Angilbert

CONCERNING ST. ANGILBERT, ABBOT OF CENTULA IN BELGICA SECUNDA

A.D. 814.

Preliminary Commentary.

Angilbert, Abbot of Centula in Belgica Secunda (St.)

By I. B.

Section I. The nobility of St. Angilbert, his palatine and military offices, his marriage.

[1] Centula, also called Centulum by others, is an ancient town in the Ponthieu, two leagues distant from Abbeville, a famous city on the Somme, which King Raganarius is said to have once built. Here St. Richarius, grandson of that same Raganarius, or at least sprung from his lineage, a kinsman of the Frankish Kings of the Merovingian line St. Angilbert, seventh Abbot and restorer of Centula, which was the first to gain power in Gaul, founded a distinguished monastery. The seventh Abbot after him, St. Angilbert, splendidly restored and enlarged it. He himself was born of the most noble lineage, singularly in favor with King Pippin and his sons Carloman and Charles; thereafter the Chief of the latter's Chaplains (as he is called), his Silentiary, his son-in-law, Duke of Maritime France, then a monk of Centula, and finally its Abbot.

[2] These palatine, military, and sacred offices are listed in that order

in his Life, but in such a way that he is said to have received the grade of priesthood before, having been spontaneously loved by a daughter of Charles, he married her. This matter, whether a Priest married a wife? as foreign to the customs of that age, could only have occurred with the Roman Pontiff granting a dispensation for very grave reasons. But no cause is offered except the immoderate affection of the royal maiden, and indeed a very young one, to which the father, though unwilling, nevertheless assented, fearing that the matter might proceed to worse. And so Hugo Menard, Book 2 of his Observations on the Benedictine Martyrology, and Guillaume Peyrat, on the Chapel of the Kings of France, Chapter 30, understood it; Paul Petau in his essay on Nithard says nothing about the priesthood, and neither do the Sainte-Marthe brothers. Jacques Malbrancq, Volume 2 on the Morini, judges that, clothed in the habit usually worn by men of the sacred order, he had shown his intention of receiving the priesthood. By which reasoning the words used by the writer of his Life seem capable of being explained so that he is understood to have received the grade of priesthood -- that is, together with the habit, also the dignity of the priesthood, or a canonry, or some other ecclesiastical title entailing the enjoyment of ecclesiastical revenues. For we are accustomed to call those benefices ample, handsome, splendid, or on the contrary modest, which have large or small incomes.

[3] By these steps, therefore, Angilbert advanced to the highest honors. Since all the men of his lineage (as is said in the Life, number 2) were always held as most illustrious and as familiars of the Frankish Kings, most noble, and his grandfathers and great-grandfathers were either first in dignities or closely related and akin to great dignities, he too from his earliest age was laudably occupied at court, and (as number 1 has it), second to none in industry of spirit and probity, was involved in palatine and royal affairs. Pope Adrian himself testifies to this in a letter to be cited below to Charlemagne, in these words: "Sent to us by your exalted royal power, most dear to Pippin and Charlemagne: your faithful familiar, Angilbert, Abbot and Minister of the Chapel, who was brought up from almost the very rudiments of infancy in your palace and was received into all your counsels." His Life also says that he was loved by these same Kings as a son -- by Pippin, that is -- or as a most dear brother, by Charles and Carloman.

[4] Paul Petau conjectures that Angilbert was Pippin's Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff of Pippin's palace, from Letter 42 of Alcuin, addressed to Angelbert, Chief of Staff of the palace of King Pippin. Peyrat in Book 1, Chapter 28 is not sufficiently convinced either that it was written to this Angilbert or by Alcuin, because Alcuin came to Gaul from Britain long after Pippin's death, and Angilbert cannot be considered to have been Chief of Staff of Pippin, King of Italy. But what prevents him from having been Chief of Staff of Pippin, as Alcuin wrote from England, the father of Charles? Charles was 26, or, as others reckon, 22 years old when Pippin died: let us suppose Angilbert was a few years younger. Why could not a most noble youth, perhaps twenty years old, but second to none in industry and probity of spirit, have been designated Chief of Staff of the Palace, or, as others explain it, Grand Almoner? Nor is there any reason to assert that this letter was written by Alcuin in Gaul. Alcuin could have learned of Angilbert's erudition, virtue, and favor in which he flourished among Kings by report while in Britain. Indeed, a friend of his on account of his learning, is it not the case that such princes who cultivate letters are accustomed to seek out what men renowned for learning dwell in other lands, and to attach them to themselves through letters or intermediaries? One could produce many examples, even of this age, and perhaps of princes greater than Angilbert, who bestow greetings and favors upon men far lesser than Alcuin but nevertheless famed for some celebrity of their writings, or even communicate with them by letters and plainly profess that they wish to join friendship with them, and offer gifts or a ready will to do well by them. Such, therefore, seems to me to have been the friendship between Alcuin and Angilbert while still a young man, though they were absent from each other, in the confidence of which he commended to him a certain Englishman setting out on a pilgrimage to the Apostolic thresholds, and through him to the King, and requested that some relics of Saints be sent to him. It will be worth hearing the letter itself, from which one may understand what that great man thought of Angilbert's benevolence and virtue. He writes as follows:

[5] he commends through him a certain pilgrim going to Rome to Pippin: "To his faithful friend and venerable Angelbert, Chief of Staff, the humble Levite Albinus sends greetings. Mindful of the friendship AGREED between us, I have presumed to send these letters to you, beseeching that you deign to receive kindly the bearer of these letters and that you entreat the Lord King Pippin to assist him in the ways of his pilgrimage. For the reward of Kings in the aid of the wretched, and especially of pilgrims seeking the sacred thresholds of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, is known to be great before the divine mercy. Moreover, dearest brother, I most devoutly request that you take care to send me some of the sweetest and most necessary gifts, that is, some relics of Saints... May you flourish, son, with the crowns of virtues, the beauty of wisdom, and in holy love toward God, and in good faith toward men, forever." Thus Alcuin addresses one younger than himself, since the latter had perhaps called himself his brother and son in his own letters. Nor could it be easily refuted by one who would judge that Alcuin wished to conciliate Pippin, King of Italy, to that English pilgrim through the agency of Angilbert, who was Chief of Staff to Charles, Pippin's father; perhaps to Pippin, King of Italy, when he was Charles's Chief of Staff: except that the letter is addressed to the Chief of Staff of Pippin's palace, which could however have been done later by some scribe.

[6] The same Angilbert was also Silentiary under Charles -- not of the order of those who at Constantinople were called from the School of the Silentiaries and, standing guard at the thresholds of the Sacred Consistory, Silentiary of Charles, commanded quiet and silence. What the office of Silentiary was under Charles, the Life of Angilbert indicates at number 2: "He established him," it says, "as his own Silentiary, so that, in one in whom he had discerned the depth of prudence, he might arrange the benefit of the whole kingdom by his counsel." He was therefore admitted to the most intimate counsels of the Prince. Petau proves by several testimonies of Greek writers that a Silentium, or selenion or silention, is an assembly of a few magnates, usually before the Prince, where apart from the people, indeed even from the common crowd of Senators, the more weighty affairs of the kingdom are treated. To the examples brought forward by him may be added those which Meursius collects in his Greco-Barbarous Glossary under the word Silention, although he himself simply interprets it as a dissertation. that is, Secretary of State and privy counsellor: Others say Angilbert was an Audientiarius. Perhaps he held the office which is now called Secretary of State. Alcuin in Letter 63 to Pope Adrian calls him the secretary of the royal will. Letter 83, which is by Charles himself to Angilbert, is addressed "To Homer, the privy counsellor," in which how highly Charles esteemed him and what admonitions he orders to be impressed through him upon Pope Leo III declare, as we shall see below.

[7] While Angilbert was exercising this office, he was honored with a royal marriage, to Bertha, daughter of Charles, as is indeed recorded in his Life and by his own son Nithard. But in the Life of Charles, Einhard, brought up in his household and a writer of the greatest accuracy in the judgment of all, speaks thus in Chapter 6, number 26, concerning the daughters of Charles: "Although they were most beautiful and were most dearly loved by him, it is wondrous to say his son-in-law -- which Einhard (as it seems) denies, that he was willing to give none of them in marriage to anyone, whether of his own people or of foreigners; but he kept them all with him until his death in his own house, saying that he could not bear to be deprived of their company." Einhard could not have failed to know Angilbert, or Engilbert, intimately, whom in the same Life at number 44 he records as having been present Nithard the son asserting it: when Charles made his testament. Why then did he so overlook his marriage with Bertha? I do not wish to overturn the tradition of the Centulenses, or to refute the Life of St. Angilbert, even though its writer was by no means the equal of Einhard; but Nithard in Book 4 contradicts him, writing thus about Angilbert: "Who from a daughter of the same great King, named Bertha, begot Harnid my brother and me, Nithard."

[8] But what things stir a scruple in my mind, I consider it right to set forth. Bertha was born to Hildegard: Hildegard married Charles in A.D. 772, and bore him Charles, then, as I judge, Rotrud, who was the firstborn of the daughters; Carloman, who in baptism was named Pippin by Pope Adrian, was born in A.D. 777 or 778, this is not sufficiently credible, on account of the age of the King's daughter: since he is recorded to have died in the forty-second year of the reign of Charles, that is, A.D. 810, at the age of thirty-three. Let us suppose Bertha was born in 776 or 775, for she could not have been born earlier, being at most the third child, or perhaps later. When then shall we set her marriage to Angilbert? 787? A girl scarcely twelve years old joined to a man of forty, by a most wise father? Or that this father could have feared that the matter might proceed to worse unless he so hastily consented to his daughter, still almost an infant, in this matter? These things are too foreign to the character of the most grave Emperor,

who was so far from being indulgent in this regard that he even incurred the criticism of writers for having too long kept his daughters from marriage. "What need," you say, "for us to admit that she married at so tender an age? Let her have been eighteen or twenty." If born in A.D. 775, she married in her eighteenth year, therefore in A.D. 792. But Angilbert was already an Abbot at that time, and was sent as a legate to the Pope from Charles that very year. It is probable that he spent some years in marriage so as to have by that time begotten two children, Nithard and Harnid, and that he then persuaded his wife to embrace continence -- for he could not confine an unwilling woman in a monastery. If you grant that they were joined in marriage earlier, at a suitable age for both, then Bertha was not a daughter of Queen Hildegard. Will there perhaps be someone who suspects that she was born to Charles before his marriage? But to cast this stain upon him, although not entirely foreign to his habits, is not permissible without the testimony of an ancient writer. Einhard enumerates all of Charles's offspring, including those born of concubines; none whom he says was married to Angilbert. What of Pope Adrian, who in the letter cited above writes that Angilbert was brought up in the palace of Charles from almost the very rudiments of infancy -- if he was his son-in-law, why did he silently conceal this? Alcuin, too, familiar with both even to the point of jesting, yet nowhere indicated it. All contemporary writers, finally, kept silent about it, except Nithard the son. But how would this man have dared to assert that he was born of the King's daughter, if he could have been refuted by the testimony of those very Kings, his own cousins, and the entire kingdom? Should the following, which Einhard writes in the Life of Charles, Chapter 6, number 25, not entirely clearly, be understood of this marriage? "And on this account (that he did not give his daughters in marriage) unless perhaps she was married prematurely. he experienced the malignity of adverse fortune; which, however, he so concealed, as if no suspicion or rumor of any disgrace had ever arisen concerning them." But let us retrace our step and our pen from those royal inner chambers, lest we suspect anything shameful of a royal maiden and an illustrious palatine and priest, to whom most writers acknowledge she was married. Did Einhard perhaps deny the marriage because it was formed clandestinely? And did the writer of the Life therefore indicate that the daughter's love displeased the King? The matter is not clear to us.

[9] However these things may have been, Angilbert was given, says the same writer of his Life, a great part of Maritime France. In the Life of St. Richarius, Clovis I is said to have given to Alquarius as a perpetual benefice Angilbert, Duke of Maritime France. the Duchy of Maritime France, from the River Scheldt to the Seine... "He made the head of his duchy a strong and wealthy fortress, named Centula, in the district of Ponthieu, which King Raganarius had once built with a strong hand."

Section II. The conversion of St. Angilbert and his wife: his victory over the enemy, and other deeds.

[10] Einhard in the Life of Charlemagne, Chapter 4, number 18, after recounting the various wars waged by him, adds the following: "The last war was also undertaken against the Northmen, who are called Danes, When Danes were raiding the coasts of Belgica, first practicing piracy, then devastating the coasts of Gaul and Germany with a larger fleet." Their King Godfrid was so puffed up with vain hope that he promised himself power over all Germany. After A.D. 800 especially, Godfrid stirred up war. But long before, the Danes had made incursions on the maritime coast of Gaul; and after the death of Louis the Pious, they devastated the Belgian provinces and nearly all of Gaul, as has often been said elsewhere. They seem to have entered the district of Ponthieu through the river Somme around A.D. 787 or 788, and struck terror of great slaughter into the people, and into Angilbert himself, the prefect of that province. But this event was for him the occasion of holier resolutions. For having offered prayers at the tomb of St. Richarius and having made a vow to embrace the monastic life, he routed them with heavenly aid and gave himself entirely to religion.

[11] Hugo Menard supplies from the Centulensian records (as I believe) what was lacking in our copy, Angilbert, healed of a grave illness through St. Richarius, writing thus in Book 2 of his Observations: "Blessed Angilbert therefore wisely administered the province entrusted to him by the King, and frequently resorted to the monastery of Centula in the district of Ponthieu, which was under his prefecture, and poured out constant prayers prostrate at the tomb of St. Richarius. Meanwhile he fell into a grave illness, and brought to the point of death with no hope of recovery appearing, he vowed to God that he would embrace the monastic life if he recovered from his illness; and thus with God's help he regained his health. He could not, however, carry out his resolve, being prevented by the Danish war. For the Danes had poured themselves in a vast army through the mouths of the Somme and the Seine into the territory of the Gauls. Blessed Angilbert, the governor of that province, having mustered many forces, and having obtained victory over the same Danes, opposed himself to the savagery of the barbarians. Before joining battle with the enemy, he approached the tomb of St. Richarius and there, prostrate and dissolved in tears, implored the aid of the holy Confessor of Christ, promising that he would immediately put on the monastic garb after the victory. St. Richarius was present to his servant. For in the very conflict, a great force of rain, hail, and thunder, poured out upon the enemy, destroyed them utterly." Malbrancq makes no mention of the illness which drove him to make the vow, but says he conceived it from the pious admonitions of the Centulensian ascetics; the Danes, however, were scattered by a storm that arose, entangled themselves in mutual slaughter, and many were swallowed by the sea. With this the manuscript Life at number 5 agrees.

[12] Then he fulfilled his vow, with the full consent of Charles, since Bertha his wife too, by his example or exhortation, he becomes a monk, having been clothed with the sacred veil and having made a vow of perpetual continence, was settled by her own husband, with the agreement of Symphronius, Abbot of Centula, in a suitable place within the same monastery, with his wife consenting and being enclosed, where she devoted herself constantly with great fervor to sacred vigils, devout fasts, and divine hymns. Hugo Menard and John Capella in the Chronicle of Centula say she was enclosed in the same monastery. Malbrancq does not mention the enclosure but amplifies the ardor of spirit with which she sought the sacred veil: "Bertha" (for so he calls her), "in order to show a more ready spirit for the religious camp, approached the Centulenses, earnestly begged to be given the veil, and declared that she would not lift her foot from the sacred threshold until she obtained it. She obtained it, and indeed was clothed by the hand of the Bishop and with the greatest ceremony, as befitted the daughter of so great a King."

[13] or a nun in a separate part of the monastery, Guillaume Peyrat in Book 1, Chapter 30, writes that she was made a nun in the same monastery of St. Richarius; for it was a double monastery, according to the custom of that age -- on one side for men, on the other for women. In much the same way as nuns in the Order of St. Bridget even now live secluded by strong walls from the dwelling of the monks, yet so that the latter attend to sacred rites for them and administer the divine mysteries. We have observed elsewhere that this custom prevailed in other Orders, according to the custom of the age, so that women were separated from men either only by walls or by no great distance of place, so that the men could easily come to instruct the women with admonitions and strengthen them with the sacraments. We brought forward some examples from the Premonstratensian Order on January 13 in the Life of Blessed Godfrey of Cappenberg, Section 12. But most are now wisely separated further from each other. Certain holy virgins of old, upon receiving the veil, did not lead their lives in the company of other nuns, or only veiled and living in a private dwelling, nor were they shut up separately in a cell, but having secured a dwelling in the vicinity of some monastic church, they would come to it from time to time, attend the sacred offices, and devote themselves constantly to prayers, reading, and holy works. So, at nearly the same time as Bertha, St. Hiltrudis the Virgin is read to have lived near the monastery of Liessies, over which her brother Guntard presided, to have attended the church constantly, and to have been formed to all holiness by his fraternal instruction. Concerning this Bertha, however, we have nothing further ascertained -- how long she prolonged her life, what degree of perfection she attained, or where she was buried.

[14] Malbrancq supposes certain other deeds by Angilbert besides the Danish war, by no means supported by the writers of that age. For he writes thus in Book 5, Chapter 32: "Engelbert... together with the King approached the Roman citadels to celebrate Easter most holily; whereupon Adrian himself refreshed the memory of that time whether he was placed over the education of Charles, or he himself, when he had been placed over the education of Charles, and perceiving that Engelbert, his inseparable companion, was born for pious and the greatest undertakings, he began from that time to entrust to this man the most important affairs of the Church pertaining to Gaul; and although bound to a wife, he did not cease, as before, to devote himself to much practice of clerical duties." But these things

I do not follow clearly enough. For first, what does it mean here that he was placed over the education of Charles? Did he himself imbue the adolescent Charles with learning and conform his character to all dignity? Or did he instruct the noble boys who were in the service of the same King in liberal disciplines and the precepts of a more refined life? To which of the two is this office attributed -- to Angilbert or to Adrian? Angilbert cannot be thought to have taught the court boys, being of so illustrious a birth and placed in so lofty a degree of dignity; nor could he have taught Charles, who was of equal or greater age. Adrian, moreover, or Pope Adrian? as Anastasius records in his Life, "was sprung from a lineage of the most noble stock, and born of the most powerful Roman parents... when his father died and he was left as a small child to his most noble mother, he was carefully nourished and educated by his uncle Theodatus, formerly Consul and Duke, and afterward Chief of Staff of our holy Church, after the death of his said mother." And thereafter he spent his life at Rome, created Subdeacon by Pope Paul, Deacon by Stephen, whom he succeeded on the latter's death in A.D. 772. He was not, therefore, the tutor or teacher of King Charles in Gaul, much less of other noble youths.

[15] Since the previously cited writer asserts that Angilbert was bound in marriage he appears to have accompanied the King to Rome, when he went to Rome with King Charles and celebrated the Easter festivities there, we must inquire in what year this occurred. Charles went to Rome four times, three times under Pope Adrian. For in A.D. 773 he marched against Desiderius, King of the Lombards, who was unjustly harassing the papal territories, and besieged him at Pavia or Ticinum; and having celebrated Christmas in the camp, leaving the army to press the siege, he himself set out for Rome and there kept Easter. Then in A.D. 780, for the sake of prayer, in A.D. 774 as the Annals of St. Bertin record, or 780, he made the journey to the regions of Rome, together with his wife the Lady Queen Hildegard, and celebrated Christmas in the city of Pavia... Easter at Rome. And finally in A.D. 787 he kept the same Paschal solemnity at Rome. Malbrancq indicates that Angilbert was present on this last occasion, since he writes that he was bound to a wife, namely Bertha, the King's daughter, who on both earlier occasions was not yet of marriageable age.

[16] I judge it more credible that Angilbert was indeed present with the King earlier, but not in 787, as he was most intimate with him; but in A.D. 787 he was either detained by illness, or by preparation for war against the Danish pirates, or by other affairs of the province which he governed. Nor would I easily lend credence to the same author writing the following at the year 788: "In this year Engelbert, mustering the greatest forces, reduced the Huns nearly to the annihilation of their entire nation; nor did he defeat the Huns in A.D. 788: and by their spoils, gathered from the ruin of very many other nations, the Franks were enriched in a wondrous manner." The Franks indeed won three victories over the Avars, or Huns, in that year, in various places, but they did not then reduce them to annihilation, nor is Angilbert mentioned anywhere.

[17] The same writer also seems to me to be guessing when he affirms in the same Chapter 32 of Book 5 [it is not established that in A.D. 789 he urged Capitularies in favor of the Church:] that, when laymen were appropriating no small portion of the revenues of episcopates and monasteries, Angilbert's agency caused Charles to issue a Capitulary declaring that the properties of the Church are the vows of the faithful, the price of sins, and the patrimony of the poor, and therefore that these goods could suffer no division but must remain intact for those pious possessors. In the Capitularies of the Kings of the Franks, Book 1, Chapter 72, this is recorded as decreed by Charles, along with many other things: "In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 789, Indiction 12, the twenty-first year of our reign, this edict of legation was enacted in the palace of Aachen publicly. This charter was given on the tenth day before the Kalends of April. In the time of Pope Adrian and of the great Emperor Charles, when Bishop Paulinus held the place of the Apostolic See, this capitulary was enacted at Aachen, etc." No mention of Angilbert is made there, and it is likely that he was already a monk by then. Malbrancq in Chapter 33 places the conclusion of the Danish war and Angilbert's becoming a monk at A.D. 791. Since the following year an honorable legation was entrusted to him as already an Abbot, it seems more credible that he gained the victory somewhat earlier, he left the world around A.D. 788. renounced the world around A.D. 788 or 789, so that he may be judged to have proved his virtue among the monks in a suitable period of time and been elected Abbot by them.

Section III. The various legations of St. Angilbert to Pope Adrian.

[18] In A.D. 792 a council was held at Regensburg in which the heresy of Felix, Bishop of Urgel, In A.D. 792, when Alcuin had not yet come to Gaul, who called Christ the adopted Son of God, was condemned in the presence of King Charlemagne. Concerning this council Alcuin writes thus in Book 1 against Elipandus, Bishop of Toledo, past the middle: "Before I, at the command of the same most wise King Charles, came to France, this same sect of your error, with the same glorious Prince presiding, in the presence of Felix, whom you are accustomed to praise much, the defender of your party at that time, was debated in that most famous place called Regensburg, and by the synodal authority of the priests of Christ who had convened from various parts of the Christian empire, was condemned with an eternal anathema; indeed, it was also utterly destroyed by Adrian of blessed memory, who at that time governed the See of the holy Roman Church with Apostolic authority."

[19] Einhard explains this heresy and its condemnation in his Annals at the year 792: Felix, Bishop of Urgel, "Urgel is a city situated on the ridge of the Pyrenees, whose bishop, named Felix, a Spaniard by nation, consulted by letter by Elipandus, Bishop of Toledo, as to what he ought to think about the humanity of our God and Lord Jesus Christ -- namely, whether according to his human nature he should be believed and called asserting Christ to be the adopted Son of God, the proper or the adopted Son of God -- very incautiously and inconsiderately, and contrary to the ancient teaching of the Catholic Church, not only pronounced him adopted, but also in books written to the said Bishop took care most obstinately to defend the depravity of his opinion. For this reason he was brought to the palace of the King, who was then residing at Regensburg, the Bavarian city in which he had wintered. he is condemned at the Council of Regensburg There, when a council of Bishops was convened, he was heard and convicted of error, and sent to the presence of Pope Adrian at Rome; he is sent to Rome, where likewise in the presence of the Pope in the Basilica of the Blessed Apostle Peter, he confessed and renounced his heresy. Which done, he returned to his own city."

[20] Malbrancq in Book 5, Chapter 37, says that Angilbert worked to have the chief author of the evil sect present himself at the council and undertake to submit his opinion to the common judgment of the Church. But this is not sufficiently established. What is certain is that Angilbert was charged by the King and the synod to escort Felix to Rome to the Pope. So the Loiselian Annals of the Franks at that year: "The Felician heresy was first heard with Angilbert escorting him. and first condemned at Regensburg. Angilbert brought him to the presence of the Apostolic Adrian, and after a confession was made, he again renounced his heresy." The monk of Angouleme in the Life of Charles, and others, write the same.

[21] Then in A.D. 794, when Charles had wintered at Frankfurt and celebrated Easter, at the beginning of summer he convened a council of Bishops from all provinces of the kingdom in the same town, as Einhard relates; the same in the Acts of the Council of Frankfurt "in which council the aforesaid heresy was condemned, and a book against it was composed by the common authority of the Bishops, in which all subscribed. There also four books against the seventh ecumenical synod were presented to the King" and writings against the seventh synod, -- that is, the second of Nicaea, held shortly before -- written without any order by certain followers of Serenus, formerly Bishop of Marseille, the first Iconoclast of the Gauls. Charles transmitted these books through Angilbert, the minister of his Chapel, to the Pope to be examined. This is evident from the letter of Adrian to Charles, he brings them to Rome in A.D. 794, whether it is the third, as it appears in Volume 3 of the Cologne edition of the Councils of A.D. 1606, or the fourteenth, as in Volume 18 of the Councils from the Royal Press of A.D. 1644. It begins: "Our Lord and Redeemer." The Pope speaks of Angilbert as we briefly indicated above:

[22] "Furthermore, sent by your most clement and exalted

royal power, we received your faithful familiar, namely Abbot Engilbert, minister of the Chapel, who was brought up from almost the very rudiments of infancy in your palace, where he was kindly received by Pope Adrian. and was received into all your counsels; so that, just as he is received by you in all intimacy, so also he should be received by us and fittingly honored. Whence, on account of the surpassing love which we bear toward your sweet royal Excellence, just as you sent him with the exceeding love of exquisite sweetness, so we, receiving him, as he wished and in the manner he wished, as he narrated to us with great intimacy, received him with a placable and kindly ear, and as though your bodily Excellence were narrating to us, we more patiently communicated our counsel to him, for the advancement of our holy Roman Church and the exaltation of your God-protected power. Among other things, he presented to us the Capitulary against the Synod which was held at Nicaea for the erection of sacred images. who refuted the writings against the seventh synod. Whence, on account of your sweet royal love, we have returned a response to each and every chapter: defending not any man whatsoever (far be it), but holding the ancient tradition of the holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, following the doctrine of our predecessors, the holy Pontiffs, vindicating in every way the tradition of the true faith."

[23] Paul Petau in the previously cited essay on Nithard testifies that, at the end of those Capitularies as published by Elia Filira -- Whether Angilbert and Ingelrannus are the same person? that is, Jean du Tillet -- in A.D. 1549, the following is added: "Abbot Ingelrannus wrote this book by order of Charlemagne and brought it to Pope Adrian," and confesses that he does not see how these things can be reconciled with the aforesaid letter of Adrian. Peyrat expressly affirms that Angilbert, Engilbert, Engelbert, Engelrannus, and Ingelrannus are one and the same person. But he ought to have brought forward some examples where "bertus" and "ramnus" or "rannus" or "ramus" are used interchangeably for the same person in proper names -- that is, that Walbert and Waleran are the same, likewise Autbert and Autrannus, Guntran and Gunbert, Hildebert and Hilderan, and other names of that kind. Yet even if they meant the same thing, one name could not therefore be substituted for another without confusion of historical records. And certainly those do not mean the same: for Angelbert, or Engelbert, means "illustrious angel" or "endowed with an angelic disposition"; Engelran perhaps means "slender angel" or "graceful like an angel"; Engelram or Engelramm means "angelic ram" or "engine," as it were "angelic strength," as Waleran means "wall-battering ram." But let us dismiss these things, too trifling. What if another Abbot, Ingelrannus, was sent to Rome along with Angilbert? Yet I would not wish to guess at this either; but rather that some scribe, either nodding or overly clever, because mention was made in the Council of Frankfurt of Angilramn -- not an Abbot, however, but the Bishop of Metz and Arch-chaplain -- believed him to be the same as the one whom he thought had afterward been Arch-chaplain, namely Angilbert.

[24] When Angilbert was therefore setting out for Rome in A.D. 794, Alcuin gave him a letter to Pope Adrian, which is number 63 in Chesne's edition, elsewhere number 28, in which he thus mentions Angilbert himself: "I would now insert some petitions of my own need through him Alcuin makes certain requests, in these same letters, but since the most chosen envoy of my Lord the King, indeed my dearest son Angilbert, is directed to the most blessed Paternity of your supreme authority, I did not think it necessary to set down in writing what that faithful and prudent man can better convey by the living voice, according to the mandate of our Lord the King, to the ears of your Excellence. For among the other most faithful legations which he bears to you, he has also entrusted to the said secretary of the royal will the petitions of my own need. and commends him, as most devoted to the Pope. We have proved him to be very faithful to all friends, and especially to you, most Holy Father -- as is truly fitting -- who was accustomed to narrate your laudable goodness to our Lord the King most frequently in the presence of many witnesses with a praiseworthy voice, and strove to speak of the distinguished deeds of piety performed by you with a word of pure faith, so as to show the faith of his pious love and to impress upon the minds of many the love of your blessedness."

[25] Paul Petau in the cited Essay doubts whether this letter was written by Alcuin When was this letter written? when Angilbert brought those Capitularies to Rome in A.D. 794, or in 792 when he escorted Felix to Rome. But how could it have been written in 792, when at that time (as was shown in number 18 from the writings of Alcuin himself) he was not yet in Gaul? For the fact that he is elsewhere said to have convicted Felix, this either happened afterward when the latter perhaps relapsed into his former errors, or through writings published against his heresy.

Section IV. The legation of St. Angilbert to Pope Leo III: privileges obtained from him.

[26] Another legation follows, discharged by Angilbert with the greatest authority. Einhard explains it more clearly than others in his Annals at the year 796: In A.D. 796 to Pope Leo, "At Rome, when Adrian died (December 26), Leo assumed the pontificate. And immediately through his legates he sent to the King the keys of the Confession of St. Peter and the standard of the city of Rome, with other gifts, and asked that he send some one of his chief men to Rome to subject the Romans to him to confirm the Roman people in their allegiance and subjection to him through oaths. Angilbert, Abbot of the monastery of St. Richarius, was sent for this purpose. Through him also the King then sent to St. Peter's a great portion of the treasure which Duke Eric of Friuli had brought from Pannonia to the King that same year, and to deliver gifts after despoiling the royal residence of the Huns, which was called the Ring; but the rest he distributed with a generous hand among his chief men, courtiers, and other soldiers in his palace." So Einhard. The Saxon Poet, in Book 3, explains the keys of the Confession of St. Peter as "the keys by which the Confession of the holy Peter is guarded" -- that is, the crypt or chapel where his relics are preserved -- and shortly after adds:

"Sent for this was Angilbert, who had once governed The Church nobly adorned by the body of St. Richarius. from the Hunnic treasure,"

Then he amplifies the Hunnic treasure:

"For the royal residence of the Huns was despoiled, which they Call the Ring. Duke Eric had taken it this year, And had conveyed thence to the King many kinds Of treasures, which the Huns had collected in ancient time, Having frequently despoiled innumerable nations."

In the Life of Charles by the monk of Angouleme, it is said that the same King, upon receiving that treasure, offered thanksgivings to God, the bestower of all good things, Angilbert, the Abbot beloved of the King, is sent, and sent a great portion thence to the thresholds of the Apostles "through Angilbert, his beloved Abbot." The same is said in the Loiselian Annals. The Life of Charles by an unknown author has: "through Angelbert, his beloved Abbot."

[27] What commands Charles gave to Angilbert as he set out for Rome, what counsels and admonitions he wished to be impressed upon the new Pope, may be read in the King's own letter to Homer (that is, Angilbert himself), which is number 83 among the letters of Alcuin published by Chesne. It reads as follows: "Charles, by the grace of God King and Defender of the Holy Church, sends greetings to Homer, his privy counsellor. Under the guidance of divine mercy, as it again leads you prosperously to our Lord the Apostolic Father, admonish him diligently concerning all the honor of his life, he is ordered to impress upon him the honor of his life and especially concerning the observance of the holy Canons; concerning the pious governance of the holy Church of God, according to the opportunity of the conference between you and the disposition of his mind. And impress upon him frequently how few are the years of the honor which he presently holds, and how many is the perpetual reward given to him who labors well in it. and other matters, And concerning the Simonian heresy to be overturned, urge upon him most diligently that it stains the holy body of the Church badly in many places. And whatever you remember was more frequently discussed in complaints between us. concerning which the King and the legate had conferred between themselves: But what manner of conference I had with Blessed Pope Adrian, his predecessor, concerning the building of a monastery at St. Paul's, do not fail to suggest to him, so that, God willing, upon your return, you may have a definite response to bring to me. May the Lord God lead and guide you with all prosperity. May the Lord God govern and direct his heart in all goodness, so that doing he may do what profits his holy Church; that he may be a pious Father to us and a foremost intercessor for us; that the same God and our Lord Jesus Christ may make us flourish in his will, and deign to bring the remaining course of our life to the repose of perpetual stability. Farewell with prosperity, advancing in truth, to return with joy, O young Homer."

[28] There survives also a letter written by the same King at that time to Pope Leo himself (number 84 among the letters of Alcuin), in which he congratulates him on his pontificate, testifies what grief he felt at the death of Adrian, and implores the prayers of Leo at the tomb of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles. Then concerning Angilbert and the gifts sent through him, he speaks thus: "We have directed to your Holiness Angilbert as the ready agent of your familiarity, the authority of the King's letters procured for him with the Pope, whom first, as we promised through the religious men Campulus and Anastasius, we took care to direct to our most blessed Father, your predecessor. But, as we said, while all the gifts were prepared, his journey was suddenly delayed by the mournful news of the paternal death. But now, made more joyful by the succession of your Holiness, what we desired to do with that pious Father, we strive to accomplish in you. And we have entrusted to him all things and trust for the conduct of affairs: that seemed either voluntary to us or necessary to you, so that from a mutual conference you may arrange whatever was understood to be necessary for the exaltation of the holy Church of God, or for the stability of your honor, or for the strength of our patriciate." Then he promises that his arms will serve the Church and religion, and exhorts Leo to follow the Canons everywhere, so that the examples of all holiness may shine in his conduct.

[29] Alcuin also wrote a letter to Leo, which is number 72, in which he too congratulates him on the pontificate, prays for happy things, instructs him with salutary counsels, and at the end commends Angilbert in these words: "This dearest son of mine, Angilbert, is able to reveal to you the devotion of our humble person toward the Apostolic See, and also the petitions of our will. commended to the same Pope by Alcuin, I have recognized him to be very faithful to your Paternity; and therefore we have entrusted to him the causes of our need, so that through his mouth the ears of your piety may hear the supplications of my heart."

[30] What Alcuin desired to obtain at Rome through Angilbert is indicated by Letter 92, to his sweetest son Homer -- that is, Angilbert himself -- where he says the following: "Do not forget the patronage of the Saints. who through him sought relics and other sacred things, Do not neglect to acquire the things of ecclesiastical beauty that present themselves to your eyes. Our rusticity is greedy for such things; your nobility is generous in all things. Remember the poetic prophecy:

'If you bring nothing, you shall go out, Homer.'

Who doubts that this was prophesied of you and your journey? If the Sibyl predicted the coming of Christ and his labors, why did not Ovid foretell Homer and his journeys?" Finally he concludes thus:

"All prosperous things, I pray, may Christ grant you, Homer, Who may preserve you always, everywhere. Farewell."

His longing for the absent Angilbert is declared in Letter 93, which is to his son Damoetas, meanwhile saddened by his absence that is, Riculf, or Ricolf, Bishop of Mainz, to whom Letter 41 was also written by him. In that later letter, then, Alcuin mentions Angilbert, or his Homer, as follows: "I remain at home almost as if bereft of my sons: Damoetas has withdrawn to Saxony, Homer to Italy, Candidus to Britain."

[31] Angilbert seems to have turned aside from his journey to visit St. Paulinus, Patriarch of Aquileia, he visits St. Paulinus of Aquileia on the way. of whom we treated at length on January 10. For in Letter 73 to Paulinus himself, Alcuin writes: "Our common son Angilbert, on his way to Rome, God willing, directs to you the fuller series of our greetings." That Angilbert was joined in friendship with Paulinus is clear from his commentary on relics, number 6.

[32] Among other things that Angilbert transacted at Rome, Malbrancq guesses that he prepared the Pope's mind, whether he treated of transferring the Empire to Charles? at least from afar, for conferring upon Charles the distinction of the Empire. I am not sure whether this could suitably be done openly at the very beginning of the pontificate. It was more opportunely done afterward, when there were outstanding the very great benefits which Charles had conferred on Leo himself, and not only on the Church in general. Yet even in this matter, Charles's admonition, already cited above, could have had a place -- that he should treat affairs with the Pope according to the opportunity of the conference between them and the disposition of his mind, and what pertained to the strength of his own patriciate, as is found in the letter of Charles to Leo.

[33] In A.D. 800, as the spring warmth returned, as Einhard writes in his Annals, Charles in A.D. 800 visits Centula, about the middle of March the King departed from Aachen and surveyed the coast of the Gallic Ocean; and on the very sea, where the Northmen were then practicing piracy, he established a fleet, stationed garrisons, and celebrated the holy Easter at St. Richarius's monastery. Thence, again proceeding along the seacoast, he came to the city of Rouen... And at the beginning of August, coming to Mainz, he held a general assembly there and announced a march into Italy. And finally on the eighth day before the Kalends of December he reached Rome, and on Christmas Day was crowned by Pope Leo, and to Rome, where he is crowned Emperor: and thereafter, dropping the title of Patrician, was called Emperor and Augustus. St. Angilbert was also present, who, as is stated in the shorter Chronicle of Centula, Angilbert obtains from the Pope the exemption of his monastery: "obtained the exemption of the monastery of Centula from Pope Leo III on the same day on which Charlemagne was crowned Emperor by the said Pope Leo and was called Caesar Augustus. And this was enacted around the year of the Lord 801, in the presence of St. Angilbert and Jesse, at that time Bishop of Amiens." This same Jesse was sent in A.D. 802 to the Empress Irene, together with Count Helgaud, to establish peace.

[34] In the same more recent and shorter Chronicle of Centula by John Capella, the following is read: from the Emperor, Forest-Monastery: "On the same day (on which the Emperor was crowned) the said Charlemagne annexed to this Church of St. Richarius the monastery and abbey of Forest-Monastery with all its appurtenances, especially as regards the appointment and election of Pastors and Abbots, as more fully appears from the Apostolic documents drawn up concerning these matters, sound and intact in the treasury of this monastery."

[35] Ignatius Joseph a Jesu Maria, a Discalced Carmelite, in Book 1 of the History of Abbeville, Chapter 83, page 461, writes that Forest-Monastery, commonly Forest-Monstier, where is it situated? is situated in the forest of Crecy, where St. Richarius, together with his disciple Sigobard, after leaving Centula, spent several years in an ascetic life in a lowly and small hut; which hut is still to be seen, what is its condition now? a little distance from the monastery, but gradually falling into ruin, as is the monastery itself, with no one caring for its upkeep as it should be, nor for the splendor of its altars, nor even for the order of sacred services and the discipline of the monastic life, as these once flourished there. So he writes, testifying that he has read the bulls of Alexander III, Innocent III, and Honorius III, from which it is established that the Abbot of that monastery was customarily chosen from Centula, and the revenues of the monastery were also administered by someone from the Centulenses.

[36] Concerning the same Forest-Monastery, the cited John Capella in his account of Ingelard, the twenty-first Abbot, records the following: "This King (Hugh Capet) gave the privilege of fortifying our estates and building walled castles; and under the title of Advocacy, and to protect us and our subjects from our enemies, the said King Hugh Capet gave [given by Hugh Capet to a certain knight under the title of advocacy, saving the rights of the Centulenses:] to a certain knight, named Hugh of Abbeville, a generous and noble man, under that title, the town of Abbeville and Forest-Monastery; on the condition, however, that the Abbot in that same place, at the necessary and opportune time, was nominated by the Abbot of St. Richarius and was chosen from his flock and the bosom of his Church, as appears from the Apostolic letters drawn up concerning these matters." But that custom and the power of the Centulenses over the people of Forest-Monastery has become obsolete, as the cited Ignatius Joseph relates.

[37] St. Angilbert obtained other privileges from Leo III, concerning which the same John Capella writes: "On the same day (namely on which Charles was crowned) and at the said solemnity, the said St. Angilbert obtained the exemption and the privilege of the mitre, sandals, ring, and other Pontificals, he also obtained the mitre, ring, etc. from the concession of Jesse, then Bishop of Amiens." The same author, under Walter

de Guaissart, the thirty-eighth Abbot, writes the following: "He immediately received the crosier and obtained (or at least had confirmed anew) the privilege of exemption, the mitre, ring, and sandals, at the Roman Curia, which were afterward confirmed. and departed this world in A.D. 1357, on the vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

[38] Concerning these privileges, the same John, under Gerin, or Gervin II, who was also Bishop of Amiens and predecessor of St. Godfrey, records the following: "And because he knew that Bishop Guido (the thirty-first), his predecessor, the documents of these privileges were stolen, had harmed this Church by carrying off and removing our letters and charters of exemption, which he had secretly and furtively taken with him, he strove to make this Church subject to the Bishopric of Amiens, etc." But Auchier, the twenty-fifth Abbot, recovered the privileges and charters of this Church. recovered,

[39] "In A.D. 1131, on the fifth day before the Kalends of August, Hugh of Camp d'Avesnes, Count of St. Pol, in A.D. 1131, burned down together with the whole town, because asylum had been granted at Centula to certain enemies of his, and the gates had been locked against him lest he violate it with profane fury, set fire to the whole town with Greek fire; in such a manner" (says the same compiler of the shorter Chronicle) "that a religious man celebrating High Mass before the main altar was burned, and with him, both in the church and in the town, 2,700 persons of mixed condition died by fire and flame. And in that destruction we lost all our charters and privileges; our ornaments and all movable goods were burned; absolutely nothing remained, except the reliquary shrines, with all the relics having been thrown and saved into wells of water."

[40] "But afterward Richarius, the thirtieth Abbot... sent to Rome to Pope Alexander III in A.D. 1172 a copy of our exemption, again confirmed in A.D. 1172 according to the copy of St. Angilbert. which St. Angilbert had obtained on the day of the coronation of Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans and King of the Franks, whose originals we had lost in the first destruction of this church by... faithless men; and upon that copy he ordered a new exemption to be written for us, which we have at present."

Section V. The buildings of St. Angilbert at Centula. Relics of Saints adorned by him.

[41] The monastery which Angilbert fortified with so many and so great privileges from Emperor and Popes, he also augmented with splendid buildings, adorned with relics of Saints, and endowed with properties. St. Angilbert adorns Centula with three churches, He built three churches above all: the first and largest was sacred to the Savior and St. Richarius, the second to the Virgin Mother of God, the third to St. Benedict. Concerning these, John Capella in his Chronicle writes: "This same Angilbert in his time powerfully and honorably, with the help of the said Charlemagne, adorned the said monastery of Centula with great buildings, and other edifices, relics, jewels, and very many other goods, and endowed it with great revenues and riches." And after a few words: "He had this monastery dedicated by twelve Archbishops, whose names will be written below."

[42] "And, as the Chronicle narrates, in the first monastery founded in the name of our Lord the Savior and of Blessed Richarius, he also built two towers, one very tall on the western side, with tall towers, and another lofty one on the eastern side, under which was the tomb of the most blessed Richarius; and between these towers stood the church with the Choir. And beneath the eastern tower, near the feet of St. Richarius, there was an altar consecrated in his name; and near the head, an altar of Blessed Paul. And near the western tower, an altar of the Holy Savior was dedicated. And he had the following verses written around the tomb of St. Richarius:

Almighty Lord, who governs the heights and the depths, Mighty in majesty, with an inscription at the tomb of St. Richarius, God always and everywhere, Look down from your highest throne, O Glory of the Saints, And grant aid, O good King, to your servants. Give peace to princes, add salvation to subjects, Drive back the threats of the enemy, and suppress fierce wars. Here also the shining pinnacles of the temple which I have erected, I, Angilbert -- may they be pleasing to you, O God. To Augustus Charles, by whose power I accomplished this, Grant the great joys of your Empire. And whoever here shall assail the highest ears with prayers, Grant, O God, that they may always have their effect."

[43] with a remarkable pavement, "Immediately afterward, St. Angilbert between those eastern and western towers, by the art of Virgil of Mantua, supreme poet and divine artificer, recovered a porphyry pavement of red and green color, which exists at present and will in the future Church, so precious that in the whole world nothing similar has been seen, as experience teaches. He had the following verses written on a marble tablet:

This pavement I, the humble Abbot Angilbert, caused to be made, Led by the love of God; That Christ, my life and salvation, may deign To grant me holy rest after death."

[44] Both epigrams are also recited by Peyrat in Book 1, Chapter 28. Capella continues in his Chronicle: "And as is written above, he himself had three churches built, namely the church of St. Richarius on the west, the church of St. Mary on the south, and the smaller church of St. Benedict on the east. And thus the triangular cloister in honor of the Trinity must be understood, under one and the same roof. with a triangular cloister and fountain, And in the middle a fountain, irrigating the house with its stream and serving the brethren, with one mill standing in the place of the modern ditches. And these three churches were dedicated, as was said, by twelve Archbishops, whose names follow: Meginhard of Rouen, George, Absalon, Pleo, Childegard, Theodoveus, Udelmar, Benedict, Brelleus, John, Passinus, and the twelfth is unknown."

[45] There follow the chapels which he founded. Hariulf calls them altars. 1. The Church of the Holy Savior. In it were kept portions of the seamless garment of our Lord, of the Cross, of the Sepulchre, of the thread of Blessed Mary, of the Innocents. with many altars, The Chapel of St. Richarius, in which his whole body rested, and relics, together with some reliquaries of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Chapel of St. John the Baptist, in which were the bones of Blessed Zacharias his father. The Chapel of St. Peter, in which were the bones of Blessed Peter and Paul, and of St. Clement; and it is now called the Casket of the Holy Prima. The Chapel of St. Stephen, in which were the bones of St. Simeon the prophet. The Chapel of St. Quentin, in which were the bones of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, companions from Soissons. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, in which was a relic of the Holy Cross. The Chapel of St. Denis, in which were relics of Saints Rusticus the MS. had "Justus" and Eleutherius, his companions. The Chapel of St. Maurice, in which were relics of him and his companions in the agony of their contest. The Chapel of St. Lawrence, in which were relics of him and of Saints Sebastian and Valerius. The Chapel of St. Martin, in which were relics of him and of Saints Remigius, Vedast, Valericus, Lupus, Servatius, and Germanus. And all these were dedicated the day before the Kalends of January.

[46] Likewise on the same day, in the church of Blessed Benedict, the following chapels were consecrated. (concerning which also elsewhere) The Chapel of St. Benedict at the high altar, in which his bones rested, and those of Saints Anthony and Columban. And these are the things which, as we note below in the Life, Chapter 2, number 12, Note d, are missing from our copy, a page having been torn out. For there follow the things which appear at number 13 in the same place: "And the altar of St. Jerome, etc." What is said here at number 45 about the Casket of the Holy Prima, which was at the altar or chapel of St. Peter in the Church of the Savior, is explained by John Capella under the thirty-third Abbot, Hugh de Chenincourt, who lived in the times of St. Louis the King, as follows: "This Hugh de Chenincourt visited the feretory which we call that of the Holy Prima, that is, of the primitive foundation of the Church Militant, because in it rest very many bodies of Saints -- Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, and other Confessors and holy Virgins."

[47] St. Angilbert himself enumerates below the relics of Saints which he gathered from all sides; John Capella also weaves together an index of these from the Centulensian records, and

appends the following, also in part indicated by St. Angilbert: "All these relics St. Angilbert caused to be enclosed in thirteen golden placed in 13 caskets, and silver caskets, adorned with precious gems. He placed the said caskets upon one silver altar, dedicated in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And in each of the said three churches he built one marble pulpit, decorated and figured with varieties. In the first church he erected three bell-towers, and in each he placed fifteen bells; in the second church, one bell-tower and fifteen bells; 75 bells. and in the third church, the same number. And very many ornaments of gilded bronze, displayed and described in the paper Chronicle."

[48] While Angilbert thus adorned the relics brought from elsewhere, he added a still much greater splendor to those of the domestic Saints -- I mean those who had both lived and been buried at Centula: St. Richarius and Saints Caidoc and Adrian, as is narrated in Chapter 3, numbers 19 and 20. Concerning St. Richarius, John Capella testifies in the following words: [He elevates the body of St. Richarius, incorrupt after 160 years, and places it in a silver casket,] "The Emperor and King Charlemagne and the said Abbot Angilbert in their own persons took care to translate the body of St. Richarius from an earthen tomb into a feretory or golden casket adorned with precious stones. And the incorrupt body of St. Richarius, which had lain and rested for 160 years in the sepulchre, they elevated honorably and with great devotion, by the license of Adrian, then Pope." The verses which are said in Chapter 3, number 19, to have been composed by St. Angilbert with an inscription: and inscribed on the tomb of St. Richarius are divided by the same Capella into four quatrains and one couplet, in this manner: "On the sepulchre," he says, "were the following verses: 'Golden, celestial,' etc. On the right side: 'Setting aside the world,' etc. On the summit and uppermost part of the ark: 'Here for the departed,' etc. On the left side: 'To him Charles the Prince,' etc. And finally around the feet: 'That by his merits he may receive,' etc."

[49] Concerning the Life of the same St. Richarius, polished by Alcuin Flaccus, which is briefly indicated at number 18, Alcuin himself writes thus to Charles: he has his Life polished by Alcuin, "To the Lord always venerable and always desirable, the most pious guardian of the holy Church, by the grace of God ever Augustus Charles, Albinus, the perpetual friend of your welfare. When the piety of your Excellence recalled, in the holy and deservedly venerable place of Centula, while I too, the servant of your glory, having there followed for some time the footsteps of your piety, had stayed for a while, the great man in Christ, the Lord and venerable Abbot Angilbert, had entreated my humble person to annotate in a more refined style, in praise of the Creator, who always appears wonderful in his elect, a certain small book composed in a simpler style concerning the life of the most holy and truly magnificent Confessor Richarius. And when, having immediately granted his prayers, which are known to be heard and dear to the Divine Majesty itself, I asked that the same book be shown to me, I was not a little amazed why a Confessor of so great a name, who was known to have been the worker of so many miracles, and whom ancient fame reported to be second to none after the very Apostles in the performance of miracles, should possess so modest a volume of his deeds. And to me, as I marveled, the above-mentioned memorable man Angilbert and the spiritual brethren of that holy place made known that they had in their possession, and indeed in various churches, another codex of greater size, in which were read those miracles by which, not undeservedly, all of Gaul exalted the holy Confessor of Christ; and because its simple and less polished expression seemed to the brethren more accessible to the people for the purpose of *encouraging them, they agreed that this description sufficed for them. And while I was just now applying my mind to noting down the things they requested, I was suddenly met by a message from your piety, that I should annotate what I was treating in such a manner to be approved by Charlemagne: as was truly to be brought before the ears of your wisdom. Hence, having summoned a notary and fixed the said small book before my eyes, the things which it seemed to relate concerning his conversion, concerning his conduct... in a very concise dictation, we adapted under the title of the Life of the most blessed and nourishing Father Richarius."

[50] He also renewed and adorned the tombs of Saints Caidoc and Adrian, by whom St. Richarius was converted, adding to each an octastich. St. Caidoc is treated in the Life, number 20. John Capella records that these were written on the right and left of each. Concerning St. Adrian he has the following: he renews the tombs of Saints Caidoc and Adrian, with an added epigraph. "Around the feretory of St. Adrian, St. Angilbert inscribed the following verses:

He who is seen earthly and buried in body Joyfully possesses heavenly joys for his merits. He was joined to Caidoc the Frank, Whom Centula rejoices and exults to have received as its own. Here, strong in virtue, he despised the prosperities of the world, And now great glory lies open to the living one. And he who pleased God sought the kingdoms of heaven: Now he shines by the song of Angilbert. Amen."

So it reads. But what does "Frank" mean in verse 3? He certainly does not mean that St. Caidoc was a Frank, whom he asserts was born in Scotland. John Capella writes that both were born in Ireland in the western regions. It is perhaps the name of St. Adrian; for the same Capella, or rather a copyist, sometimes calls him Territorium, sometimes Fucorium -- one of the two erroneously, and perhaps both; elsewhere Fricorium. Both are inscribed in the English Martyrology of Wilson and in the general catalogue of Saints by Ferrari at April 1, but in both cases "Sadoc" appears instead of "Caidoc." Colgan preferred to refer them to March 31, without, however, as he admits, the authority of any writer, since he had previously given Caidoc at January 24.

* perhaps "imitating"?

Section VI. Was St. Angilbert Arch-chaplain of the Palace? His death and burial.

[51] We approach gradually the death of St. Angilbert. Three years before he departed this life, he was summoned by the Emperor to be a witness of his testament and thereafter to see that it was observed. So Einhard in the Life of Charlemagne, January 28, Chapter 10, number 38: "The division of his treasures, money, clothing, chosen as executor of Charlemagne's testament and other furnishings, in the presence of his friends and ministers, he made three years before he died, calling upon them to ensure that the distribution made by him should, through their support, remain ratified after his death." Then, as is said at number 39, "that description and division was made in A.D. 811 by the most glorious and most pious Lord Charles, Emperor Augustus, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 811, the forty-third year of his reign in France, the thirty-sixth in Italy, and the eleventh of the Empire, Indiction 4." with other illustrious men: Finally, at number 44: "This constitution and ordinance he made and established in the presence of the Bishops, Abbots, and Counts who were then able to be present, whose names are written here: Bishops -- Hildebald, Riculf, Arn, Wolfarius, Bernoid, Laidrad, John, Theodulf, Jesse, Hetto, Waltgaud. Abbots -- Fridogisus, Adalong, Engilbert, Irmino. Counts -- Walah, Meginher, etc."

[52] Hence another question arises: whether Angilbert was truly Arch-chaplain, that is, the Supreme Chaplain or Apocrisiarius of the sacred palace. Hincmar in his treatise addressed to the magnates of the kingdom, Chapter 19, whether he was its Arch-chaplain? explains that office thus: "The Apocrisiarius, who among us is called the Chaplain or guardian of the palace, had the care of receiving all ecclesiastical affairs and the ministers of the Church, and the Count of the Palace had the care of all secular causes and judgments; so that neither ecclesiastics nor laymen had need to trouble the Lord King without their counsel, etc." And in Chapter 16: "The Apocrisiarius," he says, "governed all the clergy of the palace under his care and direction." Guillaume Peyrat, as was said on February 17 in the Life of St. Fulrad, published an entire volume on the Chapel of the Most Christian Kings and its ministers. That Angilbert was Arch-chaplain or Apocrisiarius some assert, is proclaimed by the same Peyrat, Paul Petau, and the Sainte-Marthe brothers. They cite the Chronicle of Centula, or the Life of St. Angilbert which we give, whose author they make Hariulf, as we shall say below. And in it he is indeed called Chief of the Chaplains, which is the same as Supreme Chaplain. But that Life appears to have been written nearly 300 years after the death of Angilbert, as we shall show below. They also cite Pope St. Adrian, who in his letter cited by us at Chapter 1, number 3, and Chapter 3, number 22, calls him

minister of the Chapel -- which could be said of all Chaplains. Neither Charles nor Alcuin, when they commend him to Adrian or Leo, ever use the titles of Arch-chaplain or Apocrisiarius. not by contemporaries Hincmar too, in the treatise cited above, by no means counts Angilbert among the Arch-chaplains of Charlemagne. For he writes thus in Chapter 15: "In the time of Pippin and Charles, this ministry was carried out with the consent of the Bishops through Fulrad the Priest; Others held that office at that time, also in the time of Charles through Engelramn and Hildebald, Bishops; and finally in the time of Louis through Hilduin the Priest, and after him through Fulco, likewise a Priest, and then through Drogo the Bishop." St. Fulrad,

[53] What Hincmar says -- that the Arch-chaplain was customarily chosen with the consent of the Bishops -- is confirmed by Canon 55 of the Council of Frankfurt, held in the year 794, which Canon reads as follows: "The Lord King also said in the same Synod that he had received permission from the Apostolic See, that is, from Pope Adrian, to keep Bishop Angilramn permanently at his palace for the benefit of ecclesiastical affairs. Angilramn, Bishop of Metz; Hildebold, Bishop of Cologne. He asked the same synod that in the same manner as he had kept Angilramn, so too he might keep Bishop Hildebold; because he held Apostolic permission for the latter as well, just as he had for Angilramn. The entire synod consented, and it pleased them that he should be at the palace for the benefit of ecclesiastical affairs." Hildebold, or Hildebald, was therefore then declared Arch-chaplain of the palace, an office he held until the times of Louis the Pious. This is clear from the Life of Louis written by an unknown author, where, at the year of Christ 816, which was the third year of Louis, after narrating the death of Pope Leo III, which occurred that year, until after his death in the twenty-first year of his episcopate, on the eighth day before the Kalends of June, his successor Stephen is said to have come into Gaul: "To meet whom," he says, "he ordered Hildebald, Arch-chaplain of the sacred palace, Theodulf, Bishop of Orleans, John of Arles, and an abundance of other ministers of the Church to proceed, vested in sacerdotal vestments."

[54] When, then, was St. Angilbert at last Arch-chaplain? Under Pippin, and then under Charles, St. Fulrad held the office, as was said on February 17 in his Life. Angilramn, or Ingelramn, Bishop of Metz, was appointed in his place, either upon his death or when he sought dismissal on account of old age. Upon Angilramn's death, Hildebold was chosen for that office. From the words of the cited Canon, "he had kept Angilramn," one may infer that Angilramn was then dead, though others hold that he survived well beyond the year 800. For if the Emperor were removing him from that office, he would perhaps have sought the consent of the Bishops and the Pontiff for that as well, or at least would have given a reason for his action. Hildebold was still holding the same dignity even after the death of St. Angilbert. Angilbert was therefore called by Hariulf "Chief of the Chaplains" How was he himself called Chief of the Chaplains? either because, having read that he was a Minister of the Chapel, he believed that a man of such nobility, learning, piety, and authority with the King and Pontiffs could by no means have been one of the lesser chaplains; or because he was preeminent among the other chaplains, and so Hariulf called him their Chief, even though he held no authority over them -- authority which, during the time Angilbert himself was Abbot and fit for that office, belonged to Ingelramn and Hildebold.

[55] Angilbert died at last on February 18, in the year 814, twenty-two days after the death of Charlemagne. The Sainte-Marthe brothers write he dies, 814, February 18 the year 817 or two years earlier; but in fact it was a full three years earlier. Not, however, as is stated in the Life at number 21, in the sixth Indiction, but the seventh. He was buried before the door of the greater church, where he rested for twenty-eight years.

[56] John Capella commemorates his death and burial more elegantly, in these words: "Twenty-two days having elapsed after the death of the said Charlemagne, in the year 814, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of March, St. Angilbert departed this world, and, as the Chronicle relates admirably on folios 44 and 45, during those twenty-two days, having piously received the sacraments by day and by night, always and continuously being in prayers concerning the death and passing of his Lord, weeping and fasting, he humbly sought and received the Ecclesiastical and necessary sacraments, and begged all his Brothers, as a sign of humility and poverty, for Ecclesiastical burial before the door of the great church, he humbly orders himself to be buried so that he might be trodden underfoot by all who entered."

[57] "And there his most holy body rested for twenty-eight years; and upon his tomb his disciples inscribed, and composed as an epitaph, the following verses:

He whom the grace of life raised eminently in the world, Angilbert, places his limbs in this tomb. an epitaph set upon it Throughout his life he held to the way of the Lord, And now his spirit shines in the heavenly citadel. He earned heaven by upholding the laws of piety, And by renewing the temple of St. Richarius. Whatever the Lord loves, he pursued with his whole heart, Generous to the poor, a physician to the weak. He conferred great splendor on the Church by his devoted service, And gave himself as a servant to Christ's servants. He cultivated the governance of the Church out of love of virtue: For which he joyfully holds an eternal prize. On the twelfth day before the Kalends of March he met his death, And returned his breath to the Lord, seeking the stars. King of Kings, give, O Father and gracious King, to Angilbert, Law of Laws, grant him eternal life, for Thou art the Law: Light, grant him light forever, for Thou art the Light: Peace, grant him perpetual peace, for Thou art Peace."

Section VII. The first Translation of St. Angilbert in the year 842; the second in the eleventh century. His Life. The anniversary celebration.

[58] The body of St. Angilbert was then translated to a more honorable place by Abbot Riboldo, who governed Centula as the third abbot after him. That Translation occurred in the year when the heralds, or envoys, of the three brothers -- Emperor Lothar, Louis, and Charles -- Translation in the year 842 negotiated a peace among them at Koblenz in the basilica of St. Castor, as Nithard writes in Book 4. That was the year of Christ 842, as is clear from the ancient Frankish annals. For the so-called Fulda annals say that in that year a lunar eclipse occurred on the third day before the Kalends of April, on the fifth day of the week before Easter -- which is erroneously said in the editions of Freher and Chesne to have occurred on the Kalends of April, the fifth day of the week, for the Kalends of April in that year fell on Holy Saturday. And the Chronicle of Fontenelle expressly states: "In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 842, Indiction 5... on the third day before the Kalends of April, on the very day of the Lord's Supper, before dawn had ended, the moon suffered an eclipse." And it has several other markers agreeing with that year. But those editors read "on the Kalends" instead of "on the third before the Kalends."

[59] Concerning the Translation itself, the same Nithard writes thus near the end of Book 4: "And it seemed that this could be done on the Nones of November; and so, the term of the peace having been established, they departed. On that very day a great earthquake occurred throughout nearly all of Gaul. And on the same day Angilbert, November 5 a man of memorable stature, was translated at Centula, and -- in the twenty-eighth year after his death (in the margin was appended twenty-ninth) -- his body was found undecayed without the use of spices. the body found undecayed This man was born in that era of a family not unknown. Madhelgaud, Richard, and this man were of one lineage, and were deservedly held in high regard by Charlemagne. He, from a daughter of that great King named Bertha, begot Harnid my brother and me, Nithard. At Centula he constructed a wondrous work in honor of Almighty God and St. Richarius; he governed the community entrusted to him in a wondrous manner. Then, his life having ended with every felicity, he rested in peace at Centula." Having touched briefly upon these matters of my origin, it is now my pleasure to return to the narrative of the history. So says Nithard.

[60] That Translation was carried out by Ribold, or Riboldo, the tenth Abbot of Centula. Concerning it, John Capella writes: "When those twenty-eight years had elapsed, the Brothers and religious of this monastery, under the direction of Abbot Riboldo having taken counsel from wise men, and especially from Abbot Radbertus of Corbie, caused his most holy body to be transported and buried in a leaden casket at the entrance or door of the Choir of the greater church." St. Paschasius Radbertus is venerated

on the same day as St. Richarius, April 26, as the same Capella attests. at the recommendation of St. Paschasius Radbertus The same Capella, later treating of Abbot Riboldo, says: "This Ribold translated the body of St. Angilbert from the place where it had lain for twenty-eight years, namely before the door of the greater church, to another place, namely in the door of the Choir." And shortly after: "This Ribold caused the following verses to be inscribed above the crypt or tomb of St. Angilbert: with an added inscription

In this tomb lies the memorable Angilbert, His soul, rendering all things holy, dwells among the stars. He died on the twelfth day before the Kalends of March: He built the temple which holds his tomb. And he lived under the time of Augustus Charles the Great, Renowned for his learning, a companion of Princes. He who ordered himself to be buried before the doors of the temple, Abbot Riboldo translated hither and laid to rest. Twenty-eight years after his death, His body was found ... intact, contrary to nature."

[61] Centula was thereafter repeatedly damaged and overthrown by hostile raids and other calamities; the church devastated and rebuilt it was indeed restored, but not with the same grandeur and splendor with which Angilbert had adorned it. Concerning Engelard, the twenty-first Abbot, who lived in the times of King Hugh Capet, John Capella has the following: "The said Ingelard, though a young man and a Deacon, being Abbot, began to rebuild this church, not of so great a circuit as it had been, but reducing it to the dimensions in which it exists at present; which pleased everyone, and especially King Hugh Capet."

[62] Meanwhile, the very sepulchre of St. Angilbert had gradually been worn away by oblivion. St. Gerwin I, the twenty-third Abbot, who was joined to St. Leo IX by ties of blood, intimacy, and emulation of virtues, discovered it in the eleventh century of Christ, his sepulchre having been consigned to oblivion and paid to the relics the honor they deserved, which God amplified by many miracles performed at them. How the matter was conducted is narrated by the oft-cited Capella in the following manner: "This Gerwin translated the holy bodies of Saints Caidoc and Fricory, or Adrian, Confessors, and of St. Angilbert; by St. Gerwin, Abbot because in a certain church called Gorze, in Lorraine, the said Gerwin had discovered the deeds of St. Angilbert; and had seen in the written records that, out of great humility, he had chosen burial at the door or entrance of the church; and he knew that the body had been moved from its first location. He ordered digging and searching to be done at the entrance of the Choir of this monastery. And by digging and searching, the body of Lord Nithard, the twelfth Abbot and son of the said Angilbert, was found, buried in a sepulchre of wood* with salt; and it was plainly apparent from the wound and gash on his head that he had received it in the war against the Danes, in which he had departed this world. And having seen this, he ordered it to be replaced, and ordered digging in the old location toward the west. And the workmen, digging with hoes, found above the pavement four monosyllables: Rex, Lex, Lux, Pax. And those words were the first and last of his original epitaph. his body discovered And on the advice of a certain aged religious named Teudelvald, they found without delay the most holy body, from the opening of whose sepulchre a most sweet fragrance with a heavenly fragrance spread not only to those present but throughout the entire precinct of the place. And they found all the bones placed in a mass and jumble, wrapped in a silk cloth of green color, not decayed but stored and translated by Lord Riboldo, the tenth Abbot, from one place to another. And from that investigation the said Gerwin was certain. Whence he instituted a second Translation of the said St. Angilbert to be solemnized, because by the same Abbot, out of fear of enemies -- Saracens and pagans -- the body had been deposited there. And because the said Riboldo had placed in the leaden sepulchre a slip of parchment in which it was recorded that the body of St. Angilbert rested there. And immediately he elevated the bodies of Saints Caidoc and Adrian and placed them in a silver casket or shrine adorned with precious stones."

[63] The Life of St. Angilbert which St. Gerwin is said to have found in the monastery of Gorze -- Life found at Gorze whether it survives anywhere I do not know. The one which we now publish, since it mentions St. Gerwin himself, was composed under him or his successor. Paul Petau and Peyrat name Hariulf, a monk of Centula, as its author, and cite the work now as the Life of St. Angilbert, now as the books concerning the deeds of the Church of Centula, and Peyrat sometimes specifies the chapters. We transcribed it from a Centula codex which Dom Jean de Saint-Martin, a monk of the Congregation of Feuillant and brother of the jurist Pierre Louvet of Beauvais, had communicated to us. interpolated by Hariulf, or newly composed But several folios had been torn out, so that the Life is consequently incomplete; nor is it conducted in a single tenor of style, but some things are reported in the writer's own words, others in the words of St. Angilbert.

[64] Other writings about him in a more recent Chronicle From the same source we obtained another book with this beginning: "Abbreviated Chronicle concerning the deeds and acts of the Lords and Holy Abbots of this sacred monastery and most holy church of our Patron St. Richarius, of the diocese of Amiens, of the Order of St. Benedict; compiled, composed, and constructed by the consent, deliberate will, command, and order of the Reverend Father in Christ and Lord, Dom Eustace, by Divine permission Abbot of the same Church and monastery, in the year of the Lord 1492, in the month of May, by me, John de Capella, most humble Priest, Master of Arts, Curate of Homiert, Chaplain of St. Benedict, and Apostolic Notary, native of the said place, from various books, codices, public instruments, letters, charters, and other records, etc." We have already made frequent use of this commentary.

[65] Peyrat, Book 1, Chapter 30, cites Abbot Anscher of Centula's manuscript book on the miracles of St. Angilbert, addressed to Radulph, Archbishop of Rheims. These are, I believe, Miracles written by Abbot Anscher after the year 1110 the miracles which we shall append to the Life from the same Centula codex. That the author of the Life of St. Angilbert and the author of the Miracles are not the same person may be inferred from what the latter says at number 1: "It is fitting to describe briefly who and how great he was in his mortal life." The same miracles are narrated by the already cited John de Capella.

[66] To these is subjoined another brief commentary, drawn from the writings of St. Angilbert himself, concerning the relics of Saints and their caskets, St. Angilbert's commentary on relics, etc. the sacred vessels and other adornment of the church of Centula, and the rite of perpetual psalmody -- such as was practiced in Greece among the Sleepless Monks and in certain other monasteries in Gaul -- which rite St. Angilbert instituted and ordained.

[67] Finally, it is explained how many townspeople inhabited Centula in his era, and what they paid to the monastery. Revenues of Centula John Capella reports that Henry, St. Angilbert's successor, recorded these in registers at the command of Emperor Louis the Pious, and after him Ignatius Joseph a Jesu Maria.

[68] We possess a manuscript Martyrology from the monastery of Nobiliacum, or St. Vaast, in the city of Arras, which formerly belonged to the monastery of Centula or St. Richarius, St. Angilbert's name in Martyrologies, February 18 as is noted in a more recent hand. Its title is: "Martyrology according to Bede throughout the cycle of the year." It is, however, as we have indicated elsewhere, clearly interpolated. In it, at the twelfth day before the Kalends of March, the following is found: "At the monastery of Centula, the deposition of St. Angilbert, Abbot, who as the seventh after Blessed Richarius happily governed the monastery of Centula, whose body, having been buried for twenty-eight years, was found incorrupt." Hugh Menard records him more briefly in the Benedictine Martyrology: "At the monastery of Centula, St. Angilbert, Abbot, formerly the son-in-law of Charlemagne." The same author in Book 2 of the Observations traces his life more fully. Andrew Saussay celebrates him likewise in the Gallican Martyrology with this eulogy: "At the monastery of Centula in the diocese of Amiens, St. Angilbert, Abbot, formerly the son-in-law of Charlemagne, who, despising the glory of the world and trampling upon its delights, compelled his body to serve the yoke of Christ, and, shining with wondrous virtues and teachings, after long exercises of piety rested in a holy end."

[69] The same Saussay in the Supplement to the Martyrology on the same day records the Translation of St. Angilbert in these words: The anniversary of the second Translation on the same day "In the monastery of Centula of the diocese of Amiens, the translation of St. Angilbert, superior of the monastery, formerly son-in-law of Charlemagne, who instituted perpetual praise of God in the church of his monastery, dedicated by him under the title of the Holy Savior; and having shown forth great signs of a mind wholly devoted to Christ, conspicuous for his merits of Evangelical perfection, he was received into the Angelic Choirs." The first Translation was made in the year 842, on November 5, which was a Sunday, the Dominical letter being A, as was shown above. And such celebrations

are generally held on Sundays, so that the people may attend more freely. In what year the second Translation under Abbot Gerwin occurred, we have not yet read anywhere.

* Perhaps "marble" marmoreo?

LIFE

by Hariulf the monk, as it is said, from the Centula manuscripts.

Angilbert, Abbot of Centula in Belgica II (St.)

BHL Number: 0470

By Hariulf, from the manuscripts.

CHAPTER I

The palatine offices, marriage, wars, and monastic life of St. Angilbert.

[1] In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 754, when Pippin, son of Charles surnamed Martel, together with his two sons Charles and Carloman, presided over the Frankish peoples with the royal scepter, the illustrious man Angilbert, distinguished by nobility of birth Angilbert, noble, dear to King Pippin and his sons and second to none in energy and integrity of mind, lived engaged in palatine and royal affairs; and by the splendor of his natural gifts had so inflamed the hearts of those same Kings with love for him that they cherished him most ardently, as though he were a most beloved son or brother. For he was endowed with a capacity for every kind of affability and most prudent pleasantness, learned and adorned beyond his years with so many pursuits of honor, of stature moreover quite elegant and of countenance most handsome, that in a marvelous manner he became dear to all who could see or hear him; and the grace of God, which had established in him a pleasing dwelling for itself, rendered him commendable to all. Thoroughly trained in the liberal studies, lives piously and abundantly enriched with the gifts of graces, by the counsel of his parents and at the urging of friends -- and even of the Princes, by whom he was most dearly loved -- he received the tonsure of the clergy; and, distinguished by the title of the sacred religious state, he ministered a great light of pious conduct to the courtiers.

[2] Meanwhile, Pippin, having been exalted on the summit of the kingdom for twelve years, closed his last day, and left as heirs of the kingdom after him the brothers Charles and Carloman, of whom Carloman survived but a few years after the death of their father. most dear to Charlemagne And so Charles the Great received the monarchy of the entire kingdom -- who was called the Great because he was great-souled in wisdom, strength, and vigor, and magnificent in prolonged endurance and experience of wars. This King therefore remained most loving toward Angilbert in all things, as much for his distinguished nobility as for his most honorable integrity of character. For all the men of his lineage were most illustrious and always held familiar with the Kings of the Franks, and famous: his grandfathers and great-grandfathers were either first in dignities, or related and near to the grandees of dignities. The aforesaid King Charles therefore held him in such great friendship that, wherever he went or returned, he always kept Lord Angilbert with him, on account, of course, of the prudence he had proven in him and his trustworthy fidelity in all matters. his Arch-chaplain And this great love proceeded to such a point that he made him the confidant of his secrets and Chief of the Chaplains, and also appointed him his Silentiary, and Silentiary so that, in the one in whom he had discovered a depth of prudence, he might by his counsel arrange the welfare of the entire kingdom.

[3] Thereafter, as heavenly gifts grew with his age, he received the rank of the priesthood at the prompting of heavenly love and by royal counsel, afterward made a Priest so that, adorned with celestial offices, he might approach ever more closely the reception of the Pontifical insignia. For the aforesaid King was planning to raise him to the see of some Metropolitan city, as one whom both the distinction of his birth and the widespread expertise of his great learning abundantly commended. destined for an Archbishopric

a Pippin, surnamed the Short, his father Charles Martel having died in 741, governed the kingdom of the Franks with the title of Mayor of the Palace, together with his brother Carloman; and when the latter embraced the monastic life, alone. In the year 750 he was anointed King by St. Boniface, Bishop of Mainz, by mandate of Pope Zachary; in 754 by Pope Stephen, together with his sons Charles and Carloman. He died in the year 768, the kingdom having been divided between these two sons.

b From his first inauguration, Pippin lived in the kingdom 18 years; from his second, at least 14.

c Peyrat, Book 1, Chapter 30, page 187, cites this passage but omits the word "grandees" magnalibus.

d How far this is true was discussed above.

e Has the manuscript "taxed" taxauit, or "carved" caraxauit or charaxauit?

f It was indicated above that these things are suspect.

g As we said, Nithard himself attests to this.

h Here a folio was missing in the exemplar we used.

i Namely Richarius, of whom we spoke in the prolegomena.

CHAPTER II

The splendid buildings and miracles of St. Angilbert.

[9] Symphorian, the Abbot, at that time governed the aforesaid monastery by the regular path, who sturdily walked with manly step the strait and narrow way of celestial life handed down to him by his predecessors; upon the death of Symphorian and having run the course of this life most cautiously, he arrived at the prize and rested in peace, having fulfilled the service of the eternal militia and been crowned with the crown of rewards.

[10] But since that spiritual army of monks could not long stand in battle without a Leader and Tribune of graces, by concordant election the outstanding man Angilbert was nominated and elected, he is elected Abbot whom the dignity of his birth, the abundance of his learning, and the fruitfulness of his virtues made fit for such an office. And since it was the custom in royal foundations that no one should be placed in charge without the royal assent, Brothers of good repute were sent from the cloister to announce to the royal ears both that the Abbot had died and that a new Abbot had been elected. Charles, hearing this -- namely, that the unanimous agreement of the Brothers had settled upon Lord Angilbert -- gave his great approval to such an election and ordered that it be completed promptly, so that, with God as author, the welfare of the place might be increased.

[11] Then the devout sons caused their master and follower of piety to be ordained as their Father; and having ordained him, they presented him with a worthy retinue before the royal gaze. The King received him eagerly and joyfully, the King approving and, exercising much affability and generosity toward him, magnificently exhorted him to persevere in the holy purpose he had assumed with steadfast constancy; that the resources of the kingdom and his own counsel would never fail him; and encouraging him only let him serve God devoutly and unceasingly feed the flock entrusted to him with the nourishment of truth. But the memorable Angilbert warmly communicated the ardor of his merits to the royal piety, since, that is, he desired to restore the monastery of St. Richarius in Ponthieu and to bring it to a more ample state in buildings, ornaments, resources, and conduct, and in the number of Brothers both within and without. "For the accomplishment of these things," he said, "I entreat that the royal piety may avail, and to the one seeking funds for the monastery's restoration, pledging them so that if, by your assistance, I am able to accomplish things worthy of God, they may be reckoned to you for the salvation of your soul in the eternal reward." These things done, the most merciful King piously consented, graciously favored, and amicably proclaimed that he would do everything that the most beloved man requested. In what manner, however, all these things were prepared is better shown from the writings of that holy man himself, preserved down to our time, which read as follows:

[12] "I therefore, the aforesaid Angilbert, considering and reflecting with the most diligent investigation and heartfelt affection upon how, together with the consent of my Brothers and of all the faithful of holy Church and other good men, I might have been able, with God's help, to rebuild for the better this holy place committed to me -- though unworthy -- he resolves to rebuild the monastery more splendidly by Almighty God and my most excellent Lord, the Most Serene Augustus Charles, for its governance; as reason permitted, we took care to labor. Since, therefore, the entire people of the faithful... the most holy and inseparable..."

[13] "... of Anthony and Columban; and the altar of St. Jerome, in which are his relics and those of Ephrem and Equitius; and the altar of St. Gregory, in which are his relics, the temple dedicated those of Eusebius and Isidore; on the same day, that is, the Kalends of January, they were consecrated by the same Bishops."

[14] "The church of Blessed Mary was dedicated on the day of her Nativity, that is, the sixth day before the Ides of September, by four venerable Bishops, namely George, Absalon, Pleo, and Geoffrey, with the greatest honor; another of St. Mary in which thirteen altars were also consecrated, under these names: the Altar of St. Mary, in which are relics of her, and of Saints Felicity and Perpetua, Agatha, Agnes, Lucy, Cecilia, Anastasia, Gertrude, and Petronilla. and altars in it The Altar of St. Paul, in which are relics of him, and of Barnabas and Timothy. The Altar of St. Thomas, in which are relics of him, and of Ambrose and Sulpicius. The Altar of St. Philip, in which are relics of him, Silvester, and Leo. The Altar of St. Andrew, in which are relics of him, Gregory, and Alexander. The Altar of St. James, in which are relics of him, Sixtus, and Apollinaris. The Altar of Blessed John the Evangelist, in which are relics of him, and of Linus and Cletus. The Altar of St. Bartholomew, in which are relics of him, Ignatius, and Polycarp. The Altar of St. Simon, in which are relics of him, Cosmas, and Damian. The Altar of St. Matthew, in which are relics of him, and of Mark and Luke. The Altar of St. Thaddeus, in which are relics of him, Nazarius, and Vitalis. The Altar of St. James the Brother of the Lord, in which are relics of him, Gervasius, and Protasius. The Altar of St. Matthias, in which are relics of him, and of Hilary and Augustine."

[4] But it fell out otherwise than the mortal King had devised in his mind. For the aforesaid King had begotten three daughters by Queen Hildegard, whose names are Rotrud, Bertha, and Gisla. Of these, one -- namely Bertha -- cast her eyes with most ardent love upon the most illustrious man Angilbert, and the one whom she knew had prevailed above all mortals in her father's love, she longed with all her affections to anticipate in the title of bridegroom and remedy of love. she is loved by the King's daughter But because her maiden spirit trembled to intimate this to her father's senses by herself, she nevertheless contrived, both in season and out of season, that this passion of her mind should come to the notice of her father Charles. He indeed bore with displeasure such a wish arising in his dear offspring; but fearing that the matter might proceed to worse, and considering the noble lineage of Lord Angilbert from his ancestors, he yielded to his daughter's will; and, having taken counsel with the chief men, on the appointed day he joined his daughter, carefully and regally adorned, to Lord Angilbert as his wife, he marries her with all who could be present giving their approval. Thus Lord Angilbert, departing from the sanctity of the priesthood, became the King's son-in-law, and, wholly united in the nuptial bond, begot two sons, Nitard and Arnid. he begets two sons from her; he is given a Duchy

A great part of maritime France was also given to him as a Duchy, so that the King's son-in-law might not lack the summit of honor.

[5] But when the world, with so many honors conferred, would have claimed him entirely as its own... and that he should submit himself as quickly as possible to the divine service. God, looking down upon his vows from on high, did not fail his petition. For when, having finished his prayer and departing from the tomb of the Saint, he was swiftly following the army to the camp, there came from heaven lightning flashes, voices, and thunder, and so great a force of rain, [he conquers the Danes by the aid of St. Richarius, who were terrified by lightning] with terrific hail, that the hordes of Danes, shaken with incredible terror, sought only the refuge of life, and, having hurriedly boarded their vessels, yearned with the utmost desire to flee from the borders of the Franks. And so a heavenly victory blossomed forth, that not a hair from the head of the Franks perished, Christ the Lord bringing aid to his future soldier Angilbert, and celestial aid also being procured by the proven and deserving soldier of Christ, Richarius. For a very great multitude of the Danes was slain by God the Avenger, through mutual slaughter and by being hurled over cliffs.

[6] Then Angilbert, having given thanks at the sacred body of Blessed Richarius, announced the outcome of the heavenly victory to King Charles. he wishes to leave the world But Charles, rejoicing together with him and quite astonished at the novelty of events, blessed the holy name of the Lord with frequent voice. Thereupon Angilbert, mindful of his vows, addressing the royal majesty more privately, humbly begged that he might grant him the opportunity, having left behind the honors of the world, to fight for Christ the King and to seize upon the path of a more amended life, so that through worthy fruits of penance he might be able to repair the losses of his soul. Hearing these things, Charles, with the King's assent made happier than can be said at such a vow of penance, complied without delay, and urged his most beloved man, who was requesting such things, to accomplish at once in deeds what he had vowed with his lips.

[7] Thus indeed Angilbert, departing from the King, returned to Centula, and, despising the summit of pompous dignity, first of all placed his most noble bride Bertha, consecrated with the sacred veil, in a suitable place within the same monastery of Centula, he establishes his consenting wife in a holy place devoted to sacred vigils and devout fasts and divine canticles with great fervor. Which done, Angilbert prostrated himself on the ground in the assembly of the monks, and, bathed in tears, humbly begged to be deemed worthy to receive the habit of the sacred religious life. And although great reverence was earnestly shown him by the Brothers of this place, nevertheless, regularly delayed and legitimately tested, he himself is admitted as a monk as the Rule requires, he received the garment and true humility of a monk at the monastery of Centula with the greatest devotion.

[8] Now indeed no mortal can narrate with what austerity he thereafter nourished his poor body, what crosses, what torments the persecutor of himself inflicted. No longer did he seek the elegance of garments, the softness of a bed, the pleasure or satiety of food and drink, nor did he indulge in sleep more generously; but with the whole intent of his mind, angry as it were with himself, he washed away his former errors all the more with fountains of tears. he devotes himself to works of penance Occupying the hours of night and day with prayers and psalms, also reforming his mind with frequent readings to the vigor of compunction, so that, according to the Prophet's saying, he might daily offer to God the sacrifice of a troubled spirit. Psalm 50:19 These and similar things, which it would take very long to relate, the reverend hero perseveringly carried out, and, presenting himself as alive to God, dead to sins, and mortified to all the vanities of the world, he merited to be recalled to the adoption of sons, merited to be made a vessel fit for honor, merited to hear by interior anointing: "Your sin is forgiven." Because, with the application of the duty of manure -- that is, the constant remembrance of prior fault -- this fig tree was turned into a fruitful olive, which was even now to be planted in the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 12:13

a Pippin, surnamed the Short, his father Charles Martel having died in 741, governed the kingdom of the Franks with the title of Mayor of the Palace together with his brother Carloman; and when the latter embraced the monastic life, alone. In the year 750 he was anointed King by St. Boniface, Bishop of Mainz, by mandate of Pope Zachary; in 754 by Pope Stephen, together with his sons Charles and Carloman. He died in the year 768, the kingdom having been divided between these two sons.

b From his first inauguration, Pippin lived in the kingdom 18 years; from his second, at least 14.

c Peyrat, Book 1, Chapter 30, page 187, cites this passage but omits the word "grandees."

d How far this is true was discussed above.

e Has the manuscript "taxed," or "carved" caraxauit or charaxauit?

f It was indicated above that these things are suspect.

g As we said, Nithard himself attests to this.

h Here a folio was missing in the exemplar we used.

i Namely Richarius, of whom we spoke in the prolegomena.

[15] The very walls, as they are called, rising in towered mass, were consecrated with three altars: namely, at the western gate the altar of St. Michael; at the southern gate the altar of St. Gabriel; other altars likewise which the venerable Bishop Gilduard consecrated. At the northern gate the altar of St. Raphael was dedicated by the devout Bishop of Amiens, Jesse, on the day before the Nones of September. All the altars of the entire monastery numbered thirty. the particular adornment of some Besides this, the altar of the Holy Savior, the altar of St. Richarius, and the altar of St. Mary were adorned with finely wrought canopies and golden hangings, and at these three altars the lecterns were wonderfully prepared.

[16] ...to be repaired likewise until the appointed time. Thus to table, thus to beds, perpetual psalmody there thus to everything at every time they went out, so that unceasing psalmody might remain at all times in the church of the Savior.

[17] Now when the structure of the greater basilica had been completed, and marble columns were being erected in it for the adornment of the temple, one of them, excelling in beauty and size, suddenly collapsed and shattered among the hands of those raising it. Then indeed sorrow and grief seized everyone, a broken column including the venerable Angilbert himself and all the Brothers, to such an extent that on that day they did no further

work. But the memorable Abbot, seizing the weapons well known to him, abstained from food and drink, and clothed in a hair-shirt lay sleepless all that night in prayer. In the middle of the night an Angel of the Lord appeared with a marvelous light, and approaching the column, traced its fracture with his finger, by praying he obtains that it be repaired and raised by an Angel and at once restored it to its former integrity and beauty. When morning came and the masons returned, they found the column not only whole but also set upon its base and standing perfectly upright, and accordingly they gave the honor of praise to Almighty God.

a Ignatius Joseph a Jesu Maria, page 440, writes that Symphorian, the sixth Abbot of Centula, was celebrated for the fame of his sanctity and especially for the praise of his chastity, and gave occasion to St. Maudegisil, or Magdegisil, to embrace the Rule of St. Benedict at Centula. St. Maudegisil. I believe the author intended to write of St. Angilbert; since he himself in Chapter 13, page 43, acknowledges that Maudegisil had been attached to St. Richarius more than a hundred years before Symphorian. We shall treat of him on May 30.

b Centula is not, however, named among those monasteries which owed military service, gifts, or prayers alone to the King of the Franks in the times of Louis the Pious, which are listed in volume 2 of Chesne's Francica, page 323.

c This was therefore written after the year 800, at the end of which Charles was proclaimed Augustus on the day of the Nativity of Christ. Yet there is scarcely any doubt that Angilbert undertook the restoration of the monastery long before that date, with Charles himself assisting.

d Here again a folio was missing in the exemplar we used. From what was said above in Section 5 and from what will be said below, one can gather what was written on it.

e Concerning St. Anthony, we treated on January 17; we shall treat of St. Columban on November 21.

f St. Jerome is venerated on September 30, St. Ephrem on February 1, St. Equitius on August 11. John Capella in his Chronicle omits St. Equitius and in place of St. Ephrem has "of St. Wulfran."

g Concerning St. Gregory, we shall treat on March 12.

h Which Eusebius and Isidore these are among the many of those names is uncertain. Capella says that their bones were here.

i This George, or Gregory, appears to be the Bishop of Amiens, predecessor of Jesse, from which one may conjecture that this dedication was made before the year 800, when Jesse was present at the coronation of Charlemagne.

k This man was of Noyon, called Plea and Pileon by others, as Claudius Robert has it. According to Malbranc, he is Oleon.

l Saints Felicity and Perpetua are venerated on March 7; Agatha on February 5; Agnes on January 21; Lucy on December 13; Cecilia on November 22; Anastasia on December 25; Gertrude on March 17; Petronilla on May 31.

m Concerning him, we shall treat on June 30; concerning St. Barnabas on June 11; concerning St. Timothy, we treated on January 24.

n These Saints are venerated: Thomas on December 21; Ambrose on December 7; Sulpicius -- perhaps the Pious, Bishop of Bourges -- on January 17.

o The feasts of these Saints: Philip on May 1; Silvester on December 31; Leo I, Pope, on April 11.

p St. Andrew is venerated on November 30; St. Gregory on March 12; St. Alexander, Pope and Martyr, on May 3.

q St. James the Greater is venerated on July 25; Sixtus, Bishop of Rheims, on September 1; Apollinaris, likewise Bishop of Rheims, on August 23.

r St. John the Evangelist on December 27; Linus on September 23; Cletus on April 26. John Capella has: "of his vestments, of Linus and Cletus."

s St. Bartholomew on August 24; Ignatius on February 1; Polycarp on January 26.

t St. Simon on October 28; Cosmas and Damian on September 27.

u St. Matthew on September 21; Mark on April 25; Luke on October 18.

x St. Jude Thaddeus on October 28; there are several Nazarii and Vitales.

y St. James of Alphaeus, who is also called the Brother of the Lord, on May 1. Saints Gervasius and Protasius on June 19.

z St. Matthias on February 24; Hilary of Poitiers on January 13; Augustine on August 28.

aa Dedicated on the third day before the Kalends of December.

bb Dedicated on the eighth day before the Kalends of April, toward the southern portico. Capella.

cc If the George mentioned above at number 14, note i, was Bishop of Amiens, then this altar of St. Raphael was not consecrated in the same year.

dd A folio was missing.

CHAPTER III

Acts and sepulchres of Saints adorned by St. Angilbert. His death, translation, discovery, and miracles.

[18] St. Angilbert indeed had a book concerning the Life of St. Richarius, composed in a simpler style, St. Angilbert has the Life of St. Richarius polished more elegantly and more clearly composed and transcribed by summoning to himself Master Alcuin, omitting those miracles which the Lord's Confessor had abundantly wrought in diverse places and regions, of which there was a large separate codex. Hymns also, both nocturnal and diurnal, and Antiphons with Responsories, and hymns about him composed the material being drawn from his Life, the same Alcuin composed. So great a zeal for the worship of God and the honor of the Saints, and so great a fervor, was in the man of God Angilbert, that whatever he found cast down, he raised up; whatever neglected, he cultivated; whatever disordered, he set right.

[19] The same servant of Christ, Angilbert, moreover labored to adorn more magnificently the sacred tomb of Blessed Richarius with gold and surround it with precious stones, he adorns his sepulchre and he also illuminated the same mausoleum with verses in meter written in gold, in which he both briefly displayed his own skill and concisely set forth the illustrious sanctity and virtue of the same Saint, he adds verses written by himself saying thus:

A golden urn covers the celestial treasure, The worshipper of the Lord named Richarius. Of most exalted lineage, whom this Centula brought forth, Who as Pastor of the place flourished eminently. Setting aside the worldly honor in which he greatly shone, He spurned ample riches for the love of God. Here, breaking his own body in hard combat, The pious and great man was always in the world. Here he restored life to the dead, sight to the blind, by which he celebrates his miracles And health returned to lepers at his fostering care. Full of Apostolic virtues and speech, He always held celestial feasts upon his lips. To him Charles the Prince, with benevolent mind, Completing a worthy temple, also built a tomb. After some one hundred and sixty years, The Lord's servant still stands forth incorrupt. and the incorruption of the body after 160 years That by his merits he may receive the celestial kingdoms, And in peace may quietly govern the kingdoms of the Franks.

[20] He also removed the sepulchre of the holy Confessor and monk Caydoc, now nearly buried over and collapsed with age, with the greatest devotion, and adorned it elegantly, he adorns the sepulchre of St. Caydoc and decorated it with golden letters and verses, saying thus:

Beneath this mass lies Caydoc, justly a Priest, Whom Scotland bore, and Gallic soil covers. Here, rejoicing, he followed the precepts of the Lord Christ, And with blessed mind despised the riches of his homeland. Hence the abundance of a hundredfold fruit accrued to him, And he reaps the generous rewards of the celestial soil. To him Angilbert, relying on piety as his guide, Both a song for his tomb composed, and the tomb itself.

These are the pursuits of the memorable Angilbert, by which he strove to honor the ashes of Christ's servants resting in the earth, so that he whose members he embraced with pious love on earth might share their company in heaven.

[21] He died in the year of the Lord 814, in the sixth Indiction, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of March, adorned with every piety and sanctity, and was buried before the door of the greater church, he dies February 18, 814; is translated in 842 where he rested for twenty-eight years.

[22] These and many other monuments of antiquity are found in various Chronicles and histories of Kings concerning the oft-mentioned venerable Father, by which his nobility and sanctity are sufficiently declared. His body lay in the aforesaid place for very many years, until the rule of Lord Abbot Gerwin the First. For after the above-mentioned Riboldo, very many Abbots presided over this monastery, whose names we append to this work for the sake of historical knowledge. again under St. Gerwin, Abbot, in the eleventh century Nithard, son of Lord Angilbert, presided as Abbot and Count. Louis, Abbot, of the royal stock. Rudolph, Abbot and Count, brother of Empress Judith. Helgaud, Abbot and Count. Guelfo, venerable Abbot. Carloman, Abbot, son of Charles the Bald by Queen Ermentrude. who were the Abbots between the two? Herbert, Abbot. Hedeuold, Abbot. Girbert, Abbot. Fulcheric, Abbot. Ingilard, Abbot. Angelrannus, Abbot, of pious memory. And then Lord Abbot Gerwin, who brought to light the venerable body of St. Angilbert, sought with much investigation and found with the greatest difficulty, and, having brought it to light, placed it again in the same

place where he had found it. At the very hour when the remains of his body were raised from the earth, so great a fragrance of sweetness filled the basilica at the discovery of St. Angilbert, a heavenly fragrance and all the workshops of the place, as if everything were being filled with balsam and all manner of spices; and a great earthquake also occurred in these parts on that same day.

a Concerning this, we treated above.

b Concerning the age of St. Richarius, we shall treat on April 26, on which he is venerated.

c Peyrat calls him Chaidoc.

d The same, "justly."

e Rather, the seventh Indiction was then current.

f He was Abbot in the eleventh century, in the time of St. Leo IX, who was elected February 12, 1049, and died April 19, 1054.

g He was the tenth Abbot; he translated the body of St. Angilbert for the first time, as was said before. That "above-mentioned" is added here shows that mention had been made of him earlier -- perhaps in those parts which were missing from our exemplar. He is elsewhere called Riboldo.

h In the same Ignatius Joseph, Nithard is placed after Louis, and is said to have received a wound on the head in battle against the Danes, from which he afterward died.

i A cousin of Charles the Bald, says Ignatius Joseph.

k The same author, for this Herbert, posits two: Gebert, who would have been the seventeenth Abbot; and Hebert, the eighteenth. But he omits Girbert as the successor of Hedeuold.

l In the same author, this is Fulgericus.

m In the same, Ingerrannus.

n Perhaps "opened" reserauit, or "revealed" aperuit?

[23] This, then, is the restorer and illuminator of our Church, who knew how to gather what was scattered, to strengthen what was broken, he himself the restorer of Centula and to raise up what was cast down; who, triumphing over the devil within himself, earned the crown of victory; who stored up most generous riches in heaven by word and hand, for he both watered the overflowing hearts of unbelievers with the word of truth, and, recalling them from iniquity, taught them to be worthy heirs of heaven; and, bestowing enormous weights of gold and silver upon the worship of the Church and the needs of the poor with a generous hand but with a still more generous heart, he made himself worthy on both counts to be received into the eternal tabernacles. This is Angilbert, whom the community of Centula, after that common star -- and secondary Patron I mean Father Richarius -- rightly embraces with a special privilege of love. Him, as the author of their religious life, the renewer of all piety, and the provider of distinguished honor, they ought to extol with continual praise. Because the title of praise, the origin of religious life, and the light of sanctity which our most blessed Pastor Richarius fruitfully disseminated in our lands -- this memorable man strengthened with a greater consolation of resources and increased with a greater number of Brothers. But let no one think that we equate him, however precious his merit, with our blessed Father Richarius; for although the one planted and the other watered, God nonetheless, through the merits and prayers of the most holy Richarius, gave the greater increase. And if Angilbert receives any praise, after St. Richarius any grace, all this was superlatively begotten and nourished by Father Richarius; yet in both the Holy Spirit was at work.

[24] This man, therefore, worthy of praise, Christ the Lord commended to the minds of the faithful, when, with the fullness of time arriving, as He had foreknown in His eternity, He in these days illuminates the mass that covers him in the earth with signs and miracles, and opens in him the treasure of His mercy -- when at his tomb He restores various diseases of the sick to health. We must therefore rejoice with spiritual joy, dearest Brothers, that the Father of mercies has given us such a nursling of our place -- he is made illustrious by miracles indeed such a patron -- and that what He disposed to accomplish through him, He has graciously bestowed upon our times and our eyes. For we trust that these things are so accomplished to this end: that we may diligently awake to the light of justice and the way of truth, and unceasingly praise the exceeding charity of our God with the devotion of mouth and heart, to arouse the piety of others and with pious endeavors forever magnify God, who is wondrous in His Saints, to whom in the perfect, unchangeable, undivided Trinity is all honor and glory throughout infinite ages of ages. Amen.

a Concerning this, we treated above.

b Concerning the age of St. Richarius, we shall treat on April 26, on which he is venerated.

c Peyrat calls him Chaidoc.

d The same, "justly."

e Rather, the seventh Indiction was then current.

f He was Abbot in the eleventh century, in the time of St. Leo IX, who was elected February 12, 1049, and died April 19, 1054.

g He was the tenth Abbot; he translated the body of St. Angilbert for the first time, as was said before. That "above-mentioned" is added here shows that mention had been made of him earlier -- perhaps in those parts which were missing from our exemplar. He is elsewhere called Riboldo.

h In the same Ignatius Joseph, Nithard is placed after Louis, and is said to have received a wound on the head in battle against the Danes, from which he afterward died.

i A cousin of Charles the Bald, says Ignatius Joseph.

k The same author, for this Herbert, posits two: Gebert, who would have been the seventeenth Abbot; and Hebert, the eighteenth. But he omits Girbert as the successor of Hedeuold.

l In the same author, this is Fulgericus.

m In the same, Ingerrannus.

n Perhaps "opened" or "revealed"?

MIRACLES OF ST. ANGILBERT

by Abbot Anscher, from the Centula manuscript.

Angilbert, Abbot of Centula in Belgica II (St.)

BHL Number: 0471

By Anscher, from the manuscripts.

[1] With the help of God our Savior, as I am about to relate the divine works performed at the tomb of our Blessed Angilbert on account of his merit, it is fitting to describe briefly who and how great he was in his mortal life, so that whoever takes up this reading, supported by this foundation of knowledge, may more securely peruse what follows. He was indeed illustrious in nobility of birth, most learned in knowledge of the liberal arts, most keen in intellect, a most steadfast cultivator and lover of the Catholic faith, St. Angilbert, great in the world most acceptable to Princes for the integrity of his character and the constancy of his fidelity, and so closely joined to the heavenly King in faith and devotion that neither abundance of possessions, nor wealth of riches, nor elegance of form, nor the nuptial union with royal offspring, nor the more ample power of immense dignity could drive him from the pursuit of divine fear; for, having renounced worldly honors with their allurements, he took up the cross of Christ to be borne in the company of the poor -- that is, of monks -- holy afterward as a monk poor himself, with all his strength; and, abundantly advancing from virtue to virtue, he merited to be ordained as Pastor of the Lord's sheepfold; and at length, after much toil in the divine service, he happily entered into the joy of his Lord. in the year 1111, he becomes renowned for miracles At his sepulchre, two hundred and ninety-seven years after his death, these miracles were performed by the Lord.

[2] In the village called Durcatum, an old man, blind from birth, divinely admonished to go to the sepulchre of Abbot Angilbert to be healed, by his aid a blind man receives sight went; where, after prayers and vows had been poured forth, the sepulchre began to resound with a tremendous noise and to shake with such terrifying rumbling that no one dared approach or stand nearby. But the blind man, who was expecting the promised light, was not frightened by the noise, until on Sunday, with the rumbling of the sepulchre; likewise a cripple the tenth day before the Kalends of March, he received the light of his eyes. This was the beginning of the miracles performed at this time.

[3] Walter, from the same village of Durcatum, had his feet and shins twisted backward and adhering to his buttocks; brought to the sepulchre of St. Angilbert, he was healed. Another man, out of his mind and raving, was also healed. Another, burning in both feet with a celestial fire, was healed. A certain woman from the district of Vimeu a madwoman, a sick woman, one suffering from sacred fire was held by an intolerable madness; brought to the Saint's tomb, she was healed. Another girl, born at Corbie, nearly deprived of one arm, was healed.

[4] While these and similar things were happening, a certain man from the household of the monastery, pressing close to the Saint's tomb an impudent man punished and persisting in lewd words, was immediately divinely repelled from the place and removed to a distance of twelve feet. a crippled woman healed, three blind persons A woman of Beauvais, afflicted with contraction of her arms and hands, received her health there. Another woman from the castle of Dommart recovered her sight. A blind man of the territory of Noyon, and also a blind young man from the castle of Roye in the territory of Amiens, were healed.

[5] a disbeliever punished, then healed A cleric who did not believe in the Saint's miracles and inwardly attributed them to sorcery, suddenly fell to the ground and began to gnash his teeth, to foam, and to strike his hands and feet against the ground; then by the Saint's prayers he was healed. another cripple In the district of Ponthieu, a man from the village of Domqueur, with a contracted and crushed hand, was suddenly healed upon invoking St. Angilbert. Another blind girl obtained the light of her eyes. A mute boy of twelve years was fully restored to speech. A certain man of Auchy, agitated by a pestilent disease, was healed. Two women bound by robbers, upon invoking St.

Angilbert, were loosed and set free. A man with contracted limbs was healed. A girl deprived of one eye was healed. A woman blind for seven years recovered her sight.

[6] A man of Rainville, captured and chained by soldiers, was three times and more loosed from his bonds, and then set free upon invoking St. Angilbert. A woman from the village of Centpuits, whose only son had been captured by brigands, saw him loosed from his bonds and set free. From the district of Ragny, a boy crippled from birth in foot and knee many healed was healed. A woman from the city of Nantes in Brittany, with both hands contracted, was healed upon invoking St. Angilbert. Another blind woman was healed. Another woman, blind for twenty years, was healed.

[7] A girl from the village of Hornoy, with a withered hand, was healed. Another girl from the village of Conde, dropsical, was healed. Another woman, afflicted with contraction of the hand and weakness of the right side, was healed. likewise others Another blind woman recovered her sight; she was from the village of Authieule. A certain deaf young woman had her hearing restored; she was from Breuil. A boy from Saint-Fuscien, with contracted limbs, was healed. A woman dwelling on the border of the castle of Picquigny, disabled from the navel to the heel, a deaf woman, cripples was healed. An old man from the town of Compiegne, oppressed by long-standing blindness, was healed when he invoked Blessed Angilbert from the hill near Buxy. a blind man A certain woman from Clermont brought her son, crippled from the loins to the ankle, to the protection of St. Angilbert, and he was healed.

[8] Godfrey, Bishop of Amiens, invited by Abbot Anscher to see the works of God in person, the sepulchre suffused with heavenly light decreed a three-day fast with prayers, that God might more clearly demonstrate what procedure should be observed concerning these miracles. On the second day, a great light appeared at night, hovering over the place where St. Angilbert rests.

[9] When Centula, once noble, abounding both in the devotion of Saints and in the fecundity of temporal goods, three persons freed from robbers the paternal refuge of the entire province of Ponthieu and a prompt and joyful maternal consolation, preserving the rights of all -- both its own people and outsiders -- by its ancient and principal institution, held its regular market days always on Saturdays, certain robbers attempted to despoil a man named Gualo; they could not, nor could they bind or hold him. Likewise they could not open or lift a sack full of wool that a certain woman was carrying, and this through the invocation of St. Angilbert. A certain youth from Drugy, seized by robbers and bound with iron chains and fetters in the village of Bertoniscourt, was freed and unbound upon invoking St. Angilbert.

[10] From the castle called Dommart, a woman sick for twelve years, the sick and crippled healed very feeble, was saved at the Saint's tomb. A mute boy speaks with a fluent tongue. A man having a withered arm for ten years was healed. A man freed from prison. A woman from the city of Beauvais is healed of her illness. A deaf man is healed. A certain man, withered on the entire half of his body, is healed. Two youths freed from prison. seven captives freed Another man in Centula escaped the hands of his guards, dragged off his chain, and flew to the tomb of St. Angilbert, no one being able to impede or delay him. A man swollen throughout his whole body is healed. A mute boy of thirteen years obtained the power of speech. A man from the village of Trossoncourt was freed from his bonds. Another obtained the same grace in a wondrous manner. At the village of Hangest, a certain youth was freed from prison. Many were healed of fevers in France, Flanders, Normandy, Aquitaine, and other places. A girl from a village called Conde was healed of the contraction of one hand. Two women from the town of Compiegne were healed of a similar disease.

a Hence it is clear that the author of the Miracles and the author of the Life were not the same person. The author of the Miracles, as we said above, is reported to have been Abbot Anscher. We give them from the same manuscript.

b St. Angilbert died, as was said, in the year 814. If 292 are added to 814, the result is 1106. Concerning these miracles, John de Capella in his shorter Chronicle writes: "In the time of Anscher... innumerable miracles were performed in this church at the sepulchres of Saints Richarius and Angilbert, who had already been dead 297 years."

c This is the dating marker of the year 1110, in which the Dominical letter was B. The shorter Chronicle has: "on Sunday, the first of the Kalends of May." And in that year the Kalends of May fell, just as did February 20, or the tenth day before the Kalends of March, on a Sunday.

d The shorter Chronicle reads: "A certain squire having porous and burned feet received his health."

e The Chronicle explains: "a lunatic having frenzy, so that they tied her hands lest she tear out her eyes, nose, and ears; immediately she wished to confess and receive the body of the Lord. Which done, she was calm and was made well."

f The manuscript Chronicle: "he uttered mocking words."

g The same Chronicle adds: "A certain other man, not in a state of grace, approached the columns supporting the holy bodies; immediately he was carried out of the church, not knowing by whom or how."

h Capella: "from the village of Lord Medard, in French Dompmart." Malbranc calls it Dommart.

i The same, Roye.

k This is how the story is told in the Chronicle of John Capella: "Four young clerics from Normandy, on pilgrimage, one of them inquired about the miracles with contempt and did not believe, but laughed; suddenly he was possessed by the devil. The other three devoutly and by force brought him forward, and he was freed, and declared that this had been a divine punishment." Malbranc says those four clerics came to Centula to inquire about the miracles of St. Angilbert and to seize an opportunity to mock the overly credulous people of Ponthieu; they saw what they had learned by rumor, but one attributed them to sorcery and was therefore immediately seized by a demon, but was freed when the others called upon St. Angilbert.

l This miracle is omitted, and in its place John Capella in his manuscript Chronicle narrates the following: "A certain carpenter from Vimeu, standing atop a very tall tree with his axe, falling downward cried out to St. Richarius and St. Angilbert, A certain man falling from a height, preserved and came to the ground unharmed."

m The same Capella adds: "from Normandy, from the village of Longueil." Malbranc renders it Longoculum.

n Capella: "A certain man born at Tours... upon lighting a candle, began to speak."

o Manuscript: "A certain man named Dominic, from the village of St. Silvinus, which is now called Auxy-les-Moines, near Hesdin, etc." Concerning St. Silvinus and Auchy, we treated on February 17.

p Capella says they were bound in the morning and freed at night. Malbranc says that both were from Le Mans, captured at Mentenay; but when they had several times ordered the grain brought to them to be given to the poor in honor of St. Angilbert, they were freed and carried their chains to his tomb.

q In the manuscript Chronicle of Capella, the following two are explained thus: "A certain man from the castle of Mortagne was disabled; he was made well. A certain maidservant from Rue had by chance become one-eyed, and had lost her eye from an iron spit; upon seeking the Saints, she was seeing as before."

r This woman was from Normandy, as the Chronicle states.

s The same manuscript: "A certain other man from the village of Centpuits, in the diocese of Beauvais, near Sommereux, whose mother was a widow, was captured and was perishing from hunger and thirst, bound and imprisoned; by the prayers of his mother, pouring forth prayer in this church, on her return she found him in his own home."

t The manuscript Chronicle describes this as follows: "Godfrey, Bishop of Amiens, was nourishing a certain very poor woman, crippled on her right side, and she had a twisted hand; she was made well."

u Capella: "from Breuil, in the diocese of Beauvais."

x In the margin it was noted that this is what is called in French Picquigny.

y This is the one mentioned in Note t. He is venerated on November 8; he died in the year 1118.

WRITING OF ST. ANGILBERT

Concerning the buildings, relics, vessels, etc. of the monastery of Centula.

Angilbert, Abbot of Centula in Belgica II (St.)

From the manuscripts.

[11] Let the reader's diligence know, moreover, that we have omitted very many things which the memorable man Angilbert wrought during his life concerning the adornment of this church, walls built by St. Angilbert which also, lest they be destroyed by oblivion, we have caused to be noted in the present work. For the altar of the Blessed Archangel Gabriel, which is situated in the southern gate, on the eighth day before the Kalends of April, on the Annunciation of St. Mary; and that of Michael, which is in the western gate, on the third day before the Kalends of October, were most excellently consecrated by the venerable Bishop Hildivard, through the industry of the aforesaid man. The altar

of Raphael, however, which is in the northern gate, on the day before the Nones of September, in honor of those same Archangels and all the celestial powers, was consecrated by the devout Bishop Jesse. with chapels and towers The remaining walls of the monastery, with the same Lord cooperating -- which are seen standing as they are to this day -- he was zealous to rebuild from the foundations with towers and chapels, and so that the inhabitants might delight in frequenting the solemnities of Masses and in serving Almighty God, with His help he took care to surround them firmly with a wall on every side.

[12] For when we perceived the aforesaid churches, founded as was written above in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and His glorious Mother and all His Saints, with prudent counsel, we were enkindled with great desire and exceeding ardor of love to obtain, the same Lord being merciful, he acquires relics according to our ability, a portion of the relics of those Saints for adorning the same holy churches of God. Wherefore with all our heart and the whole intent of our mind we strove to discover how, through the help of Almighty God and the assistance of my glorious Lord, the great Emperor, through Charlemagne from the various parts of all Christendom, how many and of what quality and whence brought, we might have been able to store them in this holy place, as is shown in what follows. That is, first from the holy Roman Church, through the gift of Adrian, Supreme Pontiff of blessed memory, from everywhere and after him from the venerable Pope Leo of Rome; from Constantinople and Jerusalem, brought to us through envoys sent thither by my Lord. Then from Italy, Germany, Aquitaine, Burgundy, and Gaul, sent to us by the most holy Fathers -- Patriarchs, namely, Archbishops, as well as Bishops and Abbots. And also from the sacred palace, relics which had been gathered over time by earlier Kings, and afterward most especially by my aforesaid Lord, and through his generosity we merited to have a portion of them all and to store them worthily in this holy place.

[13] But concerning those of which we are certain, and from which the aforesaid most holy men we received written testimonies, he describes a catalogue of them we have not neglected to insert the names of all of them in this work, so that both by us and by all our successors who shall in time succeed to this holy place, and shall wish to know this, the more may the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ -- through whom these and other good things have been bestowed upon us, however unworthy -- be forever glorified through all things and in all things, who is blessed forever. Concerning the other relics, however, of which the names are uncertain to us, received from the same holy Fathers, we have by no means written. But of the rest, as we determined, we took care to note the names in this order: first, relics of the Lord and our Savior, and of His glorious Mother, and of the holy Apostles, and of the other Martyrs; then of the Confessors; and also of the holy Virgins and those who practiced continence.

Concerning the Relics of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

[14] Of the wood of the Cross of the Lord. Of His garment. Of His sandals. Relics of Christ Of His manger. Of His sponge. Of the Jordan, where He was baptized. Of the stone where He sat when He fed the 5,000 men. Of the bread which He distributed to the disciples. Of the Temple of the Lord. Of His table. Of the candle which was lit at His Nativity. Of the Mount of Olives, where He prayed. Of the mount where He was transfigured. Of the column where He was scourged. Of the bonds with which He was bound. Of the stone from which He ascended the cross. Of the Sepulchre of the Lord. Of the nails with which He was crucified. Of the place of Calvary. Of the vessel in which gall and vinegar were mixed. Of the stone upon which the blood from His side dripped. Of the stone rolled from the door of the tomb. Of the relics of the Innocents, who suffered for Him. Of Mount Horeb. Of the wood of the three tabernacles.

Relics of the Virgin Mary. and of the Blessed Virgin

Of the milk of St. Mary. Of her hair. Of her mantle. Of her garment.

Relics of the Apostles and Martyrs.

[15] Of the beard of St. Peter the Apostle. Of his sandals. Of his chasuble, of his table. Of the table of St. Paul the Apostle. of the Apostles Of his stole. Of the stocks in which he was placed. Of the cross of St. Andrew the Apostle. Of the manna of St. John the Evangelist. Of the relics of the Apostles James, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, Thaddeus, and Matthias, of Barnabas and Timothy. Of the bones of Zachary, father of John the Baptist. Relics of Blessed Simeon, who received the Lord in his arms. Of the hair of St. John the Baptist. Of his blood and of his garment. Of the ribs of St. Stephen. Of the stone with which he was stoned. Of the gridiron of St. Lawrence. A finger of St. Apollinaris. Of the sponge of St. Symphorian. Relics of the Martyrs: St. Pancras, Vigilius, Sisinnius, Martyrius, Pamphilus, the Holy Twins, Fabian, Valerius, Licinius, Pergentinus, Cosmas, Damian, Anastasius, George, and of the Martyrs Alexander, Cassian, Magnus, Vitalis, Nazarius, Nabor, Celsus, Gervasius, Protasius, Innocent, Lawrence, Tiburtius, Valerian, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Hippolytus, Christopher, Felix, Maurice, Candidus, Exuperius, Victor, Innocent, Benignus, Sebastian, Dionysius, Rusticus, Eleutherius, Cornelius, Leodegar, Firmin, Sixtus, Saturninus, Quintin, Valentine, Marcellus, Lucian, Crispin, Crispinian. Of the bones of the Forty Martyrs, as well as of the blood of many others.

Relics of the Confessors.

Of St. Hilary, Martin, Germanus, Lupus, Audoen, Eligius, Amand, Aventinus, Sulpicius, Remigius, Maurilio, Albin, of the Confessors Servatius, Jerome, Equitius, Ephrem, Gregory, Augustine, Silvester, Leo, Felix, Isidore, Donatus, Benedict, Columban, Anthony, Isaac, Vincent, Paulinus, Fortunatus, Simplician, Gualeric, Vedast. Thus far concerning the relics of the Saints, from whom the holy Fathers who bestowed them upon us gave us certain names; we have described the Martyrs and Confessors separately. Henceforth, however, since we did not find the distinct names of the other Saints, whether Martyrs or Confessors, we have by no means written them. Relics from the bodies of Saints which Pope Paulinus gave: St. Megimbosus, of other Saints Prascus, Eugenius, Frontus, Fidelis, Simplician, Faxidus, Gislan, Speratus, Robert, Galemer, Osguald.

Relics of Virgins:

[16] Of St. Felicity, Agatha, Perpetua, Eugenia, Thecla, of Virgins Cecilia, Petronilla, Euphemia, Fausta, Eustasia, Aldegund, Columba, Felicula, and Scholastica.

[17] These things having been honorably and fittingly stored, as was written a little above, in the name of the Holy Trinity we prepared with great diligence a larger casket, adorned with gold and gems, all placed in precious caskets in which we placed a portion of the above-mentioned relics; and out of veneration for those Saints whose relics were seen to be stored therein, we took care to place it beneath the crypt of the Holy Savior. For the relics of the other Saints, which are read listed above, we took care to divide them among thirteen other smaller caskets, most handsomely prepared with gold, silver, and precious gems, which we merited to obtain from the aforesaid venerable Fathers along with the same relics, by the Lord's gift; and to place them upon the beam which we erected in the arch before the altar of Blessed Richarius, so that in all places, as is fitting, the praise of God and the veneration of all His Saints might always be adored, honored, and venerated in this holy place.

[18] With these and other things elegantly arranged, as far as the Lord's gift enabled us, and with the above-described churches adorned with the various aforesaid relics of the said Saints, we began to consider with diligent affection of mind how, by the Lord's gift, we might have been able to attain to this: that as they shine honorably before human eyes in marble buildings and in the other ornaments, 300 monks at Centula so also we might be able to please Christ Almighty in the praises of God, in various teachings, and in spiritual canticles. Wherefore we established three hundred monks to live according to the Rule in this holy place, with God's help, desiring and ordaining that, if not more, a congregation of this number should be maintained in perpetuity. We also established one hundred boys 100 boys to be educated in the schools under the same habit and sustenance, who should assist the Brothers -- divided into three choirs -- in the work of singing and chanting; the order of psalmody so that the choir of the Holy Savior should always have one hundred monks with thirty-four boys; the choir of St. Richarius, one hundred monks and thirty-three boys; and the choir singing before the Holy Passion, one hundred monks with thirty-three boys likewise. These three choirs shall resound in divine praises in such a manner that they all chant all the Canonical Hours together in common. When these have been duly completed, a third part of each choir shall leave the church and attend for a time to bodily needs or other useful occupations, then return at a fixed interval of time to perform the duties of divine praise. In each choir also, this shall be perpetually observed: that an equal number of Priests, Deacons, and other sacred orders be maintained. Likewise, let an equal division of Cantors and Readers be arranged, so that one choir may not be burdened by another. Rather, let all, being of one mind, continually offer the sacrifice of praise to Almighty God, for the welfare of my glorious Lord, the Augustus Charles, and for the stability of his kingdom, with unceasing devotion.

[19] For when the morning or evening office has been completed, let all the choirs assemble in good order before the Holy Passion, supplication at various churches of the monastery with only ten psalms remaining for each choir; and so, proceeding through the gate of St. Gabriel and through the hall of the Lord Abbot, let them come singing through the western region of the cloister to St. Mary. When prayer, as the occasion requires, has been offered there, let them return to St. Benedict, situated in the eastern part of the cloister. Thence, let them enter through the steps of the arches to St. Maurice; and so, entering the basilica of St. Richarius, let them be restored to their choirs.

[20] We also command that this be observed with especial devotion: that no day should pass without the celebration of the sacred Masses; at least 30 Masses daily namely, that if not more, at least thirty Masses be celebrated daily by Brothers of the various choirs at various altars, besides those two of the conventual Mass which are most solemnly celebrated morning and noon; 2 solemn in which, daily, the memory of the most holy Pope Adrian, and of my glorious Lord, the Augustus Charles, and of his consort and offspring, shall be maintained. So that, according to the word of the Apostle, for Kings and all who are in high station, we may continually render thanks of supplications and prayers to our God and Savior.

[21] And since, as is read above, the altars were arranged for the veneration of the aforesaid Saints and venerably adorned by our small self with their relics, various works made by him we began to consider with diligent care how we might adorn them, for the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the veneration of all the Saints in whose honor they were consecrated, from the gifts of God and the generosity of my great Lord Charles and his most noble offspring and other good freemen, bestowed upon me by them, with metalwork in gold, silver, and gems, and where suitable locations existed, to place canopies altars, etc. above them, as far as we could with the same Lord's cooperation. That is: in the church of the Holy Savior and St. Richarius, eleven altars were fabricated and two canopies, and two lecterns prepared with gold, silver, and marble. In the church of the holy Mother of God Mary and the holy Apostles, thirteen altars were fabricated, one canopy, and one lectern excellently prepared. In the church of St. Benedict, three altars were prepared. In the churches of the holy Angels Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, three altars -- which together make thirty altars, three canopies, and three lecterns.

[22] For as to other vessels and furnishings, there are seventeen crosses prepared with gold and silver; sacred vessels procured by him, precious and numerous two golden crowns; six silver lamps; twelve copper lamps adorned with gold and silver; three golden pomanders; two large golden chalices with patens; likewise one large golden chalice with images, together with its paten; twelve other silver chalices with their patens. Ten silver offertory dishes. At the head of St. Richarius, one panel prepared with gold and silver; two larger doors prepared with gold and silver; two other smaller ones; two other small doors similarly prepared; one golden belt; one excellent silver inkstand prepared with gold; one knife prepared with gold and pearls; one ivory codex excellently prepared with gold, silver, and gems; one shell prepared with gold; four silver censers prepared with gold; thirteen silver-gilt goblets; one larger silver shell with silver images; one silver drinking cup; two silver ewers with their basins; one silver cane; one ivory one; two silver buckets; two silver pitchers; one golden key; one silver bell; thirteen silver crowns with lights; six columns before the altar of St. Richarius prepared with gold and silver; three smaller beams with their arches prepared with silver; three spoons prepared with gold; fifteen excellent bells with their fifteen mountings; three hand-bells; six bronze images; one ivory image; two candlesticks prepared with gold; seven doors prepared with gold.

[23] Furthermore, we donated there seventy-eight excellent cloths; two hundred copes; sacred vestments twenty-four silk dalmatics; six Roman albs with their amices prepared with gold; two hundred and sixty linen albs; five stoles prepared with gold; ten maniples of cloth prepared with gold; five cushions of cloth; five coverlets of cloth; thirty chasubles of cloth; ten of purple; six of brocade; one of fish-skin; fifteen of plain cloth; five of silk. One Gospel book written in gold, with silver covers wonderfully prepared with gold and precious stones. Another full Gospel book; books two hundred volumes of other books. In addition, also very many ornaments in metalwork and in various useful things, in lead, glass, marble, and other equipment, which it would be tedious to enumerate and too lengthy to describe; which nevertheless at that time were appraised by the faithful of God and St. Richarius, who had labored with us in God's service, other items as being able to be worth fifteen thousand pounds or more.

a From this it appears clear that these things were written or dictated by the same person who wrote the Life.

b He was Bishop of Cambrai.

c These appear to be transcribed from the autograph of St. Angilbert. And what he says "above-written" perhaps refers back to Chapter 2, number 12.

d Written testimonies, or documents, or slips, or brief attestations of the relics are meant; or, as Capella says, instruments, charters, documents, and trustworthy proofs.

e The feasts of the Apostles whose relics are listed here were indicated in the notes to Chapter 2 of the Life, or are commonly known.

f St. Zachary is venerated on November 5.

g St. Simeon on October 8.

h The following are venerated on these days: Symphorian, Martyr of Autun, on August 22. Capella adds: "And of the vestments of his mother. Of the bones of the following Saints, Pancras, etc." Pancras on May 12. St. Vigilius, Bishop and Martyr, on January 26. Sisinnius, Martyrius, Alexander on May 29. Pamphilus on June 1, and on other days others of the same name. The Twins on January 17. Fabian on January 20. Valerius on June 14. Licinius on August 7. Pergentinus on June 3. Cosmas and Damian on September 27. Several Anastasii on various days. George on April 23. Cassian on August 13. Magnus on August 19, though there are also others of that name. Vitalis on April 28. Nazarius and Celsus on July 28. Gervasius and Protasius on June 19. Lawrence on August 10. Tiburtius and Valerian on April 14. Linus on September 23. Cletus on April 26. Clement on November 23. Hippolytus on August 13. Christopher on July 25. Felix on August 30. Maurice, Candidus, Exuperius, Victor, Innocent on September 22. Benignus on February 13, another on November 1. Sebastian on January 20. Dionysius, Rusticus, Eleutherius on October 9. Cornelius on September 16. Leodegar on October 2. Firmin on September 25. Sixtus, Bishop of Rheims, Martyr, on September 1. Sixtus I, Pope, Martyr, on April 6; II on August 6. Saturninus on November 29. Quintin on October 31. Valentine on February 14. Marcellus on January 16. Lucian on January 8. Crispin and Crispinian on October 25. The Forty Martyrs, formerly March 9, now March 10.

i The feasts of these are: Hilary on January 13. Martin on November 11. Germanus of Auxerre on July 31. Lupus on July 29. Audoen on August 24. Eligius on December 1. Amand on February 6. Aventinus on February 4. Sulpicius on January 17. Remigius on October 1 or January 13. Maurilio on November 13. Albin on March 1. Servatius on May 13. Jerome on September 30. Equitius on August 11. Ephrem on February 1. Gregory on March 12. Augustine on August 28. Silvester on December 31. Leo on April 11. Felix on February 25. Isidore on January 15. Donatus on August 19. Benedict on March 21. Columban on November 21. Anthony on January 17. Isaac on August 11. Vincent on January 22. Paulinus on June 22. Fortunatus on June 1. Simplician on August 22. Gualeric, or Valery, on April 1. Vedast on February 6.

k I believe this to be St. Paulinus, Patriarch of Aquileia, a contemporary and intimate friend of St. Angilbert.

l This Prascus is perhaps one of the Prisci venerated on September 1. Eugenius on November 15. Frontus on October 1. Fidelis on April 25. Simplician on August 22. Gislanius, perhaps Gislenus, on October 9. Speratus, Martyr, on July 17.

m This is perhaps St. Oswald the King.

n These holy Virgins are venerated: Felicity on June 5, Agatha on February 5, Perpetua on August 4, Eugenia on December 25, Thecla on September 23, Cecilia on November 22, Petronilla on May 31, Euphemia on September 16, Fausta on January 4, Eustasia..., Aldegund on January 30, Columba on December 31, Felicula on June 13, Scholastica on February 10.

o Capella has "three hundred Priests."

p The same, "one hundred others, namely Deacons, Subdeacons, Readers, Acolytes, and others in the schools, etc."

q Canopy. A canopy here appears to be a cover placed above the altar for adornment.

r A lectern is a pulpit or screen upon which Scripture or homilies of the Fathers are read; Lectern. or the place itself where they are read, for which elsewhere "analogion" is used. See Vossius, Concerning Various Glosses, Book 3, Chapter 19.

s Whether this is a basin for receiving the water with which the Priest washes his hands at Mass; Offertory dish. or some dish upon which offerings of gold, silver, or bronze are placed during the part of the sacred rite called the Offertory; or which are offered before the relics of Saints?

t Goblets. Which presumably held incense.

u That is, cups or bowls.

x Bell. Clocca, or cloccum, or cloca signifies a bell.

y Hand-bell. Schilla, or schella, is a hand-bell among the Teutons, whose language the people of Ponthieu and most Belgians then used.

z Maniple. What "fano" signifies, Vossius learnedly explains in Book 2, Chapter 7, page 201.

aa Cushion. Cussio here is a cushion, from the Teutonic Kussen, whence also the current French Coussin.

WRITING OF ABBOT HENRY

Concerning the revenues of the monastery of St. Richarius from the town of Centula itself.

Angilbert, Abbot of Centula in Belgica II (St.)

From the manuscripts.

In Centula itself there are two thousand five hundred dwellings of secular men; each pays twelve denarii, four chickens, and thirty eggs. They owe perpetual service to the Lord Abbot and the Brothers, wherever it may be needed. Four mills, the revenues paid by the townspeople to the monastery from which six hundred measures of mixed grain are rendered, eight pigs, and twelve cows. From the market, forty shillings per week. From the tolls, twenty shillings per week. There are thirteen ovens, each of which yields ten shillings per year and three hundred loaves; flat-cakes during the Litanies, thirty from each. The care of souls in the portico of St. Michael serves the alms of the Brothers, worth five hundred shillings per year. The burial of the poor and strangers in the New Village at St. Albin yields one hundred shillings per year, at the Gate of the Nobles, for making alms therefrom. The alms of the Abbot, five shillings per day; daily poor, three hundred; widows, one hundred and fifty; clerics, sixty. Each of the tenants pays per year one measure of wheat, likewise one of oats, and one of beans. From marriages, twenty pounds per year. Fines of outsiders, sixty-eight pounds per year. Likewise there is a street of merchants yielding one cloth per year worth one hundred shillings. The street of smiths supplies all ironwork; it is worth three pounds per year. The street of shield-makers provides and sews all coverings for volumes; it is worth thirty shillings. The street of saddlers supplies all saddles to the Abbot and the Brothers dwelling there. The street of bakers, one hundred loaves per week. The street of servants is entirely exempt. The street of cobblers supplies all footwear for servants and cooks. The street of butchers pays fifteen measures of tallow per year. The street of fullers supplies all felted cloth to the Brothers. The street of furriers prepares and sews all pelts for the Brothers. The street of vintners pays sixteen measures of wine and one of oil per week. The street of tavern-keepers, thirty measures of beer per day. The street of soldiers, one hundred and ten, each always provides a horse, shield, sword, lance, and other arms. The Chapel of the Nobles pays twelve pounds of incense and perfume per year. The four chapels of the common people each pay one hundred pounds of wax and three of incense. The offering at the sepulchre of St. Richarius is worth two hundred marks or three hundred pounds every week, besides other gifts.

a We said above that Henry was the successor of St. Angilbert. He, as Capella writes, was compelled by King Louis the Pious to describe the estates, possessions, and number of dependents of this Church, and this in the year of the Lord 831. This document was joined to the rest without a new title.

b Capella, 120 measures of grain.

c A kind of flat-cake, commonly called in French flan or flaon; in Teutonic vlaeyen. Or should "flaones" be read here? Capella has "flannos seu tartas" flans or tarts. Capella omits most of what follows and contracts some of it.

d Here Capella appends the towns, villages, and estates that belonged to the Church of Centula by right of patronage, numbering 120. All of which he says the same Abbot Henry described. The same are described in French by Ignatius Joseph.