ON ST. FLORENTIUS, BISHOP OF STRASBOURG,
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY
Florentius, bishop of Strasbourg. (S.)
BY A. P.
[1] St. Florentius seems Of this saint, who they report ruled the church of Strasbourg in the seventh century, the first to make mention is the author of the metrical catalogue of the bishops of Strasbourg, which has been preserved for us in a codex of the tenth century, but seems to have been composed in the middle of the ninth century Cf. O. Holder-Egger in MG., Scriptores vol. XIII, p. 321. And he makes mention of him in the seventh place, after St. Arbogast and before Ansoald, using this verse, florid certainly, but by no means lucid:
Florens florigeram coepit Florentius haram Flourishing Florentius took up the flower-bearing fold [Ibid., p. 322. The other catalogues we may neglect, since two of them (ibid., p. 322, I and III) were excerpted from that most celebrated metrical one and agree wholly with it here; and a certain third, written in the thirteenth century, in which Arbogast, Florentius, Ansoald are listed as the 18th, 19th and 20th bishops (ibid., p. 323, II), presents the series of the first twenty bishops wholly disordered by some smatterer or other; and that it was disordered foolishly and faultily we shall presently show]
Now first of all it is asked what credit is to be given to the metrical catalogue. Both some ancient writers See above, note 2 and very many more recent ones [For example our Henschen in Acta Sanctorum, February vol. I, p. 829, no. 69; Grandidier, Histoire de l'église … de Strasbourg, vol. I (1777), p. 126 and following] have departed from it, moved certainly by this reason, that they believed Arbogast and Florentius, as is read in their Lives, lived in the time of king Dagobert, either the first of this name (in the years 623 – 639) or the second († 678). From which it came about that some composed, or rather perverted, the order of the first twenty bishops in one way and some in another, for example before the year 614. And this with little success. For series B wholly contradicts the right reckoning of times, since it is certainly established that Rotharius lived about the years 660 – 665 [For he appears in the charters of Childeric II given at this time (MG., Diplomata imperii vol. I, pp. 26, 27, nos. 26, 28)], and that Ansoald subscribed to the council of Paris of the year 614 MG., Concilia vol. I, p. 192, l. 30. And although series C is free from this fault, yet it has this inconvenience, that it neglects the most ancient of all the witnesses, I mean the metrical catalogue, in order to take account of documents much more recent and of slight credit, I mean the Lives of SS. Arbogast and Florentius. Rettberg certainly thought that the one who composed the catalogue collected the names of the first bishops as they were preserved in the church of Strasbourg, handed down from the forefathers; but, since he had learned nothing certain about the time in which each had lived, to have been bishop of Strasbourg he listed them as it pleased him Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II (1848), p. 63. But I think he would have been of another opinion if he had been informed more certainly of the age of bishop Ansoald and had separated more firmly the times of Arbogast and Florentius from the time of king Dagobert Cf. what he has on pp. 61 and 65. When this is done — and it can be done with the best right [Rettberg himself pointed out (p. 65) that Dagobert was customarily named wherever a king of the Merovingian age had to be named who favoured ecclesiastical affairs. And certainly, as Childebert in Neustria, so Dagobert in Austrasia is customarily brought in by hagiographers of a later age as one who brought help and aid to churches or monasteries] — although in this catalogue some things remain doubtful and obscure [For example who that Amandus was, or at what time he lived, from whom the series of bishops takes its beginning; likewise at what time the other bishops from Amandus to Ansoald lived, and whether the series has been handed down complete or, which is not improbable, some names remained unknown to the writer and were accordingly passed over by him], there nevertheless seems to be no reason why we should not believe that those men, and especially Arbogast, Florentius, Ansoald, were really bishops of Strasbourg [That is established about Arbogast and about Ansoald by certain monuments, about Arbogast by an inscription once found at Strasbourg (cf. F.-X. Kraus, Die christlichen Inschriften der Rheinlande, vol. I, p. 11), and about Ansoald by the acts of the council of Paris of the year 614] and succeeded one another in the see in that order and at least from the tenth century in which they are listed in the catalogue.
[2] These things are confirmed by another very ancient document in which our Florentius is praised, the Life of St. Deicolus, abbot of Lure (BHL 2120), written in the tenth century after the year 973. In which there is extolled the city of Strasbourg… which, apart from its principal relics, rejoices to possess its own patrons, whom it received from the Lord as founders of the true faith and lavish sowers of the divine word, that is, Amandus, Justinus, Arbogast, Florentius and some others, whose names that supernal palace holds written without end in the roll of the blessed order MG., Scriptores vol. XV, p. 676, lines 32 – 36. For that those four saints are not called bishops by the proper word Cf. Rettberg, in the volume cited, p. 61 is nothing, since in a wholly similar way, when in the same place the writer of the Life praises some bishops of Metz and Trier, he names them not bishops, but in oratorical manner fathers, masters of sound doctrine, teachers. From which passage too it may be gathered that those four
blessed bishops were counted among the saints in the tenth century, and that their bodies were preserved in the diocese of Strasbourg besides other principal relics Cf. Acta Sanctorum, October vol. XI, p. 828, no. 1. And indeed in a certain calendar of I know not what church or monastery of Strasbourg, which seems to have been written at the end of the tenth century or the beginning of the eleventh [M. F. Beck, Martyrologium ecclesiae germanicae pervetustum (Augsburg, 1687), pp. 27 – 28, §10; cf. p. 23 and following], on the 7th day of November there is inscribed Florentius, bishop and confessor Ibid., leaf marked c; on which day too he is praised in some more recent martyrologies, honoured among the saints. for example in the Usuard codex of the church of Blessed Mary of Utrecht, of the twelfth century Cf. Martyrologium Usuardi, ed. Sollerius, p. LVII, n. 219 and following: of St. Florentius, bishop of Strasbourg and confessor Ibid., p. 658, and in certain others from the sixteenth century on, and in the Roman martyrology itself.
[3] [Perhaps already in the ninth century his body had been translated into the monastery of Haslach,] Nor, however, may it be affirmed that the saint departed this life on this day [Some designate other days (cf. Grandidier, Hist. de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, p. 236, note l), but no one brings forward ancient documents to support what he says], since there seems rather to have been assigned for celebrating his feast the day of the translation, which, at the beginning of the ninth century, Rachio ruling the church of Strasbourg, the men of the twelfth century confirmed was made on the seventh before the Ides of November with this inscription, of which there will be talk again below: I, Rachio, by the grace of God bishop of Strasbourg, translated Florentius, confessor and bishop, on the seventh of the Ides of November into Avellanum, and established this day as solemn by ban. Amen [It is inserted in the charter of Burchard, bishop of Strasbourg, in the year 1143 (St. A. Würdtwein, Nova subsidia diplomatica, vol. VII, p. 127; Ch. Schmidt, Histoire du chapitre de Saint-Thomas de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 1860, p. 288). See below no. 10]. And that Avellanum is some Latin name of the monastery which was formerly called Hasala or Hasela (Haslach, in the circle of Molsheim in Alsace), which first had brothers under the rule of an abbot as inhabitants Cf. MG., Libri confraternitatum, p. 221, but afterwards canons under a provost. which it was afterwards invented was founded by him. And they report that St. Florentius himself was not only translated hither at some time, but also lived there while he was alive and founded the monastery of Hasala; of which thing we have as first witness the one who wrote the Life of St. Deodatus (BHL 2131) a little before the middle of the eleventh century [Cf. J.-B. E. L'Hôte, in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. VI, pp. 153 – 55; Chr. Pfister, in Annales de l'Est, vol. III (1889), pp. 551 – 54]. He reports, as what he had learned from common report (no. 4): So to the thrice and four times blessed Deodatus … these above others are said to have cleaved as companions of so great a reward, Arbogast and Florentius; of whom the former lived the eremitical life in the sacred wood which in the Teutonic tongue is called Heiligenforst and thence was snatched to the episcopate of the city of Strasbourg; to whom, at his departure, the other, drawn from the solitude of Hasala, was given as successor. These, after they had shown on earth very many marks of their merits, called by the Lord, rest in spirit in the court of heaven, but in body in the places which we said above they founded. But this Life of St. Deodatus is not one we should readily trust. For as the writer erred where he reported that St. Deodatus lived at the same time as St. Hildulf and conversed with him [Cf. L. Jérôme, L'abbaye de Moyenmoutier, vol. I (Paris, 1902), pp. 90 – 98 (= Bulletin de la Société philomatique Vosgienne, vol. XXIII, pp. 202 – 10)], so he could, deceived by false report, have joined Arbogast and Florentius as companions to St. Deodatus, although they seem to have flourished long before. For Deodatus betook himself to Alsace after the middle of the seventh century Cf. Pfister, in the volume cited, p. 587, while Arbogast and Florentius had already departed this life by the year 614, if indeed we listen to the witness of the metrical catalogue, which, as composed in the middle of the ninth century, certainly merits much greater credit than the Life of St. Deodatus written two hundred years later. But neither can that other thing which is read in this not ancient Life, that the monastery of Hasala was founded by St. Florentius, be certainly established for us, since it cannot be defined whether this report arose from the fact that St. Florentius really lived in the place Hasala, or only from the fact that the body of the holy man was at some time translated there [Wholly to be neglected and hardly to be mentioned is the charter of king Dagobert I (MG., Diplomata imperii vol. I, pp. 147 – 49), by which he increases with certain gifts the monastery which he himself built in the place Hasela, and the honourable Florentius, friend of God, dwelling there in solitude. For it is as spurious as anything can be].
[4] His Life written in the twelfth century, And these are the things, few indeed and very meagre, which can be affirmed about St. Florentius, if not certainly, yet probably. The other things, many more, which have been handed down about him merit no credit. For they are narrated in the Life of the holy bishop, which was first written in the twelfth century and is full of fables. We have indeed at least four Lives or Legends of St. Florentius (BHL 3043 – 3046); but all the others depend on one, which has been preserved for us by
which from the complete exemplar the Bern codex of the public library 114, fol. 152 – 154, which were written at the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth (= 1). Its earlier part, from a copy of the fourteenth century which he had found in the archive of the chapter of Saint-Thomas of Strasbourg (= 1 a), Charles Schmidt published in the year 1860 (cf. BHL 3045). The very beginning of the same earlier part, divided into three lessons, we found in a certain Lectionary composed for the use of the church of Worms in the fifteenth century, which is now the codex of the Vatican library Palatine lat. 477 (= 1 b), fol. 198v – 199v. The Life was written by a certain cleric, as it seems, either of Strasbourg or of Haslach before the end of the twelfth century, since a copy survives written about this time; not, however, before the year 1143, since it narrates in express words the finding of the relics of St. Florentius, which happened in that year [That the last part of the Life, in which there is talk of the translation of the relics of St. Florentius to Hasela (cf. Ch. Schmidt, work cited, pp. 133, 261), was omitted in the copy of the chapter of Saint-Thomas no one will wonder who knows the contentions which arose in the twelfth century about the possession of the body of the holy bishop (see below, no. 9 and following)].
and with epitomes From this the Life BHL 3044 (= 2) differs in nothing except that, both the beginning and other places being cut away, it has been made shorter. This epitome, then, of which only small particles have been published [In Le Cointe (cf. BHL 3044), but also before in Godfrey Henschen's De tribus Francorum regibus … diatriba (Antwerp, 1655), pp. 77 – 78, 87], we have collated entire with the original Life. And we found it both in a copy which our predecessors had once received taken "from the manuscript Passional of Böddeken of the month of November" [It is now kept with other copies of this kind in codex 8935 of the Royal Library of Brussels; cf. Analecta Bollandiana, vol. XXVII, p. 338T], and especially in the lesser legendary of Böddeken, of the fifteenth century, which is now kept in the library of the University of Münster under the number 353 [Cf. J. Staender, Chirographorum in regia bibliotheca Paulina Monasteriensi catalogus (1889), p. 55, n° 219 (353); Analecta Bollandiana, vol. XXVII, p. 27638].
some A much shorter epitome of the same Life BHL 3045, with most places not so much cut away as contracted, the other part of the narrative being also passed over, was published by Grandidier (BHL 3046) from a breviary of Strasbourg written by hand in the year 1399 [The same epitome is read in the breviary of Strasbourg printed in the year 1489, fol. 490v – 492]; in which epitome (= 3) the words of the earlier Life have been generally kept, as far as could be done, and therefore we have brought forward certain various readings in their places from Grandidier's edition.
among themselves Another epitome, wholly different from epitome 3 and even shorter than it, was found in the breviary of a certain Swiss chapter of canons of the order of St. Augustine (= codex 5 of the library of the Seminary of clerics of Strasbourg, of the fourteenth/fifteenth century, fol. 376) by the distinguished Lucien Pfleger; which he published in the Strassburger Diözesanblatt, vol. XXI (1902), p. 71 (= 4). Since this already departs much from Life 1 in words, not in things, it seemed good to note hardly a few of its variant readings.
[5] different, we publish, On the other hand, written in other words is the earlier and longer part of another epitome (BHL 3043), which Laurentius Surius published "from a certain manuscript codex," but "with changed style," as he was all too often accustomed; its genuine words, from a codex of Cologne collated with a codex of the Charterhouse of Cologne, Fr. John Gamans S. J. once sent to Bolland [That copy is to be found in the Brussels codex of the Royal Library 8935. Cf. above, p. 396, note 13]; from which copy some few sentences were brought forward long ago both by our Henschen Work cited, pp. 78, 87 – 88 and by Charles Le Cointe (cf. BHL 3043). That that Life is ancient and was written before the eleventh century Grandidier Histoire de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, proofs, p. XXXIX, note f gathered "from the fact that the author, speaking of the estates granted to Florentius, says: which up to the present the monastery of Hassle claims for itself; which words at least hint that the church of Haslach had not yet then been presented with the secular gown"; but at least before the year 1096 the abbey of Haslach had been made a collegiate church, and secular canons held the place of monks [Cf. Grandidier, Alsatia sacra, ed. A. M. P. Ingold, vol. I (Nouvelles œuvres inédites de Grandidier, III, Colmar, 1899), p. 87]. But the words cited are those of Surius, not of the ancient writer, in whom is read: which to this day belong to the cloister of Hasaelahe; and "cloister" is said equally of canons and of monks Cf. Du Cange, under this word. And after the writer of the epitome had embraced in fewer words the very things which are handed down in the most ancient legend about the life and morals of St. Florentius, certain things about his birth, his death and the translation under Rachio
made by the bishop he attached, which he copied almost word for word either from the most ancient legend or from its epitome BHL 3044.
[6] a certain metrical epitome Finally there is to be reviewed a certain Life, if it is right to call it a Life, a metrical one, which our Henschen gathered from the breviary of Strasbourg printed in the year 1489 Fol. 490v – 492v [Henschen's copy survives in the praised Brussels codex 8935. On that breviary cf. Henschen, De tribus Dagobertis, p. 77. There is attached in the copy the hymn Exultet vallis Hasela (= Chevalier, Repertorium hymnologicum 5913), copied from the same breviary] and a few verses of which he himself brought forward Ibid., pp. 88, 90. It consists of antiphons and responsories, which, put together, make an epitome of almost the whole most ancient Life, the miracles with which it is closed not being omitted, but nothing at all being added.
[7] rightly neglected, From what we have pointed out it is clear that it would have been enough for us to publish that Life from the Bern codex, collated with the epitomes BHL 3044 and 3046. Yet so that the reader may himself judge about the epitome BHL 3043, whose genuine words have not yet appeared, we shall attach it too from the copy of Gamans; but the metrical Life, as being recent and of no importance, we have judged should be neglected.
[7] tells nothing worthy of credit about the deeds of Florentius; Now, setting aside for the present that part both of the most ancient Life and of certain epitomes in which there is talk of the translation of the body of St. Florentius made in the ninth century and of its finding in the twelfth, almost all the rest, I mean the things by which the deeds of St. Florentius are narrated, are of such a kind that they have won no credit from any wise men. That Florentius was bishop of Strasbourg after Arbogast, that he perhaps lived at Hasala and founded a monastery there, these things the writer could know either from documents, which we too have, or from common opinion. But the things which he added on top of these, to prepare a proper legend for his saint, are not only confirmed by no ancient monument, but smell wholly of fable [So judged not only the more severe historians, but also others more mild. See for example Grandidier, Histoire de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, pp. 280 – 30, and with him Hunckler, Histoire des saints d'Alsace (Strasbourg, 1837), pp. 516 – 17]. These are wonderful little narratives, such as occur, the same or similar, in very many Lives of saints written in more recent time. That those narratives were put together into a certain scheme of a Life which the writer established on the likeness of the Life of St. Arbogast (BHL 656), whom Florentius is said to have succeeded, learned men have thought Cf. Rettberg, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II, pp. 65, 66; with whom I hesitate to agree. At most the other biographer could gather from the Life of Arbogast that Florentius lived in the time of king Dagobert; and as he had read that Arbogast, after he had called back to life the son of the king who had died by a wretched accident, received from Dagobert as a gift the town of Rouffach and some estates, so he narrated that to Florentius, because he had restored sight and speech to the blind and dumb daughter of the same king, the royal villa of Kircheim was handed over [Life of St. Florentius, ch. 7: the dwelling which he himself inhabited, namely Kircheim, with all its appurtenances he freely handed over; the same is explained more distinctly in the spurious charter of Dagobert: our royal dwelling, well ordered or provided, Kirckhaim with the suburbs Marley, the villa Corone, Virdenheim, the villa Vege … we have handed over. But that these are of doubtful credit is gathered from the fact that in the ninth and tenth centuries Kircheim had not ceased to be a public and royal villa (cf. J. D. Schoepflin, Alsatia illustrata, vol. I, p. 705), so that Schoepflin, who held the Acts of St. Florentius and the charter of Dagobert worthy of credit, thought it must be judged that "the successors of Dagobert redeemed the palace of Kircheim by another gift or by exchange, as they call it"]. The other things in the two Lives are either different or even contrary to each other. So, for example, Arbogast in his Life is said to have come to Strasbourg from Aquitaine, whereas in the Life of Florentius we read that both Arbogast and Florentius, and Theodatus and Hildulf, betook themselves from Scotia, that is Ireland, into the territory of Alsace [Which indeed you would rightly wonder at, since these are by no means Scottish names, but partly German, partly Latin. Cf. Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen, vol. I7, p. 135, note 1].
[8] nor from other monuments And if some few ancient writers besides these whom we have reviewed have mentioned St. Florentius, they seem to have taken all that they bring forward from known documents. Richer of Senones certainly Chronicle, bk. I, ch. 5 (MG., Scriptores vol. XXV, p. 260, l. 35 – 39) used the Life of St. Florentius and perhaps also the Life of St. Deodatus. And what the Annals of Strasbourg MG., Scriptores vol. XVII, p. 87, l. 19 – 20, composed at the beginning of the thirteenth century, report, and what passed thence into the Annals of Marbach Ibid., p. 146, l. 12 – 13, whose testimony was once often brought forward as taken from a historical fragment of an uncertain author This title the first editor Urstisius had prefixed to the Annals, that is: In the year of the Lord 673 flourished blessed Arbogast, who raised the son of Dagobert from death. At the same time there was Florentius, who freed the daughter of the same king, vexed by a demon. Both, succeeding each other as bishops of Strasbourg, were renowned, we are taught better things about him. this too, in the end, flowed from the Lives of Arbogast and Florentius, although I do not know how it came about that in place of the blind and dumb girl a demoniac was brought in here; and it is notable that the annalist transferred both saints to the times of Dagobert II. To this opinion the white pebble was given by the more recent writers, as many as either gave entire credit to the Lives of St. Florentius, like our Henschen [De tribus Dagobertis, pp. 87 – 91. Even before he composed this diatribe on the three Dagoberts, Henschen had begun to prepare a preliminary commentary to the Life of St. Florentius, which might at some time be published in the Acta Sanctorum. It is preserved, written in Henschen's own hand, in the Brussels codex of the Royal Library 8935 and fills seventeen pages of no small format. From which, however, we could take nothing for our uses], Berain [P. Berain, Mémoires historiques sur le règne des trois Dagoberts au sujet des fondations de plusieurs églises d'Alsace faites par le saint roy Dagobert second et faussement attribuées à Dagobert premier, et particulièrement de la fondation de l'église collégiale d'Hastach, avec un abrégé de la vie de S. Florent son patron, évêque de Strasbourg, et une dissertation critique sur sa chartre. Strasbourg, 1717], Gatrio [A. Gatrio, Das Breuschthal oder urkundliche Nachweisung des entscheidenden Einflusses des Haslacher Einsiedlers und Strassburger Bischofes Florentius auf die christliche Umgestaltung des Breuschthales und des Elsasses. Rixheim, 1883. In explaining the life of that saint, of whom so little has been handed down to memory, the writer, wonderfully eloquent, spends more than a hundred pages (pp. 1 – 135)], Rumpler [In the anonymous work: Die Wallfahrt zu dem wunderthätigen und grossen Heiligen Florentius Bischofe und Bekenner in Haslach, im Breuschthale. Nebst Gebeten und Andachtsübungen (Strasbourg, 1886), pp. 7 – 59], or at least gave them some credit, like Grandidier Histoire de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, p. 227 and following and Hunckler Histoire des saints d'Alsace, p. 514 and following, while others, wiser [Rettberg, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II, pp. 65 – 66; Friedrich, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II, pp. 508 – 10], wholly withdrew from these documents and preferred to be ignorant rather than to hand down uncertain things; with whom we judge we must wholly agree.
[9] A contention having arisen in the twelfth century about the saint's body, It remains that we examine in a few words the things which have been handed down to memory about the relics of St. Florentius. About which relics the canons of the collegiate church of Saint-Thomas of Strasbourg contended in a great and long-lasting dispute, from the twelfth century on, against the canons of Haslach. These indeed said that the holy bishop had once been buried in their church, which they boasted was founded by St. Florentius, and that his relics were kept there; but the others, while they did not deny that Florentius had first been laid in a tomb in the city of Strasbourg [Life, ch. 8: the church which he ruled while alive is adorned by the burial of his body], yet would have it that his sacred body was translated to Hasela at the beginning of the ninth century and remained there thereafter. To which party credit is to be given is indeed not clear. That the church of Saint-Thomas was founded by Florentius is not only confirmed by no ancient document [Nor does that "ancient book salicus of the church of Saint-Thomas, letter a," seem to have been so ancient, in which was read on fol. 376: Florentius greatly loved us (read his?) fellow countrymen the brothers of the church of Saint-Thomas and lived with them, and provided faithfully in spiritual and temporal things (Grandidier, Hist. de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, p. 386, note c)], but for this reason comes very much into doubt, that, when in the tenth century the possessions of the monastery of Saint-Thomas were reviewed, this was the opinion of its inhabitants, that their church was built by Adaloh, bishop of Strasbourg (817 – 825) [It is narrated how in old times a certain bishop of the city of Strasbourg, Adaluohc by name, had built there for the remedy of his soul a church in honour of St. Thomas the apostle … (Würdtwein, Nova subsidia diplomatica, vol. V, p. 327; L. Schneegans, L'église de Saint-Thomas à Strasbourg et ses monuments, Strasbourg, 1842, p. 283; Ch. Schmidt, Hist. du chapitre de Saint-Thomas, p. 285)]. Nor would you say that that church was not founded by Adaloh, but restored after it had collapsed, and that accordingly its origin is to be put back to a much more ancient time and perhaps to the age of St. Florentius. For the inscription carved on the sarcophagus of bishop Adaloh which is brought forward in testimony of this matter [Adelochus praesul ad Dei laudes amplificandas hanc edem collapsam instauravit DCCCXXX [Bishop Adelochus, to amplify the praises of God, restored this collapsed church, 830]] was by no means made in the ninth century, but at a much later time, and hardly before the eleventh/twelfth century [Cf. F.-X. Kraus, Die christlichen Inschriften der Rheinlande, vol. II, p. 156, n° 121].
[10] when the canons of Saint-Thomas of Strasbourg And in what place St. Florentius was buried seems nowhere to have been handed down before the twelfth century. But then, Burchard holding the see of Strasbourg (1141 – 1162), certain men presuming against the unity of the church, had brought forward a leaden tablet favouring their demands under a show indeed of piety
having, but denying its power, came forward with a leaden tablet, by which it seemed to be testified and asserted that the aforesaid relics (of blessed Florentius) had been found in the church of Saint-Thomas. These things Burchard himself says in the letters by which he gave sentence against the canons of Saint-Thomas and for those of Haslach See above, p. 396, note 5; who judges the things brought forward by the partisans of Saint-Thomas incredible, an invented fiction, a new thing, an error. When, then, the council of his canons, abbots, provosts and other religious having been called together, the bishop had begun to deliberate on this matter, and the canons of Saint-Thomas had risen with the tablet and recited its writing publicly, the canons of Haslach also came forward, opposing reasonable causes, the testimony of faith and authority, the solemnity of the translation, the antiquity of time, the titles of the place itself and other probable objections. If you compare these words with those which the bishop had written at the beginning of the same letters: The authority of the church protests, which solemnly celebrates his translation; the antiquity of time also hands down that they (the relics) were translated to Haselahe on the seventh before the Ides of November, as has now been proved by experience, you will perhaps gather that the feast of the translation of St. Florentius had already been celebrated before at Hasela; but the other reasonable causes and probable objections, since they are nowhere set out distinctly and one by one, you will not be able to assess. Further, having heard this controversy and the question of each party saying: "Lo here," "Lo there," the bishop ordered the matter to be left intact until he had come to Hasela with religious persons and had tested the truth of the matter. But while the canons of Saint-Thomas, impatient of delay, against the counsel of all, against the decree of the bishop, were carrying the relics found by them through the city with praises, trusting more, as the bishop says, in the popular multitude than in the truth of the matter, he himself betook himself to Hasela and, the case being opened, found and saw the glorious relics of the most blessed Florentius; he found besides a very great proof of the truth, as he thought, namely his sandals, almost consumed by the age of time and ruined by the decay of years. Thinking, then, that there was no more need to wait nor any further to doubt, the bishop with his people, joyful and hastening for their wish, broke forth for joy into hymns and praises, gave glory to God, the sound of the bells pealing, and showed the treasure found to the people running together. and the canons of Haslach another leaden tablet The bones, however, which they had found in the case the bishop left untouched on this day, and indeed, as he teaches, both on account of reverence for them and on account of our unworthiness; a wonderful thing indeed, since the bishop was by no means prevented by these two things from turning over the bones on the following day. And suspicion is increased by the fact that the bishop himself seems to have feared that the canons of Haslach might come under suspicion; for on the first day, before he went away, he testifies that he sealed the relics, laid back, with his seal for greater caution and to guard against the craft of calumniators. And indeed on the following day, when the case was opened again, behold, unexpectedly there appeared a little leaden tablet of half a palm hidden among the bones, containing the image of blessed Florentius with these letters: I, Rachio, by the grace of God bishop of Strasbourg, translated Florentius, confessor and bishop, on the seventh of the Ides of November into Avellanum, and established this day as solemn by ban. Amen.
[11] had opposed as witness of their right, This inscription we cannot but hold supposititious, both because it was found at such a time and in such a manner that one may not unjustly suspect that the Haslach men wished to oppose their own little tablet to the leaden tablet of the canons of Saint-Thomas, and because this word Avellanum, by which the church of Haslach is designated, does not seem ancient; for, as Grandidier Alsatia illustrata, vol. II (1761), p. 149 and Schoepflin Hist. de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, p. 382 witness, Hasela was customarily so called in the twelfth century [What Hunckler wrote (Hist. des saints d'Alsace, p. 521, note 1): "Haslach porte dans la plupart des diplômes des dixième et onzième siècles le nom d'Avellana ou Avellanum" ["Haslach bears in most of the charters of the tenth and eleventh centuries the name of Avellana or Avellanum"], I do not at all see agrees with the truth] and following ones, but not, as it seems, before; and indeed it is likely that only after some time did it come about that they translated the name Hasela, which the monastery had taken from the neighbouring river, into the Latin tongue following its etymology: for hasel in German is the same as corylus in Latin, the fruits of which tree are hazel-nuts (nuces avellanae). the bishop gave sentence for the Haslach men, Although, then, we suspect with no less right that that leaden tablet was supposed by the Haslach men [Charles Schmidt too suspected it, Hist. du chapitre de Saint-Thomas de Strasbourg, pp. 133 – 34, the reasons brought forward being, as I think, not suitable, that is: 1° that in the inscription Rachio is called by the grace of God bishop of Strasbourg, although this formula "bishop by the grace of God" was hardly in use before the end of the tenth century; in which matter the learned man erred, since this was received in use already from the seventh century (cf. Giry, Manuel de diplomatique, p. 337); 2° that it is uncertain whether the translation of the relics was made on the seventh before the Ides of November, since on this day, on which they were accustomed to celebrate the feast of St. Florentius, the blessed bishop seems rather to have departed this life; but nothing at all is established about the day of death, and the bishop could both die on the same day and be translated after few or many years; indeed, as not rarely happened elsewhere, perhaps the day of the translation was assigned to the principal feast. And that from the Book of life of the church of Saint-Thomas the feast of the translation is indicated as kept on the 3rd day of April is nothing, since this is without doubt the feast of the translation into Saint-Thomas, not into Hasela] than that with which they themselves not obscurely signified that the leaden tablet of the canons of Saint-Thomas was supposititious, yet it seemed otherwise to bishop Burchard, who, every occasion of doubt being cut off and every fiction of the question blocked, held the relics of Haslach for true, sealed them with his seal and confirmed them. But by this sentence no end was put to the lawsuits, although not even so were the lawsuits ended. since afterwards, from the fourteenth century to the sixteenth at least, the canons of Saint-Thomas boasted that they possessed the head of St. Florentius, the Haslach men contradicting, and the bishops of Strasbourg now conniving, now, and indeed more often, contradicting [The individual facts, which it does not seem worth the trouble to review here, see related in Grandidier, Hist. de l'église de Strasbourg, vol. I, pp. 238 – 40; Ch. Schmidt, work cited, pp. 134 – 37, 360, 451 – 53].
[12] Relics distributed by each church to other places. Further, from each church, in which they affirmed or even believed that the body or part of the body of the blessed bishop was kept, some parts or particles of the relics were distributed in various places. So the emperor Charles IV in the year 1353 received relics both from the canons of Saint-Thomas and from the Haslach men, which he carried with him to Prague, in which city he founded an altar to St. Florentius Cf. Grandidier, in the volume cited, pp. 238 – 39; Schmidt, work cited, p. 137; so archduke Rudolf, landgrave of Alsace, in the year 1358 obtained a part of an arm from the canons of Saint-Thomas Cf. Grandidier, in the volume cited, p. 239; Schmidt, at the place cited; so in the year 1650 there was handed over by the canons of Haslach to Fr. Florentius de Montmorency S. J. "one rib of St. Florentius" [See on this matter the annotation of Fr. John Bolland, written by hand in the Brussels codex of the Royal Library 8935. From this correct what Grandidier has, in the volume cited, p. 238]; which, when he had given it to the college of Lille of the Society of Jesus, was translated into it with solemn pomp on the 6th and 7th days of November of the year 1651 [There are in the same codex both a manuscript narrative, which has the title Acts at the translation of the relics of St. Florentius, bishop of Strasbourg, celebrated in the year 1651 in the church of the college of the Society of Jesus at Lille, and, printed on a single sheet of large format, a Sapphic Ode dedicated to St. Florentius, first anchorite, then bishop of the people of Strasbourg… It begins: Saint, whose powers of help are bounteous, and it came out at Lille from the press of Ignace and Nicolas de Rache, at the Golden Bibles, in the year 1651].
[13] On the stone image of St. Florentius. An image of a certain saint carved in stone, which is seen in the church of Saint-Thomas of Strasbourg, and which some judged was made in the ninth century, although it seems much later, some thought is of St. Florentius [L. Schneegans, work cited, pp. 158 – 60; Schmidt, work cited, pp. 196 – 97 and plate 2], others of St. Patrick [A. Martin in Ch. Cahier and A. Martin, Mélanges d'archéologie, vol. IV (1856), pp. 266 – 68 and plate XXVIII]. But in fact there is another stone image of St. Florentius, which is built into a certain wall by which the house once of the provost of Haslach is surrounded; to which, although these numbers of years have been added: In the year 1315. Renewed 1790, the statue itself nevertheless seems not later than the twelfth century [See F.-X. Kraus, Kunst und Alterthum in Elsass-Lothringen, vol. I (Strasbourg, 1876), p. 201 with figure 109; cf. Gatrio, work cited, p. 70 with plate II].
I. LIFE OF ST. FLORENTIUS, BISHOP
Florentius, bishop of Strasbourg. (S.)
BHL Number: 3045
This is the Life BHL 3045, which we publish from the Bern codex 114, of the twelfth/thirteenth century (= 1), collated with the incomplete copies of the chapter of Saint-Thomas of Strasbourg of the fourteenth century (= 1a) and of the Vatican Library Palatine lat. 477, of the fifteenth century (= 1b), with the epitome BHL 3044 taken from the Münster codex of the University Library 353, of the fifteenth century (= 2), and with two shorter epitomes, the one BHL 3046, found in the breviary of Strasbourg of the year 1399 (= 3), the other in codex 5 of the seminary of clerics of Strasbourg of the fourteenth/fifteenth century (= 4). Cf. the preliminary commentary, no. 4.
The Life of blessed Florentius, bishop [De sancto Florencio episcopo 1b; Vita sancti Florencii ep. quae est VII° idus novembris 2; no heading in 1a].
[1] Prologue. To touch summarily on the virtues and miracles of the glorious 2 omits the whole chapter and most blessed confessor and bishop Florentius Florencii 1a, 1b and so thereafter, and also to transmit them to the memory of posterity, both the authority of so great a father and the benefit of the Christian religion demand.
[2] Florentius from Scotia For in the times namque omits 2 of the illustrious illustrissimi 1b king of the Franks Dagobert Dagaberti 1b, 2, 4; omits 1a the eminent father Florentius flourished with an ineffable odour as well as comeliness of virtues. For, made the good odour of Christ, the faithful and prudent servant of the Lord Domini omits 1a refreshed the Church of God far and wide in deed and word
with the food of eternal life II Cor. 2:15, Matt. 24:15. Born indeed siquidem omits 1b of parents noble according to the world, a native of the Scots, remembering what is written: Go forth from your land and from your kindred Gen. 12:1, in the flower of still springing youth, which is very rare even among the mature, already trampling on (c. i.) calcatis illecebris 1b the allurements of the flesh, he left homeland and parents, and voluntarily subjecting himself se omits 2 to poverty, having taken to himself companions of the same holy purpose, namely Arbogast Bishop of Strasbourg, of whom Acta Sanctorum, July vol. V, pp. 168 – 79, Theodatus [He is Deodatus, bishop, as they report, of Nevers, of whom Acta Sanctorum, June vol. III, pp. 869 – 84; but recently Chr. Pfister, Les légendes de S. Dié et de S. Hidulphe, in Annales de l'Est, vol. III (1889), pp. 377 – 408, 536 – 88] and Hildulf Hildolfo 1b; Hildolpho 2 [Hildulf, abbot of Moyenmoutier, of whom Acta Sanctorum, July vol. III, pp. 205 – 38, and Pfister, at the place cited], coming into Alsace he settles at Hasela, undertaking the labour of pilgrimage, having passed through a long space of lands, the Lord leading, he reached attegit 1a; attingit 3 the territory of Alsace, and in that place where the little stream which is called by the inhabitants Haselahe Vasago 3 Now Hassel, Haslach, setting its boundary with the Vosges Haselache 1b; Hasalahe 2; Hasela 3; Haselech 4, flows into the river whose name is Brusca German Breusch, French Bruche, he chose for himself a resting place to remain. So, his aforesaid (Praedictis … fame cruciata, end of ch. 3) omits 2 companions withdrawing from him, the new stranger, having found a moderate plain not far from the aforesaid little stream, settled resedit 1a there, and not wishing to sow upon briars and thorns, the bushes fructibus 1a being rooted out, he sprinkled a little fallow with a small amount of seed; which to the present is reckoned from ex omits 1a his name the Little Meadow of St. Florentius.
[3] he cultivates the land, The new earth, then, lately broken procisa 1a; precisa 1b with the hoe, sprouting more abundantly, had begun to shoot up pululare 1 into stalk and procisa 1a; precisa 1b crop, when beasts and wild animals of the forest, numberless, delighted by the new fodder papulo 1a, rush in, lay waste and trample down perculcant 1b; conculcant 1a almost the whole little plot, and with greedy teeth, with famished belly, graze on the shoots already emerging. But ergo 1b blessed Florentius, turning over that saying of the psalmist: Because you shall eat the labours of your hands, blessed are you Ps. 127:2, shrinking from begging the help of another's alms, took ill the loss of so small a fallow, and that his labours, fit for human uses, should be assigned to et 1 before correction the gullet of beasts. he defends the harvest from the beasts by a miracle Turning, then, to those helps which he had more often experienced, he acted confidently in the Lord, and using usus omits 1a a powerful command, he orders the brute animals not to presume any further to touch the crop cultivated by his labours; the boundaries too quos 1a at the four corners, four little rods being fixed, he signed consignavit omits 1a in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The bestial ferocity is astounded, does not touch the boundaries, the beastly greed (a. b.) omits 1b, although famished, rejects the fodder sought from afar; wonderful to say dictu omits 1b, the innumerable multitude of beasts is held bound by the command of the words as if fettered, and they who before, though almost sated, knew not vetat 1b how to spare, now spare though tortured by hunger Here 1b ends.
[4] and he restrains the huntsmen of king Dagobert who insult him. At that time also king Dagobert of illustrious perclare 2 fame Dagbertus 1a; Dagabertus 2, 4, drawn as much by the convenience as by the charm of the place, had fixed his dwelling at the town then called Tronia, as if a new Troy, now Kircheim Kirchen 4 Cf. J. D. Schoepflin, Alsatia illustrata, vol. I (1751), pp. 704 – 6; of what kind or how great it was the still surviving ruins testify. This king had a daughter deprived from birth of the use both of sight and of speech. For the Lord willed, as we believe, that through his servant Florentius the marks of his power should be declared declarare 2 in this girl. So the king's huntsmen (Venatores … adiit, near the beginning of ch. 5) omits 2, when one day, with the leashes of the hounds coupled, they had gone through by the short cuts of the paths the well-known windings of the woods over the steep ridges of the mountains or the hollows of the valleys, could track down none of the usual multitude of wild beasts. Moved, then, with wonder and intent on the coursings of the hounds, under their leading they come to the little field of the blessed man and there find the multitude of beasts as if gathered into one, and while they desire to hunt, they are cheated of their hope. They cry out, then, and protesting that this was done by magic art, they sharpen their fury against the servant of God Domini 1a, beat him with fists and cudgels, take away his cloak and his axe; which the holy man asked to be given back to him after they had used it at their pleasure. The crime accomplished, as they prepare their return with the spoils, they run into incurrunt omits 1a a marsh in their way, but a small one nearby; they stuck fast in the deep mire Ps. 68:3, they totter, they strive, and wearied by much striving, when they cannot get out or go forward, they understand that it is a sign (i. e.) added in the margin 1 of divine vengeance. At length, mourning and repenting of the deed, they return to their heart, they take counsel to hasten to the man of God and obtain pardon, and the possibility of returning being given, they hurry, they prostrate themselves at the feet of the saint, they offer satisfaction; quickly and lightly they obtain the pardon which they seek Isa. 48:8.
[5] Summoned by the king to the palace, Having received pardon, then, they go joyful and in haste festivi 1a to the king, they set out the outcome of the matter in order, not without wonder. The king, then, sends to him a horse equipped with gilded trappings and, honourable messengers being deputed, invites him to come to him. But blessed Florentius, rejecting the pomp of the world, humbly sat on the back of a little ass, a lamb's fleece being spread over it, and, accompanied by sociatus 1a the envoys, went to the king's palace. And the Lord of powers deigned (D. e. a.) Quia cum quadam vice a rege accersitus esset, dignatus est 2 mercifully to forestall his servant, endowed with the habit of humility. he heals his blind and dumb daughter For the king's daughter, blind and dumb from her earliest age, the man of God being close at hand, received the gifts of seeing and of speaking together, announcing to all present the author (an. au.) au. an. 1a of her health. In ergo omits 2 these words, then, the healed girl opened her first utterance: "Behold," she said, "behold, there comes the saint of God Florentius, by whose merits divine grace has enlightened me and granted the use of speaking atque videndi adds 3." At the novelty of so great a miracle the mother trembles, and the father is astounded; the rumour runs about, the royal household runs together, joy arises, tears flow for gladness, the praise and glory of Christ is raised on high, all the people hasten with desire to meet the holy sancti omits 2 man preparatur 1. Meanwhile the servant of God, received honourably, enters the inner parts of the royal house; the king and queen, giving thanks to God, roll at his feet, though he resisted; and he lifts them up, and denying that it was done by his merits, admonishes that the divine grace is to be turned committendam 2 to the praise and glory of God. O (O … adimplevit, end of ch. 6) omits 2 wonderful power of God, who, being the co-worker of his faithful saint, worked miracles through one still absent, gave light to one blind from birth, made the dumb speak, and moreover endowed her with the spirit of prophecy! For the girl, by a presaging presagio 1a spirit, both foretold that a guest of a name unknown to her added above the line 1 was coming, and indicated by name who he was.
[6] and he hangs his garment on a ray of the sun. But lest anyone should doubt that this was done by the merits of blessed Florentius, it was afterwards confirmed by a new and unheard-of sign miraculo 1a. For when the servant of God had entered the palace, the whole royal household, held by the stupor of wonder or vel 1a by other occupations, did not take the cloak of so great a man when he took exuetur 1a it off. And blessed Florentius, looking round about him, noticed a ray of the sun directed toward him from a window, and that the same ray, as usually happens, sprinkled with motes athomis 1 corrected, 1a, put forth the likeness of a pole. Knowing, then, that all things are possible forent adds 3 to him who believes, he committed the cloak he had taken off to the same line to be held up Mark 19:22. A wonderful thing: a thin little speck, impalpable air, fulfilled the office of a solid substance [Similar things were carried by the mouth of the common people not about St. Goar alone (cf. MG., Scriptores rerum merovingicarum vol. IV, p. 416, ch. 6), but about many other saints. Cf. Ch. Cahier, Caractéristiques des saints dans l'art populaire (Paris, 1867), p. 99].
[7] There shines in these things the power and wisdom of God, which disposes all things Wisd. 8:1; he receives Hasela and other lands as a gift from the king. which so rouses the forgetful minds of mortals to the knowledge of its divinity that it relieves the need of those who fear it necessitatibus adds 2 in the margin by the donations of kings and the powerful sublivet 2 before correction. For while by the novelty of these signs God is proclaimed great and wonderful, the benefits received also come to the mind of the king. He too, lest he be judged ungrateful, considers diligently what of honour, what of beneficence beneficiencie 2 he can bestow on the servant of God. Then, what he knew to be more pleasing to the saint of God, he gave the place which he had chosen to inhabit, to be possessed in perpetuity. Moreover, lest anything should be lacking to human needs necessitatibus 1a, namely for those who should serve God there, the dwelling which he himself inhabited, namely Kircheim Kyrchen 4, with all its appurtenances, he freely handed over, and strengthened the donation made by royal authority. To (Adicit … consignavit) omits 2 these long-lasting report adds that the saint of God asked that the possession handed over to him be marked off by certain boundaries. To whose petition the king, illumined, as is believed, by God, assented in this manner, that he should know those boundaries to belong to his possession which, carried on a little ass assello 1a, he could go round ambulare 1a while the king was warming his limbs in the baths [We pointed out above, on St. Leonard, p. 153, note 1, that fables of this kind not rarely occur in the Lives of saints. More like this narrative about St. Florentius is the popular fable about Blessed Andrew, priest of Slagelse in Denmark, on which cf. Jac. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer (Göttingen, 1828), p. 88; Hans Olrik, Danske Helgeners Levned i oversættelse (Copenhagen, 1893 – 1894), p. 320; although neither seems to depend on the other]. Without delay the saint goes off in haste, whom neither nec added in the margin 1 the heights of the mountains, nor the depths of the valleys, nor the trackless places held back retardabat 1a, so that he did not fly over so great a stretch of lands
spaces as scarcely anyone could pass through in double the time, even carried on a very swift horse. Returning, then, as quickly as possible Quamcius 1a, he found the king clad in royal apparel; but he had not yet fitted the gloves to his bare hands; which the holy man, lest he be charged with having passed the appointed time, handed to the king with his own hands.
[8] Made bishop, About that time that noble bishop of the people of Strasbourg Argentinencium 2, Arbogast, of illustrious fame and merit, freed from the prison of this life, is called forth evocatur omits 2 to be enrolled consignandus omits 2 in the heavenly caelesti omits 2 court curiae omits 2, and by common wishes blessed Florentius is substituted for him. But with what great virtues he shone, or with what great diligence (q. d.) added in the margin 1 he ruled the people committed to him in deed and word, he is buried at Strasbourg, eloquentie adds 2 it is not of our power operis 1a; opus 2, 3; (n. n. e. o.) non possum 4 to set forth. Having completed Pacto 3 at length the course of the present life, he departed with a happy end to the Lord 7° idus novembris adds 2 above the line. Here 3, 4 end. Very many flowing together ex adds 1a by the office of religion to his funeral, the church which he ruled while alive is adorned by the burial of his body Here 1a ends.
[9] whence he is afterwards translated to Hasela; And after time had passed, Rachio, bishop of Strasbourg [Otherwise Reccho, who held the see of Strasbourg from the year 783 until about the year 810], admonished by a divine oracle through a vision, translated the body of the most holy man (s. v. c.) added in the margin 1 to the church in the place in the wood which he had first chosen for himself, and himself chose burial for himself there ibidem omits 2. where his relics There arose afterwards a pious contention about the relics of St. Florentius. Bishop Burkard Burgardus 2 Of Strasbourg, in the years 1141 – 1162, then, and Bertold Bertholdus 2, custodian of Strasbourg, then provost at Haselahe Hasalache 2, bishop Burkard, a contention having arisen, recognizes. having called in accitis 2 the abbots Meginhard of Marmoutier Maurimonasterio 2 About 1133 – 1143, Otto of Altorf About 1133, and very many religious, unlock the case tecam 1 before correction; techam 1 corrected and find the most holy body laid up, as antiquity had handed down, with the subscription of the leaden plate, and with hymns and canticles giving thanks to God, they seal the case techam 1 again. A witness of divine grace is present, a procession is held; a boy weak in his whole body is brought, and by the merits of the holy man, all the people being set before him, he is restored to health.
[10] His clients from droughts, In the same times, the sky being shut so that it did not rain upon the earth, the earth, burnt by the heat ardoris 2 of the sun by a long drought, empty of fruit, threatened famine. At the request of the bishop, clergy and people, the relics of St. Florentius are carried to Strasbourg, and forthwith a healthful salubribus 2 corrected by another hand rain ymbribus 2 poured upon the earth.
[11] rain, At another time too, when iam omits 2 the harvest was at hand, an excessive force of rains lays the crop low, the people are bereft of the hope of gathering the fruit. The relics of the saint are carried to Kircheim Kercheim 2, a procession is held, the desired fair weather is restored to the lands.
[12] wars, At another time battles rise up, hostile terror resounds everywhere, the clergy at Haselahe, struck with fear, carries deportant 2 its saint to the estate presidium 1 called dictum omits 2 Můzziche Muzziche 2; who, bearing his exile ill added above the line 1, in one night obtained peace, as is believed (p. ut c.) ut c. p. 2, for the whole land, and so on the morrow he is restored with joy to the place of his rest.
[13] fire, Not long after a house situated scita 2 in the courtyard, almost adjoining the monastery, was suddenly set on fire through carelessness; the flame bursting out was already raging into the holy building, when soon, the relics of the same saint being set against it, as if turned back on itself by a strong wind it died down.
[14] robbers The lord also of the castle at Ringelstein Ringhelensten 2, Anshelm Ancelmus 2 by name [A certain Anselm of Ringelstein is said to have subscribed to the charter of confirmation granted by the emperor Frederick to the monastery of Neubourg (Stumpf-Brentano, Die Reichskanzler, vol. II, n° 3738; where the charter is judged of doubtful credit)], very often related that his retainers, as that kind of men is accustomed, molested the inhabitants of the valley in manifold ways; whose complaint, outcry and tears resounded to the ears of the saint of God. Without delay divine vengeance follows; within the space of one year very many of his household, seized by disease, perished by plague, his fellow soldiers and companions cut one another down with mutual wounds. At last the lord is seized by fever, death alone is awaited, sleep steals upon him and it seemed to him ei 2 that he se omits 2 lay beside the courtyard which is called that of Saint Martin, in the thickets of briars beside the road, and that near him a man of reverend person passed on a horse and inquired the causes of his pain. Seeing this, grieving, he asks help and demands who the one passing by is. To whom the saint: the saint defends. "I am," he said added above the line 1, "Florentius. Restored to health through me, mount the horse which you see following me and imitate me as quickly as possible. Desist also with the greatest caution from molesting the people whom you have troubled up to now." The sick man obeys, and so, roused excitatus 2 from sleep, he rises healed and returns to his home, giving thanks to God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who is blessed for ages seculorum adds 2. Amen.
II. SHORTER LIFE OF ST. FLORENTIUS, BISHOP
This is the epitome BHL 3043, which we publish from a copy of a codex formerly of Cologne (= 1), with the various readings of a codex formerly of the Charterhouse of Cologne (= 2). Cf. the preliminary commentary, nos. 5 and 7.
Florentius, bishop of Strasbourg. (S.)
BHL Number: 3043
On St. Florentius, bishop of Strasbourg, on the seventh before the Ides of November.
Life I, ch. 2.
ch. 3.
[1] In the times of king Dagobert St. Florentius, with St. Arbogast Arbagasto 1, Theodatus and Hildolph accompanying him, came from Scotia into Alsace. And St. Arbogast, his companion, being facto? bishop in the church of Strasbourg, Florentius betook himself into the wood of Hasaelahe, where the river Bruscha so 2; Benstha 1 flows out from a Vosges so 2; p| |sago 1; "I think pago should be read," Gamans noted, and there he began to work fallows with his own hands, from the fruits of which he might live. And when he had built himself a small little house there, hinds and other beasts coming out of the wood laid waste whatever quamquam 1 before correction he had worked laborassent 1 before correction. And since he could not catch them, because he did not have hunting instruments, he commanded them all in the name of the Lord to be present before his house and to stand fixed there.
ch. 4.
[2] In those days king Dagobert, staying in his palace of Kircheim Kirchim 1 before correction, ordered his servants to go hunting; and when they had gone through all the mountains and woods and could find no wild beast, coming at last to the house of the man of God they found a multitude of wild beasts gathered before his door and standing as if bound. Indignant, then, and not knowing corrected by the first hand from agnoscentes 1 him, they took his tunic violently and went away. He, following them, gave them also the axe which he had, to carry away with them. And they, going away, came to a certain marsh, and their horses would not go forward. And when they urged them strongly with spurs, they gained nothing, until they gave back to the holy man what they had taken from him. Coming, then, to their lord they told him all these things.
ch. 5.
ch. 6.
ch. 7.
[3] At once he sent him his horse, excellently caparisoned, and asked him to come to him as soon as possible. He, not wishing to sit on the royal horse, saddled his little ass and so set out to the king's palace. And when he had touched the threshold of the gate, the king's daughter, blind and dumb from birth, received sight and speech, and called out "Florentius," although his name was before unknown to all. And when he had gone up into the palace and was to go in to the king, since he did not have a servant to serve him, he hung his cloak on the ray of the sun which shone through the window, until he should speak to the king; and so his garment hung on the ray of the sun as on solid wood. And when the king and all wondered at it, he handed over to the same holy man a great part of the same wood for building a cell there, and gave the adjacent villas and many estates, which to this day belong to the cloister of Hasaelahe.
ch. 8.
[4] Then, St. Arbogast having died, St. Florentius succeeded him in the episcopate, and, living in great holiness of life, governed the people committed to him like a good shepherd. In his church of Hasaelahe too he established religious persons to serve God, and, consummated in good works, he rested in peace, to reign for ever with Christ.
ch. 2.
ch. 8.
[5] Now blessed Florentius was born of parents noble according to the world, but he was ineffably adorned with the morals of the virtues. For in the flower of still springing youth, which is very rare even among the mature, already trampling on the allurements of the flesh, he left homeland and parents and subjected himself to voluntary poverty and pilgrimage for the name of Christ. For, made the good odour of Christ episcopi 1 (surely he read in the exemplar epi for Χρι) sanctus 1, the faithful and prudent servant of the Lord refreshed the Church of God far and wide in deed and word with the food of eternal life. Having completed at length the course of the present life, with a happy end, on the seventh before the Ides of November, he departed to the Lord, and the church [so 2; ecclesiam quam … erexit … decorarat (corrected decoravit) 1. Cf. Life I, at the place cited] which he ruled while alive [so 2; ecclesiam quam … erexit … decorarat (corrected decoravit) 1. Cf. Life I, at the place cited] is adorned by the burial of his body [so 2; ecclesiam quam … erexit … decorarat (corrected decoravit) 1. Cf. Life I, at the place cited].
ch. 9.
Cf. chs. 10 – 14.
[6] And after time had passed, Rachio, bishop of Strasbourg, admonished by a divine oracle through a vision, translated the body of the most holy man to the church in the place in the wood which he had first chosen for himself, and himself chose burial for himself there; and with many miracles the Lord of powers afterwards made wonderful blessed Florentius, his faithful servant. Amen.