John

CONCERNING BLESSED JOHN, BISHOP OF THE MORINI, IN BELGIUM.

Year of Christ 1130.

John, Bishop of Therouanne in Belgium (Bl.)

[1] The Morini, a most celebrated people of Belgica Secunda, considered by certain Roman writers to be the remotest of men, derived their name either from the marshes, which in the Teutonic language (which it is established the Gallic peoples also used before the Romans subjugated them) we still call "moer" and "broeck"; or rather from the sea, which the Britons and other inhabitants around these shores once called "mor." Of Therouanne, the city of the Morini, Their capital was Taruana, or Therouanne, or Teroana, adorned with a bishopric since the times of the Emperor Honorius, as is established from the ancient register of provinces; but the bishopric of Boulogne was joined with it for many centuries afterward, so that the same person was Bishop of both the Morini and the Bolognesi. But in the memory of our fathers, around the year 1553, the city was utterly destroyed by the Emperor Charles V, now destroyed, on account of its frequent factions and never sufficiently trustworthy loyalty. The disaster was marked for the memory of posterity by the chronographic motto: "MorInI DeLetI" The Morini Destroyed. The bishopric was divided into three: that of Boulogne under the dominion of the French, that of Ypres in Flanders, and that of Saint-Omer situated in Artois.

[2] Blessed John was Bishop of Therouanne at the beginning of the twelfth century, Blessed John was Bishop; born at Warneton in Flanders, a regular Canon at Mont-Saint-Eloi near Arras. He departed this life on 27 January in the year of Christ 1130, on which day Ferrarius in his general catalogue of Saints: "At Therouanne in Belgium, Blessed John, Bishop." Whose commemoration is in the Martyrologies on 27 January. The Gallo-Belgian Martyrology: "At Therouanne and neighboring places, the death of Blessed John, Bishop of the same place, is celebrated." Molanus in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium: "On the same day, in the year one thousand one hundred and thirty, the death of Blessed John, Bishop of the Morini, who governed the bishopric most holily for thirty years, a diligent guardian of courts of justice, of the poor, of churches, of libraries, and of the extension of religion. He is piously believed to have been inscribed in the book of life among the number of the Saints, although he has not been canonized by the Roman Church. His life, written at Saint-Bertin, is extant. He established Regular Canons at S. Martin's in Ypres." Miraeus also reports him and calls him Blessed in the Belgian Fasti and in his book on the colleges of Canons, chapter 125. Saussay reckons him only among the Pious. Ferreolus Locrius designates him as Blessed in his Belgian Chronicle.

[3] His life was written by John de Collemedio, By whom his life was written, who, after being a Regular Canon for sixteen years in the Church of S. Martin at Ypres, became Archdeacon of the Morini and lived with the holy Bishop for fourteen years, whence published here, for which reason he declares at number 16 that he writes nothing except what he himself has verified, or what he has learned from the most certain accounts of truthful men who were intimately familiar with his life. He wrote it, moreover, in the ninth month after John's death. Rosweyde had copied this Life from an old codex of Saint-Hubert. Our Martin L'hermite, a most learned and at the same time most courteous man, communicated to us the notebooks of Johannes Buzelin, in which the same Life of Blessed John was extant, copied from an old codex of Therouanne, which we collated with Rosweyde's copy. The same Buzelin had gathered from various authors and other ancient records various things concerning the notable deeds of John which were omitted by the author of the Life. These and other things we shall briefly touch upon below.

John, Bishop of Therouanne in Belgium (Bl.)

BHL Number: 4439

By John de Collemedio, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] Those skilled in the secular sciences have extolled with wondrous praises, After the example of the ancients, and adorned with wondrous monuments, the names of those whom antiquity held famous for various reasons. For they strove to distinguish the deeds of some with statues cast from any metal; to engrave the deeds of others on bronze tablets with letters bordered in tawny gold; and to illuminate the deeds of still others with a great number of books. For some they built temples; for others they took care to erect triumphal arches and to carve in white marble either the memorable labors of soldiers or the calamities of captives, sparing neither effort nor expense. For by these means they thought an enduring memory could be reckoned both in their own name and that of others. But however great these things were, their age advanced just as far. How little a fruit of profit did they gather from all their labors? Their buildings were partly destroyed by men who did not care for other things, and partly collapsed through the corruption of age itself. Whence it came about that, as those men perished in their own unbelief, their corruptible works were likewise unable to endure. If any of them survive, Ecclesiastes, scorning their vain endeavors, has derided them. Ecclesiastes 2. Wherefore I would rather advise them to seek lasting life than lasting memory--the way which our Fathers wore smooth by good works. The deeds of the Fathers are therefore described by their descendants so that the paths of life which went before may be prepared for all; whence we judge the labor of those who in writing sought not their own glory but either the profit of their neighbors or the honor of God, to be not only not to be despised, but not undeservedly to be rewarded by God.

[2] And so I, too, however unskilled and uncircumcised of lips, think that I shall not be useless, The author, who had lived with John, either to myself or to others, the children of holy Mother Church who are eager to make progress, if by writing the life of a venerable man, and one who is rightly judged worthy of imitation, I bring it forth to the advancement of many. That I should undertake this work, both the affection of that charity with which I most ardently loved the same servant of God persuaded me, and also not a few of the Brothers impelled me with most importunate prayers and innumerable exhortations. For they said that this could be more fittingly enjoined on no one else, since I had dwelt with him for so long a time. Although conscious of his own littleness, After previous deliberation with myself, I judged it good to obey their will. Placed, as it were, on the very threshold of beginning, I somewhat drew back my foot, terrified on the one hand by the sight of my own lack of skill and on the other by the magnitude of the task,

"Turning many things over in my mind, and not vainly shrinking From committing my sails in so frail a bark to so deep a sea."

I considered furthermore that such a work should rightly be enjoined upon a skilled writer in particular, lest a more uncultivated style should obscure the grandeur of the subject matter, when it could by no means express those things with a diction worthy of their dignity. Nine months after his death, But since in such deliberation, now that nine months had passed since his death, I have found no one among the learned to have applied himself to this task, either because it was not permitted or because it was not desired ... This I certainly do for the greatest reason, so that both in the present I may comply with the pious desire of my Brothers, and in the future I may enjoy the reward rendered to me by God for so small a labor, because in the succeeding age I have not allowed the merits of so great a man to be obliterated by blind silence.

[3] I shall therefore begin to unfold in part the deeds of the holy and venerable man John, Bishop of the Morini, He writes his life, invoking the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, that by favorably breathing upon my undertakings He may make me speak truthfully of the things which He deigned to work through him. Let him, however, expect his reward from God--not whoever has examined these things by reading, but whoever has imitated them by action.

CHAPTER I.

The education and studies of John.

[4] The man of the Lord, John, therefore, was born within the boundaries of the bishopric of Therouanne, in a town called Warneton, which the river Lys bathes with its gentle and placid flow, John born in Flanders to pious parents, of parents who were honorable according to the world and God-fearing. His father bore the name William, and his mother Phagala. Both indeed were laypeople, but, as was clearly apparent from the good fruits of their works, both were true Christians, and both devoted themselves faithfully to the service of Christ. For they zealously applied themselves to alms-giving, provided food to the hungry and clothing to the naked, and engaged in other pious works of mercy. When they had brought forth a son by carnal generation, they immediately took care to adopt him for Christ through spiritual regeneration, and having washed him in the saving bath, they named him John. This they are believed to have done not so much by their own judgment as by that of the supreme Judge, because what was later shone forth by the divine gift of grace seems to have been prophesied by his very name.

[5] Of this, no small proof shone forth from the very beginnings of his tender infancy. He devotes himself to letters, For when he was entrusted by his parents to the study of letters, he progressed so well with the aid of that same grace that not a few, whom his conduct had suspended in admiration, already augured with no false omen that he would become great. For he was less intent on the enticements of childish games than that age would seem to require, and he was no little vigilant in the discipline to which he had been given to be instructed. He humbly strove to attend the assemblies of the Church and to obey the precepts of his elders to the best of his ability. And when his boyhood was past, after he arrived at the crossroads of that Pythagorean letter, prudently declining the path of the left-hand way, then to Sacred Scripture: this wise traveler of life chose the narrow and steep way to the right; and having not so much dismissed as cast away poetic fictions, he directed his mind to investigating the meanings of the divine Scriptures, by which the inner man is nourished and advances in divine love. What provinces he traversed in his pilgrimage for the sake of study, what cities he visited, what teachers he heard, hungering, thirsting, suffering cold, for the most part continuing in vigils day and night--reading by day, that is, and writing by night--it is not within our capacity to unfold.

[6] In those times, however, although he had many teachers, he cherished two above the rest, whom we have judged worthy of mention here for the integrity of their lives. One was Master Lambert of Liege, a man of great religion and learning; He had excellent teachers, the other, who was held by all to be the greater, was the Lord Ivo, who was afterward Bishop of Chartres, and how great a pinnacle of religion and learning he held in his times, even today both the monasteries he established and the books he composed still testify. Of this faithful servant, he becomes most learned: therefore, and prudent steward of the great household in the Lord, our John was no dull hearer nor sluggish imitator; and with the unction of Him who teaches concerning all things more intently imbuing his heart, he progressed in a short time to such a degree that in all of Gaul scarcely anyone could be found who would be judged to be set before him in the prerogative of either life or learning. Whence, returning to his homeland with the Lord's blessing, he brought back treasures dearer than all gold and more precious than every gem.

[7] Then at Lille, at that time the most famous town of that region, He dwells at Lille among the clergy: he remained for some time. Where, because a church had recently been founded by the generosity of Marquis Baldwin and enriched with many goods, there was a very great multitude of clergy gathered from everywhere by the zeal of the same Marquis. Among these he was indeed held bodily, but spiritually he was a pilgrim from the world, which was crucified in his heart; similar to the others in the outward appearance of his garb, but very dissimilar in character. He avoids spectacles. For while others attended to vanities and watched spectacles or entertainments, or by playing provided spectacles for others to watch, he himself, intent on heavenly things rather than earthly, devoted himself to reading or prayer, sitting in his chamber, and never went out except when he had to go to church. If he happened to come upon those spectacles while going out, as we are accustomed to do, he would pass them by with a certain grave swiftness, not even wishing to glance at them. All therefore venerated him on account of the merit of his holiness; not a few even attempted to imitate him in their veneration.

CHAPTER II.

His monastic novitiate. The Archdeaconate of Arras.

[8] But lest anything should be lacking to his perfection that might be judged fit to add to the sum of his virtues, he himself also resolved to renounce the world bodily, He renounces the world: a world which he had already trampled upon in his mind with contempt. And so he approached the Lord John, Abbot of the monastery which was then being established on the hill called Mont-Saint-Eloi, some three or more miles from the city of Arras, a man of extraordinary holiness and religion, and humbly submitted himself to his direction. He becomes a regular Canon: The same man of the Lord received him with the greatest alacrity and joy, giving abundant thanks to Almighty God for so great a consolation divinely bestowed upon him. For since he himself observed the Rule of Blessed Augustine in that same monastery and had imposed it upon his brethren for observance, he judged his religion and prudence to be no little necessary for himself in this work. And not undeservedly: for who would not desire that pearl of divine wisdom which this shrewd merchant had purchased by selling all that he had? He seemed to have cast off everything temporal and to desire only eternal things. What more? To express much in few words, such was his manner of life in the monastery that he was able to benefit all equally by word and by example.

[9] Meanwhile, with Pope Urban II of holy memory holding the summit of the Apostolic See, the Church of Arras was released from the yoke of the Church of Cambrai, under which it had long groaned oppressed: the same Pope bringing this about by every means and fully restoring the Church itself, by Apostolic authority, to the state of its ancient liberty. Therefore, after a solemn fast preceded by prayers, as the creditable custom of the Church required, by Lambert, the first Bishop of Arras after the separation from Cambrai, with the clergy and people gathered from various churches, by the precept of the aforementioned venerable Pope, a canonical election was made in the same Church, with Christ granting approval. The Lord Lambert, the Precentor of the aforesaid Church of Lille, was elected to that same bishopric, a man in all respects upright and devout, not undeservedly to be adorned with the pontifical mitre. Therefore, with everyone exulting greatly and praising God, since he had been present, summoned while completely unaware of this matter, he was seized and dragged forth, and, although unwilling, although resisting greatly and protesting, he was elevated to the episcopal chair. Since the Lord Rainald, Archbishop of Reims, was delaying his consecration out of favor, as was believed, toward the people of Cambrai, he at length journeyed to Rome himself with a portion of his clergy, consecrated at Rome by Urban II, humbly prostrated himself at the Pope's feet, and humbly prayed to be absolved from the bond of obedience to him. But not having obtained what he asked, he was solemnly consecrated by the hands of the Pope himself, as if by those of Blessed Peter, and was thus at last sent back to his Church, fortified with Apostolic privileges.

[10] When he returned and was making the circuit with the due vigilance of pastoral care of the Lord's field which he had received to cultivate, and visiting the bishopric, he discovered many damages inflicted in various places through the neglect of the cultivator: here thorns, there thistles sprouting in broad shoots; there the useless growth of tares mixed in with the wheat. Seeing that he could not suffice alone, he resolved to summon others to share in his care. John is summoned as a helper, He gathered devout and prudent men from everywhere, with whose help, by dividing the weight of his burden, he might be lightened. Among these, he particularly judged that our venerable John, whom we have undertaken to discuss here, formerly very well known to him--since he had both lived most intimately with him at home and had labored for some time in the study of the sacred Scriptures under the aforementioned teacher Ivo--ought to be especially chosen for this work. And is made Archdeacon. He appeared approved by God and men, and upon him the Bishop imposed the supreme charge of the Archdeaconate. Nor did he err in his judgment, nor did his opinion in this matter deceive him. For it is a memorable thing about that Bishop that all who were chosen as Archdeacons by him afterward became Bishops. For we know that he had only three Archdeacons, all of whom we afterward saw become devout Bishops: the first indeed was the Lord John, Bishop of Therouanne; then the Lord Clarebald, Bishop of Senlis; and last, the Lord Robert, who by God's ordering became his successor. When, therefore, he invited the venerable man to take up the burden of the aforesaid prelacy, unwilling and compelled by censures, he began vehemently to resist and was unwilling to desert his state of contemplation even for a moment. At length the Bishop punished the entire Church in which he dwelt with an interdict of divine services, in order to draw out one person from it. Nor could he resist any longer. He therefore undertook the care of the Archdeaconate against his will. How he exercised it, we would attempt in vain to say, since it would seem to us that we must collapse beneath the weight of the task. He not only did not burden churches and ecclesiastical persons with any new impositions, contrary to the ancient custom of Archdeacons, but he remitted the exactions imposed by previous Archdeacons.

CHAPTER III.

The episcopate thrust upon him against his will.

[11] In these circumstances, the Church of the Morini, outwardly indeed harassed by wicked men, especially by Count Robert of Flanders who persecuted it, had suffered many disturbances, and from the times of Bishop Drogo of good memory had been vexed with tribulations for about twenty years; With the Church of the Morini miserably afflicted, but inwardly, through the very wicked character of certain persons, just as the sick are more destructively aggravated by evil humors, it was afflicted all the more dangerously and thereby more miserably. For when Hubert, the successor of the aforesaid Drogo, was wounded through the treachery of certain persons, so that he seemed about to die immediately, and on that account became a monk, after Lambert of Belluan the usurper was expelled, a certain Lambert of Belluan, with the supporting violence of the aforesaid Count, invaded the bishopric of the Morini, having even the doors of the church violently broken down; he drove nearly all the clergy into exile in various places (because they would not communicate with him), and held--or rather vexed--the Church for almost two years. But as he had entered by hostile means, so he was expelled by hostile means, his tongue and the fingers of his right hand having been cut off. When he was expelled, Gerard was substituted, elected indeed by the clergy and sought by the people, but, as was afterward declared, not sufficiently canonically, having won royal favor for himself; with Gerard simoniacally promoted, for a monetary agreement had intervened, although he himself, as they say, was unaware of it, until, having been demanded to pay, he was forced to discharge what had been agreed upon. Such great inconvenience followed this plague that he hardly ever had peace, and, compelled by excessive want, confused right and wrong. I am ashamed to say what I feel. Prebends were sold, the goods of the Church were squandered, and all this was unable to drive away domestic poverty. But by the judgment of the Almighty, what was acquired illicitly was continually consumed, as if by a certain rust. When he had presided for fifteen years and more, having been accused of this heresy of simony before the often-mentioned Pope Urban, being accused before the Pope, voluntarily resigning, and becoming a monk; the most valiant combatant against the plague of simony, and being granted the opportunity to purge himself, since he could not excuse himself, he ceased from the administration of the bishopric and betook himself to the above-mentioned monastery of Mont-Saint-Eloi; and gladly embracing the quiet so long denied him (for he was placid in character), he grew old in peace.

[12] Then indeed a strange confusion of the Church follows: for the Archdeacons, having assembled together with the cathedral clergy, with Erkembold refusing the bishopric; elected a certain Erkembold, a Canon of the Church of Saint-Omer. When he stubbornly resisted, and was not on the other hand urgently sought, that election was annulled with the greatest ease. Then they assembled again, and elected as Bishop Aubert of Amiens, John is elected together with Aubert: who had recently obtained a canonry of the Church of the Morini contrary to the sanctions of the canons, by which a cleric is forbidden to be enrolled in the churches of two cities. But the devout Abbots, since some had given their assent to both elections, desiring that a suitable steward be appointed for the house of God, for which they burned with zeal, and therefore having the fear of God before their eyes and invoking the Holy Spirit: "We elect the Lord John, Archdeacon of Arras, to be placed over the holy Church of God, whom we have truly recognized to be fitted for so great a governance, endowed with the gifts of a blameless life and praiseworthy learning."

[13] Soon, by divine prompting no doubt, the men of the lay order who were present yielded to their judgment with much favor. While those on the other side protested, and not without rancor and indignation shouted that the Abbots were striving in vain, the controversy was at length transferred by appeal to the hearing of the Lord Pope. And this was indeed opportune. For at that same time the Pope had called a general council at Rome from the various parts of the world. The case of both was examined at Rome, In that council the cause of the Morini was considered, and the election of Aubert being rejected without difficulty, the Lord John, whose holiness widespread fame had proclaimed, was pronounced worthy by the voices of many, and his election was solemnly confirmed by the Lord Pope according to the judgment of the Council. Nor did the people desist from their undertaking until the opposing party consented to the same election, having been convinced equally by reason and authority. But lest he should escape by flight, all these things were transacted without his knowledge. The Lord Pope, lest he attempt to evade the matter, threatened him with a letter of the following kind: "Urban, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved son John, Archdeacon of Arras, health and Apostolic blessing. Since it has been reported to our ears He is ordered by the Pope to accept the bishopric: that you have been elected by the common vote of devout men, both clergy and people, in the Church of the Morini, we greatly rejoice. By the authority, therefore, of the Apostolic See, we confirm and ratify that election, and lest you evade it on any pretext, we absolutely forbid it by the same authority."

[14] When he had read the Apostolic letters unexpectedly presented to him, he is troubled upon receiving the Pope's letters: he was immediately shaken with such great grief that he grew weary of his own life. On the one hand, he placed before the eyes of his mind the pitfalls that lay ahead. On the other hand, the supreme difficulty of being bishop, especially in that Church, entered his thoughts, since it had been diminished beyond measure outwardly in its possessions, and inwardly--which he dreaded even more--enormously dissolved with regard to the rigor of discipline. Placed, therefore, in such a conflict of thoughts, he did not know what to do or where to turn. While he was thus wavering and deliberating what to do and how he might most advantageously find a way out while beset by so many dangers, he at length yielded to salutary counsel, choosing rather to ride upon the storms of the sea, with Christ's favor, in whatever sort of vessel, than to plunge himself into the uncertain shipwreck of disobedience.

[15] He is ordained a priest, It was the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand and ninety-nine. In this year, therefore, on the second day before the Nones of June, having received ordination to the priesthood, and in the following month--namely, on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of August--by the venerable Lord Manasses, Archbishop of Reims, with the grace of Christ cooperating in all things, he was consecrated Bishop in the city of Reims. then Bishop. Whence, returning to Therouanne, he was received with the greatest exultation of the clergy, the nobles, and all the people, and with all rejoicing and praising God, he was solemnly enthroned on the Pontifical chair on the ninth day before the Kalends of the aforesaid month. O happy times, he is enthroned; in which benefits are proven to be granted from above! Behold, with Urban presiding, with Urban keeping pastoral watch over the Lord's flock and prudently arranging throughout wide-ranging stations watchful guards for his sheepfold, he effectively prevents the bites of ravening wolves from the sheep which You, O Christ, have redeemed. But perhaps what we say will become clearer if we name some of the devout Bishops of that time. For there were at that time Bishops of various Churches, at what time there were several distinguished Bishops, conspicuous in religion, eminent in learning, and most celebrated in fame. Among them were Hugh, Archbishop of Lyons, Legate of the Apostolic See to Gaul; the above-mentioned Manasses, Archbishop of Reims; Ivo of Chartres; Lambert of Arras; Odo of Cambrai; Noalo of Paris; Godfrey of Amiens--besides others whom that age held to be illustrious.

CHAPTER IV.

Virtues in the episcopate. His distinguished helpers.

[16] For when he was invested with the pontifical insignia, who would be sufficient even to investigate, let alone to express, how temperate he showed himself to himself, how just to his subjects and neighbors, and how pious toward God? For I am confident that in this matter I have knowingly neither said nor will say anything false, except what I myself have verified, having lived in his company for the space of nearly fourteen years, or what I have learned from the most certain accounts of truthful men who were intimately familiar with his life. The chastity of John, He obtained such great purity from boyhood, such great cleanness through the grace of God, that no one ever easily suspected him of touching a woman even with concupiscence, although it is not unknown to us that he was often vexed with many temptations of this kind. Guard over the senses, He was so strict a chastiser of his other senses that neither was his speech immodest, nor his glance wanton, nor his hearing occupied in listening to vain things. Abstinence, As regards taste and smell, he was always of admirable abstinence. For from the eating of meat he abstained in every way even to the last old age of his life. But about three years before he departed from this light, when a certain Cardinal Priest, a Legate of the Apostolic See, had come to visit him and found him so weakened in body from excessive frugality that he could scarcely walk on his feet or complete the celebration of the sacred rites, he began most urgently to press him that he should no longer refuse to eat meat on occasion. When we also humbly made the same request of him together with that Priest, he was entirely unwilling to comply, until, constrained by obedience on behalf of God and the blessed Apostles, he could not but obey. From that time he did indeed use meat occasionally, but most sparingly. Moderation in clothing. In his clothing he observed such a mean that his garments were neither excessively costly nor, on the contrary, excessively cheap.

[17] Immediately, therefore, when he received the chair of episcopal dignity, he gathered men of proven religion, chosen from various monasteries, whom he associated with his retinue to labor in the vineyard of the great Householder for the daily wage. That we may briefly demonstrate the integrity of their life and their energy in good works, and name some of them here: among their number were the Lord Achard, who had led an eremitical life devoted to God in the place which is now the monastery of S. Nicholas in Arrouaise, whom, upon the death of Archdeacon Hugh, he appointed in his place, Devout men as his helpers: Achard, and who today also survives and presides over the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem; and the Lord Richar, who for a time prudently administered the management of his household that had been entrusted to him, and afterward, keeping watch for some years over the office of Abbot in the same monastery of Arrouaise, completed the course of this present life by falling asleep in the Lord. Richar, Gerard, Also the Lord Gerard, a man in all respects devout, a Canon of the Church of S. Aubert at Cambrai, afterward appointed by him as the first Abbot in the monastery of Ypres, my teacher, who in that same place took care studiously to benefit equally the others over whom he presided for about sixteen years, and, continually persevering in good works, after the many labors which he endured for Christ, at last rested in peace. When he was elected to the aforesaid abbacy, Herbert, the Lord Herbert, already a young man of good hope, a Canon of the monastery of Formeselle, was taken into his service, and he had him as Chaplain in place of the same Gerard; and he afterward appointed him as successor in the Archdeaconate when the aforesaid Achard, having set out for Jerusalem, was no longer willing to return. He also had another Gerard as Chaplain, whom he appointed as Abbot over the Canons of the monastery of Lo, at their request. Another Gerard.

[18] Thus nearly every congregation of regular Brothers that happened to have been bereft of its own pastor in those parts desired above all to have a Father appointed for them from his household. Most recently of all, as the offscouring of all, and on account of the multitude of my iniquities not even worthy of being named in the number of such men, he also took me to himself, truly as one untimely born; and having detained me with him for nearly thirteen months, The author of this book, after the death of the Lord Arnulf, Archdeacon, he imposed upon me the care of that office, when I was quite a young man, certainly against my hope and the will of nearly all--in this perhaps, if I dare say it, deserving of blame. When, to confess truly, I was so bold as to question him reprovingly the very next day about why he had done this, he replied that the scarcity of prudent men, which then seemed to have befallen him, had brought him to that decision. So he said; while I understand that, by the altogether just judgment of God, to heap up my own misery I have stumbled upon this, as it were, stone of stumbling--and not unfittingly, for I who have scarcely ever governed my own soul well for even a single hour, how shall I escape when I must render an account to the strict Judge for the souls of others, whose oversight and care I have undertaken? Therefore on my own part I am pleased to cry out with the Apostle: "Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death," that is, from the pit of misery and from the mire of filth? Romans 7:24; Psalm 39:3.

[19] Moreover, many devout Abbots most frequently attached themselves to him, who, having zeal for God, desired to profit by imitating him: the Lord Cono, Abbot of the often-mentioned monastery of Arrouaise, Various Abbots, afterward Bishop of Palestrina and Legate of the Apostolic See to Gaul; the Lord Lambert of Saint-Bertin; Bernard of Watines; Gerard of Ham; and the Lord Hugh, a Clerk, afterward made Abbot in England of the monastery of Reading, and now Archbishop of Rouen; and a not inconsiderable throng of other Abbots and Clerks, whose names it would seem superfluous to recite here.

[20] The servant of Christ delighted in the company of such men, so that he appeared to be strengthened by their consolation for bearing the hardships of this present exile. These he had as witnesses of his inner life in private, and of his works in public. For whatever good things he exhorted others to do by words, he first showed in reality by doing them in his own works, so that his life might not disagree in action from what his tongue sounded in preaching. Through him, there was always either spiritual meditation, The occupations of John in his leisure, or sacred reading, or certainly profitable discussion leading to contempt of the world and love of God, or prayer poured out to God for himself and those committed to him. When it was time to rise for the nocturnal vigils, or in the morning, the Bishop was the first to rise, and in rising he was careful enough not to disturb the others who were resting with any noise whatever. Modesty in rising, For he spared hardly anyone less than himself. Then sitting in the chamber of the secret place of his heart, with the storms of secular thoughts removed, he devoutly prayed to his Father; private prayers, and in this very exercise, whether of meditation or reading, he persevered until Prime; and after Prime, namely until Terce. Then he would proceed to celebrate the solemnities of the Mass, reading at table, which he fulfilled either daily or very frequently in his own person. At his table, the sacred reading resounded daily, by which, just as the outward man was nourished by bodily food, so the inner man might be fattened with spiritual sustenance.

CHAPTER V.

Ecclesiastical discipline. Other virtues.

[21] The Church of the Blessed Mary at Therouanne, which, as we have said, he found miserably wasted both inwardly and outwardly, He repairs the Church of the Blessed Mary: he immediately, in the first days of his ordination, prepared as a wise architect to restore with a twofold structure. And indeed, as regards the insensible material of stones and wood, beginning for the most part from the foundations, he laudably completed it on the outside; but on the inside, with living stones and rational timbers, he restored it much more profitably. He instructs the clergy: For he strove to gather into the Lord's armies whatever clergy were distinguished in character and learning and were not attached to any other Church--that is, who did not hold ecclesiastical benefices--and to bestow upon them suitable and sufficient stipends from the resources of his Church, to the best of his ability. We know indeed and bear truthful witness He instituted no exaction, that throughout the entire time of his pontificate he abstained so thoroughly from every spirit of covetousness that he never made even the slightest exaction upon his subject clergy or laity, either by request or by nod. And he was entirely unwilling to accept the fines by which, for their transgressions not even fines: and violations, men ought to be mulcted by Bishops according to the laws, even though he was criticized by some for this very thing. Whence it came about that in the Church of God there existed a more honorable and more useful congregation of clergy, and no occasion for slandering the Priest of the Lord was afforded to the malicious.

[22] He also labored to bring back to the standard of right living the other clergy of that diocese, who had for many years followed the broad ways of the world and the desires of the flesh, He exterminates the simoniacs: invited both by example and by word. Some of them he found infected with the simoniacal plague, which he resolved to attack and exterminate with all his might. The Church of Ypres testifies to what I say; the Church of Formeselle testifies: these were namely wrested from the hands of the usurpers of this heresy, convicted by canonical judgment. For when those who had acquired a church for themselves through simony were expelled from it, he let out the Lord's vineyard to other workers. He gives the Church of Ypres to the regular Canons: When he had freed the Church of Ypres and retained it for himself for some time, he gave it to the regular Brothers, and having appointed the Abbot whom we named above, he confirmed it to be held in perpetuity by an episcopal privilege. The Church of Formeselle, however, he converted entirely to the regular state, He reforms Formeselle: except that he appointed the one who had previously been its Provost as Abbot of regular Clerks in another place, and set over that Church another of more notable religion, and afterward increased their revenues by his generosity. Whence it came about that in both Churches clergy professing the Rule of Blessed Augustine live spiritually to this day and receive in common, through his provision, the stipends due to their holy labors. He establishes various monasteries: He subsequently established seven or more other monasteries in various places and arranged in each of them congregations of monks or clerks proposing to live according to the rule of the Apostles. As for the rest, who through the ecclesiastical grades were to keep diligent watch over governing the people of God and to devote themselves to the exercise of virtues, he partly admonished and partly compelled them.

[23] We remember that a certain son of iniquity, instigated by the counsels of certain most wicked men, with the devil working through them, once laid snares against his life, and that, with God alone as his protector, the enemy's wiles by no means harmed the just man. For when his passage through a certain small village had been known in advance, and the way had been blocked to perpetrate the crime, while, rushing with great force, the assailant was striving to pierce the Priest of the Lord with a lance as he was passing, He is divinely delivered from the hands of an assassin: and he, hearing the outcry behind him and looking back at the blow of the raging attacker about to strike at any moment, as one desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ, fearlessly awaited it, and did not attempt to flee anywhere (although he was on horseback and the attacker was on foot) or to dodge; immediately by divine power the point of the persecutor was suspended in the air above the head of the Bishop, he forbids that the man be punished; and thus the enemy, frustrated of the fruit of his wickedness, withdrew in confusion. The atrocity of his crime, while the Bishop himself remained silent and sought no vengeance at all, nor even wished it--since many were resolved to avenge him--he absolutely forbade this from happening in any way. But although he himself, patient and merciful, exacted no retribution for so great a savagery, yet He who says "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay" Hebrews 10:30 did not remain silent. For both the assailant and all who were found to have conspired with him in so grave a crime, the Lord, having first punished them with various penalties, shortly removed from the midst of the living. Yet they are punished by God together with their accomplices. Wherefore those who remember having persecuted him in any way, whether by evil deed or by the sword of the tongue, I think it worthwhile to admonish here briefly from fraternal charity, that they should not neglect to wash away their guilt by repenting in the present while it is still permitted, lest, when the strict Judge demands it, they be compelled to pay just and severe penalties in the future. Furthermore, concerning him, I dare confidently affirm that by his good works he earned favor with God, as with all good men. And although fame might have proclaimed great things of him in his absence, when it was permitted to enjoy his presence, the report that fame had given of him in his absence seemed somehow less. So the greatness of the reality surpassed the greatness of his reputation.

[24] Moreover, a certain angelic honor adorned his countenance, and a certain divine quality constantly shone in his face, and it had so invested his eye, as it were, with such great reverence that whoever looked upon him loved him freely and venerated him from the heart without constraint. Indeed, with Pope Paschal of blessed memory, he had obtained such familiarity Most pleasing to Pope Paschal, that the Pope always counted him among his dearest friends. And so, throughout the entire time of his papacy, whatever he asked from that See he obtained without any difficulty. Therefore the same Pope, at his intercession, bestowed privileges upon the monasteries which he himself had founded. And because the Pope had a good opinion of his integrity and wisdom, he delegated to him many affairs of various Churches and persons to be handled in his stead. He sometimes commended to him the governance of other Churches deprived of their Bishops, and of certain dioceses of another province. He is appointed to handle various Church business. These are found even today in the Church of the Morini in letters directed to him from the Apostolic See at various times. But lest he should appear to glory in such things, he declined to use this power (as far as he could without violating obedience). Hence it is that he never visited those dioceses. And he scarcely visited those Churches even once. And concerning these things, although more could and rightly should have been said, let it suffice to have commemorated these few.

CHAPTER VI.

A danger to his life; dispelled from heaven.

[25] But something occurs which ought still to be related with the pen as it runs concerning his deeds, and which we know, as is written, has been long desired by many. For very many of the Brothers wished these things to be written down even while he was still alive. About fifteen years before he died, while he was making a pastoral visitation of his diocese as was his custom, it happened that he lodged in a village called Merkem. He comes to Merkem: Now beside the churchyard there was a certain fortification (which we may call a castle or stronghold), very lofty, built according to the custom of that land, erected by the lord of that very village many years before. For it is the custom of the wealthier and nobler men of this region, because they are especially given to pursuing enmities and bloodshed, that they may remain more secure from their enemies and by greater power either overcome their equals or oppress their inferiors, to heap up a mound of earth of whatever height they are able, and to dig around it a ditch as wide as possible and of great depth, and to fortify the top crest of the same mound on every side with a palisade of wooden planks most firmly joined together, in place of a wall, and with towers arranged around the circuit as much as possible; within the palisade, to build in the center a house, or citadel, which overlooks everything; in such a way, that is, that the entrance gate of the town itself can only be approached by a bridge, which, first beginning from the outer lip of the ditch, is gradually elevated in its progress, and resting upon pairs of columns--or even sets of three--fixed at suitable intervals on both sides, rises by a measured ascent across the ditch, so that, reaching the same level as the uppermost surface of the mound, it touches the edge of its outermost margin and at that point reaches the threshold at its front face.

[26] While the Bishop, therefore, was being lodged in such a refuge with his large and reverend retinue, having confirmed a huge throng of people both in the church and in its atrium by the laying on of hands and the anointing of sacred chrism, he returned to his lodging in order to change his vestments, since he had decided to bless the cemetery for the burial of the faithful. Then, as he was descending again to complete his intended work and pausing around the middle of the bridge, which had a height of thirty-five feet or more, for a certain reason, with no small crowd of people surrounding him before and behind, [When the bridge collapses, he is divinely preserved from death, together with many others,] on his right and left, suddenly, through the machination of the ancient enemy's envy, the bridge yielded under the weight and collapsed in ruin, hurling a great throng of those people together with their Bishop to the depths below; and as an enormous crash immediately followed, with crossbeams, large timbers, planks, and rubble falling with great force and noise, a certain dark cloud suddenly enveloped all that ruin so that scarcely anyone could discern what was happening. But the mercy of God was swiftly at hand, drove away the darkness, and brought His servant forth unharmed, together with that whole multitude, from the danger. There presents itself to my mind the shipwreck of the Apostle Paul, in which, with the ships and goods lost, God granted all souls to be saved at his prayer. Acts 27. Here indeed, although there was so great a fall of men, and so great a mass of timbers falling in every direction and without order, neither were any of the men injured at all, nor was any damage done to their belongings: he himself also came forth with a cheerful and joyful countenance, the water scarcely reaching his knees, and giving thanks to God, he reproached the contriver of all this treachery with words of this kind: "The devil," he said, "has tried to hinder the work of God, but he shall not prevail, since God Himself is our helper in all things." And with these words, without any delay, he hastened briskly to the blessing of the cemetery. But let this suffice for now.

CHAPTER VII.

His final illness. His death.

[27] I would wish to dwell longer upon the contemplation of such great virtues, but I fear that if the reading should be too lengthy, it will, as usually happens, generate too much tedium for the reader. Having therefore passed over many things which might rightly seem worthy of mention, let us turn our pen to this, that we may teach as briefly as we can about his falling asleep and his burial. Yet we judge that it should by no means be passed over in silence that before he was released from the bonds of the body and departed from this light, he labored with tribulations for almost the entire space of three years. For he saw daily those things which he could not see without grave anguish of soul. For after the death of the glorious Marquis Charles, a worshiper of God, "the earth was given into the hands of the wicked," as Scripture says. Whence the thefts and robberies, frauds and perjuries, plunder and arson, battles and homicides that followed continually tormented with unceasing sorrow the heart of the pious Father, which was full of charity. He suffered much during the time of William the Norman, Furthermore, for two months before his death he endured such a revulsion from food that his soul abominated almost all nourishment, and he took instead of food and drink a small amount of milk. Job 9:24. He labors long with nausea, This indeed was thought by most to have befallen him from the great abstinence which he had always maintained.

[28] For the last six days he labored with dysentery, which, having begun on a Wednesday, then with dysentery: on the following day, that is, on Thursday, he commanded the Priests of the Church to be brought in, so that, according to Apostolic authority, he confesses; he receives the sacred viaticum: he might be anointed with holy oil and the prayer of faith might be poured forth over him. When these things had been performed, preceded by the confession of sins, with an immense weeping of all, and having partaken of the most sacred body and blood, he gave the kiss of peace to all, and thus, having given his blessing and dismissed them, he resolved to bind himself to God through contemplation, the more secretly the more closely. And so, that he might do this more freely, he first ordered everything that he appeared to possess to be distributed to the poor, He makes his testament: so that as a poor man he might follow the poor Christ, who, by His own testimony, had not where to lay His head, although he was not poor, although he had striven at all times to imitate His poverty. Luke 9:58. To the Church, however, he gave books, vestments, and vessels dedicated to the sacred ministry, the value of which was not inconsiderable.

[29] Thereupon he began to discourse most spiritually about the beatitude of that heavenly homeland, He discourses on heavenly glory with a few devout men: for which he had unceasingly burned with desire, as one who by then had scarcely anything of the flesh remaining, with a certain wondrous sweetness of speech. The whole discourse, moreover, on contempt of earthly things and desire for heavenly ones, was woven in the ears of a few devout and spiritual men. There he also allowed me, a sinner, to sit beside him as he spoke, not indeed by my own merit, but by the benefit of our customary familiarity. Although I still partly retain the order of those words in memory, yet I greatly hesitate to insert them in this little work which is already demanding its end. One thing, however, which I have judged worthy of mention at this time: namely, that he then predicted certain things by a prophetic spirit, which shortly after appear to have been partly fulfilled. He makes arrangements concerning his burial and other matters: These I could indeed describe in detail, were I not resolved to spare the modesty of certain persons. But to carry out my purpose further, he arranged with the greatest discretion concerning the burial of his little body, the summoning of Bishops for this purpose according to the statutes of the Fathers, and the hospitality to be provided when those summoned arrived; and concerning all other things which seemed opportune. For he retained all his bodily senses in their complete integrity, and his judgment was so sound and his memory so unperturbed that, although he had always excelled in these, yet at that time especially we all marveled not without amazement at his wisdom.

[30] When these things had been arranged, he again embraced his beloved solitude and gave himself up to God, maintaining the utmost silence. For he had forbidden anyone to be permitted to enter, except any whom he might happen to have ordered admitted, other than those devout men whom he wished to be constantly present. To the people flocking to him; But a not inconsiderable crowd, attracted by the fame of so great a thing, flowed in daily, not only from that city but also from more remote parts. You could see men and women of various orders keeping watch before the doors with most devout humility, requesting the blessing of the holy Bishop with great desire; and if they did not merit obtaining it, that at least as children they might be permitted to see their dearest Father. It was excessively hard and inhuman if the devout people should be forbidden at least to see their Bishop who was about to depart. These prayers and complaints of this kind they heaped up with continual weeping and laments, and some even declared under oath that they would not leave unless they were heard. At length, somewhat overcome by their importunate entreaties and prayers, when we had conveyed to him in a few words their desire, he permitted them by a nod to be admitted. When they had entered with the utmost silence, he opened his eyes, he blesses them; raised his hand, blessed them, and dismissed them. From time to time we admitted others, arriving from every quarter with a similar desire, though with long intervals of delay passing between, in the same order with his permission, and immediately dismissed them. He, however, continued to persevere in his silence, and took great care to keep his eyes almost always closed, lest he should be in any way called away from his inner contemplation or prayer. He was so patient of the pain which he endured most violently that he lay altogether quiet and silent, most patient of pain, nor did he interrupt his silence with any lamentation or groan, as other sick persons are accustomed to do. In this manner he passed the entire following four days, with a perfectly sound mind and sound judgment, and the complete integrity of all his senses.

[31] At length, on Monday, at the first hour of the day, he gradually began to be pressed toward his departure. Therefore, laying him upon a hair shirt sprinkled with ashes according to his wish, He is placed upon a hair shirt and ashes: with the entry now opened, and clergy and monks rushing in with haste, we strove most intently, as befitted such a moment, to chant the psalms. But so great was the grief of all, so great the groaning and weeping of laity and clergy, of men and women, that the voices of those chanting could not be heard above those of the weeping; indeed, the lamentation which the inner sorrow of their hearts elicited was raised on high; heaven was assailed with tears and prayers, and the Divine goodness and mercy was implored with psalms and prayers. While they were chanting and completing the greater part of the Psalter, and also performing for the second time the office which is called the Commendation of the Soul, when he himself seemed to be falling asleep in a gentle slumber, at length that faithful soul was happily divested of the burdensome garment of its flesh, and was led forth he dies to possess (as it is right to piously believe) the rest of blessed immortality, which it had always desired with sighs, and which by whatever means it could while living it had procured for itself. For we know that he held the Catholic faith and had perseverance in good works even to the end. With the mercy of the Lord helping, we faithfully believe he has attained the crown of glory, for He who promised does not deceive. He departed in the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand one hundred and thirty, Indiction eight, on the sixth day before the Kalends of February, at the third hour of the day; after having presided over his Church for thirty years, six months, and three days.

CHAPTER VIII.

Burial. Miracles.

[32] When we had washed his body according to custom, clothed it in priestly vestments, and adorned it with pontifical insignia, and placed it before the altar of the holy Mother of God, Mary, in the church, His body appears more beautiful after death: it is difficult to say with how great beauty the Lord clothed it, and with how great a light of extraordinary radiance He illuminated his countenance. For his face shone with a certain wondrous and resplendent brilliance, so that it already bore a certain foreshadowing of the glory of the future resurrection even in its lifeless flesh. The merciful Lord was indeed showing what reward His veteran soldier had earned while serving in the tent of his body, since He so greatly illuminated with glory the very tent in which he had served. Throngs of the faithful came from every quarter, vying with one another, desiring to pay devout service to his venerable funeral. You could see them surrounding his bier with pious diligence, He is reverently honored by the citizens: with prolonged gazing and their eyes fixed upon his face, drinking in with most eager eyes that glory of his, unable to be satisfied. And so most of them, when they had withdrawn for a little while, returned again, because it was not enough for them to have seen him once or twice or often. And indeed this throng was present throughout that entire two-day period, with scarcely any hour lacking.

[33] On Wednesday, however, the Lord Robert, the venerable Bishop of Arras, arrived at about the sixth hour with his clergy, to pay the service due to the obsequies of the venerable Bishop according to the statutes of the Canons. He is buried, with Bishop Robert of Arras performing the office. The Bishop of Amiens, who had also been invited by letter for this same purpose, just as the Bishop of Arras, since he could not be present on that day, did not neglect to excuse his absence quite humbly by his own letter. When the solemnities of the Mass had been celebrated by the same Bishop, and I, a sinner, had abundantly anointed with my unworthy hands that glorified face and sacred right hand with a small amount of balsam, which I had kept for some time for this very purpose in a small silver vessel--that small amount of balsam had increased beyond all hope to no small degree--we at last prepared to place him in the tomb. Behind the main altar of the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary, at the side of the altar of S. Maximus the Bishop, where his venerable reliquary also stands, we had caused the wall of the church to be pierced, and his tomb to be placed in it, in such a way that it did not extend beyond the lateral surface of that same wall.

[34] It should not be passed over concerning this, that when the venerable Lord Herbert, Archdeacon, and I were greatly anxious about finding a sarcophagus in which so great a Priest could be fittingly placed, and were urgently considering with each other what needed to be done, it happened by divine will that we passed near the tomb. Now a sarcophagus had been prepared many years before for the sepulcher of a certain Bishop, but had been rejected at that time on account of its excessive shortness; I remember it was declared suitable for no one except a boy or a person of short stature. But our Lord was of tall stature. While we were therefore conversing with much sadness or sorrow, the same Archdeacon said: "Why do we not overturn that sarcophagus, destroying the wall which has been built over it (for since it was useless, it had been recently placed in the foundation of a wall), so that we may more certainly discover whether it can be fitted in some way?" "With many helpers employed," I said, "this could not be done, if any fruit of so great a labor were to remain for us. You know, however, what all affirm to be well established--that on account of the great shortness by which it is limited, it is by no means suitable." "And who knows," he said, "whether it can be adapted by some ingenuity?" "We could perhaps," I said, "extend its front part on the side of the feet, and by adding another stone, somewhat increase its length, if it should happen to have sufficient width." What more? This plan at length recommended itself to us. The stone was therefore overturned, A tomb found by divine providence to be suitable for him, and was found, with God providing for His servant, to be of such length and width that it not only amply exceeded his height but was capable of holding not only his little body but two, or even three, bodies of the same size, if the case should require it. It was also of such purity and such whiteness that no one could doubt that the thing had been so brought about by the favor of God.

[35] Giving thanks, therefore, to the Lord, we decreed that it should be placed in the aforesaid location, since it was more secluded. For he had commanded himself to be buried in a private place, where there would not be a frequent passage of people, since no one would have the opportunity of walking over his tomb. For he judged that this was fitting for all priests, and that members dedicated to the holy ministry ought for no reason to be trampled upon by anyone. When all things had been solemnly completed, he was carried to the place of burial, chiefly by the hands of the Abbots, although the nobles vied with the greatest devotion to at least touch his bier. As the aforementioned honorable man, that is, the Lord Herbert, and I were placing him in it (I shall say something wondrous indeed, but true, with Christ as my witness), holding him individually by the shoulders Those placing him in the tomb feel no weight and placing him in that same tomb, I felt absolutely no weight at all.

CHAPTER IX.

Epitaph. Epilogue of the Author.

[36] I had written a title briefly containing the time of his pontificate and his falling asleep, and a certain summary of his character and works. Which, having been confirmed by the testimony of those who were present, He was buried with a double plate containing we had written both on parchment and on a lead plate. Both we placed at his head: the plate by itself, and the parchment, sealed, in a glass vessel. We retained, as it were, a copy with ourselves, and we have judged it by no means superfluous to insert its text in this little work also.

[37] In the year of the incarnate Word one thousand one hundred and thirty, Indiction eight, on the sixth day before the Kalends of February, the venerable man, his epitaph, lover of all religion, the Lord John, Bishop, died; who at Rome, in a General Council, with Pope Urban II presiding and approving, was consecrated a Priest of this Church of the Morini on the day before the Nones of June, a Bishop on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of August, and was enthroned on the Pontifical See on the eighth day before the Kalends of the same month; he presided over the Church for thirty years, six months, and three days. While he lived he did many good things: he founded eight monasteries of regular clerks or monks. He also expended much on the fabric of this Church, which he had found almost completely overthrown and stripped bare. He contributed the best books, altar ornaments, and very many utensils for use. He was from the cradle a man of the purest life, chaste, sober, humble, patient, merciful, beyond human custom innocent, generous, and hospitable. And in a good old age, full of days, he departed to the Lord; the thirtieth in the catalogue of the Bishops of the Morini; buried in his Church by the hands of the Abbots on the fourth day before the Kalends of February.

[38] When he was entombed, therefore, all departed with immense groaning and weeping. For who would not mourn the public Father of the fatherland? Although certainly he is not to be mourned who by a happy exchange traded the transitory for the eternal, the corruptible and earthly for the heavenly. Yet we cannot command ourselves not to grieve, we who, while still dwelling in the hardships of this exile, have lost so great a consolation of life. O man most outstanding of these times! Steadfast in faith, long-suffering in hope, most abounding in charity--which in these days especially, with the whole world growing cold, has grown cold even in holy men, yet in him advanced daily by increasing, growing to the end. The Author's grief at the death of John. An exemplar of all religion and a mirror of virtues! With whose good things, through his holy love, the propitious Divine grace specially granted me, wretched as I am, to benefit; since that pious Father loved me, though unworthy and undeserving, quite familiarly. But how could he exclude me from the bosom of his charity? In which indeed, as far as was in him, he most affectionately cherished all whom he embraced. Wretched me! Unhappy me! Who have lost the sole consolation of my miseries, the joy of my life. O singular resting place of my soul! What joy can there be for me henceforth without him? Will life ever again be pleasant for me, or any day or hour without sadness? But if reason would admit of so violent a grief, it would be clear enough, with reason itself teaching, that such a man is to be pursued not so much with lamentation as with imitation. He who walked thus before us has plainly shown that we ought to follow him. Unless we continually follow him as our guide with all our strength, ... it is to be feared that in the future examination we shall find him to be our Judge. But what will it be? I certainly (which I confess not without pain) am conscious that, on account of the most troublesome burden of sins which oppresses me, I am unable to follow his steep and narrow step. Yet there remains something for us to hope; something for us to pray--that what we do not deserve through ourselves, we may obtain through the interceding merits of himself and all the Saints, by the grant of Him whose reign and dominion endures glorious forever and ever. Amen.

CONCERNING THE DEEDS OF BLESSED JOHN

Analecta from various authors.

John, Bishop of Therouanne in Belgium (Bl.)

From various sources.

CHAPTER I.

Various monasteries of regular Canons founded and adorned by John.

[1] There is no other thing that avails equally to confirm the minds of mortals in the profession of the orthodox faith, After the ancient custom of good Bishops, or to inflame them with zeal for virtue, as the life of devout men set before them for imitation. For this continually applies silent goads to those who attend more sluggishly to divine things. For this reason, most Bishops who were zealous for the salvation of their people, from the very cradle of the Church onward, always diligently took care either to establish religious communities or to summon them from elsewhere; either to supply them with the necessary sustenance or to exhort them to the observance of right discipline and the exercise of virtues, so that they might more certainly and abundantly benefit the salvation of the other peoples committed to them.

[2] The industry of Blessed John, Bishop of the Morini, in this kind of work was not ordinary. John de Collemedio testifies that he established seven or more monasteries in various places, John builds many monasteries: and arranged in each of them congregations of monks or clerks proposing to live according to the rule of the Apostles; and then in his epitaph: "While he lived," he says, "he did many good things: he founded eight monasteries of regular clerks or monks." Meyer enumerates some of these in book 4, under the year 1099: "With his help," he says, "monasteries were begun at Ypres, Lo, Eversam, Bourbourg, Guines, and Merkem near Diksmuide." But the Bertinian Chronicle written under Abbot Lambert, cited by our Johannes Buzelin: "They received the Lord John as their Bishop in the year of the Lord 1099, who governed the bishopric most holily for thirty years. Six monasteries were newly constructed in his time, namely at Ypres, Lo, and Eversam, of regular Canons; at Bourbourg, Guines, and Merkem, of Black Nuns of S. Benedict. From this, the altars of Merkem belonging to our Church of Saint-Bertin, He benefits Saint-Bertin, from the chapel of Eggafrid, Bas-Warneton, Haverskerque, and other goods he bestowed upon this Church, about which more will be said below in their proper places. And as long as he lived, he never ceased to benefit this Church, a just and holy man; and although he has not been canonized by the Roman Church, we piously believe him to be inscribed in the book of life among the number of the Saints." John of Ypres writes the same.

[3] Miraeus enumerates the same six monasteries, partly begun and partly completed by John, in his Belgian Chronicle under the year 1099. And others: We shall treat of each separately, and first of those which were founded for regular Canons. What pertains to all of them is what the author of his Life writes: "Indeed, with Pope Paschal of blessed memory, he had obtained such familiarity that the Pope always counted him among his dearest friends. And so, throughout the entire time of his papacy, whatever he asked from that See he obtained without any difficulty. Therefore the same Pope, at his intercession, bestowed privileges upon the monasteries which he himself had founded."

[4] Concerning the monastery of Ypres, John de Collemedio writes as follows above: "When he had freed the Church of Ypres (from the stain of simony) and retained it for himself for some time, he gave it to the regular Brothers, and having appointed the Abbot whom we named above (Gerard), he confirmed it to be held in perpetuity by an episcopal privilege." More precisely, Jacques Meyer in book 4, under the year 1101: He introduces regular Canons at Ypres: "John, Bishop of the Morini, a man praiseworthy in all respects, expelled the ambitious and avaricious priests from the town of Ypres on account of their simony and other vices, and at the request of the citizens set over the Churches of SS. Martin and Peter a certain Gerard, a priest of proven life; who immediately, having built a monastery in the meadows, gathered companions for himself who would live according to the Rule of S. Augustine and imbue the people with the teachings of the Gospels." Jacques Marchant also mentions this monastery, which he calls the Abbatial Provostship, in book 1 of his Description of Flanders. But that Abbey was erected into a Cathedral Church in the year 1561.

[5] Marchant reports that the monastery of Lo was begun in the year 1050, with the beginning of its chief endowment arising, as is evident from the archives of that monastery, through Philip, Burgrave of Ypres, born of Robert the Frisian, Lo having been founded earlier, and his son William of Ypres. Miraeus reports the same from Marchant in his book on Regular Canons, chapter 35. Whether Robert had such grown sons and grandsons in the year 1050, let them judge for themselves, since his parents were not joined in marriage until the year 1027, according to Meyer, nor was he himself the firstborn. Meyer writes more credibly in book 3, under the year 1093: "In the same year, Count Philip of Lo assigned his county to the monastery of S. Peter recently established there. For around the year of salvation 1050, Thomas, the Priest of Lo, a man of great religion, converted his church into a monastery of regular Canons, as they are called." Concerning the donation of Philip, see the charters among the letters, where you will also find the history of this Count Robert, written by a certain German more than four hundred years ago. So Meyer, whose account does not seem sufficiently proven to Marchant, who writes that it seems strange that the dignity of a county was in those times so common as to be attributed to a small town having no jurisdiction outside its borders (for it is enclosed by the Castellany of Furnes) and no grandeur within; unless that title refers more to the possessors, who derived from the Princes of Flanders, than to the magnitude of the possession. Indeed, the Abbot of Lo is still Count of that same place. Nevertheless, the persons named by Marchant may have assigned some possessions to that monastery, which he asserts were confirmed by Blessed Charles and Philip of Alsace. He adorns it; As for the fact that the establishment of this monastery is also attributed to Blessed John, it is likely that his labor was directed either to adapting or building structures suitable for religious habitation, or to drafting statutes, or to establishing discipline there in some way.

[6] The same can be said of Eversam. For concerning it Meyer, under the year of Christ 1091, and Eversam: nine years before John was made Bishop, writes thus: "A monastery was also begun in the territory of Furnes, called Eversam, on the river Yser near Stavele, with Walbert, a Canon of Cassel, offering there the altar of S. Peter for that very purpose; which Gerard, Bishop of the Morini, also endowed with liberty." Miraeus reports the same from Meyer in his book on Regular Canons, chapter 42, adding that the Canon is called Walter by others, and that the monastery was afterward wonderfully increased and endowed by Robert of Jerusalem, Count of Flanders, and his mother Gertrude.

[7] Concerning the Church of Formeselle, John de Collemedio testifies above that it, like the Church of Ypres, was wrested from the hands of the usurpers convicted of the heresy of simony by canonical judgment through the zeal of Blessed Bishop John; and that when those who had acquired a church for themselves through simony were expelled from it, He gives Formeselle to regular Canons, he let out the Lord's vineyard to other workers. "The Church of Formeselle, however, he converted entirely to the regular state, except that he appointed the one who had previously been its Provost as Abbot of regular Clerks in another place, and set Albold, a man of more notable religion, over that Church, and afterward increased their revenues by his generosity." This happened in the year 1100. So Meyer in book 4: "The Canons of Formeselle embrace the regular rule and receive Albald as their first Abbot." Marchant also mentions it in book 1. Andre du Chesne, in book 2 of his Genealogical History of the House of Ghent, in the proofs, reports several donations made to this monastery by Robert of Jerusalem and Baldwin with the Axe.

[8] The Abbey of Chocques, also situated near Bethune, a town of Artois, was erected by John in the year 1120. So Buzelin: "Three years later, when Blessed John observed that the Canons of Chocques, near Bethune, were not living quite properly and well, and that the benefices of this Church were being conferred against right and law and the Church of Chocques at the nod or whim of Hugo, Anselm, and Baldwin Rufus, noble men indeed; he was greatly grieved, certainly in proportion to the gravity of the matter, and immediately formed a plan to assign it to regular Canons together with its revenues. And indeed he labored so successfully that, having built a monastery in the fortress of those nobles, he stripped the secular Canons of their benefices and established there men professing the Rule of S. Augustine, who would enjoy the incomes of the priests. And Pope Eugenius III, the Roman Pontiff, afterward ratified and confirmed this arrangement, and drew up a sacred diploma concerning it." Eugenius became Pontiff at the beginning of the year 1145 and died on 8 July 1153. Miraeus treats of the Abbey of Chocques in his book on Regular Canons, chapter 58, and reports that its endowment was afterward increased by William, Baldwin, Daniel, and Robert, Lords of Bethune.

[9] And these benefits were conferred by John upon regular Canons, he who had been formed in their practices at Mont-Saint-Eloi, and who always had certain Abbots of the same order bound to him by close familiarity. The same John dedicated the new church of Arrouaise, He consecrates the church of Arrouaise: built through the industry of Cono, with the wooden oratory demolished, together with S. Godfrey of Amiens, by the permission and at the request of Bishop Lambert of Arras, in the year 1106, on the ninth day before the Kalends of October. He establishes regulars at Fano-Pinum. He also restored Fano-Pinum together with Odo, Bishop of Cambrai, with the assent of Baldric, Bishop of Tournai, at the urging and expense of Ogiva, the widow of Roger, Castellan of Lille, by appointing an Abbot and Canons professing the Rule of S. Augustine. Our Buzelin commemorates this at greater length in book 5 of his Annals of Gallo-Flanders.

CHAPTER II.

Benefits conferred on the Benedictine Order.

[10] But John was not so devoted to the order of the regular Canons that he did not also embrace others, in whom he especially perceived some singular zeal for virtue. The Cluniacs certainly, whom he saw flourishing in the best discipline and holiness of life, he fostered with such benevolence that he was the one who advised Lambert, Abbot of Saint-Bertin or Sithiu, to reform his monastery according to their statutes. Lambert was very familiar with him, a great admirer of his virtue and a promoter of his dignity. For, as Meyer writes in book 4 of his Annals of Flanders, the Roman Pontiff confirmed him By his counsel, the Abbot of Saint-Bertin at the entreaty of Clementia and Lambert, Abbot of Saint-Bertin. How the Cluniac reform was introduced into the monastery of Saint-Bertin is narrated by John of Ypres, later Abbot of that same monastery, in his Chronicle: "In the year 1101, John, Bishop of the Morini, set out for Rome to see the Pope; with whom our Abbot Lambert, pretending to be traveling along, set out on the journey, and shut up the monk he had taken with him under guard in a certain cell at Cluny. He learns the Cluniac statutes, Lambert himself, however, remained at Cluny, made his profession, and learned their order. At length, when the Bishop returned from Rome without the Abbot, our monks sent word once, twice, and thrice to Abbot Lambert to come. When he returned, some obeyed, but the greater part refused to obey. Then he himself, having secretly summoned his soldiers, seized the rebels and confined them in various churches. He introduces them into his own monastery; At that time, the man of holy memory, Abbot Hugh, was governing Cluny, by whose permission Lambert brought devout men from various Cluniac monasteries here and introduced the order here in the year of the Lord 1101. While they lived holily and devoutly, the remaining monks of Sithiu, from fear of the rigor of discipline, fled and dispersed in various directions. Nor did the work of God cease on this account. For by a new fervor of religion, many flocked here, so that in a short time more than one hundred and twenty Brothers were present." So writes John of Ypres.

[11] These things were done with the knowledge and approval of Clementia, wife of Robert of Jerusalem, With the approval of the Count of Flanders and his wife: whom he had placed in charge of his land and everything that was under his jurisdiction while he was away. But when the Count returned, as he himself states in a diploma which du Chesne cites in the Cluniac Library, dated at Arras in the year 1106, on the Ides of February, first rendering immense thanks to Hugh and greatly rejoicing in the sacred religion, and finally having taken counsel with the venerable Bishops Lambert of Arras and John of Therouanne and his other faithful men, he ratified everything.

[12] The same holy Bishop gave the Church of Freveux to the monastery of S. Martin-des-Champs, in the hands of Pontius, Abbot of Cluny, in the year 1112, saving the subjection and obedience He makes various donations to the Benedictines: which the aforesaid Church owed to the Church of Therouanne; as is related more fully in the words of John himself in the same Cluniac Library. The same John was also present when Count Eustace of Boulogne donated the monastery of S. Wulmer to the same Cluniacs in the year 1107, as is evident from the charter of Eustace himself dated in the year 1107, which is extant in the same Library. The same John in the year 1112 bestowed the Priory of S. George, which to this day is seen amid the ruins of old Hesdin, distinguished by opulent revenues, upon the ascetics of Anchin, of the Order of S. Benedict; and Pope Paschal, by a Brief dated the thirteenth day before the Kalends of July, Indiction 5, in the year of the Incarnation of Christ 1112, confirmed that donation or cession of John. Whence one may correct what is added to the Chronicle of Sigebert in the Anchin manuscript under the year 1093: "The Church of S. George of Hesdin is handed over to the Church of Anchin."

[13] The Blandinian monastery of S. Peter in the city of Ghent, where discipline--which S. Gerard of Brogne had restored--had in part collapsed again, He labors for the reform of the Blandinian monastery: was recalled to its former vigor of piety with the help of our John. So Meyer under the year 1117: "The Blandinian monastery was reformed, and a new Abbot named Arnulf was established... The reformers of Blandinium were Prince Baldwin and his mother Clementia, together with John, Bishop of the Morini, and Lambert, Abbot of Saint-Bertin." The author of the Chronicle of Saint-Trond, a contemporary, also mentions this reform: "In those days, Arnulf presided at S. Peter's of Ghent, who afterward during his lifetime gave up the abbacy, being troubled by the Brothers; yet in his time that place abounded with a superabundant supply of food and clothing for both healthy and sick Brothers, and under him the devout practices of the Cluniac order, introduced through him, flourished." Count Baldwin testifies in the letters of donation made to the monastery of Formeselle, in the hands of the Lord John, Bishop of the Morini, etc., that he had ordered the Bishops and Abbots of his realm, and very many persons of the nobility, both clerics and laymen, to convene for the purpose of correcting and amending the rule of the Blandinian monastery, in the year 1117, Indiction 10, on the day before the Kalends of February.

[14] Finally, John gave an Abbot to the monastery of S. Winnoc at Bergues in the year 1120. So Meyer under that year: "Hermes, Abbot of Bergues, was expelled, and he spent the rest of his life most devoutly at Reims in the monastery of S. Nicasius. At Bergues, a new Abbot, Thomas, a monk of Saint-Bertin, was appointed by John, Bishop of the Morini." He appoints an Abbot at Bergues: Blessed John's extraordinary benevolence also extended to the new community of the same order at Ham, whose Abbot Gerard is listed above among his chief familiars.

[15] These were the benefits conferred by John on men of his institute. For women religious, He establishes a convent of nuns at Merkem; professing the same Rule, he founded a monastery in the village of Merkem, a league and a half distant from the town of Diksmuide. The revenues of that monastery, when discipline had completely broken down and only a single religious woman remained, were assigned by the Supreme Pontiff and King Philip II to the Jesuit college at Ypres. Besides those already cited, Miraeus also mentions this monastery founded by John in his Origins of Belgian Monasteries, chapter 58.

[16] There also still exists another monastery of Benedictine nuns founded by S. John, also at Bourbourg, in the town now commonly called Bourbourg, formerly Broucbourg, one league from the town of Gravelines.

[17] A third was at Guines. We believe this to be the one about which Lambert of Ardres writes in his History of the Lords of Guines, chapter 51: and at Guines, at the expense of Countess Emma, "Emma, the widow of Count Manasses, restored at Guines, for the propitiation of her own soul and that of her husband, Count Manasses of Guines, and of their predecessors and successors, from the revenues of her table, the church and cloister of a monastery dedicated to S. Leonard, Confessor and Bishop; to which she assigned nuns taken from the monastery of the Church of Estrome, to serve God in perpetuity. Over them she set a most devout Abbess named Sibylla, or Sibilia, of the family and kinship of Adela, formerly Countess of Guines, whom we said above was called Christina by name, taken from the region of Lotharingia; and she enthroned her in the Church of S. Leonard of Guines over the nuns recently introduced, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1102."

CHAPTER III.

Ecclesiastical authority defended.

[18] Nor was John more generous in doing good to men consecrated to God than he was strong in resisting the attempts of wicked men. The Flemish suffered much from William the Norman, Count of Flanders after S. Charles. Ecclesiastical authority was also violated by him through a certain rescript. The King of the Franks and the Archbishop of Reims were appealed to; by them John was sent to Lille, where he pronounced in favor of the Church and the Canons of that city against the Count. He himself recorded the matter for the memory of posterity:

[19] "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I, John, by the grace of God Bishop of the Morini, wish it to be made known to those present and to come what is contained in the following. When the clergy of Lille, constrained by the extreme need of their Church, When the Church of Lille was injured by Count William, had sought assistance from the tenants of the Church, after the manner of other lords, those men, hardened by the vice of avarice, approached William the Norman, Count of Flanders, and by prayer or price brought it about that he should by every means forbid the clergy from exacting, and the tenants from giving anything to the clergy. Whence the clergy, fearing that the ancient liberty of their Church could be diminished by this insolence, sought out Louis, King of the Franks, and Rainaud, Archbishop of Reims, bringing with them the privileges of the Roman Church and of royal authority, and implored them to repel this injury from the Church. They, having considered the tenor of the privileges, and detesting the Count's action, John is given as judge, wrote to him to desist from this unjust burden upon the Church. Whence, on the appointed day, since we also were present, having been invited by the letters of the Lord Archbishop, the case was brought forward and rationally discussed in the presence of both parties, and it was determined by the common consent and judgment of the Barons of the land that those clergy had the same right of power over their tenants as the other Princes of the land had over theirs, and that no violence should be inflicted upon them in this matter by any Prince. The Count, therefore, publicly convicted by reason and judgment, acknowledged the right of the Church, and having asked pardon for the transgression he had committed, and compels the Count to make satisfaction, and having promised amendment, received through us indulgence and absolution from his guilt. These things we were pleased to commend to the readers and to the memory of posterity, so that if perchance in the future such a case should arise, any power might be restrained from a similar excess, having considered the precedent of this action. Done at Lille, in the sight of the Church of S. Peter, in the year of the Lord 1128, Indiction 6, before these witnesses: Robert, Archdeacon of Tournai, and Provost of the aforesaid Church; Herbert, Archdeacon of the Morini; Absalon, Abbot of Saint-Amand; Mainer, Canon; Lambert; Erembald, Canons; Robert of Bethune; Ingelbert of Petegem, etc."

[20] The same magnanimity of our John had been observed long before in great affairs, and was commended by Ivo, Bishop of Chartres, in his letter 97. At the beginning of the twelfth century, the clergy of Beauvais had elected as their Bishop a certain cleric named Stephen, who, as the same Ivo writes elsewhere, was found far from sacred orders, not yet even a Subdeacon, an illiterate man, a gambler, a pursuer of women, Against Stephen, who coveted the See of Beauvais, once publicly infamous for public adultery, and on that account deprived of the communion of the Church by the Lord Archbishop of Lyons, at that time Legate of the Apostolic See. But other clergy of better reputation and sounder counsel, with the prior advice, the counsel of the Pope, the counsel of the magnates of their diocese, and the approbation of the people, elected Galo as their Bishop, a man upright in life and adorned with liberal studies and ecclesiastical learning. Against him, because he was a disciple of Ivo, nourished by him and educated by him, and elected by the Pope, and because he would be a great adversary to the King, the King openly opposed him, and the King's son; the Archbishop of Reims, more mindful of the royal will than of his own duty, was unwilling to consecrate him. Then Ivo, having undertaken to defend Galo's cause everywhere--indeed, the cause of the Church--enlisted as his helpers our John and Lambert of Arras, with distinguished praise for their zeal. Thus he writes to them: S. Ivo of Chartres implores the help of Blessed John, "I believe you have received the letters of the Lord Pope, transmitted to you also through our fellow brothers, the Canons of S. Quentin; by which we were both reproved for whatever assent we gave to Stephen, the suitor of the Church of Beauvais, and forewarned that we should guard by every means against a person less suited for sacred orders creeping into the Church of Beauvais. Since, therefore, it has always been your custom to reject with perfect hatred wolves creeping into the sheepfolds of God, praising his zeal, and to attack them, like faithful dogs in the house of God, wherever it was permitted, we earnestly and urgently request and admonish your devotion that what you have hitherto done out of love of justice, you should do more readily in this matter out of the obligation of obedience. You therefore, as Suffragans of the Church of Reims, admonish your Metropolitan to exhort the clergy of the Church of Beauvais, according to the tenor of the letters which the Lord Pope sent to the Beauvaisians, to make a canonical election as is his duty of office, so that from the bulwark of his authority both the weak may have something by which they are healed, and the strong something by which they are strengthened. But if, with sloth flattering him, he delays or dissembles in doing this, he is to be admonished by you to so honor his ministry that what ought to be done by him may not be fulfilled by the hands of others. Farewell."

[21] What other things John did for the liberty and peace of other Churches, Buzelin commemorates as follows: It was the year of Christ 1114, when Paschal II, Roman Pontiff, gave the Canons of Tournai the power to elect a Bishop for themselves and thereby to free their Church from the yoke of the Bishop of Noyon. But before they could cast their votes for anyone, Baldric, who governed both bishoprics, having died, the people of Noyon named Lambert, Archdeacon of Tournai, The people of Tournai elect a Bishop for themselves with the Pope's approval: as Bishop of both Tournai and Noyon. Against this, the people of Tournai, relying on the diploma of Paschal, soon nominated Herbert, Archdeacon of the Morini, as their Bishop. And then the letters of Paschal were presented to our John, by which he was ordered to hand over Herbert, who had been elected by the people of Tournai, to them. He immediately did what was ordered. It could not, however, be obtained from Ralph, Archbishop of Reims, that he should graciously consecrate Herbert; and so, partly through Lambert's power and partly through the machinations of Archbishop Ralph and others, it was brought about that the Supreme Pontiff committed the entire disturbed business of giving the people of Tournai a Bishop to Ralph himself to settle. Our Bishop was then summoned to Reims; there, when he perceived that he and King Louis were striving in vain on behalf of the people of Tournai, he freely declared that the King would be free from guilt, but the Bishops would not be without fault, if the consecration of a Bishop of Tournai were impeded.

[22] Hermann, Abbot of S. Martin's of Tournai, relates these things more fully in his Chronicle, some of whose words I think it opportune to subjoin here. "Without delay," he says, "the legates return from Rome with the Pope's letters, give thanks to our Abbot for his response, and by his counsel, with all unanimously assembled in their chapter, they elected as their Bishop a certain Herbert, Archdeacon of the Church of the Morini; and bringing the Pope's letters to John, Bishop of the Morini, they asked and obtained that the same elect be handed over to them as a free man. Then, approaching the aforesaid Archbishop of Reims, The Archbishop of Reims delays his consecration, they implored him to consecrate him according to the command of the Lord Pope. But Lambert, having gotten there first, had already, as it is said, corrupted the Archbishop's mind with money, to such an extent that by his counsel even King Louis dispatched two Bishops, those of Orleans and Paris, to Rome to annul the election of the people of Tournai. Therefore, when the clergy of Tournai sought the consecration of their elect, the Archbishop replied that he would consecrate neither Lambert nor Herbert until the royal legates, the two Bishops whom he had sent to the Pope for the same business, returned from Rome."

[23] And so the consecration of both elects remained suspended and uncertain, when behold, the Bishops returned from Rome, and after the Pope had been wrongly informed, bringing letters of the Lord Pope to the Archbishop, in which the Pope placed the same business in the hand and provision of the Archbishop, saying: "The Archbishop had informed him that if the people of Tournai had their own Bishop, episcopal authority would become too cheap, and the revenues of the Church of Noyon would by no means suffice for the Bishop's needs." Having received these letters, the Archbishop summoned the Bishops subject to him and set a day on which he wished to consecrate Lambert. He entirely rescinds the election; On that very day, however, King Louis, arriving at Reims, summoned all the Bishops and admonished them to deliberate carefully among themselves concerning the same business: "For if," he said, "you judge it more fitting for the honor of God and the salvation of souls that the Church of Tournai should have its own Bishop, I freely concede, because I see that I lose nothing in this, and I do not wish to resist the will of God or the salvation of souls in anything. With John speaking freely against the decision, Nor do I wish anyone to say on my account that something good was left undone, or to think himself excused before God under my cover." To whom the Lord John, Bishop of the Morini, a devout man, responding, said: "Truly, Lord King, by that statement you have freed your soul. Now let my Lords the Bishops see what they ought to do." The Archbishop, however, persevering in what he had begun, consecrated the aforesaid Lambert as Bishop over both Churches. So writes Hermann. Buzelin continues.

[24] Not long after, John had to approach Baldwin with the Axe, Count of Flanders, John induces Count Baldwin to restore goods taken from the Church; so that, together with Lambert, Bishop of Noyon and Tournai, and other great men, he might advise that Prince to no longer retain the allodium, as they call it, which he had taken from the Church of S. Peter at Lille, but to restore it, as equity demanded. And at length, at Lille, at their urging, the Count freed himself of that crime and restored their goods to the Canons. That he might acknowledge that this had been accomplished by him, Baldwin wrote these letters, and our Bishop, together with several others, confirmed them with his seal: "I, Baldwin, by the mercy of God, Count of Flanders, acknowledge through the grace of God that I have sinned against God and the Church of Blessed Peter at Lille, and have done much evil. For the allodium which my venerable predecessor, Count Baldwin, who founded it and is buried in it, conferred upon the aforesaid Church for the honor and service of God and the sustenance of the Brothers, for the remission of his sins, and confirmed by his privilege, and he humbly makes satisfaction, I, a sinner, have recognized that I unjustly took away, against God and the salvation of my soul. Now therefore, touched by the mercy of God, I confess before the venerable Bishops John of Therouanne and Lambert of Noyon and Tournai that I have sinned in this and in other things, and I acknowledge my fault, and I restore to the aforesaid Church its right, namely the aforesaid allodium, which is in the village of Vals in the territory of Aachen ... and I will no longer be a guarantor to anyone therein. I also pray my successors and my faithful men that they labor in every way, with God's help, that that Church may have its right and allodium back in peace and freedom. I, Charles, kinsman and successor of Count Baldwin, in his presence, for the sake of justice, recognize, grant, and confirm the same. Signed: John, Bishop of the Morini. Lambert, Bishop of Noyon and Tournai. Clementia, Countess. Alard, Cup-bearer. Baldwin of Ghent."

CHAPTER IV.

Other ecclesiastical functions.

[25] We do not pursue the very numerous public acts to which John either subscribed or was present. Yet it seemed fitting to subjoin a few items of things done by him. And first, he was present at the consecration of S. Godfrey, Bishop of Amiens. So in the latter's life, under 8 November, in Surius, book 1, chapter 32: John is present at the consecration of S. Godfrey: "After Manasses, Archbishop of Reims, had returned home, the magnates of Amiens come to Nogent, most lovingly escort Godfrey to Reims. There is a great concourse of Bishops from the entire region, among whom were also Lambert, Bishop of Arras, and John, Bishop of the Morini, distinguished in wisdom and learning, celebrated in religion and holiness, pillars and support of the Bride of Christ, devoted to Blessed Godfrey above all others."

[26] This was the service rendered by John to his friend while living; to the dead, the following, from book 5 of Buzelin's Annals: He buries Bishop Baldric: "In the year 1112," he says, "Baldric, Bishop of Noyon and Tournai, paid his debt to nature, carried off by disease at Therouanne. John, Bishop of the Morini, performed the last office for him, committing his body to the earth within the choir of the great church."

[27] The body of S. Humfrid, who had been a monk of Prum, then Abbot of Saint-Bertin, and thence Bishop of Therouanne, was translated by the same Blessed John. So reads an old codex of the Church of the Morini, cited by Buzelin: He translates the body of S. Humfrid: "This John, holy and foremost, a man certainly of great authority, translated and reinterred the body of S. Humfrid beneath the altar of the Blessed Mary in the year 1108, on the Ides of April." Concerning the same translation, Jacques Meyer writes under the year 1108: "In the same year, the body of S. Humfrid the Bishop was translated on the Ides of April by John, Bishop of the Morini." But we shall treat of Humfrid more fully on 8 March.

[28] Blessed John dedicated many churches. Concerning the church of Arrouaise, it was said above. Concerning the church of the Dunes, Meyer testifies under the year 1107: "Ligerius, an anchorite on the shore of Furnes, led a supremely holy life in a solitary and sandy place. He dedicates the chapel of the Dunes: Several devout men came to him in that same solitude, drawn by the fame of his holiness, over whom he presided piously and holily for twenty years, having built a cell which John, Bishop of the Morini, dedicated in honor of the Virgin Mother." Such was the beginning of the monastery of the Dunes, by far the most celebrated of all, to which William the Norman and Theodoric of Alsace, Counts, were the first of all to assign some estates and possessions.

[29] It appears that the most holy Count Charles was bound to our John by a close friendship; by whose arms he was freed from the unjust oppression of the Advocate of Therouanne, as Meyer testifies under the year 1119: He is aided by S. Charles the Count. "He compelled the Count of Boulogne, having ravaged and burned his borders, and all the rest, to lay down their arms; having destroyed the fortress of Eustace the Advocate, which he had newly erected at Therouanne against the liberty of the Church." And again under the year 1122: "Prince Charles destroyed the fortress which Eustace, Advocate of Therouanne, had built at Therouanne, and freed the Church, as we mentioned above, from tyranny." So that it is not surprising that John afterward encouraged Walter to write the history of Charles's life and death, which we shall give on 2 March.