ON ST. ANSEGISUS ABBOT
IN THE MONASTERY OF FONTENELLE NEAR ROUEN.
In the year 833.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The cult, Acts, chronology of life, place of burial, donations, writings of the Saint.
Ansegisus, abbot, at Fontenelle in Normandy (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR P. B.
This is that St. Ansegisus or Ansigisus (for it is written either way) of whom we treated among the Passed Over on the 18th of this month page 348; because on that day he had been noted in Ferrarius in the general Catalogue, and in Saussay in the Supplement page 1147; St. Ansegisus, the same abbot of Flay, of Luxeuil, and of Fontenelle, but here he also places him among those Saints, in the Appendix page 1218, whose birthdays he says are uncertain; namely there marking him abbot of Luxeuil, here of Fontenelle, dividing one Ansegisus, who presided over both convents, into two. The same seem to have done the Sammarthani volume 4 of Gallia Christiana pages 909 and 379: for in the place first assigned, although they assert that he was abbot of Fontenelle, of Luxeuil, and of Flay, yet they both call him Saint, and assign his death to the 13th day before the Kalends of August of the year 832; but in the second place, reckoning Ansegisus the eighth abbot among the abbots of Flay, they neither make him a Saint, and say that he yielded to fate in the year 882; unless perhaps it is a printer's error: for since it is established that our St. Ansegisus was in the ninth century abbot of Flay, of Luxeuil, and of Fontenelle, and only one Ansegisus is found through those times among the abbots of those three convents, there is no doubt that he must be ours.
[2] But that Ferrarius announces holy Ansegisus on 18 July, he is now indeed worshipped on other days, yet died on 20 July: this he indicates in the notes that he drew from the Burgundian Calendar and the monuments of the convent of Luxeuil. Those it was not permitted me to see: yet the Sammarthani volume 4 page 586 say that the Calendars of Luxeuil have thus: On the 16th day before the Kalends of August, the death of Bl. Ansegisus the abbot; likewise on the 20th day of the month of May, the finding of the body of St. Ansegisus abbot and confessor of Christ; and thus also they are cited by Mabillon here in the preliminary Observations: those therefore consign the birthday of St. Ansegisus to the 17th, not indeed the 18th, of July; although in that too they err, as Mabillon rightly observes; since it should be read the 13th day before the Kalends of August; as is clear from the following Life, he says, and from the ancient Breviary of Fontenelle, printed by command of Claude de Poitiers the abbot, in which Breviary is had: On the 13th day before the Kalends of August, the commemoration of Anchisilus monk of this place; where by our Ansigisus not only Mabillon understands, but also Cointe in the Annals of the Franks at the year 833 number 81 page 291. For the rest, now in the ecclesiastical offices our people of Luxeuil do nothing concerning him, says Mabillon in the same place; the people of Fontenelle on the 20th day of August worship Ansegisus, and likewise on the 19th day of November. Concerning the 20th day of August this Castellan too affirms in the Supplement of his universal Martyrology page 695. These are the things which we have found concerning his cult: for he was known neither to Wion nor to Menard, much less to other Martyrologists.
[3] whose Acts we give from the Chronicle of Fontenelle; Rare is the mention of this Man among authors; and those who write of him, as the Sammarthani, Arthur in Pious Neustria page 157, the author of the History of the bishops of Rouen, where he treats of Ragnoard page 200, and perhaps a few others, whatever they have of him, drew from that source, whence we too, following Mabillon in the Acts of the Saints of the Benedictine Order century IV from page 630, shall bring forward our Acts; from the Chronicle, I say, of Fontenelle, which Luke Achery first published in type in the third volume of the Spicilegium of the first edition; in the recent edition, which we shall here follow, in that it was corrected to the manuscript codices of the same, it is had in the second volume from page 263; but of Ansegisus there is treatment chapter 17 from page 278. The author of this Chronicle, although he is anonymous, yet avails very much by authority in this matter, both because he was a monk of Fontenelle, and especially because he must have lived with St. Ansigisus, since he wrote in the reign of Louis the Pious, as is clear from his very Chronicle, and he proves it clearly enough who published the Spicilegium, recalled to the anvil, not long ago at Paris, in the Monition which he prefixes to the Chronicle of Fontenelle, in which he also admonishes the reader that the Constitution of Ansegisus the abbot, which we give in chapter 4, he did not find in the most ancient Fontenelle manuscript, nor does Cointe at the year 833 page 290 will that it was written by the same author.
[4] Further, because by the fault of the copyists, as happens, some faults of ill-noted times are detected in this Chronicle, [according to which St. Ansegisus seems to have been made a monk not long after the year 788;] both because those things are otherwise, and not rightly, marked by certain
authors, it pleases here briefly to unweave the chronology of St. Ansegisus, and at the same time to purge whatever faults are in it. First, at what time our Saint was born, this author does not disclose; yet it can somehow be conjectured from those things which are afterward consigned: for, as is said in number 2, Girowald the abbot, his kinsman, holding the place of the government of this convent (of Fontenelle, commonly St. Wandrille), he (Ansegisus) came to this monastery and received the tonsure of the head from him. But Giroald or Gervold, according to the same Chronicle chapter 16, gave the term of his life on the 18th day before the Kalends of July, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ 806… after he had ruled that convent eighteen years, five months, thirteen days; and so from the beginning of January of the year of Christ 788, or 787, as the Chronicle has, beginning the years from Easter, as Cointe rightly observes, whom consult at the year 788 number 1. Nor indeed under the last years of Gervold did Ansegisus put on the monk's habit; since
[5] Before the year of Christ 807 he already presided as abbot over two convents, as is asserted in the Acts number 4; and indeed under the most invincible king Charles, as our author says, he presided over two convents before the year 807 and perhaps much earlier. who nevertheless was wont to call Charles, after he obtained the empire, and then Louis, either emperors or augusti: he seems therefore to hint that those convents of St. Sixtus and St. Memmius were committed to Ansegisus by St. Charlemagne, a king indeed, but not yet then emperor; that is, before the end of the year of Christ 800. But that office requires a man mature in age, scarcely certainly less than thirty years, nor only cursorily proved in the monastic life; already therefore he had long embraced the religious institute; and so about the beginnings of Gervold: and consequently he could have been born about the year of Christ 770 at the latest. Yet I do not deny that this conjecture is mere; inasmuch as it rests on the words just cited; since the same author (contrary, however, to his custom) calls Charles only king in the year of Christ 807, when nevertheless he had already long held the empire; as is clear from number 4 at the end. Be that as it may, our hypothesis cannot be far from the truth.
[6] Then, having left both those convents, he began to preside over Flay in the year, He is made abbot of Flay in 807; of Luxeuil in 817; according to our author number 2, of the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ 807, which was the 39th of great Charles, from which he was made king of the Franks (so the old edition of Achery has it; and rightly, if only sincerely: for the 39th year of the reign of Charles ends on 9 October of the year of Christ 807), but from which he was called emperor and augustus, the 7th year. These things, I think, are plain enough. Correct therefore the Sammarthani cited above number 1, and Achery in the Observations on the works of Guibert the abbot page 602, where he also asserts that Ansegisus, among the abbots of Flay, paid the debt of nature in the year 882; which by no means coheres with this our Chronicle. After this Louis the Pious in the 4th year of his empire, as is said in the Acts below number 5, conferred Luxeuil, a convent famous in the Gauls, on him (Ansegisus) to be governed by right of benefice. In which year Pope Stephen, in the third month after he had returned to Rome, coming back from the Franks, on the 8th day before the Kalends of February departed from life. Both the fourth year of Louis the Pious, and the death of the Pontiff Stephen, here manifestly denote the year of Christ 817, in which St. Ansegisus was set over the convent of Luxeuil as abbot. Here therefore again must be emended what the Sammarthani have page 586, where they write that St. Ansegisus lived among the abbots of Luxeuil in the year 816, in the 8th Indiction.
[7] and finally of Fontenelle in 823, and there died in 833. To the people of Fontenelle he was at last assigned as abbot, according to number 1, In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 823, which was the tenth year of Louis the most glorious augustus, and the Paschal, that is, of the Roman Pontiff, about the seventh, on the fourth day before the Nones of April, in the 1st Indiction. Since these marks all agree among themselves so aptly, it is a wonder if some fault crept in here. With these agrees excellently what he says number 33, namely that Ansegisus presided over the convent of Fontenelle for ten years, but died, the Lord's Day dawning, on the 13th day before the Kalends of August; that is, in the year of Christ 833, in which the day 20 July, marked with the letter E, was the Lord's Day. He errs therefore, either when in the same place he adds that Ansegisus ruled above ten years, five months, eighteen days; or when he fixed the beginning of it at the second day of April: for from thence the years 10, months 5, days 18 run out to the 19th or 20th of September of the same year 833, on which they did not then fall on the Lord's Day. But it is easy, in minutiae of this kind, for the copyists not to be sufficiently accurate. And so Mabillon in the Annals volume 2 page 561, after Cointe, acknowledges an error in the 5 months and days, but does not sufficiently rightly restore it. I think he ruled 10 years, three months, 18 days, not counting the day of death; for so many there are from the 2nd day of April of the year 823 to 20 July of the year 833; and easily in obscure, though not very ancient, codices the cipher 5 could be taken for 3.
[8] Whence certain errors are corrected. From this chronology, which at least as to the years is most accurate, it is easy to detect that fault which is had number 26, where it is said by our author that St. Ansegisus in the eighteenth year of his government (namely of Fontenelle) fell into palsy; whereas he lived there only ten years. Wherefore in place of the eighteenth year seems to be read the eighth, with which the eight hundred and thirty-first year of the Redeemer coincides, says Cointe at the year 831 number 51; whom in this the Benedictine Annals follow at the same year. I suspect that in the first exemplar there was a blot, which afterward the copyists took for a numeral letter, and some indeed for X, others for XX: for XXVIII is read for VIII in an apograph of the same Chronicle which we have from a codex of Rouge-Cloître, as also in a certain codex of Tournai, with which we collated our apograph. It is gathered thence also that the Sammarthani cited number 1 erred in both places, whether they assign his death to the year 832, or to the year 882, as also Baluze in the preface to the Capitularies of the kings of the Franks number 40, where he notes the year 834. Finally hence is easily detected the hallucination of the Martyrologists, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of Ansegisus on another day or month than that which the author of our Chronicle defines by a twofold mark, namely the Lord's Day, and the 13th day before the Kalends of August.
[9] There are in our Acts also other things worthy of note; as what is written number 21 concerning the place of burial, which he ordered to be built for himself in the chapter, as it is commonly called, Concerning the place of burial at Fontenelle, and his donations. of the convent of Fontenelle; and in which he was afterward laid on that same day on which he had met his end, as our author asserts number 33. In which matter his authority is far preferred to the testimony of Adso, or Hermiricus, abbot of Luxeuil, who flourished in the tenth century, since in a place to be produced a little below he seems to affirm that St. Ansigisus was buried in the convent of Luxeuil. One may indeed wonder at what is read in these our Acts concerning his profuse donations, especially from number 26: for although St. Ansegisus was an abbot, yet he was bound by the vow of religious poverty. But surely the abbots then had many things as it were peculiar to themselves, concerning which they freely disposed, as the custom and common usage of those times bore, which was to them for a law, says Mabillon volume 2 of the Annals page 543, whom there consult, as also in the animadversion to the Life of St. Ansegisus page 639, and volume 1 of the Annals page 255.
[10] From what is narrated number 8 concerning the monks of Luxeuil, He seems to have been abbot of two monasteries at the same time; whom our Saint led over to restore monastic discipline in the convent of Fontenelle, Mabillon gathers, or rather sets down as certain, that Ansigisus at the same time administered two abbacies together, namely that of Fontenelle and that of Luxeuil; see volume 2 of the Annals page 356. The same notes, but half-doubting, Cointe at the year 831 page 198 and following; where, however, he thinks that Fulbert was abbot at the time when Ansegisus published his largess, that is, in the year of Christ 831, and so two years before his death.
[11] Mabillon and Cointe wonder, and not undeservedly, that the author of the Chronicle of Fontenelle, although he runs out quite prolixly into the praises of St. Ansegisus, he is the author of the Capitularies, keeps deep silence concerning the collection of the Capitularies of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious digested by him into four books, which Baluze after others published in the Capitularies of the kings of the Franks volume 1 from page 697. Ansegisus the abbot the collector himself calls himself in the preface, and indicates that he composed this his collection in the year of the Incarnation 827. But because the name of the abbey is not added, hence some judged that work should be attributed to another Ansegisus abbot, who was afterward archbishop of Sens; others, among whom Sigebert and Trithemius, to Ansegisus abbot of Lobbes, whom Baluze refutes in the preface to the Capitularies number 39, and in the following number subjoins this: It might therefore perhaps be permitted to think that Ansegisus the abbot who collected the Capitularies of the kings is he who was abbot of Fontenelle. But that our author, a monk of Fontenelle, did not mention this matter, Cointe at the year 833 page 290 suspects could have happened because St. Ansegisus applied himself to that work when he was living in the monastery of Luxeuil, being either only abbot of Luxeuil, or at the same time abbot of Luxeuil and of Fontenelle. Certainly that lucubration Adso abbot of Luxeuil claimed for our St. Ansegisus, and once his predecessor, in Mabillon here in the preliminary Observations; whose words, because they make for the praise of the Saint, it pleases to set down.
[12] Thus therefore of St. Ansegisus in the tenth century this abbot narrates: as Adso the abbot attests. At that time the dignity too of the people of Luxeuil, among other things, its former rigor decaying, now nearly wavered. Which the emperor Louis having experienced, sets Ansegisus, a most worthy man, adorned in manners, and excelling in the beauty of wisdom, over the place as pastor. He repairs the fallen, gathers again the scattered, extends the site of the church further, spreads out the surrounding workshops with more ample spaces and higher walls, and paints also the walls of the church with the other ornaments in beautiful variety. For he received the chapters of the kings of the Franks, which had been enacted in various councils, and caused them to be contained in one volume. And when among the nobles of the kingdom he was pleasing to the kings of the Franks, intent on just and pious works he made the end of his life, and there, where he had more spaciously extended the church, received a worthy
burial. Thus Adso. Whoever desires more concerning those books of the Capitularies, let him go to Cointe at the year of Christ 827 from number 5 page 805. I hasten to the Acts; concerning which I also admonish the reader that nothing has been altered by me in them except the division of chapters and marginal numbers according to our method, and the addition of notes.
LIFE
By an anonymous but contemporary author, in the Chronicle of Fontenelle published by Achery.
Ansegisus, abbot, at Fontenelle in Normandy (S.)
BHL Number: 0524
BY A CONTEMPORARY.
CHAPTER I.
St. Ansegisus is set over several convents, and at last also over that of Fontenelle, where he restored the rule of St. Benedict.
St. Ansegisus becomes abbot of Fontenelle, A.D. 823, Ansigisus, a glorious and tranquil man, and sufficiently instructed in all knowledge, namely of divine and human philosophy, begotten of his father, Anastasius by name, and his mother, called Himilrada, the divine clemency ordaining it, received the government of this place in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 823, which was the tenth year of Louis the most glorious augustus, and the Paschal, that is of the Apostolic, about the seventh, on the fourth day before the Nones of April, in the 1st Indiction. Of whose illustrious origin, life, conversation, manners, and acts, it pleases to insert into the present work only those things which may not offend the reader's mind. For according to the dignity of the world he drew an illustrious origin from a noble stock of the Franks, which he rendered more noble by the examples of more splendid works.
[13] Two most illustrious virtues shone forth especially in him, of which the first was to live well; the second, to teach rightly. Finally, although from the year 807 he had been abbot of the convent of Flay, Girowald the Abbot a, his kinsman, holding the place of the government of this convent, he came to this monastery, and received the tonsure of the head from him. Then not long after, leading him to the palace, he was zealous to commend him into the hands of the most glorious king Charles b. But Gerald being dead, Trasarius obtained this convent, and not long after the aforesaid lord Ansigisus received in precary from the lord king Charles the monastery of Flay, which St. Geremarus founded, and in which he rests in body c, which is situated in the region of Beauvais, in the year namely of the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ 807, which was the 38th year of great Charles from which he was made king of the Franks; but from which he was called emperor and augustus, the 7th year: which he found nearly destitute of buildings, and reduced to want and abandoned: but within the space of a short time he was zealous by his noble industry to recover it.
[3] For all the buildings both public and private he there, which he excellently restored; those which had been consumed by age being removed and cast away, caused to be established from the foundations, and restored in greater elegance; as is manifest to all coming thither. For in the precepts of rural affairs he was most sagacious: whence it came about that a very great abundance of various crops never failed him, which he always knew how to distribute with a liberal hand to all the needy. For he was very much an almsgiver, and a refresher of the poor, an overflowing enricher and defender of churches, a nourisher of clergy, a most true father of monks, a most glad receiver of pilgrims, a very great helper of widows and orphans.
[4] Finally, before the convent of Flay, two other convents had been committed to him to be governed by the most invincible king Charles; [and before it had governed two other convents: moreover being employed in the affairs of the court;] one which is situated near the walls of the city of Rheims, and built in honor of St. Sixtus, the first prelate of that city, and is in the dominion of that city d: the other in the territory of the Chalons fort, where the holy bishop Memmius rests buried in body e. These being left, he is made rector of Flay in the year above written. Moreover, while he held the aforesaid convent of Flay by right of precary and benefice, he was also appointed by the lord king overseer of the royal works f in the royal palace of Aachen under Heinhard the abbot, a man most learned in every way: which he administered most nobly, and in all his works bore himself prudently. But he most strenuously discharged very many embassies at the command of that king.
[5] Meanwhile, great Charles the emperor augustus of divine memory being dead, but had presided over the convent of Luxeuil from A.D. 817: Louis his son is elevated to the empire. By whom the same lord Ansigisus deserved to be magnificently honored. Finally, in the 4th year of his empire he conferred Luxeuil, a famous convent in the Gauls, on him to be governed by right of benefice. In which year Pope Stephen, in the third month after he had returned to Rome, coming back from the Franks, on the 8th day before the Kalends of February departed from life: in whose see Paschal is made successor. The moon suffered an eclipse on the Nones of February, in the second hour of the night g. Abdiraman king of the Saracens sent legates for peace to Compiègne to the emperor, who, having been heard at Compiègne, went again to Aachen, and being detained three months, were sent back to their king. In this year too Bernard king of Italy surrendered himself to the emperor at Chalon. But these things being omitted, let us return to what we began.
[6] but in that of Fontenelle he succeeded Einhard, Therefore in the third year of the empire of the lord Louis augustus, Trasarus the rector of this convent, with the leave of the same emperor, returned to the place of his nativity; and going back to Benevento in Campania, was honorably received by Sigo the duke, whom he had taken from the laver of holy regeneration. After whom Einhard held this convent for nearly seven years. Which at last, of his own accord abandoned, by the divine command, as it is right to believe, and the largess of the most glorious emperor Louis, the lord Ansegisus took to govern in the year already noted above. Which he ennobled with such diligent zeal and the highest industry, that he might be believed a new Wandrille h, or even the great prelate Ansbert i might be thought to have returned to revived light.
[7] where he restored the fallen discipline But as they in the beginning ennobled it with buildings, increased the clergy k, imbued them with ecclesiastical disciplines; so he was zealous to amend the ruined, and restored what was consumed by age in greater elegance: he most nobly increased the clergy, and strove in manifold ways that they should live in the regular order according to the norm of the excellent Father Benedict. For through the sloth of the former fathers, who exercised less devoutly the care of the flock committed to them, the state of the fostering Rule of the aforesaid Father Benedict now seemed as if about to fall, although those who served the Lord in the Canonical order lived irreproachably. For it had happened, through the carelessness, as I said, of the prelates, who, esteeming little those things which the authority of the sacred Rule commanded to be given, had deferred to impart them: but the aforesaid most reverend father Ansegisus busied himself in every way to recover it to its former state and law, according as he knew the will of the lord emperor concerning this, and did not neglect to bestow in every way what the authority of the Rule commanded to be given.
[8] by monks summoned from Luxeuil. Finally, from the convent of Luxeuil, which in the lands of the Gauls seems inferior to none in religion and regular discipline down to the present, he brought hither with him monks fearing God, and religious men, who should both teach the law of the monks from thence, and show wholesome examples: although they seemed to have been erudite in this philosophy of old by the just man Benedict, abbot of the convent of Fossés l: who, dwelling for very many days in this monastery, left there some examples of their doctrine and goodness. For, to confess truly, this convent was compared to no monastery of Francia or Gaul as inferior in all religion.
[9] Nor is it a wonder if in the time of an excellent Leader the soldiers of Christ walked by the royal way; and by the examples of his own virtues, although now the charity of Christ is not cooled, since indeed he himself was the standard-bearer of the most holy discipline, who appeared to be imitated by all. For whoever heard him commanding did not refute him as acting otherwise. He rendered testimony to truth, not to friendship. His discourses they knew to be useful rather than witty: from base words too he abstained in every way, knowing that license of them nourishes impudence. The four virtues also, on which every man ought chiefly to lean, shone forth in him: namely prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice: for his speech was nowhere idle, nay he either persuaded those subject to him and others to do good, or admonished them to teach right things, or consoled the grieving, or enjoined them to keep the faith inviolate to the eternal and immortal God, and to the earthly king, which also in his own acts he took care to fulfill first.
[10] But whatever of transitory things he possessed, of which thou hast here some compendium. he esteemed nothing great, but rather believed it to be fleeting: therefore he busied himself to distribute his treasures to monasteries and the needy, treasuring up for himself treasures in heaven, where no thief might approach, nor moth devour. He was in all things a fugitive from vices: but of others neither a bitter reprover, nor a curious scrutinizer. In short, kind to all, firm in adversities, cautious and humble in prosperities. Finally, how magnificently he held the virtue of justice, the embassies attest which by the command of the Augusti he frequently discharged; especially that which in the time of the lord Louis the great emperor, by his command, was carried out in the parts of the Spanish March against Gauzelin m, the guardian of that frontier. For he was in speech most truthful, in faith most firm, in good works prompt, in judgment just, in counsel provident, in goodness conspicuous, in charity illustrious, in faith catholic, in alms rich, vigilant in wit, ready in eloquence, burning with zeal. A useful vessel indeed in the house of the Lord, serving God diligently, correcting the erring, cherishing the corrected, spurning the obstinate, always loving the humble, subject to the earthly king, devoted to Christ the ruler of all.
ANNOTATA.
* The printed edition has, XXXVIIII.
CHAPTER II.
What St. Ansegisus bestowed on the convents of Luxeuil and of Fontenelle.
[11] The liberality of Ansegisus toward the convent of Luxeuil; But how intent he was on ecclesiastical cares, the gifts attest, conferred by him on the convents subject to his care. For on the convent of Luxeuil he offered these gifts: a golden cross wonderfully made, adorned with most precious gems, having a staff covered with silver, which he was wont to carry with him on a journey: a golden offertory a with its own golden paten of wonderful work: three silver gilt chalices wrought with embossed work: a silver hanap b, made of the best work, having four golden snails annexed to it outside on the bottom: a silver ewer c and pitcher of wonderful work: he adorned the altar in honor of the perpetual Virgin Mary with a wooden panel, which he covered with various silver images. But of the vestments, one best dirodimum d; five chasubles or planetae; twelve cendals e of different color: three dalmatics: six palls with a golden ground f: eight best carpets. He rendered the church of St. Peter higher in its fabric, raising the walls, and covered it with iron nails. Besides, the porch which goes from the church of blessed Peter to St. Martin he made anew, and covering it, fixed its shingles g with iron nails.
[12] likewise toward that of Fontenelle, In this convent of Fontenelle, therefore, he bestowed these gifts: a great portion of the wood of the saving Cross of the Lord, enclosed in gold, which was formed in a round shape, and in the middle of it a crystal placed; so that the figure of the wood of the holy Cross appeared within to those looking. Which afterward, our sins hindering, or by some other chance, thieves took away from the frontispiece of the bed of our protector blessed Wandrille, the wall of the basilica of St. Peter being pierced, which was done on the day before the Nones of December, on a Lord's Day, three months and sixteen days being completed after the death of that glorious Father.
[13] to which he bestowed many precious sacred vessels, A golden chalice, wonderfully made, having two little handles on either side, adorned with most precious gems, which weighs a pound: another of silver, made with embossed work, of wonderful workmanship, with its own silver paten: a silver offertory, having the effigy of the same chalice, of wonderful work: other silver offertories with their silver patens: one best larger silver crown with its own silver lamp: likewise one silver lamp: one best silver censer: three silver candlesticks, having ninety solidi, that is, each thirty: two wonderful golden seals with precious stones: one best silver pitcher, with an ewer: two glass cups h adorned with gold, one of ivory, wonderfully made: two ivory pyxes: one best glass hanap. He ordered the four Gospels to be written on purple parchment in gold in Roman letters; of which he completed those of Matthew, John, and Luke; but, his death intervening, the rest remained imperfect: a Lectionary too he ordered to be written likewise on purple parchment, adorned with ivory panels: an Antiphonary likewise, written on purple parchment in silver letters, and adorned with ivory panels.
[14] But of the ecclesiastical vestments he bestowed three palls which are called with a ground; and likewise sacred garments, two stauracia i; one Spanish coverlet: four carpets: six dalmatics, fit for the ministry of the ministers: one subdeacon's rochet: one coccus k: one priestly tunic of indigo color l with an entire vestment: four chasubles or planetae: likewise three chasubles of cendal of indigo color, and three of green color likewise of cendal: likewise one of red or blood color of cendal: likewise one purple m chasuble: two Roman copes; one namely of red cendal and adorned with green fringes round about, the other of Pontic dog, which the common people call Bevur n, likewise adorned in the circle with fringes of its color: one best linen: one best face-towel: two best fanons o; one adorned with gold, the other with stauracium: likewise two of cendal: silken cushions fit for the Gospel offices; two larger, one smaller: two girdles made in Roman work adorned with gold: two little cloths, two stoles.
[15] But of books he gave this abundance: one best Bible [p], containing the Old and New Testament with the prefaces and beginnings of the books adorned with golden letters; one volume of the books of the Expositions of the divine Augustine on Genesis to the letter. Likewise one volume of his Enchiridion: and books, especially of St. Augustine, three volumes of his Explanations on all the Psalms: one volume of his against Julian the heretic: likewise one volume of the book of his Epistles to various persons: likewise one volume of his book which is called Whence Evil. Likewise one volume of his book which is entitled On Christian Doctrine: his book of the Ten Chords: his on the Epistle of John 1 volume: likewise one volume against the Epistle of the Foundation: one volume of his Homiliary.
[16] The Exposition of blessed Ambrose on the Gospel of Luke, one volume: but also of other Fathers. one volume of his Epistles to various persons; likewise one volume of his book which is called On the Good of Death: likewise one volume of his On Joseph and the Twelve Patriarchs. One volume of the Epistles of blessed Jerome. One volume of the Epistles of St. Sixtus the bishop. One volume of the Histories of Josephus. One volume of the Sentences of Tajo [q]. One volume of the Excerptions of Paterius from the Old and New Testament from the little Works of blessed Gregory the Pope. Likewise one volume of Euippus [*] from the little Works of blessed Augustine. One volume of Gregory on the middle part of Job. One volume of the book of Fulgentius bishop of Carthage. One volume of the book of Ferrandus the deacon of the church of Carthage. One volume of Bede's Exposition on Genesis. One volume of his On Computation and the Reckoning of Times. Two Collectanea on the circle of the year, two volumes of Paul the Deacon [r]. Two books of Glosses two volumes. One volume of the book of the Canons of the various councils.
[17] There too he built a dormitory, But the public and private buildings begun and completed by him are these: first he caused a most noble dormitory of the Brethren to be built, of two hundred and eight feet in length, and of twenty-seven in breadth: further, all its fabric extends in height to sixty-four feet; whose walls were built of the strongest and most viscous lime, and reddish and dug sand, and of tufa stone approved. It has also an upper story, adorned in the middle with a best pavement, over which is a ceiling, adorned with most noble paintings. There are contained in that house above glass windows; and all its fabric, except the wall, was built of the material of durable oaks; and all its tiles are fixed above with iron nails; it has beams above and below.
[18] After which he built another house which is called the refectory, which he caused to be so divided through the middle, a wall being built for this, a refectory with a larger house, that one part should be of the refectory, the other of the cellar; of the same material and like measure as the dormitory, which he caused to be adorned with various paintings on the wall and on the ceiling by Madalulf, an excellent painter of the church of Cambrai. He caused a third excellent house to be built, which they call the larger, which, turned to the East, on one front touches the dormitory, on the other adheres to the refectory: where he commanded a chamber and a heated room [s], and also very many other things, to be built; but, his death coming, this work remained in part imperfect.
[19] whose situation is described; as also the ornament added to the temple; These three excellent roofs are thus situated. The dormitory namely on one front is turned to the northern region, on the other to the southern, and by it adheres to the basilica of St. Peter. The refectory likewise is turned to the same regions: and is nearly contiguous on the southern part to the apse [t] of the basilica of St. Peter. Further, that larger house, as we said above, is situated. But the church of St. Peter is situated on the southern part, turned however to the East. It too on the western part increased thirty feet in length, and as many in breadth, an upper chamber being built above, which he greatly desired to be dedicated in honor of the Lord God our Savior Jesus Christ. But that very work, on account of his so speedy death, remained imperfect. But in that same basilica of St. Peter he ordered a four-cornered pyramid of thirty-five feet in height, composed of turned wood, to be placed on the top of the tower of that church; which he ordered to be covered with lead, tin, and gilded copper, and there placed three bells: for before this work was too low. For that same tower, and at the same time the apse, he ordered to be covered anew with leaden tiles.
[20] He ordered besides another house to be built beside the apse of the basilica of St. Peter on the northern region, and at last also a chapter-house, as they call it, and a library. which it pleased to be called of the assembly or of the court, which in Greek is called bouleuterion [u]; because the brethren, seeking counsel in it about any matter, were wont to come together. For there on a pulpit the divine lesson is daily recited, there whatever the regular authority persuades to be done is deliberated: in which also he ordered a monument of his name to be placed, that when he should give the term of the present life, he might there be laid by his own. Likewise before the dormitory, the refectory, and that house which we named the larger, he ordered a decent porch with various railings [y] to be built, on which he placed beams, and extended it in length according to the measure of those roofs. But in the middle of the porch, which is seen to be situated before the dormitory, he established a house of charters. But the house in which the abundance of books should be preserved, which in Greek is called pyrgiscos [z], he placed before the refectory, whose tiles he caused to be fastened with iron nails.
ANNOTATA.
m. That is, purple.
p. That is, the Bible, says Achery in the margin of the first edition.
q. This work of Sentences of Tajo, or Taio, or Taion bishop of Zaragoza, is preserved in manuscript hitherto in certain libraries; but concerning it consult the bibliographers, or Mabillon volume 2 of the Analecta from page 68.
r. Namely of the Homilies on the Gospels of the whole year, as Mabillon here notes, whom see if it please.
s. Caminata and caminatum is called a chamber, a room, any dining-room, in which there is a chimney. Consult Du Cange's Glossary.
t. Absida, or apsida, everywhere denotes a vault: yet it is taken also, as here, for the inner part of a temple, in which the altar is wont to be placed.
u. That is, the place in which consultations are held; now commonly called the Chapter.
x. Therefore already then it was the custom that abbots should be buried in the chapter, says Mabillon here. Further, it is noted in the last edition of this Chronicle that what follows hence to these words, But the house in which the abundance of books, etc., is not read in the Fontenelle codex.
y. Pogium or podium and poium are those on which we lean; as often in porches there are lattices, or little columns nearly equalling the middle height of a man, from which those who look out are wont to lean on their elbows.
z. Πυργίσκος among the Greeks is a cupboard or ark built in the manner of a tower.
* otherwise Eugyppius
among the Greeks; nay, that Dirodinum is taken for a diarhodine pall, or of a rose color of a deeper hue, Du Cange shows in his Glossary.
CHAPTER III.
The benefits and alms of St. Ansegisus toward the convent of Flay and very many others, also of canons and of nuns.
[21] In the convent of Flay, besides other gifts, he built a basilica; What gifts he offered also in the convent of Flay, we have thought should be declared in this place. For there of his free kindness he bestowed ten various silver chalices: a silver ewer, with its own silver pitcher: seven silver candlesticks; various palls, more or less forty: thirty various chasubles or planetae and cendals, whose colors it seems a burden to describe: fanons and linens do not occur to memory how many they were in number. But in honor of the holy Trinity he built a basilica, before whose altar he placed a panel adorned with silver images, and upon the altar itself set a silver cross, and ordered the whole basilica to be adorned with various paintings.
[22] But the names of the books which he bestowed on that place are these: he gave there various works of the holy Fathers, the Pandect a translated by blessed Jerome from the Hebrew or Greek tongue: his Exposition on the Twelve Prophets, and there are twenty tomes in one volume: eighteen books of his on the Prophet Isaiah, one volume: two volumes of his book of Epistles: one volume of his on the Proverbs of Solomon: his on the Prophet Daniel: his on the Gospel of Matthew, containing in it the Decrees of Pope Gelasius on the books to be received and not received: and some excerpt from the books of the Hexaemeron of St. Ambrose the bishop, one codex: the books of St. Augustine which are entitled On the City of God, thirty b-two in number in one codex: his Exposition on the Gospel of St. John, one volume; his Homiliary containing 147 sermons, one volume: his 15 books On the Holy Trinity, one volume.
[23] His Concord of the Gospels, one codex: of Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, his On Christian Doctrine, one codex: his Exposition of the Creed, one codex: his eighty Questions, one codex: his On the Baptism of Infants to Marcellus c, three books: On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, two books: On the Providence of God, 1 sermon: On his own Birthday, 1 sermon On the Cross, 1 sermon. To Flaccianus an Epistle d [1] 1 volume: his three books of the Academics: two books of the Soliloquies: one book On Immortality: one book On the Quantity of the Soul: one book On the Master: two books On Order: one book On Seeing God, 1 volume. The books of his Confessions, one codex: the book which is called Enchiridion, one codex: his Exposition on the Psalms, one codex. The Exposition of St. Ambrose on the Epistles of Paul, one volume. The 7 books of Hesychius the presbyter on Leviticus, 1 codex. The Exposition of St. John bishop of Constantinople on Matthew: the Apocalypse of St. John, containing also the book of St. Isidore of the Differences, one codex.
[24] Of St. Hilary the bishop, against the heretics, 1 codex. The Homiliary of St. Gregory the Pope on the last part of the prophet Ezekiel, of Hilary, Gregory, Isidore, in one codex: one codex of his Epistles: the Exposition of Bede the presbyter on the Acts of the Apostles, one codex. On the seven Canonical Epistles and the Apocalypse of John, one codex: his on the Gospel of Mark, one codex: his on Luke the Evangelist, 1 codex: the book of the Testimonies of Isidore on Christ and the Church f, one codex: his Etymologies, one codex: his On the Wheels g to king Sisebut, 1 codex. Prosper On the Active and Contemplative Life h in 1 codex. The Prognosticon of the Future Age, 1 codex. The Disputation of Faith between Arius the heretic and Athanasius the Catholic in 1 codex. The Epistles of St. Cyprian the Martyr, 1 codex. The book of Alcuin On the Trinity in 1 codex: the Rule of blessed Basil the bishop: the Rule of blessed Benedict in 1 codex.
[25] The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius bishop of Caesarea in one codex: and of others, with other books. his Chronicle in one codex: likewise the Ecclesiastical History of three men, that is, of Sozomen, Theodoret, and Socrates, in one codex. The Canons of the various Fathers in one codex. Two volumes of Sacramentaries. Cassiodorus On Arithmetic, one volume: his Exposition on the Psalms, one volume. Two volumes of the Homilies of Origen on the Old Testament: two volumes of his Exposition on the Psalms. The Lives of the blessed Confessors Jerome, Augustine, Gregory. Likewise the passion of blessed Columba the Virgin in one codex. The Institution and collection of a certain person on the canonical life, 1 volume. The Deeds of the Franks in one codex. And very many others, whose names do not now occur to memory.
[26] The catalogue of his alms toward the convent of Fontenelle But how solicitous he was in the largesses of Alms, his very works bear testimony. For at a certain time, that is, in the eighteenth year of his government i, he fell into that affliction which the physicians call palsy: and presently, his domestics and faithful or intimate ones being called, he took care to make this distribution of his goods with a free mind. Which largess or distribution, at his command and supplication, was published by the venerable man Hildeman, bishop of the city of Beauvais, with the addition of Berteningus and Gerlo, laymen, and likewise Lando the monk. Whose text is such: In this convent of Fontenelle he bestowed on the Brethren ninety pounds; for every year he had been wont to give thirty in tribute: to the lay servants ten pounds: to the old men in that hospice, and to the other dwellings of the poor, ten solidi k. To the whole household of this convent forty pounds.
[27] and various The names of the other monasteries l to which this largess of alms reached I shall express one by one. To the convent of Jumièges he directed 5 pounds: to Logium one pound: to Fécamp one pound: to Villare one pound: to Longogilum one pound: to St. Valery one pound: to blessed Richarius two pounds and a half: to St. Omer two pounds and a half: to St. Ouen at Rouen five pounds: to St. Mary in the house of the same church two pounds: to St. Martin in the same city, and the other cells, twenty-five solidi: to Ragnoard archbishop of the same city ten pounds; namely that he might distribute five to presbyters, and another five to the poor.
[28] convents To the monastery of Penthale fifteen solidi: to Penante fifteen solidi: to Préaux likewise: to the city of Évreux one pound: to that Cross of St. Ouen two pounds: to the city of Lisieux one pound: to the convent of Fontenay twelve solidi: to the city of Bayeux two pounds: to the monastery of the Two Twins two pounds: to St. Martin of Tours five pounds, to those canons in the house one pound: to St. Anianus of Orléans one pound, to those canons in the house one pound: to St. Benedict at Fleury one pound: to Ferrières two pounds: to St. Calais one pound and a half: to the monastery of Corbion one pound: to St. Columba at Sens, to those monks two pounds, to those canons in the same city two pounds.
[29] very many, Likewise to St. Peter, to those monks in the same city one pound: in the city of Auxerre to those canons one pound: to St. Remigius to those monks likewise: to St. Heraclius in the same city likewise: likewise at Auxerre to St. Germanus, to those monks one pound: at Troyes to those monks at St. Peter one pound: to the Holy Cross at Meaux to those monks likewise: to the monastery of Fossés to those monks two pounds: to St. Geneviève at Paris two pounds: to St. Germain at Paris three pounds, in the same city to those canons one pound: to St. Denis five pounds: to the monastery of Chelles two pounds: to St. Lucian, to those monks two pounds.
[30] and of canons At Beauvais, to those canons one pound: to Flay to those canons fifteen pounds: for the work of their servants ten pounds: to Hildeman m the bishop for the presbyters and the poor ten pounds: to the monastery of the Oratory fifteen solidi: to the monastery of Fontaine ten solidi: to the monastery of Île ten solidi: to the monastery of Andelys twelve solidi: to Malard-valley ten solidi: to the monastery of Rebais one pound and a half: to St. Salvius in Brago ten solidi: to the monastery of Mala one pound: to St. Vedast at Arras two pounds: to Cambrai two pounds: to St. Gaugeric one pound: to Corbie five pounds.
[31] To St. Eligius in the city of Noyon one pound; colleges likewise to the same city to the canons one pound: likewise to the city of Soissons to the canons one pound: to St. Crispin fifteen solidi: to St. Medard to those monks one pound: to those nuns three pounds: at Rheims, to those canons one pound: to St. Remigius in the same city to the monks one pound: to St. Memmius at Chalons one pound: to the same city fifteen solidi: to the monastery of Hautmont, into which St. Ansbert was once thrust in exile and thence snatched from human fellowships n, fifteen solidi: to the convent of Maubeuge one pound: to the monastery of Castrilocum likewise: to the monastery of Lobbes one pound: to the convent of Inden two pounds.
[32] To Langres to those canons one pound: to Luxeuil twenty-five pounds, collected two years before his death, that is, in the monastery itself ten pounds o; to Fontaines, a cell of the same convent, one pound and a half; to Cusance likewise; to Anegray two pounds: to Remiremont one pound: to Balma likewise one pound and a half: to the convent of Murbach one pound: to St. Gregory one pound: to the monastery of Maur one pound: to Meulan [*] one pound: to St. Reginbert, where he first learned the elements of letters, he expended twenty pounds for the uses of the needy through the hands also of his mother: in like manner through the hands of Berteningus twenty pounds: but to those serving him in his own house he caused forty pounds to be given. Three times he caused all his goods to be distributed to the needy and the poor, reserving nothing for himself; which, how they were done, lest I seem to have caused nausea or weariness, I shall omit by passing over.
[33] For by alms he prepared for himself a way, since he knew that every man is a foreigner either to punishment or to glory: which fell in the year of Christ 833, the day 20 July. therefore by the alms and prayers of the servants of God he strengthened himself, that he might both pass the course of this life peaceably and live happily forever. But the same glorious Man ruled this convent for ten years, five months, 18 days [p]. At that time the lord Ansigisus departed, the Lord's Day dawning, on the 13th day before the Kalends of August; on the same day, with the greatest weeping, he was buried outside the basilica of St. Peter on the northern region, in the porch, in which the Brethren are wont to celebrate the assembly, and to lend their ears to counsels worthy of God [q]: and the place of government was vacant for thirty-eight days.
ANNOTATA.
c. Or Marcellinus.
d. It is not extant.
p. See what we said here to be erroneous in the preliminary Commentary.
q. That is, in the chapter, as was said above, of the convent of Fontenelle, whatever Adso in Mabillon may hint that he was buried at Luxeuil, who is far from wishing to attribute to him so much as to the contemporary author of this chronicle.
* Meulan.
CHAPTER IV.
The Constitution of Ansegisus the abbot.
[34] The Constitution of St. Ansegisus, But the Constitution which he instituted for the servants of God living in that convent concerning food and clothing, I have thought convenient to insert into this work. Whose text is such. A memorandum how the lord and venerable Ansegisus the abbot disposed, in an orderly manner, the vestments, and shoes, and sustenance for the brethren dwelling in the monastery of Fontenelle, together with their consent: that, without complaint of any occasion, all want being excluded, they might be able to render their vows to God, and at all times to bring to effect the business of their engagement.
[35] in which it is noted, For from the region of Boulogne and Thérouanne he judged that 60 entire vestments should be provided; 20 white cloths drappos a, from which 20 shirts b could be made; 5 ox-hides made up for soles; 20 modii of beans; 21 weights [c] of cheese by 75 pounds; a thousand eggs; 200 pounds of wax for that church, for the work of the brethren 100; 200 pounds of tallow; from Corialinsis 24 lime; 60 bragal. But for making sacks, 2 white cloths, from which can be made 10 shirts staminae [d]; 2 towels e; 5 made-up ox-hides; 10 modii of beans, 20 modii of peas, 15 weights of cheese by 72 pounds; 25 modii of salt; in the month of September a thousand eggs, from that flock gregaria f 60 pagens.; from Irtius and Idtius 3 napkins of the length of 10 ells, of the breadth of 2; from Apaliacum one napkin of the same measure; 3 shaggy h linens for wiping the hands, each of five ells in length, in breadth 3.
From Gera 3 fine-linens camsiles i, for making little napkins, of the length of 13 ells, of the breadth of three; from Clariacum one napkin, having in length 10 ells, in breadth 3; likewise from Hirtius a fine-linen of 12 ells, of 3 in breadth, for wiping the feet; from Campo 1 towel; from Rosontium likewise; from Floriacum likewise; from the aforesaid flock 30 weights of cheese by 72 pounds; 12 felts k for making shoes, for beds as much as necessity demanded; 60 fattened pigs for fat and lard with the greases l, and besides as much as should be necessary; from the ministry of Rosontium 3 modii of beans, 5 modii of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord 3 goose-pastes aucipastas [m], 20 chicken-pastes, 60 chickens, 250 eggs; and at Easter likewise; 3 pounds of wax, three sextaries of honey; and in the month of November 500 eggs, 60 cartloads of wood.
[37] Between that Cross of Paldriacum and Bladriciagas 3 of beans, at fixed times 5 modii of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord 4 goose-pastes, 12 chicken-pastes, 60 chickens, 250 eggs; and at Easter likewise 3 pounds of wax, 3 sextaries of honey; in the month of December 500 eggs; 60 cartloads of wood; from Campani 3 modii of beans, 8 modii of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord 4 goose-pastes, 7 chicken-pastes, 70 chickens, 250 eggs; and at Easter likewise, one sextary of honey, 1 pound of wax; in the month of January 500 eggs; 60 cartloads of wood; from Sadanma and Bubulo captiva 2 modii of beans, 4 modii of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord 2 goose-pastes, 10 chicken-pastes, 30 chickens, 100 eggs; and at Easter likewise, 2 sextaries of honey, 2 pounds of wax; in the month of February 500 eggs; 12 cartloads of wood.
[38] From Gariciagas, Dunum, and Gera, 3 modii of beans, ought to be provided 4 modii of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord three goose-pastes, 12 chicken-pastes, 11 chickens, 250 eggs; and at Easter likewise 1 sextary of honey, 1 pound of wax, and in the month of March 50 eggs; 12 cartloads of wood; from Petriopons and Wirtlaicum 2 towels, 5 modii of beans, 15 modii of salt; at the Nativity of the Lord 2 goose-pastes, 26 chicken-pastes, 105 chickens, 500 eggs; and at Easter likewise 2 sextaries of honey; and in the month of April 500 eggs; from Idcium 1 modius of beans, 1 modius of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord one goose-paste, 4 chicken-pastes, 25 chickens, 50 eggs; and at Easter likewise 1 sextary of honey, 1 pound of wax, and in the month of May 50 eggs; 15 cartloads of wood; from Irtius 1 modius of beans, 1 modius of peas; at the Nativity of the Lord one goose-paste, 4 chicken-pastes, 25 chickens, 50 eggs; and at Easter likewise 1 sextary of honey, 1 pound of wax; and in the month of June 500 eggs.
[39] Likewise from Rosontium in the month of August 166 eggs; for necessary uses from that Cross and Campani 168 eggs; from the manor curte n of Revereis 48 modii of wine, 250 eggs; wine from Alpiacum 350 modii; from the manor of Riparensis 150 modii; from Abriacum 50 modii; from Burgundy 50 modii: they are 600 modii. Adumaticum 32 modii; of cider, of Humulo, as much as necessity demands. Of wax for that church 200 pounds, of oil 130 pounds, of fat 8 modii; for the work of the brethren of wax 100 pounds, of oil 100 pounds; sixty made-up goat-skins 3 pounds; for procuring 40 cordwains o 3 pounds; for 20 ox-hides, 1 pound; 8 black hats [p] of 32 solidi, four others, each of 3 solidi; which make 2 solidi [q]; the three which remain of seven solidi, which make together 2 pounds and a half [r]: for procuring 30 best shirts staminae 3 pounds; for 30 pairs of drawers 2 pounds.
[40] of the convent of Fontenelle. For the care of the sick, honey and spices 1 pound; for procuring fifteen dry grey griseos [s] sacks, from which cloaks may be made, 10 pounds; that is, such an order, each of 10 solidi; and two best hats of 30 solidi; five which remain, of 36 solidi; but nine, of 54 solidi; that is each of six solidi; for making rochets [t], which are 18 rochets, they gather over the whole 10 pounds; for 15 saga [u] to be put in the beds 2 pounds and a half; for sheepskins, from which pelisses may be made, 10 solidi; for ubanti [x] 1 pound; for little bands 1 pound. They are in sum 31 pounds [y]; for the care of the sick, the little dwelling [z] which is called Bothmeregus, and as much as befits the burden sauram [aa]; that is, of
pigs, muttons [bb], sheep [cc], chickens, eggs, all our tithe we have granted to that same house of the sick. From our nourishments and from our vassals at the gate of the monastery we have given the manor of Noviomum, and those little dwellings which are called Gisimacas, Strotella, St. Stephen, Luviccinas, Bantana, Cisternas, Lenticulosa, for their infirmities and necessities out of charity, and cheeses, and butter, and also for feeding their servants, etc., what things are necessary we have granted.
ANNOTATA.
p. Capellus is a cap, or any covering of the head.
q. Nay 12: for three multiplied into four.
r. Rightly indeed if for twelve solidi eleven be counted above: for so the solidi are here in all 50; since one pound contains 20 solidi.
s. The color griseus is that which comes nearer to white, namely ashen. But what is Sicciscus? This is the only example of this word Du Cange produces; but he does not explain it.
t. Roccus is the uppermost or outermost garment.
u. Sagus is here a coverlet of the bed.
x. Ubantos for wantos, that is, gloves.
y. Nay, the whole sum of money here reckoned comes to 45 pounds and a half; whence it seems that here and there one number is put for another.
z. Mansionilis is a portion of land with a dwelling or building.
aa. Du Cange thinks that for Sauram should be read Staurum, which signifies whatever conduces to the necessaries of life.
bb. That is, wethers.
cc. In French brebis simply signifies sheep. Further, the places here everywhere noted I have neglected; for who would pursue each one, and with what profit of labor?