Balduin

ON BLESSED BALDWIN, MARTYR, ARCHDEACON OF LAON.

Seventh Century.

Baldwin, Archdeacon of Laon in Gaul (St.)

[1] The feast of the Blessed Baldwin, or Baldoenus, is celebrated on January 8; on which day the manuscript Florarium Sanctorum has the following: The name of Baldwin in the Martyrologies. "On this day, of St. Baldwin, Levite and Martyr." Ferrarius in his general Catalogue of Saints, and the German Martyrology: "At Laon in Gaul, of St. Baldwin, Deacon and Martyr." Andreas Saussaius in the supplement to the Gallican Martyrology: "At Laon-le-Clou, the birthday of St. Baldwin, Deacon and Martyr, who was the son of Count Alduinus and St. Salaberga, who after the death of her husband became an Abbess; he devoted himself to the service of Christ from his earliest age, and having been initiated into Holy Orders, while he most holily discharged the Levitical ministry in that city, he was killed by impious men and died for piety and justice, with the perpetual zeal of which he burned."

[2] Molanus in his Additions to Usuard: "At Laon in Gaul, of the Blessed Baldwin, Archdeacon and Martyr: whose deeds are contained in the Life of his mother Salaberga, on September 22." We have the Life of St. Salaberga from the Longpont codex, transcribed by Nicolaus Belfortius, and, as we suspect, somewhat polished: but in it, although mention is made of St. Baldwin, the deeds which he illustriously performed are not narrated; so that we suspect Molanus saw some more ample Life of St. Salaberga. But a separate history of the Blessed Baldwin, such as it is, was provided to us by a manuscript codex of the Corsendoncano monastery of Canons Regular. A somewhat briefer version existed in the manuscript Sanctilogium of the Williamite Fathers of Bruges, from which our Heribertus Rosweydus fashioned the Belgian version which he published.

[3] His era. In this Life the era of the Blessed Baldwin is not specified; it is only said that his mother Salaberga, during the reign of Dagobert (who died in the year of Christ 644, in the sixteenth year of his reign over Neustria, having earlier ruled the Austrasians for some years), married Baso. His era can be determined somewhat more precisely. For in the Life of St. Salaberga, St. Eustasius is said to have died after governing the brethren of Luxeuil for approximately three lustra, and St. Walbert succeeded him, when Salaberga had not yet been joined in marriage to Baso. Whether those three lustra are to be reckoned from the expulsion of St. Columban or from the death of Theodoric (which we shall investigate on March 29 in the Life of Eustasius), that marriage cannot have occurred before the year of Christ 625, perhaps not even before 628. Salaberga then bore five children, of whom the third was St. Austrudis the Virgin, and the fifth Baldwin, whom she likewise consecrated to almighty God as she had the earlier ones. Moreover, Austrudis was twenty years old when her mother died; Baldwin was somewhat younger. Since he is afterward praised as a prudent man, industrious in managing affairs, useful to his sister's monastery, and familiar with her and the nuns over whom she presided, he must have been of a more advanced age by then; for it would not have been fitting for a youth, under any pretext of kinship or piety, either to manage the affairs of virgins in a familiar manner or otherwise to cultivate friendships. Death of St. Salaberga. St. Salaberga therefore seems to have died around the year 650 or a little after. For as is gathered from her Life, St. Ansericus had died long before her, yet he survived at least until September 5 of the year 646, since he is said to have discovered the relics of Sts. Crispinus and Crispinianus (of whom we treat on October 25) in the presence of St. Eligius, who was already a bishop, having been consecrated in the month of May of that year.

[4] Baldwin, Archdeacon of the Church of Laon: Moreover, it is written that the Blessed Baldwin was Archdeacon of the Church of Laon. For thus Claudius Robertus has it in his catalogue of the Bishops of Laon: "X. Serulfus, whose Archdeacon was the Blessed Baldwin, brother of St. Austrudis." Andreas Saussaius in the supplement to the Martyrology at October 17: "Today St. Austrudis the Virgin entered the heavenly court: whose brother, the Blessed Baldwin, Archdeacon of St. Seculphus, Bishop of Laon, became also his follower and companion in eternal glory, through his holy way of life and faithful stewardship." We have not yet found the name of this Seculphus, or Serulphus, in the Martyrologies. Moreover, it is probable that the office of Archdeacon was not committed to anyone except one mature in age and learning. When he was killed: He may therefore seem to have been killed in the times of Ebroin; under whom, from the same city of Laon, Duke Martin was treacherously summoned and likewise murdered.

[5] As for the title of Martyr applied to the Blessed Baldwin, we said above on January 7, whether a Martyr. in the Preface to the Life of St. Canute, section 1, number 4, that this title is also given to those who, distinguished for the innocence of their life, were wickedly killed by evil men: although Baldwin seems to have provoked the hatred of wicked men upon himself by his zeal for defending justice.

LIFE

From the Corsendoncano manuscript.

Baldwin, Archdeacon of Laon in Gaul (St.) BHL Number: 0902

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER I. The parents of the Blessed Baldwin, his holy sister.

[1] In the times of Dagobert, King of the Franks, there was in this world a certain man named Baso: who, born of noble parents according to nature, The parents of the Blessed Baldwin, was made nobler by his character through grace, and by the counsel of the Frankish magnates took as his wife Salaberga, the devout daughter of the generous and religious man Gutwinus. She, after barrenness, bore for her husband, among a distinguished crowd of children, one daughter, who was called Austrudis.

[2] She was raised by her parents with great diligence and care, his sister Austrudis, a most holy virgin; committed to the Christian religion, also learning letters in the days of tender infancy. And so this newly born virgin surpassed the years of girlhood, walking from virtue to virtue; and while she ceased to cry in the cradle, she learned to sing praises to the Son of the Virgin. She also became, by divine clemency, capable of memory through hearing and reading, exercising herself also in the mastery of doctrine: she appeared distinguished in her birth according to the flesh, but more distinguished in the holiness of her mind; precious in the beauty of her countenance, more precious in heart: she was shown to the world to be full of eloquence, but far more of wisdom; beloved of God and men, she attached the anchor of her will to the virtues. Furthermore, she was so filled with grace that the maturity of her character was displayed even in her earliest age.

[3] Moreover, when she was in her twelfth year, she was sought by a certain Landrancus, born of noble lineage, she refuses marriage, who offered many riches of gold and gems and garments that he had brought with him, and delivered them into the hands of her parents, in order that he might receive the virgin Austrudis as his wife. But it is proved that he gave in vain for the spouse of God, and promised greater things in vain. For the virgin refused, rejecting perishable riches and passing nuptials. she becomes a nun. And when the daughter of the nobles began to serve God, the ecclesiastical orders rejoiced, with clerics offering lighted candles and carrying crosses in their hands and praising God for so great a virtue which they recognized to be in the virgin Austrudis: and so they proceeded singing all the way to the monastery over which St. Salaberga, the mother of this holy maiden, presided, piously governing the company of nuns.

[4] After some days, however, the venerable Abbess Salaberga, feeling the dissolution of her body to be imminent, she is made Abbess. committed the pastoral care to her daughter Austrudis, long since consecrated to God after her rejection of marriage, admonishing her to take care of the flock of Christ, in which there were nearly three hundred maidens serving God in that place. With the counsel therefore of the Bishop of the Church of Laon and of the Frankish magnates who presided over this province, and with the assent and election and acclamation of the sisters then dwelling in that place, under royal license she was consecrated as Abbess by an episcopal blessing: and she was twenty years old when she received the flock of Christ under her governance. Her whole intention was in God: and because she did not withdraw from divine conversations and commandments by day or by night, she so closely adhered to God that her bearing, speech, countenance, and walk seemed to be a lesson in the virtues.

a In the Life of St. Salaberga, September 22, he is called Blandinus, surnamed Baso, born of the illustrious line of the Sicambri. Rosweydus erroneously calls him Kaso.

b Rosweydus, or rather a careless copyist, made it Cutionius. In the Life of St. Salaberga he is called Gundoinus and Gunduinus.

c Rather, St. Salaberga first bore three daughters: Saretrudis, Ebane, and Austrudis; then two sons, Eustasius, who died as a child, and Baldoenus. Life of St. Salaberga. From this one may correct what our Rosweydus writes, that Austrudis was the only daughter born to Salaberga after several sons.

d In the Corsendoncano manuscript she is usually called Astrudis; Rosweydus calls her Austrudes. She is venerated on October 17.

CHAPTER II. The murder of the Blessed Baldwin.

[5] And so, while the blessed virgin Austrudis was endeavoring to spend all the days of her life in the praises of God, the enemy of the human race secretly fabricated arrows of sorrow. For she had a most dear brother named Baldwin, a good and prudent man, of great renown, who had attained the summit of the Levitical order in the ecclesiastical grades. Wicked men conspire to kill Baldwin. Against this man, beloved of God and men, at the instigation of the devil, those who appeared to be friends and faithful to this virgin and her brother conceived and plotted treachery. Baldwin was loved by his sister with exceeding affection, and he loved her no less: for not only kinship of the flesh, but unity of souls and holiness of character, conciliated the mutual love of brotherly charity. Against him, therefore, as has been said, the devil, the artificer of deceit and inventor of all malice, stirred up the minds of certain men, that they should hate the just and holy man without cause, and contrive against him a counsel of malice. O deed to be lamented, and the day of the wicked ever to be suspected! At length he armed against the Virgin and her brother the spirits of those who wished to appear first in the friendships of both. But is there indeed lacking in this world the perfidy of the wicked to prove the patience of the good? For the party of the wicked always assails the party of the pious, ever since Cain broke his brother's throat with a hoe. Job 36:13. For rare is the faith of men, of whom it is written: "The dissemblers and the crafty provoke the wrath of God."

[6] At length the Blessed Baldwin, most tenderly loved by his sister, in the simplicity of his heart — when everything that seemed necessary for the completion of the treachery had been craftily prepared and arranged with the plague of envy, and the time and place had been chosen — the just man was invited to a certain estate in the territory of Laon, they treacherously summon and slay him. whose name is Gohardi Island, as if for a conference, so that they might cast him into the snare of destruction, which they had hidden from him under a false color of peace and simulated love. But he, suspecting no evil with dove-like simplicity, taking with him only two horsemen, went as a third immediately to the place for the conference, which had been prepared by the machinations of ambushes and deceit by those enemies of all men, the most wicked that the earth sustains. And so the impious appeared under the color of peace for the slaughter of the just man — those who had seemed to be friends; whose names and lineage we consider it an insult to mention. Without delay, when the plots were revealed, the hidden hatred broke forth into homicide, and they killed the innocent man who deserved no evil, overtaken by such ambushes, running him through with swords.

a Rosweydus says only that he held a certain ecclesiastical office.

b Painters depict him killed with a jawbone; others prefer a fork of wood or iron.

c Rosweydus writes: in't dorp Laudunen, that is, the village of Laon. Pagus here signifies the domain or territory of the city of Laon, which in French is called Laon.

CHAPTER III. The grief of his sister Austrudis.

[7] The killing of the brother is announced to the ears of the sister, and she, amid bitter tears, blessed the Lord, like the simple and upright Job at the loss of his children. Job 1:21. The killing of so great a man could not long be concealed; the report goes out, the murmur creeps through the city on the lips of the people: and so at last the deed of so execrable a crime reached the ears of the sister. Austrudis bears it with great spirit: Having heard of the death of her brother, the brave heart of the virgin was shaken in nothing, nor did it yield to grief: but strengthened by the robust hand of the Holy Spirit dwelling within her, she bore so great a misfortune with a manly spirit, and knowing the state of the human condition to be fragile, she took care to weep for her most beloved brother with these laments: "Although I am today bereft and deprived of my own brother, I render you, O God, manifold thanks, and offer praise and honor to your Majesty. I beseech you therefore, most merciful Lord Jesus Christ, that I may not feel the wrath of your judgment, nor that you take away the face of your mercy from the tears of my eyes: but grant me the strength to bear patiently and to weep over the untimely bitterness of my afflicted heart, she piously and reverently complains before God: which has suddenly come upon me on account of the loss of my murdered most beloved brother. O Lord Jesus, most merciful consoler of the grieving, of what shall I complain first, what shall I rather weep over? The murder of my brother, or my own desolation? For your hand, O Lord, has touched me: and a double misfortune has befallen me, a double calamity; when either one of them would have sufficiently aggravated the force of grief and exceeded the measure of my feebleness. For even if there remained to me a manifold crowd of brothers and children, and if supports of consolation were available on every side, was not Baldwin alone more useful to me than a hundred brothers? Was he not better than ten sons? Even then, amid a thousand supports of survivors, could any oblivion erase the merit of so great a man, or could any consolation come to the sister, when to live for herself after him would be nothing other than to die continually? But now my grief is doubled, my calamity multiplied; because he has been taken from me who was my only one; whom alone I loved most dearly; whom alone I knew to be the anchor of my hope, the harbor of my counsel, the confidant of my secret, the judge of my spirit, and the other half of my soul. O manifold wounds of a single breast! Who, I ask, whether a tigress more fierce in rage, or an asp more deaf to enchantment, could close the entrance of the heart to such great wounds of grief, so that they would not penetrate to the very marrow of the inward parts? But since the greatness of the sorrow exceeds human strength, I fly to you, Lord Jesus, who show mercy when angry, who wound and heal, who strike and cure: Grant that I may so bear the hardships of harsh fate that grief may not overcome my mind: but if you inflict a wound, make also medicines for the wounds, she prays for her brother's soul. so that the mind may command the grief. Although I am afflicted because I am left alone, I bless you. You who rightly heal the grieving heart, be present to the mourning soul, O God. Grant rest to my brother, and let not the soul of this faithful man fear the caverns of the abyss. Make him a companion of the Saints and a sharer in the portion of those for whom you are the best portion. I praise and glorify and bless the name of your glory, which is holy, because the one you gave me, you have taken back." Alas, she said again, "innocent brother, why did I let you go into the counsels of the most cruel men? Never should there have been a cause for which I planned to send you, cruelly slain: you who were the staff of my infirmity." And because brotherly love knows no measure, she added again: "Now let those who have brothers according to the flesh be mindful of mercy, compassionating with tears full of grief. For it is written: 'If one member suffers, all the members suffer together.'" 1 Cor. 12:26.

[8] Amid these and similar complaints, amid the bitterness of grief and the ferment of sorrow, although her mind was sad, it was covered by a manly countenance: Concealing her grief, she consoles her nuns. and the bitterness of so great a sorrow was greatly tempered by the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The holy choirs of virgins also, when they heard of the disturbance of their Mother and such a misfortune, grieved and sympathized greatly, both for the murder of so great a man whom they had greatly loved in Christ, and especially for their spiritual Mother. And prostrate, clinging to the floor of the oratory with their breasts, with the most intent prayers they commended to God the soul of the deceased, and took care to soothe the excess of grief in his sister with the remedy of prayer. But their Mother, compassionating their grief even more than her own, approached them, supported by the hands of her handmaids, because she could no longer walk otherwise, exhausted by excessive labors and outpourings of tears. Standing beside the altar, with raised hands she could scarcely suppress their weeping and the bitter sighs of the heart, and at length, when silence had been made, she thus spoke to them, with frequent sobs interrupting her words: "O sweetest sisters, spare your grief, and now restrain this lamentation, rather invoking the Spirit that he may be a refuge to me in my desolation, She commands prayer for her brother. and salvation and refreshment to the soul of my brother. Let all of you remember and each of you recall with what pious affection my brother loved you all, and with what shrewd and diligent effort he always labored for the common welfare. Whence now it is required that you repay him in return for his kindness, and since there is no man who lives and does not sin, that you extend the shields of your prayers against his transgressions, so that before the Judge of all he may deserve to find mercy and not judgment."

[9] She goes to meet the funeral. Having said these things, going forth with her sisters, she went to meet the funeral of her brother: and standing on a high place on the mount of Laon, she burst forth again into these words when she could first see the funeral: "Is this how you return to your sister, Baldwin, to bid her a last farewell? Is this how you join kisses, press embraces, mingle conversations, entrust secrets, about to receive a final separation from your sister? Are these the gifts you leave me as a monument of brotherly love, that, mindful of no joy henceforth, the life of your sister may wholly cleave to and be subject to the memory of your death? O sad separation, where such gifts are left behind — the funerals of loved ones, namely, and the wounds of hearts — where not with services of honor, but with funeral rites, the affection and piety of friends contend! To whom, most loving brother, to whom have you left your duties — namely the care of your desolate sister, for whom you were glory in prosperity, protection in adversity, a shield abroad, counsel at home? Who would have believed that the sweet fruit of our love, proceeding from so happy a beginning, would have to be ended in so tearful an outcome; that the life of two, hanging upon one, and flourishing with the same equality of character and souls, would fall by a single destruction? By a single moment, I would say, two perished, because since you were the other part of my inward being, the inward parts which were moved by one vital breath — why should they not die when the better part has been taken from them, and the state of their life so wretchedly halved? Hence it is, brother, that I bewail myself as the survivor more than you as the dead; because after your death nothing is left to me but continual affliction, unceasing grief, and perpetual mourning." Saying these things, and falling again and again among the hands of the sisters upon the bier, she kissed it, streaming with most abundant tears; and to these first words she added:

O if it were given the sister to die with the brother, I would not fear death, if I could be with you. And unless death had changed your affections, you would still love. Happy would I be in death if death joined our love; And faithful to the end, let us now too be one. For while the mournful image of your death recurs, What do I do but pass the hours of continual death? I live indeed, I live, but under a wound that ever reopens. It is death, not life, to live always thus.

a How does she pray for her brother, whom we have said is called a Martyr? She perhaps did not know the cause of his slaying.

CHAPTER IV. The virtues and miracles of the Blessed Baldwin.

[10] The virtues of Baldwin. But no one is of such keen intellect that he could set forth the complaints of the Virgin in words; no one of so stony a heart that he could hear them without the compassion of grief. Not only the sister or the relatives of the Virgin lamented this man: but the whole city together, and the entire region, and all of both sexes and every age bewailed the unjust death of the man, remembering the modesty of the deceased, the holiness of his character, and the piety of heart he had always shown toward all. It is not therefore surprising that so great a man was killed by the members of the devil, since it is established that he is a Martyr of him who, by the zeal of the Pharisees, was crucified for the salvation of the world. For from ancient times virtue is always pursued by envy. Therefore not without cause does the Apostle Paul forbid sorrowing for the dead, leaving sadness only to those who have no hope of rising again. 1 Thess. 4:12. From this it is gathered that he dies faithfully who is killed to live for Christ. This man now reigns securely with Christ, because he was snatched away lest malice should change his mind; for his soul was pleasing to God: and consummated in a brief space, he fulfilled many seasons. Therefore his place has been made in peace for eternity, and his habitation in Sion. Wherefore let us believe that those whom we know to sleep in the sepulchers will be raised by God at the last trumpet in a brief moment of time. For it is written: "The just man, however death may have overtaken him, shall be in refreshment." Wis. 4:7.

[11] Moreover, the place is shown in the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His sepulcher, which is called Profunda, in which that most holy body, once buried, rested for many years: until, being translated from there, it was deposited together with the bones of the Blessed Salaberga, his mother, in the upper church of the Blessed John the Baptist. translation, These churches he adorned with many virtues both before and after his death: of which some have fallen from memory, miracles. and some we deliberately pass over, lest we cause tedium to the reader. Moreover, these few things which we have narrated, God willed to become an example for readers, to the honor of his name and the praise of the Martyr. And daily, if the faith of petitioners demands it, that place is distinguished by fresh miracles, which it would be lengthy to enumerate; but our Lord Jesus Christ also bestows the things desired upon those who piously petition, who lives for ever and ever. Amen.

a Rosweydus writes that the relics of both him and his mother Salaberga were translated together; whereas it seems the relics of the son were brought to those of the mother.

b Rosweydus calls this church of St. John de hooftkercke, that is, the chief or principal church. But the cathedral church of Laon is sacred to the Virgin Mother of God. There is, however, a Benedictine monastery in the name of St. John: whether the sacred relics of the Saints were deposited there, we have not yet ascertained.

c But for this, good writer, we are not grateful to you. We would have preferred that you had transmitted whatever was certain and attested: readers could have skipped over what was tedious.