Gonsaldus

ON ST. GONSALDUS, HERMIT IN THE DIOCESE OF LIMOGES,

AT THE END OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY?

Gonsaldus, hermit of Limoges. (S.)

BY A. P.

[1] The cult of St. Gonsaldus is certain and ancient, What we often find to have happened with not a few saints has happened also with St. Gonsaldus [Certain more recent writers have written Consalous; in French he is called Gonsalou, Gonsalde, Gonsaud, Goussaud, etc.], namely that while it is certainly established concerning the ecclesiastical cult which has been paid to that saint, accurate and trustworthy records of the things done by him are all but entirely lacking to us. And indeed, although in other liturgical books of Limoges, a good many of which we have examined in manuscript, not even a word is read about our saint, yet in certain ones, and those conspicuous for their antiquity, he is so named that we can affirm that pious veneration was paid to him by the people of Limoges long ago. Wherever St. Gonsaldus is named, his memory is kept there on the 5th day of November [An exception must be made of the psalter of the monastery of St. Martial of the fourteenth century (Paris manuscript, Bibl. Nat. lat. 774 B), in which St. Gonsaldus is entered at the 4th day of November.]. So in two sacramentaries of Limoges, of the eleventh century [Paris manuscript, Bibl. Nat. lat. 821, fol. 5 in the calendar and fol. 88, where you will find three proper prayers. On this manuscript cf. L. Delisle, Mémoires sur d'anciens sacramentaires, in Mémoires de l'Institut, vol. XXXII, 1, p. 300 f.] and of the twelfth Paris manuscript, Bibl. Nat. lat. 822, fol. 7 in the calendar., in martyrologies of the eleventh century Martyrology of St. Martial, ibid., cod. lat. 5257, fol. 35v. and of the twelfth Martyrology of St. Martial, ibid., cod. lat. 5243, fol. 35., then in missals of the twelfth century Ibid., cod. lat. 9438, fol. 3v in the calendar. and of the fourteenth Ibid., cod. 836, fol. 4 in the calendar., lastly in breviaries of the fourteenth century Paris manuscript, Bibl. Mazar. 354 (787). and of the fifteenth Breviary of St. Martial, Paris manuscript, Bibl. Nat. lat. 1042.. On the same 5th day of November the feast of St. Gonsaldus is entered in the breviaries of Limoges printed in the years 1495, 1625 and 1736. Afterwards, however, it was transferred to the 14th day of November, on which day it already appears in the Limoges breviary of the year 1783 and is still celebrated today.

[2] His history is recent and uncertain. Who that "Gonsaldus, confessor" was, or what he did, is recorded in none of the manuscript breviaries which we at least have seen. In the printed breviaries, however, proper lessons about him are to be found, namely six in the breviary of the year 1495, one each in the breviaries of the years 1625, 1736 and 1783. These more recent ones agree with one another almost word for word, and teach few things that are not read more fully or equally well in the lessons of the year 1495. Besides, we have found one record in some way ancient in which something is handed down to memory about our saint, I mean the Treatise on the saints of Limoges of Bernard Gui († 1331), whose chapter 52 contains the Life of Gonsaldus in a few words. This is the sum of what is narrated both by Bernard and in the breviaries: that a certain Gonsaldus, a noble youth born in "the Gallic parts," after he had applied himself to letters, left his fatherland and betook himself to St. Praeiectus, bishop of the Arverni († c. 674), and having lived for some time under his discipline, afterwards led an eremitical life on a mountain of the country of Limoges, which was afterwards named after him Saint-Goussaud, dép. de la Creuse, arr. de Bourganeuf., and there piously died in the Lord on the Nones of November; and that while he was staying with St. Praeiectus, Gonsaldus, with Praeiectus and two other "abstainers," was by a miracle rescued from the peril of imminent death, when, the roof of the room in which they were dining falling in, the other guests, who were reviling Gonsaldus and his companions, were crushed.

[3] That he is the same as Gisoaldus the penitent, And in this passage indeed Bernard brings forward the Acts of St. Praeiectus as testimony; with what right he does so must be carefully examined, since these Acts are a record of great authority, from which far greater credit would accrue to the history of St. Gonsaldus. Now in the second Life of Praeiectus, BHL. 6917 (= B), which Bolland and Mabillon wrongly believed to have been written by a contemporary author, the story of those three "abstainers" is indeed read [Chap. 8, Act. SS., Jan. vol. II, p. 634; Mabillon, Act. SS. O.S.B., saec. II, p. 647.], but their names are by no means given. It is otherwise, however, in the older Life, BHL. 6916 (= A), which was really composed by a contemporary author and deserves full credit; for in that part of it which the distinguished Bruno Krusch recently at last found and published [Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XVIII, pp. 640–49. The remaining part of the Life is published in Act. SS., vol. cit., pp. 630–33, and in Mabillon, vol. cit., pp. 640–46. Krusch showed that the prologue which begins Studii … belongs to the older Life.], we read the following: who is praised in the Life of St. Praeiectus, There arrived no small throng of guests reclining at table, among whom three penitents reclined, whose names were these: Veneriamus, the servant of God, who fulfilled his name with his work, Gisoaldus, witness of Christ, Marialdus the monk Neues Archiv, vol. cit., p. 643.. For the name Gisoaldus, which is written in the older manuscript, the two more recent ones have Gosoaldus. Further, if we ask whether Bernard and the author of the Limoges lessons rightly and deservedly determined that Gisoaldus or Gosoaldus, the companion of St. Praeiectus, was the same as Gonsaldus the hermit, who was reported to have departed this life in the town of the same name, or whether rather, relying only on a certain likeness of names, and not on written documents or common report, they took it upon themselves to affirm that he was the same, I confess that I can answer nothing certain. although it is not clear, Bernard certainly not only mentions the Acts of Praeiectus in the passage cited, but a little before, where he relates that Gonsaldus was a companion of St. Praeiectus, he again indicates his source: as is read in a certain old book of his (that is, Gonsaldus's) church. But what kind of record he found in that book, whether the Life of Praeiectus itself, or some Life of Gonsaldus, or historical lessons about him, such as are usually recited in the ecclesiastical office, again I am not able to determine. I for my part would believe that this old book was a liturgical one in which lessons of this kind were written out. But, as I have pointed out, I have so far found no lessons older than those which exist in the breviary of the year 1495.

[4] the liturgical lessons on St. Gonsaldus, however, In composing these lessons, indeed, it is not hard to discern what sources their writer drew on. He used the Life of St. Praeiectus, especially in that passage in which he speaks of the three "abstainers." I do not believe that any other written record besides was employed by him. Certainly he did not read the treatise of Bernard Gui, since whatever is peculiar to Bernard is all absent from the lessons. And what in them is not taken from the Life of Praeiectus either presents certain commonplace praises, as it were customary with hagiographers, or is of such a kind as to seem to have been received from popular report.

[5] for the most part from some Life of St. Praeiectus I have said that the Life of Praeiectus was read by our author; but which he read, the older A or the more recent B, will, I think, be plain to those who have placed the similar passages side by side before their eyes. They are these:

LIFE OF PRAEIECTUS, BHL. 6916.

(Blessed Praeiectus) prepares a banquet and … orders a banquet to be prepared for him in the upper room. There arrived no small throng of guests reclining at table, among whom three penitents reclined, whose names were these: Venerianus, the servant of God, who fulfilled his name with his work, Gisoaldus, witness of Christ, Marialdus the monk. They recline according to custom, the dishes are served, the penitents are rebuked by those sitting with them, and these raise themselves into guffaws and vain laughter and show themselves no small disparagers of penitence. On the other hand the most blessed Praeiectus, according to his usual custom, warned them beforehand that it behooved them rather to do such things themselves than to disparage them. But they do not cease, so as not to disparage the servants of God, but raise themselves higher with laughter into the airs of pride. But that Judge who disposes all things with loving governance … stood by as no small defender of Praeiectus. The timbers of the upper room burst apart and slip down in pieces all the way to the pavement; the jealous disparagers rush to the bottom. But blessed Praeiectus, with the penitents his colleagues, sat down again at table rejoicing Neues Archiv, vol. XVIII, p. 643..

LESSONS ON ST. GONSALDUS.

Lesson IV. When one day blessed Praeiectus had prepared a banquet, there came many lettered men and nobles who had been summoned, among whom blessed Gonsaldus reclined with two others, who, being abstainers, refused to take meat for eating. But when many cast laughter and reproaches against blessed Gonsaldus and his companions, they are admonished by the blessed man to desist.

Lesson V. But when they did not cease to disparage the servants of God, suddenly the timbers of the upper room burst apart and rush down upon the disparagers. The blessed Praeiectus and Gonsaldus, with the other penitents, remained unharmed.

LIFE OF PRAEIECTUS, BHL. 6917.

And when one day he had prepared a banquet for himself in the upper room, and many worldly men and nobles had come by invitation, among them were present three abstainers, who refused to take meat for use. But because the life of the good is always grievous to depraved minds, when the worldly men mocked them and kept casting laughter and reproaches, they are admonished by the man of the Lord not to assail with mockery those whom they ought to have venerated. But when they in no way corrected themselves, suddenly the floor of the upper room fell with the mockers, and Praeiectus alone, sitting with the penitents, remained at table.

In these passages we have printed in smaller type the words that are common to the lessons and Life A, and in smaller italic type those common to the lessons and Life B.

[6] they have been taken in one way or another. These passages, then, being compared with one another, it seems manifest that the author of the lessons either used or copied both Lives A and B together, or had in his hands a third Life, which stood midway between A and B and has not been preserved for us. And this indeed pleases me more. For it is scarcely likely that in the fifth lesson the writer took the first three words (Sed cum illi) from Life B, then five from Life A, then one (subito) from Life B, afterwards not

a few from Life A, and finally the last (remanserunt) from Life B, by turns and as it were at whim. But that the author of the lessons differs in something from Lives A and B, in that he narrates that those mockers did not — as is related in the Life — rush headlong to the bottom when the floor-timbers broke, but rather were crushed when the roof fell in, the text itself shows must be attributed not to the writer of that third Life, but to the author of the lessons, who interpreted the Life badly.

[7] Du Saussay invented two Gonsalduses. Even more did André du Saussay err, who in the Gallican Martyrology seems to reckon two Gonsalduses instead of one. In the supplement at the 4th day of November, p. 1192, he mentions St. Consalous, confessor, resting on a mountain of the country of Limoges "under the title of his own invocation"; but in the martyrology itself at the 5th day of November, p. 833, he narrates briefly the life of St. Gonsaldus, whom he says lived in the time of Pope Agatho and Theoderic I, king of the Franks, was a disciple of Blessed Benignus, bishop of the Arverni [The same is affirmed after him by I. Collin, Histoire sacrée de la vie des saints principaux … du diocèse de Limoges (Limoges, 1672), p. 544 ff.], and finally lived as a solitary and died piously on a mountain of the territory of Limoges, which is marked with his name. Now what credit he deserves who relates such things, everyone sees, since King Theoderic I died more than a hundred and forty years before Agatho became supreme pontiff, and among the bishops of the Arverni no Benignus at all is found.

FROM THE TREATISE OF BERNARD GUI ON THE SAINTS OF LIMOGES [I have collated Labbe's text (Nova bibliotheca manuscripta, vol. I, p. 635) with the Paris manuscripts Bibl. Nat. lat. 5929, fol. 63v, and nouv. acq. 1171, fol. 215v.]

Gonsaldus, hermit of Limoges. (S.)

BERNARD GUI

LII. St. Gonsaldus has his tomb in the church at the hill of his name See above, p. 80, note 11. on a high mountain [Castellanus interpreted this badly, writing in the Universal Martyrology: S. Gonsalou dont le tombeau est à Montaut! St. Gonsalou, whose tomb is at Montaut!]. He, as is read in a certain old book of his church, was a companion of St. Praeiectus, martyr, bishop of Clermont, and was one of those three abstainers on the holy day of Easter who are read of in the Acts of St. Praeiectus [From these Acts we know that this happened before Praeiectus became bishop of Clermont. Certain more recent writers did not notice this, e.g. J. Branche, La vie des saincts et sainctes d'Auvergne (1652), p. 629; Labiche de Reignefort, Vies des saints du diocèse de Limoges, vol. III (1828), p. 52.], whom, when certain persons were mocking them (q. i.) quibus edentibus cod. 5929. at the bishop's banquet, the upper room fell and crushed the wretched mockers, while the abstainers with St. Praeiectus remained there safe and unharmed.

He is wont to help those with goiter when invoked. He so often and so imperiously terrified in dreams Adhemar, abbot of St. Martial c. 1064–1114., until he ordered him to be written back into the collectary from which he had had him erased. The canons of St. Andrew at Limoges say they have his head [It does not survive, and had already perished in the seventeenth century. Cf. Bonaventure de Saint-Amable, Histoire de S. Martial, vol. I (1683), p. 18.]. His feast is kept on the Nones of November.

FROM THE BREVIARY OF LIMOGES OF THE YEAR 1495

Gonsaldus, hermit of Limoges. (S.)

Of Gonsaldus, confessor.

Fol. 395.

First lesson. Blessed Gonsaldus, noble in race, but nobler in faith, sprang from the Gallic parts, from the blood of illustrious men. He, given over from boyhood to the study of letters, advanced praiseworthily beyond his contemporaries [Cf. the older Life of Praeiectus, in which it is said of Praeiectus: so that … he went before even his contemporaries in the sounds of the grammarians and in antiphons (Neues Archiv, vol. XVIII, p. 641).], so much so that he surpassed them in morals and virtues.

Lesson II. Then, burning with desire for the heavenly fatherland, he did not embrace the wantonness of the world, but meditated day and night in the law of the Lord. Psalm 1:2. There flourished in these days a godly lamp in the house of the Lord, namely blessed Praeiectus. The proclamation of his holiness was spread abroad everywhere because of his virtuous works, and all zealous for goodness desired to be joined to his fellowship.

Lesson III. Then blessed Gonsaldus, leaving his fatherland and parents, placing his hope in the Lord alone, came with hurried step to blessed Praeiectus, longing to follow his footsteps. Blessed Praeiectus, being assured of his uprightness, magnified God, and having him come to him, when he understood his will, made him his familiar.

Lesson IIII. When one day Cf. above, p. 80, no. 3. blessed Praeiectus had prepared a banquet, there came many lettered men and nobles who had been summoned; among whom blessed Gonsaldus reclined with two others, who, being abstainers, refused to take meat for eating. But when many cast laughter and reproaches against blessed Gonsaldus and his companions, they are admonished by the blessed man to desist.

Lesson V. But when they did not cease to disparage the servants of God, suddenly the timbers of the upper room burst apart and rush down upon the disparagers Cf. ibid., p. 81, no. 6.. The blessed Praeiectus and Gonsaldus, with the other penitents, remained unharmed. And when the blessed pontiff had visited the abbot Amarinus, he wished to have his beloved Gonsaldus as his companion [Of this there is nothing in the Lives of Praeiectus, in which Gonsaldus is not even named in this passage.]; and he freed him from the affliction of fevers [In the Lives of Praeiectus it is Amarinus himself who is said to have been freed then from fever. Act. SS., Jan. vol. II, p. 631, chap. 8; p. 635, chap. 16.].

Lesson VI. At length, by the inspiration of divine grace, blessed Gonsaldus, clothed with a wholesome purpose, flew across to the wilderness. In it, applying himself day and night to prayers, devoting himself to fasts, sustaining very many combats of the ancient enemy, crucifying the world to himself and himself to the world, he was found worthy to ascend to the mountain which is Christ. For his days being completed in good works, he was at length received into heaven by the angelic citizens.

FROM THE BREVIARIES OF LIMOGES OF THE YEARS 1625, 1736, 1783 [I have recorded the variant readings of the breviary of the year 1736 (= 1) and of the year 1783 (= 2).]

Gonsaldus, hermit of Limoges. (S.)

Lesson IIII Lectio II. Ex Bern. Guid. apud Labb. t. I nov. bibl., Le Cointe et aliis 2.. Gonsaldus, born of a noble family in Gaul, instructed in letters as a boy a pueritia 1; in pueritia 2., gave himself over to be imbued with ecclesiastical morals under the discipline of blessed Praeiectus, then tunc 1, 2. most celebrated among the Arverni for the fame of his holiness. From there, out of zeal for the solitary life, he withdrew secessit 1, 2. to a very rugged mountain of the country of Limoges, to which he also gave his name; where, applying himself diligently to fasts, vigils and prayers, and having carried off very many victories from frequent conflict with the demon, he fell asleep in the Lord on the Nones of November. He flourished (Fl. C. P. t.) circa finem septimi seculi 2. in the times of Constantine Pogonatus.