little fruit, Yet lest it be cause for regret to have poured forth such great labors in vain, And to have hastily undertaken so long ^a journey, And to have been unable to take even any small fruit; Gathering ^a few grains, he placed them in the heavenly granaries.

[6] You also, O holy Sower, while we accompany you going, And follow your happy course in verse: We cross an unknown path, journeying in speech, much to be praised Where no one sent from an army of ^a thousand cast The life-giving arrow of Jesus, curving the horn. Not Peter, nor Paul, once called the sower of words, Called by ^a true error on account of his accustomed work. No other, although trusting in strong arms, Hurled the excellent point of his spear into that one. But this contest was reserved for you, Amandus: And that love which could not subject the stubborn to the yoke of the King on account of his first approach Held these things: this honorable will led. So that you might return to the Lord, drenched with the font of blood, Conquered indeed by death, but ^a victor by love. What constancy perhaps fortified your breast? And what audacity, retaining unconquered strength, Caused you to direct your step into an unknown region? From which, instead of gifts, wounds came to the Franks, Whom the King, surrounded by the strong defense of arms, Fled, turning his back, with the fierce Frank accompanying him. You rushed without ^a companion through the marches and mountain passes. without ^a companion But spare me, I pray, that I, ^a humble servant, dare suppliantly To exchange with you ^a complaining speech. And receive the votive vows of your devoted one, Since we now enter the palatine court. Look upon me, I pray, O Saint, now pitying me as I go. Direct our pen, lest it produce vain things, Lest, while we duly desire to narrate your triumphs, The royal rod may find cause for offense; Hither, fraternal company, come together with prayers for the one singing.

[7] King Dagobert was reigning and held the laws of the Franks: But swollen, he oppressed the peoples with ^a harsh rule, And excelling in the height of power over all King Dagobert Who before him had held the scepter over that nation: Harsh to the princes, ^a nursling subject to vices, Shamefully stained everywhere by obscene luxury, He carried in his bones the fire of Venus poured in. given over to luxury Yet lest in this harvest the pricking of ^a thorn should rise, And disfigure the work begun, let accusation cease: The constancy of our Bishop did not tolerate These and similar ways, but, moved, brought forth ^a complaining speech: Nor did he fear, resisting, the point of the fierce sword; For he had learned to trust in many victorious battles; And not to dread the fierce fury of an earthly King: he warns him, Whom, having approached him, he strove to strike with these words. Namely, that if he cared to touch the threshold of the eternal kingdom, He should, with sin set aside, make better transactions of his life, Lest perchance, repelled, he should undergo The torments of sins in the chaos of hell. And because the words of the just are goads to the wicked, As soon as the furious one received the words with offended ears; Desiring that whatever pleased him should be lawful for him, he is driven into exile: He severely drove away the derided Teacher who counseled just things; And he deprived the kingdom of such ^a guest. And he who, repulsed, departs, brings the Lord also to the Gentiles.

b. Marka Marka, A Teutonic word, signifies the border of ^a province: which is read very often in the Annals of Fulda, written in the age of Milo: namely at the years 788, 827, 861, etc. Which word was extended to signify ^a whole dominion or province: hence many Markae, and Marquis or Marcae in Germany and Italy: and the Prefects of the borders were called Markisi and Marchiones (Marquises).

CHAPTER 3

The return of Saint Amandus from exile. The baptism of Saint Sigebert.

[8] And although the Prince scatters royal seeds In the crossroads, nevertheless no shoot of offspring rises for him; Unless drops should come from the clouds upon the dry field. Which, however, when he could at last recognize, when Saint Sigebert was born, suppliant, He sought help from the heavenly seats, praying That one might be born for him, by whom afterward his scepters might be governed. With God granting, he merited what his devout mind had sought. When the joyful messenger brought to the royal halls The news that ^a boy had come forth to the light from his mother's womb; With praises and vows he worships the Author of his offspring. Yet that hesitation burns his joyful mind, As to who ought to wash the boy in the holy font. When the captive memory of the King returns to itself, He orders swift servants to run through the kingdoms: And commands the Saint to be brought with deserved honor. Who, at last found, he is recalled: and warned to approach the palace, Presents himself to the sight of the aforesaid King, Who, as soon as he sees the man present, immediately leaps down from his high Throne, and lowers his ruddy, diademed head to the earth Where the peaceful foot of the Holy One then chanced to stand, Bending his stiff neck to the holy footsteps; The purple is then prostrated in the dusty ashes, And the tongue, which had been dictating laws to various phalanxes, Asks he pardons the King seeking forgiveness: that holy indulgence may pardon his crime. But he was gentle, for whom it was sweet to forgive reproaches, Lacking gall, always burning with ^a placid sweetness. Quickly from the earth he raises the King prostrate in the dust, And swiftly remits the sins committed.

[9] And then the Prince addresses the Saint with this speech: "It grieves me, gracious Doctor, to have spurned your counsel: It displeases me that injury was done by my command. But now, I pray, let those bowels of mercy yield: There is also, with God granting to undeserving me, one son, Whom I ask that your holy blessing may consecrate, And that you deign to renew him in the life-giving font of Christ, And that you teach him as ^a Master in the divine law. he refuses to educate the son: And may you rightly be called the boy's second father, While you beget offspring from the illustrious seed of the font." But the Holy one resists these words poured forth with the greatest effort, Recalling that he was commanded to scatter the seeds of the word, And to consecrate the nations in the stream of baptism, Having been sent to be present not to one alone but to many. He departs; the petition of the King remains frustrated. Who, because he was unable, despised, to merit the rights, Believed that he could be bent by the guardians of his own side, And sent friends of mutual love, So that you would think there was one soul in ^a double breast: The illustrious Dado accompanied by the kind Eligius, persuaded by Saints Audoenus and Eligius, Whom the court of the Prince held in lay habit. But afterward, laying the fleeting world beneath their feet, These stable columns built two churches. The former was named under whose pontificate Lofty Rouen flourished in blessed titles: And the equal Eligius, chosen by the divine gift, By whom the city of Noyon, while he lived as its Bishop, shone, So also it gleams by his tomb, enriched with many virtues. Hail, faithful faith preserved; may happy concord flourish, O holy Bishops brilliant with the light of merits. So thin ^a speech about you would not proceed from me, Did I not know that you nourished conspicuous Poets, Who can sing for you with ^a threefold Muse, And sing ^a noble song with gilded pipes. Yet we ask you, O relieve our labors, And let the droplet of the tongue now resume the course begun.

[10] Therefore the envoys pour forth prayers with ^a devout breast, That he may wash the offspring of the Prince in the consecrated stream, And lead him through books dripping with dew. If perchance he would not refuse these prayers of the Prince, May the joining of his friendship grant much: That it may be permitted to seek gain among the wandering people, And to scatter the divine word to many nations. At last he assents, overcome by the speech of his dear ones: And he enters unwillingly the lofty house of the King, Who at that time was residing at the villa of Clichy. That boy is offered to him, carried in the arms of others, He for whom the sun had now shone for forty days. he baptizes the infant When the gracious Bishop took him in his sacred hands, And the excellent prayer was poured forth in the accustomed manner, And the infant had been signed as ^a catechumen, And at the end of the prayer no one was returning the responses. responding "Amen," Not confused sounds striking the palate with broken words; But with open lips and clear voice, bellowing forth, He sounded more quickly to the wondering peoples: "Amen." Then, renewed in the stream of saving baptism, He brought back the name of Sigebert from the life-giving waters, And afterward he subdued the Austrasian hosts under his dominion.

[11] Here, Reader, join with me in the narration of praises, Speak, if ^a rich font of speech abounds in you, And the shower of the tongue compares itself to the drops of rain. Who taught the boy? Who, I ask, persuaded the senses To utter unknown sounds in the Hebrew tongue? What schoolmaster commanded him to bellow with this voice, a new miracle Whom wailing still held in his infantile age? Tell me, I beseech you, what school gave him Unknown utterances? By what teachable master did he flourish? No whip ever struck his tender limbs, Nor did his slender fingers hold ^a small tablet: And already he surpasses the grandiloquent sophists in reason. He speaks in foreign tongues, and spurns the Latin. Nature teaches him. What prompting pours this forth? With this new wine, O Judea, accustomed to err, those were burning Who learned all tongues in ^a brief time. Here, O etymology, your order is confounded, While the infant speaks, that name is taken from you; Do not doubt that the ass rebuked the foolish Balaam. Come hither, this deed must be celebrated with everlasting praise.

CHAPTER 4

The Episcopate of Trajectum (Maastricht) of Saint Amandus.

[12] These things having thus been traversed, an Angel sent from on high Bore away the departing Bishop beyond the stars of the lofty sky, Whose See Trajectum (Maastricht) held: He is established as Bishop of Trajectum That he might receive the rewards of his merits in just books. When the King learned of this, he summoned the Saint Amandus, Bringing with him ^a great throng of Bishops, And joined together the solemnities for so great ^a Prelate's honors. Meanwhile the Saint was led and drawn aloft to the sacred citadel, And placed in the aforementioned See. He resists and cries out that he is unworthy of such an office. But when in his custom he toured with beautiful light The towns, fields, houses, villages, and castles, traversing them, A grievous crime: those who ought to have been the first to recognize, And to show the word of the Lord to the people to be followed, The Ministers duly placed above in the grades of the Church; They reject, the Clergy opposing him, they spurn, they scorn, they despise, They set him aside, and drive the upright Patron through reproaches, By which they brought upon themselves no profit, but the greatest losses. For the dust shaken from the just feet upon them Shall be an accuser, he departs when that time shall come When those on the right shall receive rewards, and those on the left, punishments.

[13] An island called Calloa shines from the summit of the Saint, Near the Scheldt, and with turns bent in ^a curving winding, It offers ^a retreat, to the island of Calloa: the river most pleasing to sailors, Which the Saint, when driven by the aforementioned he had departed from those shores, Finding it, believing it sufficient for himself in so sorrowful ^a time, And desiring to renew the pure vigor of his mind In seclusion, he remained on it for some Time, and strove to relieve his manifold labors. Yet while he was enjoying the holy activity divinely granted, And desired to ascend to heaven with continual vows, Like ^a white dove resting on twin wings; The just retribution did not delay to strike the aforesaid Repulsers fiercely according to their merits, the people of Trajectum after his departure and repaying worthy things To those who wished to bring reproach rather than render honor. Pressed by manifold scourges, so that they might know How dear to Christ was he who had been spurned and had departed. For indeed ^a plague, coming from heaven and rebounding from the earth, Tramples, bows down the rebels with stiff necks, And overturns their houses; the ruin testifies that their ways have fallen With ^a crash and great weight: severely punished, And the field, widowed of its harvest and stripped of its grain, Returns to them the sharpness of the pricking thorn With thistles. The lands report such transactions, Which lack so great ^a cultivator, nor does the inhabitant Feed on them, because he scorned to bear food at the mother's breast.

[14] You also, O people, if it please to touch briefly upon ancient things, You feel these wounds disclosed from the injuries of old. Firm walls do not resist immense calamities, But are laid flat upon the ground like dust by the blast of wind, the city shattered; And they crumble at home, which no guardian supports. Nor is it ^a wonder if the fabric should fall from the lofty towers, Utterly uprooted from its foundation, which the steadfast Amandus left, The defense of our Church, its lofty column, A protection standing firm against putrefying tumults. By offending whom, death came to you; salvation came to us. Servatius, preserved while he lived as yours; then, Lest he should take upon himself ^a mournful funeral or sorrowful grief of heart In seeing the last embers in you, He passed on to the Lord, leaving you naked in death: Who afterward, pitying, sent to you our Amandus, Like ^a sun gleaming with the rays and splendor of his works. But you, bleary-eyed, while you turn your eyes away from him, And return to the thick darkness of night's horror, And retain mud in your hands while you wipe your eyes, And ascribe to the light that you see less from it, Thus, released to your desires, you are in ^a blind prison. Unless, however, you return hither, the Poet urges them to repentance, and seek the light by loving, Which, driving it away from yourself, you gave to us in mercy. We return no reproaches or quarrels to you from this, But we rejoice exulting in his return. Now, now, therefore, let these verses cleanse your fault; Remember to recall with worthy praises the one you expelled. Let your sin now cause you repentance; Praise of Saint Amandus, these are the remedies. And if, as I believe, your wounds have placated your guilt, And the piety of the Saint has pardoned the enormous crime; Support my verses, for they are not proper poems. You are able to sing; you are learned to applaud in verse: You know how to touch the strings with ^a lyric plectrum, And you, powerful, to resound the meter with ^a hundred Muses: To weave books with words as nets with threads. But for me scarcely ^a thin whisper flows from my mouth: Yet as long as the nourishing Muse is fitted to your little books, Lest I be silent in praising God, since I am ^a debtor, Let our little book, I ask, be closed with the honor of God. and the honor of God Praise, glory, dominion, blessing, renown, palm, Majesty, and honor, veneration, grace, virtue: Be to the Father and the Son with the life-giving Spirit, Both now and always while the ages to come shall endure: Who glorified Saint Amandus according to his merits. O illustrious companion, confine your pen in its cloister. For it has drunk enough, thirsting; take away the dew, And lest the tearful breath be now broken off, from here Fix your step, while I stretch out my fingers, rest ^a little.

There was added: "End of Book III, it has 436 verses." And there were joined these chapters of Book IV. Chapters of Book IV

BOOK FOUR

By Milo, from the manuscripts. Book IV.

CHAPTER 1

The Basques taught by Saint Amandus. A blind man illuminated.

[1] Thus far, engaged in the excellent deeds of the holy Bishop, and, although with ^a limping foot, I have been able to run. But now ^a matter too much to be feared must be treated, and does not allow one To fly away with any powers; one must seek above the stars: That I may follow with speech where it is not permitted to go on foot. For the first of my little books hasten under this rule, That the labor and merit of Saint Amandus may be known: This fourth is now the one that is to be fashioned in our hands; Which I have duly subjected to the four Gospels. The fourfold poem is compared to the four Gospels Matthew, endowed with the gift, first poured forth God born in the flesh, who sucked the Virgin's breasts. This one also, while it penetrates the inner depths of our mind, I wrote of ^a man begotten, who licked the mother's breasts, Perfect, pure, just, worthy, immaculate. And then Mark, exalted by the voice of the commandment: "The voice of one crying," he says, "through the desert fields of the lion Has sounded, who in death slept with eyes open." Mark 1:3 And following this, as far as I was able, I said in verse That he scattered the fourfold holy word throughout the world. And then rising, what Luke signifies by name, He brings in with his words the rights of the ancient priesthood, By which Christ, like ^a calf, is sacrificed on the altar of the Cross. Having read which, I showed that the man who had been ^a living victim Had ascended to the pontifical See. And because the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured upon John, He flies as if carried above the sky on the wings of an eagle, He sings of the Beginning, and the Word before all time. And it is necessary for me to hasten now by ^a similar path: For it is pressing to recall the journey by which Saint Amandus Went to the Lord, about to receive his deserved honors: And visited the rest prepared on the heavenly summit: To which no wing of good deeds lifts me. The desire burns my spirits; but the ability restrains. The tongue desires to run; but it creaks, unable to speak. Yet if that whisper should resound in the ear of the heart, And fill the mind with the liquid in which I dip my pen, Which causes an ass to form human speech, And confounds the unlearned man with ^a querulous verse; In ^a succinct poem I shall note the deeds that remain.

[2] Come, come, O my Muse, the Basque land, roaming widely, Trusting in bridles, hurling weapons with their arms, Disclose, I ask, and note it to the common people with ^a common voice: If you remove and change the letters, the Basques it is called Wasconia. Which nation, hard enough, pressing with various incursions, And repaying hostile weapons with frequent blows, Had been an enemy at the extreme borders of the Franks. fierce ones But now it is pacifically subdued with wounding arms, And the bridles, at last brought to salutary counsel, It does not tear with its bite, but handles them with the kisses of peace. In those times, during which the Saint remained in the world, As it had been rebellious to the Gauls with savage ferocity, So it was also to Christ, who had subdued the rest of the world: For, stripped of the beauty of religion, it lay In the darkness of night, illuminated by no lamp, And ^a horrendous crime, to which all harmful things yield, By whose begetting the remaining plagues are accustomed to grow together, Turning back toward mute images the worship proper to Christ, It believed that idols possessed the power of the Deity. idolaters When the Bishop Amandus learned of these insane acts of their errors, Kindled by those whom he had made worthy of the name of Brethren, He swiftly went, Saint Amandus approaches, ^a distinguished warrior, to their lands: That he might wage the wars of Christ, And that the unconquered soldier might equally impress the signs of his King Upon the aforementioned fields. So that if he could not rightly conquer the manifold hosts, He might at least seize ^a beautiful death through wounds: and converts many, And while he hurled his darts with life-giving lances there, And leveled many to the ground, and steadfastly Prostrated upon the earth the false religion of the gods; One sluggish, fickle, wickedly slippery, and proud fellow, Foul and impure, whispering scurrilous reproaches, a mime opposing him, Whom the populace rightly calls by the name of mime, The wretched one obstructed with foolish, frenzied laughter. But soon, seized by ^a dark demon, filled With him by whom he had long been occupied, when he laughed at the nursling of life, soon possessed by ^a demon With his own hands in an insane fury he Tears, rends, bursts, rips apart, burns his own limbs, And before he crosses the gaping chasms of Erebus, He gives ^a sure sign of under whose guidance he would be led away. With one mouth you may be amazed that ^a thousand tongues run. At last, distorted, emptied of both guest and host, and killed He who, returning ungratefully, violently drove away his soul, And carrying it off, makes it penetrate Gehenna with him. He who was the inciter of guilt becomes the torturer in fire. And because the things we write are not sufficiently joyful, from here now, With sad things omitted, let the pen proceed to sweet things.

[3] Therefore, when the nation, emptied of its holy beauty, was left In its ancient darkness, because it wished rather to spurn the light Sent to it than to submit itself to the light: That shining light-bearer, The water in which the Saint's hands were washed, when he was now returning from them, Came at last, wearied, to ^a certain city, Whose Bishop received him with honorable Attendance, and honoring him dutifully with merited honor, Poured water upon his sacred hands, and admonished The custodian to take the same and place them in the closed chapels. For that Bishop was sufficiently trusting that from these The desired remedy could be provided to the infirm. Nor did the most certain hope deceive such firm spirits. At the time ^a certain beggar was sitting at the doors of the temple, A man poor in possessions, but in the light of his brow Still poorer, whom the Priest addressed with this voice: "O man, if you retain in your breast the light of faith, Wash your closed eyes with the water a blind man in which the holy Amandus Washed his hands: I pledge that you are to be renewed By this ointment; the light returning, poured into the blind windows, Will show how great the worthy blessing of the Saint is: Nor will you return empty, trusting in the virtue of faith." These promises the poor man, presently lacking light, believing, Took the water, and washed his face; is illuminated the medicine accompanied The pious washing. O reversal of things! When the blind man's Eyes shine, the fierce image of death is driven away. Tell, I beg, whoever you are present, with how great virtue you think This Blessed one shone, when he was present in body, And how swift ^a remedy he was able to bring by prayer, He whose hand-water bestows the honor of light? Give way, O physician, with your ground powder — why do you stand? For it is ^a better-known thing that eyes are blinded by powder. If you believe these things, these waters surpass all eye-salves. How clean the impurities! O how pure the cleansing! How learned the physician, by whom all obscure things shine bright, From whose beautiful fingers remedies drip! Such signs reveal the footsteps of their King. What follows is hence everlasting glory to Christ the supreme, Worthy honor to the Just One, than whom no more precious one From the company of companions came to the kingdom of heaven. Going forth to meet the Bridegroom with an adorned lamp, A fiery ardor soon flows from the olive-bearing arms, Kindling the torches of others from his own flame, And deeds demonstrate with how great beauty he has shone.

CHAPTER 2

Monasteries built by Saint Amandus. The danger of death divinely averted.

[4] And while he went on the journey begun with various virtues, He came by ^a happy path to the kingdom of the Franks, And chose ^a place where he might scatter the fitting word, In which, with ^a devout cohort of Brethren accompanying him, Who had borne various punishments for the name of Christ, He built the sacred cloisters of ^a new monastery. A monastery is built: Happy was that school under so great ^a master, From which many Sophists duly proceed, A numerous cohort of Bishops, and learned Patrons Of the Church, pure in words and shining in deeds. Gaul, the Saint has now returned; rejoice, it is ^a gracious thing. Scatter flowers cheerfully; salvation has come to you. For on this side you do not fall, where the tower, against heaven, Against the bloody ranks and the wars of Damascus, Perhaps raised its head, and stood even beyond the very stars. For if exceedingly powerful storms from the region of the Ocean Should rush in, they will be unable to pass by any means Where Amandus fixed his step with excellent paces: If, however, you follow the commands of the excellent Master. Nor is there reason to fear in the burning whirlwind, Trusting in this leader of yours, who does not vanquish the wicked With arms, but with merits known hence even to the stars.

[5] At the time when Prince Childeric held the kingdom And managed the reins seized with heavy war, While the remaining nations roared in the strife of Mars, And sword returned swords, and shield returned shield; likewise another, with King Childeric granting, And brother pressed brother, and son pressed father, And savage devastation laid waste many peoples, With ^a heavy storm raging throughout the whole world; This whirlwind did not hold him, nor bind with its bond The arms of the Just One, nor, conquered by so great ^a whirling of affairs, Did he abandon the work begun, burning with faithful gains. But he went humbly to the aforementioned King, That he might duly provide him with some small place, Where he might build the sacred beginnings of ^a beautiful monastery; Which the Prince gave as soon as he sought it; then straightway, Since he was energetic in such affairs, He laid the foundations of ^a church in ^a sagacious manner. And while the Just One persisted there in those undertakings, Bishop Mummolus impeding; Mummolus, inflamed with the bitter torches of envy, Whose subjected city of Uzès adorned The lofty seat with the grass of various flowers, Gravely indignant that the Saint had obtained the small place, He vomited the poison conceived in his mind with furies, And directed his servants, urged by rage, Bold in spirit and more greatly armed: Sharpening swords against him who had been ^a bearer of peace in the whole World, who had produced the pastures of the heavenly kingdom. Why, the Poet inveighs against him O fierce enemy, do you persecute him, fighting against him with such fraud, And pursue the nursling dear to God? You had heard what covenants of peace to be kept Your peaceable master, about to ascend to the stars, had given: Why do you tear this pledge, while you meditate on vain things? Why does so great ^a wicked desire for crime possess you? Was it not fitting to wipe away such great labors, And to adorn the common good with shared work? What will others do, while you, O Bishop, seek wars, And if human nature does not restrain your guilt, If neither rank, nor grade, nor love bridles you? Look up: lightning showers will come from the clouds, And ^a heavenly whirlwind will calm your furies. You will see the angelic hosts, armed, assisting, Bringing ample aid with victorious standards. To bring death with wicked weapons to him whom you now threaten. Speaking also to the executioners when driven away, who wished To carry out the orders, and his servants, and equally to bear the partnership of the crime: Whom the commission of another's guilt brought as defendants, Who, with burning deceit, thinking they could deceive Him who was full of the draught of ^a pure stream. They falsely feigned false things with false speech, And claimed they could show the Saint lands sufficiently suitable: If he would accompany them for the purpose and zeal of protecting. the fraudulent ones, And although the cunning soldier had feigned with his mouth, And spoken lies to so great ^a Prophet, From whom, with God revealing, nothing hidden, nothing secret Lay concealed in the fibers, nothing hidden in the caverns of the breast, In whose ears the mind sounded as the tongue; Yet he himself did not resist the unjust bearers of crimes, Nor did he show his back to the fierce servants. Nor did so great ^a fear, ranging through his unconquered spirits, Dispel them, nor did constancy leave his steadfast mind: Since he was perpetually burning with the love of martyrdom. about to bring martyrdom upon Saint Amandus, And although the opportunity of the time now gave the vow Of ^a martyr, he was not cheated of the honor he had merited. Hence the power of Christ is to be praised more greatly from the heavens, That He gave him the palm freely without the wound of death.

[6] And now the holy victim approached the brow of the mountain, And the fierce striker — as once the holy Isaac, And as the wicked hand, too cruel against Jesus, When burning with fury, led away to ^a mountain, to the heights of the mountain Dragged the Author of our life to be cast down, If then the ability had matched the furious will. Not otherwise did this Just One stand, gentle as ^a lamb, With wolves empty of piety nearby; soon from heaven dark Gathered clouds closed the eyes of the wicked, Nor does the Phoebean lamp appear in its due order: From them it withdraws its radiance and turns its rays to shadows, but saved by ^a heavenly miracle Who strive to despoil the lamp of its ruddy splendor. Bright things flee from their eyes, ample night falls: And ^a great storm crashes in with hail mixed together. Therefore, laid flat upon the ground, they confess the guilt and the just Punishment; they beg for pardon: the Just One bows in worship Toward the earth, filled with the love of piety: And he prostrates his limbs upon the grassy mounds of soil; Nor does he desist sooner from the zeal and vow of praying, Until the heavenly furies subsided, And also the crashes of thunder and storms ceased. And while the serene skies return to those servants, They recognize how rightly the Saint is to be reverenced with honor. Go home, you who were sent, and report the deed to your master, Lest he send other executioners afterward against Amandus.

[7] O one too greatly beloved of God, for whom the sky serves as soldier, In whose aid the heavenly machinery, roaring, Prepares war, withdraws light, and threatens death. In place of bugles, thunder; in place of weapons, ^a fiery shower; In place of shields, the lofty axis rumbles and shakes. What wonder is it that earthly things have served your commands, When the elements are shaken at once, Heaven burns, When for you, the faithful hope of your people, an unjust death is being prepared? And although the things he accomplished before are great enough, Yet these things shine more, which gleam from the citadel of heaven. Beautiful everywhere, flashing in heaven, on earth, and on the sea, Look upon the faithful now scattered, and have mercy soon; And with sacred prayers seek for them continual salvation; So that, retaining unconquered forces in our breasts, Neither may evils break us, nor may prosperity seize our mind.

CHAPTER 3

Those punished with blindness and paralysis are healed by the aid of Saint Amandus.

[8] The journey presses on, and the deeds that follow now turn back The course of the poem; ^a matter worthy of narration is sung. For the mention of the man is suited to venerable praises, For while he preaches the Gospel to the whole people, Unable to relax the care of the labor he had begun, And to restore his weary limbs with moderate rest, Among the Beauvais people While traversing the borders of the Beauvais region; Rossontus is ^a place where the Saint came, breathless, Where it flows back, modest in its banks, but rich in bountiful Abundance of plentiful grain and the gift of Bacchus: And not far from the tract that the course of the Oronne completes. Here there was ^a woman deprived of her twin lamps: On her somewhat dark brow ^a true semblance of night, a woman devoted to idolatrous auguries, Persisting with dense darkness for not brief intervals. While the Just One, pressing close, examined The nature of her condition, he learned the causes and time of the light Denied to her, and that she had sought just darkness through auguries, And she related that she had devoted herself to the leaf-haired Goddess. A tree led her with the stiff bending of its branches, Where it had raised its head, with perverted fruit, Harmful to the inhabitants, producing ^a death-bearing poison from its root, Which the rustic populace had consecrated to the ancient enemy. And when the woman, lamenting and weeping, poured forth her complaints, The Saint returned these words with ^a compassionate breast: "You report nothing to be marveled at, O woman blinded by guilt, When you bewail perils born from your own sin. she is made blind: But I greatly admire how great is the mercy of Christ, Whose too generous patience now bears you, To whose offense, serving your own enemy, You retain ^a merited loss and just shame. But if the care of your lost salvation remains in you, Give your assent now to our words. Quickly, boldly, go where the pestilential Goddess stands, Confirm your spirit with stable hope, and your right hand with an axe, So that the tree, driven by the axe, may now fall to the ground, with the superstition removed, Which you venerate: for I promise it will happen more quickly, If you are trusting, carrying back happy vows, That you will receive swift healing of your limbs and soul." Without delay, while the woman hastened with ^a girl leading her, To hack down the arboreal Goddess, and the leafy summit, Lacking religion, cut down, to commit to the flames; The Saint, perceiving the venerable light of faith To gleam within, she is illuminated by the sign of the Cross, carved the celebrated sign Of the Cross in the middle of her forehead between the two temples. Soon also ^a conspicuous fire, sent down from heaven, Shone forth, and the closed windows in her brow were opened. Thus the venerable hand brings radiance, and night leaves The eyes, and the exiled day illuminates her orbs, And in the midst of the darkness the dawn, pouring forth twilight, The illuminated brow marvels at the serene rays, Yet the Saint, having instructed her to despise the old sins, By which harmful wounds had formerly grown in her, Leaving her unharmed, about to visit the remaining friends, Dismissed her, the bestower of so great an honor.

[9] The manifest faith of the history — but ^a mystical understanding Lies within it, shaded by dark forests, Which, speaking, I shall attempt to compose in hasty verse: So that the ancient harmony, resounding with ^a new breath, May fill the dry verses with ^a heavenly inspiration. The ancient tree was that as the guilt of Eve by which Eve lost her life, Having the name of life, if she had abstained from sins. O grief! Deceived too greatly by the serpent's persuasion, She fell into death, while she took the forbidden food to eat, Rushing to certain loss through ill-believed gains. But on the wood of the Cross, with Life dying, was removed by the Cross of Christ the diseases Of sins were atoned, and the transgression of the forbidden fruit. You see the ancient form in the present trunk, To which the woman, while she serves with foolish auguries, Wishing to know the future, loses even the present, And, blinded, takes for the light deserved darkness. But the Saint, coming, drove away the dark errors, And taught her to cut with iron the bending of the tree, About which the magnificent Baptist John sang, That the excellent axe was pressing upon the root of the tree, Which with its gleaming edge cuts off the harmful saps, And repairs swift sight through holy eye-salves; And as an ointment-bearing physician, thus Amandus restores the eyes.

[10] And this which the Just One accomplished, heaping up the praises of glory, With magnificent deeds, let us duly sing. In the manifold flock of the Lord, which the nursling made To bear the divine yoke and to serve the Thunderer, One was preferred in honor above the remaining bands, So that he might prepare food for his companions and all fitting things: A disobedient monk, Who, swelling with pride, scorns to obey the commands of the Master, And uses carts carrying wine To convey it to his Brethren, and to deny to the Saint That the vehicles he sought were lacking to him, he proceeds; The wretch is laid low by the peril of ^a sudden disease, And ^a fierce paralysis, savagely devastating his limbs, Seizes him, he is punished with paralysis: and reigns with loose reins in his members; And shaking off more quickly the stiffness assumed by an excessively Haughty neck, he levels it with drooping grasses: And the bitter pestilence binds the wretched body, weighed down With ^a lethal affliction, on this side and that with fierce chains. The veins were drying up with the stream of blood dried out, And the languid arms were withering with the nerves contracted: And exhaling ^a thin breath from his nose more frequently, The mute one was repeating wretched sobs in silence. Already also the departing warmth of the soul was crossing The gates of life; but the physician Amandus was still living, By whose merits the remedy was to be granted to the sick man. He, at ^a monastery with the cohort of Brethren in service, Had been conveyed by ship, when, with the offices duly performed, The Saint was sitting at table, Hungering for the foods to be eaten, but fed with the banquets of heaven. And the Father, knowing the pitiable wound of his disciple, Gently smiling, speaks with ^a compassionate breast: "He suffers great things indeed, but he still deserves greater, Since vain boasting and contempt make him Rebellious against us, to which he is too greatly devoted." He spoke, and from the blessed people of the Brethren He ordered ^a chosen Priest to be the bearer of the desired remedy, A portion of bread having been given, having sent bread and ^a cup and also the cups of the joyful chalice. "Go," he said, "and bear these commands to the monk lying ill. Let him drink the chalice with ^a piece of the sent bread, And when the morning day shall have scattered the nocturnal shadows, And the flame-haired sun shall have gleamed with its pure rising, And I shall have hastened with quick step, about to visit him; Let him rise unharmed, his languor shaken off, from his own bed, by the command of Saint Amandus With strengthened sinews — I command it — And let him come forward with ^a healthy body to meet us." Why should I delay with speech, when the medicine does not delay? For the blessing of the Father, sent to the monk, Restored his life, and by the physician's command he received his strength. Then he leaped up quickly with the greatest effort (the earth, Already nearly lifeless, healed; striving to stand upon its own columns), Nor did the traveler delay to hasten on the commanded journey, And as the gracious man approached, he came forward to meet him, Sound, and returned abundant thanks: And the tongue, while it forms words with the palate struck, The speech resounded from the clear throat of the speaker, That the corpse had risen thence, with life returning. The marveling company of Brethren sang with praise. Yet, admonished to change his insolent ways, He went safe and sound with pardon, to the wonder of his companions. he is reformed There is material here to weave ^a threefold cord, But the page, completed with much verse, overflows. Nor does the final clause of the book hold more, And although I would have striven to compose the man's deeds In more words, I confess I was nevertheless unable to note all things: For indeed he accomplished such great things that I am unable To tell them in any writings or produce them in meters; What the gift of faith, the merit, and the kindly character, How great the healing among the sick, how great the grace, The virtue, the battles, the labor, the patience, the palm, the triumph.

CHAPTER 4

The death and burial of Saint Amandus. The elevation of his body. Epilogue.

[11] Thus far the discourse, hastening toward the end, has been led Along ^a difficult path; but now through byways you turn The journey begun, and you reverse with swollen reins: Perhaps on this account, because the deeds speak of something rather sad. O grief! The blessed one, adorned with ruddy splendor, Whose excellent character we have described even to this point, Saint Amandus dies: How, by going through the threshold of death to life, He crossed over, to be placed in the hall of the upper sky, To flee, and to compose the end in ^a tearful song, Fearing to conclude the text led all the way to the end. If you flee the deceased, say rather: he lives through the ages: For indeed he lives, duly joined to the angelic hosts. Dying, he left sorrow and lamentation upon the fields: He brought ample joy to the heavenly citadels: Earth holds earth, dust grows together with dust, Dead, reclining in the tomb, he gleams through the gift of pardon. he is buried But his beautiful soul is joined to the choirs above.

[12] Indeed, among the monasteries scattered through fields and towns, A loftier and better structure raised itself, That of our Elnon. The place is named from the river, Which it receives in ^a broad embrace and the Scarpe, purer, brings forth: at Elnon: Which, flowing in the manner of the Jordan from ^a twin source, Join sweet kisses with their mingled lips. Where the Saint holds ^a tomb enriched with virtues. Which place, adorned with immense honor, shines forth, Peace, piety, goodness, concord prevails there, And hope, faith, fraternal love, supreme affection. Retaining every good, it stretches toward the heights of heaven: Avoiding every evil, it drives away harmful dangers. Fearing no perils, it shines with miracles: where every weak and sick person Carries back the vows sought, with faith running in the midst. O happy place, O turf with ^a favorable growth! Blessed with all goods, hail through the eternal ages. With clothing, sheep, harvest, ox, bird, honey, bee, river, fish, Acorn, pig, flower, foliage, rain, grass, vine — In all these you abound, with such ^a cultivator presiding. In all these you retain, made fruitful by this Patron. The rivers give fish, the fields yield earthly things: Indeed you lack no foods, because you overflow with produce. For the inhabitant draws hunger not with the mouth but with the ears. We sing ^a wondrous thing, which requires believing hearts: By this you may know the Blessed one lives after death. The courses of ^a hundred years in revolving cycle Had passed, and the same number equally divided, Had passed from when the venerable man crossed to the ethereal hall, When the body, the mass of the tomb having been broken apart, was lifted up And found intact, from the body, elevated after 150 years, blood flows and ^a tooth removed from the mouth Poured forth bloody drops as if from ^a living body. Let whoever does not believe that from the body of Jesus, Pierced by the soldier's spear while fixed on the Cross, Sacred waters flowed with blood, deny this easily. If you seek witnesses, wavering in the virtue of faith, Come here, I advise; you shall see diverse Ranks of men and many elders venerable in age: A vessel also will be able to show the received blood.

[13] O father, pastor, doctor, nurturer, lover! By whom this place shines, rich in such great honors, Whom the kingdom of heaven, received in venerable peace, Exalts, the Poet implores the patronage of Saint Amandus adorns, praises together, honors, embellishes: Intercede for your holy servants in the commerce of pardon, And grant to your nurslings the fellowship of light. And when God, coming, shall have shaken the whole world, When the swift fire shall have burned the trembling earth, And the sun, with its light withdrawn, shall be without light like ^a sack, And the lunar globe shall be enclosed in ^a dark covering, Sulfur, pitch, horror, torturer, torments, furnace Shall be present, and the most just Judge sitting there, And the cohort of the Saints shall have adorned seats, And among these Leaders, when rightly you shall have sat upon the lofty tribunal As arbiter of the world, joined with the consuls, And the just judgment shall be disclosed with opened books, at the Last Judgment, Alas, what shall I do then? What Saint shall cover me From the impending wrath? What defense shall rescue me From such great calamities? Under the covering of what mountain Shall I need to be hidden, lest I be burned with bitter flames? What covering of ^a just work shall free me, covered, And separate me from the fire of so great ^a furnace? I pray, have mercy then, holy Father, on your poet, And join your Milo to the troops on the right. It will be enough to have deserved even the last little place. There is also for me, wretched one, ^a great confidence That by this work the dreadful furies can be extinguished, Which is written in ^a vile style but by ^a faithful poet. A small honor is ^a foolish poem, but the great vows Of love are mine in your praises, O excellent Pastor. And if you look upon the inner depths of our spirit, How devoted our will was in these things, The small ability will not be condemned, as I reckon. O honor of the world, and our glory, gracious Father, farewell. Before your tomb we shall perpetually sing again, hail! You who are worthy, we salute; grant us to be well.

[14] Behold, O gracious God, Sower and Redeemer of mankind, This work we have offered to the praise of the illustrious Bishop, And I pray that it may be acceptable in your sight. The whole world brings its gifts to the church. and he offers his poem to God One shines in sense as with gold, and another, Bearing the gift of silver with honorable eloquence, gleams white, And the chorus of singers sounds in harmonious bronze. From this one scarlet, twice dipped in twofold love, is carried, And the mortification of the flesh offers twisted fine linen, This one bears an uncorrupted body as incorruptible wood, That one shines with pious deeds as with beautiful olive, And poured over with good incense, he is fragrant with sweet odor. But I, mixed with the munificent assemblies, am present, Poor, needy, helpless, trembling, confused, and anxious: Who bring nothing pleasing that it would be right to place upon the altar. On account of this, shame paints my cheeks with ^a red skin. I offer this poem woven with goat hairs, And myself at the same time, ^a goat to be put to death for sin. But you who blessed the widow for her smallest coin, Receive with ^a placated countenance the gifts I pay, And may your praise endure in our mouth through the age, You who hold the throne and the kingdom above through the ages. O dear one, my journey is completed; rest, O traveler.

c. There was added: "End of the Life of Blessed Amandus, Confessor of Christ, from prose speech transferred into heroic verse in metrical style, having 4 little books, in which are contained 1,817 verses."

LITTLE VERSES OF WULFAIUS

in confirmation of the work.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

"Poems rightly ascending to the starry fields, You ask, Milo, that they flourish by our favor. Whose power is so great, and gleams with such honor, The poem of Milo is approved by That they cannot be expressed by our eloquence. The golden subject matter is girded with white silver, And the bright mass adorns its own eloquence. There is no need for them to be adorned by the speech of our word. They thrive by the honor of him, by whose love they shine." These things the Archbishop, most famous throughout the whole world, Hincmar, raised up with excellent words. Bishops These the Father and Lord, the glory of the people of Cambrai, Theuderic, blessed with such praise, exulting: Hincmar of Rheims, "Poems running too sweetly with ^a sweet-sounding plectrum, Worthy, remain in heaven; blessed, fare well with God." The illustrious Bishop Emmo provided his straw to these, Theuderic of Cambrai Affixing beautiful elements with his own fingers. These the Father and Pastor, most pleasing to all the Clergy, The gentle Adalard, brought forth with his mouth. Emmo of Noyon These your and my master Haiminus rightly confirmed, Under whose guidance no one sought deviant paths. Adalard the Abbot Small of body, but great in the acuteness of mind, Teudingus himself extended his right hand. What house, I ask, shall fall, supported by such columns? Haiminus, It fears no floods, it dreads no blasts. But yet, so that the sevenfold number may be perfect, Teudingus, Wulfaius I am the seventh column, Milo, to your roof. Your poems are indeed worthy of our Patron, By our judgment, by whose honor they gleam. Now gird your calves with the beautiful buskin of Virgil; But surpass the false man by singing true things."

ON THE TRANSLATION OF THE BODY OF SAINT AMANDUS, AND HIS ORDINATION, AND THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH,

A Sermon of Milo, monk of Elnon. From 3 manuscript codices.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0342

By Milo, from the manuscripts.

[1] The very course of revolving time proclaims the present day of this most sacred festivity to be worthy of celebration with solemn devotion by the assembly of the devout. And since very many in this congregation are still entirely ignorant of this reasoning, The celebration is made more solemn by knowing the Acts, we have not considered it idle to disclose to them the knowledge of so great and so pleasing ^a celebration. Therefore we believe it worthy, indeed necessary, that those who celebrate these things yet are ignorant of why they celebrate, may receive the understanding of this matter; and that those who until now have been honoring less well-known things with festive zeal, may learn to cultivate and venerate what is now known more gloriously and rightly. Since therefore the little book of the Life of the thrice-blessed and God-beloved Confessor of Christ, Amandus, is known to have discoursed fully and sufficiently concerning what sort and how great he was while still held by the miseries of this mortality, and with what signs of virtues he shone amid the murky windings of this age, and also with what immense radiance of miracles he illuminated tracts of land both near and far, and out of the dark Egypt of this age, with the pillar of law and divine grace going before in protection, through the various stations of holy progress to the promised land, by which the homeland of the living is figured, and with what end he departed. With these set aside for now, let us direct, though unpolished, the service of our speech to investigate some things from among the many great works of the divine operations that the divine mercy performed concerning him and his poor body after his death. Therefore the things we relate, we heard from the Fathers faithfully reporting, received from the Fathers whose faith we commit to Almighty God, in whose presence even things past are held as if present, and future things we believe are regarded as present: to whom falsehood, because it comes from evil, we know to be displeasing. For the merits of the blessed man do not need to be propped up by lies so that they may appear clear to men; but greater things than can be explained in words, with all ambiguity removed, ought to be believed. But since concerning these things, not according to their own dignity, which is impossible, but according to the poverty of our little talent, we have touched upon something by way of preface, now, with divine mercy going before us, let us pursue the course set before us.

[2] In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 661, in which the Creator and Redeemer, pitying the errors of the world, deigned to be united to human nature, Amandus, beloved of God and all good men, Saint Amandus after many tokens of good deeds, ascended to the hall of heaven to reign forever with Christ, whom he had devoutly served. Nor unworthily did the heavenly palaces lie open to him as he entered, for which he himself, while placed on earth, had sung with an untiring voice, "How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts: my soul longs and faints for them." He rested indeed in the ninetieth year of his age, in the month of February, touched by the affliction of fever, and also on the Lord's day: for whom death was the way to the homeland, and the departure of the present life became the entrance to the following and never-ending one. To which, released from the manifold miseries of this world, he merited to appear resplendent before the sight of his Lord with lamps full of oil, that is, with the fruitfulness of holy virtues. He was buried indeed with the due honor of the faithful in the monastery built by him, to which the name of Elnon clung from the name of the small river flowing there: buried at Elnon which place indeed the Prince of the Franks, Dagobert, once gave to the man of God himself with ready devotion of soul, not unworthy because of its woodland cover, established by ^a ratified sanction of the laws. Although the Prince had frequently learned of his sanctity by the opinion of very many, more greatly, however, as is read in the little book of his Life, the same Prince merited to recognize that sanctity, now made manifest, in the wondrous speech of his son Sigebert, contrary to nature on account of his infancy, in his own presence, with Christ glorifying his Saint. Therefore in the aforesaid place, because he cherished it more than the rest constructed by him, cultivating it in love, also the poor body itself, by the service of his disciples, received its tomb: as also he decreed in ^a testament written in fearsome terms for this purpose, which is preserved in the archive of our monastery to this day. He was not, however, placed in the very basilica where he now rests, but in another, which still survives, dedicated in the name of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. in the church of Saint Peter Which, since on account of its smallness it was judged unsuitable for the tomb of so great ^a Bishop, and also inaccessible to the second sex on account of the dwellings of the monks; it seemed good to the frequent assembly of devout men that another should be built, surpassing in size, which would suffice for both sexes and for the multitude of people flowing together there. When therefore the building of that edifice was completed at the expense of those devoted to God, the time was at hand when the body ought to be transferred thither.

[3] In those days there still survived in human affairs the venerable Confessor of Christ and worker of miraculous deeds, Eligius, who had been most intimate with the most blessed Bishop Amandus while he was alive, and not ignorant of his sanctity. He therefore had come to the dedication of the new Church and to the transfer of the Relics of the sacred body into it from the city of Noyon, for indeed he excelled with the sagacious industry of great solicitude in the care of his diocese. When he removed the covering from the sacred tomb, the body found incorrupt after 16 years, he discovered an unhoped-for miracle of divine power, namely the poor body of the holy Father, as it had been placed there sixteen years before, incorrupt. Then at last, astonished at the novelty of so unexpected ^a miracle, he gave thanks to the supreme Divinity, because the sanctity which had been manifest in the living was not hidden in the dead. Lest perchance this prodigy should seem incredible to anyone on account of its magnitude, there are still those who confirm that they have seen ^a more wondrous miracle in the most sacred body of the same holy man, even in our own age, which also in the other sermon held concerning the elevation of his incorrupt body, whoever wishes to read our writings, such as they are, will be able to learn. For if spices compounded by the art of perfumers in no way allow human bodies to putrefy after death, much more is it fitting to believe that the merits of so great ^a Patron, declared by the signs of miraculous works, were able to preserve his members, namely those little vessels in which they had dwelt, uncontaminated. transferred into the new church then dedicated, Therefore the poor body of the blessed Bishop Amandus, carried, entered the dwelling of the basilica prepared for it and dedicated on the same day. And there until the following day it was guarded by the service of the attendants, until, after the solemn celebration of Masses was completed by the aforesaid Bishop Eligius, it provided ^a great spectacle to all the people assembled for these funeral rites. For the honorable body, placed in the middle of the temple atrium before the altar, was presented for all standing around to contemplate, and its venerable countenance, uncovered, was shown to the crowds who desired to behold it: moreover, it granted the kissing of the peace-bearing feet and hands of the same saint, the workers of virtues. What and how great the astonishment mixed with joy was there, the excellence of so wondrous ^a deed reveals. For there was then an inexpressible joy among the Christian peoples, when the twin Priests,

Amandus and Eligius, illustrious in rank and merit, like two luminaries of the world, filling heavenly things with their merits and earthly things with the rays of their virtues, placed before the divine altar, bestowed the suffrages of their prayers upon the crowd standing around. One of these, having overcome the tyranny of the ancient enemy, was already triumphing with Christ, namely his King, in heavenly glory; the other, amid the various contests of this world, was laboring for the same as an unconquerable champion. One of these, as ^a veteran soldier, was now reviewing unfailing rewards without labor; the other, persisting amid the numerous labors and manifold dangers of this life, burdened with the anxiety of sweat. One of these, resting after the completion of his office by pontifical right, in his customary manner; the other, with the solemnities not yet concluded, with the supreme joy of all: as ^a Bishop, interceding with Christ, the Bishop of Bishops. Therefore, with the incorruption blazing in the most sacred poor body of the servant of God Amandus, both of members and merits, if any were present who during his lifetime had doubted the greatness of his signs, in the dead one they saw what they might dread with the manifold anxiety of fear. But those who remembered that, having heard him, they had not obeyed his salutary counsels, lamented with the greatest mourning that they had considered these things of little value. But those who had clung to his teaching as he announced the vital precepts, rejoiced that they had both heard these things with their ears and practiced them in their deeds. But when, to the crowds, although still desiring more, the aforesaid Bishop Eligius deemed that satisfaction had been given, he believed that the most precious treasure of the deposited body should be hidden more deeply in the earth, as was then the custom, namely so that for all those not seeking it piously, the ability to find it would be denied.

[4] Therefore the glory of that translation and burial was celebrated by those present with solemn vows, and they decreed by salutary edicts that it should be celebrated by their posterity, namely the dedication of the sacred basilica, and on the same day the memorable prodigy of the carried body, which to this day is celebrated by us with the due honor of ^a numerous assembly of peoples flowing together for these solemnities, on the anniversary of the seventh day before the Kalends of November. [the solemnity of the church dedication, the translation of the body, is established,] Therefore, with all things ordained and arranged, which pertained to the adornment of the place or the maintenance of the monastic order, well and fittingly disposed according to their ability, each of the faithful returned to their own homes, rejoicing and giving thanks to the holy and undivided Trinity for its unspeakable gifts, by which from the beginning of the age it has deigned to have mercy on all who seek it in truth. We have rendered, as we believe, the reason for the present festivity, and what we celebrate in it, we have explained, however imperfectly, in these very few words: namely the Dedication of the sacred basilica and the memorable Translation into it of the Bishop of Christ, Amandus. Moreover, so that the venerable solemnity of this day may not be unseemly with ^a triple reckoning, ^a third cause concurs with the above-mentioned celebration, namely the assumption of the episcopal honor, and of the Ordination to the Episcopate because we reverently recall today that our reverend Patron was ordained, and given from heaven as ^a Bishop, with the directing clemency from above for the salvation of many. Let us therefore celebrate these things most honorably with the supreme service of devotion, and seek the same as the helper and supporter of our prayers.

[5] For it is believed that one already placed with Christ in the heavenly seats can obtain very much, Saint Amandus is compared who, while living on earth in conversation, strove to serve Him in all good deeds untiringly. For from the very playthings of his boyhood he chose to serve the divine duties, and to obey with his whole heart the life-giving commands of his Lord. Nor unworthily did he, while living, merit to be distinguished afterward by the Apostolic title, to the Apostles, whose examples he longed to imitate. Indeed he was held worthy to become ^a partaker of their lofty merits, who, having spurned his homeland, parents, and all the possessions of the world, chose to become ^a disciple of Christ, that he might merit to be found His heir, for whom he had scorned all the pleasures of the perishable world. Nor, however, is he worthy to be compared only to Apostolic praises, to the Angelic choirs, but also to the Angelic spirits and all the hosts of heaven: with the Archangels, namely the supreme messengers, announcing to the nations the supreme rewards of the heavenly kingdom: with the Angels, having been made by the sacred priesthood an Angel of the Lord of hosts, as it is written, dispensing the common precepts of living to mortals: with the Thrones, having God as one seated upon him: with the Dominations, knowing how to hold dominion over the movements of carnal members: with the Principalities, not ignorant of ruling over brethren and disciples with spiritual discipline: with the Powers, having the power to oppose with the fullest liberty Kings or any others acting wickedly: with the Virtues, filling almost the whole world with health and various prodigies of virtues: with the Cherubim, retaining the fullness of knowledge, as much as human nature can comprehend: with the Seraphim, himself burning with divine love, and kindling others with the ardor of twofold love. He also, with the Patriarchs, was the supreme father by the nourishment of many children; with the Prophets, ^a herald of heavenly rewards and infernal torments; and the remaining Saints: with the Apostles, leaving his own things and following Christ, and preaching to various nations the same Christ, an Apostle; with the Martyrs, pressed by the mortification of the body and by very many persecutions, ^a Martyr; with the Confessors, an excellent Confessor with the supreme priesthood; with the Virgins, ^a most pure virgin in virginity of heart and body. Which he also revealed by the incorruption of his members, his honorable body having been found uncontaminated. He himself also, having ^a participation with the figures of the Evangelists, while he evangelizes the divine Word to others: with the man, ^a rational man; with the calf, ^a living sacrifice; with the lion, roaring with the thunder of his preaching; with the eagle, ascending to heavenly things by purity of spirit.

[6] rich in Christ and truly poor, He also, rich with the riches of Christ, building very many monasteries and redeeming captives; with the poor of Christ, ^a pilgrim and ^a poor man, singing that verse of the Psalm with continual modulation: "I am ^a sojourner with you and ^a pilgrim, like all my fathers"; and also following that sermon of the Lord himself, which he held with the disciples while sitting on the mountain, with continual meditation and practice: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Psalm 118:19; Matthew 5:3 Therefore that poverty, that is, humility of mind, the most holy Father Amandus longed for, and to the beginnings of this blessedness he first hastened swiftly to arrive, and then afterward to the fullness of the remaining virtues he ascended perfectly and sublimely, and therefore he was worthy to receive the kingdom of heaven, promised by the Lord to such persons. "That which is present, the momentary and light burden of tribulation," bearing patiently with the Apostle Paul, patient, "has worked an eternal weight of glory in him beyond measure, so that he might merit in reward what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him." 2 Corinthians 4:17 in labors, Also to the person of this blessed Father that can fittingly be applied which David the Prophet cried out in groaning: "I am poor and in labors from my youth." Psalm 87:16 For poor in this world Blessed Amandus chose to be, who abandoned all the heights of perishable honors, together with his paternal inheritance, and his very homeland with his parents, and the precept of the Lord himself, spoken to ^a certain young man, "Come, follow me," he swiftly fulfilled. Matthew 19:21 But that which was said, "In labors from my youth," if we carefully consider the works of this man from the beginning, we shall recognize that he was not free from them. Psalm 87:16 For what torments did he not endure in this miserable life, which is entirely full of miseries and distresses? fasting, Moreover, in the vileness of his garments or even in nakedness, and in the parsimony of food, how rough and narrow ^a way he walked, for whom barley bread was his food, and abstinence from wine with every strong drink. Enclosed furthermore, like ^a hermit, in the narrowest cell, he did not shrink from haircloth garments, reclining as if delightfully in ashes, and the solitary life: and chastising his poor body with hunger, cold, and nakedness, and bringing it into subjection, with the inextinguishable perpetual

flame of divine love he was always ablaze, and the way of life which he had learned by practicing, he announced to others, and he strove to multiply the talent entrusted to him, and to his Lord he returned it doubled, ^a truthful reckoner, with his own salvation and that of his people.

[7] Therefore, such and so great ^a man, it is not undeserving to believe him to be the Apostle of our province, and that he was reserved for us should be said, given as our Apostle, when the Lord directed to the whole world the ministers of His word, he who gleams with such immense prerogatives of divine gifts: and who, placed on earth, was made glorious by ^a heavenly conversation. Let us therefore beseech him with the humble vows of our souls, that, since he has now obtained in the heavenly court the throne of judicial power, when we shall have come before that terrible tribunal of Almighty God, and intercessor before Christ the Judge about to render an account of all our deeds, he may deign to be propitious to us, and may rise as an advocate for our errors in so dread an examination. We fear indeed that we shall be less secure there than we ought, but in this hope we have confidence: because what is lacking in us may be able to be supplied by his sacred merits and intervening prayers, and he shall render to us from an angry Lord ^a most serene Father, and shall present to us from ^a terrible Judge ^a Defender, namely our Savior, to whose benefits and eternal gifts may there be perpetual praise and unfailing thanksgiving through all the eternities of ages upon ages. Amen.

ON THE ELEVATION OF THE BODY OF SAINT AMANDUS,

A Sermon of Milo, monk of Elnon, From 3 manuscripts collated with the edition of Philippe de l'Aumone.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0343

By Milo, from the manuscripts.

CHAPTER 1

The miraculous condition of the body.

[1] Since we are taught by Raphael the Archangel, the bearer of heavenly medicine, that to narrate the works of Almighty God is honorable, the Author's Prologue we judge it worthy, indeed necessary, not to keep silent about the memorable elevation of the body of the most sacred Bishop of Christ, Amandus. Tobit 12:7 For in it there is both ^a not insignificant portion of ^a divine miracle, and infinite matter for the praise and sanctity of the same blessed man.

[2] Therefore in the year of the Word made flesh, that is, of the Son of God incarnated for the salvation and redemption of the human race, eight hundred and nine, which was the year from the passing of the man of God Amandus, the one hundred and fiftieth, ^a very great inundation of waters beyond the usual, in many places had exceeded its bounds, in the year 809, when an inundation of waters occurred, and had stripped the fields surrounding the rivers with ^a destructive emptying of the crops. Which peril of evil had grown to such an extent that even the inhabitants near the rivers were compelled to desert their ancestral dwellings and to dwell on the elevated hills, with their tents changed, until the waters decreased. This abundance of rising waters, swelling from day to day with the increase of rains, had also filled with its excess the banks of the river called the Scarpe, which, almost contiguous to the tomb of our most blessed Patron Amandus, was distant from it no more than twenty paces. even to the very tomb of Saint Amandus; Which, overflowing with daily increase, grew to such an extent that it approached the most sacred burial of the most sacred body, and filled with overflowing water all that space of its little chapel which lies around the feet, and denied ^a dry path to those proceeding there.

[3] Therefore the sad event of this inconvenience brought no small sorrow to the spirits of the monks, but especially struck the venerable Lotharius, the sacristan of the sacred temple at that time, not inconsiderably. by Lotharius the sacristan, Whose industry of sagacious mind and efficacy of works, both the bodies of books placed in our archive and the whole monastery improved for the better, even if the human tongue is silent, the structure of the building proclaims. He therefore, moved by the novelty of the unusual flood, began to ponder with himself with ^a sagacious mind, by what means he might succor the imminent danger, or with what assistance he might resist such and so great ^a destruction. For he was anxious very anxious, lest the same affluence of waters should penetrate even to the deposit of the most precious treasure, namely the body of the sacred Father, buried deeper in the earth, as we said in the other sermon, by the Bishop Eligius of blessed memory, and should violate it by surrounding moisture and by touching it with an impudent assault. Therefore at last, with the uncertain doubt removed, he raised himself to this salutary counsel, animated, as it is fitting to believe, by divine instinct: that he should raise the very urn of the sacred body from the lower to higher levels, and thereafter render it by his foresight most safe from all this flooding, and most remote from the muddy swamp.

[4] On the appointed day, therefore, with ^a band of Clerics gathered for so great ^a work, he employed the necessary diggers, his body is elevated on September 20 and devoted the greatest diligence to raising the sarcophagus. Which, lifted with the utmost caution, as was fitting, he ordered to be placed on the left side, and with ^a festive celebration, with torches gleaming through the ample spaces of the building, he began the solemn celebration of the Masses most devoutly in honor of so great ^a Bishop, and completed them over the same tomb. And although around the circumference of the same sepulcher the watery moisture was present on the outside, yet on the inside no entrance was open to muddy filth or to drops of water. Nor unworthily is it believable that God, untouched by the water, who transforms the natures of all creatures according to His will into whatever species of things He wishes, and who restrains the swelling seas by His own will with sands as if with the strongest reins, was also able to bestow upon the body of His beloved such ^a benefit of great honor: so that within the vessel of the urn itself, in which the precious deposit was kept, nothing sordid should enter: so that the merit of the same venerable Bishop might be made manifest to all.

[5] Therefore, when the solemn celebration of Masses was completed, he retained with him ^a few monks whom he wished, and had the rest depart, and, burning not so much with reckless boldness as with the devotion of ^a faithful soul, he judged it fitting to explore more diligently with friendly curiosity what the receptacle of the vessel, placed before his eyes, held within its womb: and at the same time, estimating it necessary, that for the devotion of those seeking to honor it, he should take some small portion of relics from the dust of the flesh or from his bones. and it is found intact Meanwhile, with all doubt removed, the same chief custodian humbly approached the tomb,

now placed on the surface of the floor, and with the stone covering by which it was covered removed, he looked in more diligently. And behold, there presented itself to his gaze ^a man reverend with grey head, pale from the emaciation of abstinence and fasts, by which companions he had lived, most excellent in the sanctity of his morals incorrupt, sweet-smelling: and merits, also sweetly fragrant in the incorruption of his members, as if aromatic, and uncontaminated in the whole body, in this alone similar to one sleeping, that he lay in ^a sepulcher, adorned with pontifical vestments in honorable beauty. A matter greatly wondrous by its rarity, and scarcely explicable by human speech on account of its magnitude. For he who had thought he would find relics of putrefied flesh, as is customary in the dead, found beyond estimation the memorable prodigy of an inviolate body. How worthy of wonder this vision was, and how close to immense stupefaction, the eloquence of human genius cannot express, still less can the aridity of our speech explain these things, as is fitting, in the thinnest words. Astonished, therefore, as was fitting, at the sight of so unexpected ^a portent, he blessed Almighty God with due praises, and gave thanks to the bestower of such great gifts. Rejoicing also at the discovery of so great ^a treasure, he again began to be tortured with no small anguish of solicitude, revolving many things in his mind, as to what from the body itself ought to be taken as ^a memorial for those who would follow, as ^a gift.

[6] When the anchor of counsel had stabilized his fluctuating mind, he removed the chasuble with which it was clothed from its most sacred neck, the chasuble is removed: and turning it on each side, he drew out the river reeds of rushes that had once been placed beneath it on account of the watery moisture. And considering this to be less than his desires required, unless he also took from the body some portion of the inviolate members, he turned his bold hands, so to speak, to the venerable corpse, the nails are cut: and cut the nails of the spiritual calf producing horns and hoofs. Which, after his death, had grown contrary to nature to such an extent that they even penetrated the sleeves of his hands with their growth. the beard is shaved: And also the beard of the Bishop, our Aaron, as it were, regrowing after his burial, he shaved.

[7] Now storing all these things for himself with the supreme service of devotion, yet not believing them sufficient for himself and his desires; to the most sacred mouth, through which frequent prayers of petitions had been poured forth to the divine piety, and to various peoples frequent sermons had been directed, he dared to put his hand, and strove to test whether he could extract any of his teeth. two teeth are extracted by force; But since he could not accomplish this on account of their firmness, using ^a smith's instrument, namely ^a tenacious forceps, from the gums of the most beautiful mouth he drew out two teeth, more precious than ruddy ivory, as is fitting to believe, and than ancient sapphire. Wonderful to tell, whence blood flows, seeking ^a faithful hearer, that contrary to nature, from the extracted teeth of the dead body drops of blood flowed; and the testimony of this monument is provided to this very day by an ivory casket, still, wonderful to tell, stained with the same blood with which it had been infused, when the teeth were placed there to be preserved.

[8] We venerate indeed in this deed ^a renewed, nay rather ^a repeated work of the divine majesty, which in the first beginning of the world's creation we recall by reading was produced, when we read that from the side of the first parent sleeping in paradise ^a rib was drawn out, and we hear that the same was fashioned into ^a womanly form. compared with the blood from the side of Christ, And also that mystery which was prefigured by the same act: that from the side of Christ, as it were sleeping on the Cross, blood was drawn out together with water, when, the font of life having been opened by the lance of the soldier, the price of our redemption flowed, and when the purse of the treasure was torn open, the fullness of the bridal pearl came forth. The stipulation also of the dotal compact, written upon the Cross, appeared expressed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters on the most beautiful tablet. From these things the Church, reformed to the likeness of its Founder and Redeemer, became the mother of all believers, namely the vital Eve, with the former calamity removed. Not entirely incomparable in all respects, the miracle of which we spoke before seems to us, when, from the opened mouth of our Father, who begot us in Christ through the Gospel, the most precious drops of blood flowed, by which all the beloved assembly of this church merited to receive ^a true increase of faith, and by the chaste bond of marriage was made worthy and faithful.

[9] Therefore that ancient Adam slept in paradise, and received Eve, fabricated from his own bone, as his conjugal companion. the rib of Adam, Afterward the new Adam rested, the first-creator of that ancient first-formed one, in the punishment of the Cross, and from the blood of His side fitted to Himself the Church pledged in betrothal, not having spot or wrinkle, but immaculate in body and spirit. Now the Father and parent of our people represented to us, by ^a certain similitude, both of them, sleeping in the tomb one hundred and fifty years after his death, bearing the similitude of the first Adam in the bone removed, presenting the image of the second Adam, that is, of Christ, in the blood poured forth. By both of which wondrous deeds he seems to have acquired for himself the present Church, gathered for his solemnities, as if ^a true spouse in the purity of love and faith, the mother of us all. Which, generating sons for him from her own womb, namely from the sacred font, wonderful to say, perseveres both as mother and as virgin. From whose company also I, who now supply these things, although degenerate, exist by his inexpressible piety.

[10] Indeed those things which the truthful history of the ancient Judges of the Israelite nation narrates, will not seem very dissimilar to this of which we speak. Judges 14 That Samson, the strongest of all the Leaders, seeking ^a wife, and the honeycomb found in the jawbone of the lion by Samson had met ^a young lion roaring in his path, and from the jawbone of the same violently killed, when he returned, had taken ^a honeycomb, and had proposed to his companions an obscure riddle. Some portion of these things agrees with those, and moreover they instruct the minds of those wavering to believe, in whom faith still lives, with charity growing cold, or rather, as it were, being dead, believes itself to live.

We therefore do not feign empty and truth-void fables in the manner of raving poets, nor, according to the fiction of the Mantuan bard, do we, following Aeneas' example, draw bloody spears from the tomb of Polydorus, slain by the accursed hunger for gold; but we desire to adorn the praise of the Lord, and the merit and lovable name of the holy Bishop Amandus. Aeneid 3 Moreover, if those things, adorned with meretricious speech and cultivation, were able to be persuaded upon pagans as if true, what worthy refutation can be found for Christians, if with lesser faith they doubt about certain things, than those about lying and uncertain things? It remains therefore that they either deny the omnipotence of God, or doubt the sanctity of so great ^a man, and by this insanity prove themselves even worse than pagans. But enough has already been said about these things.

[11] Therefore the above-mentioned relics, removed from the body of the man of God Amandus, he placed in ^a fitting location with due honor: the body reposited in ^a higher place he also employed stone-cutters and masons, and sought out many other things that seemed suitable for this work. The venerable body, from the twelfth day before the Kalends of October, on which it was elevated, until the tenth day before the Kalends of November, October 22 on which it was restored, he permitted to remain above ground for thirty-two days, and on that same day, with ^a great assembly of Clergy and people gathered, he replaced it in the prepared location: and he placed the urn of the sepulcher, not as it had been before, in the deeper levels, but in the upper ones, so that its foundation could be seen and ^a light could be lit beneath it, and he placed it there, and inscribed upon it that verse of the Psalm: "This is my rest forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have chosen it." Psalm 131:14 And he made both the elevation of the body and the restoration ^a celebrated event, and decreed that it should be honorable to his successors in perpetuity. Which to this day we cultivate

most devoutly with today's celebration, and we admonish our posterity that this care may remain with them.

[12] When we had heard these things from the Fathers who were present at them, and who still survive in great numbers, narrating them in frequent discourse, we were by no means permitted to cover them in unfruitful silence: but to the praise of Christ and His Bishop, although in ^a vile style, we have transmitted them to posterity. With such and so great virtues up to the present time, his celebrated tomb is honored. But concerning the healings performed in his basilica, where he rests, through the intervention of his merits, we refrain from commemorating some here: since concerning these we know that they are sufficiently expressed in the little book of his life. Indeed at his memorial, blindness receives sight, deafness receives hearing, various miracles occur at his tomb debility receives the ability to walk, and silence of the tongue receives its office. These things, as if they were common gifts of the Saints, we omit to mention, because to the fire divinely lit in his memorial the foolish pen hastens, to which the dull mind runs with ready devotion.

CHAPTER 2

A fire divinely lit.

[13] Finally, in the eight hundred and fifty-fifth year from the Incarnation of the Lord, and from the passing of the most blessed Amandus the one hundred and ninety-fifth, and from the elevation of his body the forty-seventh, on the twentieth day of the month of September, the anniversary celebration of the often-mentioned elevation of his was imminent, which was standing less dignified with the worthy zeal of devotion. Indeed, content with the customary office on ordinary days, it was honorable with no special observance. His veneration is somewhat neglected: Which negligence, corrected by ^a divine portent, will be more clearly evident in the following discourse. For we believe, to say something also in passing, that the miracles of Almighty God, whether performed through Himself or through His ministers, were not wrought merely to excite the noise and applause and favor of the crowd; but we hold it most certain that heavenly works are shown to the earthborn for the strengthening of the faith of believers, and the correction of erring souls: so that, because we are not reformed by the daily admonitions of sacred precepts, we may be corrected by certain portents, as if by the pricks of goads. And because, hardened in the manner of the sons-in-law of Lot, we refuse to obey by fleeing to turn our backs upon the Sodom about to perish, and to ascend the mountain of virtues, it happens that we seem to see the divine Word, which is figured through Lot, as speaking to us in jest, and we turn the terrible precepts threatening death and perdition, according to the Prophet, into ^a song of our mouth.

[14] What therefore, by this sign of which we begin to speak, namely the kindling of the divine fire, ought we to think we are admonished, except that we should kindle in our hearts the flame of the twofold love, namely of God and of neighbor, by which we may be able to shine in the sight of the supreme majesty, and by the ardor of that fire which our Lord sent to the earth, that is, to earthly hearts, purge to purity the rust of vices from our deeds: so that, with the heaviness of lead, that is, of iniquity and sin, removed from us, we may prepare ourselves, as the purest gold, for the heavenly diadem of our King? But enough has been said about these things, although they had to be said in an inverted order, by anticipation: now let us approach with the plectrum of the tongue and the pen of the scribe the magnitude of the sign itself.

[15] On the day, therefore, which preceded the aforementioned elevation in the order of time, when the synaxis of the evening celebration was concluded, not with so full an apparatus of light as was fitting, nor indeed with ^a festive assembly, as was becoming, of the popular crowd, the sun was already unyoking the fiery steeds from his flaming chariot; and with fraternal love providing to his sister Cynthia the vicarious function: and by this alternating succession, the rival night, wrapped around in ^a cerulean robe, was coming. And when Complines were completed, the horror of the darkness needed lamps, and since the time for resting had now come, the individual monks sought their beds, with guardians left in the hall of the basilica. Who, in their accustomed manner, having lit the lamps accustomed to burn during the nighttime hours, and with all the candles throughout the entire spaces of the building extinguished, while one of them, after ^a very short interval of time, returned observing the care of the temple, he found the candle accustomed to burn at the feet of the Saint, and ^a little before extinguished, radiant with the brightness of fire sent from heaven. While he supposed it to have been lit by others, he believed it should be extinguished again. Thus, extinguished three times in turn by each one succeeding the other, it appeared no less three times gleaming with heavenly fire. On which account, those who were left, coming together as one, and each one recalling that he had extinguished it, and inquiring who had relit it, they thought it should be extinguished again in such ^a way that they would even remove with their snuffing fingers the coal that remained from the wick, wishing to test whether it would again appear radiant with the repeated brightness of light. For they did not yet fully recognize the matter of so great ^a miracle, yet they were already taking upon themselves some anxiety of mind about this deed in every way. The candle, extinguished ^a fourth time, is relit ^a fourth time On which account, when they beheld the same candle relit ^a fourth time, astonished, indeed terrified, that, as if with reckless boldness, so to speak, they had attempted to oppose the same portent by extinguishing it, they conceded the candle, so many times vindicated, to the light. What more? It was permitted to belong to the jurisdiction of him by whose majestic virtue it appeared invincible so many times. For ^a long time, therefore, astonished with the greatest joy at the novelty of this sudden miracle, and at length going to sleep, they delivered their stunned eyes to soporific rest.

[16] And now that very night, illuminated by so great ^a light, had nearly passed, and with the dawn reddening, the solemnity of Matins was approaching, when meanwhile the guardians rose from the beds on which they had rested, other candles divinely lit and of the seven very large candles which stood at the head of the man of God under the very mausoleum, within the screens in ^a closed chamber, they found two blazing with ^a twin brightness. But from that one placed at the feet, which ^a little before they had seen lit, they had no doubt whence these, placed at the head, had been lit. When the solemnities of Matins were finished and the day was already brightening, with the fame of the deed spread abroad, the whole band of monks came into the basilica, and blessed the supreme holy and undivided Trinity with lofty praises and jubilant voices: then they fulfilled the solemn celebration of the Masses in honor of the same Father, with devotion far beyond the usual. The song of whose inexpressible melody, prolonged at length, I myself, who describe these things, such as they are, placed before them, both heard with my ears and saw the fire with my eyes, and also spoke these little verses in those very concerts to so great ^a Bishop:

"The light by which you are held bright in ethereal heaven, You showed to your monks, Bishop Amandus. Grant to your servants to pursue the fellowship of your life, That they may be able to share in your gifts."

This twofold gift, therefore, of divine benefits, namely the admirable elevation of the sacred body, and the memorable bestowing of fire sent from heaven, those who were present celebrated with the supreme rapture of devotion, and decreed that it should be honored by their posterity, believing that those who held his memory with the due act of thanksgiving would obtain eternal relief.

EPITOME OF THE HISTORY

of the Translation and Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus,

BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR,

From the Blandin and Lille manuscripts, and Surius.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0344

[1] Blessed Aldegundis, ^a virgin serving the Lord from the very years of her infancy in holy fear, Saint Aldegundis sees Saint Amandus led into heaven, and striving to lead an angelic life on earth in body, among the remaining visions more frequently shown to her from above, while on the Lord's night she lay before the altar of Saint Mary in the church of the monastery of Maubeuge, keeping vigils and hymns, in the very hour in which Blessed Amandus passed, elevated in an ecstasy of mind, and led by an Angel through the pleasant places of ^a joyful habitation, she saw an old man, reverend with ^a swan-like head, clothed in priestly and distinguished garments, holding ^a staff in his hand, as if passing to the upper realms, and ^a copious crowd of white-robed persons having their way before and after him. And when she was asked who he was, and said she did not know, the holy Angel answered her thus: "The man of God, Amandus," he said, "has departed from the world: accompanied by the people he had taught: and because he was ^a worthy Priest in life, and sacrificed himself to the divine majesty by the service of good will and by the exercise of holy virtues, so gloriously he has now passed to the joys of his Lord. The crowd which you see of white-robed ones, these are they who, through the persistence of his preaching, happily formed after the example of so great ^a Master, are judged worthy of God and deserving to be inscribed among the brightness of the Saints in heaven. For whom, because he was ^a capable Shepherd, in the kingdom of the Saints and the land of the living, he shall appear as Prince over them forever, in every way gracious."

[2] Therefore, with this vision thus divinely manifested, the most sacred body of Blessed Amandus was buried in the monastery which the same Saint had built and given the name of Elnon, with the due honor of the faithful; not, however, in the very basilica where he now rests, but in another, which still survives, from the basilica inaccessible to women, dedicated in the name of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. Which, since on account of its smallness it was judged unsuitable for the tomb of so great ^a Bishop, and also inaccessible to the second sex on account of the dwellings of the monks, it seemed good to the frequent assembly of devout men that another should be built, surpassing in size: which would suffice for both sexes and for the multitude of people flowing together there. To which the venerable Confessor of Christ, who then survived, Eligius, transferred the body of the holy Father in the sixteenth year after his passing, the body of Saint Amandus is transferred, after 16 years, incorrupt: entire and in every way incorrupt, on the seventh day before the Kalends of November, and, as was then the custom, committed it more deeply to the earth.

[3] Which, there, hidden up to the one hundred and fiftieth year after his death in the lowest depths of the earth, lay for ^a long space of time: but in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord eight hundred and nine, the sarcophagus in which he had rested, elevated in the year 809, found inviolate Lotharius, the sacristan of the sacred temple, having it elevated, found an unhoped-for treasure of great joy: namely the prodigy of an inviolate body. Astonished, as was fitting, at the sight of so unexpected ^a miracle, he blessed Almighty God with due praises, and gave thanks to the bestower of such great gifts.

[4] Rejoicing also at the discovery of so great ^a treasure, he began to be tortured with no small anguish of solicitude, revolving many things in his mind, as to what from the body itself ought to be taken as ^a memorial for those who would follow, as ^a gift. When the anchor of counsel had stabilized his fluctuating mind, he removed the chasuble the chasuble is removed: with which it was clothed from its most sacred neck, and turning it on each side, drew out the river reeds of rushes that had once been placed beneath it on account of the watery moisture. And considering this to be less than his desires required, the nails are cut: unless he also took from the body some portion of the inviolate members, he turned his bold hands, so to speak, to the venerable body, and cut the nails of the spiritual calf producing horns and hoofs, which, after his death, had grown contrary to nature to such an extent that they even penetrated the sleeves of his hands with their growth. And also the beard of our Bishop, our Aaron, the beard is trimmed: regrowing after his burial, he shaved.

[5] Now storing all these things for himself with the supreme service of devotion, yet not believing them sufficient for himself and his desires, to the most sacred mouth, through which frequent prayers of petitions had been poured forth to the divine piety, and to various peoples frequent sermons had been directed, he dared to put his hand, and if he could extract any of his teeth, he strove to test. But since he could not accomplish this on account of their firmness, using ^a smith's instrument, namely ^a tenacious forceps, from the gums of the most beautiful mouth he drew out two teeth, more precious than ruddy ivory, bloody teeth in the lifeless body, as is fitting to believe, and than ancient sapphire. Wonderful to tell, seeking ^a faithful hearer, that contrary to nature, from the extracted teeth of ^a dead man, drops of blood flowed. And the testimony of this monument is provided to this very day by an ivory casket, still stained, wonderful to tell, with the same blood with which it had been infused when the teeth were placed there to be preserved. Therefore this wondrous elevation was made on the twelfth day before the Kalends of October: and with signs also made manifest in it through heavenly power, it was established as ^a feast day for the faithful people.

[6] His disciples, the Saints, Indeed, the memory of the Saints who chose to serve the Lord through Blessed Amandus, having been touched upon above in general; it now remains to make known the names of certain ones, to the praise of the outstanding Doctor, so that if anyone should wish to read their deeds, from the virtues of those ones he may in some measure be able to weigh the merits of so great ^a Father and the standard-bearer of so capable ^a legion. Of whose blessed company ^a certain honorable part was the holy Andrew, established by the same Bishop as Abbot in the monastery of Elnon: Ionatus also, delegated in the monastery of Marchiennes, Andrew, Ionatus, Florebertus, John, Maurontus, Humbertus, and the holy Florebertus with the excellent man John, one after the other placed in charge of the congregation called Blandin: and also ^a distinguished Deacon, whom the same holy man tonsured through ^a revelation, namely the blessed Confessor Maurontus, together with the just and magnificent man Humbertus, who, by angelic revelation, learned that ^a crown was prepared in heaven both for himself and for Blessed Amandus, and as ^a sign of ^a certain thing, with the same Angel impressing ^a sign on his bone, entwined in the manner of the Cross, he visibly carried it until death.

[7] Gertrude; Blessed Gertrude, the holy Virgin, is not far removed from this company of the Blessed, distinguished by the same in the rudiments of the faith and consecrated with the sacred veil: who, faithfully obeying the heavenly commands until her death, manifested herself both in life and after her departure with many miracles. Also noble according to the dignity of the world, Allouinus, Bavo, who is called Saint Bavo by the voices of all, converted from the pagan rite to the worship of God through the aforesaid Bishop, and salubriously introduced into the way of the precepts, through the grace of divine inspiration merited to ascend to so great ^a pinnacle of eminence that he even recalled ^a dead man from the jaws of hell and exhibited him publicly to all, restored to life. And with happy Relics in the same church in which they are venerated, Landoald, Saint Landoald, the Archpriest of Saint Amandus, that is, exercising the pastoral care on his behalf in the Episcopate of Trajectum, and the holy Amantius, Amantius, after much time from their death, at last manifested by God's revelation, and carried there, now in

the peace of rest, associated together, they bestow benefits assiduously upon the faithful peoples. This we know to be so well known to all in this region, that it is not necessary to write about it at present: since there the blind have received sight, the lame their step, and the disabled and many detained by various infirmities, in our own times, have been restored to suitable health.

[8] But there are very many others, whom the special grace of these Saints, shining forth in ^a certain way among men, has persuaded to pass over for the sake of brevity: who themselves also have been found to be in many ways gracious in the faith and regard of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Behold how good and how pleasant," says the Psalmist, "it is for brothers to dwell in unity." Psalm 132:1 For they dwell in unity who, adoring one God with ^a simple mind, have merited to obtain simultaneously the joys of one happiness, that is, of eternal blessedness. Ecclesiasticus 44:2 "Let us therefore praise glorious men, to whom the Lord has given much glory by His magnificence. For these are men of mercy, whose justice has not been forgotten, and their bodies are buried in peace, and their name shall live from generation to generation." Therefore, that we, still placed on the lowest step, may in some degree imitate the Saints of God ascending from virtue to virtue, and the Author implores their suffrages and may merit to become partakers in part of their joy, may Amandus, beloved of God and men, ^a great Confessor and excellent Bishop, and together the holy multitude of his disciples, raise us by their assiduous prayers to the goods of virtues, and deign to wash away mercifully what is crooked, and by their holy merits associate us in the number of the faithful of Christ: so that His name may be blessed eternally in us, and we may be able to become His people, through infinite ages of ages, Amen.

"The Vision by which Saint Aldegundis recognized him passing to the heavenly realms, and the commemoration of his burial, translation and also elevation, and also the memory of certain of his disciples." In the Lille manuscript: "The Translation of the body of Saint Amandus."

FRAGMENT OF A BRIEF CHRONICLE

of the monastery of Elnon, From the Blandin manuscript.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

In the year 742, Charles was born. 760. Eclipse of the sun. 764. Eclipse of the sun. 768. Charles received the kingdom. 771. Carloman died. 782. Bishop Gislebert died. 788. King Charles was... on the Ides of October. 796. Pope Adrian died. 801. Charles was made Emperor. 807. Eclipse of the sun. 809. The body of Saint Amandus was elevated. 810. Eclipse of the sun. 812. Eclipse of the sun. 813. Emperor Charles died on the 5th of the Ides of October. 818. Teutingus made his profession. 820. Eclipse of the moon. 828. Lotharius the custodian died. 840. Emperor Louis died. 845. Adalleoldus died. 850. Teutingus was ordained on the 8th of the Ides of March. 855. King Lothair died.

d. December 4.

l. June 20.

HISTORY OF THE MIRACLES OF SAINT AMANDUS WHEN HIS BODY WAS CARRIED THROUGH FRANCE

by the author Gillebert, monk of Elnon, From the Ghent and Belfort manuscripts, collated with the edition of the works of Philippe de l'Aumone.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0345

By Gillebert, from the manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] Although at times the human mind is deceived by fantastic visions; yet it cannot be deceived by miraculous signs: which the Lord, the worker of virtues, deigns to work in His faithful ones. For by the Egyptian magicians, with their fantastic illusion, the King of Memphis was captivated, together with all of Egypt, having false and imaginary things for true: but after the portents of divine virtues were shown, even the magi themselves, with the rest, although at first incredulous, afterward professed that this was the finger of God. Exodus 8:19 For the heavens, that is, all the faithful, declare the glory of God, and the sound of His virtues goes forth into all the earth. The author writes miracles Whence, according to the measure of our ability, in unpolished speech indeed, but with no ignoble subject matter, I shall endeavor to bring certain notable things to the knowledge of posterity: how in our lands, in our own age, the immortal King has revealed His soldier, namely Blessed Amandus, rewarded by Him with the gift of glorious immortality in the heavens. But if anyone with an obstinate mind should strive to refute our pen in this, judging that we wish to follow nothing but common rumors; to him we oppose the javelin or things seen that once the Shepherd and first-centurion of the Church hurled against those who refused the truth. Acts 4:10 "We cannot," he said, "not speak of what we have heard and seen." or received from trustworthy persons For the pen here reveals nothing with its running joints, except what the eyes of the writer have clearly proved, with the monks of the same period bearing witness to him, as well as Clerics, and also laypersons of venerable memory and distinguished fame.

The chapters, indicated in the margin, we distinguish the History in our manner. They were read as follows: The chapters of Gillebert

CHAPTER 1. The fire at Elnon. Miracles at the Relics of Saint Amandus performed at Cambrai and Coucy.

Chapter 1

[2] Therefore in the year from the Incarnation of the Lord 1066, and from the passing of Amandus the 406th, on the 3rd of the Ides of February, at Elnon houses in the market were set on fire at about the third hour, whence also into the very Church of the aforesaid Bishop, covered with lead tablets, when the church burned down, through the tiles under those very coverings the flame burst forth, by the envy of the ancient enemy, as we believe. Which church, with all its cloisters, was immediately devastated by the fire, as well as the church of the Prince of the Apostles, and also another one of his brother. The bells were reduced to powder by melting: also destroyed were all the ornaments of the church — I mean the columns of Parian marble, together with the lectern of fine craftsmanship. Where ^a certain thing occurred most worthy of narration, which just as it turned those seeing and hearing it to no small astonishment; so for those who will read it, I think, it will be like ^a portent. For as soon as those very bells were attacked by the flame, the bells miraculously sound they began together, by no impulse other than God's alone, to resound, as if they were divinely warned to bewail the ruin of themselves and the church, until, as was stated, they were reduced to powder.

[3] For the sake of restoring this dwelling, the Brethren, together with the Abbot of that place, by the counsel of the Marquis of the land and the Bishops, and also at the earnest request of the Franks, carried the bier on which the body of the venerable Father reclined, the body of Saint Amandus is carried through France: through France, and the Gauls everywhere received them with their great treasure honorably and with the utmost devotion. Indeed we left the monastery on the seventh of the Ides of June: we returned to the same on the fourth day before the Nones of July. What, however, in this interval of four weeks, was accomplished by the merits of the often-mentioned Bishop before the immensity of the crowd, in that same region, the mother Church does not consider should be kept silent: who rejoices that her orthodox sons, and her progeny, preserving themselves in good perseverance everywhere, when deceased, enjoy the honor of the heavens. But omitting these things, let us now turn our pen, although foolish, to those things we have decided to note and commend to memory.

Chapter 2

[4] Traversing, therefore, certain places, we arrived at the city of Cambrai, renowned for its pontifical Cathedral. In which, before the gates, ^a certain madman was sitting with his feet bound most tightly in ^a stock, at Cambrai who, as the inhabitants made known to us, on account of the excessive madness of his deranged head, had wounded ^a certain one of his kinswomen. Where, when we were received honorably by Bishop Lietbert and all the Clergy of that place, and were staying as guests for hospitality, a madman is restored to his senses we interceded that this wretched man be given to Saint Amandus, so that the Saint, to whom he would be given, might obtain from the divine mercy that, freed from bodily chains, he be absolved from demonic bonds. And so it was done. For the Bishop gave his assent to our requests, and that Bishop of ours, whose body was being carried, obtained from the supreme Bishop Christ ^a free mind for the one hitherto held captive; so that thenceforward, proceeding with us, he showed no further sign of an unsound head.

Chapter 3

[5] Turning our steps from that very city with an immense retinue of citizens, we were heading toward the town whose name is Coucy, where many offenses by the townsman, or the judge of that place, were being inflicted upon the household of Saint Amandus, which dwelt around that town. at Coucy But when we drew near to the place where we had arranged to go, behold, we met ^a certain Priest of the church built in honor of Saint Remigius, Milo by name, with no small crowd of people of both sexes, humbly beseeching that the casket of so great ^a Bishop be carried into the very church of Saint Remigius, and that we permit it to rest there ^a little while. Now, not very far from this place, there is ^a certain small village called Verneuil. In it lay ^a woman, reclining on her bed on account of the immense weakness of her limbs, a woman infirm for 10 years who had been unable to leave her bed for the course of twice five years. When she perceived with her ear the sounds and songs of the people going that way, she inquired the cause. And when she learned that the body of Saint Amandus was being transferred there by faithful crowds, she immediately burst forth in these words: "Oh, if only it were granted that I, crawling at least on my hands like ^a four-footed creature, might meet him! I would implore the Saint that by his sacred intercession he would assist my weakness." she is suddenly healed: But while she was burning eagerly for what she had wished to be fulfilled, by the intercession of so great ^a Father, the merciful Divinity anticipated her vows, for whom it is ready to bestow what mortals do not even dare to wish for. Immediately therefore the blood, running through the sinews, strengthened the limbs of the weak woman, drained away the weakness, and consolidated her with strength. And thus, gently leaping from the bed on which she had lain as ^a bedridden woman with ^a long-lasting weakness, she began to proceed step by step to the threshold of the house, and then, not content to walk as is the manner of women, running at ^a swift pace, she seized the bier, narrating with suitable witnesses what and how great things that excellent worker of miracles had done around her and by his patronage. Then she placed ^a leather strap on her neck, like ^a servile yoke, and she, as she was free, consigned herself to the dominion of the Saint. Nor unworthily, for he who had caused her, who had determined to go forth like ^a four-footed creature by ^a defect of nature, to come to meet him joyfully on two feet in her natural manner.

Chapter 4

[6] Also ^a certain young kinsman of hers, himself also free, having six lustres and more, mute from birth, yet fully possessing hearing and understanding, is brought forward, who, for the sake of the office of his tongue to be divinely granted to him, had visited many churches of the Saints: but, let it be said with their peace, mute, this gift was reserved for the merits of so great ^a Father. In this the ancient miracles are renewed, and we recognize that the times of another Zacharias, in figure, have arisen. His relatives made signs to that one, a vow made to Saint Amandus, as to what name he wished to be given to his son; to this one likewise his kinsmen made signs, as to by what rule he wished to subject himself to the service of the Saint. That one by ^a nod requested that ^a writing tablet be offered to him, so that what his tongue was unable to do, his fingers might note; this one likewise by ^a nod indicated that he would pay four silver coins as ^a head-tax to the same Saint each year. That one, what he wished to put on the page, with the office of his tongue soon restored, pronounced in open speech; let us also see in this one with what joyful miracle he imitated him, when, standing before the bier, he placed ^a leather strap around his neck. the power of speech is granted: Immediately therefore, Milo the Priest, whom we mentioned above, approached — in whose diocese he was said to have been born and raised — and addressed him briefly: "What are you waiting for, brother? If you cannot by speech, at least by the indication of your fingers, under the testimony of those present, express what you hold in your mind." All fell silent and held their faces attentively. Then that one, when he tried with two and two fingers to signify an equal number of silver coins, he declared in ^a clear and first-ever voice what he was striving to express with his fingers. Oh, what and how great, if you were present, you would see the applause of the crowds pouring in from everywhere in throngs, praising God together with us in hymn-sounding voices, moistening their cheeks with an outpouring of tears from immense joy! What shall I say about this very age under which he was formed in speech? Christ restored to life ^a man dead in sins and mute in the praises of God, by His passion, at this same age of life; He opened his mouth to divine praises; and Blessed Amandus,

by his sacred intercession, this servant of his, who in every way was to be likened to ^a dead man, as it were vivified by speech, and made him extol the praises of God, and obtained from the divine mercy the ability to form words to be paid to God in acts of thanksgiving.

Chapter 5

[7] Nor do I judge that the following should be less proclaimed, which we saw miraculously performed on the very threshold of the gates of the aforementioned castle. For as soon as the very bier of the sacred body was held sideways, set crosswise, so that the people might submit their necks to it with the most humble devotion; ^a certain woman hastened, carrying her disabled son in her arms, who for nearly the orbit of one year had been unable to tread upon the ground. When therefore his mother placed him beneath the bier, he began to cry out for all to hear: "Put me down, mother, as quickly as possible from these vehicles by which I am carried, because I seem to myself now able to be your attendant. Do not wish, I beseech you, the disabled boy is restored to health to oppose my recovery, or to work against your own joy." Then she, believing him to be saying these things in childish words, or even erroneous ones, said, "Do not, my son, do not, lest you be crushed by the threatening crowd; since you cannot bring to completion the thing you speak of." And the boy said, "I can, mother, I can." After this, not waiting for the response of his mother, he immediately twisted himself from her arms, and gradually testing the way, he happily broke into ^a run. With these and such kind and merciful Bishop having performed such signs of miracles around that very castle, he preferred, I believe, to restrain the townspeople from the harassment of his household by kindness rather than to terrify them with threats. But since we have noted these things according to the capacity of our little talent, let us now transfer our pen to those remaining things that shine more clearly than light, invoking the patronage of him to whose merits we believe such notable deeds are attributed.

that year on February 11. John Buzelin relates the same with attached miracles in book 4 of the Annals of Gallo-Flanders.

CHAPTER 2.

Miracles at Laon, Calnic, Noyon, and Douai.

Chapter 6

[8] When the following dawn brought an end, we approached the hill of Laon and immediately ascended it, and there, received with great veneration by Bishop Elenand at Laon and all the Clergy of that place, we rested that day. Meanwhile the sun was declining toward the west, and behold they bring ^a certain madman, bound with manacles and fetters. Night rushes upon the Ocean, while meanwhile boys, and unmarried girls, young men with elders, surrounding the casket of that most precious treasure, begin devout vigils with torches and burning lamps. But when the night now held the middle of the world, the madman is made of sound mind and the setting stars were persuading to sleep: that one suddenly, lying beneath the bier, burst forth in these words: "Why these bonds constrain my arms, or where I lie cast down, I ask that you who stand around may disclose." Then they, stunned with amazement, thinking him to be uttering erratic words as before, yet teaching him what he was asking about: "On account of," they say, "the excessive madness of your head, bound with the knots of bonds, you have been brought to the patronage of Saint Amandus, whose body you should know reclines in the present church of Saint Mary." "Give thanks to God together with me," he said, "the immense force of madness has departed: let the chains now depart, I pray." Who, as soon as he was made free from every bond, in the church of Saint Mary: signing himself with the sign of the holy Cross, if any word, at the instigation of the devil, against the purity of the faith he had poured forth in that error, beating his breast, he professed himself guilty. Then he delivered himself as ^a servant to Saint Amandus, to whose prayers he ceaselessly attributed the support of his mind. And rightly he subjected himself to his service, by whose suffrage he knew himself, hitherto lacking control of his mind, to have been freed from the prison of the cruel torturer.

Chapter 8

[9] Those things also should not be passed over in silence which, on the Lord's day, as we were returning thence, were performed above that very hill in the sight of all. While therefore we were passing through the gates of the city, placed on the brow of the hill, with ^a great cohort of both sexes, a lame woman is raised up: in the very heat of midday, behold, ^a woman with twisted legs, crawling on her hands, with her face fixed on the ground, approached, and with all making way, drew near to the bier. A wondrous thing, and extremely astonishing. When she mingled herself with the bearers, her nerves being loosened, raising herself, she firmly seized the very litter itself — wonderful to tell. Oh, what ^a roar resounded from the mouth of the crowd, and how great ^a clamor from monks, Clerics, and laypersons echoed in the praises of God! Then it was possible to see the crowds flowing together from everywhere to this notable event, pressing upon the very bearers themselves for the sake of seeing the woman, so much so that scarcely any of them could move their feet. And indeed, using wise counsel, we had the holy body rest for ^a space of about three hours upon ^a certain rock in that same place, so that, breathing ^a little thus, we might then descend from that very brow.

Chapter 8

[10] I report ^a thing stupefied, and I narrate wondrous things, seeking ^a faithful hearer: but nothing except what has been performed under the approving sight of this writer, in nearly the space of one hour. For immediately ^a certain person of the second sex approached, who had revolved the wheel of seven years in the sorrow of blindness: as soon as she touched the casket with her eyes, a blind woman is illuminated: the darkness having been wiped away, she repaired the losses of her lost light. She, restored to her former light, thenceforward proceeding with us, began to proclaim the great deeds of Christ performed for her.

Chapter 9

[11] A certain girl also is brought forward by both her parents, who declared that, from the time her mother's womb had brought her forth, mute from birth, she receives the power of speech she had lacked the office of the tongue until that very day. She likewise, as soon as she kissed the receptacle of the venerable body; with the plectrum of her tongue loosened, the organs of her voice were raised up in praise of God. With these and very many such miracles gladdening the hearts of the people of Laon, which the inexplicable assembly of both sexes and ages carried away from being seen by our eyes, and which afterward also were related to us by faithful men, they gave thanks to the Majesty of the Most High Thunderer. Not only the inhabitants of this city, but also of the other cities, flowing together to these spectacles, opened their mouths to God with hymn-singing voices, praising the divine power, because the occasion of carrying the Saint that way had occurred, believing that never from so great ^a Patron would such things have flowed before their eyes, had not the fire devastated his very Church. Since indeed they would not have rejoiced that he himself was brought to their borders.

Chapter 10

[12] Thence indeed, with the immense pressure of the eager crowd turning our steps, we proceeded heading toward the walls of Noyon. Already the golden sun was preparing to plunge his chariot into the Ocean, when we arrived at the little castle called Chaulny, and there, cheerfully received in hospitality, at the castle of Chaulny we rested at night. Where in the morning, after the nighttime vigils, we saw ^a certain matron who was cherishing in her lap ^a boy, carrying ^a lamp without light, a blind boy I mean eyes in his head having no lamp within them. She therefore approaching began to speak, and in mid-voice stopped; ^a sob shaking her grief, expressing the affliction she felt over the cataract of her son, blind from birth. "With this child," she said, "I have spent this night in vigil, keeping watch beneath the bier of Saint Amandus. I indeed brought this one

forth into the world without natural light, and for this purpose I brought him here, that he might be illuminated by the rays of the merits of this Saint. But since I have not yet been made the possessor of my vow, touch, I beseech you, with some relics of this Saint, the places of the lamps, if in some way the divine pity may condescend to me, ^a suppliant, he is illuminated by the touch of the relics of Saint Amandus to illuminate him by its grace." Then, taking the tooth of the oft-mentioned Father, finely polished with gold by the smith's craft, and also taking the staff with which he had governed the episcopate of his preaching, we placed them, as the mother had requested, upon the places of his eyes. And when ^a small interval had passed, soon the boy's little eyes performed their function, brightening by the divine power, with no darkness whatever obstructing. Then indeed all who stood by — the father first with the mother — wishing to bring this to certain faith by experiment, offered him trinkets, and little candles, and other things at which the boyish spirit is accustomed to smile, and he himself, clearly judging all things, quickly seized them, and soon also in play threw them back in turn to those offering them to him. They also made signs with their fingers, and he in return did the same. Without delay the Canons leapt to the bells, and we with the people burst forth into divine praises.

Chapter 11

[13] Thence we arrived at Noyon, where we were heading, and there the twin caskets of Saint Eligius, once at Noyon, with the body of Saint Eligius brought to meet it, the most intimate friend of Saint Amandus while both were alive, one with the monks, the other with the Clerics, we met coming toward us. Where from various orders of every kind, suburban and town dwellers, Clerics with monks were present, who, receiving the casket of our Patron with immense veneration and the utmost devotion, carried it into the very church of the Pontifical Cathedral. Therefore, with our tent pitched in the square of the city, they, not without the Bishop of that place, Baldwin, reverently receiving it, carried it there, rejoicing in so great ^a guest. Where, when the nighttime vigils were completed in the customary manner, and the solemnities of Matins also performed in our fashion, a blind woman is illuminated, behold, ^a woman was present, oppressed by the enormous pain of vertigo, to such an extent that, unable to turn her head upward, or to the right, or to the left, she was deprived of the joy of light. She, standing near the bier, by the very middle of the daylight was so completely restored to health that she was gladdened before all by those remedies of which she had been deprived on account of the pain of her head. For, immediately adorned again with her former sight, she looked up to the heavens, to pay acts of thanksgiving to God, and turning her eyes around, she looked back here and there at the bystanders, narrating the virtues of the Lord wonderfully manifested concerning her.

Chapter 12

[14] This done, with the news immediately spread through the mouths of the crowd, ^a certain man sitting with ^a distorted foot is brought forward, who, not trusting his own footprints to the ground, one with distorted feet is cured, was supported by another's aid. Whence it happened that, seeking the help of the most holy Confessor, he explored the grace of his merits. For remaining for ^a long time trembling before his presence, he invoked the prayers of so great ^a Bishop to be profitable for him from the divine mercy. At last, therefore, he found what he sought, and he who had come on others' footsteps, returned on his own, and perceived that the patronage of the Saint would not be lacking to him. These and very many other such things were shown not only in these, but also in other cities in France, through this our Patron, as we mentioned, as tokens of virtues, which were not able to reach the knowledge of our sight, on account of the pressure of the immense populace; but since we did not wish to exceed our promises, at present we write only those things whose tokens did not escape our eyes.

Chapter 13

[15] But we do not consider it expedient to keep silent about that which we perceived notably performed at Douai. at Douai For ^a certain woman among others went forth unharmed toward us, but, subject to some guilt I know not, she was not found worthy to meet the Saint, a contracted woman is healed perhaps guilty of some blasphemy against him, which ^a worthy penance had not yet punished. For the judgments of the Lord are ^a great abyss. Whence it happened that immediately, when she returned home, her feet would stick to her buttocks, and her hands also to her chest, as if fixed with nails, and thus she would lie half dead. We ourselves saw this woman carried to the refuge of our Patron, as if dead, showing no breath of life whatever in herself, on ^a certain vehicle; but not long after we saw her, with her feet and hands loosened in turn, standing upright before that very bier. These are the things by which through the province of Gaul the merits of the most blessed Amandus the Lord deigned to declare at that time. Along with which also other things, which were related to us by the sick themselves, restored to health, under the testimony of the faithful. Yet what these were and how great those were; in all His works may the name of the Lord be blessed forever, Amen.

CHAPTER 3

A prisoner freed and ^a hanged man raised by the aid of Saint Amandus.

Chapter 14

[16] It was the custom of the ancients, and it endures even to modern times, For the pen of the writer to run through various furrows. Thus prose and meter vary the mind of the dictator: Whence in meter we sing ^a certain wondrous deed Performed at Coucy, after we ourselves had returned. Which we proved not by eyes, but by the font of the ear. A certain Landricus devoted himself abundantly To the cultivation of the land, whom usage had enriched: Landricus from the harvest In the summer heat, with the reapers themselves, At the time when summer now reaps the yellow crops, Standing, he was taking the happy fruits for his own uses: When ^a horseman sent ahead, pressing with the spurs of his hands, Came in haste from the castle, sent to the above-mentioned Landricus and prepared to bring him force; Who, striving to carry off some sheaves from the field for himself, driving away the plunderer, Soon perceived there that the possessor of the field was master. Then indeed both engaged in ^a ridiculous duel; The one refusing his own goods, and the other seeking what belonged to another. Then the plunderer, sent on the mission, having obtained the right of plundering, Returns shamefaced, his own attempt having failed. And when the deed was immediately made known to Albric (Thus was the castellan called by name): "Let him be brought," he said, "with his arms bound behind his back. Let Landricus, bearing ^a cruel knot beneath his throat, At the same time duly experience the depths of prison." he is shut up in prison At whose word the fierce chains of prison Surround and vex him, and the horror of the pit holds him. This castle, therefore, is rightly so called: For its fierce people push themselves to the deeds of the abyss, Whose Cocytus, mingling itself with its rivers, Pushes Coucy after itself through the wickedness of its people.

[17] How he was rescued from the dark cavern of the prison, We disclose, as faithful authors have related. For indeed, chained, shut in by the surrounding ledge, He began to be pulled in different directions: and it came to his mind That recently Amandus, distinguished with honorable titles, Had accomplished — giving speech to the mute, light to the blind. having invoked Saint Amandus, Then praying with tears and giving sighs of the heart, He uttered words thus crying out to so great ^a Patron: "O pontifical glory and rich worker of deeds, Bishop Amandus, I now ask that your triumphs be present. You do not seek anyone to use vaulted words: I speak simply; now be near to me. If we recently ascertained it to be true concerning you, That through you such great things, around our borders, Stand completed, not naturally performed; Now mercifully exact ^a true triumph from the enemy, Who too unjustly keeps me in the cavern of ^a prison, And heaps upon me every kind of evil things. I pray, help with your prayers, lest the squalor of this prison, Long vexing me, may subdue me and threaten death." The weights of the iron after his words began To loosen simultaneously, he is freed which was wonderful to tell, As if someone were lifting him with his hands from the very iron. Then proceeding cautiously, and taking his way step by step, He went forth and came to where the Judge, Exercising his causes, supported by ^a satellite pressing his side, Was relating vain speeches and criminals from every quarter; Before whom, placed in sight, Landricus goes out, with all watching, And sees no one rise behind him. Thus the one whose merciful compassion heard him Crying out before, now protects him as he goes.

Chapter 15

[18] A certain outstanding miracle, performed in the district of Noyon by Blessed Amandus, as we have learned from the account of certain persons, we shall take care to make known in whatever written form to those wishing to read. Therefore, while Blessed Amandus was dwelling with twelve Brethren in the district of Laon, in ^a place called Bareset, it happened that Dagobert, King of the Franks, should arrive one day at Compiegne. When the Blessed Amandus learned of his arrival, he arranged to go thither. And when he had arrived at the estate called Melincotum, Saint Amandus lodges with ^a widow, he turned aside into the house of ^a certain widow, who had an only son, for the purpose of lodging. Meanwhile certain robbers, coming from the Beauvais region, were leading before them ^a certain prey stolen away by theft. When they noticed up close that they were being pursued swiftly by the inhabitants of that same region, they immediately plunged themselves with their booty into ^a denser forest, yet not being safe in their lives, they fled with swift step from the adversaries pursuing them. By chance the son of the widow woman, in whose lodging the Blessed Amandus had turned aside, was walking alone through that very forest. Since he was entirely ignorant of the matter, the robbers left their plunder with him, as if for him to guard, and they themselves, wishing only to save themselves, began to flee more unencumbered. But the men who were hastening to seize the plunder from the hands of the robbers, found the young man alone in the forest with the plunder left by the robbers. Because they supposed him to have been one of the robbers, whose suspended son he frees from death they immediately seized and hanged him. Without delay ^a rumor is raised, ^a cry is lifted up; the son of the widow woman is announced as having been hanged and already dead. Nearly all the inhabitants dwelling around rush to see, and the mother of the hanged man, wailing with pitiable cries, runs together with the Blessed Amandus, whom she had received as ^a guest. What more? The blessed man was so grieved by his compassion for the woman, that, prostrate on the ground, he lay so long at prayer, full of tears, until he restored the young man, alive and unharmed, to his own mother, rejoicing and exulting, with God being propitious. On account, therefore, of the worthy and venerable memory of this paradox, ^a certain small chapel was built at small expense in that same place in honor of the blessed Bishop Amandus, to the praise of God our Savior Jesus Christ, wondrously glorifying His Saint in heaven and on earth: who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, through all the ages of ages, Amen.

CHAPTER 4

The danger of death averted. A bedridden woman healed.

[19] Let the service of the pen disclose the miracle succeeding these things, So that what is clear to those present may be evident to those who follow. For in the progress of time, while the structure of the foundation Of the Church was rising and advancing powerfully, Many workers were variously occupied. Of these, two are sent to dig clay, Willebert by name, with Albert as his companion. These therefore, having been made partners, agile for working, Were performing the task assigned to them with equal diligence. About to dig clay, Who, in the space of one day, with their digging tool, Entering the workshop, fell into the snare of death. But if it seized them, it did not hold them, but provided ^a loose fold: And those whom Satan terrified, our Bishop rescued. Those whom cruelty disturbed, mercy cherished. For the place was hollow, lying beneath their feet, And earth with stones threatened their necks. What more? The mass collapsed, they are buried under earth and stones, and nearly crushed them. Willebert is held within up to his loins; Albert, however, is thrust entirely to the bottom of the pit. The neighborhood, running together, was seeking dead bodies. For who would believe that one whom so great ^a mass laid flat could live? Yet he lived by the illustrious merit of the holy Bishop. Through whom ^a wonder appeared, in that he snatched his servant from death. For the earth which had fallen, and the rolling stones, The neighbors removing, scarcely found the head of the half-dead man, Which the stones they had cast there had nearly crushed, And they extract him like ^a dead corpse. Perceiving no breath of life in him, nor any lively Respiration. For from about the third hour Until nearly the seventh, in the dreadful darkness He had lain thus buried. believed dead, Then, dragging out the pallid one, Most similar to ^a dead man, while they were deliberating about ^a coffin And about making ^a tomb; seeing him blush, They understood he was alive. He also lived for ^a long time Afterward, sound in body, with that companion of his, they survived And after him most certainly persevering in service.

[20] In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1090, ^a vision appeared in sleep to ^a certain monk of Saint Amandus, as if the sky, opening, had sent forth ^a blazing fiery heat. And behold, immediately ^a fiery plague attacked people, while prayers against the sacred fire are instituted, which proclaimed to the scorners of the Creator the ardor of divine punishment. For this is the cup of just damnation, which through the Prophet Jeremiah is administered to those opposed to holy religion. Which the Lord deigned to declare evidently by the thing itself. Jeremiah 25:15 For the burning ones were carried to the places of the Saints, and were extinguished by their merits. What by this deed He wished to show beforehand to mortals regarding both, unless that the disobedient justly deserve the fire of Gehenna, and those obedient to the Lord's commands, mercifully obtain the refreshment of perpetual rest? Whence, when on ^a certain day in the church of Saint Amandus refreshment was given to some, while the monks stood with the ringing of bells and the jubilation of hearts and voices, ^a woman lay outside in her house, bedridden with ^a long-lasting weakness. a bedridden woman is healed in the church of Saint Amandus She, perceiving with her ears the sound of the bells, and saying that this was being done for the remedy of the burning ones, calling her daughter, whom she had at home, and ^a certain member of her household, she asked to be supported by ^a staff and led by them to the oratory. For she professed that she faithfully believed that Saint Amandus was able even for her to obtain from the divine the benefit of salvation by his merits. And so it was done. Finally, arriving at the Church with such supports, with great labor and pain, prostrate, she implored the suffrages of so great ^a Father to come to her aid. When, not long after, gradually raising herself, somewhat improved, and now trusting that her health would be increased, giving one hand to her daughter, holding the staff with the other, she arrived at the altar. Where, praying with faith, she was fully restored to her former health. Perceiving this, she rose and began to return joyfully. And when her daughter extended her right hand to her, advising her to take the staff for directing her way; she, leaping up and running around the altar, proclaimed that she no longer needed ^a staff for support, nor anyone's assistance; since to her the divine mercy had granted the benefit of desired health through the kindness of Saint Amandus. What rejoicing of monks and Clerics praising God, and of laypersons of both sexes flowing together there, was present at that time, the excellence of so great ^a deed reveals. At that time the Metropolitan Bishop of the Church of Rheims, acting in council, and hearing that people were being consumed by so grave ^a pestilence, decreed that ^a three-day fast should be observed, in the manner of the Ninevites: so that the censure of the divine examination might be appeased by the humility of the penitent, which the obstinacy of the disobedient had offended. Therefore the Author of all things granted so great ^a grace to His people, that even small children, with faith as much as devotion, consigned themselves to this decree. Who, seeing iniquity turned to equity, mercifully removed the vengeance He had justly piled upon men; who in the perfect Trinity lives and reigns, God, through all ages of ages, Amen.

HISTORY OF THE MIRACLES OF SAINT AMANDUS WHEN HIS BODY WAS CARRIED THROUGH BRABANT,

by the author perhaps Gunterus, monk of Elnon, From the same manuscripts and the works of Philippe de l'Aumone.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0346

By perhaps Gunterus, from the manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] In many and frequent ways, if we care to pay attention, the divine grace deigns to visit us and to rouse us when pressed by the torpor of sluggishness; and sometimes it threatens with terrors, sometimes it consoles human weakness with paternal blandishments. With terrors it rebukes sinners, that they may come to their senses; with blandishments it exhorts those doing well, that they may advance to better things. Sometimes it deals with us by interior inspiration; sometimes, by administering unusual things to the exterior senses, it shakes off our listlessness. For seeing the complaints of certain persons who murmur that, as He used to do in ancient times, He shows no prodigies in our times, He sometimes renews miracles through the bodies or even the ashes of the deceased Fathers, the signs appearing outwardly of interior virtues, which He granted to them when alive to perform. Miracles indicate that God dwells in the Saints, For what else do the divine works that the Wisdom who created all things works through His Saints present to our senses, except that we may understand Him dwelling in them as in His temple, the Maker of all things, both speaking and acting? Although also, in order to demonstrate His omnipotence, He works through the wicked, for the benefit of His own and for the confutation of the wickedness of unbelievers, many miracles, which Scripture is accustomed to call figuratively "virtues"; as the Truth itself attests in the Gospel: "Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name perform many mighty works?" Matthew 7:22 When however miracles are performed divinely at the bodies of Saints, what else is thereby divinely indicated to us, and that their virtues are to be imitated except that we should gird ourselves at least for the imitation of those to do good works, by whose merits we do not doubt that such things are done? Therefore let the minds of men sleeping in deadly torpor awaken, and let them understand the works of Divinity brought to their senses: so that the healings of bodies may become the causes of the salvation of souls. For frequently healings are repaired in bodies about to die for this purpose: that at least by such an occasion, the souls of those who see, which are never about to die, may be aroused from their internal languor. For the benignity of the Creator consults for all, and temperately imparts to each one benefits suitable to the capacity of each. Thus He raises up the prudent and those strong in faith to contemplate heavenly things, yet does not desert the simple and the weak: and by applying to those devoted to the senses of the flesh certain visible and carnal things, He raises them up by nurturing them to greater and invisible and spiritual things. Now let us come to the matter for which we have spoken these things in preface, lest perchance by ^a longer introduction we seem burdensome to our readers.

NARRATIVE.

Chapter 1

[2] Just as many of the faithful, compelled by divine inspiration, for the remission of their sins, from their own goods and estates, are accustomed to build churches or monasteries; so the most wicked men, at the devil's persuasion, when the body of Saint Amandus was carried into Brabant, daily contrive to invade, plunder, and carry off the goods handed over to churches and monasteries by the faithful. Such ^a cause of necessity urging — namely, that those things which had long ago been granted by Kings and devout Princes, for the salvation of their souls, to God and Saint Amandus in the district of Brabant, wicked men were desiring to carry off, and were already retaining what had been violently seized — in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand one hundred and seven, with the Lord Abbot Hugo presiding over the monastery of Elnon, in the twenty-second year of his ordination, on the second day (Monday) of Pentecost, the body of the Saint was carried into Brabant. We came to the estate of the Saint which is called Andwennium, and to another which is called "At the Holy Savior." on the journey A large crowd of people ran together from there. There ^a certain woman, sick for eighteen years, lying in bed, weakened in the lower part of her body, that is, in her legs and shins, heard the Saint passing through, and had herself carried thither, one weakened in the legs is raised up and was placed beneath the bier of the Saint. Where, after some hours, having been

tossed about with exceedingly great pain, in the sight of the peoples she is suddenly raised up, stands healthy; ^a popular outcry arises; praises are rendered in common to the Creator.

Chapter 2

[3] When the body of the Saint was carried from Andwennium to Geraldmont, and from Geraldmont was brought to Herlengowa, an estate under its own jurisdiction; as we were crossing ^a small stream at Herlengowa another is healed of ^a contraction of the hand called the Lota, there approached, mingled with all the people, ^a certain woman whose right hand was so weakened by ^a contraction of the sinews that she could do no work with it. She approached, I say, to the bier of the Saint, faithfully applied her weak hand, returned, and in returning received the complete health of her hand.

Chapter 3

[4] We arrived at the aforesaid estate. On the following day, at dawn, the body of the Saint, on account of the multitude of people flowing together — since the church was too small — was brought out; and under the open air, on ^a wooden structure fittingly arranged with curtains hanging around it, was placed upon it. There again another woman, weakened in her whole body, another contracted woman is raised up: and with her legs miserably contracted, was brought and placed beneath the bier of the Saint, and at first burning, and with her spirit failing, nearly twice rendered lifeless from the anguish of pain, at length she was stretched out, and returned home already healthy, on her own step, she who had been brought on another's.

Chapter 4

[5] And when around the third hour, before the most sacred body, they began to celebrate the Mass (wonderful to tell), so that it might appear clearly to all by whose merits these signs were being performed, a white circle gleams above the body of Saint Amandus: in the serene and pure air without the thickness of clouds, ^a circle of white color was seen in the sky to shine above the body of the Saint, and it remained so long until the Priest completed the Mass. There was no small crowd of people present; the unusual sight struck the eyes of those marveling; appearing in the upper parts of the air to all, it could by no means be hidden.

[6] Let the prudent reader consider within himself what through that sign the divine goodness was working in the hearts of those beholding it: certainly sighs and tears mixed with joy testified to the devotion of the peoples beholding it with astonishment. Thence the same precious body was carried over the land whence certain wicked men were doing violence to it; through the forests and lands which those men had invaded unjustly: the Saint also most justly subjecting and consigning these men, with none resisting. And in the presence of the holy body, to whom while alive the Apostle Saint Peter had given the power of binding and loosing, all who henceforth should presume to bring any injury to the Saint concerning those lands and forests, those who invaded the goods of the Church are excommunicated: by the consent and will of the Brethren who accompanied the Saint and of the surrounding people, and by the proclamation of mouth and voice, were excommunicated.

Chapter 5

[7] On the same day, as evening fell, with the body of the Saint now carried back into the church, with certain of the Brethren who had accompanied the Saint already resting, a girl blind and deaf from birth is healed: and certain others still keeping vigil, ^a five-year-old girl, blind from birth, is led by her mother, stationed beside the bier, and by the merits of Father Amandus, with the darkness of her eyes dispelled, she is suddenly divinely illuminated. When she proclaimed to her mother that she could see, and was exulting too greatly with the joy of innocent infancy; for such an age either did not know how to pretend what was not, or was unable to dissimulate what was, and marveling greatly at the forms of the surrounding things, which she had never before seen, she was greatly astonished; her mother, first perceiving what had happened to her daughter, exclaims: the people, more quickly than can be said, hearing what had happened, resounds with the novelty of the event; they run to the church, the bells ring, the Brethren quickly run together, they marvel at the girl rejoicing beyond what can be said. For the sake of proof they bring bread and other things before her eyes; she extends her hands toward wherever the things offered to her were carried about, following with her face and arms. What other thing more worthy could they do in response to these things than praise God, the bestower of all goods, from thence?

Chapter 6

[8] On the morrow, as we were preparing to go to Ghent, ^a boy of about fifteen years, from the village called Ninove, the son of ^a certain rich man, contracted in both shins so that his calves adhered behind to his legs, to such an extent that one skin had been made of both members; carried and placed beneath the casket of the Saint, suddenly, with his calves and legs separated, he cried out dreadfully; blood from the place of the rupture, as if members had been cut with iron, flowed abundantly for ^a long time. He himself, a contracted boy is raised up: standing healthy on his feet, raised upon his steps, began to walk.

Chapter 7

[9] On the following Monday after the octave of Pentecost, while the body of the Saint had been carried over ^a certain territory, concerning which ^a certain knight, Razo Demonto, was doing injury to the Saint, a girl blind and deaf is healed: ^a certain girl from Ghent, about twelve years old, blind and deaf from birth, is led by her parents, stationed before the bier of the Saint, and by the divine mercy, the merits of so great ^a Father requiring it, she is endowed with hearing and sight. When the knight saw this, the penance of the knight who saw the miracle: he was seized by divine fear, confessed his guilt of injury, amended to the Saint what he had transgressed, sought indulgence, and merited pardon.

Chapter 8

[10] Now as we were returning and conveying home with immense joy the treasure of so great ^a price, we had to pass through Tournai. at Tournai Among the innumerable crowd which from the surrounding villages was running from everywhere to meet the Saint, ^a certain man from the countryside of Rungiacum, deprived of the hearing of both ears, came to Tournai with his neighbors, hearing is restored to ^a deaf man: and began to await the arrival of the Saint with the others. But when some delay occurred, turning aside with his companions, he began to eat lunch, when suddenly the bells of the Church sounded at the arrival of the Saint; hearing while the others did, he proclaimed that he himself heard, and with the merits of that Father, truly and worthily called Amandus, supporting him, he confessed that he had received his hearing. Afterward, carrying vows — namely ^a binding of wax around his head — to the monastery, he devoutly paid them in our sight.

Chapter 9

[11] And when, passing through the city, we had already gone out through the gates, suddenly the cry of the people following us is raised behind our back; the weak woman whom they were carrying behind the bier of the Saint is proclaimed to have been raised up; the body of the Saint, carried back by the violence of the people to the place where the healed woman stood, is compelled to stop; a weak woman is healed: all mouths are turned to the praise of the Creator of all.

Chapter 10

[12] In this carrying of the holy Father through the road, or through the countryside, there were also performed certain other things, while we indeed were absent, but afterward made known to us by the report of the faithful, of which we partly keep silent, but note one: namely concerning ^a certain woman who was staying at Andwennium, a contraction of the arm is cured whose arm, through weakness, was so twisted back and adhered to her shoulder blades that she could in no way move it, or apply it to her mouth. Water was brought to her which they were applying to the casket of the Saint as ^a remedy for the sick. She washed her arm with it, stretched it out, and ^a distaff and spindle, the feminine work which she had formerly been unable to do, she effectively seized upon. Let others marvel at such signs of virtues applied to the senses of the flesh, namely the healings of bodies; let us rather embrace the cures of souls thereby effected. For what wise man would not rejoice more that the spirits of those at variance have been reconciled to peace, that deadly hatreds have been calmed — namely, that souls have been raised from death — than that the health of the flesh, destined to last but ^a short time, has been restored? But in all things, let us praise, glorify, and bless the Creator and Restorer of body and soul. Amen.

HISTORY OF A WOMAN WHO WAS HANGED

and recalled to life, described by Marsilia, Abbess of Rouen. From the Elnon, Lille, and other manuscripts.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

BHL Number: 0347

[1] To the most desired and greatly venerable in the members of Christ, Bouo, Abbot of Elnon, to the Church, and to all the blessed community entrusted to him by God, Marsilia, the last of the handmaids of Christ and Abbess, and the whole congregation of Sisters in the city of Rouen, serving God and the holy Bishop Amandus, the history of the miracle sent from Rouen thus to be advanced from virtue to virtue, that they may be able to contemplate the Lord of Lords in Zion. Among the virtues and miracles performed by God with us through our holy and common Father, ^a certain illustrious miracle, performed in our presence in our church by the merits of the same Father, must be inserted, which, briefly written out in pen, we have deemed worthy to make known to your holiness. For it is fitting that, just as in the camps of the eternal King, although dissimilar in sex, yet equal in purpose, we serve under one and the same Patron; so concerning the triumphal proclamation of his virtues, for the honor of God, we should unanimously rejoice together.

[2] In the year 1107 Therefore, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand one hundred and seven, in the district of Lisieux, ^a certain illustrious woman, not so much because her own sins demanded it, as so that the glory of God might shine more widely in His Saint, incurred such great ferocity of the ancient enemy that, first deluded by wicked and various phantasms of thoughts, she was agitated; finally, her natural sense being lost, she deliberated on this alone: how, with everyone absent, she might lay hands upon herself, either by hanging from ^a noose, or by drowning in ^a river, or somehow break off her life in any way. Which she would have done, had not the frequent sudden meeting of her husband prevented it. For she had been seduced by ^a certain little woman, who, restless and garrulous, a woman sad and despairing from jealousy, through houses, through fields, through streets, approached her with deceptive conversations, asserting that her husband hated her, and, loving another more, preferred her to herself in carnal union. Soon she, credulous of the liar — just as Eve once was of the serpent — fell into that sadness which works death, and, forgetful of God and the Christian faith, she was always scheming, always laboring by all means, to end her miserable life by whatever diabolical art she could. But the divine mercy, which wishes no one to perish, in order to multiply the praise and glory of His holy Confessor Amandus, prevented this from happening. And when her husband, understanding such great insanity, frequently soothed her with gentle words and consolations, that she might come to her senses from this diabolical understanding, and cheer with herself and her household the sadness of such an affliction, she gave such an answer of wretched desperation to the words of exhortation: "This," she said, "can in no way be done, but let me go to hell with the devil, to whom I am predestined and given." This wicked word could not be torn from her mouth by any blandishments, any promises, or threats.

[3] Then, after taking salutary counsel, they bring the insane woman to the church of Blessed Amandus, she is kept in the church of Saint Amandus, to whom this particular kind of virtue is believed to have been conferred by the Savior, so that no demonic force should be able to resist him. For this reason we in no way doubt that his merit is allotted among the number of the heavenly powers, to whose dominion the adverse forces are subjected. But when the woman was earnestly entreated by certain persons of sound faith, and of both sexes, who were flowing together for the purpose of visiting and exhorting her, that she should fortify herself with the sign of the saving Cross, she would by no means acquiesce, but repeating that above-mentioned motto of unhappiness, she complained more earnestly why she was making such delays in going to her destruction. Among whom also when certain devout men, and of more sagacious talent, had approached more closely and addressed her more privately, she responded with ^a sufficiently composed speech that she had been entirely given over to infernal flames and sulfurous punishments, ^a portion of which she had already experienced while detained in this world, and that the rest she expected would shortly be present for her. Then by those who were of sounder faith and sharper understanding, it was decreed that water, poured into ^a barrel, should be blessed, and that on the morrow, to be placed in ^a barrel of holy water, through the hands of the Priests, with the invocation of the name of Christ and of His virtue and power, she should be placed therein. Hearing and understanding which things sagaciously, she was vehemently astonished, and began to be more sharply pressed and to draw frequent sighs.

[4] Then, having looked around at all things, with diabolical cunning she feigned modesty outwardly, while inwardly she raged with the insanity of the enemy. When evening came, she was led out of the choir and stationed before the sacred altar on which Saint Amandus had been accustomed to celebrate Masses. Then, as the darkness of night fell, with guards assigned to watch her, those who had brought her withdrew. O the cunning of the devil! O the deceitfulness of the ancient serpent against the destruction of the human race! For immediately the wretched woman, when she found an opportune time for death, fraudulently warned the watchmen that, after so many vigils and labors which they had spent upon her, they should now rest, and that, wearied with so great an inconvenience, they should now indulge in sleep. She also pretended that she, excessively fatigued with them, wished to rest. For indeed seven days and as many nights had already passed since she had been brought there. And when she had given herself ^a little to the prepared and sufficiently decently arranged bed, as if for sleeping, and looking around, had perceived that no one was present, clad only in her undergarment, she furtively climbed the wall that seemed more prominent, and fastened ^a part of the veil with which she covered her head by the fraud of the devil she hangs herself: to the top of the column of that same wall, and from the remaining part she prepared ^a running noose in ^a wonderful manner, into which thrusting her neck and leaping forth with force, she bent her neck with such violence that ^a jet of blood, springing from her throat, stained ^a part of the obstructing wall. Already midnight had passed, and ^a certain one of the guards, awakened, arose: who, not finding her in her bed, having searched the whole church, at length found the place where she hung, and, struck with immense horror, understood the body to be rigid and entirely lifeless.

[5] Who immediately, making ^a great outcry, indicated by shouting what had happened. Hearing which, there is from every side ^a concourse of nuns, ^a cry arises all around, the wretched dead woman is wretchedly lamented, Saint Amandus is invoked with many groans and tears, with Saint Amandus invoked, lest he suffer the dignity of his place to perish, but deign to come mercifully to the aid of those running to him. Then, with ^a light kindled, the neck of the hanging woman is torn from the noose, and the lifeless corpse is cast down upon the pavement of the church. Then three of the sisters, who seemed to be the more bold or prudent, since it was night, sought out the Archdeacon, and inquired in tears what needed to be done. To whom he gave this response and counsel: that, before it should grow light, the body should be dragged from the church and thrown into whatever pit. But as they were returning, the Archdeacon himself followed, and stood with those crying out and standing around, admiring the great cunning of the diabolical fraud. Meanwhile, when certain of the nuns had approached more closely, she is recalled to life, one of them felt in her breast ^a spirit palpitating as if reviving, and understood that from time to time her face gradually reddened, and from time to time she gradually opened her eyes, and from time to time drew the deepest sighs. Those standing around, however, exploring this more diligently, invoke with ^a great cry

the aid of their holy Patron Amandus, and beating their breasts, they multiply the vows of their prayers. While these things were being done, they suddenly recognized that, by the power of Almighty God, and by the intercession of His glorious and admirable Bishop Amandus, the soul had returned to the body. Yet on that day and the following night, after she was resuscitated, she remained without the office of voice. For so great ^a force of strength was in her that she could scarcely be held by four men. On the morrow, however, at dawn, her first voice was: "Holy Lady, merciful Mother of God, Mary, help me"; and then she opened her mouth to the praise of our Savior and of His beloved Confessor, she confesses her sins, and with manifold congratulation she paid vows of thanksgiving to the Almighty Lord. With these things thus accomplished, ^a certain Priest having been summoned, she made ^a full confession of her past sins, and humbly obtained absolution.

[6] And then she adds: "I give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, she gives thanks to Christ and Saint Amandus who by your grace and the merits of Saint Amandus, my Lord, have resurrected me, and freed me from the hands of the most destructive enemy and the gulf of hell. I faithfully believe in you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, I adore you, and I renounce all the pomp and snares of Satan." When this wondrous miracle resounded far and wide, God, glorious and wonderful, is magnified in His holy Bishop, through whom He works so many signs wondrously. For just as once, while placed in the world, he raised to life by prayer ^a thief affixed to the gallows and killed, so also now, living in heaven with Christ, he has recalled to life by his precious merits ^a wretched woman who perished by hanging, to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone and everywhere, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, God, through infinite ages of ages. Amen.

ANCIENT HYMN

From the Antwerp manuscript.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

ANOTHER HYMN

From the same manuscript.

Amandus, Bishop of Trajectum, at Elnon in Belgium (Saint)

ON BLESSED ANDREW, ABBOT OF THE MONASTERY OF ELNON, AT AMANDOPOLIS IN BELGIUM,

AROUND THE YEAR OF CHRIST 693

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.

Andrew, Abbot of Elnon in Belgium (Blessed)

By G. H.

[1] Blessed Andrew was ^a disciple of the great Amandus and ^a strenuous imitator of his virtues, concerning whom the Elnon author in the Epitome of the Translation and Elevation of the body of Saint Amandus published above, and also published by Surius together with the Life of the same by Baudemund, Blessed Andrew, formerly listed among the holy disciples of Amandus: writes thus at number 6: "Indeed, the memory of the Saints who chose to serve the Lord through Blessed Amandus, having been touched upon above in general, it now remains to make known the names of certain ones, to the praise of the outstanding Doctor, so that if anyone should wish to read their deeds, from the virtues of those ones he may in some measure be able to weigh the merits of so great ^a Father and the standard-bearer of so capable ^a legion. Of whose blessed company ^a certain honorable part was the holy Andrew, established by the same Bishop as Abbot in the monastery of Elnon." There follow Saints Ionatus, Florebertus, Maurontus, Humbertus, Gertrude, Bavo, Landoald, Amantius, all entered in the list of Saints. Lippelous, in the Life of Saint Amandus published by him, reviews almost all the same Saints, and thus begins with Blessed Andrew: "One of whom was Saint Andrew, established by the same Bishop as Abbot in the Elnon monastery." In the same manner Antonius Vincentius Domeneccus, on the Saints of Catalonia on February 6, in the Life of Saint Amandus, enumerating the holy disciples of this Saint, begins from Saint Andrew, Abbot of Senon (to be read: Elnon): as do others passim.

[2] Barisiacum in the territory of Laon was given to Saint Amandus by Childeric, King of the Franks, as we said in the Life of this saint, producing in section 2 the diploma of that King, he presided over the monastery built at Barisiacum in the year 666, written on the Kalends of August in the second year of his reign, with Queen Imnechild, widow of the holy King Sigebert, subscribing. That year was the year of Christ 666, as was proved there in section 14. Saint Amandus (as Philip the Abbot continues in his Life at number 60), graciously accepting the royal gift with thanksgiving, established there for the suitability of the place and time ^a monastery in ^a fitting arrangement, and gathering therein men fearing God and professing the warfare of Christ, he set over them with provident dispensation the venerable and God-worthy Andrew, his own disciple, soon to be his successor in the Elnon monastery. And at number 68: "The blessed Father Amandus was already at that time feeling the failings of his body, worn out by labors and old age, and by ^a secret inspiration he had ^a presentiment that the day of his departure was not far off." then over the Elnon monastery Therefore, having summoned to himself the venerable Andrew, whom he had previously set as Abbot over Barisiacum, he set him over his family, which with the Lord's help he had gathered, so that in his hand the strength of order and the severity of discipline might flourish with provident moderation, and that for himself ^a more private and freer entrance might be open for devoting himself to God. He decreed, however, that there should be recalled into the perpetual possession of the Elnon monastery whatever he had previously possessed at Barisiacum from the munificence of King Childeric; which to this very day, according to the dispensation of the man of God, is irrefragably preserved. These things Abbot Philip writes in chapter 48 according to his division, to which he prefixed this title at the beginning of the Life. in the year 683 "How Blessed Amandus set over the Elnon monastery his disciple Saint Andrew, Abbot of Barisiacum": which we said was done in the year 683 in section 15.

[3] The same things are reported from the Elnon Chronicle in volume 8, part 1, of monastic affairs collected by Francis le Bar; and it is added at the end: "This Andrew (whom he had earlier called ^a holy man) built the church of Saint Martin above the Scarpe. He was buried in the middle of the Church of Saint Amandus in the year 670," died around the year 693, inscribed in the Martyrologies that is, according to his computation, nine years after the death of Saint Amandus, assigned to the year 661; and so according to our chronology he lived until the year 693. He is listed in the Gallican Martyrology of Saussay on February 5 in these words: "In the monastery of Elnon in the district of Tournai, Saint Andrew, Abbot, disciple of Saint Amandus, who, after he had governed his monastery to the divine good pleasure, and had obtained great praise of sanctity for his merits, peacefully rested in ^a death precious in the sight of God." February 5 and 6: On the same day Menard writes this in the Benedictine Martyrology: "At Elnon in Belgium, Saint Andrew, Abbot, disciple of Saint Amandus." But on February 6 others report. Ferrarius: "In Hainaut, Blessed Andrew, Abbot of Elnon." Our Willot in the Appendix to the Roman Martyrology published by him in French, when he had treated of Saint Amandus, adds: "On the same day in the said town of Saint Amandus is venerated Saint Andrew, Abbot and successor of the said Saint, who died in the year 670." Namely, he too had reported the death of Saint Amandus to the year 661 in the same place. Ghinius, in the Birthdays of the holy Canons, says: "There also flourished at Elnon Blessed Andrew, first Abbot of Barisiacum, in the Cell of the Apostles, then of Elnon, ^a disciple of the same Saint Amandus, who is numbered among the Saints of Elnon, even though his birthday is not celebrated: and there exists about him in the same place on his tomb an Epitaph."

[4] The same words Molanus had previously given in the Index of Saints of Belgium, and then in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium together with the Epitaph itself, which is as follows:

"Approach this tomb not irreverently, whoever you are, Because it encloses the casket and limbs of the holy Andrew. Who was pious and prudent, humble, and the disciple Of the venerable Father and at the same time his successor, Amandus. Hugo, Shepherd of the fold, the body elevated, builder of the present hall, Elevating him, washing him with water, and storing him in ^a casket, With the tomb cleaned, solemnly replaced him here. Those languishing with fever there frequently recovered."

Abbot Philip inscribed the Life of Saint Amandus to Abbot Hugo, whom we observed in the same place to have died in the year 1169. Another poem is added by Francis le Bar, which we also add here: around the year 1160

"When it happened that the venerable Amandus was taken From human affairs, and was joined to the choirs of the Heavenly ones; From Barisiacum he is summoned, where monastic buildings arise, O Childeric, built at your expense. Andrew flies to Elnon, and the possessions held long since At Barisiacum by the gift of Prince Childeric Are recalled to the jurisdiction of Elnon: as Amandus by word Had commanded, and had sanctioned in the writings previously given. Not so much the care of his flock occupies Andrew, As the love of the divine religion. Whence he raises ^a pious temple to the divine Martin, Where the pleasant Scarpe flows with watering streams. Those with fevers were helped, Nor did he lack virtues when dead: at his bones They report that those badly afflicted with fever recovered."

Concerning the Elnon monastery, ample treatment was given in the Life of Saint Amandus.