Willibrord

ON ST. WILLIBRORD, BISHOP OF UTRECHT AND APOSTLE OF THE FRISIANS,

IN THE YEAR 739

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht. (S.)

BY A. P.

[1] On the Frisian church When, in the reign of Dagobert I, the Franks had brought a certain part of the Frisian nation under their dominion, and the prelates of the Franks, especially St. Amand, St. Eligius and, as it seems, St. Cunibert, bishop of Cologne Cf. A. Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3, pp. 321 ff., 328., had undertaken with repeated efforts to bring the same to the Christian religion, although some beginning had been made of spreading the faith among this people and a little church had been built at Utrecht on the Rhine [See the letter of St. Boniface, which will soon be adduced (below, no. 5): on account of the foundations of a certain little church destroyed by the pagans, which Wilbrord found demolished to the ground in the fortress of Utrecht.], yet little progress was made by these means and certainly nothing stable was accomplished, since, when the empire of the Franks was wasting away after the death of Dagobert, the Frisians both recovered the lands once snatched from them and, abandoning the Christian faith, of their own accord returned to their ancestral superstitions. What the Franks had attempted with no great success, the Anglo-Saxons, among whom at that time the church was growing up more vigorous and more eager for the work of God, a little later undertook again with happier outcome. Of these, first St. Wilfrid, archbishop of York, when in the year 678, driven from his bishopric by King Ecgfrith, he was about to go to Rome … and boarded a ship, was driven by the blowing west wind to Frisia, and, honourably received by the barbarians and their king Aldgisl, he preached Christ to them, and instructing many thousands of them in the word of truth, washed them from the filth of their sins in the Saviour's font [Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 19; cf. IV, 12, 13. See the Life of St. Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus, ch. 24 – 26, from which Bede took these things,]; yet the excellent man does not seem to have formed those Christians fresh from baptism into some body that would stand by its own mass and repel dangers and diseases with the united strength of all. Hence it came about that after Wilfrid, when the winter had passed, had continued the journey he had begun and pressed on to Rome, the flocks, bereft of a shepherd, gradually perished. Yet he did not altogether abandon the Frisians, inasmuch as he both trained their apostle St. Willibrord and perhaps sent him there, consecrated St. Suidbert the first bishop of the Frisians, and, while in the year 703 he made his last journey to Rome, turned aside into Frisia and stayed with St. Willibrord.

[2] with Willibrord as founder For meanwhile once and again others of the Anglo-Saxon nation had followed in the footsteps of Wilfrid to announce the gospel to the Frisians: in the year 686 or 687 the monk Wictbert, who, after his master St. Ecgbert had wished to come to Germany to preach and had not been able, himself went to Frisia, where for two continuous years he preached the word of salvation to that nation and to its king Radbod, nor did he find any fruit of so great a labour among the barbarians who heard him Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 9., certainly for this reason, that, as the Franks were again threatening the liberty of the Frisians, that king Radbod no longer, as his predecessor Aldgisl had, favoured the preachers of the Christian faith, inasmuch as he suspected that they had counsels in common with the Christian Franks. When Wictbert, therefore, had returned to his own people, Ecgbert, tenacious of his purpose, in the year 690 sent twelve other heralds of the faith into Frisia, at whose head was another of his disciples, our Willibrord, who was to labour at that work for almost fifty years and was so to restore and increase the small beginnings of establishing the faith which had been made by his predecessors, that he at length founded and formed the Frisian church and was by full right called the apostle of the Frisians.

§ I. On the sources of the history of St. Willibrord.

[3] contemporary writers make mention of him About this outstanding man, although we should have wished for more, we have nevertheless some documents both ancient and worthy of credit, by which we are made more certain, if not fully, yet to some extent, of his deeds, character and holiness. Eddius Stephanus, The column of these is led by Eddius Stephanus, who in the Life of St. Wilfrid (BHL. 8889), which he wrote shortly after the year 710 Cf. ed. Raine, p. XXXII., relates these things about Wilfrid's preaching among the Frisians Ch. 26 (ed. Raine, p. 37).: Then in that year, the preaching having been received, he baptized in the name of the Lord all the chief men, except a few, and many thousands of the common people; and he first laid there, according to the apostle, the foundation of the faith, upon which his son, brought up at Ripon, by the grace of God Bishop Wilbrord, toiling with much labour, is still building, whose reward remains for ever. Next, to omit a good many charters, of which there will be talk again later, the Venerable Bede, come Bede's Greater Chronicle, or Book on the Six Ages of this World, composed in the year 725, fourteen years before Willibrord died; there, at the year of the world 4649 [MG., Auct. ant. vol. XIII, p. 316; cf. P. L., vol. XC, col. 569, at the year 698.]: The same Pope Sergius ordained the venerable man Vilbrord, surnamed Clement, bishop for the nation of the Frisians, among whom to this day, a pilgrim for the eternal homeland (for he is from Britain, of the nation of the English), he daily inflicts innumerable losses on the devil and makes increases for the Christian faith; and the same Bede in the Ecclesiastical History, which he wrote while Willibrord was still living and completed in the year 731, mentions the holy man three times; for not only in those places in which he records both journeys of St. Wilfrid into Frisia does he name St. Willibrord: for where he related the first journey and the many thousands of barbarians baptized Which passage we cited above, no. 1., he adds these things (V, 19): and what afterwards Vilbrord, the most reverend bishop of Christ, completed in great devotion, he himself (Vilfrid) first began there, the work of the gospel; and of the other journey he has this (III, 13): Finally the most reverend bishop Acca is accustomed to relate that when, going to Rome, he was staying with the most holy archbishop of the Frisian nation Vilbrord together with his bishop Vilfrid, he often heard him tell of the wonderful things which had been done at the relics of the same most reverend king (Oswald) in that province; but also in chapters of their own (V, 10 and 11) about the things

done by Willibrord he related not a few things, which, as they are of chief importance for illustrating his history, so they must here be brought forward first of all.

V. 10. How Vilbrord, preaching in Frisia, converted many to Christ; and how his companions the Hewalds suffered martyrdom.

But when the man of the Lord Ecgberct saw that neither was he himself permitted to come to preach to the nations, being held back for another advantage of holy church, of which he had been forewarned by an oracle, nor was Victberct, coming into those parts, making any progress, he tried further to send into the work of the word holy and industrious men, among whom the excellent Vilbrord shone forth in the rank and merit of a presbyter. When they had arrived there, and they were twelve in number, turning aside to Pippin, duke of the Franks, they were gratefully received by him; and because he had recently taken hither Frisia, King Rathbed having been driven out of it, he sent them there to preach, himself also helping with imperial authority, lest anyone should inflict any trouble on the preachers, and raising up with many benefits those who were willing to receive the faith; whence it came about, with divine grace assisting, that in a short time they converted many from idolatry to the faith of Christ.

Following their examples, two certain presbyters of the nation of the English … came to the province of the Old Saxons … For each of them was called Hewald [These, whom Bede in the heading of this chapter named companions of St. Willibrord, the same Bede in his Martyrology said came into Germany with St. Willibrord: on the 5th before the Nones of October. Among the Old Saxons, the heavenly birthday of the two Hewalds, presbyters, who, coming into Germany with Bishop Willibrord, crossed over to the Saxons… Cf. H. Quentin, Les martyrologes historiques du moyen âge (Paris, 1908), p. 105 – 6.] …

V. 11. How the venerable men Suidberct in Britain and Vilbrord at Rome were ordained bishops for Frisia.

In the very first times of their arrival in Frisia, as soon as Vilbrord learned that licence to preach there had been given him by the prince, he hastened to come to Rome, over whose apostolic see Pope Sergius then presided, so that with his licence and blessing he might enter upon the desired work of evangelizing the nations; at the same time hoping also to receive from him relics of the blessed apostles and martyrs of Christ, so that, when among the nation to which he preached he set up churches after the idols had been destroyed, he might have ready at hand relics of the saints which he could bring in there; and, these having been deposited there, he might consequently dedicate each several place in honour of those whose relics they were. But he also desired either to learn there or to receive from there very many other things which the business of so great a work required. When he had been granted his wish in all these things, he returned to preach.

At which time the brothers who were in Frisia, devoted to the ministry of the word, chose out of their number a man modest in his ways and meek of heart, Suidberct, to be ordained bishop for them; and him, sent to Britain at their petition, the most reverend Bishop Vilfrid ordained, who at that time, as it happened, driven from his homeland, was living in exile in the regions of the Mercians. For at that time Kent had no bishop, Theodore indeed having died, but Berctuald his successor, who had gone across the sea to be ordained, having not yet returned to the see of his bishopric.

This Suidberct, namely, having received the episcopate, returning from Britain, not long after withdrew to the nation of the Boructuari, and by preaching brought many of them to the way of truth; but when not long afterwards the Boructuari had been conquered by the nation of the Old Saxons, those who had received the word were dispersed every which way; the bishop himself with some others sought out Pippin, who, at the intercession of his wife Bliththryd, gave him a place of dwelling on a certain island of the Rhine, which in their tongue is called In litore; on which he himself, having built a monastery, which his heirs possess to this day, for some while led a most continent life, and there closed his last day.

But after those who had come had taught in Frisia for some years, Pippin, with the favouring consent of all, sent the venerable man Vilbrord to Rome, whose pontificate Sergius still held, asking that he be ordained archbishop for the same nation of the Frisians. Which was fulfilled just as he had asked, in the year from the incarnation of the Lord 696. And he was ordained in the church of the holy martyr Cecilia, on her heavenly birthday, the name of Clement being imposed on him by the aforesaid pope; and he was soon sent back to the see of his bishopric, that is, after fourteen days from when he had come into the city.

And Pippin gave him a place for an episcopal chair in his illustrious fortress, which in the ancient speech of those nations is called Viltaburg, that is, the Town of the Vilti, but in the Gallic tongue Traiectum; in which, having built a church, the most reverend bishop, preaching the word of faith far and wide, and calling back many from error, built many churches throughout those regions, and also some monasteries. For not long after he himself also established other bishops in those regions from the number of those brothers who had come there to preach either with him or after him; of whom a good many have already fallen asleep in the Lord. But Vilbrord himself, surnamed Clement, still survives, venerable now with great age, as being in the thirty-sixth year of his episcopate, and after the manifold contests of the heavenly warfare sighing with his whole mind for the rewards of the heavenly recompense.

[4] Willibrord himself, Much more meagre indeed than these, but venerable on account of the writer's hand and very precious for the indications of time that it presents, is the brief sentence which Willibrord himself added in the year 728 in the margin of a calendar written in an Anglo-Saxon hand in the years 702 – 706 You have it in the codex, now of Paris, Bibl. Nat. lat. 10837, fol. 34 – 41., which Willibrord seems to have been accustomed to use and which, formerly preserved at Echternach, was bound into one book before the middle of the eighth century with that well-known Echternach copy of the Hieronymian martyrology Cf. L. Duchesne in Act. SS., Nov. vol. II, 1, p. [VIII.]. In this book, therefore, fol. 39vo, in the margin at the month of November (from the 5th day before the Ides of November to the 4th before the Kalends of December), these things are written [That annotation, which, unless I am mistaken, our Bolland first published, Act. SS., Jan. vol. I, p. XLVI, was afterwards reprinted more than once, e.g. in Voyage littéraire de deux religieux bénédictins, vol. II (1724), p. 298 (from the autograph); by J. B. Pitra, La Hollande catholique (Paris, 1850), p. 101; W. Wattenbach, in Jaffé's Bibliotheca rerum germanicarum, vol. VI (1873), p. 46, note 1; W. Arndt, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. II (1877), p. 293; L. Duchesne, Le Liber pontificalis, vol. I (1886), p. 382, note 49; A. Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3 (1904), p. 447, note. L. Delisle reproduced the appearance of the first words, Le Cabinet des manuscrits de la bibliothèque nationale, Planches (Paris, 1881), XIX4.]: In nomine Domini Clemens Uuillibrordus anno sexcentessimo [In all these places the first hand had manifestly doubled the letter s; but the one who laid ink over the faded strokes wished it to be read everywhere -esimo, -esimum.] nonagessimo [In all these places the first hand had manifestly doubled the letter s; but the one who laid ink over the faded strokes wished it to be read everywhere -esimo, -esimum.] ab incarnatione Christi veniebat ultra mare in Francia, et in Dei nomine anno sexcentessimo [In all these places the first hand had manifestly doubled the letter s; but the one who laid ink over the faded strokes wished it to be read everywhere -esimo, -esimum.] nonagessimo [In all these places the first hand had manifestly doubled the letter s; but the one who laid ink over the faded strokes wished it to be read everywhere -esimo, -esimum.] quinto ab incarnatione Domini, quamvis indignus, fuit ordinatus in Romae episcopus ab apostolico viro domno Sergio papa; nunc vero in Dei nomine agens annum septengentessimum [In all these places the first hand had manifestly doubled the letter s; but the one who laid ink over the faded strokes wished it to be read everywhere -esimo, -esimum.] vigessimum [In all these places the first hand had manifestly doubled the letter s; but the one who laid ink over the faded strokes wished it to be read everywhere -esimo, -esimum.] octavum ab incarnatione domini nostri Iesu Christi in Dei nomine feliciter. [In the name of the Lord, Clement Willibrord in the six hundred and ninetieth year from the incarnation of Christ came across the sea into Francia, and in God's name in the six hundred and ninety-fifth year from the incarnation of the Lord, although unworthy, was ordained bishop in Rome by the apostolic man the lord Pope Sergius; but now in God's name passing the seven hundred and twenty-eighth year from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in God's name, happily.] That these words were written by no other hand than Willibrord's is manifest from those words although unworthy Cf. Bolland, loc. cit., if only they are genuine So Wattenbach, loc. cit.; and that they are genuine the strokes of the letters show, which, although they had become faded and have been renewed with ink laid over them, nevertheless betray an Anglo-Saxon hand of the not very advanced eighth century.

[5] St. Boniface, bishop of Mainz, Now when Willibrord had died, an outstanding testimony to his life and merits was brought forward by certain men not without distinction, among whom, both in time and in authority, easily the first comes St. Boniface, bishop of Mainz, whom Willibrord had had for three years as companion of his labours and life. He, when a dispute had arisen between himself and the bishop of Cologne about the bishopric of Utrecht, sent a letter on this matter to Pope Stephen III in the year 753 Cf. Hauck, op. cit., vol. I3, p. 589, note 1., which it seems should be transcribed here. Thus Boniface MG., Epist. vol. III, p. 395 – 96.:

For in the time of Sergius (I. 687 – 701), pontiff of the apostolic see, there came to the threshold of the holy apostles a certain presbyter of wonderful abstinence and holiness, of the race of the Saxons, named Wilbrord and called by another name Clement; whom the aforesaid pope ordained bishop and sent across to preach to the pagan nation of the Frisians on the shores of the western ocean. He, preaching for fifty years, converted the aforesaid nation of the Frisians for the greatest part to the faith of Christ, destroyed their fanes and shrines and built churches, and established an episcopal see and a church in honour of the Holy Saviour in the place and fortress which is called Traiectum. And in that see and church of the Holy Saviour, which he built, he remained preaching until feeble old age. And he substituted for himself a chorbishop to fulfil the ministry; and when the days of his long life were finished, he departed in peace to the Lord. But the prince of the Franks Carlmann commended that see to me for appointing and ordaining a bishop [This could not have happened before the year 741, in which year Carloman was called to a share of the kingdom. Hence it may be gathered that when Willibrord had died (in the year 739) another bishop was not immediately substituted in the see of Utrecht. Cf. A. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 447.]. Which I also did. But now the bishop of Cologne usurps for himself that see of the aforesaid Bishop Clement, ordained by Pope Sergius, and says that it belongs to him on account of the foundations of a certain little church destroyed by the pagans, which Wilbrord found demolished

to the ground in the fortress of Utrecht, and built it from the foundation with his own labour and consecrated it in honour of St. Martin [What the learned S. Muller wrote by conjecture about the sacred buildings raised and consecrated by Willibrord, Die S. Salvatorskirche in Utrecht. Eine merowingische Kathedrale, in Westdeutsche Zeitschrift, vol. XVI (1897), p. 256 ff., although acutely thought out, does not fit well with what Boniface relates, as the distinguished A. Hauck rightly pointed out, vol. cit., p. 439, note 1.]. And he reports that the fortress of Utrecht with the destroyed church had been given by the ancient king of the Franks Dagobert to the diocese of Cologne on this condition, that the bishop of Cologne should convert the nation of the Frisians to the faith of Christ and be their preacher. Which he himself did not do. He did not preach, he did not convert the Frisians to the faith of Christ, but the nation of the Frisians remained pagan until the venerable pontiff of the Roman see Sergius sent the above-mentioned servant of God Wilbrord as bishop to preach to the above-mentioned nation; who converted that nation, as I have said before, to the faith of Christ. And now the bishop of Cologne wishes to draw to himself the see of the above-mentioned preacher Wilbrord, so that there should not be an episcopal see, subject to the Roman pontiff, preaching to the nation of the Frisians. To whom I answered, as I believed: that the precept of the apostolic see and the ordination of Pope Sergius and the mission of the venerable preacher Wilbrord ought to count for more and be stronger, so that there may be an episcopal see, subject to the Roman pontiff, preaching to the nation of the Frisians, — because a great part of them is still pagan, — than the demolished foundations of a destroyed little church, trampled by the pagans and abandoned through the negligence of bishops. But he does not consent. But now deign to make known to me the judgment of your paternity. And if this answer which I gave to that bishop of Cologne is just and pleases you, strengthen it by your authority, so that the precept of Pope Sergius and that see may remain stable. For thus you can help us, if it please you, if you order to be copied from the archive of your church and transmitted to me whatever St. Sergius prescribed and wrote down for the aforesaid Bishop Wilbrord when he was ordained; so that by the authority of your holiness I may be able to convince and overcome those who contradict. But if it seems otherwise more just to your holiness, deign to make known to me the counsel of your paternity, that I may follow it.

[6] Willibald What we have said, that St. Boniface stood by Willibrord for three years as a helper when he was preaching the faith to his Frisians, we are taught by a rich witness, by that Willibald who between the years 754 – 768 committed to writing the Life of St. Boniface. In which, after he has shown Boniface in the year 719 in Thuringia, as he had received it in his commission from the Roman pontiff, devoting his effort to apostolic labours, then shortly after setting out from there into the kingdom of the Franks — not that he was now deserting the Thuringians and leaving the work scarcely begun, but certainly with this design, that he might win for himself in this work the favour of Charles Martel, which was opportune, nay even necessary Cf. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 460., — he now relates that, on hearing of the death of Radbod, king of the Frisians, the holy man formed the plan of hastening into Frisia, which he had visited in vain three years before and had found barren Cf. the Life of Boniface by Willibald, ch. 4., to gather the harvests now ripe, as it seemed, while the opportunity offered itself.

[7] in the Life And he entered Francia, so Willibald Ibid., ch. 5 (ed. W. Levison, Hanover, 1905, p. 23 – 26)., with brothers travelling with him, and at once, on hearing of the death of Raedbod, king of the Frisians, he went up the bed of the river (the Rhine) by ship, rejoicing with great joy, of the same Boniface. desiring that Frisia too might have received the word of God; and he arrived at lands untilled by heavenly preaching. And now that the persecution of the cruel king Raedbod was ceasing, he supplied the seeds of heavenly doctrine and, the famine of the word of God being driven out, he refreshed with the fodder of eternal preaching the hungry multitude of pagan superstition. And when the effect of the work followed suddenly and of its own accord upon his longing mind, and the longed-for light of the predestined doctrine shone forth, the Lord God disposing it, and the rule of the glorious duke Charles over the Frisians had been strengthened, now the trumpet of the heavenly word sounded and the voice of the preachers thundered, the fertility of the heavenly dew arriving, and the word of God was spread also through Willibrord, the venerable man, and his fellow workers. But because he saw that in the great harvest the labourers were few, this holy servant of God became also, earnestly for three years, a fellow worker of Archbishop Willibrord, and labouring much in Christ, he acquired for the Lord no small people, the fanes of the shrines being destroyed and oratories of churches being built, with the aforesaid bishop assisting.

But when this high bishop had grown old and was weighed down by very many years of age, he resolved, at the suggestion also of the company of disciples, to provide for his decrepit old age a relief in so great a ministry and to choose from his small congregation a faithful man who might be able to preside over so great a people; and having summoned this servant of God, he admonished him with salutary instruction to undertake the rank of episcopal government and to come to his help in ruling the people of God. He, however, at once humbly refusing, declared that he was by no means worthy of the rank of the episcopate, and begged that he would not impose on him the summit of so great a dignity while he was still placed in the years of youth; and, since he had not yet fully attained the age of fifty years according to the norm of canonical rectitude, he protested, so as to decline altogether from the height of this rank with every evasion of excuse. The aforesaid bishop, therefore, rebuked so holy a herald with gentle words and urged him with diligent care to the rank of this purpose, and was earnestly to proclaim the very great poverty of the subject people. But since, even when so reproved, he did not consent to undertake the rank of this height, now through long delays of entanglements a spiritual contention arose between them and a harmonious dissension of beautiful discretion took place. This one, indeed, forestalled by great humility, spoke against the rank of so great an honour; that one, however, ensnared by the desire for a most pious gain, longed for the salvation of souls. And when they had thus brought forward to one another the differing words of their discourses, this holy servant of God too, as if placed in a kind of spiritual stadium, putting forth the speech of a wholly acceptable excuse, said: "O bishop of supreme holiness, O helmsman of the spiritual contest. For I bore a commission to the Germanic nations from blessed Pope Gregory of holy memory; I, discharging the mission of the apostolic see to the western regions of the barbarians, of my own accord yoked myself to the dominion of your government and joined myself by the decision of my own will, without the knowledge of my exalted lords; to whose service, bound by the vow of my pledge, I am to this very day constrained and subject. Wherefore without the consultation of the apostolic see and the commission of an authentic order I do not dare to undertake the rank of so illustrious a height." But he also brought forward other words with the supplication of a reasonable petition, saying: "I beseech you, therefore, that you direct me, bound by the chains of my own pledge, by sending me to these lands to which I was first sent by the apostolic see." To whom the man of God at once, having heard the reason for so great a profession, gave his blessing and granted him leave to depart. He, too, setting out at once, came to the place whose name is entered as Amanaburch, nourished, according to the apostle, in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which he has attained.

[8] But afterwards Alcuin Within about fifty years, then, which had passed since the death of Willibrord, these things about the deeds of St. Willibrord had been handed down to memory, and yet no one had girded himself to write his Life. For as to what Thiofrid, abbot of Echternach, affirmed in the twelfth century, "that first a certain man of the Scottish tongue and nation undertook to describe the deeds of so great a man, but with a rustic style wore away the dignity of the history", which writer's work was emended and adorned by Alcuin Thiofrid's Life of St. Willibrord, ch. 24., why I find this hard to believe I shall explain shortly, when we come to speak of Alcuin. Certainly the Life composed by that Scot has now perished, if it ever existed, and none survives older than that which Alcuin, a most illustrious and most learned man, wrote. He, although he was generally engaged in the study of other things, nevertheless at the request of friends narrated certain Lives of saints, with the intention indeed, as Wattenbach rightly pointed out In Jaffé's Bibliotheca rerum germanicarum, vol. VI, p. 35., "of serving ecclesiastical utility rather than the knowledge of history." As, therefore, at the bidding of Angilbert, abbot of Centula, and of Rado, abbot of Saint-Vaast, he dictated the Lives of the saints who were patrons of the one or the other monastery, Richarius (BHL. 7223 – 24) and Vedast (BHL. 8506), so also, to satisfy the petition of Beornrad, archbishop of Sens and at the same time abbot of Echternach (about the years 782 – 797), he undertook to narrate the life, character or deeds of St. Willibrord, by whom the abbey of Echternach had been founded and who was related by birth both to Beornrad and also to Alcuin. Where he carried this out is not clear. You might think in England, since in the preface he brings forward these things about a certain little monastery built at the mouth of the river Humber: to the venerable man Wilgils, namely the father of the most holy bishop Willibrord, whose body rests in a certain little cell by the sea Whose site Alcuin defines in ch. 1 of the Life., over which I, though unworthy, preside by lawful succession, God granting it; but as he presided over more than one monastery, Ferrières, Saint-Loup of Troyes, Saint-Martin of Tours, others, so he could also govern the little English monastery while absent. You might think at Echternach, as you read in ch. 30: Therefore I beseech you to have a chaste way of life in this house … and in the same place: his saint (Willibrord) interceding for us, who rests here in the body and whom we believe to be present in the spirit; which, however, would be wrongly gathered, since those words this, us and here were written rather in the person of those who were to hear and especially to recite the Life [Cf. Mabillon, Act. SS. O. S. B., saec. III, 1, p. 616, note a; Wattenbach, in Bibl. rer. germ., vol. VI, p. 35; Dümmler, in MG., Poet. lat. vol. I, p. 163.]; since, as Wattenbach pointed out, Alcuin explained this manner of writing in the preface, that he had so arranged the book on the Life written in prose that it could be read publicly to the brothers in church; and that a homily had also been added at the end, to be delivered by the abbot's mouth. If these things have been truly set out, — and they seem to have been truly set out, — I doubt whether Wattenbach may use these words of ch. 23: or how much he extended the boundaries of our empire to prove that Alcuin was situated in the kingdom of the Franks when he wrote the Life, and further that he wrote either between the years 782 – 789 or after the year 793, in which he returned from England. For besides the fact that these words too were perhaps said in the person of the monks of Echternach, why could they not have been put forward by Alcuin himself, staying in England indeed for the time, but writing that book for the people of Echternach? Therefore neither about the place, nor further about the definite time

within the years 782 – 797 at which the Life was written do we dare to determine anything.

[9] first wrote the Life of Willibrord We have not much more certain things to say about the sources from which Alcuin drew the material for his narrative. If credit is to be given to Abbot Thiofrid, Alcuin did not so much write the Life of St. Willibrord as, being a man of urbane elegance, correct and adorn with charming sayings an older little book written in a rustic style by some Scot or other — or rather, I think, an Anglo-Saxon, which at least would be more probable Thiofrid's Life of St. Willibrord, ch. 24.. These things, while they certainly can be true, nevertheless by no means seem certain. For since, in writing the deeds both of St. Richarius and of St. Vedast, Alcuin had an older Life to emend and polish, he did not neglect to mention that more ancient exemplar, in the preface to the latter Life indeed in these words: I have been at pains to emend the life of St. Vedast, but much more fully and clearly in the preface to the Life of St. Richarius: Abbot Angilbert … had begged my littleness that … I should set down more elegantly a certain little book arranged in a simpler style on the life of the most holy … confessor Richarius, and so on. Now nothing similar occurs in the preface to the Life of St. Willibrord, in which Alcuin thus addresses Beornrad: to Willibrord … whose life, character and miracles you have asked me with pious zeal to write; and what he himself did he discloses in these words: I have arranged two little books, one walking in prose speech … the other running on Pierian foot; which, he adds, are to be defended by Beornrad all the more, the less they have been polished by their own author. Since Alcuin, therefore, is silent, nay even to some extent contradicts it, who would lend an ear to Thiofrid, who lived about three hundred years later, and not rather believe that what he put forward about a rustic writer of the Scottish nation he put forward by a mere sort of conjecture? There were indeed some who seemed to themselves to have found in the Life written by Thiofrid some traces or other of that older little book, which Thiofrid would have both had and copied together with Alcuin's work. But having weighed the matter more attentively, we have proved to ourselves that the few things which Thiofrid added on top of Alcuin's narratives were drawn from elsewhere, and not from the work of that Scot, and we trust that readers too will soon be persuaded of it, when Thiofrid's work is examined.

[10] not rich in abundance of things narrated But even if Alcuin lacked, as we think he lacked, that chief aid to writing history which he would have found in an older Life, he nevertheless had sources from which to learn much about Willibrord, not only things handed down orally by friends, whether English or of Echternach [He seems to designate testimonies of this kind delivered orally in ch. 14, where he writes of the miracles worked by the saint in life: yet as to the deeds that are narrated, I judge that for the glory of God the giver they are not to be kept silent, but rather to be bound by the pen, lest they perish for later ages.], but first of all from the works of Bede, which he had most certainly read. It is very strange, however, that while Alcuin set down in writing some things which are not handed down elsewhere, certain things, and those of no small moment, were neglected by him which were at hand for his use, narrated both elsewhere and especially in Bede's Ecclesiastical History Cf. Wattenbach, Bibl. rer. germ., vol. VI, p. 36.: that while he mentions Ecgberct and Wictberct, he nevertheless adds nothing about the labours which they had devoted to converting the Frisians, nothing about the charge of converting the Frisians imposed on Willibrord by Ecgberct; that he is wholly silent about Willibrord's first journey to Rome and narrates only the second; that he related very little about the foundation of the bishopric of Utrecht and of the monastery of Echternach, about the efforts by which Willibrord propagated the Christian faith; that he made no mention at all of Boniface. Nevertheless, when, after reviewing these things, Wattenbach went on thus: "For this alone was dear to Alcuin's heart, to set forth the virtues of the holy man as an exemplar; he narrated miracles with special zeal [In fact, of the thirty chapters of which the narrative of the deeds of St. Willibrord consists, half (ch. 14 – 22 and 25 – 30) is filled with miracles. Nor do we notice without wonder that so many of them (ch. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20; cf. ch. 31) are concerned with satisfying thirst.], even more childish than are customarily related by others. A book therefore of moderate utility and wholly unworthy of its subject, yet it has things which in so great a darkness of affairs are useful and worth knowing", the most learned man does not seem to have judged altogether truly and justly of that little book. For although Alcuin was one who could have composed a book far more useful to men devoted to history, and Willibrord was worthy above all to have his deeds narrated fully and accurately, yet it must be remembered, which will certainly contribute to excusing Alcuin to some extent, that it was not his purpose to write a historical book, but, so to speak, an ecclesiastical one, which could be read publicly to the brothers in church, that is, within the liturgical offices themselves. Hence it is that both Alcuin and so many other eulogists of the saints so devote their effort to extolling the virtues of holy men and heaping up miracles that not seldom they either only sketch in passing the things nobly done by them, or do not touch them at all. Which, as we who are curious about historical matters rightly lament, so it does not seem fair to reproach those ancient writers too harshly.

[11] and wrote it both in prose and in verse, Certainly Alcuin had neglected nothing to satisfy Beornrad abundantly in the way which seemed best to him. Not only did he narrate the life of Willibrord in walking prose, to be recited within the divine solemnities, but he dictated the same in another book in running verse, to be set before the pupils of the school of Echternach as a model of speaking; moreover, to the former book he added a homily on Blessed Wilgils, Willibrord's father, and to the latter an elegiac poem on the same Wilgils. And what Alcuin says, that each book, as being dictated in stolen little lucubrations of the nights, is less polished, although this was said not so much from his heart's conviction as from the customary manner of writers speaking humbly of themselves, we nevertheless understand to have been truly said. using a somewhat uncultivated speech: Alcuin, says Wattenbach, used an uncultivated and by no means pure speech; he is faulty in the sequence of tenses, so that he not seldom joins the particle cum with the indicative; he uses participles where a finite verb was needed, the pluperfect tense where there was room for the simple preterite; at the end of words, especially of ablatives, the vowels e and i are often confused. All of these things have been corrected and changed in the manuscript codices of a more recent age, though traces of the old speech remain here and there; but the most ancient codices not only betray the author's own hand, but also, since in them is detected the hand of a corrector who has tried in very many places to bring the words back to the rules of grammar, they show the origin of the common reading.

[12] Since this work has already been published more than once, That common reading was first removed from the editions by W. Wattenbach, who, succeeding in the place of the deceased Philipp Jaffé and using the codices collated by him, expressed the genuine form of both books, which had already been printed several times before (see BHL. 8935 – 8939). Surius had first published, on the 7th of November, the prose Life alone, whose words, although the good man had not changed them with his own style so much as he often did elsewhere, he was nevertheless far from bringing forward such as had been written by Alcuin.

What was missing in the two earlier editions of Surius, I mean the homily and book II or the metrical Life, Heinrich Canisius supplied from a codex of St. Gall (now of the St. Gall library 565), from whom they passed into the third edition of Surius in the year 1618. From Surius and Canisius, without using any codices Cf. what the editor himself pointed out, p. 1395., André Duchesne received the whole work among the works of Alcuin.

But Mabillon, when he reprinted the same in the Acta SS. O. S. B. "from the editions", so used the codices both of Compiègne and of Saint-Évroul (now of Alençon, Public Library 14) that he emended many things and often restored Alcuin's genuine words.

Oldoini, however, although a few years after Mabillon he brought forward the prose Life, omitting the prologue, the appendix (ch. 31) and the homily (ch. 32), used Surius alone, whom he did not even copy faithfully.

Nor did the other editor of Alcuin's works, Froben, profit enough from Mabillon's labours, inasmuch as he laid as his foundation the edition of André Duchesne, adding Mabillon's readings within brackets. Migne in the Patrologia latina reprinted Froben.

Finally Wattenbach, having obtained the apparatus which Jaffé had collected from a few but good codices, Stuttgart H. XIV. Vitae SS. No. 1, Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 10865, Munich lat. 4605, St. Gall 565, deserved very well of Alcuin.

After him Dümmler with laudable care brought forward book II or the metrical Life with the elegy subjoined, from the three exemplars, the only ones he had found, those of Stuttgart, St. Gall and Alençon cited above.

We ourselves, by whom by the law of our work the Life was to be edited anew [A French version of Alcuin's Life was published by Ch. Barthélemy, Les Vies de tous les saints de France, vol. IX (Versailles, 1868), col. 380 – 404 (omitting ch. 28 ff.); a German one by A. Dederich, Beiträge zur römisch-deutschen Geschichte am Niederrhein (Emmerich, 1850), p. 59 – 73 (this is rather a sort of epitome of the Life, omitting also the prologue, appendix and homily), and by W. Wattenbach, in Die Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit, 2te Gesammtausgabe, Achtes Jahrhundert, III. Bd. (Leipzig, 1888), p. 5 – 26 (omitting ch. 25 ff.).], either consulted the codices again or collated them for the first time. And although it soon became evident that in the more recent exemplars, with the substance scarcely changed at all, the words had been changed and corrected in many places, yet because it was no less manifest that even in the most ancient that survive the copyists had more than once departed from what Alcuin had written, we thought that the codices which it fell to us either to consult or to have sent to Brussels should be examined.

[13] we ourselves, having collated the codices, These, then, are the codices which we have examined; in all of which — except fragment 1d — the prose Life or book I is read, generally with the homily subjoined, while book II or the metrical Life is found only in the exemplars 1a1a2bc 6a.

1a1 = Stuttgart, Royal Public Library H. XIV. Vitae SS. No. 1, formerly Royal Private Library G. 38, but once of the monastery of Weingarten, written in the ninth century, yet in such a way that both a little after and also at a later time some things were corrected, not only the manifest errors of the copyist, but also those in which Alcuin himself had erred. It contains (fol. 1v – 28v and 28v – 41) both little books, which fill the whole codex. It was used by Jaffé (Wattenbach) and

Dümmler. Sent to Brussels most liberally, I collated it again.

1a2 = Würzburg Mp. th. f. 34, formerly of the monastery of Saint Peter in Wissembourg, written by various hands in the ninth – fourteenth century. In it (fol. 104 – 115, 126, 116 – 125, 129, 128, 127, 130 – 130v) is each little book, written in a hand of the tenth – eleventh century. Although it does not depend on the codex 1a1 itself, since it not only not seldom departs from it, but has also preserved certain certainly genuine words which are missing in that one, yet that codex 1a2 was copied from a similar exemplar is suggested by ch. 5 of book I, in which the words quo et ipse navem conscendit, at first passed over in 1a1 and supplied in the lower margin, have been put in 1a2 out of their place (cf. var. lect. 23.29). Some readings of this exemplar, collated by O. Holder-Egger, were adduced by Ludwig Traube, Karolingische Dichtungen (Berlin, 1888), p. 48 – 49. Sent to Brussels, I collated it entirely.

1b = St. Gall 565, beginning of the eleventh century, contains both books (pp. 284 – 354). Ekkehard IV, abbot of St. Gall († after 1057), noted some metrical faults and emended very many places (= 1b), yet in such a way that the first reading is everywhere clear; moreover certain other hands, some more recent, made changes (= 1b*). This codex was used by Wattenbach in editing the preface of book I, and by Canisius and Dümmler in the whole of book II. Sent to Brussels, I collated it.

1c = Trier, Library of the Episcopal Seminary 75, formerly of Saint Matthias of Trier, twelfth century. In it (fol. 2 – 29) is each little book, the chapter indexes not omitted. I collated it myself.

1d = Vienna 808, formerly Salzburg 234, ninth century, contains among other poems on fol. 233 certain fragments of book II. Since at first he had not recognized that they belonged to that book, Froben published them separately from this codex among the poems of Alcuin, no. CCLXX (p. 236; cf. p. 620; P. L., vol. CI, col. 801 – 2); from the same Dümmler brought forward in their place the variant readings, which seem of very little moment for the age of the codex; from him I received them.

1e = Trier, Cathedral Library 93 (formerly 102), once of the abbey of Abdinghof N. 88, eleventh/twelfth century. In it (fol. 10v – 17v) is book I without the homily; two leaves having long since been cut out between fol. 16 and 17, a certain part from the middle of ch. 24 to the middle of ch. 30 has perished. Sent to Brussels, I collated it.

1f = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 10837, formerly of Echternach. To that venerable exemplar of the Hieronymian Martyrology is prefixed leaf 1, torn from a choir book, on which in a hand of the eleventh century are written lessons Cf. L. Duchesne, in Act. SS., Nov. vol. II, 1, p. [VIII, note 2.] excerpted word for word from ch. 3 – 6 of book I. The lowest part of the leaf having been cut off, some words have perished. I collated it myself.

1g = Engelberg, Abbey O. S. B., codex 2, twelfth century. In it (fol. 194 – 201v) is book I. The variant readings of chapter 1, by way of a specimen, were communicated to us by the Rev. Fr. Gregor Jakober, librarian.

1h = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 9740, formerly of Echternach. In it (fol. 146v, 151 – 164) is book I without the homily, written in a hand of the thirteenth century; the prologue, which was missing or had perished, was supplied in the year 1583 on the paper leaf 148. To the last words of the Life (fructus ventris tui) is immediately subjoined a certain brief narrative of miracles (BHL. 8943), which we have found in no other codex and which I have conjectured was composed by Thiofrid, abbot of Echternach, long before he wrote the great work on St. Willibrord (BHL. 8940 – 8942) [See what I wrote in Anal. Boll., vol. XXVI, p. 73 – 77. Cf. W. Levison, in Neues Archiv …, vol. XXXII, p. 761 – 62.]. I collated it myself.

1i = Verdun, Public Library 74, formerly of Saint-Vanne 100. In it (fol. 67 – 82v) is book I without the homily, carelessly written in the eleventh century. It was collated by François Bonnardot, librarian, a most courteous man.

2a1 = Munich, Royal Library lat. 4065, formerly of Benediktbeuern, eleventh century, contains (fol. 1 – 17) book I of Alcuin's Life, which in both editions of the printed catalogue of codices is wrongly attributed to Thiofrid of Echternach. Wattenbach used the codex in editing the Life. I collated it again.

2a2 = Munich, Royal Library lat. 18956, formerly of Tegernsee, eleventh century, except for leaves 63 – 67v, which were supplied in the fifteenth century. In it (fol. 49v – 69) is book I. I collated it myself.

2b = Munich, Royal Library lat. 21551, formerly of Weihenstephan, twelfth century. In it (fol. 65v – 74v) is book I without the prologue and without the homily. I collated it myself.

2c = Munich, Royal Library lat. 23846, paper, fifteenth century. In it (fol. 135 – 141) is not the Life written by Thiofrid, — as is affirmed in the catalogue of codices, — but book I of Alcuin's Life without the prologue. Omitting ch. 19 – 32 and the last words of ch. 18, the copyist closed the Life in this strange way: resurrectionis sue dicerent (ch. 18 end), et quantis miraculis fulserat vel fulserit, quem divina gratia concessa est ei ita ita … hominibus: these are already read above (fol. 136v), in ch. 3 of the Life. ut nostris temporibus quasi novus Samuel putaretur, de quo dictum est: "Puer Samuel proficiebat atque crescebat et placebat Deo magis quam hominibus." Ipse fuit Deo amabilis, populo placabilis et omni perfectione plenus, ita quod omnibus praebuit bonum exemplum. Ipse fuit quasi odor omnibus hominibus suavissimus, cunctorum perfudit nares et pectora. Ipse cum multis virtutibus rexit ecclesiam Traiectensem et multis annis, et die noctuque seminavit verbum Dei per bonos mores, et baptizavit Karolum Magnum, et in multis bonis operibus tandem in Domino quievit et obdormivit anno Domini septingentesimo XX° vel cytra etc. I collated selected places.

2d1 = Munich, Royal Library lat. 22244, formerly of Windberg [This is one of the six volumes of the great legendary of Windberg, on which see what we wrote in Anal. Boll., vol. XVII, p. 97 – 122.], twelfth century, after the middle. In it (fol. 121v – 129) is book I. I collated selected places.

2d2 = Munich, Royal Library 9506, formerly of Niederaltaich, twelfth century. In it (fol. 69 – 73) is book I without the homily. I collated selected places.

2e = Munich, Royal Library lat. 12642, formerly of Ranshofen, fourteenth century. In it (fol. 119 – 127) is book I, and indeed with an index of chapters. I collated the index and selected places of the Life.

2f = Utrecht, University Library 122 (otherwise Eccl. 26, but before that 285 x), twelfth century. In it (fol. 79v – 97v) is book I, the prologue being passed over, but with the addition, after the homily, of an Epilogue on the life of St. Willibrord, which begins Beatus igitur Willibrordus in Britannia insula provincia Norterumbrana …, and consists of six lessons excerpted word for word, nothing being added, from Alcuin's book itself. From this codex Alberdingk-Thijm brought forward some variant readings, H. Willibrordus (1861), p. 292 – 94; Der heilige Willibrord (1863), p. 206 – 8. I inspected the complete set of variants, collected in the nineteenth century by someone or other and preserved in codex 167 of the Bollandist Library, fol. 116 – 118v.

To this group also seem to belong the exemplars of the great Austrian legendary On which see more in Anal. Boll., vol. XVII, p. 24 ff., that is, the codices

2g1 = Zwettl 14, thirteenth century. In it (fol. 128 – 132v) is book I;

2g2 = Melk M. 8, fifteenth century. In it (fol. 45 – 52v) is book I.

3a = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 10865, formerly of Saint Maximin of Trier 48, tenth/eleventh century Cf. Br. Krusch, in Neues Archiv …, vol. XVIII, p. 594 – 95.. It contains (f. 1 – 22v) the prose Life with the beginning of the homily, which, leaves having been lost, ends mutilated: sanctissimi patris hodie concurrit. A somewhat more recent hand emended not a few things, yet not happily. The codex was used by Jaffé, who wrongly thought it written in the ninth century. I collated it again.

3b = Berlin, Royal Library theol. lat. fol. 267 (catal. no. 790), formerly of Springiersbach, twelfth century. In it (fol. 161 – 166v) is book I, both the prologue and the homily being passed over. Sent to Brussels, I collated it.

3c = Trier, Public Library 1372 (formerly 783, catal. no. 788), formerly of the monastery of Eberhardsklausen, fifteenth century. In it (fol. 146 – 173) is book I. I collated selected places. From this was copied the codex

3c* = Trier, Public Library 512 (formerly 558, catal. no. 1216), formerly of the same monastery, fifteenth century. In it (fol. 223 – 233) is book I.

4a = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 5294, formerly of Saint-Symphorien of Metz, then of the chapter of the cathedral church of Metz, eleventh/twelfth century. In it (fol. 144 – 158) is book I without the prologue and without the homily. I collated it myself.

4b = Berlin, Royal Library Phillipps 1874 (catal. no. 121), formerly of Saint-Vincent of Metz, eleventh century. In it (fol. 30 – 39) is book I, passing over the prologue, and some small portions of sentences, and the last chapters from ch. 22 on; since after ch. 21 there follows only the first sentence of ch. 23: Idem quoque … vera probavit. Sent to Brussels, I collated it.

4c1 = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 5308, formerly of André Duchesne, twelfth century. In it (fol. 226v – 230v) is book I without the prologue and without the homily. I collated ch. 1 – 4 and selected places.

4c1* = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 11774, fol. 301 – 318v. This is a copy of book I made in the seventeenth century "from Duchesne's ms." for the monks O. S. B. of the Congregation of Saint-Maur. The prologue and homily are missing. I collated ch. 1 – 4 and selected places.

4c2 = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 5278, thirteenth century. In it (fol. 325 – 330v) is book I without the prologue and homily. I collated ch. 1 – 4 and selected places.

4d1 = London, British Museum Harley 2800 – 2802, formerly of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in Arnstein, thirteenth century. In it (fol. 95v – 99) is book I without the prologue and homily. It was collated by my colleague Charles De Smedt.

4d2 = Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. 10873, fifteenth century.

In it (fol. 54 – 68v) is book I without the prologue, the appendix (or ch. 31) and the homily (or ch. 32). I collated it.

5a = Trier, Public Library 54 (formerly CXVI, catal. no. 1384), formerly of Saint Martin of Trier, written by various hands in the eleventh – thirteenth century. In it is book I, copied in a hand of the eleventh century (fol. 59v – 62v) and of the twelfth century (fol. 63 – 67v), passing over the prologue, the homily and the last part of the Life from the end of ch. 27 on. For it ends: eorum vincula resoluta sunt, praestante Domino… Amen. In the first chapters of the Life the copyist busied himself with emending many things at his own pleasure. I collated it myself.

The Life which is said to have been written by Echebert, presbyter, 5b = Codex Paris Bibl. Nat. lat. nouv. acq. 1836, formerly of St. Mary of Himmerod, twelfth/thirteenth century. It presents (fol. 117 – 125v) the Life of St. Willibrord written by a certain Echebert, presbyter, at the order of Gerard, abbot of Echternach, either the first of this name (1100 – 1122) or the second (1155 – 1173). For when Gerard thought that the Life of St. Willibrord, that is, Alcuin's little book, "was not composed honourably enough" and had asked Echebert to "renew it with some change of composition", Echebert indeed agreed; but afterwards, when he had read through Alcuin's work and had found that in it "the simplicity of style is tolerable enough", he withdrew from his purpose. Yet so as to stand by his promises to some extent, he first "wrote a new sermon entirely"; in which, although he seemed to himself to have touched summarily on the life and deeds of the saint, he did not make even a word there about Willibrord, but pursued only commonplaces. Besides, he "in some measure renewed" the first chapters of the old sermon, I mean of Alcuin's Life, that is, he contracted them into a few sentences, and he advised Abbot Gerard that, if it pleased him, the remaining chapters of the ancient Life "should remain as they were, from the place where it is written: Quem divina mox gratia …", that is, from the second sentence of Alcuin's chapter 9. All of which Echebert set out in plain and clear words in a certain preliminary letter, so that it seems altogether surprising that the good man has lately had the charge of theft laid upon him [H. Omont, Un plagiat littéraire au XIIe siècle. La Vie de S. Willibrord, évêque d'Utrecht, par le prêtre Egbert, in Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions, 1903, p. 98 – 100. We ourselves at once spoke against it (Anal. Boll., vol. XXII, p. 419 – 22), and so did the distinguished Wilhelm Levison (Neues Archiv …, vol. XXIX, p. 255 – 61).]. Echebert's counsel was approved by Abbot Gerard or certainly by someone else, who ordered that to what he had written, that is, to the prologue, the new sermon and that beginning of the narrative which Echebert had substituted in place of ch. 1 – 3 beginning of Alcuin's Life, the rest of Alcuin's narrative should be joined. That this was at some time done is manifest from this codex. And Wilhelm Levison has clearly shown that Alcuin's text was copied by the copyist from the codex 5a itself Loc. cit., p. 256 – 57.. The distinguished H. Omont published the whole Life from the single codex 5b [In Notices et extraits de la Bibliothèque Nationale et autres bibliothèques, vol. XXXVIII, 1 (1903), p. 387 – 96.]; of which it will be enough and more to have noted among the variant readings only the beginning and besides a few things which reveal the connection of codex 5b with codex 5a. The new sermon, as being of no moment, even Omont himself neglected, and thought it enough to have adduced its first and last sentences Ibid., p. 387.. Echebert's letter to Abbot Gerard would perhaps alone have to be copied out by us, had it not already been published four times in places where it would conveniently come into everyone's hands [H. Omont, in Comptes-Rendus …, vol. cit. p. 98 – 99; the same, in Notices et extraits, vol. cit., p. 386 – 87; W. Levison, loc. cit., p. 260 – 61; Alb. Poncelet, in Anal. Boll., vol. cit., p. 420.].

Much more freely and even more licentiously were Alcuin's words emended or changed by the copyists who wrote out the remaining codices to be adduced here. and in certain exemplars, which were more freely emended Among which of chief moment is

6a = Alençon, Public Library 14, formerly of Saint-Évroul, eleventh century. In it (fol. 12 – 23) is each little book, passing over however in the metrical Life chapters XXVII – XXX and verses 2 – 48 of chapter XXXIV. Although in book I this exemplar sometimes comes close to codex 1e, it often nevertheless presents its own emendations or variant readings. It was used for book II by Mabillon and Dümmler. Sent to Paris, I collated it in the Bibliothèque Nationale.

So far as we can see from the few variant readings handed down (cf. book I, ch. 316.17, ch. 558), not unlike this was a codex of the fourteenth century,

6a* = of which there survive two Düsseldorf fragments, adduced and described by Ferdinand Deycks in the Index lectionum … in Academia … Monasteriensi a. 1856 habendarum (cf. BHL. 8935). He, indeed, as Wattenbach rightly pointed out Bibl. rer. germ., vol. VI, p. 37 – 38., while he strove to emend the text handed down by the editors, played the censor of Alcuin himself.

With codex 6a agree much more often the twin codices

6b1 = Brussels, Royal Library 7641, formerly of St. Mary of Vaucelles in the diocese of Cambrai, thirteenth century. In it (pp. 29 – 39) is book I without the homily. Although the copyist corrected many things most neatly, the earlier writing, which often gave Alcuin's genuine words themselves, can be recognized by one inspecting attentively.

6b2 = Douai, Public Library 838, formerly of the abbey of Marchiennes, thirteenth century. In it (fol. 40v – 43v) is book I without the homily.

These exemplars in some places depart very much both from the others and also from codex 6a, and present as it were a new recension; there is in them an interpolated passage on St. Vulfram (see ch. 9, var. lect. 17). I collated both.

and changed, Book I much more changed, and reworked in an altogether singular way, is presented by two codices which remain to be reviewed:

7 = Codex London, British Museum Arundel 91, twelfth century, fol. 213 – 216v. It was collated by my colleague Charles De Smedt. The prologue and homily are missing, and the rest is generally contracted. For the sake of a specimen I copy out the whole of ch. 4: Vicesimo autem etatis sue anno, artioris vite succensus ardore, audiens in Hybernia scolasticam eruditionem vigere, audita etiam fama beatissimi Hecberti episcopi, cognomento sancti, necnon et venerabilis Wicberti, qui utrique ob celestis patrie amorem domo patria cognatione derelicta Hyberniam secesserunt, petita licentia ab abbate et fratribus, in Hyberniam veniens predictis se sociavit patribus. Cum quibus in magna religione et sacre lectionis studio multorum doctor futurus populorum duodecim conversatus est annis.

8 = Codex Brussels, Royal Library 8059, formerly of Saint Paul in Utrecht, fifteenth century, fol. 199v – 207v. The prologue, the appendix (ch. 31) and the homily (ch. 32) are missing. In the rest Alcuin's text is now copied word for word, now explained in other words and those often more numerous. Let the second and third sentences of ch. 1 serve as an example: Nam huius seculi abrenuntians illecebris, habitu mutato, monachicam elegit conversationem ac non multo post, crescente in eo fervore vitae spiritalis, arciori studio solitarie se ipsum mancipavit vite in promunctoriis que mari oceano et Humbro flumine cinguntur. Ubi etiam tempore in quodam parvo oratorio in honore sancti Andree apostoli Christi nomini dedicato in ieiuniis et orationibus vigiliisque sed et omnibus quibus celeste regnum adipiscitur laboribus ita solertissime Deo serviebat, ut et miraculorum insigniis, cuius meriti apud eum locum teneret, ipse Dominus non pateretur hominibus celari. Unde cum nomen eius celebre divulgaretur … I read it all through, I collated selected places [Certain other codices we neglected, some willingly, others unwillingly, that is, Admont 225, twelfth century, on which cf. Pertz's Archiv, vol. VI, p. 173, and vol. X, p. 635; The Hague, Royal Library L. 29, formerly of St. Catherine of Muiden, of the year 1461, on which Anal. Boll., vol. VI, p. 184137; Namur 15, thirteenth century, on which Anal. Boll., vol. I, p. 49931 (in it is book I, not a few things omitted and contracted); Saint-Omer 716, formerly of St. Mary of Clairmarais, thirteenth century, volume VIII, fol. 66v – 71v (in it is book I); and various epitomes, which are to be found in the codices Bern 598, twelfth century, fol. 88 – 88v; Brussels, Royal Library 197, formerly of Rouge-Cloître, of the year 1465, fol. 173v – 174 (otherwise 171v – 172), 3391 – 3399, formerly of the monastery of Bethlehem near Louvain, of the year 1480, fol. 206v – 208, and 11987, formerly of Rouge-Cloître, sixteenth century (cf. above, p. 361, no. 6), fol. formerly marked CXXXVI – CXXXVIIIv, now 98 – 100v (the prologue is present entire); Liège, University Library 58, formerly of Saint-Trond, fifteenth century, fol. 73 – 75v (cf. Anal. Boll., vol. V, p. 33724); Vienna, Library of the Austrian Emperor 9363, formerly of Rouge-Cloître (this is the Hagiologium Brabantinorum of Jan Gielemans), of about the year 1480, volume II, fol. 19 – 23 (cf. ibid., vol. XIV, p. 557), 9375a, formerly of Corsendonk, fifteenth century, fol. 157 – 159v (cf. ibid., p. 25347) and 9397a, formerly of Rouge-Cloître (this is the Sanctilogium of Jan Gielemans), of the year 1471, fol. 344 – 346 (cf. ibid., p. 41). There are besides to be mentioned some codices which we lament as lost or at least not yet found, that of Compiègne which Mabillon used and in which was read the same interpolated passage on St. Vulfram which we found in the exemplars 6b1b2, and four others whose mention the distinguished M. Manitius unearthed from ancient catalogues of libraries (Neues Archiv. .., vol. XXXII, p. 661), those of Bamberg, Constance, Stavelot and especially a certain one of Lorsch listed in a catalogue of the ninth century.].

[14] we have tried that Alcuin's words When these exemplars have been diligently collated, it at once becomes clear that in none has Alcuin's text been preserved for us untouched, but that in all the copyists, some in one way, others in another, and each as it were according to his own talent, have not only, as usually happens, corrupted the words of the first writer through a kind of yawning carelessness, but also through excessive diligence have striven to correct those things which Alcuin had written with too little correctness. From which faults by no means immune is that precious and most ancient codex 1a1, which alone

of all comes to some extent close to Alcuin's age; nay, not a few errors, not of Alcuin but of the copyist, are found in it which are absent from the other codices. Let these serve as examples in book I:

prol. 55: lucubratiunculas 1a1; lucubratiunculis the rest;

ibid. 60: percipientis … auctoritatem 1a1; precipientis a. the rest;

ch. 626: Dux vero contra relegionem suasit 1a1; D. v. c. religiose s. the rest;

ch. 924: omni ferae crudelior 1a1; o. fera c. the rest;

ch. 1219: vel aliquibus … munera accepisset 1a1; vel a quibus … m. a. the rest;

ch. 1526: Sed die postera id est infelix 1a1; s. d. p. idem i. the rest.

But in other places in the codices of better note (of which kind are 1a1a2b, 2a1, 3a), either in all or in nearly all, now certain altogether necessary words are missing, e.g.

in book ch. 549: ripa omitted by 1a1a2, 3a (perhaps from haplography: ipsa [ipa] ripa);

ch. 812: iussione omitted by 1a1b, 2a1, while the remaining codices present five variant readings (iussione, auctoritate, vigore, amminiculo, privilegio);

in book II, index of chapters14: ostendebatur ita 1b alone; omitted by 1a1a2, 6a; ostensum est 1c;

now words are read which you might either deny were written by Alcuin or certainly not undeservedly call into doubt; thus, to adduce the more difficult places,

book I, prol. 31 – 34: Tamen vestris orationibus divina donante gratia (adiutus adds 1b) et sanctissimo patri (patre 2a1) Willibrordo servienti 1a1a2bch, 3a, 6a; at which ablative absolute (for that is what Willibrordo patri is) the copyists stuck, so that they corrected: serviente 2a1; servientium 1b another hand, intercedente 1e and most editors, with 2d1d2e supporting; but Wattenbach noted: "perhaps serviendo, but I did not wish to depart from the reading of the most ancient codices". And not badly indeed; for although it may seem very strange that Alcuin in this place used the verb servire for that which is adiuvare, yet one must beware above all lest we too hastily intrude our own emendations or those of the copyists. And therefore

book I, ch. 32 (homily)95: populos adhibuit feroces I should prefer, with 1a1a2, 1b first hand, 2a1a2, 2e, to attribute to Alcuin rather than to accept adiit (1c) or adivit (the rest), handed down by much lesser witnesses, since it is very easily understood how these, by emending, wrote adivit, but not so why those, if adivit had been written by Alcuin, should have put adhibuit in its place. On the other hand, in the same ch. 3269: Nec de meae petitionis fluctu et effectu, which 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 1b first hand, 2a1 have, is intolerable and cannot be ascribed to Alcuin; and therefore with 3a and the more recent exemplars one should probably read: N. de m. p. fructu et e. Likewise

book II, ch. 78: scelestos is to be accepted from the more recent exemplars 1c, 6a, where the older ones ineptly put forward, 1a1: caelestes, 1a2: celestes, 1b already a little better: scelestes.

And even from these things which we have adduced by way of specimen it is already understood that the best method for restoring Alcuin's genuine words is not that we should follow codex 1a1 everywhere or even chiefly, nor that we should always trust the older codices when they agree, but that we should not neglect to consult other witnesses too, according to the matter and the occasion. Yet that the codices 1a1a2b are of great moment we are taught even by that notable heading which is prefixed to book II or the metrical Life: Incipit liber secundus … opus egregium domni (sancti 1a2) Albini magistri nostri (omitted by 1b) optimi Caliopi; by which it is shown that those three codices depend on some very ancient exemplar which had been written by Alcuin's disciples.

[15] and the manner of writing In the manner of writing or orthography, although chief account must be taken of codex 1a1, as reaching much more closely than the others to Alcuin's age, yet that this exemplar is by no means to be imitated in every single place is shown by very many things which depart altogether from Alcuin's practice, as we know it from the many codices of his letters written in the ninth and even the eighth century Cf. MG., Epist. vol. IV, p. 1 – 481.. Let these few serve as examples: cotidiae, praesbiter, quoquae, saedarent, contullerunt, retullit, inclussione, missericordia, suassit, others of this kind.

[16] we should set forth faithfully. Further, so that we should not fill the bottoms of the pages with a useless review of singular readings nor ineptly obscure the apparatus with a multitude of words, we thought this way should be taken, that we should hand on the complete variety in the indexes of chapters and in book II from all the codices — those few, to be sure; but in book I itself all the variant readings only from the codices 1a1 a2 b c e, 2a1, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a (the orthographical ones, however, generally only from 1a1a2b, 2a1, 3a), but from the rest selected readings, so far as would certainly be enough either for establishing the text or for clearly manifesting the character or connection of the codices.

[17] Among the more recent writers After Alcuin, although certain writers made mention of St. Willibrord in passing [Alcuin's book was used or even abused by some writers, when they transferred certain things from it into their own writings, some rightfully, others fraudulently, for instance Altfrid in the Life of St. Liudger (BHL. 4937), where the little book on the life of Willibrord himself (ch. 4) is cited by name and copied word for word in more than one place; likewise, as it seems, he who at the beginning of the ninth century composed the earlier Life of St. Vulfram (BHL. 8738) (cf. W. Levison, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XXV, p. 605); Ruopert, monk of Mettlach, in the Life of St. Adalbert of Egmond (BHL. 33), ch. 3, where the book of his (Willibrord's) deeds is also praised; the anonymous writer of the Life of St. Condedus (BHL. 1907), who boldly transferred to that monk of Fontenelle many things which Alcuin had said of Willibrord (cf. W. Levison, loc. cit., p. 599), then also Adam of Bremen (cf. Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. VI, 1831, p. 791) and other more recent ones, whom there is no leisure to review.], as at the end of the eighth century St. Liudger in the Life of St. Gregory, abbot of Utrecht (BHL. 3680), ch. 10; in the years 839 – 849 Bishop Altfrid in the Life of the same Liudger (BHL. 4937), book I, ch. 4, 5, 13, 22; at the end of the ninth century the author of the Life of SS. Harlindis and Renula, yet no one deliberately undertook to narrate again the deeds done by the holy bishop [That he committed to writing the history of St. Willibrord is attested by Marcellinus, presbyter, in the Life of St. Swibert which he inscribed to St. Gregory of Utrecht († about 775) (Surius, ed. 1618, vol. III, p. 6, ch. VI); but no one is unaware that that masked Marcellinus lived in the fifteenth century and fabricated that spurious work. That a Life of St. Willibrord was written both in verse and in prose by Marcward, scholasticus of Echternach, in the tenth century, the sole witness is Trithemius (cf. Histoire littéraire de la France, vol. VI, p. 272 – 73), that is, no witness.], until at the beginning of the twelfth century, when the study of letters had flourished again in the abbey of Echternach, Thiofrid, abbot of Echternach, although Alcuin's narrative Abbot Thiofrid († 1100), a man outstandingly learned for his times [On the life and writings of Thiofrid see what has been collected by L. Weiland, in MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 12 ff.; K. Rossberg, in the preface to the metrical Life of Willibrord (Leipzig, 1883), p. IV ff.; N. Van Werveke, in the preface to two sermons of Thiofrid (cf. BHL. 8897, 8942).], made trial of his erudition and eloquence in a Life of St. Willibrord. For since he both greatly approved and had fully attained that affected elegance of speaking which at that time was in praise and in use among the writers of Lotharingia, but has long since caused nausea to men of understanding [Cf. Jean Roberti, D. Thiofridi… Flores epitaphii sanctorum (1619), fol. sign. **3vo; Mabillon, Annales O. S. B., book 71, §23 (vol. V, p. 498); J. Périer, in Act. SS., Sept. vol. VIII, p. 161, no. 11 ff.; L. Weiland, loc. cit., p. 15.], he was offended not so much by Alcuin's errors as by his simpler style, and he who in his preface had praised Alcwin or Albinus, the most learned man of his time and most capable of all doctrine, for having polished the Life of St. Willibrord with the charm of urbane elegance and seasoned it with the salt of more august knowledge, afterwards (ch. 24) so attenuated these praises as now to say that the man of urbane elegance … had tried to set aside the unurbane with a charming saying and to dress up the unkempt, and even to add (ibid.): But, since sometimes good Homer nods, he (Alcuin) seems, offended by the long labour and delay, not to have corrected his little book, when finished, ten times to the fingernail, and to have passed over very many things most worthy to be handed down to memory. These Thiofrid took upon himself to correct, while he corrected Alcuin's little book in such a way as to overwhelm it with a mass of ambitious ornaments and a pomp of empty words; but the things which he had judged must be added, very many, he in fact added few. he set out in very many words in prose and in verse, For when, imitating Alcuin, he wrote two Lives of St. Willibrord [ Alcuin, then, had written a homily on St. Willibrord (BHL. 8937), so Thiofrid published two sermons, on St. Willibrord and on his father St. Wilgils (BHL. 8942, 8897); it will be enough to have listed them.], one in prose in the year, as it seems, 1103 or 1104, the other in verse in the year 1105 [Rossberg rightly pointed out, loc. cit., p. VIII, that the Flores epitaphii sanctorum were dedicated by Thiofrid after the year 1102 to Bruno, archbishop of Trier; that after this work the prose Life of St. Willibrord was written; after that the metrical Life, which Thiofrid himself testifies he composed in the year 1105, book II, v. 675.], he generally clung to the footsteps of his predecessor in the first chapters 1 – 28 [In chapter 28 are narrated the things which are read in Alcuin's appendix or last chapter (that is, 31). After which Thiofrid goes on in ch. 29 – 36 to report many things which are altogether missing in Alcuin; of which some, which are said to have been done while St. Willibrord was living, were drawn partly (ch. 29) from the Life of St. Willehad (BHL. 8898), partly (ch. 30) from the Life of St. Amelberga, virgin, published a little before (BHL. 323); but the rest, which happened after the death of St. Willibrord, and indeed nearly all of them (ch. 32 – 36) in the eleventh century, either Thiofrid himself saw and did when present, or in the monastery, in writings or orally

handed down, he received.], inasmuch as he narrated the same things in the same order, but also not seldom kept Alcuin's very words, although he hid them, as it were submerged, under the waves of his garrulity.

[18] using other documents also, and those surviving, Nevertheless in some places he inserted certain things which he had not read in Alcuin; from where Thiofrid got these must now be inquired. Come now, no one will be surprised that the most learned man transferred into the Life of St. Willibrord he was putting together not only words but also certain facts from other books, of which he had read very many. He had read, I think, that annotation which we said was written by Willibrord in his calendar; from which he seems to have taken, in ch. 5 and 7, those two indications of time, I mean the years 690 and 695, of which the one is handed down nowhere else, the other only otherwise and indeed erroneously. He had read Bede, whom he praises twice [See also Thiofrid's sermon on the heavenly birthday of St. Willibrord, ch. 10 end.] and adduces as guarantor (ch. 8 and 10). If he did not himself read the older Life of St. Vulfram (BHL. 8738), he certainly received from someone who had read it, say from Sigebert of Gembloux [Chapter IX of the Life of Vulfram was copied by Sigebert in the Chronicle at the year 718 (MG., Scr. vol. VI, p. 330); and Sigebert by him who composed the earlier part of the Annals of Xanten (MG., Scr. vol. II, p. 221, at the year 718).], what he reports in ch. 11 end about the baptism of Radbod, duke of the Frisians, begun and not completed. The charters and diplomas in which donations made to the abbey of Echternach had been recorded, when he was writing chapter 12 of the Life, he either examined himself or rather read through collected in that ancient codex of traditions So Weiland, MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 13. which Beornrad is said once to have first composed Cf. Weiland, loc. cit., p. 11.. At the end of this chapter 12 he seems to have taken both from Regino and from the continued chronicle of Pseudo-Fredegar what he related about the wars of Charles Martel against the Frisians. Regino he had certainly read, whom in chapter 22, in running briefly through the deeds of Pippin and Charles the Great, he manifestly followed as his guide; the rest of what our not bad historian set forth in the same chapter and elsewhere was narrated partly from certain annals or chronicles, partly — in matters which had happened in more recent time — from what he had heard from contemporaries or what he himself had seen. He had read the Life of St. Boniface written by Willibald, which he used happily in ch. 23, so as to supply, about the partnership of labours which had existed between Boniface and Willibrord, what had been passed over by Alcuin.

[19] handed down nothing about Willibrord himself except popular fables, There remain four places in which, since things are reported which neither Alcuin handed down nor have we happened to find narrated among other writers, someone might conjecture that in these Thiofrid followed that Life written by some Scot or other before Alcuin's times, of which both he himself makes mention (ch. 24) and we spoke above. And in fact L. Weiland Ibid., p. 13, note 25. was of the opinion that what Thiofrid relates, that Willibrord, when he was setting sail from England to the continent, first put in at the port of Gravelines, was taken from the writings of the Scot already mentioned. Now I can by no means be brought to believe this. For Thiofrid agrees with Alcuin in narrating that Willibrord, having boarded a ship, left England and put in by ship at the mouths of the river Rhine [Alcuin, ch. 5: he boarded a ship… So, as the man of God was sailing with his companions, as we said before, until with a prosperous course he lowered sail at the mouths of the river Rhine…; Thiofrid, ch. 5: he boarded a ship … and with a calm voyage put in at the mouths of the river Rhine…]; but in the middle of the narrative, I mean between the departure from England and the arrival in Frisia, Thiofrid inserted a certain passage in which he not only named Gravelines but also brought forward a fable about Willibrord's arrival at this port, from where he got which the writer himself betrayed clearly enough: But he was carried, he says Thiofrid, ch. 5 middle., first to the port of Gravelines, a maritime township, where up to the present time there is honoured with immense veneration beside the base of the altar a stone of quadrangular form, on which rather than on a ship, as the children of children and those who are born of them are accustomed to assert, he, not admitted by the shipmaster on the Irish shore for lack of the fare, is believed to have been carried across by a new and unheard-of kind of vessel… These things, then, he did not learn from that Scot of his, but, on his own testimony, received from popular report, whose property it is to illustrate with wonderful inventions and empty fables relics or monuments of an earlier age, such as that quadrangular stone was [It is by no means unusual in the Lives of saints, especially British or Irish ones, for it to be narrated that either the saints themselves or things sent by them crossed seas or rivers on stones instead of ships.], where they cannot be properly explained.

[20] nor did he use an older Life Exactly the same is to be observed in another place in which Thiofrid narrated something new. For he invents that those masses of sand which near the sea-shore are customarily heaped up by the force of the winds into the form of hills were heaped up by a miracle by Willibrord on the island of Walcheren Ch. 13 end.: For the man, the mirror of all virtues, by means of the staff of his journey, according to the common testimony of the whole province, drew on the mainland a furrow, as seemed to him sufficient and fitting, and in the name of Jesus … set it as a bound and limit to the sea. There grew up on the instant a heaped mass of sand like a most firm wall; which heaping the maritime natives call in their own tongue dunon, and there up to the present the most dangerous waves are dashed and broken… Again, then, the things which Thiofrid adds on top of Alcuin's words were drawn not from a written document but from common report, and indeed in order to explain a thing which in his time, by its mass, was before the eyes of the inhabitants.

[21] which was written by some Scot, Nor would I take otherwise the third place, in which, although there is no longer talk of popular report, nevertheless, no differently than in the two former ones, the point is to give the reason for a certain thing which seemed wonderful. For after he has related Ch. 13 middle. what Alcuin too has otherwise Prose Life, ch. 14., that Willibrord, when on the island of Walcheren — Alcuin calls it the township of Walcheren — he had broken a certain idol, was struck with a sword by the idolatrous keeper of the fane and wounded in the head with a deadly blow, he now continues thus: There is witness to this day his blood in the basilica which is called Westkapelle, poured out and sprinkled on the base of the altar … and shortly after, concerning the offspring of the same keeper, punished, as they thought: he made all his posterity remarkable with the brand of his crime. For whatever offspring has been produced from the vitiated root up to the present day, whether male or female, always disfigured in some limb, either shorter or longer, or by a foul disease, shows in itself the traces of divine vengeance. These things — I mean the stains sprinkled on the altar, the infirmities of the inhabitants and the masses of sand of which above — although Thiofrid, following popular report, did not interpret them wisely, he could nevertheless inspect with his own eyes and give true testimony about them, inasmuch as we know that he once went to the island of Walcheren Thiofrid, Life, ch. 36..

[22] some have imagined, with Thiofrid himself as guide. There remains, further, one place, or rather a certain very small particle, which they have conjectured was drawn by Thiofrid from a written document — say from the Life composed by the Scot J. Schmitz, Vita S. Willibrordi a Thiofrido … conscripta, p. 77, note 84.. For Alcuin had narrated Ch. 10, 11. that Willibrord with his companions came to the island of Fositesland (= Heligoland), which place was held in such veneration by the pagans that none of the gentiles dared to touch anything on it, either of the animals grazing there or of any other things whatever, nor did anyone presume to draw water from the spring which bubbled up there except in silence; further, that Willibrord both transgressed this law of silence and slaughtered the animals grazing there for food for himself and his companions; that the angered king Radbod cast lots upon the saint and his companions, but that no one perished except that only one of the companions was pointed out by the lot and crowned with martyrdom. And all these things Thiofrid indeed has Ch. 11.; but he added two things on top, which hang together: that it was also forbidden by the law of this people that anyone, with rash daring, should dare to steal anything of the silver and bronze cast with sacrilegious rite into the little pitcher assigned for drawing water; and that that companion of Willibrord of whom Alcuin speaks, because he too inconsiderately presumed to take the sacrificial bronze from the drawing-vessel of the sacrilegious water, was betrayed and condemned by the rite of the lots. If anyone has proved to himself that these two things were handed down by the Scot, I shall nonetheless wonder that that wretched man paid the penalty for a light deed, while the others suffered nothing for much graver offences. For my part I should rather believe that Thiofrid added what he added on top for this reason, that, since he had read in Alcuin that one of the companions was pointed out, that is, designated, by lot, he wished to explain not whom, but what the lots had pointed out in him. All things, then, having been examined and weighed [Scarcely relevant here, and still more easily explained, are the things which Thiofrid related in ch. 28 end.], it seems scarcely probable that that Life of St. Willibrord composed by a certain Scot, which Thiofrid adduces in ch. 24, ever in fact existed.

[23] Thiofrid's two books Thiofrid's work, although long enough and not very useful, we could scarcely omit in these Acts; therefore we shall bring it forward below, having collated the ancient codices which survive:

G = Gotha, Ducal Library I. 70, formerly of Echternach, which is of parchment, of 149 leaves (0 m, 280 × 188), written by one hand at the beginning of the twelfth century, not indeed, as seemed to Weiland Loc. cit., p. 19., by Thiofrid himself between the years 1102 – 1106, but at Thiofrid's order by one of his monks between the years 1105 and 1110 So, very well, Rossberg, loc. cit., p. VIII.. The volume was both written and adorned with anxious care: everywhere gold has been used in place of rubrics, the beginning of each book neatly and elegantly painted with gold, silver and colours; besides, there are images: 1° (fol. 1v) of Abbot Thiofrid clothed in a black garment and bearing in his hands a huge book, on which are inscribed:

Thifrid, your home-born servant, Wilb(rord), I dedicate this gift. Bring forth for yourself the volume of a poor man for great honour.

If I have played the fool in anything, grant pardon; you, and your deeds, have I written. In the book of life, my praise, my hope, write me.

2° (fol. 2) an image of St. Willibrord, who sits on a golden chair covered with a red carpet, his head bare, clothed in an alb, a yellow tunic, a silver stole, a green chasuble, the pontifical pallium; he raises his right hand to bless, with the left he holds a book; 3° (fol. 98v) another image of Thiofrid; 4° and 5° (fol. 99, 100) others.

The second part of the volume (fol. 99v – 149) is filled by Thiofrid's Book of the Flowers of the Epitaph of the Saints; but the first by the Life of St. Willibrord written by the same in prose (fol. 2v – 45v) and in verse (fol. 57 – 94v), with sermons subjoined to each, the one on the heavenly birthday of St. Willibrord (fol. 45v – 56v), the other on the heavenly birthday of St. Wilgils (fol. 94v – 98).

T = Trier, Public Library, now distinguished by no number and displayed before the eyes of all within a glass case, formerly marked LXXXIV (catal. no. 1378). The volume consists of two codices, of which the first (fol. 1 – 130), written in the twelfth century, contains the same things as the Gotha codex, I mean the same little books, although not so splendidly written (f. 1v – 39v the prose Life, fol. 49 – 82v the metrical Life, fol. 40 – 49 and 82v – 86 both sermons, and fol. 86v – 130 the Flowers of the Epitaph of the Saints), and also the same images, though painted by a rougher hand, so that there can be no doubt whatever that this one was copied from that one.

we shall publish again. The prose Life [A German version of the prose Life was recently made by an anonymous person, who brought it to light in Ons Hémecht, vol. V (Luxembourg, 1899), pp. 93 – 112, 148 – 54, 196 – 203, 244 – 52, 292 – 96, 341 – 48, 443 – 51, 482 – 93; vol. VI (1900), pp. 6 – 16, 50 – 62.], certain fragments of which others had brought forward long ago, was printed entire in the year 1898 by J. Schmitz (cf. BHL. 8940) from the Gotha codex, of which the distinguished N. Van Werveke had made a copy; he devoted useful effort to searching out and indicating the places of the ancient writers whom the most erudite Thiofrid compiled abundantly; but in the commentary which he subjoined to the edition he seems to have been excessive and to have brought forward many things useful only to beginners. The metrical Life was published from the Trier codex alone in the year 1881 by R. Decker; and from the Gotha one in the year 1883 by Konrad Rossberg (cf. BHL. 8941), noting the variant readings of the Trier exemplar, which he took not from the codex itself but from Decker's edition. He had suspected, however P. XII – XIII., that in Decker's edition not a few things were wrongly presented by the error of the typesetters or of the editor himself; nor had he suspected it undeservedly, for, having collated the Trier codex again, we perceived that most of the variant readings which he ascribed are of that edition, not of the codex. Sometimes also, although much more rarely, the one who copied the Gotha codex for Rossberg erred — for it did not fall to the editor himself to handle it with his own hands. — After we noticed these things, on inspecting the codex most kindly sent to Brussels, it seemed to the purpose, so as to remove all doubt afterwards, that we should diligently note at the bottoms of the pages (generally in this manner: So also G, So also T) the words of either codex which had previously been badly read or certainly badly presented. For the rest, Rossberg deserved very well of Thiofrid, since he not only emended the poems in some places, — for the copyist, although he was writing by the commission and under the auspices of Thiofrid, slipped more than once, — illustrated the whole Life with an excellent commentary, diligently collected and noted the places of the ancient writers whom Thiofrid imitated, but also in the prolegomena [P. XV – XXIII. The same castigated Decker's edition with sharp and fair censure, both there, p. XIII – XIV, and earlier in Philologische Rundschau, 1882, p. 1112 – 19.] spoke learnedly and clearly about the sources from which Thiofrid drew, about his manner of speaking, his studies of antiquity, his metrics. In one thing he seems neither to be praised nor imitated, that deliberately See what he discussed at length, loc. cit., p. XXV – XXVI. he did not adopt the manner of writing which he had found in the codex, nor even employed that orthography customary in the Middle Ages, but brought it back to those norms which prevailed among the ancients. Which, as it is to be pardoned in a philologist, a historian is not permitted to do, and so all the more, in the Life both prose and metrical, we thought that the Gotha codex should be reproduced by us faithfully nearly everywhere, the more closely it comes to Thiofrid's age and was written as it were under his very eyes.

[24] In understanding the documents, And these are the monuments we have of the deeds of St. Willibrord, fewer indeed and more sparing in reporting things worthy of memory than we wish, yet such that from them we may become more certain to some extent about the life and character of the holy man [I omit, of course, the brief Lives BHL. 8944 and 8945, which are mere epitomes of the book written by Alcuin. And the writer of the Life BHL. 8944 had an interpolated exemplar of Alcuin, in which, as in the codices 6b1b2 and in that of Compiègne, there was talk of St. Vulfram; and he added at the end narratives taken from Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. hist., XXIII, 145, 154, 149. But he who made the other epitome brought forward one thing which he had not read in Alcuin, that is, the name, otherwise unknown to all, of the mother of St. Willibrord. For it begins: In Britain a certain woman, named Oronia, bore a son. Nay rather, he had read it in Alcuin, but had wrongly understood it. For Alcuin, about to narrate the dream which that woman had seen, puts forward these things: Igitur uxor eius, mater scilicet beati Willibrordi patris, … caeleste in somnis vidit o r o ma! [So his wife, namely the mother of the blessed father Willibrord, … saw in sleep a heavenly o r o ma!] We omit also Johannes de Beka and Wilhelm Heda, the former not ancient, the latter modern, who bring forward scarcely anything that is not read by us in the monuments which still survive, except that they arrived, by I know not what conjectures, at the names of those who came with St. Willibrord from England into Frisia in the year 690, a few true or at least probable (cf. the annotation to ch. 5 of Life I), others uncertain, others altogether false. For Beka names nine (Ioannes de Beka … et Wilhelmus Heda … de episcopis Ultraiectinis, ed. Arn. Buchelius, Utrecht, 1643, I, p. 8): St. Adalbert of Egmond, the two SS. Ewald, St. Livinus, St. Marcellinus, St. Swibert, St. Werenfrid, St. Willibald, bishop of Eichstätt, and his brother St. Wynnebald; but Heda (ibid., II, p. 25) eleven, the same whom Pseudo-Marcellinus had listed in the Life of St. Swibert (Surius, ed. of the year 1618, vol. III, p. 6, ch. VI), I mean those nine who are read in Beka (yet in such a way that Lebuin is put in place of Livinus) and besides Acca, bishop of Hexham, and a certain Wigbert.]. For if we neglect Thiofrid, who handed down nothing worthy of credit about Willibrord himself that is not read in the older writers, it is now agreed among all that credit is generally to be given to the rest. For learned men now agree that the things which both Bede which survive, not many, but worthy of credit, and Alcuin narrate are to be accepted simply, and that one must not devise or suspect in those writers crafty designs and flatteries by no means to be praised, nor in Willibrord and those who dealt with him I know not what abstruse and hidden schemes, or plots and mutual fights. There was indeed a time when men altogether forgetful of the laws of the critical art, while they loosened the reins of fancy, peddled, I know not whether more boldly than imprudently, about the things which were done in the eighth century in the Frankish church, not so much what the written documents taught as what they themselves had licentiously devised, even with the documents openly contradicting. Yet that we should not waste oil and labour in shaking out the dreams of these men, we are the more moved, because they were long since attacked by all the wiser men [E.g. by J. Friedrich, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II (1869), p. 144 – 45.], but today are rightly and deservedly wholly neglected. It will be enough, indeed, to note one thing, from which it will already clearly appear how far writers of this kind strayed from the right path. For about Willibrord they finally imagined for themselves things which conflict not only with the testimony of the ancient writers, but among themselves as much as possibly can be, while one makes Willibrord most devoted to the Roman church, but Pippin earnestly favouring the Scottish monks and those clerics who were hostile to the same Roman church [See e.g. P. P. M. Alberdingk Thijm, H. Willibrordus (Amsterdam, 1861), pp. 40 – 46, 117 etc., and the same in the same work translated into German, Der heilige Willibrord (Münster, 1863), pp. 27 – 29, 82 etc.], but if you listen to the other [E.g. J. H. A. Ebrard, Die iroschottische Missionskirche des 6., 7. und 8. Jahrhunderts (Gütersloh, 1873), p. 378 ff.], Willibrord was not only of the society of those Scots, but was himself one of the Culdees or presbyters called Celi-de, while Pippin with his men opposed both the doctrine and the counsels of the Scots. Further, so as to reconcile these inventions of theirs to some extent with the historical facts, about which even they themselves cannot doubt, those writers are compelled to brand either Pippin or Willibrord with the name of base dissimulation, both wrongfully.

[25] light suspicions and vain subtleties are to be avoided. Vain subtleties, then, being dismissed, the series of events is open and simple, so that it is understood without any trouble [Almost all of it has lately been set out so clearly and wisely by the distinguished Albert Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3, p. 431 – 47, that scarcely anything seems to need adding or changing.]. For as Willibrord, since from a boy he was exceedingly devoted to the Roman church, was unwilling to devote effort to bringing the Frisians to the Christian faith except with the Roman pontiff approving and giving the power, so also the wise man easily perceived that he would only then carry on the matter successfully if he were fortified with the help and protection of the princes of the Franks. For after the Franks had occupied part of Frisia by war, no hope any longer remained that the free Frisians would kindly receive the messengers of the Christian religion and lend them their ears, inasmuch as they suspected them of having with the Franks a communion not only of religion but also of counsels; but among the other Frisians, I mean those who were already subject to the Franks, the authority and commendation of the princes would greatly help Willibrord's efforts. But

it was also in the interest of the princes of the Franks that the newly subdued barbarians should be cultivated with Christian institutions, and so it came about that, the more closely the interests of the church and of the commonwealth hung together, the more easily Pippin and Willibrord agreed with each other.

[26] But since the little books which are to be published after this commentary, although they are not to be read with distrust, nevertheless either are silent about many things or do not set them out clearly enough, it seems to the purpose, both for explaining and for supplementing them, to set out briefly the series of the life and deeds of St. Willibrord and to define the indications of time which Alcuin generally neglected.

§ II. Summary of the deeds of St. Willibrord.

[27] Willibrord, born in the year 658, Willibrord seems to have been born in the year 657 or 658, inasmuch as he came into Francia in the year 690 On his own testimony, cf. above, no. 4., when he was in the thirty-third year of his age Alcuin, prose Life, ch. 5.; and indeed more probably in the year 658. For he died on the 6th or 7th of November, and had completed, if Alcuin is to be believed, 80 years and 12 months, or 81 years in all The same, metrical Life, ch. 24.: from which we have it that he was born about the beginning of the month of November. So, lest we should determine that Willibrord crossed the sea with his companions only at the very end of the year 690, in the winter season, we must conjecture that this was done in the spring or summer season of the same year. Whence it is inferred that the year 658, and not 657, was Willibrord's birth year.

[28] having spent his first years in the monastery of Ripon, Soon the little infant was handed over to the brothers of the monastery of Ripon The same, prose Life, ch. 3. to be instructed in religious studies and sacred letters; which monastery King Alchfrid, having dismissed those who followed the Scots, had handed over to St. Wilfrid not so long before, — that is, shortly before the year 664 Bede, Hist. eccl., III, 25.. Since, moreover, about these times not only in the monastery of Ripon alone but also in the rest of Northumbria the churchmen had withdrawn from the traditions and society of the Scots and always adhered more closely to the Roman church, it is understood without any trouble that Willibrord, taught from a boy by that Wilfrid, the champion of the Roman church, and by other men of the same opinion, was unwilling to undertake the works which he afterwards undertook except with the licence and blessing of the Roman bishop.

[29] in the year 678 he moves to Ireland, In the year 678, when he was in the twentieth year of his age Alcuin, prose Life, ch. 4., Willibrord betook himself from the monastery of Ripon, of which he had now become not only a pupil but also a monk, to Ireland to St. Ecgbert, because, says Alcuin, he heard that scholarly learning flourished in Ireland, being incited also by the way of life of certain holy men, as report told Ibid.. But neither does it seem improbable Cf. Hauck, op. cit., vol. I3, p. 435. that Willibrord withdrew from Northumbria at that time for this reason, that in that very year 678 St. Wilfrid had been driven from York, the see of his bishopric Bede, Hist. eccl., IV, 12..

[30] from there in the year 690 to Frisia; After, therefore, he had spent twelve years in Ireland Alcuin, ch. 4. and had enjoyed familiar converse with Ecgbert,

in the year 690 Cf. Willibrord's annotation, above, no. 4. Willibrord was sent with eleven companions by Ecgbert himself to Frisia, to which Ecgbert had once wished to go and had not been able. When he had arrived there by the mouths of the Rhine and put in at Utrecht, he did not stay there, since that fortress was then in the power of King Radbod, who at that time was carrying on grievous enmities with the Franks and therefore with the Christians. in which, with Pippin favouring Leaving, further, that part of Frisia which obeyed Radbod, the holy man betook himself to Pippin, mayor of the palace, so that, with his favour, he might and with Pope Sergius permitting, whom he had also visited, convert to the faith of Christ those Frisians who were already subject to the Franks. But as soon as he learned that licence to preach had been given him by the prince, he hastened to come to Rome, over whose apostolic see Pope Sergius then presided, so that with his licence and blessing he might enter upon the desired work of evangelizing the nations Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 11.. Although Bede teaches that this journey was made in the first times of their arrival in Frisia, it cannot be determined whether Willibrord undertook it in the very year 690. Certainly he interposed no long delay, inasmuch as he had it in mind to ask of the Roman pontiff not only his blessing but also his licence Cf. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 436. before he undertook the evangelical work. he girds himself to preach. When he had obtained these things, having also received relics of the saints with which to enrich the churches soon to be founded and dedicated in Frisia, he returned to preach.

[31] St. Suidberct, At the end of the year 692 or the beginning of 693 [Bede indicates the time (Hist. eccl., V, 11), where he teaches that it was done at the time when Berctuald, elected indeed bishop of Canterbury (on the 1st of July 692), had not yet returned from Gaul, where he had gone to be ordained, to the see of his bishopric (in the month of August 693).], at the petition of the brothers who were in Frisia, devoted to the ministry of the word, St. Wilfrid, who was then, driven from his see, living in exile in the regions of the Mercians, ordained as bishop Suidberct, a holy man elected by them. And Suidberct, having received the episcopate, returning from Britain, not long after withdrew to the nation of the Boructuarii. Now in interpreting these things, which we have learned from Bede's narrative, learned men have gone in the most different directions.

[32] who in the year 692/693 And first, many have judged that Suidberct was elected in Willibrord's absence, while he was making his journey to Rome. But Bede indicates clearly enough that the election was carried out after Willibrord's return and in his very presence. And the whole matter is not at all difficult to understand. For after, on Willibrord's return, the heralds of the faith had girded themselves diligently to the work, they seem in a short time to have made such progress among the Frisians that they found it necessary to constitute them into some body, as was customarily done in the Church. But that they should join this tender and flourishing society of the faithful to some neighbouring diocese could scarcely come into their minds, since they saw ecclesiastical affairs in the kingdom of the Franks sick and almost desperate, which at length after some decades St. Boniface, bishop of Mainz, was to restore and renew. Further, it is surprising to no one that those Anglo-Saxons both elected a bishop from their own society and sent him into England to receive sacred orders from an English bishop.

[33] had been ordained bishop of the Frisians, But one is moved to wonder that Suidberct was elected, not Willibrord, to whom nevertheless not only Alcuin, the writer of Willibrord's Life, — which is understood of itself, — but also Bede himself manifestly assigns the first part in the work of preaching. Why nonetheless Suidberct was elected, some have devised some reasons, others others. There were those who judged that Willibrord was then absent; but we have pointed out that he had already returned from his Roman journey. Others have imagined that it was procured by hidden arts by Pippin, who was hostile to Willibrord; which can be proved by no document at all, but is refuted by this alone, that Pippin favoured Willibrord both before and after. Others have suspected that I know not what discords arose between Willibrord and his companions; which, though it certainly could have happened, yet since the ancient monuments are silent on this matter, will only then have to be gathered from this election, if the matter can be explained in no more suitable way. But there is at hand a reason both simpler and more probable, that we should determine that Suidberct, certainly a holy and vigorous man, was preferred for this reason, that he was far older in age; certainly Suidberct (†713) died twenty-six years before Willibrord (†739).

[34] withdrawing from Frisia and from the kingdom of the Franks, But it is much more to be wondered at that Suidberct, not long after he had been ordained bishop, deserted not only Frisia but the kingdom of the Franks itself and withdrew to the nation of the Boructuarii. But if anyone notices that shortly after, in ordering the affairs of the church of the Frisians, Pippin played certain leading parts, he will perhaps conjecture with the distinguished Hauck that the election was made without consulting the prince and that, for some reason or other, it did not please Pippin that Suidberct had been elected. Certainly Willibrord with his companions seems to have understood that, for ecclesiastical business in the kingdom of the Franks to be arranged fitly and usefully, it must be arranged with the counsel and help of the princes; from which norm of acting they seem never afterwards to have departed.

[35] Willibrord is sent again to Rome in the year 695 by Pippin, But Pippin soon showed how much he favoured Willibrord and his undertakings. For after, war having broken out again Cf. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 435, note 5; p. 436., Radbod had again been conquered and had made peace with the Franks, nothing any longer stood in the way of the gospel being announced also among the Frisians free of the power of the Franks, and the time seemed to have come to provide for ordering and establishing ecclesiastical government in Frisia. Pippin therefore, with the favouring consent of all, sent the venerable man Vilbrord to Rome, whose pontificate Sergius still held, asking that he be ordained archbishop for the same nation of the Frisians Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 11.. By which petition the prince manifestly intended to constitute not only a new diocese but a new ecclesiastical province, which should be distinct from the church of the Franks and embrace all Frisia under an archbishop [On the title of archbishop which was conferred on St. Willibrord, A. T. B(INTERIM) discoursed at length, although not with any special fruit, in Der Katholik, vol. XXXVI (Speyer, 1830), p. 9 – 18; whose lucubration P. F. X. de Ram rendered into French, in Vies des pères, martyrs et autres principaux saints, vol. VI (Brussels, 1849), p. 88 – 92. Rettberg, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II, p. 519, and Hauck, vol. cit., p. 438, interpreted the matter in few words but rightly.]. Which was fulfilled just so that he himself is ordained archbishop of the Frisians. as Pippin had asked [At this very time there was noted in the Liber pontificalis about Pope Sergius: He ordained … Clement for the nation of the Frisians (ed. Duchesne, vol. I, p. 376).], not indeed on the 22nd of November of the year 696, which Bede hands down, but on the 21st of November of the year 695 [Cf. Binterim, Kritische Untersuchung über das Ordinations- und Sterbejahr des hl. Willibrord, in Der Katholik, vol. XXXVII (Speyer, 1830), p. 1 – 15 translated into French in De Ram, vol. cit., p. 92 – 97; where many things are heaped together, and indeed somewhat too abundantly.]. The year is taught by a witness above all exception, Willibrord himself, in the annotation adduced above; but in assigning the day we judge that credit should rather be given to the monk of Echternach who in the eighth century in the margin of the calendar

of Echternach added on the 11th before the Kalends of December (Paris codex lat. 10837, fol. 39v): The ordination of our lord Clement [In fact on the 11th before the Kalends of December the feast of the ordination of St. Willibrord was celebrated at Echternach at least from the eleventh century on. Cf. below, p. 432, note 6.], and that all the more because the 21st of November 695 fell on a Sunday, but by no means the 22nd of November either of the year 695 or 696 Cf. L. Duchesne, Le Liber pontificalis, vol. I, p. 382, note 49.. On the 21st of November 695, therefore, in the church of St. Cecilia, martyr [Alcuin relates (ch. 7) that this was done in the church of most blessed Peter; not rightly, as it seems.], he was ordained bishop, and in place of the barbarous name of Willibrord [It is known that Latin ears were offended by barbarous words, even in the names of men. Cf. E. Norden, Die antike Kunstprosa,, vol. I (1898), p. 62, note.] the name of Clement was imposed on him by Pope Sergius [A. N. Nürnberger, Die Namen Vynfreth-Bonifatius (Breslau, 1896), p. 89, note 2, conjectured that perhaps Willibrord already earlier also had the name Clement; he adduces as reason that it was said of Willibrord when not yet a bishop both by Willibrord himself: Clement Willibrord in the year 690 … came across the sea (see above, no. 4), and by St. Boniface: a certain presbyter … named Wilbrord and called by another name Clement (see no. 5). But since the former words were written in the year 720, the latter in the year 754, it is understood without any trouble that in both places the name of Clement is used προληπτικῶς. But why Sergius chose the very name of Clement to give to Willibrord, the distinguished Wilhelm Levison (Willibrordiana, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für aeltere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XXXIII, 1908, p. 528 – 29) thought the reason was probably to be sought both from the meaning of the name, and because, as St. Clement I, pope, was reported to have devoted himself diligently and wisely to converting pagans and Jews to the faith, so his name seemed most fittingly to suit one who was to be the apostle of the gentiles, and above all because the feast day of the same St. Clement was very near, which is observed on the 23rd of November and which in the Hieronymian Martyrology is inscribed not only on this 23rd day but on the very 21st of November. For the rest, all know that in Willibrord it did not happen as befell in Boniface, that the new name almost prevailed over the other. Yet the name of Clement appears several times, rarely alone (as in the memorable place of the Echternach calendar adduced above), otherwise together with the name of Willibrord (for instance, besides those things we have already brought forward, in the holy prelate's "testament": I, Clement Willibrord, and in Liudger in the Life of St. Gregory, abbot of Utrecht, ch. 5: St. Willibrord, surnamed Clement).].

But soon, that is, after fourteen days from when he had come into the city, he was sent back to the see of his bishopric; which see, or place of an episcopal chair, Pippin gave him in his fortress which in the ancient speech of those nations is called Viltaburg, that is, the town of the Vilti, but in the Gallic tongue Traiectum.

[36] Returned to Frisia, he preaches the gospel, Returned from Rome, Willibrord pressed on with the work he had begun with even more eager spirit, preaching the word of faith far and wide and calling back many from error, building many churches throughout those regions and also some monasteries; of which some things will have to be set out later. And although not long after he himself also established other bishops in those regions from the number of those brothers who had come there to preach either with him or after him [That among these perhaps is to be counted Theutbert, bishop of Dorestad (Wijk bij Duurstede, not far from Utrecht between east and south), to whom once belonged that celebrated codex of Livy, now Vienna lat. 15, the distinguished Wilhelm Levison acutely conjectured, Willibrordiana, in Neues Archiv …, vol. cit., p. 517 – 525.], he established Anglo-Saxon chorbishops, yet it did not come to the point that these bishops were placed over definite dioceses, of which a new ecclesiastical province subject to the see of Utrecht would consist; but this see alone persisted in Frisia as an episcopal see in the true sense, which was indeed firmly established by the provision of Pippin and his successors [See the diploma of King Pippin given in the year 753 (Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, 70 [68]), by which the donations made by Pippin II, by Charles Martel and by Carloman are confirmed; about another diploma (Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, 71 [69]) it can be doubted whether it is genuine (cf. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 439, note 2. See also the diplomas of Charles Martel of the years 724 and 726, Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, 34, 38).]. He receives Frisians into the clergy, Further, Willibrord used a wise counsel, that besides his fellow countrymen who had come or were coming from England [Among whom we must name at least that Marchelm under whose falsified name Marcellinus the Life of St. Swibert BHL. 7941 was published, recent and worthy of no credit. Further, Altfrid in the Life of St. Liudger (BHL. 4937), book I, ch. 13, relates that Marchelm, a servant of God sprung from the race of the English and instructed from boyhood in holy ways by the holy bishop Willibrord, that he might set him over the people; and from Liudger himself in the Life of St. Gregory of Utrecht, ch. 8, we are taught that Marchelm was also a disciple of that Gregory.], he should also call native Frisians to a share in his work; of which kind were those two youths, own brothers, Willibraht and Thiadbraht, whom the holy bishop Willibrord received to be nourished for the Lord, who also first of all the Frisian nation received the office of the clerical state Life of Liudger by Altfrid, book I, ch. 5.. and founds monasteries, especially that of Utrecht Among the monasteries which were built by Willibrord two especially are to be named: Echternach, of which more shortly, and Utrecht, which he had founded for his companions who had come with him from England, in which they might continue to serve God under the rule of St. Benedict: to the monastery which is built situated within the walls in the fortress of Utrecht, where the apostolic man and our father in Christ, Archbishop Willibrord, is seen to preside under the coenobitic order of holy conversation. So Charles Martel in a diploma given in the year 722 (Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, no. 34), although it is in the highest degree probable that this monastery was established at Utrecht not only at this time, but at Willibrord's very first arrival Cf. A. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 438, note 5..

[37] and that of Echternach, In the year 698, or certainly 706, the beginning was made of founding that noble abbey of Echternach, which was called St. Willibrord's and was cared for with a certain special zeal by the holy prelate, inasmuch as it was for himself and his men as it were a kind of station and most safe retreat, since it was far enough away from the borders of the turbulent Frisians. Come now, if the five charters of Abbess Irmina written in the years 698 – 704 in favour of Willibrord are genuine [They have been published both elsewhere and in Pardessus, Diplomata, vol. II, pp. 250 – 53, 264 (the fifth is missing); in MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 50 – 53; in MG., Dipl. imp. vol. I, p. 173 – 77. Karl Pertz, using empty arguments, judged them spurious (MG., Dipl. vol. cit., p. 173, note 1); Th. Sickel vindicated them as authentic, Diplomatum imperii tomus I besprochen (Berlin, 1873), p. 64 – 66; cf. the same author's Beiträge zur Diplomatik, III, p. 34 (= Sitzungsberichte der kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Classe, vol. XLVII, Vienna, 1864, p. 208); with whom learned men have agreed (see e.g. Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, p. 7). Yet the distinguished A. Hauck rightly pointed out that something of doubt remains, vol. cit., p. 301, note 2; although the reasons for doubting seem much less strong than the reasons for acquiescing.], it is to be gathered from them that the monastery of Echternach was built by Irmina herself for pilgrim monks, that is, English ones, and handed over as a gift to St. Willibrord. But if they are spurious, we have from the letters of Pippin II given in the year 706 Böhmer-Mülhbacher2, 14, 15. that Willibrord built a monastery at Echternach, and indeed on the property of Pippin, to whom belonged half of that place, while the other half was held by Irmina.

[38] bringing him help We see that others too favoured Willibrord's undertakings, giving lands, churches, monasteries as gifts, some indeed to Willibrord himself, some to the abbey of Echternach, while some were also given to other churches or pious places which were under Willibrord's authority [E.g.: to the basilica of the holy apostles Peter and Paul and of St. Landobert, bishop and martyr, which we have recently built in the place Baclaos Bakel in the province of Holland North Brabant, where now the lord father and bishop Willebrord is seen to preside (MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 62, l. 20); to the basilica of blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, or of John the Baptist or of the other saints, which has been built in the place Rinharum Rindern, of the prefecture of Cleves in the district of Duffel upon the river Rhine, where now the lord father and bishop Willibrord, bishop, is seen to be guardian (ibid., l. 35); to the most holy church of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, which the lord bishop Amand built in Antwerp, where Bishop Willibrord is seen to preside (ibid., p. 64, l. 22), which church was first, as it seems, handed over to Willibrord in the year 694 and again confirmed to him in the year 726 (ibid., p. 55, l. 15; p. 63, l. 46).]. Donations of this kind, of which at least the memory has been preserved, were related by the ancient writers, some in passing [As by Willibrord himself in his "testament", if it is genuine (see below, no. 45); likewise by Thiofrid in the Life of Willibrord, ch. 12; by Theoderic in the Chronicle of Echternach (MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 55, l. 15 – 28; p. 58, l. 4; p. 63, l. 10 – 15).], men and women, lay and ecclesiastical. not a few with the whole instrument of donation adduced Theoderic in the Chronicle (ibid., p. 55 – 64).. And although it does not seem worth the trouble to review them one by one, it will nevertheless help to have comprised their sum in a few words: donations were made both by clerics and by monks or nuns [For instance in the year 704 by Ymena, consecrated to God; in the year 710 by Bertilindis, a virgin consecrated to God; in the years 712 and 717 by Ansbald

the monk; in the year 720 by Berta, consecrated to God; besides, by Heribald the cleric.], and by laymen, whether of the common people or illustrious [As are in the years 694 and 726 Rohingus, an illustrious man; in the year 696 Count Gerbert; in the year 704 Aengilbald, an illustrious man; in the years 709 and 712 Aengelbert, an illustrious man; before the year 710 the illustrious woman Irmentrudis; in the year 715 or 716 Duke Arnulf, son of Drogo, formerly duke; in the year 720 Count Ebroin; to omit the chief patrons of Willibrord, Pippin and Charles Martel.]; among whom is not to be passed over Heden, duke of Thuringia, who, since he already in the year 704 and again in the year 716 handed over certain goods to Willibrord, is our witness that at the beginning of the eighth century the bishop's fame had reached even into the interior of Germany [That Willibrord himself went to Thuringia is nowhere handed down. But where, when, in what manner the holy man came to the notice of Duke Heden, whether he ever saw him and spoke with him, we altogether do not know, although many things on these matters have been proposed by modern writers, and those very different among themselves; most of which do not rise above empty conjectures.]. And there were given to Willibrord places situated chiefly indeed in Texandria, but some also in Frisia, in the territories which are now Luxembourg, Cologne, Cleves and the rest on this side of the Rhine, nay in Thuringia itself.

These things having been set out together, as the matter seemed to require, we must return to the order of time, which we have meanwhile neglected.

[39] Whether he elevated the body of St. Cunera. It has been imagined that in the year 698 St. Willibrord, when passing through the town of Rhenen, elevated the body of St. Cunera, who they say was of the company of the eleven thousand virgins. But these things are handed down by no other monument than a little book (BHL. 2011) of recent age and very slight credit Cf. Act. SS., Jun. vol. II, p. 559..

[40] King Radbod with his Frisians While, then, the work of preaching was being carried on successfully among the Frisians subject to the Franks, the man most zealous for announcing the gospel did not hesitate to go also to the other part of Frisia, and even to King Radbod himself, to win him for Christ. Him Willibrord found indeed kind and humane towards himself, but adhering with obstinate mind to the idolatry of his ancestors [Alcuin, Life, ch. 5, 11. As to what is narrated in the older Life of St. Vulfram (BHL. 8738) about Radbod refusing baptism, which he was already about to receive from St. Vulfram, and about St. Willibrord being summoned in vain so that by his counsel … (Radbod) might be made a Christian (ch. 9, 10), W. Levison showed these things to be altogether fabulous, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XXV (1900), p. 601 – 5. But from this Life, which is neither ancient nor worthy of credit, scarcely even this can safely be taken, that Vulfram perhaps laboured for some time in Frisia at preaching the Christian faith.]; whereupon he was driven by the ardour of his spirit to make up for what he had been unable to accomplish among the Frisians by bringing to the faith of Christ peoples even more remote towards the north. He went, therefore, to the Danes, by whom he was courteously received, yet was compelled to withdraw with the matter unaccomplished. and tries in vain to bring the Danes to the faith. Yet not even so did the tenacious and unbroken man desist from his purpose; for of the most beautiful thing he had conceived he obtained at least this, that as he departed there were given him as companions thirty boys of the same country, whom, brought with him into the homeland of the Franks, he might imbue with the Christian religion and might some day have as most suitable assistants in converting the Danes. But he himself, returned to his Frisia, did not cease to cultivate, visit and increase the flock of Christ [In what places both of Frisia and of Texandria, and also of other regions, Willibrord himself spent time and announced Christian doctrine, we cannot determine one by one. Some Alcuin names in passing, to whom no reason stands in the way of our giving credit. Others are put forward by writers both too far removed in age from the events and of authority not so great that we should confidently lend them our ears; of which kind is he who after the middle of the ninth century wrote the Life of SS. Harlindis and Renula (BHL. 3755), in which he relates that those holy women were ordained and consecrated abbesses in their monastery of Eyck by the blessed bishops Willibrord and Boniface (ch. 10), and also that Willibrord with Boniface were accustomed to visit by turns the nuns living in the same monastery (ch. 13). Much more recent still is Nicholas, canon of Liège, who in the Life of St. Lambert (BHL. 4688), which he composed in the twelfth century, is the first to relate (no. 39 – 41) that Willibrord was met by Lambert and that both, having joined counsels, often devoted themselves to the apostolic office in the district of Testerbant (cf. Act. SS., Sept. vol. V, p. 534 – 35, no. 97 – 100). Finally, not a few places which Willibrord is supposed to have visited are either put forward in much later documents, or designated by common tradition, as they call it, or report, or recently proposed by the conjectures of learned and pious men, in such a way indeed that sometimes we can perceive that such report or conjectures arose from the lightest, not to say empty, indications, e.g. that those places, although far distant from Utrecht, once nevertheless belonged to the diocese of Utrecht, or that there was in them a church dedicated to St. Willibrord. Cf. F. W. Rettberg, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. II, p. 543, 3°; W. Moll, Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland vóór de Hervorming, vol. I (Utrecht, 1864), p. 109 – 11; P. Zuppke, Die vorreformatorische Kirchengeschichte der Nederlande nach W. Moll (Leipzig, 1895), vol. I, p. 152 – 53; J. Engling, Die ältesten christlichen Begräbnisse des Grossherzogthums Luxemburg, in Publications de la Société pour la recherche et la conservation des monuments historiques du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, vol. XVII (1861), p. 186 – 88; J. Engling, Apostolat des heiligen Willibrord im Lande der Luxemburger, durch Geschichte und Tradition aufgefasst, Luxembourg, 1863, in-12, 99 pp.; Van Term, in Revue de l'art chretien, 4th series, vol. IX (1898), p. 142; H. Schuermans, Quelle fut la part de S. Willibrord dans la christianisation de l'Ardenne Luxembourgeoise, in Annales de la Fédération Archéologique et historique de Belgique, vol. XIV, 1 (1900), p. 131 – 41; but cf. N. van Werveke, ibid, vol. XIV, 2 (1900), p. 181 – 85; A. Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3, p. 440, note 6.].

[41] When Pippin had died, But his work was disturbed by adversities. For when, Duke Pippin having died towards the end of the year 714, and war soon having broken out between the Neustrians and the Austrasians, Charles Martel had been defeated by King Radbod, who had joined himself to the Neustrians [Cf. Liber historiae Francorum, ch. 51, 52; Chronica Fredegarii cont. ch. 7 – 9 (otherwise 104 – 106); Annales imperii at the year 716.], in the year 716, in the year 716 he is expelled from Frisia; as it seems, Radbod, now master of all Frisia, compelled Willibrord and his companions to go into exile, or even expelled them, laid waste and destroyed the greatest part of the churches, and renewed the fanes of the idols Cf. Willibald's Life of St. Boniface, ch. 4.. In which year also St. Boniface first put in from England at the continent, he too to labour at the conversion of the Frisians. He at that time indeed no longer found Willibrord there, but fearlessly went to Radbod; with whom the outstanding newcomer certainly had so much weight that he was permitted both to reside in Frisia and to press on with his work. But when Boniface perceived that there was scarcely any hope of successful labour at that time, he returned to England, yet soon to come back from there.

[42] to which, when Radbod had died, he returned Happier times were certainly at hand; for Radbod was defeated, as indeed seems probable Cf. Hauck, vol. cit., p. 443., in the year 718 by Charles Martel, and certainly died in the year 719. When he had died, both peace was restored between the Franks and the Frisians, and Willibrord returned to his city of Utrecht, to resume, restore and extend the interrupted work. In this labour he had as a most desired and most useful companion Boniface, who, having betaken himself from England to Rome in the year 718 and having been sent from there by the Roman pontiff into Thuringia, on hearing of Radbod's death at once made the journey to Frisia. Where in the years 719 – 721 Boniface became, earnestly for three years, a fellow worker of Archbishop Willibrord Willibald's Life of St. Boniface, ch. 5.. [in the years 719 – 721 he presses on successfully with the work of God together with St. Boniface.] In these three years, if at any time, Willibrord with Boniface pressed on with eager spirit with the evangelical work among his Frisians [That in the year 719 or a little after a synod was held at Utrecht, over which St. Willibrord and St. Swibert presided, while St. Boniface was present with others, was narrated by the forger who under the falsified name of Marcellinus wrote the Life of St. Swibert in the fifteenth century (BHL. 7941, ch. 13 and 14). From there that synod passed into the collections of councils (cf. e.g. Mansi, vol. XII, col. 259 – 62); that it is fictitious is clear.], and indeed with so happy an outcome that he wished to keep with him his younger friend and companion Boniface and to ordain him his successor in the episcopate. When Boniface refused, inasmuch as he had been sent by the Roman pontiff to the peoples of Germany and could not establish a firm and perpetual see elsewhere [That this is the sum of what Willibald relates in the place cited, Hauck rightly pointed out (Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3, p. 461, note 2); but that the speeches which are reported there as held between Boniface and Willibrord were made up by Willibald, as is the very well-known custom of historians; and that they were made up is already sufficiently indicated by these words: by blessed Pope Gregory of holy memory † 731; cf. Moll, Kerkgeschiedenis, vol. I, p. 139, note 1. But here again, led both by these speeches and by their own preconceived opinions, certain more recent writers have imagined plots and crafty designs of Boniface against Willibrord; which some indeed have proposed modestly (e.g. Rettberg, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I, p. 339), others much more assertively and licentiously (e.g. Ph. Heber, Die vorkarolingischen christlichen Glaubenshelden am Rhein, Göttingen, 1867, pp. 203 – 5, 209; J. H. A. Ebrard, Die iroscottische Missionskirche, 1873, p. 396 – 98).], Willibrord gave him leave to depart and alone until

his death ruled the flock committed to him.

[43] Of these last years scarcely anything has been handed down to memory. The venerable man, indeed, when he was sixty-eight years old,

in the year 726, is judged by some learned men to have made a testament. In the year 726, having made a testament, as they call it, Certainly a testament is brought forward as given in this year, the sixth of King Theoderic [IV], which, while some hold it apocryphal, others genuine, we shall see below to be of approved, although not wholly certain, credit. For the rest, even if Willibrord made a testament in this year, he survived for thirteen years [Some have gathered that in the year 728 Willibrord made a journey into Alsace and stayed at the city of Strasbourg, from a letter of Widegern, bishop of Strasbourg, given in this year in favour of the monastery of Murbach (Pardessus, Diplomata, vol. II, p. 352 – 55; cf. also Act. SS., Nov. vol. II, 1, p. 16 – 17, no. 65 – 68), which letter he himself signed, after many others, next to last: I, in God's name, Willibrord, have signed. Let anyone judge that this is our Willibrord, for all I care. But the subscriptions of the witnesses are mixed in so confused an order, or rather no order, that at least this must necessarily be conjectured, that most of the witnesses added their marks not at once nor in the very place in which the instrument was being drawn up, but afterwards, the instrument perhaps being brought to them.], inasmuch as

in the year 739 [Cf. above, no. 27 (658 + 81 = 739). The same year is given by Theoderic, monk of Echternach, in a letter given in the year 1192 to the emperor Henry VI (MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 68).], on the 7th of November 739 on the 6th or rather the 7th of November, he died, as it seems, in the very monastery of Echternach. About the day of his death some have spoken one way, others another. The 6th is given by Alcuin Prose Life, ch. 24; metrical Life, ch. 24., whom Hrabanus Maurus followed in his martyrology, and perhaps the interpolator of the Reichenau breviary of the Hieronymian martyrology Cf. Act. SS., Nov. vol. II, 1, p. [140. See, however, what we noted above, p. 131.], and certain more recent martyrologies and calendars [E.g. the copy of Bede which the codex Palatinus lat. 833 in the Vatican library presents, copied between the years 844 – 855. Cf. H. Quentin, Les martyrologes historiques (Paris, 1908), p. 22.]; on the other hand, for the 7th stands a witness certainly of the first rank, he who in the eighth century, as it seems, in the Echternach copy of the Hieronymian martyrology added in the margin: † here the lord † apostolic man Bishop Willibrord departed to Christ Act. SS., Nov. vol. II, 1, p. [140.]. With which agree Usuard and Wandalbert in their martyrologies, the martyrology of Vienne of the tenth century Anal. Boll., vol. I, p. 46; cf. Act. SS., vol. cit., p. [XXIX], and a good many other more recent martyrologies and calendars, among which also the Roman martyrology. He dies at Echternach. About the place in which Willibrord died, Alcuin is silent, and St. Boniface, and the other ancient documents [The diploma of King Pippin (Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, 67 [65]), in which Willibrord is said both to have rested in peace and to have been buried in the monastery of Echternach, is spurious and was not fabricated before the eleventh or twelfth century.]. That Alcuin was silent deliberately is an altogether strange conjecture of Alberdingk-Thijm H. Willibrordus, p. 251 – 57; Der heilige Willibrord, p. 176 – 81.; who, as he lightly suspected many things elsewhere, here too was of the opinion that Alcuin kept silent so as to please Charles the Great, lest it be imputed as a fault to that prince that he had permitted the holy bishop, after he had died in his city of Utrecht, to be transferred from there to Echternach. Others have reckoned [W. Moll., Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland, vol. I, p. 116; cf. P. Zuppke, Die vorreformatorische Kirchengeschichte der Nederlande, vol. I, p. 154.] that from the silence of Alcuin and of Boniface it can be gathered that Willibrord probably died at Utrecht. But even from this alone, that Alcuin wrote: On the sixth day of the month of November… he was departing to the perpetual homeland, and he was buried in the monastery of Aefternacum, and makes no mention of any translation of the sacred body which had been made from Utrecht to Echternach, it is much better that we determine that Willibrord died where he was also buried [Against this opinion Alberdingk-Thijm took an argument also from the fact that Alcuin in ch. 25 narrates that the sarcophagus which the people of Echternach had prepared for Willibrord was at first found as if half a foot too short, but afterwards as much longer as it had appeared shorter before; further, that the sarcophagus was prepared for one absent. But this little narrative, which is almost to be counted among the commonplaces of the hagiographers, seems either invented or certainly enlarged with ornaments.].

§ III. On the writings of St. Willibrord.

[44] Of the writings of St. Willibrord Willibrord, who laboured much in the field of the Lord by word and work, does not seem to have devoted as much effort to writings. For although it could have happened, nay even seems probable, that the holy archbishop committed certain things to writing, for instance not only letters and charters, but also admonitions or other documents useful to the Christian people [That homilies, letters and besides a book on his pilgrimage, nay even a history of the events of his age and of his life were written by Willibrord was not shown, but affirmed, long ago by those who published books on the ecclesiastical writers, English and Frisian. To have mentioned this will be enough and more. Cf. Jo. Moller, Cimbria literata (Copenhagen, 1744), vol. II, p. 985.], yet there is none that we may safely ascribe to him except that annotation added in the margin of the Echternach calendar See above, no. 4.. there survive a brief annotation For relying on no argument, not even the lightest, the Very Rev. Ad. Reiners said [Die Klosterschule der Benedictiner zu Echternach, in Studien und Mittheilungen aus dem Benedictiner-und dem Cistercienser-Orden, VI, 1 (1885), p. 164 – 69; the same, Beiträge zur Geschichte des hl. Willibrord, in Organ des Vereins für christliche Kunst in der Diöcese Luxemburg, vol. XV (1885), p. 25 – 43; the same, Die St. Willibrordi-Stiftung Echternach, I (Luxembourg, 1896), p. 18.] that that calendar, nay even the Hieronymian martyrology itself, which is preserved with the calendar in the Paris codex lat. 10837, was either composed or at least copied by St. Willibrord Studien, p. 164; Organ, pp. 30, 35. And the penitential canons which are read under the heading Incipit iudicium Clementis in a codex formerly of Augsburg, now Munich lat. 5853, of the tenth century [From that codex ed. Fr. Kunstmann, Die lateinischen Pönitentialbücher der Angelsachsen (Mainz, 1844), p. 176 – 77; F. W. H. Wasserschleben, Die Bussordnungen der abendländlichen Kirche (Halle, 1851), p. 433 – 35; A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs, Councils and ecclesiastical documents relating to Great Britain, vol. III (Oxford, 1871), p. 226 – 27; Ad. Reiners, Studien, vol. cit., p. 170 – 71; Organ, vol. cit., p. 40 – 41.], they judged were collected by our Willibrord Clement for this reason, that they show a certain likeness to the canons of another English prelate, Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury Kunstmann, p. 42; Reiners, Studien, p. 170; Organ, p. 39.; by which reasoning I fear that not much is achieved.

[45] and a donation or testament, Better is the condition of the so-called testament of St. Willibrord; which, although it has been praised as the only writing of St. Willibrord that has come down to us Hauck, vol. cit., p. 446., we are not surprised that there have not been lacking learned men who pronounced that testament supposititious. For although almost all the things which have been put forward against the authenticity of the testament are of scarcely any moment [Canon David, Recherche sur le cours primitif de l'Escaut, in Bulletin de l'Académie royale … de Belgique, vol. XVI, 1 (1849), p. 281 – 283, note; Alberdingk-Thijm, H. Willibrordus, p. 255 – 57; the same, Der heilige Willibrord, p. 179 – 81.], yet certain unusual things seemed to be met with in it and such as would arouse suspicion; of which kind are that the one to whom Willibrord committed the writing of the testament is not named; that the indications of the time at which the instrument was drawn up are missing, so that only the sixth year of King Theoderic is indicated; that the witnesses required by law are missing; finally, to omit other things, some have judged that a time remote from Willibrord's age is betrayed in these words: which things themselves the lord Charles and his father Pipinus, both while I am living and when I am departing from this life, have granted for their reward [By these words, although not elegantly, it is nevertheless clearly stated that those things were so given to Willibrord by Charles and Pippin, that he not only should enjoy them while he lived, but could also hand them over to heirs to be possessed after his death.]. Against which three points not to be neglected can be set: first, that from these and similar things something can be certainly concluded only when, other testaments of this kind being adduced which were made by English men about these times, it has been established that Willibrord departed from the accepted formulas and the customary usage; the second, that all the editors of the testament, where they did not think it enough to copy an older edition, received that monument from the sole copy of the thirteenth century which is contained in the so-called Golden Book of Echternach [Scribani seems to have been the first to publish the testament, Origines Antverpiensium (Antwerp, 1610), p. 59 – 62; cf. David, vol. cit., p. 283; Pardessus, Diplomata, vol. II, p. 349, note 2; MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 21 – 22.]; in which copy it had perhaps happened that certain things, such as the indications of time customarily subjoined to a testament, were passed over; the third, and that the chief, that this should not be held as a testament in the true sense, but as a certain more solemn donation, by which Willibrord did not at all dispose of all his property, but only of those things which he was giving to the abbey of Echternach from the present day and wished to have been given for perpetual times. For although in that writing, which he himself names "this testament or my donation" [All know that for a long time the word testament was commonly used in a certain wider meaning.], he seems to say that he gives and hands over to the monastery of Echternach all the property or estates or slaves which free Franks… handed over to me, I rather think these are to be understood not of all the places or estates once handed over to him, but rather of all the goods, slaves, tenant-holdings which pertained to the individual places which

he himself was assigning to the monks of Echternach. which can probably be held as genuine. Now if anyone examines attentively the series of these places, he will recognize that it is such as would be expected in a genuine writing [What Alberdingk-Thijm put forward contrary to these things, loc. cit., he would have recognized did not agree sufficiently with the truth, if he had been able to read the Monumenta Epternacensia collected and edited some years later by L. Weiland in MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 11 ff. This excuse is not available to the learned L. Van der Essen, who, when he recently contended that the testament is spurious and was fabricated by the monk Theoderic (De H. Willibrordus en zijne levensbeschrijvingen, in Geschiedkundige Bladen, year I, vol. II, 1905, p. 378 – 82), incautiously made his own the things which Alberdingk-Thijm had put forward more assertively than truly (p. 378). And as to what the same rightly perceived (p. 380), that certain passages are common to that testament and to the diploma of Pippin issued in the year 706 in favour of Willibrord (Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, 15), that by no means settles the matter, since this likeness is detected only in the formulas, and it could very well have happened that he who wrote the testament in the year 726 took care to have that diploma before his eyes.]. For 1° about the places or goods which are adduced there by name [Willibrord indeed makes mention of the things which the lord Pipinus granted or assigned to me, or his matron Plictrudis or his son our lord Charles, mayor of the palace; but in the charters which survive (MG., vol. cit., pp. 53, 54, 61; Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, Pippin II, 14, 15; Charles Martel, 31) the goods are handed over not so much to Willibrord as to the monastery of Echternach. But Willibrord here lists no places by name, whence I should not dare to affirm that the testament contradicts those charters.], we are taught from elsewhere [MG., vol. cit., p. 55 (Heden), p. 56 (Aengilbald), pp. 57 and 58 (Aengilbert), p. 57 (Bertilindis), pp. 58 and 61 (Ansbald), p. 63 – 64 (Rauchingus).] that they were so handed over to Willibrord himself that he could dispose of them at his own discretion; but by no means do there appear in the testament those things which had indeed been given to Willibrord but had at the same time been assigned by the donors to some definite place, say either to the abbey of Echternach itself [MG., vol. cit., p. 50 – 53 (Irmina or Ermina), p. 60 (Arnulf), p. 62 (Herelaef, Ebroin), p. 63 (Berta). On the charters of Pippin and Charles Martel, see above, note 11.], or to a monastery founded or to be founded elsewhere MG., vol. cit., p. 59 (Pippin–Susteren); p. 60 (Heden–Hammelburg).; 2° we find that all those goods, with only one exception Pieplo, which was given by a certain Henry., had in fact been handed over to Willibrord earlier, from the charters of donations which either were received by the monk Theoderic into his Chronicle See above, note 12., or certainly were examined and read by the same MG., vol. cit., p. 55, l. 15 (Rohingus). or by Abbot Thiofrid Life of Willibrord, ch. 12 (Heribald, Thietbald).; 3° that there survive See above, note 14., or at least were read by Thiofrid Loc. cit. (Wachard–Erle). and Theoderic MG., vol. cit., p. 55, l. 20 – 28., charters of donations of other goods conferred on Willibrord, which are not listed in the testament and further were left by the holy prelate not to the monks of Echternach but to some others or other. These things having been weighed [We have pursued the same more distinctly in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. XXV (1906), p. 163 – 76; cf. also W. Levison, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XXXI, p. 777 – 78.], although I should not wish to vindicate that testament or donation as certainly genuine, much less should I dare to count it among the apocryphal and supposititious [Suspect, however, is another charter, and that unpublished, by which Willibrord gives to the monastery of Echternach seven manses and one mill in the place which is called Erle (Gotha Codex 71 = the golden codex of Echternach, fol. 81; cf. Fr. X. Würth-Paquet, in Publications de la Société pour la recherche et la conservation des monuments historiques dans le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, vol. XVI, p. 8, 36°. It begins: Lucrum maximum credimus animarum…). Certainly this does not commend the charter, that it is feigned to have been given in the reign of Pippin, most glorious prince, that is, more than ten years after Willibrord had died.].

§ IV. On the cult of St. Willibrord.

[46] On the liturgical cult. It remains for us, according to our plan, to gather a few things about the cult of St. Willibrord, both ecclesiastical and popular. In the monastery of Echternach itself, indeed, that soon after his death the honours which are customarily paid to saints were conferred on Willibrord is both altogether probable and seems not undeservedly to be gathered from what Alcuin relates (Life ch. 26 ff.). In agreement is the Echternach copy of the Hieronymian martyrology (Paris codex lat. 10837); for after a hand of the eighth century, as it seems, had noted in it on the 7th of November: † here the lord apostolic man Willibrord departed to Christ [In the same manner in the calendar which is subjoined to this martyrology there was noted in the eighth century itself on the 21st of November: The ordination of our lord Clement. See above, no. 35.], the same hand, or certainly another scarcely more recent, added on the 10th of November: Here the translation of the same St. Willibrord; although we are not able to determine what translation is spoken of. And that it soon came about that the holy bishop was honoured not by his own people of Echternach alone is revealed by another outstanding man, St. Liudger; who, in the Life of St. Gregory, abbot of Utrecht, which he wrote about the end of the eighth century, makes mention of SS. Willibrord and Boniface in words which savour not only of a cult but also of a liturgical cult: And with the same charity, as also with the firmness of faith, with which his predecessors, namely St. Willibrord, archbishop and confessor, and Boniface, martyr and archbishop [Ch. 10 (MG., Scr. vol. XV, p. 75). In the same chapter a little earlier is read: in Frisia, in which St. Willibrord, surnamed Clement, archbishop, first initiated with his disciples the rudiments of the Christian faith in the conversion of that nation.] …

But from the end of the ninth century, that is, from the time of Usuard († 875), to this day the name of St. Willibrord appears in many martyrologies and calendars, whether printed or manuscript, in England (Scotland, Ireland), Gaul, Germany, Holland. And the feast day of the holy bishop, the 7th of November, was celebrated [The Office of St. Willibrord from a codex of Utrecht, formerly of the church of St. Mary, now of the University, written in the twelfth century, ed. W. Moll, Kerkgeschiedenis, vol. I, p. 522 – 25; Zuppke, Kirchengeschichte, vol. I, p. 155 – 59; the Mass of St. Willibrord from a codex of the tenth century formerly of Echternach, now of the ducal library of Darmstadt, ed. F. W. E. Roth, in Romanische Forschungen, vol. VI, 2 (1889), p. 282 – 83.] and is still celebrated, with a more solemn rite indeed not only at Echternach but also in the dioceses of Utrecht and Haarlem, but less solemn in the diocese of Luxembourg, and in other dioceses both of Holland (for instance Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch, Roermond), and of Belgium, and of Germany (for instance Cologne, Trier and, as it once was, Aachen). And that in these dioceses Willibrord was taken as patron of not a few churches there is scarcely need to point out [A. König, Der hl. Willibrord als Kirchenpatron, in Ons Hémecht, vol. VI (1900), p. 42 – 44.].

Besides, in the abbey of Echternach there were sacred to our saint the 10th of November, which we said was the anniversary of some translation or other, the 21st of November in memory of the ordination of the holy bishop [Cf. above, note 2. The prayers to be read in the Mass of this feast were brought forward from an Echternach sacramentary of the eleventh century (Paris codex, Bibl. Nat. lat. 9433) by Ad. Reiners, in Organ des Vereins für christlichen Kunst in der Diöcese Luxemburg, vol. XV (1885), p. 55. The commemoration of the ordination of St. Willibrord is inscribed on the same day in an Echternach martyrology of the twelfth century (Paris codex, Bibl. Nat. lat. 10158; cf. H. Quentin, Les martyrologes historiques, Paris, 1908, p. 236).], and the 5th of August, after in the year 1192 the monks, on account of the preserved liberty of the monastery of Echternach, which the bishop of Trier had wished to have handed over to himself, devoutly instituted that (this day) should be kept every year as a festival in perpetuity among themselves and their posterity, for the veneration of the saint himself [See Theoderic's Libellus de libertate Epternacensi propugnata, edited both elsewhere and in MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 64 – 72 (cf. ibid., p. 72, l. 20).].

[47] On the solemn dancing procession of Echternach. More famous than these in common report and more thronged by the gathering of the people was formerly and is still today the Tuesday after Pentecost, on which every year very many pilgrims betake themselves to Echternach from the neighbouring places and hold that dancing procession, which they also name "the procession of the dancing saints". Yet, though this solemn procession is very well known to all, it cannot be clearly determined when or from where it arose, or what a dance of this kind means among the rites of Christians. Further, to look only at those things which are certainly established, at the beginning of the twelfth century the first witness occurs who makes mention of the Echternach procession, yet in such a way that he clearly signifies it had already been in use for a long time: As a sign also, says Thiofrid in the prose Life of St. Willibrord, ch. 24 Cf. also ch. 34: There arose an inestimable…, up to the present is the most celebrated week of Pentecost, at the coming of the Paraclete Spirit, in which not only from all the neighbourhood round about [A little list had been made of the parishes which were bound to assemble at Echternach on the feast of Pentecost. It had been written in the twelfth century in the Paris codex, Bibl. Nat. lat. 8912, fol. 1; but, the leaf being worn by use, that passage can for the most part scarcely be read. Cf. Reiners, Der wahre Ursprung see p. 433, note 2, p. 11, note. Another little list, much fuller, and made in the sixteenth century, was published by A. Neyen, De l'origine …, in Bulletin de l'Institut archéologique Liégeois, vol. XV (1880), p. 249 – 53.], but from every province of Gaul and Germany, by a perpetual rite and as if by an indissoluble and inviolable law transmitted from generation to generation, and confirmed and handed down as by an oath of the Lord, an innumerable gathering and throng of clergy and people, with offerings and litanies, with the utmost devotion

wears down the thresholds of his saint (Willibrord), on account of the wonders spread abroad and indeed recounted by fathers to sons, which there, in the joy of so great a solemnity, at every revolving circuit of the turning year, have been shown before the altar consecrated in the honour and glory of the sevenfold Spirit. But whether in these or in the very many documents in which there is talk of pilgrimage to the church of Echternach Cf. Reiners, loc. cit., p. 11., not even by a word is the dance indicated, about which no one has yet been found to speak before Christopher Brower S. J. († 1617), from whose words [Antiquitatum et annalium Trevirensium libri XXV, book XVI, ch. 95 (vol. II, p. 162). They also adduce a picture painted in the year 1605, which hangs in the parish church of Echternach, in which that dance is represented.] it nevertheless seems possible to gather that before the end of the fifteenth century the pilgrims of Echternach devoted themselves to that dance. The rest of what is adduced scarcely rises above conjecture and is not only opposed among itself, but rests on not very firm reasons, doubtful and obscure. For there were some who traced the beginning of the dancing procession from the time of St. Willibrord, nay even from Willibrord himself; others think its beginnings much more recent: that it was born on the occasion of that singular disease which they called St. Vitus' dance [The morbid leaps which sick persons of this kind give forth are believed to have been the cause why help was invoked by dancing both of St. Vitus near Augsburg, and of St. John near Kyllburg, and of St. Willibrord in the town of Echternach, and elsewhere of other saints. Cf. Binterim, op. cit. below, p. 34.], from which disease many began to suffer in the year 1374 in Belgium and in Germany. Nor is this the one cause or occasion on account of which they have conjectured the Echternach dance was instituted. For not only have some judged the origin of that custom religious, others civil and merely profane, but both have gone off into very many and different opinions when the matter had to be explained more exactly [Of the very many little books which have been written about this procession it will be enough to have adduced some of the chief, since in the rest not only is nothing else explained, but the same things are for the most part set out much worse. See therefore especially De saltatoria, quae Epternaci quotannis celebratur, supplicatione cum praeviis in choreas sacras animadversionibus. Tractatum historicum edidit Anton. Ios. Binterim, Düsseldorf, 1848, in-8°, VIII-45 pp. (They say this treatise was in fact published by the venerable man A. J. Binterim, but written by our former colleague J. Van der Moere; cf. Alberdingk-Thijm, H. Willibrordus, p. 297 – 98; Der heilige Willibrord, p. 211). See also M. F. J. Müller, Dissertatio de origine peregrinationis saltatoriae, vulgo der Springenden Heiligen, quondam in urbe Epternacensi prope Suram annuatim feria tertia pentecostes usitatae, per archiepiscopum Trevirensem 1777 abrogatae, annis X et XI (1802 et 1803) denuo repetitae, without place or year (1803), in 4°, 12 pp.; which dissertation, some things being passed over, was translated into French by Éloi Johanneau and published in Mémoires de l'Académie Celtique, vol. III (Paris, 1809), p. 454 – 66; the same, emended by the author, afterwards appeared again in German: M. F. J. Müller, Abhandlung über die jährlich am Pfingstdinsttage in dem Städtchen Echternach Herzogthum Luxemburg gewöhnliche Prozession der sogenannten Springenden Heiligen, Trier, without year (1816), in-12° 20 pp.; J. Marx, Geschichte des Erzstifts Trier, II Abth., I Bd. (1860), p. 377 – 88; J. Bern. Krier, Die Springprozession und die Wallfahrt zum Grabe des heiligen Willibrord in Echternach, Luxembourg, 1871, in-12, 200 pp.; G. Kurth, La procession dansante d'Echternach, in Revue Générale, vol. XXIV (1876), p. 240 – 65; A. Neyen, De l'origine et du but véritable de la procession dansante d'Echternach, in Bulletin de l'Institut archéologique Liégeois, vol. XV (1880), p. 223 – 97 (there are at p. 249 – 91 a good many documents not to be neglected); Ad. Reiners, Die Springprozession zu Echternach, in Frankfurter zeitgemaesse Broschüren, N. F., Band V (1884), p. 240 – 67; the same, De optocht of processie van Echternach en andere dergelijke dansfeesten, in Dietsche Warande, vol. X (1893), p. 284 – 301; F. W. Kortüm, Die Echternacher Springprozession, in Globus, vol. LXXVII (1900), p. 297 – 301; L. Menager, Ueber die bei der Echternacher Springprozession ausgeführte Melodie, in Ons Hémecht, vol. VII (1901), p. 240 – 43; A. Reiners, Der wahre Ursprung und Geist der Spring-Prozession zu Ehren des heiligen Glaubensboten Willibrord † 739 im Abteistädtchen Echternach, Echternach, without year (1903), in-8°, 20 pp. ]. The former disagree very greatly among themselves, since some think that those leapings arose from spiritual joy, either that by which the anniversary of the descent of the Holy Spirit was celebrated at Pentecost, or that by which St. Willibrord, while he was alive, was received by the people of Echternach, whether monks or inhabitants, whenever he returned to the monastery, or even that by which a feeling of eager and grateful mind was shown to the same saint after his death by the inhabitants whom he had freed from the servitude of the devil; others that they were performed with spiritual sadness or penance, so that a plague which had attacked men or cattle, or some other calamity, might be driven off; others finally so combine these conjectures as to hold that to the spiritual joy which had first given rise to these dances a spirit of penance was afterwards added. But those who contend that that custom flowed from a profane rite do not altogether agree in assigning that rite, which they hold to be either dances or round-dances customarily performed long ago by the gentiles, and indeed in the cult of false gods, or some leapings or other similar to those which the inhabitants of the town of Verviers are said once to have performed when they betook themselves every year to Liège to pay some tax to St. Lambert, that is, to the church of Liège Cf. Neyen, loc. cit.. These and other such things which, the monuments of Echternach being silent, many have devised acutely or lightly, each according to his own talent, seem not to have illustrated the uncertain beginnings of the Willibrordian dance but to have hidden them in thicker darkness and as it were in certain clouds.

[48] In the basilica of the monastery of Echternach An outstanding testimony also of their devoted mind towards their heavenly patron was given not long ago by the people of Echternach, when in the year 1862 they formed a society for repairing and adorning the church of what was once the monastery of Echternach, or the Willibrordian basilica (Willibrordus-Bauverein). When this basilica was already shining with its former splendour wonderfully renewed and increased, at length on the 4th of June 1906 the relics of St. Willibrord, which had meanwhile been preserved in the parish church, were translated into it with celebrated pomp [What was done then was narrated in detail by A. Reiners, in Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktiner-und dem Cistercienser-Orden, vol. XXVII (1906), p. 548 – 551. Cf. also the anonymous writer's Geschichte des hl. Willibrord und seiner Reliquien dem frommen Pilgern gewidmet (Luxembourg, 1906), p. 47 – 48.]. What was done with these relics from the death of St. Willibrord to our own times, so far as the monuments teach, it will help finally to explain in a few words. the holy body, preserved from his death on; When St. Willibrord had died, the venerable body was laid, on Alcuin's testimony (prose Life, ch. 25), in a marble sarcophagus, which the people of Echternach rejoice that they still possess [The image of that stone sarcophagus has been published more than once, e.g. by J. Engling, Die ältesten christlichen Begräbnisse des Grossherzogthums Luxemburg, in Publications de la Société pour la recherche et la conservation des monuments historiques du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, vol. XVII (1861), plate IV; cf. p. 179 – 84, where much is taught about the nature and history of this sarcophagus; Fr. Bock, Rheinlands Baudenkmale des Mittelalters, I, Epternach, p. 4; A. Namur, La Basilique de S.-Willibrord à Echternach, in Annales de l'Académie d'archéologie de Belgique, 2nd series, vol. II (1886), p. 151. The sarcophagus is now kept enclosed within a marble case, recently made with excellent workmanship, an image of which see in Geschichte des hl. Willibrord … (Luxembourg, 1906), p. 47.]; and placing the body of the man of God in it … they buried it in the church of the monastery (ibid.), and indeed in its crypt [Since Willibrord died on the 7th of November, someone might perhaps conjecture that on the 10th of the same month the holy body was carried into the crypt and that this is the translation which is noted on this day in the most ancient Echternach catalogue (see above, no. 46). But this is customarily called not a translation but a deposition.]. which, translated from the crypt in the year 1031, For when in the year 1031, the church having been rebuilt which had been laid waste by fire in the year 1016, the new structure was being dedicated by Poppo, archbishop of Trier, it seemed good to the monks to translate the body of the holy prelate to a more honourable place [This translation was narrated by Thiofrid in the Life, ch. 34; it is read related in almost the same words among the miracles which are subjoined to Alcuin's Life in the Paris codex lat. 9740 (BHL. 8943), ch. 5, and which I should believe were written long ago by Thiofrid himself (cf. Anal. Boll., vol. XXVI, p. 73 – 77); the same is mentioned in very few words both in the Echternach martyrology of the twelfth century (Paris codex Bibl. Nat. lat. 10158; cf. H. Quentin, Les martyrologes historiques, Paris, 1908, p. 236), in which it is taught that it was done on the 19th of October; and in the Second Catalogue of the abbots (MG., Scr. vol. XIII, p. 741, l. 54), and in the brief Chronicle of Echternach (ibid., vol. XV, p. 1307, l. 11).]. Monks therefore having been chosen to search for and dig up so precious a treasure, after both the pavement of the temple had been broken up and, the earth having been carried out, two crypts had been broken open, in the third they found the most sacred sarcophagus; … the lid having been raised a little, they deserved to see their most beloved lord lying with his cowl and hair-shirt unharmed and almost his whole body entire. .. From which, when the abbot had reserved for himself some particles — especially one of his ribs — which he might afterwards distribute to other churches [Since we read (MG., Scr. vol. XV, pp. 967 and 1271, 1095, 1283) that already in the tenth century, for instance in the years 952, 980, 987, relics of St. Willibrord were used in the consecration of altars in the monasteries of Saint Maximin of Trier and of Saint Emmeram

of Regensburg and in the church of the Blessed Mary of Luxembourg, it is necessary, if these things have been truly said, that the sarcophagus was opened before the year 1031 and that relics from the body (cf. MG., vol. cit., p. 967) of the holy prelate were taken from it. Later also, that is, in the twelfth century and following, we see relics of St. Willibrord used in the consecrations of altars, e.g. in the monasteries of Laach and Himmerod and in the church of Trier of St. Mary ad Martyres (cf. MG., vol. cit., pp. 970 – 71, 1283, 1273 and 1274).], they locked the sarcophagus and elevated it with the utmost reverence, that is, carried it from the crypt into the church itself, and so at length they translated the body of the holy father Clement Willibrord from the place of burial to beneath the principal altar [So the Second Catalogue of the abbots, loc. cit.; Thiofrid, at the places cited: and the mystical ark … was placed in the propitiatory of the altar of the undivided Trinity.].

[49] elevated in the year 1498, It remained there until the year 1498; at which time, since certain people seemed to doubt whether the body of the holy prelate was really preserved at Echternach, the relics were elevated, as this annotation teaches, which was at that time inscribed in the cartulary or golden codex of Echternach Gotha codex I. 71, fol. 123v, in a hand of the fifteenth century.. In the year of the Lord 1498. St. Willibrord, first archbishop of Utrecht, surnamed Clement, is elevated from his coffin at Echternach on account of the abuse of chatterers and the dissensions of some who say that he is no longer in the monastery of Echternach, but was translated from there many years ago now past, and either lies buried at Utrecht, where he was once bishop, or certainly elsewhere, where we do not know; moreover, the head of the holy bishop is said to be at Aachen with the Preachers. To whom it must be answered that iniquity has lied to itself, and when they speak such things they speak fables of their own, moved and stirred and promoted by him who from the beginning stood not in the way of truth, because he is a liar and the father of all lies; and they follow him who are of his part. Ps. 26, 12., John 8, 44. But we know that he is at Echternach and our testimony is true, because we have seen all his members entire, namely the head with the whole rest of the body. III John 12. And no lie shall be found in our mouth. Apoc. 14, 5.

Then, therefore, it seemed to the purpose that the holy body should be laid back in a place certainly more conspicuous, although perhaps not more honourable, that is, in a loftier monument which had been built in the choir before the altar.

[50] in the year 1794 it was scattered by the impious, But since the mass of that monument prevented the faithful from seeing the priest performing the sacred rites at the altar, the holy relics were carried back again beneath the altar, into their truly proper place, in the year 1624. Where, after they had rested for 170 years, on the very vigil of the heavenly birthday of St. Willibrord, in the night of the 6th – 7th of November of the year 1794, they were seized by certain French scoundrels impiously and wantonly devoted to revolutionary affairs, a part, however, being preserved. violated, and thrown away for insult. But it happily came about that on the following day, the 8th of November, a pious presbyter, Willibrord Meyers, gathered them with the utmost care; and when they had been handed over by him in the year 1826 to the dean of Echternach, Mathias Coner, he himself placed them beneath the high altar of the parish church [See the letter of Mathias Coner himself given in the year 1839, which A. J. L. M. Lux published, Levensschets van den H. Willibrordus. Derde druk ('s Gravenhage, 1839), p. 69 – 70.], where they rested until the year 1906.

[51] Other parts long ago distributed to various places. The same Rev. Mr. Mathias Coner left it attested that the body of St. Willibrord was not entire when the French laid waste the abbey of Echternach In Lux, vol. cit., p. 70.. Certainly, besides the rib which we said was taken from the sarcophagus in the year 1031, and the smaller particles which were laid up in altars being consecrated in the tenth – fourteenth century, we know of other relics too long ago distributed to various places; among which let it be enough to have listed the chapter of the Holy Saviour of Utrecht [A letter given on this matter by the monks of Echternach in the year 1301 was published by W. Moll, Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland vóór de Hervorming, vol. I, p. 525 – 27.], Embrica (Emmerich) in the Rhine province, where an arm is said to be preserved Cf. J. Müllendorf, Leben des h. Clemens Willibrord (Luxembourg, 1868), p. 94., the Belgian villages of Mol [Cf. P. D. Kuyl, in Analectes pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique, vol. VI (1869), p. 454.] and Poppel Analectes …, vol. II (1865), p. 258 – 59.. [The inhabitants of Abbeville in Ponthieu reckoned that they possessed the entire body;] But, what is much more surprising and lies under no light doubt, the inhabitants of Abbeville in Ponthieu were of the opinion that they possessed a great part of the body of St. Willibrord, as a letter given in the year 1712 attests [Published in Office solennel de S. Vulfran, archevêque de Sens, apôtre de la Frise et patron de l'église royale et collégiale d'Abbeville et du Ponthieu (Amiens, 1749), p. 232 – 40.], in which it is reported that in this year there was opened in the royal and collegiate church of St. Vulfram of Abbeville — this is the St. Vulfram who is said to have laboured with St. Willibrord in preaching the faith in Frisia — an old wooden reliquary, in which they asserted that for more than three hundred years the relics of the outstanding confessor Willibrord had been kept; which having been unlocked, there was drawn out from it another reliquary far older, on which was painted an image of St. Willibrord and also two of his miracles. And in this second reliquary there were, among other relics, three linen bags sewn to one another, under which was placed this little slip written also in an older letter: Here are the relics of the body of the most blessed Willebold [The same name is given to our saint in the autograph of Usuard: In Frisia the deposition of St. Vuillebold, bishop.], confessor and bishop in Frisia. In the first of which was an entire skull together with the lower jaw, and also a slip of parchment inscribed thus: Here is the head of the most blessed Willebold, bishop and confessor in Frisia; but in the others many bones of the same body were laid up …; which are listed one by one in that instrument.

The head of the holy bishop was preserved not by Abbeville alone, the head preserved in three places. but also by Echternach [Cf. Lux, op. cit., p. 70, note 4; in which place it is said that part of the skull of St. Willibrord was sent to Holland in the year 1839 by the dean of Echternach. And in the list of the relics of the abbey which was made in the year 1526 there was listed "the head of St. Willibrord." Cf. Reiners, Wo befinden sich zur Stunde die heil. kostbare Reliquien und Codices der … Benedictiner-Abtei Echternach? in Studien und Mittheilungen aus den Benediktiner-Orden, III, 1 (1882), p. 323.], and also by the monastery of the Friars Preachers of Aachen [See above, no. 49; cf. Jo. Noppius, Aacher Chronick (Cologne, 1643), p. 88; Trésor d'Aix-la-Chapelle ou courte description des saintes reliques. .. (Aix-la-Chapelle, 1839), p. 21.].

[52] Other relics of the saint. Besides these remains of the sacred body, other relics of St. Willibrord have been preserved or are still preserved, I mean certain things which he was accustomed to use while he was alive; of which kind are the pastoral staff, which had been adorned with verses by Abbot Thiofrid († 1100) but now seems to have perished [Cf. J. Marx, Geschichte des Erzstifts Trier, II Abth., II Bd. (1862), p. 560; F. X. Kraus, Die christlichen Inschriften der Rheinlande, vol. II, 2 (1894), p. 165, no. 337.]; the hair-shirt, which was found in the sarcophagus in the year 1031 Cf. Thiofrid's Life of Willibrord, ch. 34., afterwards, as is said, transferred to Trier to the monastery of Oeren and at length recovered by the people of Echternach, is to be seen in the parish church Cf. Lux, op. cit., p. 70.; the portable altar, which, covered at a later time with inscriptions and other ornaments, was formerly kept at Trier in the monastery of St. Mary ad Martyres, is now laid up in the church of St. Mary (Liebfrauenkirche) [Brower, Antiq. et Annal. Trevir., book VII, §112 (vol. I, p. 364); Calmet, Histoire de Lorraine, 2nd ed., vol. I (1746), Dissertations, p. VIII; Hontheim, Historia Trevirensis diplomatica, vol. III (1750), p. 980; Ph. Schmitt, Die Kirche des h. Paulinus bei Trier (1853), p. 329; M. Martini, in Kirchlicher Amtsanzeiger für die Diöcese Trier, 1857, pp. 40 – 42, 48 – 50, 51 – 54, 56 – 58, 59 – 62; Marx, op. cit., II Abth., I Bd. (1860), p. 244 – 51; K. Arendt, in Ons Hémecht, vol. XI (1905), p. 203 – 4.]. On the other hand, what learned men conjectured [Voyage littéraire de deux religieux bénédictins, vol. II (1724), p. 297 – 98: "il y a bien de l'apparence…" there is every appearance…] and many less learned afterwards assertively affirmed, that the book of the gospels which is now codex lat. 9389 of the Bibliothèque nationale of Paris was Willibrord's, is very uncertain, since the strokes of the letters show that the volume is not so ancient, which experts have judged was scarcely written before the ninth century [Cf. L. Delisle, Le cabinet des manuscrits de la bibliothèque nationale, vol. III, p. 231.].

[53] The other proofs of the cult. To the cult, whether ecclesiastical or popular, of the holy man belong also certain other things customarily observed in the other saints, for instance springs designated by his name, confraternities, images sculpted or painted [Some things about the manner in which St. Willibrord is customarily represented were collected by A. Reiners, in Organ des Vereins für christlichen Kunst in der Diöcese Luxemburg, vol. XV (1885), p. 44 – 46.], little books in which his deeds are set forth narrated for the pious faithful; from listing which one by one we abstain the more willingly because nothing singular occurs in them.

I. LIFE OF ST. WILLIBRORD BY ALCUIN

Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht. (S.)

BHL Number: 8935, 8936, 8937, 8938, 8939

BY ALCUIN

BOOK I (PROSE LIFE)

Edited from the codices Stuttgart Vitae SS. 1 (= 1a1), Würzburg Mp. th. f. 34 (= 1a2), St. Gall 565 (= 1b), Trier Library of the seminary 75 (= 1c), Trier Cathedral Library 93 (= 1e), Munich Royal Library 4065 (= 2a1), Paris Bibl. Nat. 10865 (= 3a)

and 5294 (= 4a), Trier Public Library 54 (= 5a), Alençon 14 (= 6a). There have been noted, so far as seemed enough, the variant readings of the codices Paris Bibl. Nat. 10837 (= 1f), Engelberg 2 (= 1g), Paris Bibl. Nat. 9740 (= 1h), Verdun 74 (= 1i), Munich Royal Library 18956 (= 2a2), 21551 (= 2b), 23846 (= 2c), 22244 (= 2d1), 9506 (= 2d2) and 12642 (= 2e), Utrecht Univ. 122 (= 2f), Berlin theol. lat. fol. 267 (= 3b), Trier Public Library 1372 (= 3c) and 512 (= 3c), Berlin Phillipps 1874 (= 4b), Paris Bibl. Nat. 5308 (= 4c1), 11774 (= 4c1) and 5278 (= 4c2), London Brit. Mus. Harl. 2800 – 2802 (= 4d1), Paris Bibl. Nat. 10873 (= 4d2) and nouv. acq. lat. 1836 (= 5b), Düsseldorf (= 6a*), Brussels 7641 (= 6b1), Douai 838 (= 6b2), London Brit. Mus. Arundel 91 (= 7) and Brussels 8059 (= 8). Cf. above, p. 419 – 23.

The heading is missing in 1a2. Incipit adds 1c, 2a1a2, 3a. Preface prefatio 2a1, 3a. on the life of St. Willibrord, archbishop (a. l. p.) episcopi 1i; episcopi et confessoris (Christi adds 2a1) 2a1a2., of book (l. p.) omits 1c. one [secundi (duo 1b) VII id. novemb. 1b; (Praefatio … primi) Incipit prologus Alcuuini in vitam sancti Willibrordi 1e; Incipit prologus in vitam sancti Willibrordi (Willebrordi cognomento Clementis 6a) primi Traiectensium (Fresionum 6a) archiepiscopi (episcopi 6a) 1h, 6a; Prologus in vitam s. W. ep. (archiep. 2e) 2d1d2e; Prologus domni Alcuini in vitam s. Willibrordi ep. Traiectensium incipit 3cc; Incipit prologus vite (in vita 6b2) s. Willebrordi archiep. (ep. 6b2) et conf. 6b1b2.].

To the lord Domno 1a2. outstanding exio 6a before correction, venerable and aq 1a1. praiseworthy Beornrad [Beornraedo 1c before correction, 3a; Beonrado 1a2 before correction, 1h; Beornredo 1b, 6b1b2; Beonredo 3cc; Bernredo 1c corrected, 2d1 d2; Benerado 6a before correction, Berneredo 6a corrected; Bermhardo vel Berinhardo 2e; Beorbeato 2a1a2.] [At what time and for how long Beornrad (otherwise Beonrad, Bernerad) was both abbot of Echternach and bishop of Sens we should gladly be taught, since no other means is available by which we might determine when Alcuin wrote this Life. But the matter is not altogether clear. For in the First Catalogue of the abbots of Echternach, composed at the beginning of the twelfth century, he is said to have been abbot in the years 777 – 797; in the Second Catalogue, of the twelfth century, in the years 775 – 797 (MG., Scr. vol. XIII, pp. 738, 740); but in the charters of Echternach he appears with the name of abbot alone within the years 772/3 – 780/1 (or perhaps more correctly 774/5 – 782/3), with the name of bishop within the years 782/3 – 786/7 (or more correctly 784/5 – 788/9), with the name of archbishop within the years 783/4 – 793/4 (or more correctly 785/6 – 795/6). Cf. Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, p. 52, at no. 341. From which it can not improbably be inferred that Beornrad was made bishop about the year 782; that the same died in the year 797, as the Catalogues of abbots relate, although not altogether clearly, we think probable, since Ragembert and Magnus succeeded him in the see of Sens, and the latter was already archbishop in the month of March of the year 802 (cf. Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, p. 173, at no. 382). By which is to be corrected, or better explained, what the distinguished L. Duchesne has, Fastes épiscopaux, vol. II (1900), p. 415 – 16: "Berardus, d'abord abbé d'Echternach, jusqu'en 797 au moins, puis élevé au siège de Sens." [Berardus, first abbot of Echternach until at least 797, then raised to the see of Sens.]], archbishop, the humble levite vita 6b1b2. Alcuin [Alcuuine 2a2 first hand; Alcuuinus 1c first hand, 1h, 2a2 corrected; Alcuinus 1c corrected, 1ei, 3acc, 6ab1b2; Alcuvino 2a1 first hand, Alcuvinus 2a1 corrected; Alchuinus 1a1 corrected; Alchuuinus 2d1d2e; Alquinus 1a2b.], greeting.

When your excellency's reverentie 1h. letter literis 1b, 2a1. had been brought to us, in which, recognizing agnoscentes 1e, 3cc. your zeal in the Lord Deo 6b1 b2. and your long-continued meditation in his law, I confess profiteor 1h. that I was affected with great joy (g. a.) a. studio 1h.; Ps. 118, 77. but nevertheless I considered myself far unequal (i. me) me i. 1h, 6a. to your petition petitioni 1b, 1c, 2d1d2, 3acc., inasmuch as utpute 1a1 corrected by another hand I am supported suffultum 1b, 2a2 corrected by another hand, 6b1b2; valeat adds 1h. by no prerogative prerogativo 6ab1b2. gift of eloquence for fulfilling what you commanded iussistis 1b, 2e, 6b2.; and sed 3cc. unless (ac n.) ac si 1b first hand, at si 1b. charity, which is accustomed to deny nothing nulli 1i, 6b1 b2., were urging urgueret 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1a2 corrected, 2a1a2. me minime 1b., I should not ne 6a. dare to touch a task nogotium 1a1. beyond the strength of my poverty (m. p.) parvitatis m. 1e; m. parvitatis 6b1b2. nogotium 1a1.. Nevertheless, divine grace granting it through your prayers adiutus adds 1b., and serving the most holy father patre 2a1; omits 2d1d2e. Willibrord Willeb- 6ab1b2 and so thereafter. [serviente 2a1a2; servientium 1b; intercedente 1e; suffragantibus 2d1e; suffraganti// 2d2.], whose life et adds 1e., character and miracles you have asked rogas 1a2e; rogastis 2d1d2e. me with pious zeal studiose 1e; stilo 1h. to write, I have obeyed your vestris 2d1d2e. commands preceptis 1a2; precibus 1b., holy father omits 1i; scãe 1b., and omits 1b. I have arranged two -que adds 1b. little books (d. l.) l. d. 2d1d2e., one walking gradiente 6a; ac adds 1b. in prose speech, which could be read publicly publice 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2a1, 3a; a adds 6b1 b2. to the brothers in church aecclesia 1a2; ȩcclesia 1b., if it should seem worthy to your vestrȩ 2d1d2e. wisdom; the other vero adds 1c. running on Pierian [so 1a1a2h, 2d1 d2e, 3a first hand, 6b1 first hand, 6b2; pyrreo 1b; pierio the rest.] foot currente 6a., which ought only to be ruminated in a private chamber among your vestros 2d1d2e. scholars ruminare 1a1, 1a2 before correction, 1i, 2a1.. Each, however tum 1a1a2, 2d1d2, 3a, 6a; tuum 1b first hand, tuis 1b; dum 2a1; omits 2a2., because of the occupations of the day diuturnas 1c, 3a corrected, 3cc., was dictated in stolen little lucubrations of the nights lucubratiunculas 1a1; lugubratiunculis 2a1a2., and erased in 2a1; ut 1i. they need your vestre 1a2; vestra 1b. defence [defensioni 1b before correction, 1hi, 2a1a2d1d2, 6b1b2; defensione corrected by another hand in 1b*, 2a2.] all the more, the less they have been polished by their own author.

It was mine vero adds 6b1 b2. not to spurn the authority of one commanding percipientis 1a1; precipientis 1a2.; it is yours vestrum 2d1d2e. to defend deffendere 1a2. the unskilfulness imperitiam 1b, 3a. of one who obeys. To the former omits 1b, 2e. little book I have also added one homily, which I wish were worthy a adds 6b1b2. to be preached predicari 1a2; predicare 1c before correction to the people by your vestro 2d1 d2e. venerable mouth. Likewise to the second discourse sermonem 6b1 corrected, 6b2; sermone 1a2cehi, 3acc, 6b1 first hand I have added an elegiac [so corrected by another hand in 1a2, 3a; elegiacum 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1eh, 2a1a2, 6a; heliacum 1a1 first hand, 1b; eliacum 2d1d2e; heleacum 1a2 first hand; eleacum 1i; heleiacum 3a first hand; elegiaco 6b1 over an erasure; eleiaco 6b2.] poem carmine 6b1b2. on the venerable man meo 3cc. Wilgils [Wilgiso 1a1, 2a1 a2, 6b1b2; Wilgislo 1h; Willigiso 1a2 corrected by another hand, 1b, 2d1 d2; Willegiso 2e; Wilsigo 1a2 first hand; Uilsicho 6a.] [An Anglo-Saxon name: Vilgils or Vilgis. About Wilgils, father of St. Willibrord, we are taught something only by Alcuin, here and in ch. 1 – 3 of the Life; cf. ch. 31, by which we are made certain that already at the end of the eighth century the "annual day of the departure" of "blessed" Wilgils was customarily honoured. Which day was solemn, at least at the beginning of the twelfth century, on the 30th of January, on the testimony of Abbot Thiofrid at the end of the Sermon on the heavenly birthday of St. Wilgils, abbot (BHL. 8897).], namely the father so the first hand before correction in 1a1b, 2a1a2; patre the rest. omits 1h. of the most holy bishop archipresulis 1h. Willibrord uuilbrordi 3a; Willibrordi hic 6a; Willebrordi 2d1e., whose body rests in a certain little cell cella 2a1a2. by the sea Whose site Alcuin describes more distinctly, ch. 1., over which I, though unworthy, preside [presedeo 1a1 first hand, 3cc*; praesideo 1b, 3a; presidio 2a1 first hand; deservio 1e.] by lawful tamen adds another hand 1a2. succession, God granting it volente et iubente 1h; iubente 2d1 d2.. But all the things too which I have dictated dictiu // 1a2 first hand, dicta sunt 1a2 corrected by another hand, whether in walking prose or in running verse, await the judgment of your vestrae 2d1d2 e. holiness sanctitati first hand before correction in 1a1a2, 2a1 a2. spectat 1h; spectent 2a1., whether they are worthy of memory memoria 1a1 corrected by another hand or a 1i. to be scraped with the fierce sint adds 6b1b2. pumice sint adds another hand 2a2; pumico sint (s̄ 2e) 2d1 d2e.; and let them not go forth procedunt 2d2e. into public [publicum 1b, 3a. Explicit prefatio adds 1bci; Explicit prologus adds 1a2, 2a1a2, 6ab1 b2; Incipit vita sancti Willibrordi ep. et conf. adds 1a2.] unless strengthened by your vestro 2d1d2e. examination.

Here begin (present in 1a1a2bc, 2e, 3a, 6a). (I. c.) omits 1a2. the chapters [so 1a1 first hand, 3a; cf. below79, prol.32, 73, ch. 315 – 6; capitul 1b; capitula 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1c, 2e, 6a; libri primi adds 1bc.].

I Prima 1a1. No numbers prefixed to the chapters in 2e, 6a.. On Wilgils Wilsigo 1a1a2; Willigiso 1b; Willegiso 2e; Uulsigo 6a., father so the first hand before correction in 1a1b; patre the rest. of St. Willibrord so also 6a; Willebrordi 2e and so thereafter..

II. On the dream somnio 1c, 3a corrected by another hand and omits 1a2. its interpretation (e. i.) i. e. 6a., which quem 2e. the mother of St. Willibrord Willebrordi 6a and so thereafter. used to relate that she had seen.

III. That his parents handed over the boy Willibrord to the brothers of Ripon Hyrip-1a1, 3a; Hrip-1bc; Ryp-1a2 corrected; Richp-2e; Hirp-6a. to omits 2e. be instructed.

IIII. That the devout youth adoliscens 1a1 first hand hastened to Ireland Hyb-1a1, 2e. for the sake of learning.

V. That the same man of God sailed from Ireland Hyb-1a1. to Germany Hiberniam 2e. out of evangelical [oeuang-1a1 first hand before correction; euuangelicam 1a2; predicationis adds 1c, 2e, 6a, perhaps rightly: cf. c. 533.] devotion.

VI 2e has ch. VI here after ch. VII.. That Duke Pippin Pipinus 2e et 6a here and thereafter. sent the man of God to Rome, that he might be ordained archbishop.

VII. That it is shown in a vision to the blessed apostolic Pope Sergius that added by another hand 1a1. he should receive suscipiat 2e. the man of God honourably omits 6a..

VIII. What fruit the pious preacher p̄dicator 1a1., returning from Rome (r. a R.) a. R. r. 2e., had made in the gospel of Christ.

VIIII. That the blessed Willibrord so also 2e here; Willibrord 1a1 first hand; Willibrord̄ 3a., bishop, tried to preach praedicare 1b. in Frisia Fresiam 1a1 first hand, Fresionia (?) 1a1 corrected and among the Danes.

X. What things he had done in Frisia, when about to return again to the Christians (i. ad c.) ad c. i. 2e..

XI. How he made little of the threats of King Rabbod Radbodi 6a. (p. p.) parpendisset 1b before correction.

XII. That the man of God, returning to Duke Pippin, and omits 1a2c, 3a, 6a, deleted by 1b*. preached the word of God with all omits 6a. urgency constantia 2e..

XIII. That Duke Pippin died die 1a2 after correction; idem 2e. and left the sceptre of the kingdom to his son Charles Karolo 1b, 2e, 6a. reliquid 1a2.; who cui 1b., Frisia Fresonia 1a1 corrected by another hand having been subdued, gave them St. Willibrord so here also 2e, 6a; uuilbrordum 3a. as preacher praed-1a1..

XIIII. How, breaking a certain idol, and struck with a sword by a minister of the same eius eiusdem 1a1. idol omits 6a., he was nevertheless not wounded est adds 2e, 6a..

XV. That a certain man, heaping abuse convitia 1c. on the man of God fatiens 1a2., perished by sudden death.

XVI. How he had brought forth water in a dry place by prayers praecibus 1a1; pbus 1b before correction.

XVII. How he fed twelve duocim 1a1 first hand poor men from his suo 2e. flask flasconae 1a1; flascola 1a2; flascona 1b, 1c before correction, 3a..

XVIII. That after the blessing of the man of God the wine omits 1a 2c, 2e. increased in the cask tonna 6a; puppa 1a2..

XVIIII. Where forty men, the father blessing, drank from four flasks to satiety sacietatem 1b..

XX. Of viro adds 2e. a certain rich man excommunicated by the man of God and absolved again.

XXI. How in the city of Trier Triveris 1b; Treveri 1b*. by praying he defended the handmaids of God from the imminent periculo adds 6a. devastating vastantium 1a1 corrected by another hand plague peste 1a1 corrected by another hand.

XXII. How he freed liberaret 6a. the house of a certain father of a household from demonic doemonicata 1b, doemonica 1b*. delusion inlussione 1a1 first hand; illusione the rest..

XXIII. For Quomodo 1c; Quod 2e, 6a. the same holy man (s. v.) v. s. 3a, 6a. by the spirit spiritus 1a1 first hand of prophecy (s. p.) p. s. 2e. had foretold predixerit 1a1 first hand, 1b, 6a. the future futurum 1b. felicity (fu. p. fe.) p. fu. fe. 6a. of King Pippin felicita (corrected felicia) adds 1a1..

XXIIII. Of the character and death and burial sculptura 2e. of the venerable father.

XXV. Of the sarcophagus in which the body of the holy father Willibrordi adds 1a2. was laid.

XXVI. Of how his death was revealed to one of his disciples, and of the brightness of light and the sweetness of odour which is often customarily seen in the place of his death.

XXVII. That through the anointing of the oil burning at the body of the saint infirmities are customarily healed, and of the rings omits 1a1b, 2e, 6a. loosed in the same church ecclesie 1a2, 3a..

XXVIII. That a certain paralytic paralytica 1b, 3a. woman was healed at his body.

XXVIIII 1a2 omits this chapter.. Of a certain sick young man who, praying at his body [(ad e. c. o.) so 1b; in e. orans (corrected by another hand oratione) 1a1, 3a; in e. ecclesia o. 1c, 2e; in e. ȩde o. 6a.], was healed.

XXX. Of the theft [so also 1b et1c first hand before correction; furto 1b** et 1c corrected, 6a; fructu 2e.] of a certain deacon in the church of the holy man.

XXXI. Likewise of Wilgils [Wilsigo 1a1a2; Wilgiso 1a1 corrected by another hand; Willigiso 1b; Willegiso 2e.], father so 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 1b first hand; patre the rest. of St. omits 1a2c, 2e. Willibrord so also 2e..

XXXII. Likewise a homily to be spoken de adds 6a. on the heavenly birthday of St. Willibrord [so also 2e; archiepiscopi adds 1b. Expliciunt capitula (libri primi adds 1bc) adds 1bc, 6a.].

Here begins There is no heading in 1a1, worn away by use in 3a; In Christi nomine inc. 1i. the life of St. [omits 3b; beati 2e; sanctissimi 5a before correction; ac beatissimi Clementis adds 1i.] Willibrord Wilibordi 3b (here only); Willebrordi 4ac2, 6b2., archbishop [episcopi 1e, 2a1a2b, 3bcc*, 4d1; et conf. VII (VIII before correction) id. nov. 7; episcopi et confessoris 4ac1c2d2, 6b 2. (Incipit … archiepiscopi) In nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi inc. liber primus de vita et virtutibus obituque s. Willibrordi archiep. 1b; Inc. vita s. Willebrordi primi Fresionum (p. F. omits 6b1) ep. (archiep. et conf. 6b1), cuius festivitas est VIII (VII° 6b1) idus novembris 6ab1; Inc. passio s. W. ep. 4b in a hand of the fifteenth century; Vita eiusdem 4d1 d2.].

[1] Wilgils his father, a Saxon, Prima 1a1.. There was [(Fuit … Northarhumbrana) In Nordhanhumbrana fuit 6a; (Fuit … nisi sancta, c. 3 near the beginning) Vir Domini sanctus Willibrordus ex quadam insulane Britannie provincia, quam Nortumbriam vocant, ortus est, parentes habens religiosos ac timentes Deum. Quem in Christo renatum per ipsos teneritudinis sue annos in Christo enutriri cupientes, fratribus Hiripensis ecclesie disciplina informandum christiana tradiderunt, quia sperabant non parvam per illum ecclesie sue edificationem Deum providisse. Talis autem spei hec illis extitit causa. Mater eius, sicut post confitendo patefecit, in qua nocte concipiebatur beata soboles in utero eius, vidit in visione nocturna quasi lunam plenam de celo in os suum subito lapsu ruentem totamque se intrinsecus vehementi splendore illustrantem. Quod cum viris religiosis manifestasset, responsum de concepto accepit filio, quoniam magnus et illustris foret illuminator populi Dei 5b.] in the island of Britain [Brittannia 1a2bce, 2a1a2bd1d2, 3ab, 4ab, 5a, 6b2; Britannia 1h, 3c corrected, 3c, 4c1c2, 6b1; Britania 4d2; Brictania 3c first hand; Britanniae 7.] insulae 7., in the province provintia 1a2b, 3a; omits 4abc1c2. of Northumbria [Northarumbrana 1ce, 5a after correction; Nortarumbrana 1h; Northarhumerana 3b; Northanhumbrana 2a1, 6b1b2; Northanumbrana 2a2b, 4d2; Northahumbrana 2d1d2e; North//humbrana 2d2 corrected; Nordahumbrana 2e corrected; Notarumbrana 3cc.], a certain quedam 1a1 first hand father of a household, Saxon saxa 3b. by race and Wilgils [Wilgisl 1a1 corrected by another hand; Wlgils 6a; Wilgis 2a1a2b, 3b, 4c1c2d2, 5a, 6b1, 7; Wilgisus 6b2; Willigis 2f; Willigisus 2d1d2; Willegisus 2e.] by name, leading a religious [releg-ita 1a1 here and everywhere, several times 1a1 corrected by another hand; relig-the rest; religiosa// 2a1 corrected] life in Christ with his wife [A certain epitomator wrote, by a strange slip, that the woman's name was Oronia (cf. above, p. 425, note 7); J. Müllendorf affirmed that it was Mena, Leben des hl. Clemens Willibrord (Luxembourg, 1868), p. 3. Both unknown to the ancients.] and all his household so 1a1a2, 3a before correction, with Bede., as was afterwards made manifest by signs [Cf. Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 12, near the beginning of the account of the vision of Drycthelm: There was then a father of a household in the region of the Northumbrians which is called Incuneningum, leading a religious life with his household… That Alcuin, when he was writing the Life, had regard to these words, which are immediately subjoined to Bede's narrative about St. Willibrord (ch. 10 and 11), is credible.]. For (N.r.h.s.) R. enim s. h. 7., having left the secular habit, who afterwards became an outstanding monk, he chose the monastic monachiam 3cc*. way of life (e. c.) c. e. 1e, 2d1d2e., and not long after, as the fervour of the spiritual spiritualis 3a corrected life vite 1a2. grew in him (in eo) omits 4d1d2., with a stricter arciori 1b; artiore 6b1: artioris 4d1d2, 5a before correction; altiori 6a. zeal of mind animo et 6a. (ar. an. st.) omits 7. he bound himself to solitary [omits 6a; solitarie 2d2 corrected, 2e; solitariae 7; solitario 2d2 first hand, 4a, 4b first hand] austerity districtioni 1a2h, 2d1d2e, 6a, 7. on the promontories [promuntoriis 1b, 2a2 corrected, 3c, 4a; promunctoriis 1ceh, 2a1, 2a2 first hand, 2bd1d2ef, 3b, 4c1c2d2, 5a, 6ab1b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a1a2, 3a.] which are girded by the ocean oceani (?) 1a2 first hand; oceano 1h, 4c1d2, 6b1b2. sea mare 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2a2 first hand, 2b. and the river Humber Umbri 2d1d2e, 4d1d2; Umbra 6a first hand, Humbra 6a corrected ///////// an erased word follows in 1a2. (f. c.) cingitur f. 6b1b2; f. cingitur 7..

There Ubi 4d1d2. also omits 4b, 7. for a long time, in a certain quoddam 6a. small (q. p.) omits 7. oratory dedicated dedicato 2a1a2bf, 6b1b2. to the name nomini 1h; omits 1bg, 2a1a2bc. of Christ's apostle apostolo 1b. St. sancto 1b; beati 7. Andrew Andrae 1a1 first hand, (Ch. n. d. in) omits 4b, 7. serving God erat 1g; erat adds 1b*. in fasts ieiunio 1bg. and prayers and vigils (et v.) omits 4b, 7., so [(ita ut) erased in 1h, omits 4d1d2, 6a; ita quod 2f; (ita … claruit) omits 1e; et multis c. s. 7; (ita … factum est) omits 4b.] that even

he shone with the signs of miracles [clareret 4ac1c2; claruerit 1b, 1g, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2e; claresceret 3cc.], and erased in 1e; Ita ergo 7. his name became sit 2a1 corrected by another hand; (f. e.) fieret 3cc. celebrated celebrae 1a1; celebre 1b.. Nor [(Nec … Sed et) ut ad eum multi confluerent et eius salutifera doctrina Deo tota devotione se coniungerent. In tantum etiam 7.] did he cease to exhort [so 2b, 3c, 4bc2, and before correction in 1a2b, 2a1a2, 3a, 4a; cohortabat 1a1; cohortari the others.] the crowds flocking fluentes 2d2e. to him (c. ad se t.) ad se t. c. 2e, 4d1, 6a. with the sweetest admonition of the word of God. But he was also made factus 4d1d2. so (in t.) omits 7. honourable venerabilis 6b1b2. to the king regis 1bg. and omits 1b, 4d2. the nobles obtimatibus 1a2. of that nation that they conferred on him as a perpetual gift (dono … quidem) traderent. Qua aedificata, praefatus sanctus modicam in ea 7. [ita before correction 1a2b, 2a1, 5a; so also 1h, 2a2b, 4ac1c2, 6b1b2; contullerunt 1a1; contuler 4b; contulerint the rest, and corrected another hand in 1a2b, 2a1, 5a.] some small landed possessions possessiunculis 2a1 before correction adjoining those promontories [promuntoriis 2a2 before correction, 2d2, 4ab; promunctoriis 1ceh, 2bd1ef, 3b, 4c1c2d1, 5a, 6ab1b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a1, 2a1a2, 3ac.], for building a church cellam 1g. to God; in which the pious father gathered a congregation of those serving God, small indeed, but honourable; in which also, after the manifold contests of holy labour labores 6a before correction, crowned by God, he rests in the body quam adds 6a., and (et … possident) omits 4b. his posterity possess it to this day by & 1b; eam 1b*g. the tradition of his holiness. Of whom (Quorum … exstitisti) omits 7. I ergo 1a2 before correction, 1h, 2e, 6b1., last in merits (e. m.) m. e. 6a. and in order, received the same little cell to govern through lawful successions, who have written this history hystoriam 2a1, 3a. of the most holy father and supreme teacher (et s. d.) omits 4b. Willibrord Willebrordi 2d1d2, 4c1c2, 6ab1b2 here and thereafter. at your command, most blessed bishop Beornrad [so also 2a1 corrected by another hand; Beor///// 5a; Beonrade 1h, 3c, 4abc1c2; Beornarde 2f; Beordiade 6b1b2; Beonarde 4d2; Bernrade 2d1d2; Bernerade 6a; Bermharde vel Berinharde 2e.]; who have stood forth as the most worthy dignisimus 1a1. heir extitisti 1a2bc, 3a. of so great a father, both in the dignity dignitatem 2a1 et 2a2 before correction, 2b. of the supreme priesthood sacerdocii 1a1., and (et g. p. et s. l. o.) et s. l. posteritate 4b. in the posterity of the family posteritatem 2b., and in the keeping of the holy places which are known to have been built by him (ab eo) habeo 1a1 first hand in God's honour, according to the grace given you by God Domino 1e, 6b1..

[2] and of a pious mother, And that I may trace back more deeply the origin of the birth of the same holy father Willibrord so here also 6a; Willebrordi hic 3c; omits 4b. and the presages presagia 1a2. of the divine election soon in his mother's womb, I shall return to the point from which I set out digressus 2e, 4d1d2 corrected by another hand, 6ab2.. For just as the most holy forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed John the Baptist omits 4bd 1., sanctified from his mother's womb Deo adds 1a2ci, 2a1a2bc, 3bcc, 4abd2, 5a, 6a. Deo adds 6b1b2., was born of religious so here also 1b. parents, as (ut … parentibus) omits 3cc. the gospel history narrates, going before Christ as the morning star omits 1e. before the sun, to be of profit for the salvation of many, so item 1a1 first hand also St. Willibrord, begotten for the salvation of very many (p. g.) plurimarum gentium 6b1b2, 7., to whom the future glory of her son was shown in dreams, is known to have been born of religious parents. For the venerable man Wilgils [Wilglis 1a2; Wilgis 1a1 corrected by another hand, 3b, 4c1 corrected, 4d2, 5a, 6b1b2; Wlgis 4c1 before correction, 4c2; Willigis 2a1a2bf; Willigisus 2d1d2; Willegisus 2e.], of whom we spoke a little earlier, was joined in matrimony, God predestining praedistinante 1a1b; predestinante 1a2. it, only to this end, that such an offspring [ita in 1a1, 2be, 3a, 4a; so also before correction in 1a2b, 2a1a2, 4b; proles the others.] might be produced from him ex eis adds 4b. for the profit of many peoples omits 4b.. So his wife omits 1b., namely the mother of the blessed beatus 1a1 before correction; sancti 2d2, 6a; (s. b.) omits 4b. father deleted in 1h; omits 4abc1c2d1d2. Willibrord, in the untimely quiet of the night saw (in s. v.) v. in s. 1a2. in her sleep a heavenly celeste 1a2; celestia 6a. vision [or/ma (orama?) 1a1 first hand before correction; orama 1c first hand before correction; oromma 1e; or/ma 2a2; oreuma 2e corrected by another hand; oramina 6a.]. It seemed to her enim adds 1b above the line as though she saw a new moon in the sky celo 1a2., it (c. i.) crescentem 1h; quam crescentem 2f. growing until it seemed videretur 1b, 2e, 4b before correction to be full. Which, as she gazed at it more diligently (d. i.) cum d. intueretur 2d1 d2ef; quasi adds 1b above the line, slipping down sit adds 1b. in a sudden course, fell into her mouth. When it had been swallowed, her inmost parts were suffused with splendour. But awaking, terrified with fear, she related the dream somnum 1a1, 1a2 first hand, 5a first hand retullit 1a1. to a certain religious presbyter praesbitero 1a1; viro 4b; (h. r. p.) r. h. p. 2a1a2 bc1c2e; r. p. h. 4d1.; and when he illo quoque 4d1d2. asked whether on that night on which omits 6ab1b2. the vision was made to her she had been joined iungetur 1a1 first hand; iuncta fuisset 4d1d2; sociata fuisset 7. to her soo 1a1 first hand; omits 6b1b2. husband after her usual manner, and que deleted in 1h, 3a, omits 2f, 3b, 4abd2, 6a. when the confession of this omits 1h; huius 2a1 a2b, 6ab1b2. matter had been received from her (ab ea) omits 6a., he answered thus: "For deleted in 1h; omits 1e, 6b1 b2. the moon Lunam 4c1 c2., which you saw grow from small to great magnum 1b, 2f, 6b1 b2., is the son whom you conceived on that night; who will dispel discutiet 1b ceh, 2d1 d2, 3bcc, 4ab, 6ab1 b2; (e. d.) d. e. 1c. with the light of truth the murky errors of darkness, and wherever he goes, accompanied by the splendour of the heavenly light, will show [so 1a1, 2a2 be, so also first hand before correction 1a2 be, 2a1, 3a; ostendet 1ch, 3bc c, 4ac1 c2 d1 d2, 5a, 6a, and post corrected by another hand in 1a2 be, 3a, 4b; ostendit 2a1 corrected by another hand, 4b first hand; ostendens 6b1 b2.] the full orb of his perfection, and, the brightness of his fame and the beauty of his character flashing forth corustanteque 1a2 first hand, he will draw [adlicet 1a2; allicet 1b; alliciet 1behi, 2a2 corrected by another hand, 3b, 4abc1 c2 d1d2, 6ab1b2; adliciet 1c, 2a1 first hand, 5a; colliget 3cc.] to himself (in se) omits 1b. the gaze asspectum 3a; affectum 4d1d2; animos 7. of many." The truth of events, then omits 6a., followed omits 6a. the interpretation of this Huius 1h corrected, 1i, 2d2, 3bc, 6b1; (Cuius… est) omits 4b. dream [somni et 1a1; somni//// 1a2; somni (omits et) 1b; somnii (omits et) 1b*e, 4d1d2, 6ab1 b2; somnii//// 1a2 corrected by another hand, 1c, 5a; sompnium et 2a1 a2b; sompnum et 2c.].

[3] Willibrord born, It came to pass after the circuit of days, the woman bore a son, and when he had been regenerated in the sacred font of baptism from this word on 1f., his father mater 1e, 6a. imposed inposuit 1b. on him the name Willibrord [Willibrord 1a1b; Willibrorde (?) 1a2 first hand; Willibrord 1a2 corrected; Wilbrord 1efh; Willbrord 1i; Wilbrod 3a, 4a; Willibrod 1c, 3b, 5a; Willebrord 6b2; Willibrordus 2a1a2bd1d2; Willebrordus 4d1, 6b1; Willibrordum 4b; Willebrordum 4c1c2,6a.] [Willibrord himself seems to have neglected the Anglo-Saxon form of the name (Vilbrord in Bede, Wilbrordus in Eddius Stephanus and Boniface of Mainz; cf. above, p. 414 – 15, no. 3; p. 416, no. 5) once he had left his homeland, since in the annotation often cited he wrote: Clemens Uuillibrordus.]; and [omits 1a1, 4d1d2, 6a, added by another hand in 5a; (et … pater) quem ablactatum diligenti cura traditur a patre 3cc.] the little infant, as soon statimque 4d1; statimque ut 4d2. as he was weaned ablactavit 1a1, 4d1d2., his father omits 2f, 4d1, 6a. handed him erased in if, omits 2f, 6b1b2. over to the brothers of the church [A noble monastery (Ripon), founded by King Alchfrid for Scottish monks, but soon, they having been expelled, handed over to St. Wilfrid (Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 19), not long before the year 664 (cf. Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deustschlands, vol. I3, p. 434). And it is manifest that Willibrord was brought up not by the Scots, but by those who were altogether devoted to the Roman church, and accordingly, since he was born in the year 658, that he was brought there by his parents a very short time after the monastery of Ripon had come into Wilfrid's hands. Eddius Stephanus also testifies in the Life of St. Wilfrid that Willibrord, Wilfrid's son or pupil, was brought up at Ripon; cf. above, p. 414, no. 3.] of Ripon [Hyripensis 1a1, 4d1, 5a; Hiripensis 4d2; Hripensis 1c; Rypensis 1a2, 1f corrected; Ripensis 1eh, 3b, 4c2, 6b1b2, 7; Rhipensis 2d1 d2; Richpensis 2e; Hyrpensis 1i; Hirpensis 6a.] to be instructed in religious studies and sacred letters literis 1b., he is brought up in the monastery of Ripon so that aut adds 1b in the margin his more fragile fragilis 1b. age might grow strong convalesceret 4d1 d2, 5a corrected in sturdier disciplines novum Samuhel nasci putares adds 1b; cf. infra20, where he would see nothing but what was honourable sancta 6aa., hear nothing but what was holy honesta 6aa.. To whom divine grace soon granted, from the beginning of boyhood, both to advance in understanding and to excel in character, so far as befits congruebat 4d1 d2. such years; so that in our times

you would think a new Samuel [Samuel 3c, 5a, 6b1; Samuhl 2a1; Samuelem 1c, 2a1 above the line, 2a2 corrected by another hand, 6b; Samuhelem 4d1, 6ab2.] was born (n. S. n. p.) omits 1b., of whom it was said: But the boy Samuel Samuel 1b, 3c, 4bd2, 6b1. advanced and grew, and was pleasing both to God and to men. I Reg. 2, 26. And there (Ibique … fragilis) omits 1f. in the aforesaid monastery the boy, who was to be of profit to many, received the tonsure of the clerical state, and there he soon becomes a monk. and (et … esse) suppl. another hand in the margin 3a, omits 3b. by pious profession made himself a monk omits 4d1d2., and was brought up [est nutritus 1a2 first hand; est enutritus 1a2 corrected by another hand; enutritus 1b; enutritus est 1ei, 6a.] among the other //ceceros 1a2. youths adoliscentes 1a1, 1a2 first hand of the same omits 4d1d2. most holy monastery; but omits 4d1d2, 5b; erased in 5a. second to none in alacrity, second to none in the duty of humility offitio 1a2; (h. o.) humilitate 6a., inferior to none in zeal for reading erat adds 4d1d2, 6a., but deleted by 1b, 5a; omits 5b. so the boy of good [boni 1a1, 3a, 4a first hand, 5a before correction; bene first hand before correction in 2a1a2; benȩ 2b before correction] disposition advanced daily cottidie 1bc. that he surpassed the tender years of boyhood by the gravity of his character, and he who was small and frail in his little body became added by 1b*. aged in understanding.

[4] Twenty years old, he crosses into Ireland, So, as the most blessed viro adds 2a2 another hand in the margin youth adoliscente 1a1, 1a2 before correction; adolescentie 2a1 first hand, 2a2b. advanced (a. p.) adolescens proficiens 2f. in sacred learning and in omits 4bc1c2. all sobriety and honourableness honostate 2a1 first hand of character up to the twentieth vicessimum 1a1 before correction year of his age, he was kindled est adds 1b. with the ardour of a stricter acrioris 4d2; altioris 6a. life and spurred incitatus 1c, 3abc, 4abc1c2; est adds 3c, 4d1d2; (et p. a. i.) omits 6b1b2. by love of pilgrimage. And omits 6a. because he heard that scholarly learning flourished in Ireland Hybernia 1a1f, 3c, 5a; Hiberniam 1i., incited [instigatus 1c, 3abc, 4abc1c2, 6a; est adds 4d1d2, 5a another hand, 5b; (c. i.) i. c. 1c.] also omits 6a. and erased in 1f, omits 1h, 2a1a2bd2, 4b. by the way of life of certain holy men, as report told, and omits 6a. especially praecipuae 1a1. of the most blessed father and bishop Ecgbert [Egberehti 1a1 corrected by another hand; ecgberti 1e; Ecbercti 2a1a2b; Ecberti 1f; Hecberti 6b1 b2, 7; Egberti 1h, 2d1d2e, 3c, 5a corrected, 5b; Egbercti 6a; Echberti 4abc1 c2d2; Echeberti 4d; Eckeberti 1b.] [† 729. On whom Bede, Hist. eccl., III, 4, 27; IV, 3, 26; V, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24. That he was in fact a bishop was very well shown by the distinguished Charles Plummer, Ven. Bedae opera historica, vol. II (1896), p. 285. He is honoured on the 24th of April; cf. Act. SS., April. vol. III, p. 313 – 15.], who (qui … nec non) omits 4b; (qui… Wicberti) omits 3cc. was called by the surname the Holy, and also of Wicberct [Wicberehti 1a1 corrected by another hand; Wicberti 1ceh, 4bd2, 5a corrected, 6ab1b2; Wictberti 3ab; Wichberti 2d1, 4ac1c2; Wichperti 1b; Wigberti 1a2f, 2d2ef; Wigberchti 2a1a2b; Vineberti 5b.] On whom Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 9, 10., a venerable man and priest of God, each of whom for love of the heavenly homeland, having left home amore dono 1b first hand before correction, where he is helped by the fellowship of holy men. country and kindred (c. r.) omits 4b., withdrew to Ireland Hyberniam 1cf, 3ac, 5a; Yberniam 4abc2., and there [-que added by another hand in 1c, 3b; deleted in 3a; omits 4ab, 6b2; (ibique … conversatione) omits 1hi; (ibique… Christi) omits 1f.], naked to the world, full of God plena 1a1; plenae 1a1 corrected by another hand, daily cottidie 1b. drew auriebat first hand before correction in 1a1 et 1a2. in solitary solitariam 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2d1d2ef, 4d1 d2. conversation conversationem 1a1 first hand, 2d1d2ef, 4d1 d2. the sweetest fruits of heavenly contemplation. Desiring to emulate the religion of these men, the blessed youth adoliscens first hand before correction in 1a1 et 1a2., with the agreement [ita, as it seems, etiam 1c et 3a before correction; con////////tia 3a corrected; coniventia 1b*. 4d2, 8; conniventia 1c corrected by another hand; cōniuencia 1h; vel coniventia adds 5a above the line, adds 5b; con////////// 4b, consensu 4b corrected] of his abbot and brothers, hastened with swift course into ad 2d1d2e. Ireland Hyberniam 3c, 4b, 5a., and joining himself to the familiarity [familiaritati 1ehi, 2d1e, 3b, 4d1d2, 5ab, 6a, and corrected another hand in 1a1bc, 2a1 a2, 4b.] of the aforesaid praedicatorumque 1a1 before correction fathers, so that, like the most prudent bee [so also 1a2 over an erasure; apix 1a1; apex 1a1 corrected by another hand; apes 4d1, 6b1 b2.], he might pluck from their nearness the honey-flowing mellifluas 1b first hand flowers of piety (c. f.) carpebat fructus vel flores 4d1d2. and build in omits 1b. the hive albeareo 1a1 first hand; al//ear/o 1a2. of his own breast the sweetest honeycombs of virtues. And there Ibi 2f, 3bc. for twelve years annos 1b, 4d2., among outstanding masters magitros 1a1 first hand; magistris 1a2 before correction at once of pious pie 1a2. religion and of sacred reading, the future futuros 1a1 first hand, 1c before correction; futuris 4c2. preacher predicatur 1a2 before correction of many peoples was instructed (f. m. po. pr. e.) e. f. m. po. pr. 1e over an erasure, until he should come to the perfect man and to omits 6a. the age mensuram aetatis 3c, 4d1d2. of the fullness of Christ. Eph. 4, 13.

[5] Thirty-three years old, he moves to Germany, And so in the thirty-third Tricessimo 1a1 et 2a1 before correction itaquae 1a1 before correction year of his age (T. i. et t. ae. s.) omits 1f. a greater flame of faith adds another hand in the margin 1c. fama 2d2d2e. was growing in the breast (in p.) added above the line 3a. of the outstanding egreio 1e. man, so that it seemed videretur 1bef, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2d1d2e, 3b, 6a. to him that he had laboured too little in toiling only for himself alone in the holiness of religion, if he were not also of profit to others too quibusque 6a. omits 1i. in the truth of preaching [(p. v.) predicatione veritatis 1h; veritatis predicatione 2f, 4d1; (in p. v.) omits 1f.]. He heard Audiens itaque 6a. that in the northern borealiabus 1a1 before correction parts of the world the harvest was omits 1i. indeed great omits 1a1., but the labourers few. Matth. 9, 37, Luc. 10, 2. But omits 6a. so that the truth of the dream might be fulfilled, God disposing it, which his mother testified [testabatur 1bcfhi, 2f, 3a corrected by another hand, 3b, 4ab, 6a; contestatur 4d1.] she had once seen about him (m. o. de eo) m. o. Deo 2a1 et 2a2 first hand; o. m. de eo 1b; o. de eo m. 2b., aware of his own will voluntati 1c, 3a corrected, 4ab., although still omits 1b. ignorant of the divine disposition, he resolved coepit 1i. to sail into those parts and ut 1fi., if it were God's (si D.) fidei 1f. will (e. v.) v. e. 2d2, 6a., to illuminate illustrare 3a; quo et ipse navem concendit adds 1a2; cf. infra 29. with the most clear light of evangelical preaching the peoples sluggish with long unbelief. And taking [-que erased in 1a2, omits 1i; assumptisque 1b; (Adsumptisque … conscendit) Itaque ipse navem ascendit assumpsitque secum XI fratres eo f. f. armatos 6a; (Adsumptisque … quieverunt) omits 1f.] with him eleven duodecim 1eh, 4d2. brothers [Bede does not disagree, as Mabillon thought, but rather wholly agrees, since he writes that holy men twelve in number were sent by Ecgbert into Frisia (cf. above, p. 415, no. 3), that is, Willibrord and eleven companions. Among whom were Suidberct and probably also Adalbert of Egmond. The two Ewalds Bede in one place calls companions of Willibrord and says they came with him into Germany, in another only that they followed his examples (cf. ibid.). The names of the rest we do not know (cf. above, p. 425, note 7).], armed [armatos 1a2 first hand, 1cei, 2d2 first hand, 3abc, 4a, 4b first hand, 4c1c2, 5a first hand; accensos 2.] with the same et 1a2 but deleted; eodem 1b, 4d2. fervour of faith fide 1b first hand with which (quo … conscendit) added in the lower margin 1a1, omits 1a2. he himself also was, he boarded a ship so 1a1a2b, 2a2 first hand, 3a first hand, 6a; navim the rest. ascendit 5a after correction, 5b.; of whom some were afterwards pestea 2a1 et 2a2 before correction, omits 1e. crowned with martyrdom martirio 1a2. for omits 1b. the urgency instantia 1b. of evangelical preaching, while others, receiving the order of the episcopate, rested in peace after the labours of holy preaching. he puts in at Utrecht So, as the man vir 1efh, 6a. of God was sailing navigante 1h, 2d2f; navigavit 1ef, 6a; navigatio fuit 5a corrected, 5b. with suis adds 6a. his companions duodecim fratribus 1f., as we said before (s. p.) omits 1f, 4d1d2; Fresiam tandiu adds 6a., until deleted by another hand in 1a2b with a prosperous course [ad added by another hand in 1a2b, 2a2, 5ab; in adds 1f above the line, 2f, 4d1d2; in ipsaadd. 6a.] he lowered deponeret 4d1d2, 6a. sail at the mouths hostia 1c. of the river Rhine [Rheni 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2d2; Hereni 1b before correction; Reni 1a2b, 3b, 4b, 6ab1b2.], there they were refreshed by the longed-for station of land, and soon to the fortress of Utrecht Treiectum 6b1b2., which (quod … situm est) omits 4b. on the very omits 3b. bank [omits 1a1a2c, 3ab, 4a;added by another hand 5a; (r. ei. fl. s. est) so I have written with 1b, 3b, 8; r. fl. ei. s. est 2f; ei. fl. r. s. est 1ei, 2a1a2bd1d2, 5a corrected, 5b, 6a; ei. fl. s. est r. 4d1, 6b1, 6b1b2.]

of the same river is situated, they came; in which also after some aliquot 1a2 ef, 3a, 4a, 6ab1b2 et etiam first hand in 1b, 2a1a2b. time, God granting it (D. d.) d. D. 6a. and the word of faith growing, the same St. Willibrord Willibrord 1a1. had the see of his episcopate pontificatus 5ab.. But because the same nation of the Frisians Frenosum 2d2; Fresionum 6a., in qua 1a1 corrected by another hand, 4d1, 5ab. which the same omits 2a1a2b, 2c first hand fortress was built, was still befouled with pagan rites together with its king Rabbod [Rabbodone 1a2 corrected by another hand; Rapbodo 1b; Rabodo 1h; Ratbodo 6a; Radbodo 6b1 over an erasure, 6b2.] sordebat 6aa*., it seemed good ergo adds 1i; eidem adds 6a. to the man of God to hasten to Francia Frantiam 1a1 first hand, 1bc, 4b, 5ab. and ad 1b before correction to go to their duke Pippin Pipinum 6ab1b2 and so thereafter., and he meets Pippin, duke of the Franks. a vigorous man, famous for triumphs triumphus 1a2 before correction and upright in character. He (Qui … spinas) omits 1f., receiving him with all honour, but unwilling to deprive himself or his suum 1b first hand nation of so great a teacher, provided [praevidit 1a2 corrected by another hand, 4d1, 6b2; providit 2f; concessit adds 5a another hand, 5b.] him suitable places within the bounds of his kingdom, where he could root out the thorns of idolatry and scatter the purest seeds of the word of God more abundantly through clean mundi 6a. fallow ground, so as to fulfil that omits 1e. prophetic precept: Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns. Ierem. 4, 3.

[6] At his bidding, sexta, corrected sextum 1a1.. And when the man of God Willibrordus adds 5a another hand, 5b., running about most zealously through the several places (v. D. p. l. s. d.) omits 1b., had carried out the desired work of evangelizing, having set out (again) for Rome and the seeds of life, watered irr- 1b, corrected by another hand in 1a2, 2a1. by the dew of heavenly grace, had sprouted pullu- 1b, 2a1. most abundantly omits 2a1a2c. far and wide in the fields of many hearts at his preaching, the aforesaid duke of the Franks Franchorum 1b and so thereafter., rejoicing gaudens 1b*; Pipinus adds 5a another hand, 5b. at his most holy devotion (s. d.) sanctissimae devotioni 1fh, 4d1; sanctissimam devotionem 4b. and at the most clear clarissimae 1fh, 4d1. multiplication multiplicationi 1h, 4d1; mul| 1f, which ends here. of the word of God, was considering with prudent counsel, as an occasion occassine 1a1. of greater progress effectus 6a., to send him to Rome, that he might be ordained to the honour of the supreme priesthood by the lord domino 1b. apostolic Sergius, a most holy man at that time; so that, having received suscepta 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1a2b, 2a1a2bd1d2, 6ab1b2. the apostolic blessing and command, sent fisus 4ab; omits 4d1. by him and strengthened roboratur first hand in 2a1a2 b. with greater confidence fidutia 1a2; animaretur adds 5a another hand, 5b., he might return to the work of the gospel according to that apostolic saying: How shall they preach unless they be sent? Rom. 10, 15. When he tried to persuade the man of God omits 1b. of this, he refused at first, and et 2a1, 4d1; ne 2a2 first hand; & 2a2 corrected by another hand said refferebat 1a1 first hand, 1a2; ferebat 2d1d2. that he was not worthy indignum 4d 1 et corrected by another hand in 2a1a2. of the honour of so great tante 1a2. an authority; and, enumerating the precepts of the apostolic sanction, he asserted that he was far inferior to that catalogue of virtues which the outstanding egreius 1e. preacher to the world, instructing his son Timothy, judged a bishop ought to have. Hieron. Epist. 69, 2., ITim. 3, 1 sqq. But the duke on the other hand econtra 1b, 2f; cuncta 4d1; (v. c.) econtra 1i. urged suassit 1a1 first hand it religiously relegionem 1a1 first hand; religionem 1a1 corrected by another hand, which the man of God modestly verecunde 1b. refused nagavit 1a1 first hand; naegavit 1a1 corrected. At length, overcome devictus 5ab. by the unanimity unamimitate 1a1; fidelium adds 1c. of all and, what is greater, compelled by the disposition of God de 1b first hand, he consents consensit 1e, 2bd1d2; assensit 5ab., preferring humbly to obey the counsel of very many rather than obstinately to defend his own will. And so with omits 1b. an honourable embassy and with gifts worthy of the apostolic authority [auctoritati 1c, 2f, 3b, 4a, 5b, and corrected by another hand in 2a2, 3a, 4b, 5a; sedi 4d1; (a. a.) apostolico 6b1b2; apostolico auctoritate 4b first hand] he was sent to Rome [This is the second Roman journey, which Willibrord undertook in the year 695 (cf. above, p. 427, no. 35). The first, which he had made about five years before (cf. ibid., no. 30), Alcuin neglected.].

[7] by Pope Sergius Septima, corrected septimum 1a1. But on the fourth day before primusque 1a2 first hand he came there, the most blessed apostolic one was admonished amm- 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2a1, 3a. by an angelic response revelatione 5ab. in his sleep somni 2a1 first hand, 2a2b; sompnii 2c. that (ut … suscepisset) 2d1d2. he should receive susciperet 1e, 2a2 corrected, 4d1, 6b2. him with the highest honour, and that he was to be pater adds 2d1d2. the enlightener ill- 1b, 3a; omits 2d1d2. of many multorum 2a1a2bc. souls and chosen dilectus 4d1; a Deo preelectus 5a corrected, 5b. by God, and had come for this, that he might receive from him he is received with honour the honour of the supreme priesthood susciperet 1e, 2a2 corrected by another hand, 4d1, 6b2., and that nothing was to be denied him omits 2d1d2., whatever he asked. Made certain by this Quia 2a1 et 2b before correction; Qua 2a2 another hand over an erasure; Qui 6a. admonition, the apostolic one received him with great joy and the highest honour, and when he recognized in him the fervour of faith, the devotion of religion, the fullness of wisdom, on a suitable day scilicet X kal. decembris adds 5a another hand above the line, 5b., the people having come adveniente 1bh, 2a2 corrected, 2b corrected, 2d1d2, 3b, 5ab., the venerable priests having been called 〈to [omits 1a1b, 2a1d2; added by another hand in 1a2h, 2a2, 3a; in 2b added above the line, 2f, 5ab, 6b1b2.]〉 the fellowship omits 1b, 2d2; societate 6b1b2. of the ministry (ad so. m. sa.) sa. so. m. 2a1 corrected by another hand, publicly publice 1b, 2a1, 3a. in the church of the most blessed Peter, prince of the apostles [Nay rather, if Bede is to be believed, in the church of St. Cecilia (cf. above, p. 427, no. 35).], and he is ordained archbishop. with great dignity, in the apostolic manner, he ordained him archbishop, and imposed on the ordained man the name (ac o. n.) et ordinationem 2d1d2. Clement, and clothed him with his omits 6b1b2. priestly vestments vestitisque 1a1., and confirmed him with the holy pallium, as with the superhumeral super- omits 1a2. of Aaron palleo 1a1 et 1b first hand, the glory gloriȩ 6b1b2. of dignity and of vesture indumentis 1a2 first hand; indumento 6b1b2., and whatever [so also first hand 1b et 1h; quicquid 1b*, 4d1; quodcumque 1c corrected a recent hand, 1h corrected, 2d1d2f, 3b, 4b, 6b1; quod 5a before correction] he wished or asked, either in relics of the saints [There is still preserved at Embrica (Emmerich) in the greater church a casket which is said to have been St. Willibrord's, in which he is said to have laid up the relics received from Pope Sergius. And the casket itself seems indeed to have been made in the eighth/ninth century; but the inscription which is read on it: HE SUNT RELIQUIÆ QUAS SANCTUS WILLIBRORDUS ROME A PAPA SERGIO ACCEPIT ET EMBRIKE TRANSPORTAVIT [These are the relics which St. Willibrord received at Rome from Pope Sergius and carried to Emmerich], experts have thought was cut in the eighth or ninth or tenth century. Cf. E. AUS'M Weerth, Kunstdenkmäler des christlichen Mittelalters in de Rheinlanden, I Abth., I Bd. (1857), p. 7 – 8 ; P. Clemen, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz, II Bd., I. Rees (Düsseldorf , 1892), p. 46 – 48 and plate II ; F. X. Kraus, Die christlichen Inschriften der Rheinlande, vol. II, 2 (Freiburg, 1894), p. 303 – 4.] or in ecclesiastical ecclisiasticis 2a1 first hand things, he handed over to him with all eagerness of mind mente 1a2 first hand. From this word on, a hand of the twelfth century in 5a., and, strengthened with blessing, enriched with gifts, he sent him back again with salutary precepts into the work of the gospel euangeli 1a1 first hand. Exod. 29, 5.

[8] Returned from there, in the northern part of the kingdom of the Franks Having received Acceptaque 1a2 h, 3ab, 4ab; Accepta itaque 5ab. also the blessing benedictionis 1a1 first hand of the apostolic apostilicae 2a1 before correction authority, the devout devotis 1a2 first hand preacher of the word of God returned with greater maiorae 1a2; maiori 3a. confidence fudutia 1a1 before correction; fiducia 1b. to the aforesaid duke of the Franks. He, having received preceptum 1b; receptum 1b but deleted by 1b. him enim 1b first hand with omits 1i; added above the line 3a; in 1b. the highest magnificence of honour honores 1a1 first hand, sent him with precepto adds 1b; viris adds 2a2 another hand above the line; viriis adds 2c. the command [omits 1a1b, 2a1a2c; auctoritate 2a1 another hand in the margin, 2b another hand above the line; vigore 2d1d2, 4d1d2; amminiculo 2f; privilegio 6a.] of his power into the work of the gospel, chiefly maximae 1a1., however omits 1e, 4b., in the northern parts of his kingdom, where quibus 2a1 another hand over an erasure up to then, because of the scarcity rarietatem 1a2 before correction of teachers or the hardness of the inhabitants (v. d. h.) omits 6b1b2., the flame of faith fide 1a1 first hand shone less sibi 5ab.. There the man of God had sown the seeds of life the more urgently in those regions, the more necessary necessariam 1b; esse adds 2a2 another hand above the line, 2d1d2. he had perceived it to drive out the ancient antiqua 1b; antiquae 1b, 6b1b2. famine fam 1a2 first hand; famam 2a1, 2a2 first hand, 2b before correction of ignorance. What autem adds 1b above the line, 2a2 another hand above the line; vero adds 1c. fruit, with divine grace helping, he had made in those places, the peoples are witnesses to this day throughout the cities et per adds 1c., he preaches the gospel with much fruit, villages vocos 2a1 first hand and omits 6a. fortresses, whom quas 3a before correction to the knowledge of the truth and to

the worship of the one almighty God he had led by pious admonition; witnesses (Testes … locis) omits 4b. also are the churches which he had built in the several places; witnesses too the congregations of those serving God, which he gathered congregavit 6b1b2. in some places (a. in l.) in l. a. 1c..

[9] but among the Frisians The same man of God also tried quoquae 1a1. to channel dirivare 1a2, 1b first hand, 2a1, 3a. the streams of heavenly doctrine vite 6b1b2. beyond the bounds of the kingdom of the Franks Fraccorum 1a2 before correction; Francorum 1a2 corrected. For at that time tepporis 1a2. he did not fear to go to the king of the Frisians Fræsonum 1a1; Fraesonum 4b corrected by another hand; Fresionum 6a., Rabbod [Rabbotum 1b; Rabodum 1h, 4d1; Radbodum 6a, 6b1 corrected; Radboldum 6b1 first hand, 6b2.], a pagan together with his nation, and (et … loquebatur) omits 4b. wherever quoquomque 1a1 first hand he had gone, he spoke the word of God omits 2d1d2. with all confidence. But the aforesaid king of the Frisians Fraesonum 1a1. , receiving suscepit 1a2 corrected by another hand, 2f, 6a. the man of God kindly by the grace of humility, nevertheless could not soften mollire 1h; molliri 2a2 corrected by another hand, 2d1d2, 6a; emolire 3b. his sanctus vir adds 1a2 another hand above the line stony heart by any warmings of life ob adds 2d1d2.. And when the man of God recognized that he could not bear fruit (v. D. f.) f. v. D. 6a. with him [Erat enim tunc in eius comitatu venerabilis vita et nomine dignus Wlfrannus, qui venerat a Senonum civitate pontifex eodem desiderii fervens amore, scilicet ut aliquas Domino lucraret animas, quas diabolus magister fallacie nimia incredulitate compresserat, ne conditorem agnoscerent Deum celi terreque maris et omnium que sub celo consistunt adds 6b1b2; Mabillon's Compiègne codex had the same (cf. his note on this place); licet in comitatu eius esset venerabilis Wlfrannus, qui venerat a Senonum civitate pontifex, ut aliquas animas gentilium inibi Deo lucrifaceret adds 7.], and among the Danes he almost loses his labour. he turned his journey item se gratia 2d1d2. of evangelizing evangelizando 1a1 before correction to the most savage peoples populis 2a1 first hand of the Danes. There, however tunc 6a., as is reported, reigned erat 3b; regebat 4ab. Ongendus Origendus 1a2; Ongendis 2f. [They have judged him to be the same as that Ongentheow who is praised in the Anglo-Saxon poems Beowulf and Widsith.], a man more cruel than any wild beast ferae 1a1. and harder than any stone (et o. l. d.) omits 6b1b2.; who nevertheless, God commanding it, treated the herald of truth honourably. When Quem 1b e, 6a. he found cognovit 1c. them gentem adds 6b2. hardened obduratum 1be, 2d1d2f; obdiratam 3b. in their ways gentem adds another hand above the line 2a1a2. and given [deditum 1be, 2d1d2f; gentem adds 1a1 another hand above the line; eius mentem adds 1c; debitam servitutem 6a.] to idolatry (m. et i.) i. et m. 2b., and having no hope of a better life, then, having received thirty boys of the same country, he hastened to return [reverti 1b*, 1c corrected, 1h, 2d1d2, 4ab, 5ab; revertens 2a2 another hand over an erasure; redire 6b2.] to the peoples of the kingdom of the Franks chosen by iam 1b. God. But on that very omits 2a1. journey itenere 1a1 first hand, 2a2 first hand he washed the same boys, catechized [so 1a2e, 1h corrected, 2a2bf, 3b, 4b, 6b1, cf. MG. Epist. IV, 163, l. 2; 164, l. 15; cathezizatos 2d1d2, 5ab; cathezazatos 2a1; catezazavit 1c first hand; catezazatos 1c corrected; catecizatos 1a1, 1h first hand; catecizavit 1b, 6a; cathecizatos the rest(?).], in the font of life (v. f.) f. salubri 6b1b2., lest he should suffer pateret 1b; paterentur 1e. any loss in them on account of the dangers of the very long longissima 2a1 et 2a2 first hand, 2bf. voyage (l. n.) longioris viae 6b1b2. or from the ambushes (ex i.) in exsidiis 1a1. of the most savage inhabitants of that illus 1a1. land, wishing to forestall the cunning insidias 6b1b2. of the ancient enemy and to fortify salvare 2d1d2; muniri 3b. with the Lord's sacraments the souls he had acquired.

[10] [Returned from them, on the island of Fositesland he violates the sacred things of the gentiles,] And while the pious preacher of the word of God was making ageret 1c, 3b, 4d1, and corrected by another hand in 1a2b, 3a. his journey, he came, on the border [confinito 1a2; confivio 2a1 first hand; confinium 2f, 3a after correction, 3b; confinia 6a.] of the Frisians and (F. et) omits 3b. the Danes Daenorum first hand in 1a1a2., to a certain island, which from a certain god of theirs, Fosite so 1a1b; Fosite 1e, 2a1, 4b, 6a; Posite 1a2; Fosete 4d2; Fosite the rest. [Fosete was said to be the son of Balder and Nanna. Cf. J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 210 – 12; 4th ed. vol. I (1875), p. 190 – 91.], was called by the dwellers of the land Fositesland Fositeslant 1bh, 2f; Fositestana 4d1. appellebatur 1b first hand [Otherwise the island Farria, now Heligoland. Cf. Adam of Bremen, Gesta pontificum, IV, 3. St. Liudger went to the same island; cf. Altfrid's Life of Liudger, ch. 19 (otherwise 22), in writing which chapter Altfrid compiled Alcuin's narrative.], because fanes omits 5ab. of the same god had been built on it. Which place was held by the pagans in such veneration that none of the gentiles dared auderet 4d1, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a2b, 2a1, 6a. to touch anything on it eo 1b*, 2f, 5ab., either of the animals grazing there or of any other aliorum 1b first hand things whatever, nor did anyone presume praesummebat 1a1 first hand; praesumeret 2a1 corrected by another hand, 6b2. to draw water from the spring which bubbled up there except in silence. When [(Q. c.) Quod c. before correction in 2a1a2b; quocunque 6b1; (Quo … est) omits 1b.] the man of God was esset 1c, 2f, 3a corrected by another hand, 3b, 6b2. tossed there by a storm, he remained there ergo adds 1b. some days, until, the storms being laid aside, a suitable time for sailing should come. But making little of the foolish religion of that place or of the most savage mind of the king, who was accustomed to condemn the violators of his illorum 1b. sacred things to a most atrocious death e contrario presumebat adds 5ab., so erased in 1a2, deleted by 1b, omits 1e. he baptized babtizavit 1a2; baptizavit 1ci, 3ab, 4ab, 6ab1b2. three men in that spring with the invocation of the Holy Trinity; but (sed … praecepit) omits 4b. he also ordered praecipit 1a1. the animals grazing on that land to be slaughtered for food for his men. When the pagans saw this, they thought that they would either be turned to madness veteri 2a1 first hand;reverti 2d1d2. or even perish by a swift death. When they saw cernerent 1c, and corrected by another hand in 1a2b, 3a. them suffer no harm, terrified sunt adds 1c. with stupor furore 1e., they nevertheless tandem 1b; omits 2d1d2, 4d1, 6b2. reported to King Rabbod [Rabboto 1b; Rabbodoni 1c, 3a corrected by another hand, 3b; Rabbado 1e; Rabodo 1h, 4d1; Radbodo 2f, 6ab1b2.] what they had seen viderunt 1h; viderant 6a. done omits 5ab..

[11] yet he is dismissed unharmed He, kindled with excessive fury fuerore 2a1 before correction against the priest sacerdote 1a2 after correction of the living God, was thinking to avenge ulsci 1b before correction the injuries to his gods, and for three days he always cast lots [ omits 1a1, 2a2, added by another hand 2b; sortem 1b, 2a1 adds another hand in the margin] three times after his manner (so. suo m.) suo m. so. 2b, 4d1; suo m. sortem 2d1d2f, 6a.; and never could the lot of the condemned fall, God truly omits 1e. defending deffendente 1a1. his own, upon the servant of God Willibrordum adds 1i. or anyone aliquis 1a1 corrected by another hand ; qui adds 5ab. of his men eis 6a; esse adds 5a; esset 5a corrected first hand, 5b. permisit 1i., except that only one of the companions eius adds 1b was pointed out by the lot and crowned with martyrdom. And the holy Dei 1b, 2b. man and he returns to the Franks. was called to the king, and was much rebuked est adds 1be, 2b another hand above the line, 2f, 4d1. by him, why he had violated his sacred things and done injury to his god. To whom the herald (C. p.) Preco ei 1c. of truth answered with steadfast mind: "It is not God whom you worship, but the devil diabulus 3a., who holds you, O king, deceived (deceptum … flammis) omits 6b1b2. by the worst pissimo 2a1 first hand error seduxit adds 6b1b2., so as to hand your tuis 2a1 et 2a2 first hand, 2b. soul over to eternal flames. For omits 2a1a2bcd1d2. there is no God but one (D. n. u.) n. u. D. 6a. , who created omnia adds 6a. heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them; whoever worships him with true faith shall have life everlasting. Whose servant I am, and I testify to you today, that you may at length at some time come to your senses from the vanity of the ancient error which your fathers worshipped, and, believing credas 6a. in one God almighty, our Lord Deum 1a2 . Jesus Christ, and baptized in the font fonte 1a2. of life, may wash away all your sins, and, casting away all iniquity and injustice iniusticia 1a2, 2a1., may henceforth (deinceps … sanctitate) et sanctitate adorneris et gratia 5ab. live as a new man in all sobriety, justice iusticia 2a1; et aequitate adds 4d1d2. and holiness. Doing (Hoc … sempiternam) omits 4b. this, you will possess habebis 6a. everlasting glory with God and his saints. But if you despise me showing ostemdentem 1a1. you the way vitam 6a. of salvation, know most certainly that you will endure eternal torments and infernal flames with the devil, whom you obey optemperas 1b.." To these things the king, marvelling miseratus 3ab; mi// ratus 1c, 4a; iratus 1b., answered: "I see that you have not feared timuisse 6ab1. our threats, and that your words are as your deeds." And although [(Et si) so also 1b; Et quamvis 1b* 6b1 over an erasure ; Ipse igitur rex etsi 2f; Cumque idem rex 4d1d2.] he had been unwilling nolluisset 1a1 first hand to believe the preacher preconi 1ce. of truth,

he nevertheless sent misit 1b. him [omits 1e; sanctum virum 1i. In the epitome which the Brussels codex 3391 – 3399, of the year 1480, presents (cf. above, p. 422, note 1), these words are inserted at this place (fol. 207, col. 1 middle): Tandem reversus Traiectum post conversionem multorum ecclesiam in honore sancti Thome construxit [Not at all; but that an oratory of the Holy Cross was built by Willibrord near the ruin of the church of St. Thomas was affirmed by the fourteenth-century writer Johannes de Beka, who first made mention of this church. Cf. W. Moll, Kerk=geschiedenis, vol. I, p. 70; S. Muller, in Westdeusche Zeitschrift, vol. XVI, pp. 271 ff., 283 ff.] ibique sacerdotes ad decantandas laudes Dei de voluntate Pipini instituit.] back with honour (c. h.) adds another hand above the line1a1 to Pippin, duke of the Franks eum adds 1e..

[12] Among them he presses on with the work of God He, rejoicing at his arrival, asked him to press on with the appointed distinato 1a1; predestinato 1b, 2f. work operi 1b*, 1e after correction, 4d1d2, 6ab1b2. of the word of God and, the thorns of idolatry being rooted out, to sow the word of God urgently through the several places (l. s.) s. l. 1e.. Which the pious preacher also busied himself to fulfil not haut 1b. sluggishly, going round circuiens 1a2, 2a 1 corrected by another hand all the regions of that land (i. t.) t. i. 1h, 2a1a2b, 4d1., through the cities, villages and omits 1a1bh, 2a1a2b, 4d1, 6ab1b2. fortresses castellaque 4d1. where he had evangelized before, exhorting all that with good purpose of mind animo 1e, 2b before correction they should remain in the firmness of the true faith. And while day by day the number of the faithful grew cresceret 1c, 2f, 3b, 4d1, 5ab, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a2, 3a. and a greater and he founds sacred buildings. crowd of believers flocked [conflueret 1c, 2f, 3b, 4d1, 5ab, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a2, 3a; confluebant 4b.] to the knowledge of the word of God, very many omits 2a1., incited by the fervour of faith, began caeperunt 1a1a2. to offer their patrimonies to the man of God. Having accepted these, he soon ordered churches to be built aedificari 2f, 6a. on them, and appointed statimque 6a; (statuitque… proficiebat) omits 4b. in each singulos 1e, 1h corrected by another hand, 4d2. of them presbyters prbiros 1a1 first hand; prespiteros 1a2. and fellow workers of the word of God for himself sui 6a., so that the new people of God might have a place where they might gather on feast days and hear salutary admonitions, or men from whom (a. q.) aliquibus 1a1. they might receive acciperet 1b, 6b2. the gifts of sacred baptism and learn the rules of the Christian religion (r. r.) mandata relig. 2d1d2.. And so the man of God advanced more and more from day to day, divine grace granting it.

[13] Radbod having at length been conquered by the Franks, Now it happened quadam die 6b1b2. that Pippin, duke of the Franks, died erased in 3b; omits 6b1b2. and his son Charles Carolum 1c. took possession of his father's kingdom. He added many nations (m. g.) g. m. 1e. to the sceptres of the Franks; among which, with the glory gloriam 1a1. of triumph, Rabbod Rabboto 1b; Rabbado 1e; Rabodo 1h, 4d1; Radbodo 6ab1b2. having been conquered, he also added Frisia to his father's empire. In which nation St. Willibrord Wilbrordus 3a, 4a. was then placed as preacher, and the see [sedesque 2a1 corrected by another hand, 6a; sedeque 2a2 corrected another hand over an erasure; eisque (?) 2b first hand; sedique 3b; presul adds 5ab.] of his episcopate [episcopali 2a2 corrected by another hand, 3b; locus adds 2d1d2; episcopatus eius 6a.] was assigned delegata 6a. in the fortress of Utrecht Traeiecto 1a1; Treiecto 6b1b2.. He (Qui… viventis) omits 4b., having received a greater opportunity occassione 1a1. of evangelizing, he wins the Frisians for Christ. tried to wash in sacred sacra 1b first hand baptism baptismatȩ 1a2. the nation lately acquired by the sword [(a. c. e.) c. e. a. 6a. Here is inserted in the epitome of the Brussels codex 3391 – 3399, fol. 207, the fable about the baptism of Radbod taken from the Life of St. Vulfram (cf. above, p. 429, note 7).]. Nor did he allow anything (N. q.) Nec quemquam 1e; Et nequaquam 1b. of the darkness omits 4d1; et adds 1b; tenebrarum et 6b1b2. of ignorance of the ancient error vel adds 3b, 4d1, 5ab. to lie hidden in it, but flooded it all with the evangelical light fide 1b. without any delay, so that in that people that illum 1a1 first hand prophetic testimony was suddenly fulfilled: And it shall be in the place where it shall be said diceretur 1b; dicebatur 1b, 6b1b2. to them omits 2f, 6b1b2.: "You are not my people", it shall be said dicitur 2a1a2bc, 4d1. to them: "Sons of the living God." Os. 1, 10.

[14] He performs very many miracles: The divine power also quoquae 1a1 first hand did patrata est 6b1b2. very many miracles Et adds 1a2 another hand through its servant (su. se.) se. su. 1c, 6ab1b2.. Although the ministry of evangelical preaching is to be preferred to all tempore adds 1a1, 4d1. working operationem 1a1; operationi 6ab2. of miracles and showing ostensioni 6ab2. of signs, nevertheless I judge that those deeds which are narrated are not added by the first hand above the line 1a1. to be kept silent, for the glory of God the giver, but (sed… noscuntur) omits 1h. rather to be bound alleganda 3b, 6a. by the pen, lest the things which are known to have been done uota 1a2. in former times there follows in 1a1 quo, deleted with dots. perish for later ages. At a certain time, then, while the venerable man Dei scilicet beatus Willibrordus adds 1i. was making a journey of evangelizing in his usual manner, The keeper of the idol, who had struck the saint with a sword, pays the penalty, he came to a certain township insulam 1h, 6b1b2; occeani adds 6b1b2., Walichrum Uualachrum 1a1 first hand; Walacrum 1e; Walicrum 1h, 6b1b2; Walichim 6a. by name Rather Walichrum (Walcheren), one of the five islands of Zeeland., in which an idol of the ancient error remained [ad quod statuto tempore omnis congregabatur populus illud colens summa veneratione adds 6b1b2.]. When the man of God, burning with zeal zolo 2a1 first hand, broke it [constringeret 1b; destrueret 1b; confringere niteretur ac nomen delere de sub celo 6b1b2.] in the presence of the keeper of the same idol, he deleted by another hand in 1a2; omits 1e; ille 4abd1, 5ab., kindled custos added by another hand 1a2; ille adds another hand in the margin 3a. with excessive [(nimio… vindicaret) non patiebatur (ille non sufferens 6b2) iniuriam dei sui, succensus furore 6b1b2.] fury fervore 2a1, 2a2 before correction, 2d1d2., as if to avenge the injury of his god fecisset et hoc vindicare vellet 1i., in omits 1e. the onrush of a raging mind struck the head of the priest of Christ with a sword; but, God defending deffendente 1a1a2. his servant, he sustained sustenuit 1a1 first hand; incurrit 6b1b2. no hurt from the stroke of the one striking. But his eius 1b. companions, seeing this, ran together cucurrerunt 1b, 2f; concurrunt 4d1, 6b1b2. to avenge the most wicked presumption pres- 1a2. of the impious man with death omits 1e, 2a1a2bc; morte 6b1.. But the guilty man was freed by the man of God with pious mind from their hands (de m. i.) omits 3ab, 4ab, 5ab; added in the margin a recent hand in 1c. and let go dimisus 1a1a2.; who nevertheless on the same day was seized ereptus 1b. by a demonic doem- 1a2; dȩm- 1b. spirit (d. s.) s. maligno 4d1d2., and on the third day unhappily ended his wretched life. And because the man of God, according to the Lord's precept, was unwilling to avenge his own injuries, it was nevertheless the more speedily cicius 1a1. avenged [vindicatus 1a1b, 4abd1, 6ab1b2; vindicatum 1e, 2f; (v. e.) vindicatae sunt 2a1 corrected by another hand] by the Lord, as he ait adds 1b; predixit adds 2d1d2; prescius futurorum ait adds 6b1b2. says of the injuries which quas corrected by another hand in 1a1b*, 2b. the impious do not fear to do against his saints dicit adds 2a2 another hand above the line: Vengeance is mine et added above the line 6a., I will repay, says the Lord. Rom. 12, 19.

[15] and the keeper of the crops, on account of the abuse done to him. At another quoquae 1a1. time also, as the blessed man was making [faciente 2d2, 3b, 6b1b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a1a2, 2a1a2b, 4b; (b. v. f.) beatus vir faciens (faciebat 5ab) 2f, 5ab.] a journey inter 1a2 before correction to a certain little cell (s. d. c.) c. d. s. 1c. of his jurisdiction ditionis 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1a2b., which from the name of the water flowing past propter fluentis 6a. is called Suestra [Susteren, a village of the district of the Maas not far from Roermond, on the little river which was once called the Suestra, but now De Rodebeek. The monastery which had been founded there Pippin and his wife Blittrudis handed over to the apostolic father Bishop Willibrord … that he should gather there pilgrim brothers or others fearing God (diploma given 2 March 714, Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, 20). It has not been rightly said (Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3, p. 307, note 5) that the monastery of Suestra already appears in a certain charter in the year 711, since this charter was given in the first year of King Chlothar (717), not of Dagobert (711). Cf. MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 63, l. 3).], but [deleted by another hand in 1a2, expunged in 2a1, erased in 2a2, omits 1e, 4d1, 6b2.] for the shortcut compendium 1a2b. of a nearer [proprioris 1a2 et before correction in 2a1a2b; prioris 1b first hand; melioris 1b; p(ri)oris 2f; longioris 6b1b2.] way vitȩ 1i. he went in along a narrow path through the crops segetem 2a1a2b. of a certain rich man. Seeing this, the keeper of those earundem 1a2. crops, puffed up with excessive fury (i. f.) f. i. 1e., began coepit 1b. to blaspheme the man of God. When he was heaping abuse convitia 1a2b. on the man of God, the companions socios 2a1 corrected by another hand who were with him wished volebant 1c, 2f, 3b, 5ab, and corrected by another hand in 1a2b, 2a2, 3a. to avenge vendicare 1a2. it; whom omits 1e; sed 2d1d2; eos 4abd1. the servant of God restrained with gentle mind (m. a. D. f. c.) prohibuit (eos adds 6b2) vir Dei 6b1b2., unwilling that anyone should perish for his sui 1c, 4abd1. sake,

he who exulted [gestebat 1a2 first hand, 3a; gestabat 1chi, 2d1d2ef, 3bcc, 4bd2, 5ab, 6b1b2; cupiebat 1b.] in the salvation [(in s.)so 1a1a2hi, 2a1 et 2a2 first hand, 2b, 3a first hand, 6a; in se salutem the rest et corrected by another hand in 2a1a2, 3a.] of all. And when he could [potu l 1a2 first hand, potuisset 1a2 corrected by another hand, 1b*chi, 3a corrected by another hand, 3b; potuerunt 1e; posset 4d1, 6b2.] in no (nullo… eius) added in the lower margin 1a1. way soothe linire 1a1, 1a2 first hand, 6a. the mind of the raging man, giving place to his wrath, he returned by the way by which he had come. Rom. 12, 19. But on the following day the same id est 1a1. unhappy man who quia 1c before correction, 3ab, 4ab, 5ab. had not shrunk from heaping omits 6a. abuse convitia 1a2b. on the servant of God adds another hand in the margin 2a1. perished by a sudden repentino first hand in 2a1a2b. death in the same place, many (multis… loco) omits 6b1b2. looking on.

[16] When his companions are thirsty, Willibrord draws forth a spring; While Cum 1a2eh, 2d1d2, 3b another hand, 6b1b2; Dudum 5a. the man (D. v.) Vir itaque 1c. full of God Dei 1a1., for the urgency of evangelical preaching, was going round [circuibat 1bcehi, 2a1a2b, 3ab, 4ab, 6b1; circumiret 1a2 corrected by another hand; circuiret 1b, 2d1d2f, 6b2.] the maritime places, in which [(in q.) omits 1e, 2f; in eisdem 4ab; ibidem sui 2a2 corrected another hand above the line; contigit ut 6b2.] they suffered patiebatur 2f, 6b1; pateretur 6b2. a lack of fresh water; when [deleted by another hand in 1a2; Et 1b; Qui 2a2 corrected another hand over an erasure] he saw [cernere// 1a2 corrected by another hand; cerneret 1bc, 3a corrected by another hand, 3b, 6b2; cernens 1h corrected by another hand, 2d1d2.] his fellow soldiers suffering ferre 1i. grievously from deleted by the corrector 2a2; omits 2d1d2. the burning of thirst sitim 4b; uim adds 1b., he called one of them eis 6a. and ordered him to open apperire 3a. a small pit within his tent; where ibi 6a. secretly, on bended knees, he prayed God ut adds another hand above the line in 1a2e, 2a1a2., who brought forth water from the rock for his people in the deserts deserto 1a2c, 2d1d2f, 5ab., that with the same mercy he would bring forth water from the sandy earth (a. p. t.) t. a. p. 2a1a2bd1d2. for his servants. Isai. 48, 21. He was est adds another hand above the line 2a2. at once heard est added by another hand in 1a2beh, 2a1, adds 2f, 6ab1b2., and suddenly a spring of the sweetest taste saparis 2a1 first hand filled implevit 1a2h, 6b2. the pit erupit fossamque 1i. [That same cistern is now plainly shown in the territory of Heyligelo (now Heilo in the diocese of Haarlem), which in modern times is called by the tenants living there "the well of St. Willibrord". So Johannes de Beka in the Chronicle (ed. Arn. Buchelius, p. 10). Cf. J. A. de Rijk, St. Willibrordsput en de Preekstoel te Heilo, in Bijdragen voor de geschiedenis van het bisdom van Haarlem, vol. I (1872), p. 76 – 89; there is an image of the well.]. Seeing this, his men gave thanks (g. a.) a. g. 1b; agentesque g. 1b. to almighty God (g. a. o D.) maximas D. g. retulerunt et laudes 1c., who magnified his saint and deigned to hear him; and they drank -que deleted by 1b*. to omits 2a1. satiety, and took care to carry with them et secum 1c., for the need of the predestined praedistinati 1a1. journey iteneris 1a1., as much quamtum 1a1. as seemed videbantur 1a1, 6a. to suffice.

[17] he refreshes beggars abundantly with wine; Again the holy priest of God, making a journey in a certain place, saw twelve needy beggars, together asking some relief for themselves (s. a.) a. s. 1c. from the passers-by. These, as he was most gentle, he looked upon with a kindly mind, and he commanded one -que omits 1c; unicuique 1a1 before correction of his men to take his suum 2a1 corrected by another hand, 6b2. own special flask flas///conem 1a2. and pour out for the poor of Christ (m. Ch.) Ch. m. 1ci, 2d1 d 2, 6b2.. From which quo corrected by another hand 2a1. all those twelve drank to satiety satietatem 1a2., and, in im 1a1. a wonderful manner, when they went away nihil imminutum est adds 1b., the flask, from which [(f. de q.) flascone de q. 1b; in flascone de q. 1b; flasca plena fuit de qua 2a1 first hand, 2a2bc; flasco plenus fuit de quo 2a1 corrected by another hand] so many quanti 2d1d2; tantum 6b1b2. men drank biberant 4b, 6b2; tanti adds 6b1; tot adds 6b2. of the best obtimo 1b. wine, a ministro ita adds 6b1b2. was found full as before [(i. e. p. ut a.) omits 1a1b, 2a1a2bc; p. i. e. 1i; i. e. p. 4b; p. i. e. ut a. 6ab1b2; p. reperta est ut a. 1h, 2f; p. fuit 2d1d2.]. When this was learned, all blessed our Lord Iesum Christum adds 1i; (nostrum … vobis) omits 4b., saying: "Truly there has been fulfilled in us what God omits 6b1b2. Christ (D. Ch.) Ch. Dominus 1c; Dominus Ch. 4a; Dominus Iesus Ch. 5ab. said (D. Ch. d.) dicitur 1e another hand over an erasure; D. promisit Ch. 1h. in the gospel: Give and it shall be given to you." Luc. 6, 38.

[18] he greatly increases wine in his monastery The holy man also quoquae 1a1. came to his monastery [Echternach, whose name Alcuin brings forward only later (ch. 21): the monastery of the holy man which is called Aefternacum.] for the sake of visiting, and after prayers to God and brotherly fratrum 1e. greetings and peaceful admonitions, going round circuiens 1a2b, 2a1, 3a; circuivit 5ab. the several dwellings of the brothers, the pious shepherd, wishing to search out (pi. pa. e. v.) e. pi pa. voluit 1e. whether there was anything in them to be emended -dam 1a1 before correction, entered also (i. q.) Tunc accidit ut intraret 6b1b2. into omits 6a. the cellar; in which he found (in u. r.) r. in 1a2 added by another hand, 1e. a little wine in one uno 6b1b2. cask tonna 4a, 6a; dolio 6b1b2.; into which quo 6b1b2; quam 1b, 2d1d2. he put infudit 6a. his staff poculum 2a1a2. by way of blessing, with prayer (c. o.) added in the margin 3a., and went out. But on the same night the wine unum 2a1 before correction in that very vessel began to grow, and to overflow superfundi 4b; (et s.) ita ut supereffunderet 6b16b2. the rim margini 5ab; marginem 6ab1b2. of the vessel vassis 1a1 et 3a first hand; vas in 1a2 corrected by another hand. The cellarer [cellerarius 1ceh, 2a1a2b, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6b2; cellararius 1a1 et 2b corrected by another hand, 2d1d2; celararius 6a; cellarius 1b.], seeing this, astounded adds another hand above the line 1a2, 2a1, adds 6ab1b2. by the unhoped-for imperata 1a2; inspirata 4ab. abundance, did not non 1c. dare to conceal what he knew was being done (g. c.) agere solebat 6a. by the divine mercy through the blessing of his servant. Early next enim adds 2a1 another hand above the line morning itaque adds 1c; (C. m.) Facto crastino 6b1; Facto mane 6b2. he ran et adds 1ce., prostrating himself et adds 2a1 another hand above the line, 3b, 6b2. at the feet of the holy father, and confessed -que adds 2a2 another hand what he had seen vidit 6b1b2; (q. v.) omits 6a.. He, giving thanks to God in his usual manner, and mindful of the Lord's command (i. d.) d. i. 1a2bcefi, 2a1a2bd1d2, 3b, 4ab, 5ab, 6ab1b2. instructing his disciples that they should tell no one cu 1a1 first hand the glory gloriae 1a1 before correction of the transfiguration transfugurationis 1a1 first hand; suȩ adds 1b, 6a. before the day of his [sui 1c first hand; (r. s.) obitus sui 3ab, 4a, 4b another hand over an erasure, 5ab.] resurrection so also 1c corrected over an erasure ediceret 4a et 4b before correction, instructed [praecipit 1a1; (praecipit … edicerent) supplied in the twelfth century in the lower margin of 4a, omits 4b.] the same cellarer [cellerario 1bceh, 2a1a2b, 3b, 5a, 6b1b2; cellarario 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2b corrected by another hand, 2d1d2, 6a.] that he should tell no one the miracle From here on, a hand of the fifteenth century in 2a2. which he saw before the day of his death. Matth. 17, 9.

[19] and in the house of a friend But also another adhuc adds 1c a recent hand miracle similar to this hvvic 1b before correction God omits 1i. Christ (D. Ch.) Ch. Dominus 1c. worked through his blessing. When the servant [(p. s.) pervenit servus 1a2 corrected by another hand, 2f, 6b2; perveniens servus 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2d1d2, 6a.] of God came perveniente 1b. with his companions to the house of a certain friend of his, desiring cupiebat 2a1 corrected by another hand; voluit 6a. for a little while in the house of his beloved friend cuiusdam amici sui 5ab; post adds 1b. to relieve [alleuare 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1b, 2a1a2b, 5ab, 6ab1; alleviare 1hi, 6b2; adleviare 4a; adlevari 1c corrected by another hand; alleviari 2d1d2.] the labour of the long journey iteneris 1a1. with refreshment omits 1h; refecione 1a2; refectionis 1b; refectione se 1b.; he greatly increases it; but deleted by 1b; omits 1c; erased in 1h; ut adds 2f; cum adds 6b2. he found comperiens 2a1 corrected by another hand; cum comperit 6b1; comperisset 6b2. that the father of the household dum adds 5ab. had no wine. He ordered four quattuor 2a1, 3a; -que adds 1b; quoque adds 1c. small modicos 2a1 corrected by another hand flasks, which quos 2a1 corrected by another hand his companions (sui so.) so. sui 1e. were carrying with them only for ad 2f, 6b1b2; omits 4b, 6a. the relief solatium 1b. of the journey, to be brought afferri 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1b, 2a1, 3a., and blessed them eosque 2a1 corrected by another hand in the name of him who at the wedding feast (c. n.) Chana Galileȩ 6b1b2. turned water into wine (c. in v.) in vini saporem mutavit 6b1b2.. And

in a wonderful manner, after the grace of blessing (b. g.) benedictionem 1e., about forty quadraginti 1b before correction; sexaginta 6b1b2. men drank to satiety satietatem 1a2. from those small flasks flasconibus 1b*; flascunculis 2a1 corrected by another hand, and with great thanksgiving they said to one another with joyful minds: "Truly the Lord Jesus Christus adds 2a1a2b; hic adds 6b1b2. has fulfilled what he promised dicens adds 6b1b2. in the gospel: He who believes in me (c. in me) in me c. 1b., the works that I do et adds 1a2 another hand, 6ab1b2., he himself does faciet 1e, 2a1a2bd1d2, 3b, 4ab, 6ab1., and greater than these shall he do." Ioh. 14, 12.

[20] he chastises with thirst a rich man who insults him The same omits 1i. holy omits 1b. preacher went on a certain occasion in his usual manner with haste to Frisia for the sake of evangelizing, and, on account of the labour of the road, wishing [voluit 1a2 corrected by another hand, 1b, 2d1d2f; volebat 1e, 2a1 corrected by another hand; (e. v.) voluit e. 6ab1b2.] to refresh his weary horses for a little paulolum 1b; added in the margin 3a. reuocilare 1a1. in the meadows of a certain rich man [This was permitted to one making a journey. Cf. J. Grimm, Rechtsaltertümer, p. 400. Wattenbach.]. When that rich man (d. i.) i. d. 1b. saw them grazing in his meadows, in a spirit of pride he began coepit 1b. to beat the horses and drive them from the pastures. The man of God addresses him with most gentle placidis 6a. words, saying: "Cease, brother omits 1e, 2d1d2., to do us injury; for not for your venimus adds 1i. hurt lessionem 1a1., but for our omits 2d1d2; nostram 2f. necessity we wished volumus 1a1h, 2f; voluerimus 1b; volueramus 1b. to rest for an hour horum 1a2 before correction in these suis 1b; tuis 1b. pastures. There presses quippe adds 1c. upon enim 1b; omits 1e, 2d1d2, 4b, 6ab1b2. us a work omits 1i. of God to be accomplished; whose reward you too can have, if you help [adiuvaris (corrected adiuvaveris) 1c; adiuveris 1ehi, 2d1d2, 3b, 5ab, 6ab1b2, and post corrected by another hand in 1b, 2a1b, 4a, and corrected again in 1c.] us with kindly mind, so far as it pertains to you, mindful of that most sweet promise of our Lord Jesus Christ: He who receives you, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me. Matth. 10, 40. But rather, with a peaceable mind, refreshing yourself with us as quisi 2a1 first hand a friend, drink a little, and when we go on with the journey itenere 1a1 first hand, 2a1 first hand we have begun coepto 1a2b., return tuo 2a2; a adds 1e, 6b1b2. to your house blessed by God omits 1i.." He therefore, obstinate in malice multa 1a2., unwilling to acquiesce in the peaceable words of the man of God, but redoubling abuse convitia 1a2b., hurling reproaches: "You inquit adds 1c, 2a1 another hand above the line, 4a; dicebat adds 6a. urge inquit adds 3b, 5ab. me to drink bebere 2a1 first hand and to make peace with you; know most certainly that I hold drinking with you as nothing." And -que omits 1e, 4ab. the man of God, snatching this word from his mouth (o. e.) e. o. 1a2e. [ait adds 1a2 another hand above the line, 3b, 6a; ita respondit adds 1c another hand in the margin]: "If you will not ait adds 1e; inquit adds 2a1 another hand above the line drink ait adds 2d1d2. with me m&um 1a1 first hand; nobiscum 4ab., do not drink." And (et … suam) added by another hand in the lower margin 1a1. at once, his companions being ready, he went on his way. That obstinate continuo 1e. man also was hastening festinebat 1a2 first hand; (d. s. f.) f. d. s. 2a1a2b. to reach adidire 1a1 first hand; idire 1a1 corrected by another hand his house, but suddenly he was all burning with thirst; and desiring cupientique 1a2 corrected by another hand to cool his burning stomach (a. s.) s. a. 1a2. with wine, yet deleted by another hand in 1a2. the mouth which had heaped abuse convitia 1a2b. on the man of God was not able to receive percipere 1c. a draught of wine, and (et … sustinuit) omits 4b. he who was unwilling uoluit 1b first hand voluntarily voluntariae 1a1 first hand to have peace habere adds 1b, 6a; recipere adds 6b1b2. with the servant of God, sustained sustenuit 1a1 first hand the penalty in himself of necessity necessariae 1a1 first hand; naecessarie 1a2.. Physicians were called, to allay saedarent 1a2. the thirst, to furnish the sick man the faculty of drinking. His innards panted anchelabant 1a1 first hand; ergo adds 2d1d2., but there was no one who could pour a drop of wine into the burning lung pulmone 1b first hand, 6b1b2.. Late Sed 1a2. at length, led adductus 1i; et adds 1a2 another hand above the line by penitence paenitentia 1a1 corrected by another hand, he came back to himself deleted by another hand in 1a1; rem adds 1b; et adds 1e, 6b2.; and he heals the penitent; he recognized that it was St. (sanctum … festinabat) omits 1b. Willibrord so also 6a; Willi 1a1; Wilbrordum 3a. whom he was offending offenderat 1e; offendit 6b1b2; ostendebat 3b., and (illiusque … reditum) omits 4b. with panting anchelante 1a1. spirit he longed obtabat 1a1. for his return. He in the following sequenti 2a1, 3a. year returned est adds 1a2 another hand above the line, 6a. by the same way; and his coming being known beforehand praecognotosque 1a1 before correction, the sick egroti 1a2 first hand man omits 1e, 4b. hastened to come (v. f.) f. v. 1a2. to meet obias 1a1 first hand; obius 1a1 corrected him, confessing -que adds 1b, 6b2. his fault and disclosing apperiens 1a1h. the penalty ponam 1b before correction which he was suffering paciebatur 1a2., and deleted by 1b. begged est adds 1h, 2f, 4ab; deprecatur 1b; deprecabatur 2d1d2, 6b2; deprecans 6ab1. him for the love amorem 1b first hand of Christ added above the line 3a. to release solvi 6b1b2. him. The man of God, moved with mercy missericordia 1a1., absolved him, and gave him ei 1ch; omits 6b1b2. with a blessing to drink from his own cup. He, at once absolved, drank, and returned sound to his house.

[21] he drives off a plague from the nuns of Trier; There is in the city of Trier a monastery of maidens omits 4b, 6b1b2. [Many have thought that it was the monastery of Horreum (Oeren); whose column seems to be led by him who in codex 5a wrote, for in the times of blessed Willibrord: in the times of blessed Modowald; for St. Modoald was said to have founded the monastery of Horreum. In very truth we know nothing certain about the origin of the first monasteries built for nuns at Trier.], which in the times of blessed Bishop Willibrord Wilbrordi 3a; Modowaldi 5ab. a most bitter plague invaded invassit 1a1 before correction. By whose bitterness [so 1a2, 1b before correction, 3a; acerbitate 1a1 corrected, 1b, 1c corrected a recent hand, the others.] many of the handmaids of God were dying, some lying iacebant 1e, 5ab, and corrected by another hand in 1a2b, 2a1. in bed lectulis 1b. with long longe 2a1d1, 6a; longȩ 2d2. pain of infirmity, while the rest caetere 1a1; (ceterae … metuentes) omits 4b., disturbed terore 1a2; sunt adds 1b. by excessive terror, were as it were fearing [metuebant 1b e, 2a1 another hand over an erasure; timentes 4a; adesse metuebant 6b2.] death to be present. And because near the aforesaid praedicte 1a2. city is the monastery of the holy man which is called appellabatur 2a1b. Aefternacum [Aefternacho 1a2; Afternaco 2f; Aefternacu 3a; Aesternaco 1b; Efternaco 1b; ȩsternacum 1c, 4b; Esternaco (ȩst-2b) 1eh, 2a2bd2, 6a; Esternacum 3b, 5ab; Aesterniacum (Est-corrected) 4a; Easternaco 6b1; Casternaco 6b2.], in which that saint rests in the body to this day, and (et … noscuntur) omits 4b. his posterity are known to hold tenerū 1i. it by the lawful tradition of their father (ex l. p. t.) t. ex l. p. 1a1; ex l. t. p. 1a2e; ex t. l. p. 2a1a2bd1d2, 6a. and the piety of most pious kings: the women of the aforesaid erased in 1a2; expunged by another hand in 2a1; (d. v.) diem unum 6a. monastery faeminae 1a1., hearing that the holy man was coming there (v. i.) i. v. 1e, 5ab., at once sent an embassy legationes 1e., asking him not to delay tarde 1bchi, 2a1a2bf, 3ab, 4ab, 5ab; (n. t.) ne tardaret 6b2. to come. He, taught by the most gentle example of blessed Peter, prince of the apostles (p. a.) omits 1i. (m. d.) omits 1b., coming from Joppa Iope 1a1h; (de I.) diope (i. e. dei ope) 1b. to Lydda Lyddum 1a2; Liddam 2f, 3b, 4ab, 6ab1b2. at the petition of the widows of Christ, to raise up holy Tabitha Tabitam 1bh, 4ab, 6b1b2; Thabitham 1c, 6a; Thabitam 2a1a2bd1d2f., so the man of God in haste, having heard the desire of the handmaids ancellarum 1a1. of Christ, was not reluctant to come to them. Act. 9, 36 sqq. And coming, as soon as Mass had been celebrated for the sick in the same monastery, he blessed water, with which he ordered their houses domos 1b. to be sprinkled aspargi 1a1, 1b first hand, 3a., and sent it to the sick to be drunk potandam 1a2 corrected by another hand, 3b, 6b2; potum 6a.. They quickly, by the gift of the divine mercy, recovered, nor from then on did any ullȩ 1e. in that monastery die moriebantur 1eh. of the aforesaid plague.

[22] he drives a demon from the house of a certain man. 4b omits the whole chapter.. There befell a certain father of a household and his house (et d. s.) omits 6a. a dire temptation of demonic domoniacae 1a1; doemoniacae 1a2b; doemonicȩ 1b. delusion inlussionis 1a1; illusionis 1b; inlusiones 2a1 first hand, so that openly apertae 1a1. an evil spirit was recognized agnosceretur 1bce, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 5ab, 6ab2; cognoscebatur 1h. to dwell in his house so 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 2f; domo the others. from the horror horrere 2b corrected, 2d1d2. and the evil doings. For it was accustomed suddenly to seize rappere 1a2. foods or garments or other things necessary to the house and throw them into omits 5ab. the fire; nay, a little child resting pausantium 2d1d2; pulsantem 6a. in the embraces amplexos 1b first hand of its parents, while they slept (p. i. d.) added in the lower margin 3a., it took and threw into the fire. But the parents, roused by the infant's wailing,

scarcely snatched the little one from the burning; and the same household suffered many atrocious things from the unspeakable spirit, nor could it be driven off by any of the presbyters prbitrorum 1a1., until the holy man Willibrord Wilbrordus 1a1, 3a, 4a., asked deprecatus 6a. by the father of the household, sent dirigeret 4a; direxit 6b2; porrexit 1h. them blessed water, instructing that all [omnem 1e, 3b, 4a, 6ab1b2, and corrected by another hand in 2a1b; omē 1a2; ome 1h.] the furniture [subpellectile 1b; suppellectilem 1e, 3a, 4a, 6ab1b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a2h2a1b.] of that house should be carried ferri 2d1d2f, 5ab, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 2a1b. out foris 5ab. and sprinkled aspargi 1a2, 2a1 first hand, 3a; spargi 6b1b2. with that water, foreseeing p(er)videns 6a. in the spirit that the house in adds 1a1. was to be consumed [consummandam 1a1, 2a2, 5ab; consūmendam 1c, 2a1; consumdā 2b, 4a; consummendam 3a.] by flames. When these things had been so itaque 1a2. done, fire invaded (ig. in.) in. ig. 1c. the empty house from the place of the bed and consumed consumsit 1a1 first hand it all so 1a1a2, and first hand in 2a1b; et 6b1b2; totamque the rest.. But when another domo adds 1c; die adds 1i; die alia domus adds 6a. had been built est adds 2f, 5ab; est et adds 6a; aedificantes 1a2 corrected by another hand in that place with the sanctification of blessed water (a. b.) atque benedictione (-nȩ 1a2) 1a2b; domo adds 2d1d2., they -que adds 2f, 5ab. suffered nothing from then on inex de 1a1 before correction in it of the former prestinȩ 2a1 first hand temptation; but living erant adds 1b*. with all tranquillity and quiet, and omits 2f, 5ab. giving thanks agebant 1a2 corrected by another hand, 5ab; egerunt 2f, 6b2 corrected to the Lord, who deigned to redeem redemere 1a1 first hand them erased in 1c. through his servant (se. su). su se. 1c, 3b, 6b1; Willibrordum adds 1i..

[23] He baptizes King Pippin and foretells his future glory. The same man, beloved of God, also foretold certain things by the prophetic spirit, which after the outcome of events he proved probabit 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 1b first hand. Here 4b ends. true adds another hand above the line 1a1; verum 1i.. He baptized, then omits 1b., Pippin Born in the year 714. Cf. Böhmer-Mühlbacher2, p. 27., son omits 2a1. of Carl [so 2a2b, and first hand in 1a2b, 2a1; Karli 3ab, 4a; omits 1a2; Caroli 1e et corrected by another hand in 1a1b*, 2a1; Karoli 1ch, 2d1d2f, 5ab, 6ab1b2; filium adds 2a1 another hand], the most valiant duke of the Franks omits 1b., the father Karoli adds 1a2. of this most noble Charles Karoli 1b, 2a1a2bd1d2, 3b, 5ab, 6ab1b2. who now [nunc 2a1 another hand over an erasure; (q. m.) 2b another hand over an erasure; q(u)ond(am) 2a2.] with the greatest triumphs admodum adds 5 ab. and all dignity most gloriously gloriosisseme 1a1 first hand rules the empire of the Franks. Concerning this Pippin, his father patri 2a1 corrected by another hand; videlicet adds 6a., the same holy man foretold before his disciples with presaging voice such a prophecy: "Know that this infant will be exceedingly exalted and glorious, and greater maiori 1a2. than all the preceding dukes of the Franks." And so the truth post adds 6ab1b2. of this prophecy vaticini 1a2. has been proved in our times, nor is there need to pursue assequi 1b. with testimonies what nobiliter adds 5ab. the authority of the whole kingdom recognizes cognoscit 2a2, 6a.. For all the people know with what triumphs the most noble victor is celebrated celebretur 5ab., or how much he extended delatavit 1a1 first hand the bounds terminis 1i; termini 6b1b2. of our empire imperium 6b1b2., or how devoutly he propagated the Christian religion in his kingdom (vel … relegionem) omits Wattenbach., or what he performed for the defence of the holy church aecclesiae 1a2. of God among foreign extraneos 1b first hand nations. All of which can (e. q.) q. e. 1e. better be proved by the eyes than set out explicare 1a2; omits 6a. in words.

[24] At length the man, worthy of all praise, For this holy man omits 1b; (i. v.) v. i. 1e. was distinguished praeclara 1b first hand by every dignity, comely dicens 2a1 first hand in stature, honourable in countenance, handsome in face omits 3a; faciae 1a1 first hand, glad in heart, wise in counsel, pleasant iocundus 1b. in speech, composed in character, vigorous in every work of God. Of what patience he was is shown from et 1e. his deeds told before; and omits 1e, 6b2. how much quantum 1i. industry studium 1i. he had indeed omits 1bci, 2a1a2bd1d2, 3ab, 4a, 6ab1; etiam 6b2. to preach omits 2d2. the gospel of Christ, or how divine grace helped adiuvante 1b; adiuvarit 1e corrected; adiuverit 1hi. him in the work (pr. v. q. il. in o.) omits 1b. of preaching, there is no need to pursue ita first hand before correction in 1a1bc, 2a1b; so 2a2, 3a; prosequi the rest. with our pen, since it is proved (t. c.) c. t. 1c. by the testimony of the whole people. But his secret s&reta 1a1 first hand way of life in vigils and prayers, in fasts and psalmody, is given to be understood intelligi 3a. by ex 2a1; ex adds 5ab. the holiness of his life vite 1a2. and the showing of signs. His charity, namely, is shown by the assiduous labour which he daily cottidie 1b. sustained sustenuit 1a1 first hand for the name of Christ. advanced in years, he dies on the 6th of November This holy man, advancing all the days of his life in the divine work, beloved of God extitit added in 6a above the line. and pleasing placibilis 1i. to all the people, in the times of Carl [Karli 1c, 1h corrected, 3b, 4a; Karoli 1e, 2d1d2f, 5ab, 6ab2; Caroli 6b1 et corrected by another hand in 1a1b, 2a1.] the elder, the most valiant -que adds 2d1d2. duke of the Franks, old and from here on 1e is blank, two leaves having been cut out. full of days in all perfection, was gathered adpossitus 1a1. to his fathers, to receive from God the manifold fruit of his labour, leaving this world (s. h. r.) hominem exuit cum seculo 6b1b2. that he might possess heaven, to see Christ without end in eternal glory (g. v.) v. g. 1ch., in whose love, as long as he had lived with us, he did not cease to labour. Gen. 35, 29, Act. 13, 36. On the sixth sex 2a1 first hand; sexto 2f, 6b1b2; septimo 1h; VII. 1i. day vero adds 1b. of the month of November novembrii 1a2h, 4a; novembris 1b, 3b, 6a corrected by another hand, 6b2., that is, the eighth [VIII. 1a2 added above the line, 2b, 6a; octavo 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1c corrected by another hand, 2f, 4a, 5ab, 6b1b2; octava 2a1a2; octaba 1b; septimo 1h; VII. 1i, 2d2, 3b.] before the Ides, he was departing migrabit 1a2; migravit 1ch, 2d1d2, 4a, 5ab, 6b1b2. from this pilgrimage to the perpetual homeland Christum in aeternum visurus adds 1i., and is buried at Echternach, renowned after death for miracles, and he was buried in the monastery of Aefternacum [Aefternacho 1a2; Afternaco 2a1f; Efternaco 1b*, 5a; Asternaco 1b first hand, 2a2bd1d2, 6a; ȩsternaco 1c, 4a, 6b2; ēȩsternaco 6b1; Esternaco 1h, 3b.], which he himself had built for God, as we have said before Alcuin said these things before not at all.. There to this day, by the working of the divine mercy missericordia 1a1., signs and healings do not cease to take place at the relics of the holy viri et 6ab1 b2. priest sacerdotes 2a1 first hand of God. Of which we have reckoned it settled that some should be subjoined to this our history hystoriae 3a. of him, to the glory and praise of our Lord Jesus Christ omits 1a2b, 2a1d1d2., who has deigned often to work these things hec 1a2; ista 1i; (q. h.) quae 1b. through the patronage of his servant (sui se.) se. sui 2a2, 6ab1b2..

[25] and indeed already at his very burial. The venerable venerabilis 1a1; eius adds 6ab1b2. body was laid itaque adds 1c; autem adds 6ab1b2. in a marble sarcophagus, which at first omits 6ab1b2. was found about half dimedium 1a1 first hand a foot omits 6ab1b2. shorter than the whole toti 1b. body of the servant of God; and the brothers were greatly saddened on this account and in suspense of counsel as to what they should do, and were often saepius 1a2. discussing where they might find invenire potuissent 5ab. a fitting coffin for the holy body corpore 1a1 first hand. But omits 1c, 2d1d2f, 5ab, 6b2; erased in 1h; deleted by another hand in 2a1. in a wonderful manner (S. m. m.) Res mira contigit. Nam 6a., by the gift of the divine goodness, the sarcophagus ipsum adds 1b. was suddenly found to be as much longer than the body of the man of God as it had appeared shorter before omits 1b.. And laying [condientes 2a2, 2b before correction, 6b1b2; (c. s.) sepelientes condiderunt (conderunt before correction) 1h.] the body of the man of God in it with hymns, psalmody and all honour, they buried it in the church ȩcclesia 1a2, 2a1. of the aforesaid monastery mosterii 2a1 first hand, which that supreme priest of God built and dedicated in honour of the Holy Trinity. But also the fragrance [fraglantia 1b*, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2bf, 3b, 5ab, 6b1; fragrantia 2a2.] of a wonderful odour had pervaded the nostrils of all et pectora adds 1c., so that it was clearly perspicuae 1a1 first hand understood intellegetur 2a1 first hand that an angelic ministry (a. v. m.) angelica v. ministeria 1c. had come to the obsequies exequias 3b, 5ab, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1bh, 2a1. of the holy man (e. v. s.) v Dei e. 1c; e. s. v. 1h, 6b1b2..

[26] His death is revealed to an absent disciple; But also to a certain religious disciple of the holy man, placed far away testabatur 1c, 6b1b2., keeping vigil in prayer, his death was revealed. For he testifies that he saw the soul of his most holy father magistri 6a. being carried with a great brightness of light, with the harmonious (cum c.) cūsona 1b; cum sonora 1b*. praise of singers, ab adds 6ab1b2. by angelic hosts to the kingdoms of the heavens. Many of the brothers also testified that they had often seen over the bed the bed adorned by God with light and odours. in which he gave back his blessed beatissimam 1a1. soul to his creator a wonderful light, and a most sweet

fragrance [fraglantiam 1b**, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2bf, 3b, 5ab, 6b1b2; fragrantiam 2a2; flaganciam 1h first hand] of a most delightful dulcissima 1a1 first hand; dulcissime 1a1 corrected odour they had perceived sensissime 1b first hand, so that by these signs it was altogether omnibus 6ab1b2. believed that heavenly citizens had frequented frequentare 6ab1b2. the place hunc adds 3a above the line, 3b, 4a, 5ab. in which the holy sancti 6ab1b2. soul departed to the Lord Christum 6ab1b2..

[27] The sick healed; Through the anointing also of the oil which customarily burned above (q. s.) omits 2d1d2. the body of the holy man, many sick people, God granting it and their faith cooperating, were cured. penitents loosed; Penitents Penitentes 1a2. also omits 5ab; vero 1c., often sepius 1a2. coming to the same church, bound round with iron rings in the usual manner [so 1a1bh, 2a1a2bf, 3a, 6b1; circumdati the rest; (m. s. c.) c. m. solio 2a1 first hand; c. m. solito 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2a2b.], the rings eisdem adds 6b2. being broken there follows a small gap in 3a; ferreis adds 6ab1., suddenly had their bonds loosed [relaxata 2f; (v. r.) a vinculis resoluti 6a; (c. s. e. v. r.) s. circulorum eorundem vinculis resoluti 2d1d2.] [praestante domino nostro Iesu Christo, qui cum Deo Patre… Amen. adds 5ab, which end here.]. Of which thing the rings still hanging in the church are witnesses (t. s.) s. t. 1c..

[28] a crippled woman A certain paralytic paralytica 1b. woman, tormented for seven omits 1b; pluribus 6b1b2. years omits 1b; annos 2a1a2b; cum adds 2d1d2. with great omits 6b1b2. pains, the daily cottidiana 1b; omits 2d1d2. infirmity (c. i.) i. c. 1c, 6ab1b2; torquebatur adds 2d1d2. raging crassante 1bc, 2bd1d2. so much in omits 1b, 6a. her (in e.) omits 2b. that, deprived of every function of her limbs, she used uteretur 1b**, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2d1d2, 6ab2. the ministry of others, drew, weary added in the margin in a recent hand 1c., the sighs suspira 1a2. of her breath, scarcely panting, in her little breast alone. She Hec 1a2. was carried by her kinsfolk suis adds 1c; (a. p.) appropinquans 6b1b2. to the church ȩcclesiam 1a2. where the saint of God rests, and omits 1a2. placed ponebatur 1c; est adds 1h, 3b. near the coffin of his relics; she omits 2a1a2d1d2f, 6b2; (p. q.) positaque 6b1. in the same eadem 1b before correction place, with tears poured out, prayed ut adds 2f, 6ab1b2. that through the intercession of his holy servant the divine clemency would have mercy misserere 1a1 first hand; missereri 1a corrected on her (d. ei m. c.) divina ei suffragaretur (miseretur 2f) clementia 2f, 6ab1b2.. She, heard est adds 2a1a2bf. by the Lord God and soon freed from all infirmity infirmitatæ 1b first hand, safe omits 6a. with joy, giving thanks to God, ran home on her own feet, she who before was carried by the feet of others.

[29] Likewise (I. a. q.) Fuit autem q. a. 6ab1b2. a certain sick youth was led deduciter 2d1; deducitur 2d2; est added by another hand in 1b, 2a1. by the hands of friends to the body of the blessed bishop pontificiis 1a1; viri 6b1b2; est adds 1c, 3b., and a sick youth were healed. who trembled in all his limbs. For he could not raise his head by himself, but as if it were not fixed affixum 1h, 2d1d2. to his neck, falling this way and adquae 1a1 first hand that added above the line 3a., it rolled about. For several times he became [est adds 1c, 1h added above the line, 2a1 added by another hand, 2d1d2, 3b, 6ab1b2.] so lifeless that he seemed altogether dead mortuos 1a2 before correction. Him, as we said before, his people amici adds 1c. placed near the body [(p. c.) corpore corpus 1a1 first hand; corpori corpus 1a1 corrected; prope // corpus 1a2.] of the holy man. But, by the gift of God's mercy missericordia 1a1., all who were present looking on, he was so suddenly made sound that nothing of his former infirmity or of his old pain remained [remanserit 1c, 6b1b2, and corrected by another hand in 1b, 2a1; remaneret 2d1d2f.] in him any longer (a. u.) u. a. 1c..

[30] A monk who had stolen the saint's cross, A certain man, then itaquae 1a1 first hand; autem 2a1a2b, 6b1; preterea 6b2., a deacon by office offitio 1a2. and not by merit, did not shrink from seizing by a most unhappy theft furto 1h, 2a2, 6ab1b2, and corrected by another hand in 1bc, 2a1; furtū 1i. in the church of the holy man the golden cross which the holy omits 6a. man was accustomed to carry with him added above the line 3a. on a journey itenere 1a1., together with other gifts denariis 6a. of the church. And the brothers being disturbed turbatis itaque 1c. about this matter, as being ignorant ignorantibus corrected by another hand in 1b, 2a1. of the doer of the impious crime, then omits 1c. trusting in the prayers praecibus 1a1; et meritis adds 1c. of the saint of God that so tamen 1b first hand nefarious opus et adds 6b1b2. a crime (n. s.) nefarii opus sceleris 6a. could not be hidden citius a quo factum esset cognoverunt, sed tamen adds 2d1d2., striving nituntur 1b; nitebantur 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2f. nevertheless tandem 1b; omits 2d1d2f. with brotherly piety moti adds 2d1d2. to call the man hominum 1b first hand back to penance poenitentia 1a1 first hand, not (n. non) magis quam 2d1d2. desiring cupiebant 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2d1d2, 6b2; volentes 1h. to destroy him. But he infelix adds 1c. who committed this crime despised his salvation with hardened heart, as the impious man, as Solomon Salamone 1a1; Salomon 2a1 first hand; Salemone 2b. says, when he has come into the depth of evils, despises. comnit 1a1 first hand; contemnit 1a2.. Prov. 18, 3. The unhappy impius 1h. man thought that what he knew he had done secretly [erased in 1a2; iam 1h; (q. c.) quodam 2a1 first hand; quod /// 2a1 corrected; quoddam 2a2, 2b first hand], without the eyes of others (o. a.) aliis o. 2d1d2., could lie hidden; but it could not lie hidden from the eye of God, to whom all things are open aperte 1a1 first hand, who does not delay often to avenge the injuries of his servants. Hebr. 4, 13. For that wretched man (m. i.) i. m. 1b., who did not shrink aborruit 1b. from perpetrating this crime, seized suddenly subita 6a. by a wretched miserabiliter 6a. From this word on, a hand of the fifteenth century in 1c. death (s. m.) m. s. 1a2, 6b1b2., perished, and at the very end of his life sue adds 1c above the line (i. v. e.) fine i. v. 2d1d2. showed some of the brothers the crime of his guilt, and indicated where he had hidden what he had seized by theft [furto 2a2d1d2, 3b, 4a, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1b, 2a1, 6b1; furtim 1h, 6a.] [The rest omitted, 7 subjoins this epilogue: Sunt alia quam plurima, que divina maiestas per merita servi sui Willebrordi dignatur cotidie operari; que ob prolixitatem a nobis nequeunt stilo commendari. De precemur ergo hunc beatissimum patrem, quatinus precibus suis omnem propellat adversitatem, omnem impetret fecunditatem, obtineat nobis gratiam apud summam et individuam Trinitatem, cui laus, honor et imperium per infinita secula seculorum. Amen. Explicit vita sancti Willebrordi archiepiscopi et confessoris.]. You see, brothers, by how terrible a judgment iuditio 1a2; sit adds 6a. he was condemned [damnatur 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1b before correction, 6b1b2; est adds 1ch, 2a1 added by another hand, 2a2, 3b.] who did not fear to violate by theft [firto 6a before correction; furto 1ch, 2a2, 3b, 4a, 6a corrected, 6b1 corrected, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1b, 2a1.] the church of the saint of God. Therefore I beseech you to have a chaste way of life in this house, so that the divine clemency, through the prayers praeces 1a1. of the holy Clement From this word on 1e again; et adds 1b*., the apostolic man, may deign to hear you in every honourable hosta 2a1 before correction petition, as we said before that he ille 2d1d2. heard the prayers praeces 1a; prȩces 1b. of the sick in this omits 1e. same church ecclesiam 2a1 first hand; dignatus est adds 2d1d2., and granted them to return home with long-desired health. I Petr. 3, 2. Nor is it, namely, to be doubted that, as he deigned visibly to heal sanire 1a1 first hand their bodily infirmities (s. i.) i. s. 1a2., so omits 6a; ut 1bh. he does not cease daily cotidiae 1a1; cottidie 1b; cotidieque 1i. to hear also the hidden sicknesses of our vestrarum 1b. souls, his saint interceding for us, who (qui … corda nostra) omits 4a. rests here in the body (h. c.) in eodem loco Esternacensi 1i. and whom we believe to be present in the spirit, if with firm faith and true confession we pour out with tears in (in … nostra) preces 1i. this place, before the sight of his goodness, our hearts, since quia 1b, 2f, 6b1b2. the divine clemency is ready to pardon, if we shall not be slow tarti 2a1 first hand to beseech depraecandum 1a1.. To whom Cuius 1a1h, 2a1b, 6ab1b2; est adds 1i, 3b. be praise sit adds 1e. and glory honor 6ab1b2. for everlasting ages secula 1a1; Amen adds 1bc, 2a1a2bd1d2, 4a, 6ab1b2..

[31] On the festival of St. Wilgils It remains, then dicere adds 1b., concerning blessed Wilgils [Wilgislo 1h; Wilgiso 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2a1b, 4a, 6b1b2; Willigiso 2a2d1d2.], who was, as we said before, the father of this holy man (qui … pater) huius sancti, ut a. d., patre 6ab1b2.; that the last chapter novissimum 1ce, 2d1d2f, 4a, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1b, 2a1b. may be finished [finiat 2d1d2; (de eo. n. f.) finiatur et ultimum 1h, supplied by another hand in the margin.] with him with whom the first chapter of this history istoriae 1a1. begins [(p. i. c.) primum i. (incepit 1b) capitulum 1ch, 2d1d2f, 4a, 6b2, and corrected by another hand in 1a1b, 2a1a2b; primum capitulum i. 1e.]. So there returns Rediit 1b. the annual annus 1b first hand; anniversarius 1e.

day of the holy departure of the same blessed Wilgils Wilgisli 1h; Wilgisi 1a1 corrected by another hand, 2a1b, 4a, 6b2; Wilgis 6b1., on which quo 2a1 another hand after correction the pious abbot abbas 2a1a2, 3b. Albercht [Alberchtus 2a1a2b; Albertus 1h, 3b; Alcbertus 6ab1b2; Adlbertus 2d1d2; Albrectus 1a2, 4a; Aldbrectus 1b, 2f.] [Who, if the Catalogue of abbots is to be believed, ruled the monastery in the years 739 – 777 (MG., Scr. vol. XIII, p. 738). He is the same, as it seems, as that Aldbercht of Afternacae who is named by Lull, bishop of Mainz, in a letter of about the year 755 (MG., Epist. vol. III, p. 397). The rest is more doubtful. For some have said that Albercht came with Willibrord from England into Frisia; from which, since that happened in the year 690, it follows, if he really died in the year 777, that he lived more than a hundred years. They have also said that he was the same as the abbot Adalbert who in the year 714 signed the diploma by which the monastery of Susteren was handed over to St. Willibrord by Duke Pippin (cf. above, p. 443, note 2). But chiefly this has been placed in controversy, whether Albercht, abbot of Echternach, was the same as St. Adalbert who is honoured at Egmond (BHL. 33 – 36). It was affirmed by Alberdingk-Thijm (H. Willibrordus, p. 280 81; Der hl. Willibrord, p. 198), O. Holder-Egger (Ueber Adalbert von Egmond, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für aeltere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. XIII, p. 29-32; cf. MG., Scr. vol. XV, p. 700, note 3), C. Pijnacker Hordijk, Wat weten wij omtrent den heiligen Adalbert van Egmond, in Bijdragen voor vaderlandsche geschiedenis, ser. 4, vol. I, p. 145-74); it was denied by W. Moll (Kerkegeschiedenis, vol. I, p. 127, note 1) and A. Hauck (Krichengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. I3, p. 440, note 1), to whom it seems probable that Adalbert of Egmond is the same as the abbot Adalbert who signed the Susteren diploma, but not Albrecht, abbot of Echternach, who succeeded St. Willibrord. As the documents are some not ancient enough, others not clear, we dare to determine nothing certain.], successor of the venerable archbishop, after the sacred solemnities of the Masses [(s. m. s.) so 1b, 2b after correction, 2d1d2f; sacratissimarum sollemnia (solemnia 1a1, solempnia 1a2) 1a1a2chi, 2a1 first hand, 3ab, 4a, 6ab1; sacratissima mis. sol. 1e, 2a2, 6b2; sacratissimarum mis. sol. 2a1 corrected by another hand] and the honour due to God, wine is increased by a miracle. set about est adds 1cehi, 2a1 another hand, 3b, 4a, 6b2. feasting and rejoicing with the brothers; but in that eodem 1c. monastery no more wine was found than only two duo 2a1 corrected by another hand, 6a. flasks, of which one (q. u.) quorum unus 2a1 corrected by another hand was drunk epotatus 2a1 corrected by another hand; epo data 6a, 6b1; epo data 6b2. at the hour of the midday meal prandi 1a1 first hand, the other alter 2a1 corrected by another hand was reserved reservatus 2a1 corrected by another hand for the hour hora 1a2, 2d1d2. of supper. So after the evening melody, for the reverence of that eiusdem 2d1d2f; illius 6ab1b2. day, the brothers returned to the refectory [so 1a1c, 2a1a2, 3a, 4a, 6ab1b2, and first hand in 2b; in r. 1b, 2f; ad r. the others.], and after the sacred readings the aforesaid abbot addressed the brothers: "For it befits deleted by another hand in 2a1; omits 4a, 6b2; igitur 2d2. us omits 1a2., O venerable reverendi 2d1d2. fathers tres 1a2; fratres 6b1b2., to celebrate the festive days of our venerable fathers with spiritual joy and to indulge our bodies somewhat more loosely omits 6ab1b2. than the usual soluto 6a. rigour, not for the sake omits 1b. of luxury luxoriae 1a1 first hand; luxorie 1a2., but of charity (causa s. car.) s. cau/// car. 1c.. By no means would I have concealed celarem 2a1a2b. it from you, if I had had anything more in this monastery than this hunc 2a1 corrected by another hand single omits 1a1; solum 2a1 corrected by another hand flask flasconam 1c. which qui 2a1 corrected by another hand remained to us at the hour of the midday meal prandi 1a1 first hand. Yet God is powerful, through the prayers of his saints, to make this same one eadem 1b first hand; (h. e.) hunc eundem 2a1 corrected by another hand abound for us, to honour them and to gladden us, and (et … miracula) pietatis miraculo 2f. to show us, though unworthy, the miracles of his goodness piaetatis 1a1.; who once quandam 1b. through the blessing of St. Willibrord uuillib 1a1., our father patres 2a1 first hand, deigned to satisfy forty so here also 6b1b2. men from four flasks. Only let us drink bibemus 1e before correction what we have habeamus 1a2. with in 1c. thanksgiving in cum 1c. hope." A first and a second time all the brothers drank from the same eodem 2a1 corrected by another hand flask et adds 1a2b*ce, 2a1 another hand, 4a, 6b2.; it was found inventus 2a1 corrected by another hand by the server as full plenus 2a1 corrected by another hand as fuerat adds 6ab2b2. before. Hearing this, the abbot with the brothers busied himself to give thanks (a. g.) g. a. 2a1b. to God, and they drank biberunt itaque 1c. that night, rejoicing together congratulatione 1a1. in the divine clemency, with sobriety and gladness letitia 1a2., as much as they wished volebant 1b.. O happy father, who begets genuerat 1bc, 2a1a2bd1d2, 6a corrected; generavit 6b1b2. such a son, who was held worthy by God of such tale 1a1 first hand, 2a1 first hand, 6a. an heir (h. a D.) a D. h. 1a2.! In whom that blessing is fulfilled impleretur 2a1f; completur 1i. which is read in Deuteronomy: Blessed (Benedictus … tui) added in the lower margin 3a. are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb [Amen adds 1e. There follows in 1h the narrative of miracles edited below, p. 458. Explicit liber primus adds 1c; Explicit vita sancti Willibrordi (episcopi adds 4a) adds 1e, 2a1, 4a; Explicit vita sancti ac beatissimi Clementis Willibrordi archiep. et conf. adds 1i; Explicit vita s. Willebrordi ep. et conf. (et conf. omits 6b2) 6ab1b2; Finit vita s. Willebrordi ep. adds 4d1.]. Deut. 28, 3.

〈HOMILY〉

[32] As other churches Homily (present in the codices 1a1a2bcg, 2a1a2d1efg1g2, 3acc, 6a). [No heading in 1a1. Hom(elia) dicenda de nat. almi Willibrordi 1a2; Om(elia) de natale s. Willibrordi archiep. 1b; Omelia legenda in festivitate s. Wilbrordi ep. cuius supra 1c; Omelia dicenda die natalis (in natalis die 2a2) s. Willibrordi ep. et conf. (ep. et conf. omits 2a2) 2a1a2; XXXII. Omelia die natalis almi Wilbrordi dicenda 3a; Incipit sermo in natali eiusdem convenienti populo palam recitandus 6a.]. Although throughout the churches ȩcclesias 1a2. of the whole world it befits conveniat 1a2 corrected, 1bc, 2a1a2d1e, 3a, 6a. all the Christian people to celebrate the feasts of the saints, to praise their victories, to imitate their life imitare 1a2 et 2a1 first hand; (v. i.) omits 1b.; and since their sound has gone out (exivit … verba eorum) and the rest 2a1. into all the earth and their words to (in … eorum) the rest 2a2. the ends uines 1a2; i/mes 1a2 corrected of the world, they are to be sunt 1c, 2d1e, 6a. praised in all the earth with the harmonious voice omits 1a2. of all the living, yet in particular places, on account of the familiarity of dwelling together with any one of them and on account of the presence of the holy relics which have been granted condonate 1a1a2. for the solace of these or those inhabitants, they are honoured more familiarly among their own citizens with a certain special (s. q.) q. s. 6a. veneration aput 1a2.. Ps. 18, 5. glory in their own saints, So the city omits 6a. of Rome, head capud 2a1. of the world urbium 6a., rejoices in a certain way more specially in the most glorious triumphs of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Hence nations and peoples populorum turba 2d1e. run together to it eos 6a; (ad e.) eadem 1b; ad eandem 1b. daily cotidiae 1a; cottidie 1b. with devout service of heart, so that each one, with greater compunction of faith, may either bewail his crimes at aput 1a2. the blessed beatus 2a1 before correction apostles, or beg that an entrance be opened apperire 1a1, 3a; aperiri 1b. for him by a more abundant abund- 1b. hope of heavenly life. Milan, once an imperial city (o. c.) c. o. 2e, 6a., rejoices in St. Ambrose as defender. The Alps of Agaunum [so 1a1 first hand; Agaunaniae 1a1 corrected by another hand; Acaunumiae 1b; Accuniȩ 1a2; Agaumuniȩ 2a1; Agaununie 2a2; Agauniȩ 2a1 corrected by another hand, 6a; Agaunie 1c, 2d1e; Aquiniae 3a.] are exalted more happily by the blood of the holy Thebans Thebeorum 1a2b, 2d1e. than by their snowy niciali 1b; initiali 1b. height. More blessedly does fruitful Poitiers Pictavis 2d1e. exult in the relics of the blessed bishop Hilary Hilari 1a1 first hand than in the wrangling alteratione 1a2; alternatione 2a2. of sales and purchases, in which iniquity is often engaged versat 2a1a2.. What (Quid … laudabilis) omits 1a2. shall I say of you de 2a1a2; de te 1c another hand, 2d1e., city so also 2a1a2. of Tours Turonica 1b, 2a1d1e, 3a, 6a; Thuronica 2a2. loquar 1bc, 2d1, 2e corrected; loquitur 2e first hand, small indeed in walls (m. q.) q. m. 2a1a2. and contemptible [despectibilis 1b, 1c corrected, 2a1a2, 3a, 6a; despectabilis es 1c before correction, 2e; despicabilis es 2d1.], but great and praiseworthy by the patronage of St. Martin? Who would have visited adidierit 1a1; idierit 1a1 corrected; aderit 1a2; adiret 2d1; adiecerit 2e. you for your own sake omits 6a.? Is it not nisi 6a. on account of his most certain sacratissima 6a. intercessions that crowds of Christians flock to you (ad te c.) c. ad te 6a.? All the suburbs of the city urbis 2a2, but erased of Paris Parasiacȩ 1b first hand delight iocundantur 1b. in the magnificent aids of St. Dionysius or of St. Germanus, and celebrate caelebrant 1b. their festive [so 1a1 first hand, 1a2c, 2a1 first hand, 2d1f, 3a; festivitas 1b first hand, 6a; festivos the others.] days with a greater throng of peoples. All Champagne Canpania 1a1 first hand with its peoples, on account of Remedius Remigium 1a2b**, 3a, 6a., the venerable preacher, to

the city of Reims so also 1b; Romanam 1a1 post. corrected, 1b first hand; Remensem 1b, 2d1. hastens, bringing its vows to aput 1a2. him eam 1b, 2e. as to a present patron. Thus the divine clemency has provided for the whole world, giving to the several provinces provintiis 1a2, 3a. or peoples one in whom, as a special patron, each might rejoice gauderent 2d1.. so Echternach in St. Willibrord. But to us it has granted not the lowest aids of the most holy Willibrord Wilbrordi 1c; Wibrordi 3a; Willebrordi 2d1., but has conferred illustrious and glorious intercessions. Let us rejoice Gaudemus 1a1., dearest brothers, in the Lord and be glad with spiritual spiratali 1a1 first hand; speciali 2e. delight iocunditate 1b., who has granted us such a teacher of life, instructor of justice, author of our unanimity; who gathered (o. c.) c. o. 6a. us into this most sacred fold (s. o.) sacratissimo ovili 1c. and instructed us with the teaching of piety. Let all the people too rejoice with us, who today have run together cucurrit 2a1, 2e before correction. Here 3a ends, leaves having been lost. to the heavenly birthday of the most holy sancti 1c. father nostri adds 1c. and have been zealous to take part with pious devotion in the vigils of the apostolic man, and were busy [satagebat 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1c, 2d1 corrected by another hand, 2e; satagit 6a.] to stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the holy angels and of this omits 1b, 2e. most blessed beati 6a. bishop pontificiis 1a1.. Let no one, I beseech, doubt in faith, nor ne 1a1. hesitate about the bestowal of pardon, nor about the fruit [omits 6a; fluctu 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 1b first hand, 2a1; otherwise fletu, written above in 1a1 by another hand; luctu 1a1 corrected by another hand; otherwise fluctu adds 2a2, another hand in the margin.] and omits 6a. effect diffidat adds 6a; desperet adds 2d1. of a pious petition, who has granted us such a patron. He grants concedi 2a1a2; concedat 6a. us to be heard by his prayers praecibus 1a1., because the more confidently we pray depraecamur 1a1., the more quickly cicius 1a1 first hand we shall be heard. For faith Fide 1b. obtains impetrant 1b; impetrantur 1b. all things, as of this most holy man, whose festive day we celebrate cael- 1a1; cel- 2a1. today, we have most certain certissimam 1a2. examples before our eyes habeamus 1a2., who from his very infancy strove studuit 2e, 6a. to please God through faith. For he left dereliquid 1a2, 2a1d1. homeland, kindred cognatos Wattenbach. and friends with fervent faith for the love of God; he despised earthly things terra 2a1 first hand that he might acquire heavenly ones. Therefore he found great fruit of his labour (f. i.) i. f. 2a1a2., and converted many crowds of peoples to Christ, and (et … avertit) omits 2d1e. turned away very many of the pagans from the iniquity of error and, divine grace cooperating, made sons of wrath ire 1a2. to be sons of mercy misser- 1a1.. He shut the infernal regions et adds 6a., opens apperit 1a1; aperuit 2a1a2d1e, 6a. heaven celos 1c, 2e., travelled through very many nations, that he might lead all into the way of truth; nor did he spare himself [(se i.) so 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 2a1 first hand; semet ipso 2a2; sibimet ipsi 1a1 corrected by another hand; sibi ipsi 1b, 2a1 corrected by another hand, 2d1, 6a; sibi (tantum) 1c; ipsi (tantum) 2e.] dum adds 1c.: he approached so 1a1a2, 1b first hand, 2a1a2e; adiit 1c; adivit the others. fierce enim adds 6a. peoples, if perhaps he might find (c. i.) i. c. 1c. the purple crowns of martyrdom. Him God preserved for the salvation of many, so that he might be honoured honoraretur 1b, 1c before correction, 2a1a2, 6a. with the greater glory of preaching than if he alone were crowned with martyrdom omits 6a.. He rested in peace, who quia 1b, 6a. laboured in hope. He found eternal life (i. ae.) ae. i. 1c., who quia 1b, 6a. left reliquid 1a2. the temporal; taken from us, joined socius 1a1 first hand; est adds 2d1e. to the angels. May he help the monks; O most blessed beatissimae 1a1 before correction; beatissimȩ 2a1. priest of Christ, do not ne 1b. abandon us labouring from here on the first hand again in 2a2. on earth, but do not cease cessas 1a1a2, 1b et 1c before correction to help us from heaven with your prayers praecibus 1a1.. Your life among men was always intente adds 1a2, but at once deleted. proved for God; may your prayers praeces 1a1. before God be always intent for men. Your meditation was in the law of the Lord day and night; therefore like the palm you have flourished in the house domu 1a1 first hand of the Lord. Ps. 118, 97., Ps. 91, 13. Like the cedar cedros 1b first hand, 1c, 2e. of Lebanon you have multiplied your sons, who cry to you with the whole intention of their mind; deign to help them by pious intercession. Let us feel your help, most clement one, to be present omits 1b. to us, who press on most devoutly with your offices (a. q. t. d.) supplied by 1b.. O happy soul, which qui 1b first hand have left the labours of the world and with omits 2d1e. the manifold fruit of your sweat have entered the heavenly rest; you have multiplied the talents committed omits 6a. to you, you have received the promised rewards. You were faithful over a few things (fi. fu) fu. fi. 2a1a2d1e. on earth, you glory in heaven set over super 6a. many things. Matth. 25, 21. The joys of the Lord your God nostri 2d1e., which you always longed for, you have begun to have for ever. You, O father, we follow with continual praises; help axiliare 1a1. us so 1a a2, 1b first hand, 2a1a2d1; nobis 2a2 another hand, the others. with assiduous prayers praecibus 1a1.. We believe Craedimus 1a1. that in the presence of the Lord your God you can omits 6a. obtain all things that you have asked [so 1a1a2, and first hand in 1b, 2a2a2, 6a; // poscis 1c; poposceris 2a1 corrected by another hand, 6a corrected; possis 2e; poscis the others.], since you were able omits 2a1a2. in our nostri 6a; potuisti adds 2a1a2. presence presentia 1a2. to effect such great miracles through his grace. You now vero 2d1e. a citizen cives 1a1 et 1b first hand; ques 1a2; laus 2a1a2. of the angels, you a companion of the saints angelorum Wattenbach., you, glad with them, will sing a new song: As we have heard, so also have we seen. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord: for ever and ever they will praise you (l. te) laudabunte 1a1.. Ps. 47, 9., Ps. 83, 5. And: The God (Et: V.) omits 2d1e. of gods will be seen in Sion. Ps. 83, 8. The blessed omits 2d1e. vision of whom is full felicity, as the Truth himself testifies in the gospel (in e. t.) t. in e. 1a2., saying: But he who loves me is loved diligetur 1bc, 2a1 corrected, 2a2d1e, 6a; diligeretur 2a1 first hand by my father, and I omits 6a. love diligam 1bc, 2d1e, 6a. him, and will manifest myself to him. Ioh. 14, 21. In whose most sweet love this saint lived in the world, therefore he rejoices in his sight in the heavens caelo 1a2bc, 2a1a2d1e, 6a.. but they are to imitate him. See, dearest brothers, how great a glory it is to follow God. This man for the love of Christ despised conptempsit 1a1. his homeland, chose pilgrimage, made little of the riches of the world, loved poverty voluntarily voluntariae 1a1; voluntariȩ 2a1a2.. And we have known what honour he afterwards had among men, but better omits 2a1a2. is the glory which he eternally possesses among the angels. May the examples (n. e.) e. n. 6a. of this most holy teacher rouse us from the torpor of sloth, may they make facient 1a1, 1b first hand us with brave mind contend certare 6a. for the heavenly life and despise dispicere 1a1a2. temporal things and omits 2a1. desire eternal ones, and ut 1b. fulfil in ourselves what we preach in him. We praise the contests of his (l. i.) i. l. 1b. labour labores 1a1; et labores 6a; omits 2d2e.; let us correct our ways in per 6a. his added by 1b. footsteps, so that we who follow the examples of his holiness may also obtain the rewards of beatitude, through him illum 6a. who crowned him eum 6a. and has helped [so 1a1 first hand, 1b first hand, 2a1a2d1, 6a; adiuvit 1a1 corrected, 1c, 2e; adiuuaut 1a2; adiuvabit 1b.] us, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns in everlasting glory. Amen. Here ends [(E. l. p. f.) omits 2d1e; E. l. p. prosaice gradientem (gradiens 1b*) sermone de vita ac virtutibus obituque sancti Willibrordi archiepiscopi 1b; E. omelia Alchuini levite 1c; E. sermo Alcuini proferendus in natale sancti Willebrordi 6a.] book one, happily omits 2a1a2..

BOOK II (METRICAL LIFE)

Edited from the codices Stuttgart Vitae SS. 1 (= 1a1), Würzburg Mp. th. f. 34 (= 1a2), St. Gall 565 (= 1b), Trier Library of the seminary 75 (= 1c), Alençon 14 (= 6a), and from the fragment which the Vienna codex 808 preserves (= 1d). Cf. above, p. 419, 421.

Here begin (I. c. l. s.) omits 1c. the chapters caepituli 1a1 first hand, caepitula 1a1 corrected; capitul 1b; capitula 6a. of book two de eodem servo Dei adds 6a..

I 6a has no numbers.. That [(Quod … venisset) Q. b. W. de Britannia et (after correction) H. venit in F.; a Pippino Francorum rege suscipitur 1c.] blessed Willibrord Willibrord 1a1; Willebrordus 6a and so thereafter. came from Britain Brictania 1a1; Brittannia 1a2b, 6a corrected or Ireland to Francia.

II. How the same man of God advanced profecisset 6a; proficiscebatur 1c; rem adds 1b. in the work opem 1b. of preaching praedicanti 1b..

III. How [(Quomodo … ordinaretur) Q. P. viro Dei in opere predicandi proficiente e. Ch. f. R. misit 1c.] Pippin Pipinus 6a and so thereafter., duke of the Franks Franchorum 1b and so thereafter., sent the same servant of Christ to Rome, that he might be ordained archbishop.

IV. That it was shown 〈so 1b; omits 1a1a2, 6a; ostensum est 1c.〉 in a vision to the most blessed apostolic omits 6a. Pope omits 1c. Sergius (a. S.) S. a. 1c. that blessed Willibrord Willibrord 1a1. had come to Rome, and (et … accipere) ab eo c. o. h. suscipiendus 1c. that erased in 1a2. he ought to receive suscipere 1b; revelatum est adds 6a. him with all honour.

V. How the same blessed pope (il. id. b. p.) id. b. p. il. 6a; (b. p.) p. b. 1c. treated tractasset 6a. him honourably honorificȩ 1b., and omits 1a1. imposed imposuit 1a2; imposuisset 6a. on him, when ordained, the name Clement, and enriched ditavit 1c. him with gifts.

VI. That the man of God returned added above the line 6a. into Francia Frantiam 1a1a2. and urgently preached the gospel of Christ (e. Ch.) ȩuuangelii lucem 6a. to all.

VII omits 1a1.. That he tried to preach praedicari 1a1. to the Frisians and the Danes Danis 1a2 corrected by another hand, 6a..

VIII VII. 1a1.. That he baptized babtizavit 1a2. some of et 1b. them (b. ex i.) ex i. b. 6a. on the way, and, working some aliquod 6a. signs [signorom 1a1 before correction; signonorum 1a2 before correction; (a. s.) signum aliquod 1c.], returned in adds 1c. to Francia Frantiam 1a2..

IX VIII. 1a1 and so on.. That Carl Karolus 1a 2, 6a; Carolus 1b**, 1c., duke of the Franks, subjected the nation of the Frisians Fris- 1c and so thereafter. to himself.

X. That Willibrord returned to preach to the Frisians and converted them to the faith of Christ christianam 1c..

XI. That an episcopal episcolis 1a2. see sedes 1bc, 6a. was given him in the fortress of Utrecht, and that he disposed presbyters prespiteros 1a2. through the places.

XII. That he hastened most devoutly to preach (p. f.) predicavit 1c. the word of God Domini 6a. through all places.

XIII. That not all the things which the same bishop did were sunt 1c, sint 1c corrected to be narrated inenarranda 1a1; enumeranda 1c. in verse carmine 1c..

XIV. That as the servant of God was breaking (c. f.) confrigens famulus 6a. a certain fane (fanum … laesurae) quoddam fa. gl. petitur, sed Deo def. nullam lesuram 1c., he was struck est adds 6a. with a sword by a certain man on the head (in c.) edili 6a., but, God defending deffendente 1a1 before correction, 1a2; (D. d.) omits 6a., he felt nothing of hurt laessurae 1a1a2; lesurae 1b, 6a. from omits 1b. the stroke of the one striking.

XV. That a certain man who omits 1a2. had cursed the servant of God perished on the following day.

XVI. How by praying he had brought forth produxerit 1c, 6a. a spring from the dry earth tellurȩ 1b..

XVII. How from his blessing one unum 6a; omits 1b. flask flascuna 1a 1a2; flasco// 1c corrected; vasculum 6a. of wine sufficed sufficerent 1a1a2. for twelve poor men paupepres 1a1..

XVIII. Likewise omits 1c. how from his blessing wine grew crescebat 1c. in a cask.

XIX. Likewise omits 1c. how from the blessing of the same man omits 1c. of God omits 1c. forty men drank biberunt 1c. to satiety sacietatem 1b, 6a. from four small flasks flasconibus 1b, 6a..

XX. Of a certain insolent rich man, who refused noluit 6a. to drink with the servant of God and afterwards, wishing to, could not, until he had been absolved by him.

XXI. How in the city of Trier by praying he removed the imminent imminentem 1a2. plague from the handmaids of Christ.

XXII. That he freed liberaverit 1c, 6a. the whole totam etiam 1a1. house of a certain father of a household from a most harsh temptation of the demon.

XXIII. That the man omits 6a. of God omits 6a. baptized Pippin omits 1c., son of Carl Karoli 6a; Caroli 1b**c., duke of the Franks, and had foretold to him a future kingdom.

XXIV. Of the character and of omits 6a. the death (m. et de o.) o. et m. 1c. of the holy father.

XXV. That as the brothers were burying the father, also in 1b; viderunt 6a. the sarcophagus, which had been shorter than his body (b. f. c. e.) c. e. f. b. 1c., is suddenly lengthened protelatura 6a. to a fitting measure.

XXVI. And that the fragrance fraglantia 1a2b**. of a wonderful odour sprinkled asperserit 1a2bc 6a. the whole church.

XXVII. That, God working, signs (D. o. s.) s. D. o. 1c. are customarily done up to now where the holy man (s. v.) v. s. 1c; in adds 6a. rests in the body.

XXVIII. That a light is often sepe 1b. seen above the bed where St. Willibrord died omits 1b..

XXIX. That there also (i. q.) ibidem 1c. the fragrance flagratia 1a2 first hand; fraglantia 1b**. of a wonderful odour is perceived at times.

XXX. That a certain paralytic paralytica 1b. woman, praying at the body of the holy man, was suddenly healed.

XXXI. That a certain youth was healed est adds 1b*. of a most grievous languor at his body (s. ad e. c.) ad e. c. s. est 1c, 6a..

XXXII. Of a certain deacon, who perished by a wretched death on account of the theft which he had done in the church ecclaesia 1a1; ȩcclesia 1a2. of the man of God (v. D.) sancti v. 6a..

XXXIII. Of Wilgils Wlsigo 6a., father patre 1bc, 6a. of St. omits 1b. Willibrord, bishop omits 1c., and his honourable life in the secular saeculiri 1a1 before correction habit. XXXIV. adds 1bc. And how his wife uxore 1b first hand had seen dreams vividisset 1a2; viderit 1c; XXXIV. adds 1a1.. And how quomodo 6a. he illȩ 1a2. had left the world dimiserit 1c1., and omits 1c. that he grew old in the solitary life consenuerit 1c., and where (et u.) & bi 1a1 first hand he rests in the body.

Here end (E. c.) omits 1a1 c. the chapters capitula 1b, 6a..

Here begins 1a1 omits the heading. the preface prefatio 1a2; prafatio 1b. of book two [(I. p. l. s.) I. prologus l. s. in vitam s. Willibrordi episcopi 1c; I. liber secundus de vita sancti Willibrordi confessoris, quem Alcuinus metro studens composuit 6a.].

Behold, I have obeyed your wishes, venerable priest, Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. III, 3, 3: venerande sacerdos (Manitius). Because my heart burns with love of you, [so all the codices; vero Canisius and the other editors. Cf. the preface of book I: Tamen vestris orationibus… tuis parui pater sancte praeceptis.] Running before so 1a2c, 6a; pcurrens 1a1; 1b omits the whole verse., in swift titles, the renowned deeds eius 1c corrected. Of the great bishop Wilbrord so also 1a1; Willibrordi 1a2b. and omits 6a. kindly prelate. [5] Although my speech, clattering with a hoarse murmur, Be inferior to his outstanding egreius 1a1; egregius 1a2, 1b first hand merits, Yet our faith has brought forth to the temple, O Wilbrord Willibrorde 1a2b., priest of Christ Christe 1b first hand, Your small mites; Which I ask you to receive clemently with kindly mind, [10] And for my crimes ask, I pray praecor 1a1., pardon. My gifts are not worthy of your merits, O prelate, Who reign rich in the citadel of the highest heaven, Had not the loving God in the temple praised the widow Bringing ferentes 1a2. small mites, who (v. q.) viduamque 1a2, 1b first hand gave her all. Cf. Luc. 21, 2. [15] These two small mites of differing weight, Holy sanctȩ 1a1 corrected by another hand; sanctae 1b. father, I bring as a suppliant to your temple templo 1a1 first hand. But the first pius 1a2. coin Froben emended it; haec 1a1a2b, 6a; hec 1c. keeps retinens 6a. its stamp nomisma 1a1 corrected by another hand; nummissa 1b first hand, 1c; nommisma 6a. with plain figures, But the later now gleams Pierian. There are those who in omits 1a1a2c, 6a. the sacred law are ordered to bring hair and skins of goats Cf. Exod. 25, 3, 4; 35, 6, 7. [20] As a burden onus 1c. to the holy dwelling of God Cf. Exod. 25, 3, 4; 35, 6, 7.; Yet the holy law of the Thunderer did not order these hoc 6a. to be spurned (h. s.) hosperni 1a1 first hand, But that the pious mind should gratefully grates 6a. receive what (p. q.) piaque 1a2. it brought; So you do not seek grandiloquent treasures, best father, But my breast warm with love of you so all the codices; vero the editors; cf. above 1..

Here ends the preface praefatio 1a2b. of book two (l. s.) omits 6a; (E. p. l. s.) Finit prologus 1c..

Here begins book (liber… Caliopi) narratio 6a. two secundius 1a2. on (de… Caliopi) omits 1c. the life of St. Willibrord, archbishop, the outstanding work of the lord sancti 1a2. Albinus, our omits 1b. best master, Calliope's [Caliopiae 1b; Calliopici conjectured Casp. Barth, Advers. p. 292, "where, relying on this place, he contends that Alcuin was that grammarian Calliopius who revised the comedies of Terence and Plautus." Wattenbach.].

Book 1, ch. 5. ch. 1. ch. 4. ch. 5.

[1] There had come from the western occiduus 1a2. bounds of the world A certain man mighty in virtue, full of divine love, Shrewd in speech utque 6a. and watchful in mind, and sic 6a. fervent in action, To you, in the times of Pippin, happy Francia Frantia 1a2.; [5] Whom fruitful mother Britain Brictania 1a1; Bri/tannia 1a2 corrected; Brittannia 1b; Britania 1c. had already borne for you, But learned Ireland nourished with sacred studies, Wilbrord Willibrordus 1a1, 1a2 before correction by name, kindly by his living merits. Cf. Sedulius, Carm. pasch. I, 103: meritis vivacibus Enoch (Huemer). Who, seeking foreign lands, led by the love of the Lord, Desiring to scatter the heavenly seeds of perpetual life [10] Where before the dweller of the word had been fieret 1a1a2, 1b first hand, 1c. rare so also 6a.. Whom mox adds 1b*. Pippin, exulting cunctis adds 1b, deleted by the corrector, the honourable ruler of the Franks, Receives suscepit 1a1 first hand, and ad 1b; adque 1b*. commanded him to water the thirsting fields rugra 1a1 first hand Through the several places now with heavenly dew, And strengthened the servant of God with honourable aids.

ch. 6.

[2] He, full of God, with Christ, light from light, Now whatever cities he traversed with pious steps, Or fortresses, cottages, or crossroads competa 1a2b, 6a., always everywhere [Cf. Sedulius, Carm. pasch. III, 23 – 24: salutiferis incedens gressibus urbes Oppida, rura, casas, vicos, castella peragrans (Huemer).]

He scattered the rays of the gospel light through the breasts 5] Of many, until the pious flame [flumina 6a.] of faith shone forth [relaxit 1a2; duxit 6a. And blind night mox 1b. departed descessit 1a1 first hand, discessit 1a1 corrected by another hand far from that illa 1b*. world urbe 1b., And daily cottidieque 1b. the profane fanes of the idols fall, And Christ resounded in the mouth of the faithful people.

ch. 6.

[3] While the renowned inclitus 6a and so thereafter. author Pippin had seen The Church of Christ grow, and the venerable gift of faith, Rejoicing greatly in such a teacher doctori 1b first hand of salvation, And thinking it better to send to Rome more quickly citius 1a2bc. [5] The chief herald of the faith, so that him The apostolic shepherd might confirm in the first order, That he might be prelate and highest priest of the church ȩcclesiae 1a2..

ch. 6.

ch. 7.

[4] The pontifical summit, the most worthy heir of Peter, Holy Sergius then held the apostolic hall, A good and prudent man, second to none in piety. [Anthologia lat. I2, ed. Riese, p. 8 (I, 2): Vir magnus bello, nulli pietate secundus (Dümmler).] On the fourth quartum 1a2. day before, a vision was made to him by night, [5] Before the illustrious man had come to him at Rome. An angel coming from heaven had foretold to him: "Behold, a guest dear to God hastens to this city, Sent by the duke of the Franks with cum 1c. an ample gift. Him do you te 1a2, 6a. remember at least saltem 1c. to treat with pious mind, [10] And soon you will consecrate so also 1b. him bishop with highest honour; Whatever gifts the priest shall desire, let him take from you also. He joins to God added by another hand 1a2. many thousands of peoples." The angel, having said these things, returned to the hall of heaven.

ch. 7.

And treated the servant of God omits 1b first hand with kindly mind; As he had been ordered, he readily prumptus 1a1 first hand fulfilled all things, And consecrated him pium 6a. bishop with great honour, [5] And ordered him to be called by the paternal patria 1b. name Clement, And whatever the saint asked petivit 1b; p&tit 1b*. for himself, he handed over to him, Furnishing prestans 1a2; prestat 6a. him gratanter adds 6a. with very many gifts of the holy saints.

ch. 8.

Of the Franks, coming strengthened with the highest gift; And the whole people, rejoicing (t. g. p.) p. t. g. 1c., then receives accepit 1a1 first hand, 1a1. him, Desiring to drink aurire 1a1 first hand the streams of honey-flowing melliflua 1b. salvation; [5] Which the outstanding egreius 1a2. father prius 6a. had freely bestowed on all, Watering the breasts of all with the heavenly dew of Christ; And wherever the pious priest by chance was coming, With God's help, he plucked capiebat 6a. the pleasant fruits Of the catholic katholicae 6a; (catholicae … rura) omits 1b. faith, until he had filled the cities [10] With the knowledge of God, the villages, and towns, the countryside.

ch. 9.

[7] Nor hec 1b first hand content with these bounds of the Franks, but trying To scatter spergere 1b. beyond the seeds of the divine word, Paulinus Nolanus, XV, 20: divini semine verbi (Manitius). To the nations of the Frisians, held captive by ancient error, Or to the Danes dantis 1b., a people very fierce through the ages secla 1a1.; [5] Which quos 1bc then cum 1c; tunc ed. he could not haut 1a2; non 1c, 6a., because those nations had indeed Wicked caelestes 1a1; cȩlestes 1a2; scelestes 1b. kings ita (id e.illae) 1a1 a2b, 6a; illi ed., convert to the gift of faith. [Alcuin names the kings of the Frisians Rabbod and of the Danes Ongendus, book I, ch. 9.]

ch. 9.

ch. 10.

ch. 12.

ch. 13.

[8] But God Dominus 1b first hand almighty had granted him some souls From those very nations, and aet 1a2. he worked certain wonders Through his servant proprium adds 1b* above the line quedam 1a2.; who, returned reversi 6a. in peace, Looking to the people of the Lord in these regions, [5] While the door ianuas 1b*. of perpetual salvation, Christ opening it, Was cum 6a. open; but always everywhere with pious admonitions He strengthened all. Pippin, completing the times Of the present life, leaving relinquit 1b*. his kingdoms to Charles Karolo 1c, 6a..

ch. 13.

[9] Who soon nobly ruled the royal regalis 1a2 before correction reins, Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. IV, 4, 19: ita rexit habenas (Manitius). Enlarging the bounds, overcoming foreign nations With triumphs, and also conquered the Frisians in war, And brought iron-clad ferata 1a2 first hand chariots carpentia 1b first hand over them, Cf. II Reg. 12, 31; I Parat. 20, 3. [5] And from their hands also took the reins of tribute.

ch. 13.

[10] Then the evangelical man Wilbrord Willibrordus 1a2b., returning, and to them Bearing the words of life, dipped tincxit 1a1. in sacred baptism Those whom the holy man first imbued with the kindly gifts of faith; And light arose for the people long sitting In the shadow of death Cf. Matth. 4, 16; Luc. 1, 79.; [5] now Christ the true sun everywhere Shone forth, the black darkness suddenly yielding.

ch. 13.

ch. 12.

[11] Then a see sedes 1b*; sed 6a. was given to the bishop in the city of Utrecht, And the whole nation of the Frisians together is subjected so also 6a. to him, That it might learn miscēr& 6a. from in 1b. the great master the teachings of the faith. Soon temples built to the eternal God flourished, [5] And omits 6a. many faithful teachers were placed through the places, To rule the people, to teach the words of life, To give baptism, to feed with the bread of heaven, Lest the hungry people should return fasting from him, Cf. Matth. 15, 32; Marc. 8, 2. But that Christ might be for all abundant drink and food (p. c. e.) c. e. p. 1c..

[12] This work, this omits 1a1; hic 6a. had always been to the illustrious prelate, That he might bring very many gains of souls to the Thunderer sanctis multa ferens manibus utrisque talenta adds 1c. And ut 6a. freely meet occurret 1a1 first hand the lord returning to his servants, Cf. Matth. 25, 14 sqq. Bearing in both hands the multiplied (Multiplicata … talenta) omits 1c. talents. [5] Therefore he goes round the folds mandras 1b. with watchful protection (v. t.) vigilat utamine 1b; vigil hoc tutamine 1b*., That he might increase the fold of Christ with deserving names; And wherever the pious herald of salvation went, The grace of the High-throned always went before him as he went, Granting effect to the deeds and words of the teacher.

ch. 14.

[13] XXIII. 1a1 and so on.. And through his servant he worked very many miracles, All of which it has not now pleased me to run through in verse, But briefly to touch some with a hastening plectrum, And to prefix titles titul 6a. to the deeds with a few muses, [5] And to send my reader to the first, the prose; There he will find now more fully all the deeds Of the great bishop, the zeal, the teachings of the master, The lineage progeniam 1b first hand, life, character and kindly mind mentesque benignas 1b., And the heart always devoted to God at all hours, [10] Meditating in the sacred laws by night and by day.

ch. 14.

[14] XV. 1b and so on.. Behold, the prelate dear to God, at a certain time, Was trying by himself to break a certain so also 6a. fane. Seeing this, the keeper custus 1a1 first hand of the idol, kindled in anger, Struck the bishop's head capud 1a1 first hand with a sharp sword; [5] But (Sed … almus) Sed vir precipuus nec sensit vel leve vulnus 1b. the kindly man felt nothing nih 1a1 first hand, nihil 1a1 corrected by another hand of a wound (vir vu.) vu. vir. 1a1 first hand from the stroke. Whom his companions wished to kill at once; Yet the gentle priest snatched him from death. Who Qu 1a2., seized, soon paid at last denuo 1a2bc, 6a. wretched miseros 1a2. penalties, And after three days ended his bitter life. [10] And thus Christ freely avenges his saints.

ch. 15.

Where a nearer proprior 1a1, 6a; prop//ior 1a2 corrected path led him through the crops, With his companions too, which a greedy rich man held. Whom the keeper custus 1a1 first hand of the crops segitum 1a1 first hand, 1a2. wished to forbid prohibire 1a1. the track, [5] Crying out very many abuses convitia 1a2bc. at the saint in words, And also increased the reproaches with dire deeds. He turned aside devertit 1a1 first hand his way, where the public pupplica 1a2; publica 1bc, 6a. road shows itself. Soon the unhappy mocker perishes periit 1a1 first hand, 1b first hand on the next day, Now nam 1c. because he did not fear to curse the servant of Christ.

ch. 16.

[16] While the pious dweller occola 6a. had hastened to scatter the divine Seeds of heavenly life through many lands, He came where the infertile form of the soil near the shores Of the sea litore 1b first hand infȩcundas 1b. produces nothing but sterile stereles 1a1 first hand; sterilis 1b first hand sands arrenas 1c; arenas 6a.; [5] Where no wave of sweet water was found for the thirsty. The holy man, desiring to succour his weary sanctis 1b. companions, Had ordered that they should make a pit within the tents tectoria 1b.. Which done, the prelate had shut himself alone within, And with bended knees poured out bitter tears [10] Before God; which (d. q.) dulcemque 1b; dulcem quo 1b*. soon, however, earned sweet water (s. u.) secunda 6a.. The earth, before dry, suddenly brought forth a spring; From which the companions drank and carried with them As much as the way begun cȩpta 1b. through the sterile stereles 1a1 first hand; sterilis 6a. fields required.

ch. 17.

[17] XXVI. 1a1 again.. There met 〈 〉ccurrere 1a2. the servant of God by chance fonte 1a1. three so also 6a. times four, Wretched men now clothed in rags (I. m. p.) Nam m. p. 1b first hand, 1c; panniculis m. 1b*. and in need of bread pannis 1a2 before correction; Whom when the pious priest saw, moved with pity: "Bring my flask," he said (d. f.) f. d. 1a1., "bring it, servants, [5] And pour it illum 1a1. out for the men miscete 1b.; may the most bountiful largissime 1b. blessing of Christ Make it suffice faciet 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1c first hand for them all, I believe." The crowd drank exulting, as much as each wished volebant 1b. for himself; Yet the flask was full of better Falernian.

ch. 18.

[18] XXVIII. 1a1.. The venerable guest had come to a certain cell. All the affairs of the church being now duly performed,

And giving to the brothers in the usual manner the commanded [so 1a1 first hand, 1a2, 1b first hand (as it seems); mandatam 1a1 corrected by another hand; mandat tum 1c corrected; mandata 1b, 6a.] greeting salute 1b, 6a., Looking over perspexit 6a. all the seats of the sacred cell; [5] Entering also the cellars with a few companions, In which quae 1c corrected a single cask tonna 6a. held scarcely a little paruum 1b first hand wine, Which the servant of Christ blessed with his honourable staff, Which the saint was always accustomed to carry in his hands. But on the following sequentem 1a1. night noctem 1a1 corrected by another hand, wonderful to tell, the keeper, [10] Remaining alone in the building, soon saw the wine grow, Until the cask tonna 6a. was filled with honey-flowing nectar. This he joyfully (Hoc … silenter) Retulit hoc furtim letus patri venerando 6a. reported silently to the venerable father patri 1a1 corrected by another hand, 6a.; To whom cu 1a2. the pious prelate had given commands precepta 1a2. to keep silence tacenti 1b first hand Until the day of his death, unwilling to seek querere 1b. praise for himself.

ch. 19.

[19] XXVIII. 1a1.. There was among the people a man, a generous host to travellers so also 6a. hostes 1a1 first hand, Whose hospitality the outstanding prelate presul 1a2. was often sepius 1b. Accustomed to enter, when he came into those parts. Behold, coming venit 6a. one day, the man had been nothing foreknowing prescius 1b. before eius 1b*. [5] Of his arrival adventans 1c.; wherefore he had no cups of wine, The dear master suddenly arriving. The father, recognizing this, ordered to be brought to him the four Flasks flasconas 1a1 first hand, 1c first hand, 6a; floscones 1b first hand, small alike, which the boys were accustomed to carry with them Through the places; he blessed them and said: [10] "Now pour out miscite 1a2; miscete 1b, 6a. quickly sit 1b first hand; quidem 1b*; (m. c.) cito m. 1c.. The blessing of Christ Will increase augebat 1a2 before correction the wine for us, I believe, with kindly goodness." So it was and was done factu 1a2b.. Perhaps [fosan 1a1 first hand; iam adds 1a1a2b; ///// bis 1c; (f. b. e. v.) viginti bis satiati 6a; iam bis simul e. v. Mabillon, Wattenbach, Dümmler.], behold, twice simul 1b*. twenty Men were guests (namque … libentes) sunt ibi convivae de vino presulis almi 6a., drinking the wine; For all of these the drink sufficed Fufficit 1a2. through the gift of Christ.

ch. 20.

[20] XVIIII. 1a1.. Weary passus 6a., the servant of the Lord was making his beloved journey, Desiring to water the broad sown fields with ethereal aetheris 1a1 before correction; atheriis 1b. showers. The pious prius 1a1, 1a2 before correction prelate presul 1a2; omits 6a, but adds nequam above the line. enters the meadows of a certain rich man, To rest a little modicam 1a1 first hand time with his weary lassam 1a1. companions reguiescere 1a2 before correction. [5] The green [so 1a1a2, 1b before correction, 1c; vir// dis 1b corrected; (v. et a. p.) abigitque virentibus herbis 6a. For the barbarous viridis the editors from Canisius on wrote virgis; vir dis, "that is, dives", Wattenbach conjectured, Dümmler accepted it.] man began to beat caedere 1a2. the horses and to drive them pellere 1b*. from the meadows. Whom the pious priest addresses with soothing speech: "Cease, I pray, now to drive us from your meadows, But rather come as a guest to our feast And drink with us; let us also be always friends." [10] The rich man, proud with furious furiosi 1a2; furiose 1b first hand mind, answered: "I do not want your feast, I refuse recusso 1a2 first hand, 1b; -o another hand over an erasure in 1a 2. to drink with you." At once the prelate snatched the word from the voice of the speaker: "If you refuse to drink with me, then do not drink, I pray quesso 1a1 first hand." These things said, the servant of the Lord had gone on further ultra 1a1 corrected by another hand, [15] And the wicked rich man went back to his own proprium 1a2. house repadavit 1a2.. Whom suddenly thirst inflames with excessive heat. Raging, he asked his servants famulo 6a. to mix him wine, But receiving the cup, he could sip nothing. His thirsting stomach was burning (si. st.) stomachum si. 1a2., but the cups of Bacchus [20] He spat out, and semper adds 1a1a2c. all of him was burning with panting anchelis 1a1 first hand; anhelus 1a2 before correction flames. Nor could any physician relieve the trouble, Until the wretched man himself [(miser … almi) suum facinus cognovit aperte sedulo compulsus nimiae sitis anxietate pontificis sancti reditum persaepe rogavit 6a.] recognized his wicked fault And that he had paid luisset 1a2b. the torments from the saying dicto 1b*. of the servant of God. Wherefore quo propter 1a2. he longed obtabat 1b. for the return of the kindly prelate. [25] The old man himself had come, when another year had come. Whom the wretched man met, confessing his bitter penalty; Whom the pious man forgave whatever he had committed against him And with his own hand had held out perrexerat 1a1 first hand drink to him so 1a2b*c; sibi 1a1; ipse 1b first hand; (p. i.) porrexit eidem 6a.. He, at once healed, leaving his loathing far behind relinquit 6a., [30] Receiving the cup, washed himself expunged in 1b, added above the line in 1c, omits 6a; ex 1a2. with full mouth protulit 1a1, 1a2 before correction.

ch. 21.

[21] XX. 1a 2. There is an ancient city, powerful, ample with walls and towers turibus 1b first hand Cf. Verg., Aen. I, 531: Terra antiqua, potens armis (Dümmler)., Trier, and also et adds 1a1. surrounded with sacred cells; In which together a crowd of pious peoples Keep vigil in the praises of the Lord divinis 6a. by night -que omits 6a. and day (n. d.) d. n. 1a2.. [5] Among these had been a cell of sacred sisters, Whom suddenly a bitter acerva 1a2, 1b first hand plague shook quas fuit 1a2. exceedingly; Through which (p. q.) omits 6a. final death snatched many multas 1c, 6a, more fittingly. from this life, Some lay half-dead iacere 1a2. in long pain [torquere 1a2 at first, but deleted, and the first hand adds in the margin: dolore.]. But the terror of death was excessive and omits 6a. the same for all. [10] Hope was in the servant of Christ; and he was called With tears to succour quickly succurre 1b first hand their wearied confessis 1b first hand affairs. Cf. Ovidius, Met. XV, 632: miseris succurrere rebus (Dümmler). But that pious (At p.) ocius 6a after correction father fulfilled the vows of the sisters By coming; now kindly hope did not deceive refellit 6a. them, But by the prayers praecibus 1a1. of the saint the bitter plague acerva 1a2, 1b first hand; (m. p. a.) p. m. dira 6a. soon withdrew, [15] And they render praise to the Lord for their safe life.

ch. 22.

[22] XXI. 1a1.. The whole tecta 1b; nota 6a. house of a certain father, for a long ulto 1b first hand time temporis 1a1., Is often harassed vexantur 1b*. by the onset of the black demon doemonis 1a2.; And the dire spirit with various terrors Tormented it, and no longer only with vain phantasm fantasmate 1a2., [5] But st 6a before correction; at 6a corrected did much harm by manifest public publice 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1bc. deeds (p. g.) cladibus illi 6a., Many times multotius 1b first hand; multociens 1c. with hands snatching [so 1a1 first hand, 1a2b, 1c first hand; raptas 1a1 corrected; raptos 1c corrected; rapiens 6a.] both garments and foods (v. c.) vesteque cibosque 1a2. Throwing incipiens 1b; incutiens 1b*; iniecit 6a. them into the flames; an infant lying lucentem 1a1 first hand at night Between the embraces (amplexus … parentum) omits 1c. of its parents the dire force had taken, Striving to throw mitere 6a. it, wailing, into the burning pyre piram 1b first hand, 6a.; [10] But it was scarcely snatched ē raptus 1b*. from death by the hands of its own. No priest could heal this plague, Until the servant of God omits 1a1. himself, asked by the father, Purged this plague with holy scis 1a2. prayers, and to them illi// 1b. Had sent miserant 1a2 before correction water blessed benedicta 1b first hand under the name of Christ. [15] And the prelate presul 1a2., foreknowing things, had also ipsi 1b*; (p. a.) predixit aperte 6a. foretold That that old house would first be consumed consumenda 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1 c. by the enemy With flames: "Let not the fire, I ask, terrify you; You are building for yourself better dwellings of desired safety; Which que 1a2. remember quickly to fortify with the blessed spring. [20] Afterwards hic 6a., God granting it, you will be free of the plague of the serpent seruientis 1b first hand, And your whole house will rejoice letetur 6a. with you, beloved." All the father's words are soon fulfilled in order; From so also 1b. then on no such temptation touched the house, But the dweller remained in it well secure.

ch. 23.

[23] XXII. 1a1. This 〈 〉ste 1a2. holy man of God had foretold future things beforehand, Which after the outcome eventu 1a1a2b; eventum 1c. of events now he will prove probavit 1c. true. [Cf. lib. I, c. 23: quae post rerum eventus vera probavit, et Sulp. Sev., Vita S. Martini, c. 5, 3.] And now namque 1b, 6a. he dipped tincxit 1a1. in sacred sacre 1b first hand baptism Pippin Pipinum 1c, 6a. by name, born Of Duke du//cis 1b. Carl Karoli 6a., as the father desired; [5] Of whom the seer vates 1b*, 6a. foretold such things to his disciples: "This infant will be more exalted than all the other Dukes of the Franks whom the long ages saecla 1a1 corrected by another hand; secla 1b first hand have borne. He will rule regit 1a1a2b. this empire, happy, happily, Extending the bounds with great triumphs on this side and that." [10] There is no need to show by our Camenae What is celebrated celebratur 1b. in the whole world by true speech.

ch. 24.

[24] 1d has this chapter.. This 〈 〉ir 1a2. man of God was omits 1d. patient, moderate modoratus 1a1., honourable, Outstanding in character and vigorous strennuus 1c. in every action, Pious in heart, gentle to the humble humilis 1d. and rigid to the proud, A comforter to the wretched, 〈and omits 1a1a2d, 6a; added by another hand in 1b*c.〉 poor pauper 6a. for himself, rich for the needy. [5] Who, after, perfected in the merits of life in years, The pious scius 1d. priest had completed twice eight octona 1b*. lustra, And three per 6a. times four months, now in the month, now the second iam erased in 1a1. of November novembris 1b*.

On the eighth octonis 1a2cd, 6a. before the Ides, he departed to the hall of heaven, Joined to the angelic companies coetibus 1a2., with heavenly hymns hymnis 1d. Cf. Fortunatus , Carm. VIII, 3, 5: Coetibus angelicis … sociata (Manitius). [10] Praising Christ together, blessed for ever without end.

ch. 25.

[25] Whom the brothers took care to lay to rest with holy zeal, With psalmody, hymns hymnis 1a1a2., with great honour of praise. But the sarcophagus had been shorter than the father's body, In which the brothers then wished to lay the body. [5] They were made affecti 6a. exceedingly sad; wonderful to tell, Behold, suddenly the stone of the coffin began coepit 1a2. to lengthen itself And fitted itself to the form of the kindly body.

ch. 25.

[26] XXV. 1a1.. And amid the obsequies the fragrance of a wonderful odour Floods perfudit 1b*. the whole church with ambrosial -sio added above the line in 1a2; ambrosii 1b first hand nectar, Clearly perspicuae 1a1 first hand, 6a. showing that an angelic band had come To the office of the kindly father with joyful harmonies concedentibus 1b first hand.

ch. 24.

ch. 27.

[27] 6a omits ch. 27 – 30; XXVI. 1a1.. This holy father, shepherd, patriarch, priest, Rests happy in his own cell of Aefternacum Afternaco 1a2b*; Asternaco 1b first hand, Epternaco 1c., Which he himself had already built for the praise of the Lord; In which God will work signs of salvation up to now. [5] From the touch of the oil many sick are healed, Which Qui 1a1 first hand, 1b. is accustomed to burn at the body of the great patron. Bonds are broken of themselves for those hastening there unda 1a2., Who come with tears to bewail their evil crimes And return joyful, Christ granting it, loosed.

ch. 26.

[28] XXVII. 1a1.. And in in quo 1a1, 1b first hand the place where the sacred bed of the holy father stands, Often sepius 1b. an ethereal etherium 1b; ethereum 1c. light is seen to have come, Because here, leaving the prison-house of the bishop's flesh, His spirit seeks the lofty stars with living merits vivatibus 1b first hand, [Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. IV, 5, 6: Spiritus astra colit (Manitius); vid. etiam supra ad c. 1, v. 7.] [5] To enjoy everlasting light with Christ and the saints; Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. IV, 21, 13: luce perenne fruens (Manitius). Which Quo 1c. the light shows, which is frequently (c. q.) crebroque 1a2, 1b first hand seen there.

ch. 26.

[29] XXVIII. 1a1.. In 〈〉n 1a2. which many times a sweet odour with heavenly nectar Breathes, truly sweeter than every spice pigmenti 1b first hand; Which are proved by many witnesses to happen truly, Whose chaste life gives sure faith certa dat 1a1; certa // dat 1c; certabat 1b; multo dat 1a2. to their report. [5] What rest do you hope the blessed soul has had, While such signs are wrought on earth through the holy Relics relliquias 1a1 corrected by another hand, most worthy dignissimi 1c. of the merits of so great a father? Who will be able by prayers to relieve our nostris 1b. sorrows, If sed 1a2. now with pious heart we pour out tears there, [10] Where the outstanding father rests in his consecrated sacrata 1a2. body.

ch. 28.

Languished larguit 1a2 first hand always for seven continuous years, Wasting tapida 1a1 corrected by another hand; talia 1b; tabitha 1c., nor could she move her limbs membra 1a2c. at all quicquam 1a2bc.; Dying, she scarcely drew the last sighs from her heart. [5] Carried before the body of the saint of God she lay, Pouring out warm tears with weary voice. Faith alone flourished, to be able to hope for salvation Cf. Verg., Aen. II, 354: nullam sperare salutem (Dummler). Through the servant of Christ; nor did hope itself deceive fellit 1b. her. Behold, suddenly health ran lightly through her limbs, [10] And a fiery heat color 1b. breathed on her opened veins, And renowned strength returns to all her bones and sinews. The woman rose, soon safe in her whole body, And rejoicing to run curre 1a1 first hand home on her own soles, She who before, languishing, is carried in in 1a1c. the arms of another.

ch. 29.

Suffered, alas! through many years; his sinews scarcely cling to his bones herent adds 1b*.; Cf. Verg., Ecl. III, 102: vix ossibus haerent (Dummler). The limbs of his harassed body trembled together; As though you had seen the head capud 1a1 first hand torn away uulsum 1a2. from the topmost crown, [5] So rolled this way, so that way, to right dextera 1b first hand and to left; Often sepe 1b. also a&iam 1a1. he lay for many multum 1a1, 1b first hand, 1c. an hour about to die omits 1b first hand. This wretched man, with a firm breast of such faith, Had come venit in 1b*; venit ad 6a. to the church, led by friendly hands, In which the pious limbs of the great bishop rest, Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. IV, 7, 9: pietatis membra quiescunt (Manitius). [10] And for pro 1b first hand his health poured out bitter tears. Whom the grace of the pitying Christ soon heard, And reviving redivina 1a1 first hand health ran everywhere through his limbs membra 1a2., Cf. Dracontius, De Deo, I, 650: Et rediviva salus reduci per membra vapore (Id). And the flexible order of his sinews grew strong flexibilis 1a1 first hand again in the man; Vigour creeps 1b* noted the fault above the line; repit in 6a. into his bones and strength into all his marrow. 15] Before the people standing by [asstanti 1b; astanti 6a.], all looking on, he [(i. e.) illa 1a2. Was suddenly made unharmed incolumis 1a2., and strong in vigour He went sound whither his vows bore him; To almighty [1b* noted the fault above the line; omnipotente 1a2 first hand; (omnipotenti … semper) semper agens Christo grates ob dona salutis 6a.] God always giving thanks for the gifts of health, To Christ erased in 1a1.. To Christ be praise and glory always.

ch. 30.

[32] XXXI. 1a1.. A certain quedam 1b*c. youth, a minister of the altar, of corrupt mind, Secretly seized the gifts donarie 1b first hand of the holy temple; And there is taken by cruel (ac s.) vesano 1a2. theft furto 1b*, 6a. a certain golden cross, Which the servant of Christ was accustomed to carry with him sedebat 1b first hand, [5] When cum 6a. the pious prius 1b*. wayfarer made his journey, with Christ accompanying (Ch. co. v.) Ch. co. superno 1a2 another hand over an erasure, On account of the many relics relliquias 1a1; cf. c. 295. which he lays up condet 1a2. in it illas 1a2.. Soon the wicked presumer pays luis 1b first hand the torments of his crime scelere 1b first hand; Just iuxta 1b first hand; ista 6a first hand vengeance follows the unspeakable sin, And the unhappy man perishes periit 1b. first hand, destroyed peremtus 1a1 first hand by a cruel plague. [10] Yet at the point of death he discloses tunc 1c, 6a. his impious thefts furtu 1b first hand, And shows where all the things he had taken had been hidden. At his perishing, an immense fear tremor 1b. grew with praises For the brothers and the people, seeing that all things, Christ Christe 1a2. Keeping them, are so all the codices; cf. 3313; fuerint 1b*; fuerant ed. protected, whatever are his servant's parvi 1a1c, 6a..

〈ELEGIAC POEM〉

Book I, ch. 1.

ch. 2.

ch. 1.

ch. 2.

[33] 1d has verses 1, 2, 13, 15. XXXIII also 1a 1a 1. This priest was noble, of a great race, But much more noble in great magna 1b first hand merits. As I sang long ago ciceni 1a1; ecini 1b first hand, fruitful fecunda 1b. mother Britain Brictannia 1a1; Brittania 1b., [Long ago, that is, above, ch. 1, verses 5, 6. By this word and by that olim which is read below, v. 50, A. Ebert (Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur des Mittelalters, vol. II, p. 25, note 1) was led to think that this whole chapter 33 was added to the metrical Life a long time afterwards (viel später), and that in the prologue of the prose Life the second-to-last sentence, in which this chapter 33 is announced, was also inserted afterwards. To whom it is irksome to reply that dudum often, and olim not seldom, indicate a short time.] The homeland of the Scots, was his famous mistress -ra another hand over an erasure in 1a2.. [5] But happy Francia Frantia 1a1. seized him, venerates him, had him, And today (a. h.) in sese 6a. holds his buried limbs menbra 1a2. . Him Wilgils Wilgis 1a1corr. begot, a renowned father in his own age, A holy man, wise, and upright in piety, Of whom let me be permitted to play with versifying plectrum, Reader, that you may know what manner of man he added by another hand in 1a1. himself was, And from what so also 6a; qua 1a1 corrected, 1b. holy root of a race of parents This servant of God came to be fuerit 1b *, 6a. begotten. XVIII. adds 1a2. There was among the people a man called dignus 1b. by surname gognomine 1a1 before correction Wilgils omits 1d; Wilgis 1a1 corrected, Living among the noble nobis de 1b. people beyond the Humber transumbrana 1a1 corrected (n. g. d.) g. manens valida 6a.. [15] Outstanding in character, much beloved peramalis 1d. by all the people; Whose life with his wife was chaste enough. She was now (i. m. p. f) f. i. m. p. 6a. subject to her husband with pious mind, As once Sarah Sara 1a2 corrected, 1b*, 6a; sa//ra 1c corrected; sacra 1b first hand had been to her own husband. She se adds 1b first hand, delet. 1b., God revealing it [revaelante 1a1; fault: 1b noted the long ue; reselante corrected 1b*; reserante 6a.], discerned future things in her mind, Lying recubens 1a1 before correction on 6a omits verses 20 – 66. her couch statis 1b first hand, seeing true dreams. For nam quae 1a1. she thought that she had seen a new novum 1b first hand moon, With horns raised, as a new moon is wont to be. It began to grow little by little and -que adds 1b. to fill its horns, Until its light gleams for her in a full orb. [25] It suddenly fell into the mouth of her as she swallowed it, Shining through her innards with flashing light. Waking from sleep, the woman turns these things over in her mind, What omits 1a1. that which she sees can quaeat 1a1;queat 1b. signify for her; And adque 1a2; at 1b first hand she discloses all these things to a certain priest sacerdocii 1a1.,

Whose life had been proved in the church ecclaesia 1a2.. When the aforesaid predictus 1a1. priest weighed these things in his heart, He interpreted 1b noted the fault. the heavenly visions from ex 1b new nobis 1a2 before correction events;

ch. 3.

ch. 1.

At length the seer so 1a1, 1b first hand; vates 1b*c; nates 1a2. answered the woman such things, God inspiring him, with truth-telling breath famine 1b*.: [35] "You, woman, saw ceernisti 1a1 before correction; vidisti 1b*. a small moon grow And its horns filled inpleri 1a2. with whole new nouua 1a1 before correction; uiua 1b first hand light. That night perhaps you were joined with your husband, You who beget a new light in the whole world. A little infant is born to you, woman, from the womb, Who Verses 40 – 44 are found in 1d. grows great with honourable honoficis 1b first hand; honorificus 1d. merits. He will be erat 1d. an outstanding teacher and future praeclarus 1d. prelate, A new morning star shines forth -scet 1b*c; -scens 1d. in our world, And the peoples whom blind darkness held before, He irradiates irradiat 1bc; inradiabat 1d. with the light lucae 1a2. of the highest heaven above." [45] All the sayings of the soothsayer are fulfilled in order And the outcome of events proves probauit 1a1 first hand, probant 1a1 corrected by another hand the dreams true. And the boy is born to his mother matri 1b*., and, washed in baptism, His father imposed imposuit 1a2. on him omits 1a2. to have the name Wilbrord Willibrord 1a2b; Vylibrord 1c., Whose life, faith, character, doctrine, to my Camenae Was indeed long ago given as a title praetitulatam eis 1b.. Soon the outstanding father, leaving the evil joys of the world And desiring to serve God with mind and hand, Seizing the heavenly life with all totam 1a1. sweetness, Himself handed himself over to a sacred monastery caenubio 1a1 first hand, 1a2.. [55] Joined to the brothers, he lived without crime as a brother, Now patient patiens 1a2b., humble, ready promptus 1a1 corrected by another hand, 1b. for every good. Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. II, 11, 20: promptus ad omne bonum (Manitius). After this, the servant, holy in mind, following greater things, Desiring to enter alone upon the contemplative theorixam 1a2. way, Begins among the promontories promuntorio 1b*. of the wave-resounding sea, Where qui 1c., finding places fitting for his pious so 1a2c; pia 1a1; suo 1b. heart, In which he might pluck ethereal aetherias 1b; aethereos 1c. flowers And be free and away from the evil cares cures 1a1 first hand of the world. Here alone he passed the times of his whole life, By night and day -que deleted by 1b *. advancing more magnis 1b. in merits; [65] Having endured very many wars of the unspeakable serpent, Who is wont to move his arms against the saints. But God almighty, who triumphs by right in the saints, Granted bright trophies tropea 1a1 corrected; (trophea… famulo) concessit famulo clara trophaea suo 6a. to his servant, And the grace of the pitying misserantis 1a1. Christ works truly verum 1a1, 6a. Certain stupendous signs through his servant. Nor was it fitting that so bright a lamp be hidden under a bushel, Cf. Matth. 5, 15. Nor was it to be put under the bed nectula 1b; 〈 〉ec tua 6a; 〈 〉ec tula 6a corrected super 1b first hand, But rather to be placed ponda 1a1 first hand above magnis 1b. the gables vestigia 1b first hand of the roof, That it might scatter its pious light more on high. [75] Which, however, it has not haud 1bc, 6a. pleased me to touch with running plectrum lectro 1b first hand, Or to disclose apperire 1a1 the renowned signs in my muses. This alone (h. t.) hoc tamen 1a2; hocque tamen 1b. suffices, to know the life omits 1b. of the father, Which quod 1b*. pleases the One High-throned - trhono 6a. always everywhere more. The life of the servant of God furnished prebuit 1a2. examples of salvation To many, and was a witness testes 1a1 a2, 1b first hand, 6a. of all his breast. Kings serve this servant of Christ, and him The whole people populos 1a2. throughout the homeland honours with love amare 1b first hand. This 1d has verses 83 – 90. man of God was patient patiens 1a2bcd, 6a., moderate, honourable, Outstanding in character, gentle and pious in speech. [85] Who, after he had merited for himself very many gifts By perfected perfecit 6a. labour laborem 6a., Christ perfecting them perficieute 1a2 before correction, Soon, filled with merits, years, and all piety, At length multum 1d. rested exulting in omits 6a. tranquil peace. His spirit departed joyful to the ethereal aetheream 1c, 6a. hall, Holding joys with the saints now without end. The brothers took care to lay his body in the church, Which stands built constructa 1b. near the shores of the sea, And atquae 1a1., consecrated, most glorious mother genitrix 1a2b, 6a. of God, of Christ, Shines with your tua 1b first hand name, Virgin Mary. [95] In which quo 1a2b. we well believe that you will be, for our Prayers precibus 1b., in Christ (In Ch.) auxilio 1b *., always mighty in honour. You the life of the world, you the joys for all ages saeculis 1a1 before correction, You the King of heaven, you the Lord and God Bore in the hospice of your womb, perpetual perhennis 1c, 6a. virgin. Help us with your prayers. The unlearned song-bearer armiger 6a; cantor ut 1b *. Alcuin Alchuine 1b; Alcone 1c, 6a. sang these verses; For whom, I ask, whoever you are that read, say: "Have mercy, O God [Explicit vita beati sancti Williborordi archiepiscopi adds 1a2; Explicit liber secundus Alcuini sophyste de vita beati Willebrordi episcopi adds 6a.]."

II. MIRACLES OF ST. WILLIBRORD, BY, AS IT SEEMS, THIOFRID, ABBOT OF ECHTERNACH

Edited from the Paris codex 9740 (cf. above, p. 419 – 20, cod. 1h), from which they appeared long ago in the Catal. Lat. Paris., vol. II, p. 581 – 83, and which we have collated again.

Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht. (S.)

BHL Number: 8943

BY THIOFRID

From Alcuin ch. 27.

ch. 29.

[1] In the lamps lichinis. hanging before the tomb of the man of God Willibrord the oil was accustomed to burn, which no darkness could obscure, no night could interrupt. On his day also, during the solemnities of the Masses, it increased and boiled up to overflowing; and, caught in little ampoules, and given, and sent to the sick, it restored them by salutary anointing.

[2] In the very flower of his age a certain youth was weighed down by the weight of so great a languor that the whole frame of his limbs so here the codex. was shaken with a horrible and incessant trembling. He was brought by his kinsfolk to the tomb of the man of God and placed there, and in a moment of an hour, the frame of his body being restored and made solid, in the sight of those standing by he recovered and leapt up unharmed.

ch. 30.

[3] In so noble and celebrated a monastery of the man of God a certain man, discharging the sacred office of the diaconate there followed about eight letters, now erased. in name, not in merit, involved himself in an unspeakable sacrilege. For the golden cross which Clement Willibrord had been accustomed to carry on a journey he stole with obstinate heart together with other gifts of the church, and because he did not have at hand the means of breaking it up and selling it, he hid it in a secret place known to no one. On which account, by the unanimous counsel of the grieving brothers, the sacrilegious man was put under the ban; nay even holy communion and all taking of food and drink was forbidden him under the highest obedience, unless restitution of the loss inflicted and a pure confession should refresh him. Despising this, he fell into the midst of the cup of disobedience which he had presumed; and at the point of a sudden and unforeseen death, not for the remedy of penance, but compelled by the fire of divine vengeance, he betrayed where the treasure taken away by his sacrilege had been hidden; and so he expired, a mournful, detestable and abominable example to every monastic order.

From the Life of Amalberga

[4] From the Life of Amalberga Let it not be thought incongruous to insert here also that blessed Willibrord, while still living in the flesh, consecrated St. Amalberga with the sacred chrism, this sweetness of blessing having been put first: "May you flourish with Thecla, may you prosper with Agnes, and with Mary may the best part be yours"; but after his death, appearing to her in a vision together with her kinswoman the glorious virgin Gertrude and teaching her about the three-year span of the present life, he veiled her with the sacred veil. num. 4, num. 39, 40. O groomsman truly endowed with the dowry of charity, who did not abandon the chosen bride of God even after his own passing, until he should bring her into the embraces and the bridal chamber of her most longed-for bridegroom.

[5] In the year 1031, to a more honourable place But in the year of the begotten Word 1031, from the passing of the same father the 292nd, the structure of the oratory having been repaired after its fall [After the fire of the year 1016, about which the Catalogue of abbots (MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 32, l. 25).], there was one mind to Abbot Humbert and the whole congregation, that, the lord Poppo, archbishop of Trier, being invited, and Henry, duke of Bavaria, our defender, on the 14th before the Kalends of November, during the solemnities of the Masses, his bones should be translated to the place where they are now laid up and honoured with due reverence. the body of the saint is translated, But one of the monks, Thitmar, among those who had been chosen to break up the pavement, not knowing or having forgotten that he had been deluded by a nocturnal phantasm, Verg. Aen. 5, 478, 479. while, rearing high, he poised the double axe in the air with his right hand drawn back, could in no way lower his outstretched arms. Then he was admonished by the provost Hupert to purge himself by confession, if he was conscious of any crime. Examining himself, therefore, he found nothing of new offence in his conscience; nevertheless, going away and inspecting his breeches, he washed them, and returning pressed on the more anxiously with the sacred labour. And when the earth had been carried out and two crypts broken open, in the third they found the sacred sarcophagus and a silk pall upon it; which, wonderful to say, incorrupt and still entire, is hung up for the adornment of the church. And Abbot Humbert, so as to lay aside a little of the treasure of his body for distributing relics, the lid having been raised a little, deserved to see his most beloved lord with cowl and hair-shirt unharmed and his body almost entire. And at once a smoke poured out as from a censer of spices, the keenness of his sight being dulled, no strength remained in his bloodless body. Nevertheless, putting in his hand, the man of no moderate faith drew out one of his ribs with the utmost dread. not without miracles. But one of the monks, Fridelo by name, who, having laid aside the military belt and offered his two sons before him, had subjected himself to the yoke of the Lord's service, his intestines having prolapsed and hanging down, was weakened in the whole frame of his limbs. He unknowingly struck against the health-bringing tomb of the man of God, and without delay health

entire. And so swarms of peoples assembled, not so much from the neighbourhood as from the whole province, and, as if they were beholding and receiving their common patron present and living in the flesh, they resounded praises with lofty voice, and the mystical ark of the Lord, translated and led forth in jubilation, was placed in the propitiatory of the altar of the undivided 〈Trinity〉; where signs exceeding the reckoning of number are renewed and wonders are changed. Eccl. 36, 6.

[6] When the people of Walcheren were fighting against the Flemings Now the island of Walcheren Walcheren., where his blood was poured out for the confession and glory of Christ Cf. Alcuin, book I, ch. 14., the presence of his spirit illustrates more frequently with miracles; because, since signs are not for the faithful but for the unbelievers, the hardness of the savage nation is not otherwise softened. I Cor. 14, 22. Of which it pleases me to insert at the end of the volume a few out of very many. The younger son of Baldwin, governor of Flanders Baldwin V, † 1067., Robert Robert I, called the Frisian, count of Flanders in the years 1071 – 1093., brought implacable war against the people of Middelburg Middelburg.. For he carried across in ships thrice ten legions, rated at a thousand soldiers, against three not complete, to the hostile shores litera.. But [Ad.] the people of Walcheren, having joined their column together, assembled in the basilica consecrated by the blood of thrice and four times 〈blessed〉 Willibrord, Verg. Aen. 1, 94. and before partaking of the saving host bound themselves by vow to pay him a tax every year, if by the intervention of his clemency they should obtain the palm of victory. the saint is present. Without delay, kindled by the most burning heat of faith, they hung the pyx in which his relics are contained at the top of a banner, and advanced relying on these, as if the Lord God were walking before them in the multitude of his strength. Isai. 63, 1. When at length battle was joined, they fought with such valour that you would have thought them men on this side and cattle on that, and, as is sung, you would have reckoned that one pursued a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight. Deut. 32, 30. And the conquered enemies, when they fled back to the ships, Lucan. 3, 571 – 73. some fell slain in their own vessels and were covered with the foaming and clotted gore of the waves, and, according to that distich of the most noble bard,

Others, half-alive, went down into the vast deep, And drank the sea mingled with their own blood. Ibid. 576 – 77.

The Lord, protecting under the shadow of his wings those hoping in him, showed himself present through the presence of a harmless bird. For a dove of snowy colour, as was seen by men of approved faith, flew around them until the completion of the victory. Ps. 16, 8. Nor did the victorious phalanx, as one who was present at the same battle and afterwards put on the monk's habit related to us, lose any of its men except three; which it was clearly established happened from their own inconsiderate rashness. And so, after the glory of so great a triumph, it paid to the triumpher over all the victim of due praise, and, confirming the vow which it had vowed, for the memory of the glorious victory it sent two banners of the conquered prince to the church of Echternach.

III. LIFE OF ST. WILLIBRORD, BY THIOFRID, ABBOT OF ECHTERNACH

Edited from the codices Gotha I. 70 (= G) and Trier Public Library LXXXIV (= T). Cf. above, p. 425. — Although we have diligently tracked down the places of the ancient writers compiled by Thiofrid, we are far from confident that all have been noted by us.

Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht. (S.)

BHL Number: 8940, 8941

BY THIOFRID

I. PROSE LIFE

Here begins the proem to the life of St. Clement Willibrord Will. G., first archbishop of the people of Utrecht.

To the cedars of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord, the most sweet and most loving monks of the monastery of Echternach, Thiofrid, a wild olive grafted into the olive, in abundant mercy, soundness of soma and psyche and entire and continuous salvation, and, after the superabounding abundance of all goods and virtues, the unimaginable, ineffable glory of eternity. Ps. 91, 13, 14., Rom. 11, 24., Ps. 91, 11. I wonder, my sons, my lords, Hier. Ep. 22, 26. my fellow servants, my brothers, — for the one is a name of age, another of merit, that of religion, this of charity, — I wonder, I say, with Isaac, the archetype of God, wondering at the swift faith of believers and the blessing transferred from the synagogue to the Church, with vehement stupor beyond what can be believed, Gen. 27, 33. that you desire the most pleasant green lawns of your pleasure-garden to be watered by me, a dried-up rivulet, Verg. Aen. 6, 638. that, inebriated with the plenty of the house of God and given to drink of the torrent of his pleasure, you desire the turbid water of Gihon [The passage of Jeremiah the Vulgate reports thus: And now what would you in the way of Egypt, that you should drink the turbid water? but the Septuagint thus: Καὶ νῦν τί σοι καὶ τῇ ὁδῷ Αἰγύπτου τοῦ πιεῖν ὕδωρ Γηῶν; the same the "common edition" before Jerome (cf. his Commentary on Jeremiah, book I, P. L., vol. XXIV, col. 692). Thiofrid mixed both versions here and in the Flores epitaphii sanctorum, book III, ch. 5 (ed. Roberti, p. 158).] to be poured out for you. Ps. 35, 9., Ierem. 2, 18., Hor. II Carm. 18, 10. Truly perfecto Schm. no vein of talent leaps in me; I have not washed my mouth in the fount of inner wisdom; Pers. prol. 1. the fire of the heavenly coal has not purged my uncircumcised lips. Exod. 6, 12., Isai. 6, 6. But since, according to Anicius, the most excellent interpreter and expounder of all the liberal arts, no gift can be found more pleasing to those who love from the heart, Boethius, In Top. Cic. I beginning. than that which forms and instructs the parts of the mind itself, Ibid. namely the opulence of letters, whose authority the present age does not diminish, but antiquity itself, which accomplishes all things, rather increases and confirms; although I am not able to be equal to the desired and commanded gift, and the fault of one who fails yields to the wrong of those who exhort, Ibid. IV beginning. I take up, with the shoulders of the mind placed beneath it, the burden which you impose. Ibid. For to me, when I weigh your goodwill towards me, everything is easy and, so to speak, a pleasure, that I can expend as a prescribed service of the delight Ibid. of you, whom I love with love laid up deep within, Ibid. especially since in the secret of a dear breast there is no danger in bringing forth what you feel. More pleasantly and as it were with a certain fruit of labour I seize upon the things which I compose to be shared with you; because if it has happened that the things which are pleasant in themselves are brought into the participation of friendship, it is necessary that the sweetness of the study be seasoned as it were with a certain most sweet savour of charity. In contemplation of your inmost love I do not weigh my strength; I care not a straw for the biting of barking envy and the judgment of spite. Ibid. Let the scorpion rise up and try to strike me with its arched wound; Hier. in Ioel., prol. with you as companions of my journey and spiritual charmers of venomous bites, I dread nothing, I fear nothing, but burning the hydra with the cautery, Hier. in Osee, II beginning. I crush it with my sole, I pass by the dogs of Scylla and the deadly songs of the Sirens with deaf ear, and, Boet. In Top. Cic. II beginning. as a certain singer bade his pupil sing to himself and to the Muses, so I too bring forth for myself and for you whatever the divine condescension shall have inspired in my mind. I know indeed that my rivals will set about gnawing me with Theonine tooth [You would seek in vain who or where such rivals and detractors were. For it is almost certain that this is a mere commonplace, which garrulous writers have repeated so many times.]; Hor. I. Epist. 18, 82. I know that, judging this study of mine superfluous, Hier. C. Vig. 4. they will strive with the cavilling familiar to depraved minds to accuse me as a man of disturbed head to be bound with Hippocratic bonds, Boet. loc. cit. and to demand with what rashness of mind I have presumed to reweave with my pen the history of thrice and four times blessed Clement Willibrord, Verg. Aen. 1, 94. since it is agreed that Alcwin or Albinus, the most learned man of his time and most capable of all doctrine and the outstanding catechist of the most excellent of kings and emperors, Charles the Great, polished it with the charm of urbane elegance and seasoned it with the salt of more august knowledge. Let those detractors know, on the contrary, that I do not delight in human gossip and empty glory, nor am I trying to have the memory of so great a man obliterated, but, according to that hemistich of the psalmist: I will add to all your praise, Ps. 70, 14. that I, with the evangelical widow putting two mites into the treasury of the Lord, am adding above the magnificent gifts of the rich, out of the small means of my little talent, such first-fruits as I can. Mark 12, 42. I contrive nothing new; I defend my efforts by the authority of the highest men. Apoc. 4, 6, 8. For the winged animals, mystically eyed before and behind, the four evangelists, wrote one after another one and the same matter of the new testament, and Jerome, the most excellent of the interpreters of divine scripture, to be silent about the other initiates of philosophy both Greek and Latin, in his translations and explanations proceeds along the path trodden by others. The saying of the most noble comic poet, Ter. Andr. prol. 5. who uses his labour in writing prologues, is without doubt true: Nothing is said now that has not been said before, Ter. Eun. prol. 41. and according to the Horatian distich,

he who so admires and praises the old poets that he sets nothing before them, compares nothing with them, errs, II Epist. 1, 64, 65.

and while he considers not things but persons, and thinks himself eloquent and learned in this, Hier. in Osee, II beginning. if he detracts from another's work, does no harm to him whom he tears, but defames and binds himself with the crime of false judgment and spite. But what the unclean swine grunt, as I have said before, I do not care; The same, Hebr. quaest. in Gen., prol. The same, in Osee, loc. cit. I attend rather to what Titus Livius writes about Cato, to whose glory no one either did good by praising or harm by vituperating, though both Marcus Cicero and Gaius Caesar, endowed with the highest talents, attempted it, the one in praise, the other in vituperation; it stands fixed and certain in my mind that, Ibid. after pale death has taken away both us who write and those who judge of us, and, the first leaves falling, a green wood has grown up, he who is to read will not consider whose, but of what kind est Schm. is what he reads, nor whether the author of the writing is rotting in the vilest rag or in silk and purple, but, the diversity of honours and the dignity of names being rejected, talents alone will be judged according to the merit of their works. Boet. In Top. Cic. I beginning. Receive, therefore, a work undertaken not with the security of capability, but with the presumption of friendship; in which, according to the assertion of the most eloquent Boethius, somehow among one's own it is not unbecoming even to chatter and sometimes as it were to play the fool. Ibid. Nor let it move your prudence, if, in the praises of so great a hierarch, my eloquence does not rush forth with deep mouth like a river running down from a mountain, Hor. IV Carm. 2, 5 – 8. because, when I had before dictated the life

of Liutwin, of the highest holiness and the people's gladness [Cf. BHL. 4956. That "people's gladness" Thiofrid explains at greater length in the Life praised: But Liutwin, since according to the mouth and organ of the Holy Spirit David "wine gladdens the heart of man", is interpreted "the people's gladness" (cf. Act. SS., Sept. vol. VIII, p. 161, no. 1). No less inept an etymology of the name of Willibrord he brings forward below, ch. 2.], archprelate of the holy see of Trier, Hier. Ep. 60,1. and had scattered the Flowers of the Epitaph of the Saints through four volumes [The work divided into four books was edited by Jean Roberti S.J., D. Thiofridi … Flores epitaphii sanctorum, Luxembourg, 1619.], I poured out with all the flowing veins of my talent whatever the affluence of the divine goodness deigned to pour into me from the fount of life. Let what I now set out from a poor and exhausted storeroom be equally acceptable and pleasing, and because I dread the silent judgment of your learning, and turn over with myself that beautiful saying of Tully: Hier. in Osee, III beginning. The judgments of lovers are blind, Ibid. spare and take thought for my shame and dread, and, as champions of your own labour and your exhortation, Ibid. as I spread my sails on the sea of the proposed work, bring forth more frequently and more intently that prophetic word: Come, O spirit, from the four winds of heaven, (Ezech. 37, 9.) Hier. loc. cit. that, passing with swift course among the various reefs of those lying in wait, I may be able to carry over and transport the Lord's merchandise, shipwreck and whirlwind raging on every side, into the safest harbour. Farewell.

Here ends the proem.

Here begin the chapters.

I. That St. Willibrord, son of everlasting light, was known to the world by a mystical vision before he was brought forth.

II. Of his birth, and the upbringing and offering worthy of his origin.

III. Of his father's conversion and holy way of life in the monastic purpose, and the completion of his course.

IIII. That the boy of outstanding disposition surpassed the tenderness of his tender age by maturity of character and in his twentieth year withdrew into Ireland for the sake of fuller progress.

V. That in the thirty-third year of his age he came into the port of Gravelines Gravelingae Schm., a maritime township, from there to Utrecht, then the citadel and throne of the kingdom of Frisia.

VI. That he was honourably received by Pippin, the most victorious duke of Francia, and chosen for the dignity of the episcopate and sent to Rome.

VII. That his coming was revealed by an angel to Pope Sergius, and he was received by him with immense exultation and glory and ordained archprelate.

VIII. Of his return into Francia and the pontifical chair assigned to him in the illustrious fortress of Utrecht, and of his monastic and apostolic way of life.

VIIII. That he built many churches and monasteries in that region, and established bishops and rectors.

X. That he went to the court of the expelled King Rabod and, because he could not bear fruit there, transferred himself to the neighbouring barbarism of the Danes, and returning brought with him thirty boys (i.p.) p. i. T corrected acquired and regenerated there.

XI. That on the island of Fositeslant, in a place of great superstition, he pitched his tents and distributed the animals grazing there for food for his men, and, accused on that account before the king, the lot being cast into the urn three times over three days, he was freed by divine grace.

XII. Of the town of Echternach and the estate of Susteren and other estates and churches handed over to him by mighty and rich men by ratified grant.

XIII. Of his coming to the island of Walcheren, where the keeper of the shrine wounded him on account of the destroyed idol, and, harassed by a demon for three days, was cast headlong into the abyss of eternal damnation.

XIII. That the steward of the little field of a certain rich man died by sudden death, because he did him injury.

XV. Of water produced by his prayer from sandy earth.

XVI. That he amply refreshed twice six needy men from the small vessel of his journey, and yet the wine did not fail.

XVII. That through his staff put into an almost empty wine-jar the Caecuban overflowed and the pavement was flooded.

XVIII. That from about two sextarii, the grace of divine blessing abounding, he gave drink in rich sufficiency to forty guests.

XVIIII. Of the punishment and restoration of the rich man who drove him from his pastures.

XX. Of the nuns at Trier restored to health, the pestilence put to flight by his prayers.

XXI. Of the phantasm shut out by his blessing from the wretched infestation of the house of a certain father of a household.

XXII. That he consecrated Pippin, son of Duke Charles, by baptism and prophesied of his sublimity in time to come.

XXIII. That he asked St. Boniface to succeed him in the episcopal government.

XXIIII. Of the beauty of his form, and the natural separation of body and soul, and the marble of his tomb divinely enlarged, and the divine light often seen there and the smoke of spices like a most dense cloud.

XXV. Of the oil, which was accustomed to burn over his tomb and during the solemnities of the Masses to increase to overflowing.

XXVI. Of the paralytic woman cured at his tomb and the health of the trembling youth restored.

XXVII. Of the sacrilege of the deacon who died by a sudden death.

XXVIII. Of the wine divinely increased on the feast of St. Wilgils Wilgisili T..

XXVIIII. That St. Willehad practised the hermit life at Echternach for two years in reclusion, and the archprelates Beornrad and Stigand lived there with immense devotion.

XXX. That St. Amalberga, whom while living in the flesh he consecrated with the anointing of chrism, he veiled after his death with the sacred veil in a vision.

XXXI. Of the single combat set up on account of the flooding of the sea over a field of his jurisdiction.

XXXII. Of Hilderic, custodian of the holy church of Trier, rescued by his merits from a horrible tempest on the journey to Jerusalem.

XXXIII. Of his severity towards adversaries and advocates troublesome to his household.

XXXIIII. Of his invention and wonderful translation.

XXXV. Of the palm of victory granted by his help to the people of Walcheren against Robert, count of Flanders.

XXXVI. Of the coming of the hegumen Thiofrid to the island of Walcheren and the peace restored and confirmed there by pleasant miracles.

Here end the chapters.

Here begins the life of St. Clement Willibrord, first archbishop of the people of Utrecht.

[1] The maker and begetter of the universe, as, bringing all things into order out of the disordered tossing of hyle, and himself most beautiful, adorning the world with incomparable beauty, he founded the stars, each coming in its turns vocibus Schm. into the face of heaven, to illuminate and adorn the darkness of night, so, to illustrate and adorn the inner night and appearance of the microcosm, both before the law and under the law and under grace, at the time of the morning taking-up, with the flashing radiance of the true morning star announcing the true and eternal morning, he gave men of the highest virtue, as stars of the highest brightness brought forth in their times and changed in turn, to rise over the darkness of sinners with immense light of holiness and to pour the splendour of the sun of justice into human blindness. Ps. 21, 1., Malach. 4, 2. Among whom, as among the morning stars praising together when all the sons of God were jubilant to God, Job 38, 7., Verg. Ecl. 1, 66. among the Britons wholly divided from the whole world, in the province of Northumbria there arose a most bright star, Willibrord, lover of Christ, Alcuin, 1. illustrating with the rays of all virtues not only the British but the fourfold circle of the whole world. And the son of everlasting light arose and was begotten for a share in the lot of the saints in light, known to the world by a mystical vision before he was brought forth. I Thess. 5, 5., Col. 1, 12. For when his outstanding mother, drawing her lineage from the lofty blood of nobles, having obtained a husband only for the hope and love of posterity, not for the cause of carnal concupiscence, Wilgils by name, sprung from the most noble stem of the Saxons, was restoring her limbs, loosed for the use of labour, with the temperate calm of sleep, in a vision of the night, when sleep is wont to overpower men, she deserved, as a presage of the light-flowing offspring to be begotten, to be illuminated by the light of divine brightness. For there was divinely shown to the eyes of her mind the moon, as it is, Verg. G.1, 427. when first it gathers its returning fires and renews its first horns, and, Ov. Met. 1, 11. as if at the full moon filled with all the flames of Hyperion Yperions Schm., it was seen to roll down gradually from the zodiacal line to meet her and with a sudden fall to slip into the mouth and innards of the sleeping woman. Alcuin, 2. All her inmost parts were suffused with the splendour of the inner light, and, astounded with the inestimable horror and trembling of a vision unheard of from the beginning of the world, her soul burned and grew faint. John 9, 32. Her heart grew hot within her and, a flame harmless to the touch licking her breast, Ps. 38, 4., Verg. Aen. 2, 683 – 4; 4, 572. shaken from sleep, she started up from her bed. In her meditation a fire was kindling, and turning huge cares in her breast now this way, now that, Ps. 38, 4., Verg. Aen. 5, 701. she went to a certain priest, a man of the highest religion, and, laying open the order of the vision, inquired what the mysteries of so great a vision portended. But being asked more secretly whether on that night she was cherished by her husband's customary embraces, Ov. III Am. 3, 5. her face suffused with rosy blush, she did not go into omits Schm. denial, and through the mouth of the questioner, the organ of the Holy Spirit, she deserved to foreknow and perceive these praises of her seed, known before it was brought forth: "The globe of the moon, which seemed to you to slip into your innards growing as it were with lunar increases, is the most bright son whom you, happy, have conceived, more happy will bear, most happy will wean and nourish; who with the flashes of virtues, the darkness of the prison of this death withering and failing altogether, will pour the brightness of the inner light into the minds of the carnal. Through the splendour of his wonderful work as through the sun shining at the summit of the centre, Greg. Magn. Mor. 22, 7, 14. through the light of praiseworthy fame as through the moon proceeding with clear light, in this dim night of the present life he will have a celebrated name and will show the way of justice to those walking in the time of darkness. With the most bright rays of his reputation he will allure to contemplating and obtaining the way of virtue, and as the golden-haired sun, by which the soul of the just man is the throne of wisdom, and as the moon, by which is understood the perfect frame in the spiritual body, he will advance in most full eternity in the sight of the divine majesty by the prerogative of his inestimable merit. Standing in his order, he will glow more splendidly than the mystical stars of heaven, because among the most excellent sons of the church, which like the moon in the peril of this world grows and wanes according to prosperity and adversity, the true light, the light of men and the splendour of the glory of God and the brightness of eternal light will irradiate him with sevenfold brightness. Wisd. 7, 26."

[2] And the matron, having received such illustrious praises of her offspring, danced in jubilation of mind, because the resolution, not in an enigma, of the fitting dream seemed to accord with the desire of her heart. Wisd. 7, 2., James 1, 6. Hesitating nothing in faith she believed; long-suffering in hope she returned home; she practised the duties of virtues more anxiously, and in the month which by more frequent usage for human childbirth

nature has established by a fixed measure of numbers, she bore a son, Hor. I Carm. 1, 2. the joy and protection of heaven and earth and our sweet glory, and, he being regenerated in the font of life, she imposed on him the name Alcuin, 3. Willibrort, which, through the ellipsis of the second-to-last letter, according to the idiom of the Teutonic tongue sounds "willing bread" [Not at all. For the name is Anglo-Saxon, and brord in Anglo-Saxon signifies a point or sharp weapon.]. Not at the birth of Isaac, the son of the promise, not at Samuel obtained and brought forth by his mother's tears, not at the evangelical birth of John did a more profuse exultation arise for parents, kinsfolk and connections, nor a more eager congratulation in the whole neighbourhood. Luke 1, 58. The whole house, lacking luxury, resounded with a certain Fescennine licence, Marc. Cap. 904. and the little boy, beginning to know his mother with a smile, repaid with immense gladness the long weariness which ten months had brought her, Verg. Ecl. 4, 60. and banished it wholly from her memory. Ibid. 61., John 16, 21. For she in no way remembered the anguish which, on account of the feminine guilt of the first transgression, was decreed and inflicted on human birth, but her heart exulted in the Lord, I Reg. 2, 1. that a common little twig had sweated precious balsam, that so great a little boy had come forth from her womb, Hier. Ep. 79, 6. (Verg. Aen. 3, 490.) who, bearing thus the eyes, thus the hands, thus the face, would represent to his own, seeking the father, every grace, who, with a spark of the paternal vigour shining in him and the likeness of character bursting forth through the mirror of the flesh, (Id. G. 4, 83.) would turn great spirits in a narrow breast, Hier., loc. cit. who would so recall his mother in his face and paint her in a mingled likeness, that in one tiny body he would declare the most illustrious nobility of both parents, Ibid. who was so sweet and honey-sweet that all his acquaintances and kinsfolk would snatch him to themselves in rivalry, cherish him in their bosom, he would hang on the neck of each, cling in their arms, chattering and stammering, he would appear the sweeter for the stumbling of his infant tongue. She brought up the little infant with an upbringing worthy of his origin, consecrated to God before he was begotten and weaned; Isai. 11, 8. she vowed to him, the infant delighted from the breast and weaned, who put his hand into the hole of the asp and into the den of the basilisk, and drew out from human hearts, seized and captive, the serpent of irremediable venom, coiling itself in the winding folds of cunning, raging secretly and striking openly; Greg. Magn. Mor. 17, 32, 51. she vowed, I say, the fruit of her womb, Hor. I Carm. 3, 8. the half of her soul, and, having shared counsel with her husband walking with her in the same spirit, she hastened to fulfil the vow of her devotion. Without delay the outstanding father, gladdened by so great a disposition in his son, handed him over to the brothers of the highest religion of the holy church of Ripon, Hier. Ep. 107, 4. where the soul, which was to be a temple of God, would be so instructed as to learn to hear nothing else, to say nothing, except what pertained to the fear of God, to understand nothing base, to be ignorant of the songs of the world, and, imbued while his tongue was still tender with sweet psalms, he would sing a hymn of the songs of Sion. Ps. 136, 3.

[3] And having offered the pledge of so great a hope as a most sweet holocaust to the Lord, after a space of no long time had passed, Hier. Ep. 79, 3. he turned over in his mind how the camel, a crooked animal, may pass through the eye of a needle and, (Luke 18, 25). laying aside the weight of its burdens, may take to itself the wings of a dove, that it may rest in the branches of the tree which grew up from the mystical seed of mustard. (Ps. 54, 7.), (Matth. 13, 31.), Ps. 76, 7. Meditating in his heart by night and by day, he resolved, according to that saying of the psalmist: Behold, I have gone far off fleeing and stayed in the wilderness, Ps. 54, 8. to withdraw within the secret of the mind to the contemplation of the creator, and with the kings and counsellors of the earth, Job 3, 14. who know how to rule themselves and those committed to them and by the counsel of their exhortation to draw earthly minds to heavenly things, Ibid. to build himself solitude, to drive out indeed from the secret of the heart all tumults of earthly desires and to pant for the love of inmost quiet with one and only intention of the heavenly homeland. Having heard with inner hearing the Lord's sentence: If you will be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and follow me, Matth. 19, 21. he turned words into works and, Plin. Pan. 56. the military cloak changed together with his mind, Hier. Epist. 58, 2. following naked the naked cross, more unencumbered and lighter he climbed the ladder of Jacob, Gen. 28, 12. leaning on which from above the Lord stretches out his hand to those climbing in abundant mercy and raises them to the heights, and the negligent he casts down with judicial power from the height to the depths. Ps. 91, 11. He put on his neck the yoke of the Lord's sweetness and offered himself a living host, Matth. 11, 29., Rom. 12, 1. well pleasing, reasonable, to the living and true God, I Thess. 1, 9. and kept such exercise in the purpose of holy conversation, Hier. Ep. 108, 14. that he flew up on the wings of virtues to the Macarii, the Arseniuses, the Serapions and the other names of the columns of the monastic edifice, and in a short time equalled their flight. Trusting in the Lord he changed his strength and, taking on the wings of an eagle, Isai. 40, 14 the more keenly he fixed and directed the eyes of the mind on the rays of the true and eternal sun, the more ardently he burned in the love of the spiritual life, and he exercised himself in the studies of the virtues of a mind now purged and cleansed and wrung out and purely wiped from every spatter of this world, Macr. Somn. I, 8, 9. acting manfully, Alcuin, 3. in a certain little oratory dedicated to the honour of the most sacred in name and in grace, the manly Andrew, and situated on the promontories jutting out between the bay of the ocean and the river Humber. Nor could the most opulent city set upon the fertile and mystical mountain be hid; Matth. 5, 14. but the mountain, receiving peace for the people, through the flashing and lightnings of miracles stood out and shone far and wide in the whole of Britain, Ps. 71, 3. and, known in the royal court by the fame and glory of his virtues, he received by ratified grant from the king and the nobles possessions and gifts, from which he built and dedicated a church with fitting and becoming adornment and gathered a little assembly endowed with the dowry of the highest religion; where, after innumerable contests against the princes of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, and a triumphal victim, he gave back his victorious soul to God, the most victorious king of kings, and through the continual efficacy of signs at his mausoleum merited eternal memory for all ages. Eph. 6, 12.

[4] But to return whence we digressed, the boy Willibrord, of outstanding disposition, offered in the aforesaid oratory as an odour of sweetness, grew up higher as an aromatic tree among the lofty and fragrant cedars of Lebanon and surpassed the tenderness of his tender age by the maturity of his character. Eph. 5, 2. He did not follow the enticements of a more relaxed life, but, being greater than himself in mind, when the ambiguous way is shown in the Samian [(in s.) so I have written (that is, in the Pythagorean letter); in famia GT; infantia Schm. conjectured] letter and error, ignorant of life, draws trembling minds apart at the branching crossroads, Pers. 5, 34, 35; 3, 56. a boy among the boys of whom the organ of the Holy Spirit, the title of whose seventeenth psalm is: Unto the end, for David the servant of the Lord, Ps. 17, 1. sings in the following psalm: The testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones, Ps. 18, 18. Iustin. 7, 5, 3. he laid aside the first rudiments of boyhood and, seizing the path rising on the right-hand boundary, cultivated more subtly with all honourable arts a subtle talent, Pers. 3, 57. applied diligence to all his actions, showed himself to all as the form and example of living. I Thess. 1, 7. There grew in him with age a fuller justice and faith, the more perfect, the more advanced, and, as the evangelical text testifies of Jesus our Lord, the head of the elect, he advanced in wisdom and grace before God and men. Luke 2, 52. Nor ever before him, as Trogus recalls of a certain Attic general Pericrates Nothing in Justin., twenty years old indeed, did the holy church of Ripon nourish, among so many and such great flowers of youths, a youth either of greater hope or of more mature disposition; in whom the catalogue of all virtues shone forth beyond human possibility. And when he had reached two decades of age, Alcuin, 4. desiring the rigour of a stricter life more ardently than the most exquisite delicacies, he heard with inner ears the first voice of the Lord to the first of the patriarchs, Abraham: Go out from your land and from your kindred, Gen. 12, 1. and following persecutus Schm. the footsteps of the eternal king, who came forth not in his homeland but on the road, not in his parents' house but in an inn, from the hall of the virginal womb utero G., clothed in the robe of our flesh, for the sake of pilgrimage and a stricter way of life, having obtained with the utmost difficulty the connivance of his hegumen and of the brothers, most sorrowful at his departure, the illustrious stranger withdrew into Ireland. And introduced into the scholastic athenaeum, a gymnasium filled and harmonious with liberal studies and outstanding scholars, he preferred to be first a recruit rather than a soldier, a disciple before a teacher; he preferred, Hier. Ep. 53, 1. as is read of Plato, the gymnosophist of most ardent talent and master of Athens and the Academy, modestly to learn the things of others rather than impudently to thrust forward his own. He gave himself to discipline through the course of twelve years, Luke 2, 42 ff. of which age Jesus Christ our Lord, the wisdom of the coeternal Father, was found by his ever-virgin mother in the temple among the teachers, asking and hearing, and in the companionship of men of most excellent holiness, lights of the world, the bishops Egbert and Wihicbert, exiles there for the obtaining of the glory of the heavenly homeland, he drank deep the rivers of contemplative wisdom, John 7, 38. so that from his belly should flow living waters, spiritual graces indeed, and according to the prophecy of Isaiah he should appear as a glorious river in the land of Sion, a river of God filled with waters, restraining the people of the Lord in the way of Egypt from drinking the turbid water of Gihon. Isai. 59, 19?, Ps. 64, 10., Ierem. 2, 18. Imitating the most eminent vessel of election Paul, instructed exceedingly at the feet of Gamaliel in the deep knowledge of the law and the prophets, Acts 22, 3. in the house of the Lord's discipline dominico Schm. he learned the faithful word which is according to doctrine, Tit. 1, 9. that he might be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict, and, armed with spiritual weapons, could confidently say: "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the destruction of the fortifications of thought, to destroying every height exalting itself against the knowledge of God and subjugating all disobedience." II Cor. 10, 4, 5.

[5] In the schools, therefore, of the highest strictness, as is given to be gathered from the most strict rule of the Irish brothers [That this was the rule of St. Columban Thiofrid was of the opinion. For in the metrical Life, book I, ch. 4,

he puts forward a certain summary of a rule which he believes was observed by Willibrord; and this is the very Coenobitic Rule of St. Columban.], brought up into a spiritual and perfect man, the future catechist of holy mother church, in the thirty-third year of his age, Alcuin, 5. the number of years at which, half a year being added, of the incarnate Word, the redemption of the whole human race was dedicated on the altar of the cross and, the Paraclete Spirit being poured out over all flesh, the apostolic preaching was sent out into the fourfold circle of the earth, he burned with a more ardent desire for a more distant exile, so that, singing the more eagerly with the outstanding psalmist: I am a stranger with you and a pilgrim, as were all my fathers, Ps. 38, 13. he might provide for those journeying away from the Lord a citizenship in the companionship of the citizens of the heavenly homeland. II Cor. 5, 6. The money of the noble man's lord, who went away into a far country to receive a kingdom, laid up in the purse of his heart, the approved banker preferred to pay out further afield; Luke 19, 12 ff. he preferred with the patriarch Isaac to sow in a foreign land, that he might be able to bring back a hundredfold fruit to the Lord's threshing floor. Gen. 26, 12. A true Hebrew, a true periotes peristes Schm. [Rather περάτης. Cf. Jerome, Epist. 71, ch. 2: Hebrew, that is, περάτης (the old editions and some mss.: περώτης), and passer-over.] and passer-over, Hier. Ep. 71, 2. numbered with those passing over by the way of holy conversation to the homeland of the perpetual inheritance, to whom the prophetic word cries out in the proclamation of the Lord's passion: O all you who pass by the way, attend and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, Lam. 1, 12. while, desiring to share in the Lord's sorrow for him in the measure of human possibility, he attends to it, Hier. Ep. 71, 2. while, not content with present virtue, but forgetting the things that are past, he stretches himself to what is to come, Gal. 1, 16. he did not acquiesce in flesh and blood, he resolved not to stand in all the region round about, but to be saved on the mystical mountain, and, mindful that the disciple wishing to go to his father's burial is not permitted, he forbore to revisit and greet his parents and homeland. Gen. 19, 17., Matth. 8, 21; cf. Hier. Ep. 64, 4. And having shared counsel with twice six Rather eleven. Cf. above, p. 440, note 1. brothers of the monastic habit and profession, he kindled the minds of all to the desire of so holy a setting-out; and holding it certain that Gaul, Juven. 15, 111. which, eloquent, taught the Britons to be pleaders, was in certain parts of its tract still squalid with the errors of idolatry, he boarded a ship, hung the swelling sails on the mast, Hier. Ep. 1, 2. unfurled the cables and, the Holy Spirit governing the helm and furthering the course, entrusted himself to the crashings of the ocean sea, and, the lands vanishing, (Verg. Aen. 3, 193). he did not take fright that there was sky on every side and sea on every side, but hastened with the utmost eagerness of mind to the longed-for harbours.

But he was carried first to the port of Gravelines, a maritime township, where up to the present time there is honoured with immense veneration beside the base of the altar a stone of quadrangular form, on which rather than on a ship, as the children of children and those who are born of them are accustomed to assert, he, not admitted on the Irish shore by the shipmaster for lack of the fare, is believed to have been carried across by a new and unheard-of kind of vessel Cf. above, p. 424, no. 19.. For it is the nature of a stony mass to sink in the waves, to seek not the heights but the depths by its heavy weight. And let it be committed to the judgment of a purified mind to decide et Schm., Macr. Somn. II, 12, 5. whether it is a more illustrious miracle to walk with the feet upon the liquid element, or to stand with unstumbling step upon a mass of stone suspended over the water of the violent abyss and naturally liable to submersion, and for a heavy weight placed upon a most heavy weight to carry itself across into harbour. Isai, 51, 10. For if the reason of nature be weighed, it is denied that it can happen; if the power of the divine operation be considered, it follows that, as by a certain natural force of the magnet stone it is brought about that the most heavy matter of iron is suspended in the air without the help of any instrument, so through the virtue of the sanctified body placed upon it it was brought about that the stony saxae Schm. mass was raised above the waters and carried across to the shore with its passenger. Yet he did not tie delays mores Schm. there, but, his limbs wasting from the brine being refreshed on the shore, Verg. Aen. 1, 173. spreading the canvas, he drove the ship on by the stroke of oars. He furrowed the waves without any whirlwind, and with a calm voyage put in at the mouths of the river Rhine, the king of the rivers of Gaul and Germany, Willibrord's annotation. in the six hundred and ninetieth year of the Lord's incarnation, and, gladdened by the pleasantness and breadth of the continent, by a straight journey, as the servant of Abraham, about to provide a marriage for Abraham's son in the city of Mesopotamia, so he came to Utrecht, then the citadel and throne of the kingdom of Frisia, shortly to acquire and adorn there a bride for the Lord and the seed of Abraham. Gen. 24.

[6] But having found that the Frisians, a people of hard neck and untameable heart, Exod. 32, 9., Ezech. 2, 4. were occupied by war with their neighbours, he takes a counsel fitting to the place and time, namely to go to the duke of Francia, Pippin, son of Ansgisus, son of Arnulf, the outstanding prelate of the Mediomatrici, by Begga, sister of the outstanding and honey-flowing virgin Gertrude, who by hereditary right as mayor of the palace under Dagobert Cf. p. 465, note 1., the most noble king, with the highest glory, a most victorious triumpher, ruled, extended and ennobled the dominion of the kingdom of the Franks. And when the sower of the word had come to the chief man of such renown in life, he was received by him with the highest magnificence of honour as the initiate and angel of the Lord of Sabaoth. At his coming the soul of the magnificent duke magnified the Lord, Luke 1, 46. and because with sagacious industry and with the subtle sharpness of his talent he was skilled, he admonished and asked with most humble intention that he would permit himself to be exalted with the honour of the hierarchy by the man of outstanding holiness, Sergius, supreme pontiff of the apostolic see, asserting that this was exceedingly profitable and useful to the new plantation, and that by this compact a voluntary rain could be set apart more abundantly for the Lord's inheritance. Ps. 67, 10 The illustrious archon pressed in every way; but Willibrord, of ready and best will, a man made to the fingernail and wholly in himself smooth and round, Hor. Sat. I, 5, 32; II, 7, 86. resisted the more stubbornly obnoxius Schm., turning over silently with himself that the Only-begotten of the eternal Father, the king of all kings, fled further away, lest the people believing in him should make him king. John 6, 15. And although by most true assertion Calcidius asserts in his explanation upon Plato's Timaeus: §164. Naturally every man is greedy of honour; for honour is the testimony of virtue, yet for the sake of preserving humility and drawing it into an example he did not attend to the honour, but to the most heavy burden of so great an honour, to bear which it befits no one to put the shoulder of his mind beneath, except one who has the catalogue of virtues Alcuin, 6. which the outstanding catechist of the nations judged to be special and proper to a designated and elected prelate; and, as if he himself lacked this so great gift of divine bounty, he prayed stubbornly that they would turn their intention from him and provide, choose and promote some other more ready and more worthy steward for the house of God. That he had left home, homeland, kindred for the land of the true promise after the example of the supreme patriarch Abraham, nor did it befit and suit the maturity of his character to seek again the earthly glory which he had once trodden underfoot for obtaining the heavenly. Gen. 12, 1. But as Jerome, the most eminent of the interpreters of divine scripture, asserts in the epitaph of Nepotian, the more he resisted, the more he roused the zeal of all towards him, and he merited by refusing what he did not wish to be, and was the more worthy the more he cried that he was unworthy. Epist. 60, 10. Therefore, overcome both by the divine disposition and by the obstinate acclamation of those pressing him, he brought back before the eyes of memory that saying from the volume of Samuel: Obedience is better than sacrifices, and to refuse to acquiesce is as the crime of idolatry. I Reg. 15, 22, 23. He set his own will after the will of all, for the grace and glory of him who says: I came not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. John 6, 38. He assented to what he refused and, having received from the outstanding duke gifts and embassies worthy of the apostolic see, Hier. Adv. Iov. 2, 38. he took the road to Rome, whose name is either of strength according to the Greeks or of sublimity according to the Hebrews.

[7] And because he was going to be ordained and destined for the mystical chariots of Aminadab, about which in the epithalamium the synagogue, pricked with salutary penitence, complains: I knew not, my soul troubled me on account of the chariots of Aminadab, Cant. 6, 11. of the voluntary redeemer indeed of his people, on the fourth night before his coming into the city an angel of light came to the lord apostolic one, II Cor. 11, 14. of whom we spoke before, Sergius, given over to a light sleep after long vigils, after deep sighs, while he remembered Sion, Ps. 136, 1. and, strengthening him, astounded by the unwonted vision, with most gentle address, announced that a man was approaching, the mirror of all virtues, that he might be consecrated by him and advanced to the summit of the supreme pontificate, and might obtain from the apostolic see without any contradiction whatever useful and necessary thing he should request for the worship and adornment of the tabernacle of God, namely of the church of God. Without delay the lord apostolic one, made certain and glad by the angelic revelation, having called his intimates to him, indicated more secretly what he had deserved to see and hear, and prepared himself more carefully to carry out the duties of the divine embassy. He came to meet the arriving initiate of God, received him as Christ Jesus with immense exultation and glory. With worthy honour he honoured the archisterium of the Holy Spirit, and, after the feasts from the table of divine scripture administered by alternate and friendly converse of inner refreshment, he called together the whole ecclesiastical order and ministry into the basilica of Peter, the heavenly key-bearer, and, the whole throng of clergy and people giving their vote, Willibrord's annotation in the year of the begotten Word six hundred and ninety-five DC. XC. VI. T corrected over an erasure, in the ninth indiction, on the tenth before the Kalends of December, with the highest dignity and rejoicing, by apostolic rite he ordained and consecrated him Alcuin, 7. archbishop for the savage nation of the Frisians; Rom. 8, 10. and because, through the Paraclete dwelling in him, he saw in him a most clement disposition, having endowed and clothed him not so much with his most precious priestly vestments as with the ornaments preordained and prepared under the law and under grace as a type and mystery of the whole creation and of the church, Hier. Ep. 64, 19. he called him by the name which the mouth of the Lord named, Clement, as a presage of the divine clemency to come and to be bestowed on all hoping in him. Him, enthroned, he cherished in the bowels of inmost love and humanity, kept him with himself more familiarly for the sake of the progress of both, that the winged and eyed animals might touch one another more nearly with their wings in turn and, as two cherubim spreading their wings, might look at one another, their faces turned towards the propitiatory. Ezech. 1, 11 ff. He ordered the chests and sacred cabinets to be opened to him, where there was laid up within a store of holy relics and of most precious ornaments

, that he might choose from there, with his permission and connivance, whatever and as much as pleased him for consecrating and adorning, in the places preordained by God, oratories and meeting-places of the Christian assembly.

[8] Famous before by the noble proclamation of report, but then much more famous throughout the walls of lofty Rome, Verg. Aen. 1, 7. having scarcely wir Schm. obtained from the lord apostolic one leave to return, at length after the course of fourteen days from when he had come into the city, Hist. eccl. 5, 11. as the venerable Bede testifies in the Ecclesiastical History of the English, enriched with gifts of inestimable price, he returned into Francia, then under King Dagobert [In the year 695 Dagobert II († 678) had already been dead for many years, and Dagobert III (711 – 715) was not yet reigning. That a certain King Dagobert met with St. Willibrord was imagined also by the writer of the Life of St. Dagobert, ch. 9, 10 (MG., Scr. rer. merov. vol. II, p. 516 – 18). That Thiofrid read this little book, worthy of no credit, and had regard to it in this place, J. Schmitz judged (in his edition, p. 69 – 70), perhaps not rightly.] and Duke Pippin the ornament and glory of the world. O man of incomparable merit, whose memorable birth was foreshown by the brightness of lunar light, who was known to the world before he was brought forth, whose coming to Rome, the head of the world, an angel of light, as it were his groomsman, announced beforehand, for whose glorious reception and ordination the lord apostolic one was roused and admonished by divine revelation, to whom, for the increase of glory and the progress of holy church, so great and so copious a treasure of holy relics and ornaments was entrusted from heaven. So the hierarch of so great a prerogative, Willibrord, was received by the outstanding prince Pippin with immense eagerness and glory, and was endowed and glorified by him with a pontifical chair in the illustrious fortress, loc. cit. which, according to the assertion of the lord Bede, was called anciently in the barbarian tongue Viltalburg, but in the Gallic tongue Traiectum, where, sailing from Ireland, as we said before, carried to the continent, he ended the losses and discomforts of his long voyage. Sedul. Carm. pasc. 1, 200; Op. pasc. 1, 17 Nor fearing the Achaemenian ferocity of the barbarian nation, not far from the bank of the river Rhine he built and dedicated an oratory in honour of the saving cross and of Mary, theoticos theotocos T corrected. Cf. ch. 201., ever virgin, and, an outstanding band of brothers being gathered in a short time, a new plantation of the Lord for glorifying him, he sat there in the apostolic see, himself the mystical seat from the true Solomon, the living fount of wisdom, marked with lions and oxen in work carved in relief. Isai. 61, 3., III Reg. 10, 18 and 7, 29.

[9] And to touch summarily on his inner cloistered way of life indeed, he remembered that he had been a monk from the very rattles of infancy; and therefore the monk which he had put on almost as an infant, which he had kept with so much sweat for so much time, he was unwilling to lose and change on the occasion of pastoral care, but he instituted that the whole college in the house domno Schm. of God, with the consent of those living with him, should walk the path of monastic religion, Ps. 54, 15. because he did not teach otherwise than he lived; Hier. Vita Malchi, prol. whence also, down to these dregs of our time and our sad living, no assembly of clerics in the Gauls has come nearer to the monastic order than the holy congregation of Utrecht, or touched its customs more deeply and attentively and held them more tenaciously. Pers. 1, 9. Apoc. 4, 6, 8. The winged animal, the holy animal, full of eyes before and behind, turned over with himself with what great privileges a bishop is strong, to whom belong in the law the mystical breast and the right shoulder of the saving victims, Num. 18, 18. namely purity of heart and knowledge of the divine, and truth of dogma, and an arm bared against the aerial battle-lines, the work of fortitude; Hier. Ep. 64, 23. who by no means can enter the holy places, nor possess the name of prelate, without bells and divers colours and manifold gems of virtues, Ibid. because it belongs to his dignity that his goings out and movements and all things should be vocal, and whatever he does, whatever he says, should be doctrine for the human race. He weighed with most intent searching of mind that a bishop must be without crime, Tit. 1, 7. must always remain in the holy places and not go out, lest he pollute the sanctification of his God, Lev. 21. 12. but must be continually ready to offer victims victima Schm. for the people as mediator of God and men, and, because the holy oil of Christ his God is upon him, Lev. 21, 12. to make conficit Schm. with sacred mouth the flesh of the lamb. Ezech. 3, 17. Given as watchman to the house of Israel, he climbed the tower of Lebanon, Cant. 7, 4. to which the nose of the bride is compared by the voice of the bridegroom, that, standing on the height of holy conversation and fortified with the defence of circumspection and discretion, he might know, in the manner of the nostrils, how to distinguish the stenches of vices and the odours of virtues and to foresee from afar the onsets of adverse spirits, and might be able to render the souls committed to him more cautious through the providence divinely implanted in him.

[10] But considering that it is not enough for the watchman himself to live on high, Greg. Magn. Hom. in Ezech. I, 11, 7. unless by pressing on with assiduous preaching he labours to draw others also to the heights, and is zealous by speaking to kindle their minds to love of the heavenly homeland, he preached the word of life with vehement zeal and urgency to the savage nation and, the grace of the Holy Spirit cooperating, through the admirable and stupendous efficacy of miracles he led back an innumerable multitude from the rough and pathless track of error, and, washed in the saving font, transferred them into the bosom of mother church, to be nourished at her milky and honey-flowing breast. Mindful of his mother's vision long ago, at the very time of his conception, of the mystical increase and descent of the lunar globe, he felt compassion in the bowels of our true Samaritan for the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, which is interpreted moon, and wounded by Vedian robbers [Vedius, or Veiovis, Vediovis, was among the ancients the name of some god or other; cf. Pauly, Real-Encyclopädie, vol. VI, 2 (1852), p. 2426 – 27; but Thiofrid here and elsewhere designates the devil by that word.], he himself, by participation in grace a Samaritan and innkeeper, pouring wine and oil into his wounds, was zealous all day and all night to restore him to eternal soundness and salvation. Luke 10, 30 ff. Wherever the burning and shining lamp sent forth the rays of the divine word, the people that sat in darkness saw a great light and lost altogether the obscurity of inner darkness. John, 5, 35. Matth. 4, 16. With the most clear light of truth he banished all the darkness of fanatic error, and, according to the assertion of the lord Bede, building up many churches and some monasteries throughout those regions, Hist. eccl. 5, 11. he gathered congregations endowed with every kind of virtue, and from that number of brothers who had come there with him and after him he established prelates and shepherds over the Lord's sheep. Nor now content to extend the cords of holy exhortation within the bounds of the kingdom of the Franks, he resolved that the waters of his cistern and his springs should be channelled through the streets even to the neighbours; Prov. 5, 15, 16. and he went to the court of the expelled King Rabod, not fearing the fierce and erratic motions of his mind from his recent expulsion. And he was received by him, though a most hard idolater, with the highest reverence, but, the secret justice of divine predestination not admitting him to the sacraments of the faith, Alcuin, 9. he could by no warmings of life soften the adamantine hardness of his blinded heart, by no light of the word illuminate and drive away the most obscure night of error. Considering, therefore, that it was not yet the time for the salt land to bear fruit at the casting of the divine seed, he did not so much take away the sowing as defer it, and transferred the ploughshare of preaching to the neighbouring barbarism of the Danes. Job 39, 6. The sceptre of that nation was held by a tyrant named Ongendus, a man to be mourned with the mourning for an only son, as one to be plunged into the abyss of Tartarus, a rich victim of Orcus. Ierem. 6, 26. He, although of hard neck and untameable heart, nevertheless, forestalled and terrified by divine fear, received and treated the herald of truth with worthy honour, but by no reasoning could he be expiated and converted from the squalor of idolatry. Exod. 32, 9., Ezech. 2, 4. The initiate of God, therefore, noticing his mind hardened and obstinate by divine disposition, turned away the zeal of his intention from him, and, lest he should return empty to the threshing floor, he was zealous to bring back at least two, at least one sheaf, and for the sake of evangelical enlightenment he acquired there thirty boys, an outstanding increase for propagating the faith, and, lest through the long interval of land and sea by the contrivance of the ancient enemy any loss of faith should be experienced in them, he carried them across with him, washed in the saving font, to the Franks, the people of divine election and acquisition, long since hanging on his return. I Petr. 2, 9.

[11] But when on returning he was endangered, like Paul, the catechist of the nations, in perils of rivers, perils in the sea, II Cor. 11, 26., Alcuin, 10. a storm having arisen, he was carried to a certain island set on the border of the Frisians and the Danes, which in the barbarian tongue is named Fositeslant from a certain Fosite, the arch-apostate prince of their idols, by whose guardianship the brute heathendom believed itself and the whole region round the sea-coast to be protected and fortified. His fane, built up there at laborious expense, was worshipped with such services and dirges of idolatry that whoever, without a grave and inevitable cause of necessity, presumed to enter and graze the pleasant green lawns, Verg. Aen. 4, 158. or to disturb and touch the sluggish cattle wandering in the most fertile pastures, or to quench the heat of thirst from the spring which flowed there with a gentle welling, except under the seal of deep silence, was judged guilty of a capital crime and of treason. It was indeed agreed among minds entangled in every error that whoever, drawing from the vein of the superstitious water, should dare to utter any word with his voice, or with rash daring to steal anything of the silver and bronze cast with sacrilegious rite into the little pitcher assigned for drawing water, would perish by the peril of sudden fury or death. In the place of so great a superstition the eager courier of God pitched his tents and, despising the vanity and cruelty of earthly principality, consecrated by the grace of baptism in the wave of the aforesaid spring, for the mystery of the undivided Trinity, three catechumens whose hearts God had touched, and, staying there until the stern ornaments of the battered ship should be repaired and with favouring winds a prosperous voyage should come, he distributed the animals grazing through the pleasant Tempe, by a fitting division, as food for his men. And when Rumour, Verg. Aen. 3, 658., Ibid. 4, 174. an evil than which no other is swifter, had carried this, as a huge and horrible monster, into the palace of the most rabid King Rabod, and, exaggerating, kindled his mind with anger, the tyrant hastily, having summoned all of the senatorial order, held a council of them and of others whom he thought suitable. By the opinion of all, the lot was cast into the urn three times in succession

over three days to make the trial, Alcuin, 11. whether those whom that inquiry harassed had rightly deserved the destruction of damnation; Ps. 118, 137. but because the divine judgment is right and unchangeable, it did not come out, it did not fall upon the outstanding prelate or any of his companions except one, who, because he presumed too inconsiderately to take the sacrificial bronze from the drawing-vessel of the sacrilegious water, betrayed and condemned by the rite of lots sortilogo GT, corrected Schm., washed away with shed blood the stain of a venial offence and passed into the most glorious company of the martyrs Cf. above, p. 424, no. 22..

At length the profane archon summoned the wonderful hierarch into the palace, to remonstrate with him over the injury of contempt for his god and his edict. But unbridled rage did not terrify him, but, secure against all the furious tumult and fortified with that rampart of wisdom to which rampant folly was never permitted to aspire, he kept an unconquered countenance at all the reproaches of the savage tyrant raging without strength, and at last gave back this answer from his sacred breast: "There is altogether no divinity in your idol, over whose injury you remonstrate with me, but the vanity of all vanities for deceiving and ruining the souls of unbelievers. Eccle. 1, 2. Every idol is nothing; nothing is the idol-offering, which the superstitious invention of men has carved out for the irremediable destruction of body and soul. There is no god but one, who founded the stable and rolling circuit of heaven, who disposed the wandering returns of the stars, their stations and number; who set a bound to the sea; Ierem. 5, 22. who alone knows the count of the sand and of the drops of rain; Eccli. 1, 2. who, governing the world by perpetual reason, Boet. Cons. phil. III, metr. 9, 1. at the consummation of the world, for the destruction of sin, without sin, took a virginal body from an undefiled and perpetual virgin and, his death intervening, overthrew the empire of death, and redeemed the human race, lost by the irreparable loss of the first prevarication. Hebr. 9, 26. He alone is, he is the best, and further from the best all envy is far banished; therefore the good will of the best is the principal and efficient cause of the whole creation. To him, therefore, every nature of things visible and invisible rightly and worthily bends the knee; Phil. 2, 10. do you too, lord king, bend your neck to the king of kings and lord of lords, all stiff-neckedness of mind being laid aside and shut out. Apoc. 19, 16. I, his little home-born servant, testify to you by his coming and his heavenly kingdom that, if through my mouth you hear with the hearing of the ear him who speaks in me, and, washed in the saving font, you bring forth fruits worthy of penance for the follies of your error, you will be saved with perpetual salvation, and will be crowned with the diadem of unimaginable and ineffable glory, and among the kings of the heavenly court you will contemplate the king of ages in his beauty without any limit of eternity. Isai. 33, 17; Tob. 13, 6. But if you care not a straw for my admonitions, which in his stead I suggest for your salvation, and do not expiate yourself from the filth of idolatry, do not doubt, do not delay, but be certain that you will be cast out from the throne of your glory as a useless stock, Isai. 14, 19. and, plunged into the prison of Tartarus without any regard exspectu Schm. of mercy among those Verg. Aen. 6, 581. who roll in the lowest depth, you will suffer unspeakable, unending torments with the Vedian, now your god." Ibid. 2, 650. And when he persisted, saying these things, and remained fixed, the prince, noticing that punishment was sought and pardon feared with the utmost greed for the crown of martyrdom, Lucan. 2, 511. answered in a few words with all tranquillity of mind: Ibid. 512. "Live, though you be unwilling; I have found that you believe death to be the rest from troubles, not torment; you do not fear the threats of my severity. Your works equal your words; the constancy of your mind is obstinate and insuperable." O outstanding prince, though a heathen, Ibid. 2, 389. who, a cultivator of justice, a keeper of rigid honour, in paganism set himself as an imitable form for the nobles of the orthodox faith with our corrupt morals! For these, when, according to that poetic saying: They often quarrel over goat's wool, Hor. I Epist. 18, 15. indignation has blazed up in them, there is no measure of vengeance nor any delay; he, as if he had read in the satiric poem: Vengeance is always the pleasure of a small and weak and petty mind, Juven. 13, 189 – 191. chose to dissemble his anger and conquer with greatness of mind. These, consulting their anger more than their reputation, abuse proscription and prejudgment; he, for three continuous days, lest he should condemn any innocent person to the punishment of unjust death, used not only the counsel of his senate and his initiates, but also the rite of lots, by which at that time, as by a divine indication, the knowledge of hidden and obscure things was thoroughly opened up and found out. He did not wish to be detected by anyone infringing the laws which he himself first, the first out of heathendom, following the Lacedaemonian lawgiver Lycurgus, Justin, 3, 2. substituted for his brother Polibites Rather Polydectes., king of the Spartans, devised and instituted for the nation of the Frisians A mere fable.. And this so great assertor of political discipline, if faith is to be given to the assertion of our elders, was led by the theological preaching of the apostolic man both to the rudiments of the catholic faith and to the font of baptism On this fable cf. above, p. 429, note 7.. But when he had dipped his foot, changeable in the countenance of his body and equally in mind, or because, Sall. Iug. 113, 1. as Crispus, the historian of outstanding eloquence, testifies, for the most part the wills of kings, as they are vehement, so are often changeable and contrary to themselves, he quickly drew back, rendered a worse apostate, as one placed outside the rule of the measure of the tower of Hananeel. II Esdr. 3, 1. But the champion of God, honoured with royal munificence, he permitted to return to the chair of his prelacy, which, thirsting for his honey-flowing presence, had long awaited it.

[12] So, the so laborious journey by land and sea being retraced, returned and received by his new plantation with the highest jubilation of mind, he laboured with all vigilance of intention that the nurseries of his divine garden should be watered more abundantly and brought to a far higher increase, and that, planted beside many waters of refreshment, they should sprout and flash among the stars of the church. Ps. 22, 2. In his apostolic see the father of the household, to whom the kingdom of heaven is likened, brought forth from his treasure things new and old, and with the flowing streams of his doctrine, as with the rivers of paradise, not only the whole neighbourhood was watered and made fruitful, Caes. B. G. 1, 1. but also all threefold Gaul. Matth. 13, 52 And while day by day dietim corrected Schm. the bountiful steward of Christ the Lord supplied abundantly to the Lord's household the daily rations of the evangelical wheat, and the swarms of believers were fattened and increased with inner satiety, Luke 12, 42. very many, powerful in most copious riches and in the pompous glory of the world, the clemency of divine inspiration preventing them, handed over to him those most ample patrimonies of theirs by ratified grant and stipulation. Finally the duke of most excellent nobility Pippin, with Blitrudis his consort, sprung from equally noble birth, on the third before the Ides of May, in the twelfth year of the most glorious King Childebert, gave him the whole half of the fisc of Echternach, handed over to himself by Theodard, son of the outstanding duke Theothar 14 May 706. Cf. Böhmer-Mühlbacher 2, Pippin der Mittlere, 14, 15., and Hirmina, daughter of King Dagobert, on the Kalends of December added the other part, possessed by hereditary right, with all its appurtenances and adjacencies, with the estate of Mons, situated in the district of Zülpich [Thiofrid here mixes up the charters of Irmina (cf. above, p. 428, note 7). For one charter is given on the 1st of December (of the year 698), another charter (given on the 1st of July 699) by which the estate of Mons in the district of Tulpiacum (Bergheim on the river Erft) was handed over to St. Willibrord. See MG., vol. XXIII, pp. 50 – 51 and 51 – 52. Not only here, but also in the Life of St. Irmina, which he wrote (MG., loc. cit., p. 48 – 50; cf. BHL. 4471 and Anal. Boll., vol. VIII, p. 285), Thiofrid received the fable by which St. Irmina was said to be the daughter of King Dagobert.]. The same munificent prince, under the writing of a chirograph, in the fourth year of King Dagobert, on the 6th before the Nones of March, handed over to him an estate situated in the district of the Maas-dwellers and named Suestra from the name of the river flowing past, and acquired from free men by the shrewd industry of the outstanding Blittrudis at the expense of money 2 March 714. Cf. Böhmer-Mühlbacher 2, loc. cit., 20. See above p. 443, note 2.. And because the site of each place seemed to so wise an architect pleasant and exceedingly apt and worthy for the studies of the coenobitic life, in each, the foundations having been laid, he built a monastery, and gathered the Lord's flock to be pastured on the mountains of Israel in the most fertile pastures. Ezech. 34, 14. And Charles of eternal memory, son of the aforesaid duke, mayor of the palace, grandfather of Charles the Great, on the third before the Ides of May, in the city of Trier, gave him an entire estate named Adrichaim, situated in Frisia in the district of Kinheim upon the river Velisena, where the sea flows on the other side, and confirmed it by the page of a royal testament Cf. Böhmer-Mühlbacher 2, Karl Martell, 40.. Likewise Rohingus, a man of great wealth, by lawful confirmation of a testament assigned to him the church situated in the fortress of Antwerp upon the river Scheldt in the district of the Rhenenses, with the appurtenant estates, and the third part of the toll of the same fortress, which is now a march of the kingdom Cf. MG., vol. cit., p. 55, l. 15; p. 63, l. 46-p. 64, l. 29.. By the same ratified tradition allods of magnificent utility were handed over to him by men endowed with the highest honour and munificence; by Heribald, discharging the clerical dignity, in the district called Marsum, at the mouth of the Maas, a basilica together with all its appurtenances This donation is mentioned by Thiofrid alone.; by Angibald the estate of Waderloe in Texandria upon the river Dommel Cf. MG., vol. cit., p. 56, l. 20.; by Engilbert everything which fell to his right in the estate named Ereslohc Eresloh// T corrected; Ereslohe Schm., and Alfeim, an entire estate Cf. ibid., p. 58, l. 19, and p. 57, l. 5.; by Ansbald, with all his possession in Hockensceit, the estate of Disena [Cf. ibid., p. 58, l. 40; see also p. 61, l. 33 and p. 57, l. 28 (on the goods situated in Hoccascaute, which were given by Bertilindis, sister of Ansbald).]; by Thitbald in Mulneheim an entire church with its adjacencies Of this Thiofrid alone makes mention.; by Count Ebroin illustrious estates in the township of Rinera and in Millingen a basilica in all its entirety Cf. MG., vol. cit., p. 62, l. 33-p. 63, l. 15.; by Wachard, a venerable man, seven and a half manses

and one mill in the place which is called Erle, upon the river Prüm [There was copied from this tradition, in the Golden Book of Echternach, fol. 81, a charter of Willibrord of suspect credit, on which see above, p. 432, note 1.]; and many other things, which I deliberately pass over on account of the barbarous names both of men and of places Cf. above, p. 427, note 12.. Further, it is clearer than light that no one of them all would disinherit himself and his posterity and enrich a proselyte from the farthest shores of the ocean, unless, knowing by experience that he was outstandingly endowed with an immense efficacy of signs and prodigies, he hoped through the merits of his holiness to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, kept in the heavens. I Petr. 1, 4. And all the things handed over to him he distributed with most prudent dispensation, partly to his apostolic see of Utrecht, partly to the church of Echternach, which by a special prerogative of love pleased his holy soul, inasmuch as there, through the spirit of prophecy, he foreknew that at the time of the restitution of all things, at the blast of the last trumpet, he must rise again from corruption to incorruption and put on immortality in place of mortality. Acts 3, 21., I Cor. 15, 53. In every place of the Lord's dominion his soul blessed the Lord, Ps. 102, 22. and from the gifts which every willing person, whether man or woman, offered with most ready mind for the worship, adornment and sacrifice of the tabernacle of God, wherever it seemed to him lawful and fitting, he built and dedicated basilicas, meeting-places of the faithful, and in them ordained and established the ecclesiastical order, Alcuin, 12., Acts 13, 48. that the people preordained to life in the predestination of God might have at hand where and when and from whom they might receive the mystery of baptism, the food of evangelical refreshment, the remedy of penance, and might learn the sanctions of the canons.

Then in the year of the begotten Word seven hundred and fourteen there befell an eclipse of the sun of all Gaul and Germany. For the duke of immortal memory Pippin paid the debt of nature and, as Trogus testifies of Alexander the Great, extinguished in the very flower of his age and victories, Justin, 13, 1. left a great sadness among all the people of his dominion. Dead, according to the saying of the most wise Jesus son of Sirach, he is as if not dead; Eccli. 30, 4. for he left after him a son like himself, Charles, mayor of the palace and defender against the boldness of enemies and rendering favour to friends; who, skilled to spare the subject and to war down the proud, Verg. Aen. 6, 853., I Mac. 3, 3 – 9. as is read of Judas Maccabaeus, put on a breastplate as a giant and girded on his weapons of war and, made like a lion in his works and like a lion's whelp roaring in the hunt, pursued the hostile phalanxes. He extended the glory of his people and protected the camp with his sword, and the enemies were driven back for fear of him, and salvation was prospered in his hand. And because he was named to the end of the earth, his memory is in blessing for ever. In the third year after his father's passing he joined battle with his father's enemy, Regino, years 650 – 653. Radbod, king of the Frisians, and having first conquered him with a glorious, though bloody, victory in a land battle, then, in a naval expedition, Bobo, duke of the same rebellious people, being slain with all his sacrilegious army, Fredeg. cont. 17. at length, the fanes and idols being destroyed and consumed by fire, he subjected Frisia, thoroughly subdued, to the dominion of the Franks.

[13] But the archisterium of the Holy Spirit Willibrordus adds T., considering that a great and evident door had been opened to him, I Cor. 16, 9. hastened to tame with the spiritual sword also the same people of his diocese, tamed by the material sword, and, as after the linen and four-cornered vessel of the gospels let down from heaven and the admirable mystery of believers in the fourfold world, it is agreed that Peter, the key-bearer of the heavenly court, was admonished by the divine voice: Acts 10, 11., Hier. Ep. 125, 2. Kill and eat, Acts 10, 13. to kill and expiate it from the gore of bloods and to pass it over into the body of the Lord.

The eagle, lifted up and setting its nest on the heights of the heavenly life, and dwelling in the rocks and on the steep flints and inaccessible crags, having lingered in contemplation with the most mighty choirs of angels and from there having gazed upon its food, where it beheld the carcass, namely the nation lying in the death of unbelief, flew to it and, what it had long desired, but, because there is an appointed time for everything under heaven, could not obtain its wish except at the time preordained by the divinity, laboured with the beak of evangelical preaching to probe and pound its inner parts, and, changing it wholly from the iniquity of idolatry to innocence, converted and joined it into its own members. Job 39, 27., Ibid. 28., Ibid. 29., Eccle. 3, 1. Irradiated with the radiance of the true and uncircumscribed light, he permitted no place at all there to be darkened by the darkness of the former error and ignorance, but illuminated the land covered with the darkness of death with the most bright rays of the catholic faith. Job 10, 21. Nor content with narrow bounds, he visited more widely the neighbouring places, to pour and distribute upon the benighted heathendom the charisms of the Paraclete Spirit of eternal splendour. He turned aside to the island called Walchrum, washed round by the river Scheldt and an arm of the British sea, which up to that time sacrificed to the Vedian and not to God, the maker and lord of the whole creation. And when, the divine clemency running before, he was sowing there the seeds of the word and the sown crops were growing most abundantly, he entered a fane situated on the sea-coast, where a certain statue of the ancient error was worshipped with sacrilegious rite. I Mac. 2, 24. He grieved from his inmost heart and his reins trembled after the example of Mattathias, father of the Maccabees, and, turning over that hemistich of the psalmist: The zeal of your house has eaten me up, Ps. 68, 10. and the javelin of Phinehas and the austerity of Elijah, Hier. Ep. 109, 3. as Moses broke the molten calf into pieces, so he broke up the idol of abomination, and, erecting a stone for a monument, poured the oil of consecration upon it. Exod. 32, 4, Deut. 9, 21., Gen. 28, 18. He did not fear the savagery of the idolatrous temple-keeper standing by, but, putting forth the constancy of his mind, approached the altar to sacrifice the saving victim of dedication. But the detestable keeper of the shrine, kindled with the torches of wrath, when his heart had long been throbbing, his body trembling, his tongue stumbling, his face blazing, the edge of his eyes roughened, altogether like one possessed, brandished a flashing sword and, with right hand bared, urged it with all his strength and wounded the venerable head of the prelate with a heavy, nay a deadly, blow. And indeed he would have made him, greedy for the palm of martyrdom, a most victorious martyr, unless the dispensation of divine providence, for the edification Eph. 4, 12. of the body of Christ, mother church, and for the increase and progress of the Lord's household, had preserved him unharmed and safe. There is witness to this day his blood in the basilica which is called Westkapelle, poured out and sprinkled on the base of the altar Cf. above, p. 424, no. 21.; a witness, I say, that no one, so much gore having been shed, could live except through the effect of divine power. So much gore, as the Lord's blood, the key of paradise, flowed and redounded as the price of the salvation and redemption of the whole world, so flowed for the restoration and remedy of the whole island and maritime region. For when the companions of so great a bishop, roused to anger and exasperated by so unworthy a deed, wished to avenge it by hand and not leave so great a crime unpunished, the man of the highest piety and mercy set himself in between, and, exhorting his men to rule their minds, snatched the guilty man from the onset of injury and permitted him to depart free. Yet the son of perdition gained nothing by this free departure and the momentary impunity of his crime, but within the space of the same day, seized by the monstrousness of demonic vexation, for a continuous three days he displayed a mournful and pitiable spectacle to the eyes of all and a most evident indication of divine vengeance, and so, suffocated through his unclean possessing spirit, he was cast headlong into the abyss of eternal damnation. John 17, 12. Nor did he destroy himself alone; but, as the transgression of the first-formed man struck all posthumous offspring with a cruel and incurable wound, so he made all his posterity remarkable with the brand of his crime. For whatever offspring has been produced from the vitiated root up to the present day, whether male or female, always disfigured in some limb, either shorter or longer, or by a foul disease, shows in itself the traces of divine vengeance Cf. ibid.. And the whole island and all the neighbourhood was moved and trembled at the animadversion of so strict a judgment of God and, laying aside its stiff-necked ferocity, cast away all its carved images and adored no longer the works of its hands, but, washed by the outstanding archprelate in the perennial font, in the blood of the lamb, it was made a holy nation and the beautiful bride of the bridegroom, surrounded with variety of virtues. Apoc. 22, 14., I Petr. 2, 9., Ps. 44, 10. The fanes there were changed and consecrated into temples and sanctuaries of the Lord God, and in them the vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction, which God endured with much patience, were transferred into vessels of mercy, which he prepared unto glory to show the riches of his glory. Rom. 9, 22 – 23, Ps. 92, 4. And because the wonderful surges of the sea had more frequently undermined the places adjoining the shore, the Lord, wonderful on high, through the merits of his outstanding helmsman Willibrord wonderfully restrained the losses of its incursions. For the man, the mirror of all virtues, by means of the staff of his journey, according to the common testimony of the whole province, drew on the mainland a furrow, as seemed to him sufficient and fitting, and in the name of Jesus, who walked with dry foot over the liquid and by command restrained the tempest and the strong wind, set it as a bound and limit to the sea. There grew up on the instant a heaped mass of sand like a most firm wall; which heaping the maritime natives call in their tongue dunon, and there up to the present the most dangerous waves are dashed and broken Cf. ibid., no. 20., and, as if indignant at the barrier with discordant sound, they do not dare to burst out and go forth, as if, doors and bar having been set there, it had been said to the sea by the divine voice: Thus far you shall come, and you shall not go further, and here you shall break your swelling waves. Job 38, 11.

[14] He returned, the island of the Walcherners being ordered and rooted and founded in the stability of the orthodox faith; he returned laureled with the laurel of martyrdom, although he did not meet death, the life-giving divinity being propitious; he returned avenged by divine vengeance and distinguished by the prerogative of a most excellent and unheard-of miracle. The labours completed in holy conversation he valued as it were at a straw, and the more nearly and clemently he considered himself to be a care to the most high divinity, the more anxiously and devoutly he stretched his mind to higher exercises of virtues. After the example of Paul, the most skilled catechist of the nations, while by preaching he wished to say all things at once, by loving to see all at once, he desired to pass from some places to others, and now here he was present in body through the affection of fatherly love, now there led in spirit, so that, like the raven, whose young

cry to God, because they have no food, he might fly forth to bring food from the heights and supply the nourishment of life to them gaping for it. Job 38, 41. And when, with the intention of such devotion, he was visiting his oratory described a little above Ch. 12 (p. 467 E). in the estate of Susteren, for the shortcut of hastening his journey he rode along a path before usual, led through the pleasant green lawns of the crops, which in the measurement of fields, by rods drawn between two marks in the manner of a line, the geometrical space and the subtle talent of the surveyor commonly makes. Boet. Geom. (P. L. LXIII, 1332D) Seeing this from afar, the steward of that little field, the friendly slave of a certain greedy rich man, Hor. II Sat. 3, 321. as if kindled oil were poured on a burning furnace, kindled his mind more ardently and, running up in the fire of fury, attacked the courier of Christ the Lord with abuse and insults. With rash daring he presumed to pull him back by his horse's bridle; he tried to pound the venerable head with a savage blow. But when his attendants wished to deliver him, raving so monstrously, to death, he restrained them with the honey-flowing sweetness of the meekness divinely implanted in him, and when he could neither soften nor overcome the adamantine heart of the adversary by persuasive words or by promises of any gift, Alcuin, 15. giving place to wrath, he returned by the road by which he had turned aside. But when the next dawn was shining saffron in her rosy two-horse car, Verg. Aen. 7, 26. the blasphemer returned to guard the glad crop; but the divine wrath, which according to Agellius in the Attic Nights proceeds with slow step to vengeance and compensates for tardiness by the gravity of the punishment, Nothing there. according to that evangelical promise: The Lord will quickly do the vengeance of his servants, Luke 18, 8. fell on him the more quickly, and in the same moment of the hour, in the same place in which he had embittered the anointed of the Lord and had striven to extinguish the burning lamp, in the sight of those standing by it extinguished and destroyed him by the sudden destruction of death. But because we are climbing as if over level ground to the heights of the miracles of so great a father, let us touch on a few out of innumerable, by snatches and briefly, to lighten Schm. wrote so; allevigandum GT. the reader's weariness.

[15] While, discharging the divine embassy, he was passing through places adjoining the Earth-shaker, Juven. 10, 182. the orb of the sun boiling down the day from above, Lucan. 9, 691. he noticed that, for lack of fresh water and the excessive fatigue of the road, the innards of his men were parched with a more burning flame of thirst, and their dry mouths stiffened, rough with scaly tongues, and with the palate split their hard sighs did harm. The same, 4, 324 28. For, thirsting, they looked at the sea water close at hand; but, as the Israelite people could not drink of Marah, Exod. 15, 23. because it was bitter, so they were not able to be refreshed by the salt wave, because from the natural matter of salt the burning plague of thirst is rather roused and increased. From the most high fount of piety pious bowels were poured into him over the afflicted, and, a clod of small turf being dug up within the inner part of his tent, witnesses being removed, he bent his knees more secretly and did not rise, did not cease from the urgency of prayer, until, by the help of the clemency of the Lord God, who in the desert at Rephidim, the eleventh station, brought forth a spring from the typical rock of Horeb, Hier. Epist. 78, XI. at the inmost sighs of his heart the gravel was stirred, driven by a slight vein, and from the salt land there bubbled up water of most sweet taste and limpid. Exod. 17, 1 ff., Ierem. 17, 6. Rising, all poured out in spiritual gladness, he paid to the divine majesty the due victim of praise and, going out, called the thirsty to the abundance of the water of the heavenly bounty, to quench their parching thirst. Lucan. 4, 372 – 73. Without delay, as strength returned to their sinews and powers to the men, they sang praise to the Lord for all the things which the Lord had rendered to them according to the multitude of his mercies, on account of the incomparable merit of their outstanding shepherd, to whose mouth the ear of the divine clemency was never lacking. And lest the same lack of water should press them again on the road, they filled their little vessels to the top, with no distrust of the munificence of the Lord accompanying them.

[16] Not long after this, he saw from afar twice six needy men clothed in xerampelides you would write xerampelinis. come to meet him as he went and beg from the passers-by an alms of nourishment. He condescended to them with the bowels of inner compassion; but, because no silver was found in the purse for him and his companions, from the small vessel of his journey, holding namely half a sextarius, woven of withies in the manner of a squat jar, he ordered drink to be given to the beggars. Pers. 5, 148. And when all had washed their lips with a full bowl and, inebriated by the wonderful plenty, had departed in the greatest hilarity, Verg. Aen. 1, 739. as the cruse of oil was not diminished under Elijah, so the abundance of Falernian in so small a vessel was not diminished, nay grew to fullness. Ps. 35, 9., III, Reg. 17, 16. It would be a miracle evident enough and more, if so many could gladden body and soul from so tiny a liquor; but now it is ennobled the more excellently by this, that the wicker cup, so many times almost exhausted, was found filled as before. John 7, 38. From the belly of so great a man flowed living waters, namely spiritual graces, and therefore, as of souls, so also of bodies he was accustomed more frequently to quench the thirst and to give his own drink from the torrent of inmost pleasure. Ps. 35, 9.

[17] Then, when, coming after a long absence to his own monastery, after the solemnities of reception and greeting worthy of so great a father and the exhortations of fatherly instruction, he was going round the several buildings of the brothers' workshops, Verg. Aen. 1, 643. — for fatherly patruis Schm. love did not suffer his mind to rest, — at length he entered also the storeroom, where he found almost all the wine vessels empty. And he approached in the fullness of the charity of the Lord one wine-jar, in whose lowest bottom a little strong wine was found, and, trusting in the abundant mercy of him who gives to all abundantly and does not upbraid, he plunged his staff through the vent in the presence of the cellarer, a man of the highest religion and merit. Ps. 91, 11., James 1, 5. And when he had gone out, the door being locked, within the space of the same night a copious blessing overflowed in the vessel and, no lid resisting, the pavement was flooded with the overflowing Caecuban, which not a material vine, but the most sincere faith and prayer produced and drew forth from that vine which asserts: I am the true vine. John 15, 1. And after the morning synaxis the monk, alone privy to the secret of the outstanding prelate, returned to the storeroom and, when he saw the superabounding riches of the grace of God, astounded with immense wonder, went with swift running to him, intent on heavenly studies, and indicated more secretly what the maker and lord of the universe had worked through his glorious merits. Eph. 2, 7. Without delay mara G., the most eminent vessel of the Holy Spirit burst into thanksgivings and jubilation of mind, and, after the example of the humility of Jesus Christ transfigured on Mount Tabor in the mystery of the glory to be revealed, he ordered that so great a miracle should be shut and hidden under the seal of silence until his passing from mortality to immortality.

[18] He likewise ennobled another sign not unlike this, but equally remarkable and wonderful in divine munificence. Wearied with the sweat of a long journey, for the sake of refreshment and recreation he turned aside into the house of a certain familiar of his, a powerful and rich father of a household, and took delight together in his friendly conversations and services. But when he noticed that he was anxious from lack of wine, out of reverence for his hospitality he ordered twice two wicker vessels of his provisions, holding about two sextarii, to be brought to him and, the grace of divine blessing abounding in them, he gave drink to forty guests in rich sufficiency and paid the duties of praises to the Lord God, who exalted the horn of his anointed in glory. I Reg. 2, 10; Ps. 148, 14. To this so great miracle he likewise made equal another, similar through the affection of his piety, but dissimilar in effect effectum G, T first hand before correction through the arrogance of a certain wealthy man who refused the drink of charity.

[19] While by solemn custom he was hastening to visit in Frisia the people that was the special fruit of his divine labour, to impart to them something of spiritual grace, the necessity of a longer road, for the sake of refreshing the beasts of burden, compelled him to turn aside into the meadow of a certain rich man and to rest for the space of a short little delay. But the greedy Virro mirio ("that is, monster") Schm. wrongly conjectured [Virro in Juvenal (Sat. V, 39, 43, 99, 128, 134, 149) is the proper name of a certain rich man, proud and mean towards his clients and the poor; but at the same time it designates others like him. Cf. Sat. V, 119: Virro will order those things for himself and for the other Virros.], possessor of the little field, Verg. Ecl. 9, 3. kindled with the torch of leonine fury, ran up, heaped on more frequently the pus and venom of abuse, beat the steeds more sharply and drove them unfed from the pastures. But the hierarch of the highest patience restrained his men, eager to avenge the injury by hand, and strove to rule his savage spirits with sweet words and to soothe his breast: Verg. Aen. 1, 153. "Cease, friend, cease from anger and leave off fury, and, correcting the error of your mind, recover the vigour of your sense. Set yourself before yourself and turn over what you would do or what you would wish to be done towards you, if these same or a like necessity pressed you. We are not a band of robbers, we contrive no loss for you, but we are passing here ad Schm. supplied to sow the seed of the divine word in the rough fallows of minds; of whose rich fruit you too will be able to merit the reward, if, so far as concerns you, you do not withdraw the aid of goodwill and inmost condescension from our need, according to the utterance of the Lord's promise: He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. Matth. 10, 41. Verg. Aen. 1, 539 – 40. What race of men, then, anywhere, or what so barbarous homeland permits this custom, that liquid springs and grass should be denied to those weary from a longer road and from the intolerable heat of the solar lamp, The same, Georg. 2, 201 – 202. where as much as the herds crop in the long days, so much the cool dew restores in the short night? The same, Aen. 9, 740. Do not rage so greatly, but, your breast calmed, come and, reclining with us, drink in the charity of the spirit of God, and, when we go away, gladdened and accompanied by the divine blessing, return home." The same, Aen. 6, 467 – 71. And when he tried to soothe the burning mind with such words, he is no more moved in countenance by the speech begun than if he were hard flint or Marpesian rock, but, rolling his eyes this way and that, he had the matter of disease from where he should have been cured, and, stirring up quarrels, at length vomited the venom of an insulting answer: "Do you ask that I allow my green lawns to be grazed, and by a damaging exchange your wine, light

archyposia [As not seldom elsewhere Thiofrid licentiously twisted words which he read in the ancient writers to a new sense, so here he wished archiposia, by which a certain office is designated, namely the function of master of a banquet (cf. Thes. ling. lat., vol. II, col. 463), to be the name of a man.], that I should drink? Truly I care not a straw for you and all yours, and I refuse to drink with you; with whom, as the ravager of my possession, I contend by the law of nations. III Reg. 20, 23." And the wonderful man in haste snatched the word from his mouth and, as if smiling, added: "If it burdens you to drink with me, so be it, come, do not drink." And mindful of the apostolic sentence: Give place to wrath, he hastened to leave the place where he perceived the stench of inhumanity and avarice to stink. Rom. 12, 19. But he was not far from the accursed grass when God, the lord of vengeances, by just examination of equity seized the rival and executor of it; and because he was unwilling to obey and acquiesce in the admonition and saving charity, he tortured him with a kind of intolerable punishment. Ps. 93, 1. Lucan. 9, 738 – 43. For as if a dipsas serpent, trodden on, had turned its head back and bitten him, and, the silent venom seizing his marrow, had drunk up the moisture spread round his vitals, so the burning of most ardent thirst was boiling down his innards, and, returning home, thirsting, he sought not a sextarius but the whole wine-jar. He put a huge bowl to his mouth, but the wine could rather flow out and pour away than flow in and pour into the blasphemous mouth, and the labour, attempted many times, availed nothing in vain. There was not lacking, nay there was over and above, an abundance of Caecuban, but no means of drinking was granted, and the more ardently his innards were roasted, the more all the things by which the parching plague could be extinguished were at hand and present. He handled the drink with his hands, looked at it with his eyes, moved his lips to it; but he could not wash his tongue and moisten his palate. Rom. 1, 21. His foolish heart, darkened, did not notice the irremediable force of so great a stroke, but thinks it is thirst, and calling in an Archigenes, Juven. 6, 236. he gave great gifts, promised greater, that by the Hippocratic art he might escape such punishments. But because no human aid prevails against the divine judgment, medicine, finding no place of its own, was turned into the contrary, and not so much diminished as increased the disease and pain divinely laid on. Lucan. 9, 751 – 52. He, even sent into the Tanais, and drinking the Rhône and the Po and the Nile wandering through the fields, would burn, unless he who moved his land and troubled it should heal its breaches and take away the overflowing scourge. Ps. 59, 4., Isai. 28, 15. What should the sick man, boiling, do, where turn himself? At length, amid dire and long-lasting torments, he came back to himself, set himself before himself, and, his conscience accusing him, remembered what and how great reproaches he had brought, and on whom, and on how great a man, and repented with inner pain of his whole mind. He beset all the crossroads round about with a watch, so that wherever the follower of Jesus Christ, whose losses of just severity he felt in himself, should return, he might deserve to experience also the bestowals of his pious meekness. Verg. Aen. 2, 758. With devouring fire his limbs are consumed, while pain is driven round in a circle, Ibid. 2, 215. and the year rolls back into itself along its own footsteps. Then at last, The same, Georg. 2, 401 – 402. the return of the initiate of God by the same road being learned, Ter. Hec. 3, 4, 27. he came to meet him with cadaverous face, weakened in his whole body, as one who, sustained by no feasts, had made the continuance and endurance of fasting his aid against thirst. Drawing long and sick sighs from the bottom of his breast, he embraced his knees and, confessing the guilt of his rashness and presumptuous wickedness, besought him with most humble supplication to have mercy on him with inmost compassion. Without delay, Clement Willibrord, showing in deed what the sound in his name says, did not stop the ears of clemency to the suppliant, but gave the man burning with thirst to drink from his own dish paropside Schm. corrected in vain, and, the soundness of body and soul being restored in him, returned him unharmed to his house and to the sorrowful neighbourhood.

[20] But in the metropolitan city of Trier, which, as the epigrams found in modern time on a certain very lofty tomb declare [Here Thiofrid praises and partly copies the spurious inscription which is inserted in the Gesta Treverorum, ch. 2 (MG., Scr. vol. VIII, p. 131) and in the Chronicle of Otto of Freising, book I, ch. 8 (ibid., vol. XX, p. 135).], was founded and named Treberis by Trebeta, the stepson of Semiramis, the wife of the most victorious Ninus, whom she, not content with her own nor with the whole bounds of the world, drove from his father's kingdom with stepmotherly hatred and envy; in the city, I say, so great, which is known as the head of Europe by antiquity, in the city of priestly and royal seat, in the oratory of the ever-virgin Mary, theoticos so GT; cf. ch. 82., where there are communities of nuns, by the censure of divine equity a deadly pestilence raged desaeviit corrected Schm. [The same Thiofrid narrated in fewer words in the Life of St. Irmina (BHL. 4471), ch. 6; where he says the matter happened in the monastery of Horreum. Cf. also above, p. 445, note 2.], and, according to the prophetic complaint, the sword reached even to the soul. Ierem. 4, 10. Verg. G.3, 504. In the course of time, as the disease grew cruel, Ibid. 482. the way of death was not simple but manifold, and many virgins dedicated to the heavenly bridegroom paid the debt of the flesh, many lay in their beds despaired of and as if lifeless, a few scarcely crept out, fearful and listless with the expectation of death. Hier. Ep. 60, 13. The lily withered, O grief, as the south wind blew, and the purple violet and the rose passed gradually into a lurid pallor. No way of safety lay open anywhere, but through all the workshops a huge lamentation resounded, both for the dead and for those about to die on the instant. The spiritual mother, through whose soul the sword of grief had passed, ran about wailing as it were among the corpses of her daughters; she did not know whom to lament first. Luke 2, 35. When suddenly, by the inspiration of the clemency of the divine compassion, one opinion sat in the minds of all, that they should implore for their compassion and protection the bowels of Clement Willibrord, who about the third mile from the city Echternach is certainly much farther distant from Trier. stood all day and all night in the custody of the Lord's flock and led a heavenly life on earth. II Mach. 3, 32., Levit. 16, 21. Summoned and entreated in the name of Jesus, he came, and, sharing in the sorrowful tears of the sisters, he wept, and, expounding with brilliant eloquence the dispensation of divine chastisement, he applied the warmings of consolation to the grieving, offered the saving victim for the remedy of all, and, mystically praying to the unchangeable divinity, he laid the offences and sins of those confessing on the scapegoat, to be carried away into the desert of the ninety-nine sheep and blotted out, and distributed water consecrated by his blessing to all to be drunk, and, cleansing all the dwellings of the monastery with its sprinkling, he put back into the sheath the drawn sword of the destroying angel and snatched the beautiful daughters of Jerusalem from imminent slaughter. Matth. 18, 12., I Par. 21, 16. For after the sprinkling and draught of the blessed water, destruction, which trod on them like a king, ceased; pain and groaning fled, and he, famous before, was held more famous and more honoured, not, as foolish virgins, idle and wordy, yelp [Thiofrid here sharply rebukes the same nuns of Horreum, at whose request he had written the Life of St. Irmina. See the prologue on which BHL. 4471.], a clerical official of the royal virgin Hirmina, but the first archbishop of the holy church of Utrecht and the learned-speaking preacher, catechist and apostle of all Frisia. Job 18, 14., Matth. 25, 2.

[21] And to declare more evidently the glory and merit of so great a man, as the demon Asmodeus made infamous and mournful the house of Raguel, kinsman of Tobias, Tob. 3, 8. who went before as a type of the Jewish people, through the slaying of the seven bridegrooms of Sarah, so either an ephialtes [Ἐφιάλτης, that is, an incubus. Cf. G. Goetz, Corpus glossariorum lat., vol. VI, pp. 392, 561.], which, as public persuasion supposes, is accustomed to invade and oppress with its most heavy weight anyone scarcely bedewed with the first mist of sleep, Macrob. Somn. 1, 3, 7. Pers. 5, 56. or some other more harmful phantasm infested with horrible vexation the dwelling of a certain father of a household. It could not be seen, nor touched by any mortal; but, while no one could know or conjecture where it was, when it was absent, where it went, whence it returned, in a moment, without perceptible motion, it was present, and seized the table, the cloth, the dishes set upon it, the cups, the garments, finally all the furniture of the whole house, between the very hands of those handling and watching, and carried it to the flames to be consumed. Nor even so did it abstain, but, for this same so great error, it carried off a little infant, relaxed in slumber in the embrace of both its sleeping parents, and did not delay to throw it into the fire. But, the divine clemency providing, the father, awakened by the infant's wailing, set himself against the coals at the very throw and, catching his thrown son, snatched him from the burning. There was in that house no rest by night, none by day, no place safe, not even the walls themselves; but everywhere the restless cruelty of the shut-in and invisible enemy, suspected, struck the highest dread. The whole household, poured out in grief, was afflicted with inconsolable sorrow, and all the neighbourhood, fearing to stand at the terrifying threshold, fled far away. Lucan. 5, 128. Nothing there, except scarcely for the moment of an hour, did blessed water through the priestly office, nothing did exorcism avail; but the Vedian returned more hostile, as if to avenge more sharply the injury done him. The soul of the wretched master, filled with illusions, failed amid rebukes, when behold the time came to have mercy on him, and the Lord God, as through the companion of the younger Tobias, the medicine of God, Raphael the archangel, Hier. in Dan. 8, 16. the liver of the mystical fish being placed on live coals, took away the reproach of Sarah and turned continual sorrow into rejoicing, so he deigned to confer a remedy on his breaking and affliction through the merits of Willibrord, angel of the Lord of hosts exercitium Schm.. Ps. 37, 8; 38, 12., Ps. 101, 14., Tob. 8, 2., Malach. 2, 7. For, wearied defatigatus T. by so many and so great perils of infestation, he conceived sadness upon sadness, that it had not long since, amid the very beginnings of the temptation, come into his memory to implore over his affliction the bowels of piety of so great a man, of whom, hiding in difficult access and in the rough Echternach prayer-house, stupendous miracles everywhere spoke and gave witness. II Cor. 2, 3. He came at length and fell on his face and set out the tragedy of his trouble, frequent sobs interrupting his voice, asked counsel and help in i G. times of need, in tribulation, and because, according to that prophetic saying: Blessed is he who speaks in the ears of one who hears, he deserved to be blessed and heard. Ps. 9, 10., Eccli. 25, 12, in Hier. For the initiate of God, one

spirit with the Lord, clearly foreknowing the future outcome, gave him water consecrated by his hands, that he might sprinkle all the things he possessed in movable goods, carried out and set further away, lest, the house being overthrown, delivered to perdition by divine dispensation, they should be consumed, not by human fraud, not by chance, but by the sending in missione Schm. by evil angels, by fires that would burn. Ep. 57, 1., I Cor. 6, 17., Ps. 77, 49., John 5, 14. And lest anything worse should befall him further, he admonished him to abstain from his former misdeeds, for the sake of which he had been delivered to so dire a chastisement, and ordered him on the same site, expiated by the water of expiation from all filth, to build himself a dwelling to be inhabited with prosperous success and free from all phantasmal infestations. And when, hoping beyond hope and fortified with the helmet of faith, he had returned and carried out the commands, a kind of earthquake shook his bed, and a flame, kindled there by the art of the unclean spirit, burst out of the earth and consumed the structure of the whole house to the ground. Without delay, redeemed by the Lord, and the demon shut out from him as from the chamber of Sarah and bound by the angel of heavenly medicine, he built a building in the same place sprinkled with the liquids of the sanctified water, and, dwelling in it, sustained no loss at all from the former infestation, but God restored to him a peaceful dwelling, so much that his former things were small and his latter things were exceedingly multiplied up to the very end of his life. Tob. 8, 3., Job 8, 6. Job 8, 7.

[22] Moved by the popular report of such great and so many virtues, Charles, the most victorious duke in Austrasia, son of the already mentioned Pippin, pleaded with him with most humble prayers that he would wash his son Pippin from the filth of original sin in the life-giving font of baptism. And when he had assented to the honourable and religious petition and had accomplished the mystery of regeneration, infused with the dew of the Paraclete Spirit he proclaimed with prophetic mouth the praises of so great an offspring: "This little infant," he said, "today regenerated in Christ through the grace of the uncircumscribed Spirit, will be the highest glory and every ornament to his forebears, and far more outstanding and excellent than all the dukes of the Franks set in their sublimities in the past." Nor has any Isaian prophecy been more truly declared, as is given to be confirmed and proved by the authentic testimonies of histories and annals, and by the attestation of those reported in the word of truth as exceedingly truthful. For he, heir both of his grandfather's name and of his father's dignity and virtue, and, on account of his most frequent crushing of enemies, surnamed Tudites [Thiofrid has slipped in memory. For not Pippin, but his father Charles was called "Martel" or Tudites.], the first of so great a lineage, on account of the talent of outstanding warfare and the excellence of the imperial and oratorical arts, by the edict and apostolic authority of the lord apostolic Zachary, mindful in name and merits, Hier. Ep. 53, 8. Childeric, king of the Franks, having been deposed and presented, in place of the royal robe and diadem, with the monastic crown and tunic on account of the vice of enormous sloth and inertia, altogether contrary and unfitting for ruling affairs, Regino, year 750. was elected, anointed and promoted to the throne of the kingdom of Francia. His soul, according to that eulogy of the wise matron about David, I Reg. 25, 29. chosen according to the heart of God, was kept as in the bundle of the living with the Lord; and the soul of his enemies was whirled as by the force and circle of a sling. Regino, year 753. And what concern is it of mine to reweave what has been handed down to memory by others with a sharper and clearer pen, namely with what strength of body, with what outstanding virtue of mind, he overcame Aistulf, king of the Lombards, and, shut up in Pavia, compelled him to give forty hostages, Ibid. year 755. and bound him by oath to restore the things of the right of Peter, prince of the apostles, invaded by tyranny, and afterwards, besieging him there, a perjurer and rebel, compelled him to give up Ravenna with the Pentapolis and the whole Exarchate, and by the hand of his legate handed them over to the holy Roman church and to Pope Stephen? What concern is it likewise to run through in passing Ibid. years 760, 768. how he conquered and extinguished Waifar, duke of Aquitaine of the highest power, how he imposed on the nation of the Saxons, of hard neck and untameable heart, conquered and for a while tamed, three hundred horses to be paid as tribute every year? Regino, year 757. The most excellent testimony of Trogus Pompeius about Alexander the Great fits his greatness most of all: Justin, 12, 16, 11. He never engaged with any of the enemies whom he did not conquer; he besieged no city which he did not storm; he went to no nation which he did not trample. Exod. 32, 9, Ezech. 2, 4. Though the copiousness of speech should be lacking for extolling such magnificent, such illustrious titles of his glory, yet there would be enough and more available for the praises of his magnificence, that he was the first of all to transfer the Roman empire into Gaul, that, the Lord preparing a lamp for his anointed, he begot Charles the Great, who, bounding the power of his majesty with the ocean by the greatness of his glory and his fame with the stars, Verg. Aen. 1, 287. is celebrated as with recent memory up to this time throughout the world in the mouth of all, and merited the name of Caesar Augustus, and left to the heirs of his throne and dignity the august and imperial name. Ps, 131, 17. And without doubt, that the truth of the prophecy might be ratified and proved, the father laid the foundations of the empire, the son completed the glory of the whole work, and from so great a root and seed there sprouted a most dense and most lofty forest of kings and emperors down to the most victorious and most clement fourth emperor Henry † 1106., under whose monarchy we have written these things. For through the natural branches of genealogy the stem by a long line came to Louis, a certain quondam Schm. outstanding king of Francia Louis IV d'Outremer, † 954., father of King Lothar and of Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia., whose daughter Mathildem adds T, another hand above the line Conrad, king of the Burgundians, took to wife, of whom he begot the grandmother Gepam adds T, another hand above the line of his That is, of Henry IV. father, namely Gisela of divine memory, empress, mother of the most glorious Henry filii Conradi regis adds T, another hand above the line the third emperor. Truly so great an initiate of inner secrets knew the mind of the Lord, because, cleaving to him, he was one spirit with him, and, touched from near and from afar, he poured forth a prophecy, truly about his son through the laver of regeneration, truly through him about the glory of his most noble posterity. Rom. 11, 34. I Cor. 6, 17., I Cor. 6, 17. And not only in the presage of the magnificence of so great a stock, but also in the place of his own rest and tomb until the end of all times, he proved not by words but by deeds that he had the spirit of prophecy more abundantly. For when he had built it up in the diocese of Trier and enriched it with most abundant revenues of estates as well as most precious adornments of ornaments, foreseeing in spirit and fearing on the one hand, from the neighbourhood, the various inconveniences and the constant hospitalities and services of prelates and the insolence of those putting pillows under every elbow cubito corrected Schm., and on the other hand, namely from his own bishopric, on account of the long interval of lands, the grave danger of robbers and the rare or rather no expenditure of help, he did not wish it to be subject in material things either to the neighbouring see of Trier. or to his own distant see of Utrecht, but by ratified grant and firm writing and stipulation of a testament he handed it over into the right and protection of the kings and emperors succeeding him in order by lawful right [These letters or "testament" of Willibrord have not been preserved for us. That it was in fact made by the saint, and indeed not after the year 706, we know from Pippin himself in the diploma given on the 13th of May of the year 706 (Böhmer Mühlbacher2, Pippin der Mittlere, 15).]. Ezech. 13, 18.

[23] But when the man of such great perfection and holiness, on account of a long old age, the illustrious gift of God, felt that he was not sufficient for the summit of ecclesiastical government, and foreknew through the Spirit dwelling in him Willibald, Life of Boniface, 5. that, the course of the present life being already run, the end of the goal was at hand, with the counsel of his initiates he resolved to substitute for himself and ordain to the pontifical office one endowed with the dowry of all virtues, then named Winfrid, now surnamed Boniface from doing good, his helper and untiring fellow worker through thirteen Rather three. Cf. Willibald, loc. cit. (above, p. 417 A). revolutions of years in the zeal of preaching the gospel, and, released and lightened of so great a burden, to transfer and extend himself wholly and entirely into the leisure and exercise of divine contemplation. Rom. 8, 11. Having summoned him, therefore, he embraces him with the love of fatherly affection, and first complains that the weakness of his decrepit age greatly hinders the Lord's flock entrusted to his care; lastly he lays open the secrets of his mind, he descends into all prayers, that he may come to the help of his failing old age, that the son, in the very flower of his apprenticeship an example to old men, may succeed in the government to the father about to enter shortly upon the ways of the fathers, and, a skilled and experienced helmsman, may take up the ship of the church, tossing and endangered between Scylla and Charybdis, to steer it and bring it into harbour. Hor. I Epist. 17, 39 – 40. But he, shrinking from the burden as greater than small minds and a small body, resisted more stubbornly, refused more urgently, begged with submissive prayers Hier. Ep. 1, 2. that he, a raw passenger, who did not yet know how to steer a skiff on a lake, should not be placed over a cargo ship and compelled to be entrusted to the crashings of the Euxine eunixi GT. sea. That he had not yet reached the fiftieth year of his age and therefore was by no means fit for the custody of the Lord's vessels according to the legal institution and the decrees of the canons. That he had been sent as legate by the apostolic see to sow the seeds of life in Germany; but that, having found out and experienced the magnificence of his holiness, he had submitted himself to his government of his own and most ready will, without the knowledge and connivance of the apostolic one whose legation he was discharging; that he did not presume to climb the heights of so great a dignity except by his counsel and authentic order. And by this ac G. so friendly and reasonable contention, as between Paul and Barnabas Barnabam Schm., so there was a parting on both sides, but, divine providence disposing, the succession in the prelacy, as it was disposed and as it were handed over by the father, was transferred to the son. Acts 15, 39.

[24] But the hierarch of so great renown, as he shone from the highest virtues of the mind, so he shone from the outstanding appearance of a most beautiful body, and, seeming to have something more than is in the nature of man, he was esteemed for the comeliness of his bearing of angelic honour. He was pre-eminent in most becoming stature, with a face always cheerful and most beautiful, so that in his countenance the purity and gladness of the soul, and through the mirror of a most comely body the grace of a holy mind, were clearly shown. His head, after the likeness of the Ancient of days, white as white wool. Dan. 7, 9. David's Shunammite Abishag —

the sacrament of whose name (for it is interpreted "my father superabundant" or "the roaring of my father") intimates that the most abundant thunder of wisdom and divine speech, beyond the human voice, dwells in old men — Abishag, Hier. Ep. 52, 3. I say, Hier. Ep. 10, 2. warmed him again in her bosom. III Reg. 1, 3. Advanced old age did not dissolve the tenacity of his memory, cold blood about the heart did not blunt the sharpness of his warm talent, Verg. G. 2, 484. a ploughed forehead did not roughen a face drawn with wrinkles, but the divine dispensation showed beforehand in him the beatitude of the future life and the greenness of the resurrection. Cic. De sen. 10, 31. From his tongue, as Homer testifies of Nestor of Pylos, who had almost passed the third age of men, flowed speech sweeter than honey, Ibid. 23, 84. and he never regretted having lived, since he so lived that he did not think himself born in vain, and since nature has given mortals in the flesh an inn for staying, not for dwelling, Ibid. he knew that he would so depart from the world, not as from a house, but as from a hostelry. But because his soul, of the highest and most perfect beauty, loved the beauty of the house of God, his tears were his bread day and night, and, after the wages of so long and perilous a warfare, now a veteran, panting for the rewards of due recompense, amid frequent sighs of his inmost heart, amid overflowing rivers of tears, he poured out the whole bowels of his desire into God, the fount of life: "For you, O God, my God, my soul has thirsted, how manifoldly my flesh for you. Lam. 2, 15., Ps. 25, 8; 41, 4., Ps. 62, 2., Isai. 26, 9. My soul has desired you in the night, and my spirit too within my breast. Ps. 41, 3., Ps. 41, 5. When then shall I come and appear before your face? When shall I pass into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of exultation and confession, with the sound of one feasting? I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. Ps. 83, 11." But why do we tie delays, Hier. Ep. 108, 28. why do we put off long and make the pain of our heart longer by lingering on other things? O frailty and perishable nature of mortals! Ibid. 27. O hard sentence of an angry God, written in paradise with a nail of adamant about the mortality of human flesh, never to be blotted out and to pass away except at the last trumpet! For who is the man Hier. Ep. 60, 2. that lives and shall not see death? Death, therefore, which separates brothers and, cruel and hard, dissociates those joined by love, he perceived seeking the eating of his flesh, and in the land of his mind he heard the voice of the mystical turtle-dove calling and drawing him forth with the most sweet song of the epithalamium: Arise, hasten, come from Lebanon, come, you shall be crowned. Ps. 88, 49., Cant. 2, 12., Cant. 2, 10; 4, 8; 5, 6. Forthwith he arose, he opened to his beloved; lest he should pass by while he delayed, he hastened, that with him and through him he might come to him.

In the year of the begotten Word seven hundred and thirty-nine, in the seventh indiction, but in the forty-sixth year of his ordination, in the eighty-first of his age, which number according to the casters of nativities threatens the hour of death to the sick lying abed, in the twenty-sixth year of Duke Charles, on the seventh before the Ides of November, from the pit of misery and from the mire of dregs, from the iron furnace, from the body of this death, he flew up to contemplate, not through a glass and in an enigma, but with unveiled face, the glory and height of the king of kings, and, wondering at the harmony of heaven and its unimaginable, ineffable adornment, he saw under what an abyss of depth and darkness the human soul is plunged and benighted in the prison of the flesh, and, hymning, he praised the God of Sabaoth, praiseworthy for ever, who dwells in light inaccessible. [Ps. 39, 3., Deut. 4, 20., Rom. 7, 24., I Cor. 13, 12., II Cor. 3, 18. , Job 38, 37., I Tim. 6, 16.] Nor could the passing of so great an Israelite from the spiritual Sodom and Egypt into the land of the true promise lie hidden, but it became known to the world by divine revelation. For a certain one of his chosen disciples, instructed and brought up in all the knowledge of the divine law and intent on the studies of theology, while he was toiling all night at psalmody and vigils, raised in the light of the mind, deserved to see even with bodily eyes the soul of his most beloved father and nourisher, clothed with the adornments of all virtues, being carried with immense and ineffable brightness of light into the heavenly court by hymn-singing and dancing wedges of angels. And to the obsequies of so great a funeral the whole town with the sorrowful neighbourhood rushed out, and, Caes. B.G. 1, 1. because it seemed that the most bright star of all threefold Gaul had set, it gave forth an inconsolable and public grief, as over the father of the homeland and its sweet glory and protection. Hor. I Carm. 1, 2.

And when the spiritual sons were seeking more anxiously a sarcophagus worthy of so sacred a body of their father, they acquired from a certain outstanding matron a white marble as if Parian; but when, measured, it was shorter by half a foot and on that account sorrow took increase in the hearts of all, on the instant, by the power of divine virtue, it was found enlarged, longer by a whole and solid foot. What nature did not have, merit obtained, and as the rock of Horeb, pouring out waters aqua corrected Schm., in vain against nature at the stroke of the Mosaic rod, allayed the thirst and murmur of the Israelite people and gladdened their hearts, so the unheard-of auxesis of this marble, the sorrow being allayed, restored the astounded minds of the mourners. Exod. 17, 6. So the excess being cut off and reserved for posterity with rich and firm faith as a divine remedy for divers kinds of sicknesses, with the highest devotion they prepared a sepulchre in the oratory of the highest and undivided Trinity and, with mournful outcries, with psalmody and spiritual songs and with immense honour and reverence, they laid up the most precious body, not in the manner of the rich, whose corpses know not how to rot except in silk, in silk and pontifical vestments, but clothed in a common hair-shirt and a dark monastic cowl, and breathing such odours as if it had at that same moment been anointed with all the most precious ointments and spices. The nostrils and breasts of all were filled with the fragrance of inestimable sweetness, and it was declared by the most evident indications in the dead flesh that living it had been the most sweet and most becoming court of the Holy Spirit, in which the Son with the Father supped in the highest modesty and glory, from which the daughters of Jerusalem, seeing the illustrious soul ascending, burst in wonder into proclamations of praise: "Who Apoc. 3, 20., Cant. 3, 6. is she that ascends from the desert, like a column of smoke from the spices of myrrh and frankincense and of every powder of the perfumer?" She sprinkled a subtle odour from herself, because, living in the prison-house of the flesh, lest the good which she did should be coarse and hard, she ground it small with the tight hand of reconsideration and rendered it as it were into a powder of spices, and, dead to sin, living to God, breathed of myrrh and frankincense. Rom. 6, 11. Nor was the sweetness of so great an odour intercepted and enclosed by the closed tomb, but, as the truthful attestation of the spiritual monks proves, very often, above the bed washed and watered with his tears through each night, where the putting off of his tabernacle took place, when he went out from a barbarous people to our girded people, a smoke of spices like a most dense cloud was seen to ascend as from a censer and to spread and breathe in the whole sacred enclosure like ointment poured out. Ps. 6, 7. Ps. 113, 1. Habac. 3, 16. III Reg. 8, 11 – 12. The glory of the Lord, who said that he would dwell in a cloud, filled the house of the Lord with an aromatic cloud, and by his abundantly flowing grace showed how sweet, how delightful, how fragrant, with how great gifts of virtues endowed, was the soul which lived there and was raised and taken up to the most sweet kisses of her bridegroom. There also a divine light was often seen to shine and to illuminate the greatest part of the nights with the radiance of its brightness, so that both from the fragrance of so great sweetness and from the abundance of light it might be most evidently established that heavenly watches and angelic powers frequented that so sacred place. O man, the golden couch of the true Solomon and the litter of eternal wisdom of the wood of Lebanon, whose praises no human tongue is able to pursue and express according to his merits, Cant. 3, 10., Cant. 3, 9. whose bed of pain and place of departure and rest and lifeless limbs, while his divine spirit reigned in the heavenly court placed on the throne of glory, were glorified with heavenly services not rarely but constantly, to declare the superabounding riches in him of manifold and supereminent grace. Eph. 2, 7., I Petr. 4, 10., John 1, 16. From the fullness of the Only-begotten of the Father he received more fully and more abundantly grace for grace.

At his mausoleum innumerable miracles shone forth, but through the lack and carelessness of writers they have for the greatest part been blotted out oblita wrongly corrected Schm. by the water of Lethe. For first a certain man of the Scottish tongue and nation, undertaking to describe the deeds of so great a man, wore away the dignity of the history with a rustic style; then Albinus, surnamed Alcwin, from Britain, a man of urbane elegance, as being the shield-bearer of Charles the Great in the subtleties of dialectic and rhetoric, Hor. II Epist. 3, 359. tried to set aside the unurbane with a charming saying and to dress up the unkempt; but since sometimes good Homer nods, Ibid. 359. he seems, offended by the long labour and delay, Ibid. 294. not to have corrected his little book, when finished, ten times to the fingernail, and to have passed over very many things most worthy to be handed down to memory, as being, like a noble decurion, more attentively intent on the cares of the court. And that immense signs and prodigies exceeding a definite number were ennobled there, there were present as evidence many iron bonds hanging in the vestibule and before the doors of the oratory before the fire Cf. above, p. 458, note 1., which, through his magnificent merits, broken, leapt off from the limbs of those afflicting their flesh in penance, the indulgence being granted them, the bonds of sins being loosed. Besides, many fetters, tricae Tricae: certain bindings (G. Goetz, Corpus glossariorum lat., vol. V, p. 365). and manacles of iron, the punishments of the guilty and of captivity, moreover many conveyances of the sick, little staves and crutches and stools of the club-footed and supports of those who crawl; lastly wax transformed into divers shapes of limbs, which pairs of strong oxen could scarcely carry away. As a sign also up to the present is the most celebrated week of Pentecost, at the coming of the Paraclete Spirit, in which not only from all the neighbourhood round about, but from every province of Gaul and Germany, by a perpetual rite and as if by an indissoluble indissolubili T corrected by another hand and inviolable law transmitted from generation to generation and confirmed and handed down as by an oath of the Lord, Luke 1, 50. an innumerable gathering and throng of clergy and people

with offerings and litanies, with the utmost devotion, wears down his holy thresholds, on account of the wonders spread abroad and indeed recounted by fathers to sons, which there, in the joy of so great a solemnity, at every revolving circuit of the turning year, have been shown before the altar consecrated in the honour and glory of the sevenfold Pneuma. But let us return from the by-path and repair the pen blunted by digression.

[25] So in the place where the lamp, despised in the flesh in the thoughts of the carnal, Job 12, 5. who can weigh no goods except those they see carnally, prepared for the appointed time, flashed from above with the splendour of miracles after the separation of the soul, there was accustomed to burn in the hanging lamps and to conquer the night Thiofr. Mirac. 1. Verg. Aen. 1, 727. oil, which besides wine is the joy of the heart, and the mystery of the Lord's blood, and the matter of the divine chrism, and balsam, the most excellent among excellent liquids. No night could interrupt it; by day, during the solemnities of the Masses, it increased and boiled up to overflowing, and, caught in little ampoules, and given, and sent to the sick, it restored by salutary anointing health and soundness of mind and body. Nor is the cruse of oil of Elijah and of the widow of Zarephath esteemed of more excellent proclamation in allegory, because, although it was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, yet it is read to have conferred no remedy on anyone. III Reg. 17, 16 In that, the anointing and sustenance of two only; in this, the restoration of health of very many was granted.

[26] There a continual fount of mercy flowed forth, which a certain woman thirsted for, loosed for seven years by the infirmity of paralysis, who was carried there by her kinsfolk by blood. In her whole body, dead beforehand, she exercised no function of her limbs, but scarcely moved tenuit Schm. her little breast, panting with thin breath. Yet out of living faith she was placed beside the life-giving sarcophagus and, an immense and salutary rain of tears being poured out with most intent prayer, she was restored to most entire soundness quicker than speech. Her former vigour entered more copiously into all her limbs, and she who for so long a space of time had not touched the earth with her feet, could not move her hands to her mouth, nor turn herself from side to side, returned home dancing. Thiofr. Mirac. 2. In the very flower of his age a certain youth was weighed down by the weight of so great a languor that the whole frame of his limbs was shaken with a horrible and incessant trembling. For the bonds of the sinews and the texture of the sides and the hollow breast with all its obstructed vital fibres were seen to be shaken with continual motion, Lucan. 9, 777 – 78. the head to be tossed on both sides this way and that, as if it were not bound to the neck by the ties of the nape. Ibid. 8, 60 – 61. Deceived by the hope of death, his soul shut in by pain, he often lay long lifeless, and the bier was being prepared for the office of the funeral. But to make clear the outstanding merit of the wonderful bishop, now a consul of the heavenly senate, he was brought by his kinsfolk to his tomb and placed there, and in a moment of an hour, the frame of his body being restored and made solid, in the sight of all standing by at such a spectacle he recovered and leapt up unharmed, and, with them singing a hymn with lofty voices, he offered the victim of due praise to the saviour of the whole human race, who had made his saint wonderful with such pleasant, such illustrious miracles. Hebr. 13, 15.

[27] But for some while, the breeze of the Holy Spirit following our stern, we have sailed in calm; now, carried to the land of the Cilicians [silicum corrected Schm., in vain; for the Cilicians are famous as robbers and pirates.], we dread the pirates and the songs of the Sirens, and with the outstanding seer Zechariah we lift the eyes of the mind from glad and happy things to sadder ones. Thiofr. Mirac. 3. In so noble a monastery, celebrated for the fame of holiness, since in every condition and rank the worst are mixed with the best, a certain man, discharging the office of the diaconate, to the heaping up of his damnation lived in the community in body, not in mind. A wolf lay hidden under sheep's fleece, as the thief and traitor Judas, having the purse, in the apostolic order, nor by consideration of his habit and purpose could he be deterred and driven from any soot of misdeeds. Matth. 7, 15., John 12, 6. He did not read, he did not attend to the flying prophetic volume, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide, in one decade of which better and prosperous things, but in two harsh and sad things are designated; he did not, I say, read that the curse described there is brought into the house of the thief and of the perjurer and stays in it, so that all its timbers and stones are consumed and annihilated. Undertaking a far more dangerous and monstrous misdeed, he committed an unspeakable sacrilege and took a sacred thing from the sacred place, nay a most sacred treasure. Zach. 5, 1 – 4. For, seizing the golden cross which Clement Willibrord, the unencumbered legate of Christ, had been accustomed by solemn custom to carry with him on a journey, Verg. Aen. 6, 471. with obstinate heart hardened like Marpesian rock he stole it together with other gifts of the church, and because he did not have at hand the means of breaking it up and selling it, he hid it in a secret place, but known to no one. And when so great a loss of the household property was found out, the unanimous assembly of the monks was affected with inconsolable sadness; it grieved exceedingly that even a suspicion of so great a crime had arisen among them. One exhorted another to the remedy of pure confession. Only he who was tortured by the fire of conscience, like the deaf asp that stops its ears lest it hear the voice of the charmers, avoided and spurned the admonitions of those exhorting. Ps. 57, 5 – 6. At length, counsel being taken as to what should be done, the sacrilegious man, suspended from the divine office, was delivered to the dart of perpetual anathema; holy communion and every taking of food and drink was forbidden him under the highest obedience, unless restitution of the loss inflicted and a pure confession should reconcile him. But his foolish heart was hardened and, like that of Nabal of Carmel, foolish according to his name, deadened and darkened, and, not attending Hier. Ep. 147, 3. that, according to Jerome, the prince of all the interpreters of divine scripture, nothing is so repugnant to God as an impenitent heart and the only crime is that which cannot obtain pardon, Ibid., 147, 1. he was unwilling after his fall to be raised up and to lift his eyes to heaven; but, having squandered his father's substance, he preferred to delight in the husks of swine and, climbing the precipices of pride, to slip headlong into the depth. I Reg. 25, 25., Rom. 1, 21., Luke 15, 13, 16. The command and threat of his spiritual father he did not keep, nay he derided, and, sitting with other lovers of Christ who were grieving and talking together about this same business, he let out with a sneer this vain talk: "Did the abbot order me not to eat, not to wash my lips with sweet Lyaeus?" And taking the cup of disobedience, in the middle of the draught he fell, as if he had tasted deadly venom instead of strong wine, and, groaning as if pierced with a most sharp dart, at the very point of sudden and unforeseen death, not for the remedy of penance but compelled by the fire of divine vengeance, he betrayed where the treasure taken away by his sacrilege lay hidden, and so he expired, a mournful, detestable, abominable example to every monastic order. Dread, therefore, and execrate so horrible an end of life of the execrable sacrilegious man; dread, I say, Hier. Ep. 145 (Gen. 39, 12) all you who with Joseph, leaving the cloak of the Egyptian mistress, have escaped the allurements of the world, who with the key-bearer of heaven have climbed to the roof and the upper room; to whose eminence that poetic distich seems to fit and be adapted: Hier. Ep. 125, 2.

Every vice of the mind has its crime the more conspicuous in itself, the greater he who sins is held to be. Juven. 8, 140 – 41.

Weigh how execrable it is for one crucified to the world, and to whom the world is crucified, to desire anything earthly and to steal by stealth the things of others, and those sacred. Hor. II Epist. 1, 220. Gal. 6, 14. Indeed everything, to cut down my own vines myself, that is packed away by anyone of the monastic profession is more fittingly called sacrilege than theft; because, since he himself is consecrated to the Lord, he dwells in the holy places and among sacred things, and if, going out from the holy places, he is violated by clandestine robbery, he is no longer a monk, but is and is named a son of the devil. Let it deter you, O holy souls, Pers. 2, 61. not bent curae Schm. towards earth and empty of heavenly things, to whom it has been urged by divine exhortation: Be holy, as I also am holy; let it deter you, I say, from so detestable a crime, that under the law, on account of the theft of one man, the most glorious victory from the destruction of the city of Jericho was turned into mourning for all Israel, and the author of so great a public mourning, Achar, son of Zara, who sinned in the anathema, having stolen the golden rule, the mystery of the catholic faith, and with silver of a certain weight a scarlet cloak, in the valley of disturbance and tumult, Achor, merited to have for his tomb the same heap of stones by which he was overwhelmed alive. Levit. 11, 44., Jos. 7, 1 ff., IV Reg. 5, 26 – 27. Turn over why Elisha, the archetype of the Lord God, branded his most beloved initiate Gehazi with all his posterity with lurid leprosy and condemned him with the sore. Weigh why under grace Peter, the rock of the church, who raised Tabitha Dorcas by the piety of inmost compassion, slew Ananias and Sapphira with the sword of apostolic authority, against the meekness of his disposition, without regard of any mercy. Acts 9, 36 ff., Acts 5, 1 ff. Made a spectacle both to angels and to men, take thought for your reputation and your purpose, and, because the end of the perfect monk is to weep either for himself or for the whole world, standing upon your watch with the prophet whole nights, never make the house of God a den of robbers, never make the house of prayer a house of merchandise, lest the censure of the divine examination banish you from his holy temple, which is in the heavenly Jerusalem. I Cor. 4, 9., Isai. 21, 8., Matth. 21, 13;, John 2, 16.

[28] But because our belly has been made bitter by the grave series of the narrative as with the gall and vinegar of bitterness, let us return into the house of wine, which gladdens the heart of man. Apoc. 10, 10., Acts 8, 23., Ps. 103, 15. The circuit of the year having revolved, on the day before the Kalends of February there dawned the most celebrated solemnity of the most holy Wilgisil, father of our most excellent patron Willibrord, on which with the zeal of the highest devotion the duties of praises were paid to God by the unanimous and devout hymn-singing little assembly. But when, after the solemnities of the divine office had been performed, they were refreshing their weary bodies, no more Falernian was found in the wine-cellar than two small vessels woven of withies had laid up; of which, one being drunk among the dishes of the midday meal, the other was reserved for the food of supper. But when, after the task of the evening synaxis, the brotherly decury, for the reverence of so great a solemnity, sought again the refectory, the hegumen of outstanding religion, Adalbert by name, fearing that so little a liquor could not suffice for the thirsty, in the hearing of the most religious convent briefly put together a consoling and exhorting address. "It does not befit your unanimity, my sons,

and my bowels, to be affected by troubled sadness for any loss of earthly convenience, which itself dries up the bones, but with inner delight to pant for the delights of everlasting refreshment and pleasure, and to bear one and the same, unchangeable and unconquered mind amid adversity and prosperity. Prov. 17, 22. You have offered the calves of your lips to the Lord as a most sweet holocaust; you have merited to be refreshed in the fullness of charity. Yet let your love know Osee 14, 3. that in our storeroom there is nothing but a little wine, which remained from today's provision; but God, who gives to all abundantly and does not upbraid, is mighty to give his flock, washed and whitened in his blood, beyond what we ask or understand. James 1, 5., Eccli. 2, 11. For who has hoped in him and been confounded, who has persevered in his commandments and been forsaken? In his honour and glory, as much as can be poured out from the tiny jar, as it were, drink, and without any interval of hesitation fix the anchor of your hope in him who granted to our most eminent patron Clement Willibrord, from the tiny four vessels of his journey, to give drink and inebriate guests reckoned by a fourfold ten, by the gift of his copious blessing." Ibid. 2, 12. At these words of brief exhortation and consolation the small liquor of Caecuban was distributed in equal measure to the college of the holy brotherhood, and when, all having drunk from it twice, the little flask was now believed emptied, it was found filled more abundantly than before. It was brought into the presence of those reclining at table as a testimony of the divine compassion, and on account of the miracle, so evident, common to father and son, an immense rejoicing arose among all, and, paying the due honour to the unbegotten Father and his Only-begotten and the Paraclete Spirit with lofty acclamation of praises, in the hours of that evening they drank to sobriety, not to drunkenness, a wine not of the vine, but made and flowing forth by the maker of nature, by divine munificence and power beyond the bounds and limit of nature. For that did not flow from its tree which in being drained could not be drained, in being diminished could not be diminished, which could suffice for so great a multitude but could not fail until all were satisfied to sufficiency. And why should I recall the little trees planted by his sacred hands from dry and sapless woods and grains, against the laws of nature, profitable to this day in flower, leaf, fruit for the health of believers? why the veins of springs drawn forth from the lowest bowels of the earth by his merits, from which flows the health of bodies and souls? In the district of Zülpich, in the estate of Mons Cf. above, p. 467, note 5., the bed washed and watered with his tears through each night, placed beside the altar, is honoured and kissed with the immense reverence of the whole province, lacking all decay through so many ages; and the hay laid up in it and once warmed by his most sacred limbs breathes of a most sweet fragrance, and, applied to the gums, frees from the most bitter infirmity of the teeth.

[29] The flashes of such great miracles shone upon the world; the earth saw and was moved; mystical Sion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah exulted, souls of true confession and profession, and after the example of the queen of Sheba, who came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, they were zealous to assemble from the farthest climes of the world and to devote themselves, at the clod most rich in the fruits of holiness, to the contemplation of inner peace and wisdom. Ps. 76, 19., Ps. 96, 4., Ps. 96, 8., III Reg. 10, 1 ff. From Northumbria, the native soil of so wonderful a hierarch, came Willehad, endowed with the highest virtue and knowledge, and there for the course of almost two years he practised the contemplative life in reclusion. Life of Willehad, 7. He followed in the footsteps and exercises of virtues of Paul and Antony, the Macarii and Arsenius, the most excellent leaders of coenobites and anchorites, and because palm leaves were lacking to him for exercising the work of his hands, after most intent studies of reading and prayer he transcribed with his own hand volumes of divine scripture. In transcribing he devoted his labour to the epistles of Paul, the catechist of the nations, and to very many other sacred writings, all of which, written on parchments by his most sacred fingers exaratae Schm., have been laid up in the ecclesiastical archives for his eternal memory. The winged animal, before whose eyes the net is cast in vain, among the holy animals striking one another with their wings, flew up higher and (et … elevavit) omits Schm. by the oarage of his wings raised those trying to follow his flight nearer to heaven, Life of Willehad, 8. until, the Saxons of stone and of doubtful faith having been triumphed over with their leader Widukind, by the edict of Charles the Great he was the first of all elected and ordained at Worms to the chair of the holy church of Bremen, not yet built but to be built by his most vigilant zeal, all the nobles of the kingdom who were present giving their votes. Prov. 1, 17., Ezech. 3, 13. Likewise, kindled by the fire of inmost love towards the place of rest of so great a father, there came Beornrad, the magnificent hierarch, his kinsman and hereditary possessor of his property Cf. Alcuin, book I, prol. and ch. 1 end. See also p. 435, note 1 to the Life., and Stigand, the outstanding archprelate of the English [Intruded archbishop of Canterbury († 1072), a man in many things by no means worthy of praise, who nevertheless is said to have conferred many gifts and of great price on the English churches.], of whom the one, made ruler of the same monastery, with ornaments wrought in gold and silver and jewelled, and with revenues of estates described by him on the page of a testament, the other adorned and enriched the oratory of Echternach with the greatest relics of the saints, far surpassing all metals of gold and silver and every precious stone.

[30] Thiofr. Mirac. 4. And let it not be thought incongruous for us to insert here, as if in passing, for the praise of so great a patron, what was published more elegantly by a writer of sharper talent and more polished tongue. Life of Amalb. 3. Ibid. 4. Still held in the prison of the flesh by the fetter of mortality, he joined to the heavenly bridegroom in stable marriage the daughter of a most noble prince, Christian in name and merits, Amalberga, glorified almost amid the very rattles of infancy by a most celebrated sign of divine power, in the restoration of the withered arm of a certain little home-born servant of hers, and dedicated her as his own, anointed and confirmed with the sacred chrism, Thiofr. Mirac. 4. and, this sweetness of blessing being poured out upon her: "May you flourish with Thecla, may you prosper with Agnes, and with Mary may the best part be yours," he exalted the summit of virginal glory by the eulogy of so great merit. But after his place was made in peace and his dwelling in Sion, that same virgin of the highest celibacy, Life of Amalb. 9 ff. the triumpher over Charles the Great, the unconquered triumpher over lofty kings and dukes, who laboured with the utmost effort canamine G. to make her empress by marriage to himself, that same one, I say, whom on earth he consecrated a bride to Christ, coming from the heavenly citadel in a vision with her kinswoman the undefiled virgin Gertrude, Thiofr. Mirac. 4. he visited, as after long watches in vigils and prayers she was closing her eyes a little for the sake of preserving her health, and adorned her venerable head with the sacred veil, distinguished by the consecration of his blessing, with which she veiled herself in the hour of imminent tyranny and anguish, and intimated to her the three-year span of the present life, and what she was to do and hasten in the moment of so narrow a time. O groomsman endowed with the dowry of so great charity, who did not abandon the chosen bride of God, betrothed with his ring, even after his passing from the dwelling of Kedar, until he should bring her into the embraces omits G. and the bridal chamber of her most longed-for bridegroom. Ps. 119, 5.

[31] But more wonderful things than wonders press upon memory, which it is by no means expedient to cover and shut up under the clause of silence, especially since they have been ennobled by the mouth of all the natives of barbarous, gnashing Frisia. There is on the sea-coast a common pasture, stretched out immensely in length and breadth, once made over and subject to the right of the outstanding prelate, where with the flocks of sheep herds of oxen wandered, with luxuriant muscles and the fattest dewlaps hanging from the chin, Verg. G.3, 81., Ibid. 3, 53. and the station smiled most pleasingly on merchants sailing from the English land and Britain. The same, Aen. 5, 128. But while beasts and men were delighted by the pleasantness of the sunny field, it happened by the examination of the divine dispensation that the sea, bearing down, dissolved the borders and drove back the lands, Lucan. 2, 435 – 36. the barrier of the shore being consumed, and made the soil, before walkable, navigable. The whole neighbourhood was affected with immense sadness; the company of sailors did not sing the shanty, but wept. The one grieved that its most fertile pastures had been taken from it, the other the refreshments of the longed-for land for repairing their stern ornaments and selling their merchandise. And when they hesitated with long delay as to what should be done about such a business, and the matter was worn down by the long drag of the dispute, Juven. 16, 50. at length one opinion sat in the minds of all, that justice should be turned into judgment, and that it should be decided by single combat to whose dominion, the sea's or father Willibrord's, the power of the divine censure would rather allow the turf overwhelmed by the waves. Ps. 93, 15., Hor. II Epist. 3, 78. The suit was put before the judge, a day was prescribed for deciding the controversy, twice six champions were chosen on each side, endowed with the strength of great powers. Verg. Aen. 4, 188. Rumour, as tenacious of the false and wrong as messenger of the true, had roused the neighbours to a new duel unheard of by all past ages and a spectacle wonderful without example. For in no history has it ever been read, no page of annals contains this, that anywhere among the nations a single combat was proclaimed and set forth on account of the inequality and incursion of Amphitrite and the land. On the expected day, Verg. Aen. 5, 104; 3, 521. when now Aurora was reddening, the stars having been put to flight, Ibid. 5, 368. at once the youths put forth their faces with vast strength, Ibid. 5, 429. preordained to mingle hands with hands and ready to provoke the fight, and, by the rite of the province, those who had resolved to deliver themselves to the peril for the defence of the right of the outstanding prelate swore first upon the words of the oath, devised and decreed by the skill of the ancestors for conflicts of this kind. But O most vehemently astounding novelty of the matter, O incomprehensible and inestimable equity of the divine examination! The end of the oath was still rolling in the mouth of those swearing, and behold, as if it understood itself caught and convicted, Verg, Aen. 1, 154. the liquid element blushed and all the crash and flood of the sea fell, and it rolled back and laid up its vast waves in its own bed, and the field, a little before made a place of flying sails, became grassy and flowery and fit for the divers uses of those passing to and fro. The irrational creature, subject to the justice of God, Sulp. Sev. Dial. 1, 14, 6. Ps. 106, 23. to whom all that is brute has understanding, obeyed, and, as though it had the discernment of the senses and the intelligence of the heart, emended and shut out injustice, and with the reason of the flourishing human mind rebuked and confounded hardness. And indeed he who

go down to the sea in ships, seeing the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep, profess by public faith and attestation that, since in one and through one and the same Spirit there are divisions of graces, the most eminent vessel of that same Spirit, Willibrord, merited and obtained this special grace for the salvation and hope of the despairing, that whenever the wave drives monster-bearing gulfs and the mast scarcely stands out above the sea, Lucan 5, 620, Ibid. 641 – 42. and again the clouds are touched by the sails and the earth by the keel, whoever, mindful of his name in so great a strait, calls upon him with prayer and devotion fitting to so great a necessity, experiences on the instant the most present aids of his relief. Ibid. 24., I Cor. 12, 4. Hence there has grown up among them a solemn custom, Verg. Aen. 5, 488. that they hang a purse from the high mast by a rope passed through it, and, when black night lies upon the sea and the ether flashes with frequent fires, Ibid. 1, 89 – 90. they put the coins of their vow into it, Ibid. 172. and, having gained the longed-for harbour, offer them either to the crowd of the needy or to the church in honour of so great a deliverer of theirs. And lest what we assert of the special prerogative of grace granted to him should beget a scruple of ambiguity in anyone, it pleases me to weave in the testimony of an ample person from an ample city.

[32] Hildric by name, a lover of Christ, pupil and custodian of the holy church of Trier, when he was being carried by ship on the journey to Jerusalem with a copious multitude of companions, Verg. Aen. 1, 82 – 84. the winds, as if in a column formed, blowing through the lands, fell upon the sea with violent whirlwind and, upheaving it all from its lowest seats, mingled it with immense roaring. Lucan. 5, 627 – 28. The air lay hidden, overspread with the pallor of the infernal house, and, raised on the rocks with all its waves, the sea raged. Ibid. 599 – 600. No tempest of graver and greater peril had ever stirred the mass, and all things threaten the men with present death. Verg. Aen. 1, 91 – 92. Their limbs are loosed with cold, Ibid. 106 – 7. while now they hang on the top of the wave, now the wave, gaping, opens the earth among the waves, the surge rages with sand, and, placed in despair of life, they stretch their palms to the stars and pour out with the utmost outcry tears and whatever prayers they can devise to the helper in times of need, Ibid. 93. in tribulation. Ps. 9, 10. The illustrious cleric of the divine lot, with a certain man of the same order sprung from Flanders, cried out the names of the elect of God, whatever came to memory in the strait of so great an affliction. Matth. 8, 24. But when the kind Jesus, sleeping in the ship, was not yet roused by the urgency of so great a clamour, at length, admonished by the same Fleming, amid overflowing rivers of tears, with the whole marrow of his heart he invoked the name of thrice and four times blessed Clement Willibrord, Verg. Aen. 1, 94. whose celebrated solemnities were being celebrated on that same night. Matth. 8, 26. Without delay, Jesus being roused and rising and commanding the winds, Verg. Aen. 1, 154. all the crash of the sea fell, Ibid. 5, 843 – 44. and a level-breathing breeze, as if the seas themselves bore the stern, the journey being very much shortened by short cuts, carried him across into the long-desired harbour. To no one ever crying in the hardship of affliction to so pious a hierarch was the fount of clemency stopped up obstrusus Schm., so that it is established worthily and rightly that he was named Clement by the dispensation of divine providence.

[33] But as he always put forth the bowels of piety towards the suppliant, so he hurled the avenging darts of animadversion against the rebellious and contumacious and inflicted losses of life. For the disgrace of the Roman empire, the emperor Arnold [Why Thiofrid inveighs so sharply and unjustly against King Arnulf († at Regensburg in the year 899) he himself manifestly reveals. Much fairer is even the monk Theoderic in the Chronicle of Echternach (prol. to book II, MG., Scr. vol. XXIII, p. 48, l. 13 ff.): Arnold (that is, Arnulf) reigned, who on account of the incursion of the Northmen increased the county of Luxembourg from the goods of St. Willibrord to supply the shield of the royal army; in the lower and maritime places also he magnificently increased it from the goods of the same saint.], who gave the greatest part of the abbey of Echternach in benefice to the chief men of the castle of Luxembourg, perished at Pavia, as is read in a certain modern chronicle [In no chronicle has this fable been preserved for us. Yet we read a similar little narrative in Liutprand (Antap. I, 36) and Vincent of Beauvais (Spec. hist., XXV, 57), that Arnulf died afflicted by vermin which they call lice.], by a wretched death unworthy of that illi Schm. height, gnawed and extinguished by the bites of shrews. The chief men of Holland, Theoderic Theoderic IV, count of Frisia, † 1049. and Florentius Florentius I, count of Frisia, † 1061. with his son Theoderic Theoderic V, count of Holland, † 1091., who by tyranny invaded twenty-five churches of the right of so great a bishop [Cf. the charter given by William, bishop of Utrecht, to Abbot Reginbert in the year 1063, Dec. 28 (Miraeus, Op. dipl., vol. IV, p. 350; Van den Bergh, Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland, vol. I, no. 85). Weiland.], withered in the very flower of their age like the flower of grass and fell faded. I Petr. 1, 24. The paternal uncle of Henry the younger, duke of the Nervii Rather of the Norici or of Bavaria. He died at Trier in the year 1047., Adalbero, provost of the renowned Paulinus at Trier, ordered a plumb-line to be stretched over the estate on which his oratory is situated, and in the same moment, loosed with paralysis in his tongue, he lost the measure of ready speech and could utter the beginning of no word, Ov. Met. 3, 358. but only, like resounding echo, the last sound. Nobles of the highest dignity and nobility, the offspring of kings, Cuno, duke of the Carinthians [Conrad III, duke of the Carinthians, † 1061. Cf. Lampert of Hersfeld, Annales, ed. O. Holder-Egger, p. 73, note 7.], and his brother Henry, count of the palace [Henry I, count palatine of Lotharingia, on whom cf. Lampert of Hersfeld, Annales, ed. cit., pp. 51, 72, 79. See G. Meyer von Knonau, Jahrbücher des deutschen Reiches unter Heinrich IV und Heinrich V, vol. I, p. 200 – 201, note 66.], who invaded the church in the estate of Crovia Cröv on the Moselle, of the prefecture of Wittlich. Weiland. of the right of St. Willibrord, and could not be bent and overcome by the request, command, threat of the emperor Henry the third and the exhortation of Pope Leo the ninth, by how evident and terrible a scourge of the divine examination they were crushed, and, struck with all their posterity by chastisement and incurable wound, fell from the summit of so ample an inheritance and sublimity, every province of threefold Gaul knows. Ierem. 30, 14 – 15. For Henry sought and obtained in the monastery of Echternach Cf. Meyer, loc. cit. the habit of the monastic purpose, which he had first put on at Gorze through madness of mind, but, returning to the world with sharper fury, put off again, having killed his wife Mathilda, daughter of Duke Gozelo, and, living there up to omits Schm. the fingernail of life not as he ought and as befitted a man of so great nobility, he displayed in himself a spectacle of human affairs. His brother Cuno, experiencing a worse fortune, was defamed as having torn his own limbs in madness and so breathed out his soul, a rich victim of Orcus. In each the matter was worthy of a spectacle and, in the estimation of the human lot, wonderful in the variety of affairs. In the setting of both these most bright stars of the Roman empire, all their most noble lineage set, and the most ample inheritance and glory was transferred to strangers. To pass over deliberately very many, as it were the nameless crowd, Justin, 41, 1, 4. whom, gnawing his church with dog's tooth and terrifying it with barking, the avenging virtue of so great a patron overwhelmed, Hier. Ep. 50, 1. he never spared the unjust and harsh defenders of his household in name, robbers in deed, but brought judgment without mercy on those who did not show mercy. James 2, 13. Monstrous, Lucan. 8, 599 – 600. violent, savage, and gentler than no wild beast for slaughter, Frithelo the advocate, when he exacted an undue service and did not obtain it, exalted with intolerable arrogance, ordered the door of the hospice storeroom to be broken. Verg. Aen. 6, 529. And when Ruker of the township of Ornavon Orenhofen near Scheidweiler, of the prefecture of Trier. Weiland., the exhorter and abettor of crimes, had fulfilled the order and desire of his raging master and, rejoicing in the plunder, had stuffed his empty paunch aquaticulum Schm., Ibid. 568., Hier. Ep. 38, 5. forthwith he suffered the dart of divine vengeance, and, returning home, by no effort, by no medicine could he digest the food and drink received against right into wrong, could be refreshed by no rest, until on the eighth day from when he had polluted himself with the crime of so great a presumption he was plucked out of his tabernacle, the covering of the flesh. He was carried back dead to where he had committed the sin, living to the world, but dead to God, and as soon as he was absolved by the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, the lord Abbot Reginbert 1051 – 1081., pardon being granted, Lucan. 9, 773. the membrane binding the belly burst apart, the intestines flowing out; and because his throat was an open sepulchre sepulcrhum G. before, all those attending the office of the funeral being affected by the most foul stench bubbling up from the cast-out excrement, at length, with immense difficulty, he was scarcely delivered to burial. Ps. 5, 11. And after the interval of a short time his master, by whose order he had committed the crime, Count Gisilbert Count of Luxembourg, † after 1056. presiding, lost the advocacy by just judgment, and, daring to attack Adalbert, count of Namur Adalbert III (1063 – 1105)., in war, in the first encounter he slipped away in swift flight, Cic. Cat. 2, 1. went off, departed, escaped, with no loss, not even the least, to the enemy, but with the greatest loss and disgrace to his own. For here all the honour and glory of the district of Bidgau Bidgau, in which Echternach was. perished, and the people, before the terror of the nations, Justin, 6, 8, 2 – 3. became altogether worthless, and as with a weapon, if you have broken the first edge, you have taken away the power of harming from the rest of the iron, so that victory, as if the point of the weapon were taken away, became known afterwards by no virtues, but by disasters, and the author himself of so great infamy and ruin, before famous for frequent triumphs, pierced by a soldier common in comparison with his dignity, met death, perished. His son-in-law Bertramn, the herald of Antichrist [Defender of the church of Echternach, who is censured in a charter of the year 1095 (Beyer, Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte … der mittelrheinischen Territorien, vol. II, p. 22).], more bitter than the pellitory piretri T corrected shrub, but far more useless, Hor. I Epist. 20, 20 – 21. who, when in slender circumstances he had stretched wings greater than his nest and with crafty talent had flown up to the summit of high dignity, swelling with the arrogance of excessive elation and not bearing himself, whatever of fraud, whatever quicquic G. of evil he could devise against those serving God and the holy

Willibrord he brought upon them, until he was destroyed by no less a force of the divine decree than he had been exalted. For, to omit his many and great disgraces, he not only lost the most fortified castle of his dominion, Bursceith Burtscheid near Diekirch in the present duchy of Luxembourg., and most copious wealth and the glory of the world carried in a golden chariot, but also, condemned through the revolutions of many years by the anathema of excommunication and deprived of every right of a free man, he merited the judgment of eternal destruction. Verg. Aen. 1, 372 – 74. Evening would lay the day to rest, Olympus being closed, before I, retracing the annals of such labours, could comprehend all the forms of crimes brought upon the house and household of God by the most wicked men, not so much advocates as most rapacious wolves, and run through all the names of the punishments paid back to them.

[34] Thiofr. Mirac. 5. But in the year before erased by the corrector in T. of the begotten Word one thousand and thirty-one, from the passing of the same paradoxical father the two hundred and ninety-second, the structure of the oratory having been repaired after its fall, there sat an opinion with Abbot Humbert, the architriclinus of all religion, with the unanimous assent of the holy congregation, that on the 14th before the Kalends of November, the illustrious Poppo, archprelate of the holy see of Trier, being invited, and the defender Henry, most glorious duke of Bavaria, amid the solemnities of the dedication his bones should be translated to the place where today they are celebrated, laid up with reverence and due honour. There were chosen and designated, to search for and dig up so precious a treasure, celibate monks, noble in the purpose of holy conversation. But while, the doors of the church being locked, they were trying to break up the pavement, one of them, Thitmar by name, not knowing or having forgotten that he had been deluded by a nocturnal phantasm, rearing high, poised the double axe in the air with his right hand drawn back; but his outstretched arms, as if bound by divine manacles, he could by no effort lower. He stood anxious and astounded with incredible stupor; a mist turned about before his eyes, his forehead sweated, Hier. Ep. 69, 2. his cheeks grew pale, his tongue stuck, his saliva dried. At length, led by the provost Hupert, a man of the highest prudence, into the entrance of a more secret place, he was admonished with fatherly affection to purge with the groans of pure confession, if he was conscious to himself of any crime. Hesitating and examining himself, and finding in his conscience nothing of new offence, he was ordered to turn aside to the washing-place and to look over his breeches with diligent gaze. He went, looked, washed, returned, and, girded, pressed on with the sacred labour more anxiously and more fervently. And when the earth had been carried out and two crypts broken open, in the third they found the most sacred sarcophagus and a silk pall upon it; which, wonderful to say, through so many ages not only incorrupt but beautiful and most entire, is hung up to this time for the adornment of the basilica of God, an evident testimony of the incorrupt life and merits of so great a bishop. At once the hegumen of eternal memory, Humbert, approached, not with rash daring, but with most sincere affection, to lay aside a little of the most precious treasure for distributing relics, and, the lid being raised a little, he deserved to see his most beloved lord lying with cowl and hair-shirt unharmed and his body almost entire and breathing such odours Life of St. Hilarion, 46. as if it had been anointed with all ointments and spices were bubbling up from the dead flesh instead of worms. A worthy proclamation indeed of the glorified body, that through the space of so long a time it should remain incorrupt and almost entire against the nature of its corruption, because, while the spirit quickened and ruled his limbs, he poured the ointment of pure nard upon the Lord's head and could confidently sing through the epithalamium: My nard has given its odour and: Your name is ointment poured out. John 12, 3., Cant. 1, 11., Cant. 1, 2. The man, not of modest faith, but tropologically to be likened to a grain of mustard, put in his hand, and, the keenness of his sight being dulled by the smoke poured out as from a censer of spices, drew out one of his ribs with the utmost dread, and, as Daniel complains of himself, astounded by the enigma of visions, no strength remained in his bloodless body. Matth. 13, 31., Dan. 10, 16. And when, the sarcophagus being locked with all diligence and elevated with the highest reverence, sacred watches were being celebrated, a certain one of the monks, Frithelo by name, who, sprung from noble lineage, having laid aside the belt of earthly warfare and offered before him two sons of outstanding disposition, had subjected himself to the sweet yoke of the Lord's service, came up, weakened in the whole frame of his limbs, inasmuch as his intestines had prolapsed and were hanging down at the border and margin of the privy parts. Prostrate, he offered the victim of inmost prayer, and, rising, he unknowingly struck against the tomb, and without any delay, from the health-bringing collision, the innards being turned back into their former seat, he obtained entire health. An inestimable gladness arose in the hearts of those glorifying God, and not so much from the neighbourhood as from the whole province swarms of peoples flowed together and, as if they were beholding and receiving their common patron present and living in the flesh, they resounded with lofty voice the cymbal-notes so also G. of praises, and the mystical ark of the Lord's testament, translated and led forth in jubilation, was placed in the propitiatory of the altar of the everlasting and undivided Trinity; where signs exceeding the reckoning and quantity of number are renewed and wonders are changed.

[35] Thiofr. Mirac. 6. But in the island of Walcheren, where his blood was poured out for the confession and glory of Christ, he is more frequently present through the presence of his spirit; because, since signs are not for the faithful but for the unbelievers, he knew that the hardness of the savage nation, imbued with the rules of faith by his immense sweat, could not be softened and constrained to divine worship and love except through the more present and more frequent efficacy of signs. And although this is held celebrated in the places bordering the sea, it pleases me nevertheless to insert at the end of the volume a few out of very many, the least out of the greatest. The younger son of Baldwin of divine memory, governor of Flanders, Robert, kindled with the torches of deadly hatred against the people of Middelburg, threatened the destruction of death to the inhabitants of the whole island. Nor had the causes of anger and the savage griefs fallen from his mind, Verg. Aen. 1, 25, 26, 36, 50. but, keeping the eternal wound under his breast and turning over very many things with himself in his inflamed heart, he took counsel with the Morini, the farthest of men, Ibid. 8, 727. and collected so great an army of Franks and Teutons that each of the enemy was reckoned scarcely to come to ten of his attendants. For he armed thrice ten legions, each rated at a thousand soldiers, against three not complete thousands, and, put on ships, carried them across through the Schaldemermur Schaldae marmur ("that is, S. marmor or S. mare") corrected Schm. [What it is I do not know. It is clear that the mouth of the Scheldt is to be understood. Weiland, wisely to be sure. Yet someone might perhaps conjecture: per Schaldae murmur.] to the hostile shores. But as terrible as his entry appeared, so base and foul was the exit that followed. For the people of Walcheren, when, having sent envoys, they begged off the war and had not obtained it, and in consideration of their fewness had greatly feared the multitude of the enemy, having joined all their column together, assembled in the basilica consecrated conservatam Schm. by the blood of thrice and four times blessed Willibrord Cf. ch. 13: the basilica which is called Westkapelle., and before partaking of the mystery of the saving host bound themselves by vow, life accompanying, to pay him a tax every year, if by the intervention of his clemency they should merit to obtain the palm of victory. Gen. 18, 10. Without delay, kindled by the heat of most ardent faith, they hung the pyx in which his relics are contained at the top of a banner, relying on these no otherwise than if the Lord God were walking before them as leader going ahead in the multitude of his sua Schm. strength. No one in the battle thought of flight, no one had hope in his feet, but in his arms, Hor. III Carm. 2, 13. because it entered the minds of all that it is beautiful and sweet to die for the homeland. With hastened course they took care lest, the enemy running forward and resisting, they should join battle against the rays of the sun, lest, the edge of their eyes being dazzled and blunted, they should lose their blows and efforts. Then they fought with such valour that you would think them men on this side, cattle on that, and, as is sung in the song of Deuteronomy, one would pursue a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight. (Deut. 32, 30.) The conquered enemies, when they fled back to the ships, (Lucan. 3, 571 – 73.) some fell slain in their own vessels, and the waves were covered with foaming and clotted gore, and according to that distich of the most noble bard,

(Ibid. 576 – 77.) others, half-alive, went down into the vast deep and drank the sea mingled with their own blood.

Hier. Ep. 54, 17. According to the song of the mystical bee Deborah, it was fought from heaven against them; the soul of the chosen of the Lord, prince of the army of God, trampled the strong. Judg. 5, 20 – 21. But the people of Walcheren, whose bow sat in strength, as one who was present at the same battle and afterwards, casting away his military arms, clothed himself with the armour of God under the monastic habit That this is Ekehard, on whom ch. 36, Weiland conjectured., related to us with most true attestation, lost none of its men except three; which it was clearly established happened from their own inconsiderate rashness. Gen. 49, 24., (Ps. 16, 8.) The Lord protected those hoping under the shadow of his wings and, Lucan. 7, 519 – 20. when the ether was woven over with iron and a night knit of missiles hung over the fields, lest deaths exulting in their glory should fall thence, Ibid. 517. he turned aside elsewhere the countless missile that was scattered, Ibid. 485. and supplied more generous spirits, and showed himself present through the presence of a harmless bird. For a dove of snowy colour, like her who in the flood, bringing back in her mouth a branch of green olive to the ark of Noah and foreshadowing the mystery of baptism, indicated that peace had been restored to the lands, never withdrew from the battle-line, but, as was seen by men of approved faith, flew around until the completion of the victory. Gen. 8, 10 – 11. And the victorious phalanx, after the glory of so great a triumph, paid to the triumpher over all the victim of due praise and, renewing and confirming its vow by which it had bound itself before, sent two banners of the conquered prince to the church of Echternach, to be preserved there for the eternal memory of the glorious victory conferred on it through the merits of the magnificent bishop Clement Willibrord.

[36] Afterwards, when it had driven off the dangers by valour and the grace of God The victorious phalanx of the Walcherners, as Weiland rightly pointed out., Lucan. 1, 3. it turned its arms from external wars as it were into its own vitals, and forthwith sharpened the iron of the raging hands, about to cut their own members, from hostile to civil blood. It blazed up into mutual destruction and, the nobler chief men of the island being slain, broke out into such discord that there was liberty for no one either to enter or to go out freely. Out of one people two warring bodies were made, and men of the same camps were divided into two hostile battle-lines. In the factions the fire of deadly hatred so blazed that, without equipment of arms and a company of fellow tribesmen and attendants, not even on the very Parasceve, on which the high priest of the true tabernacle and the essentially good shepherd, laying down his life for his sheep, offered sacrifice to God the Father,

his blood, the inestimable price of the world, did they dare to approach to kiss the wood of the Lord. Hebr. 8, 2., John 10, 11., Verg. Aen. 2, 283 – 84. At length, wearied and broken after many deaths of their own and various labours, in so great an act of perils the safest harbour of counsels seemed to be, by a common embassy, to summon to themselves the hegumen of Echternach, Thiofrid the name written in gold letters in G, in red in T., lover of Christ, that by the authority of the illustrious patron Willibrord, whose stead he was filling, Ov. Met. 1, 380. he might take thought for their sunken affairs and might give his effort, for the grace of reconciliation, to restore and compose the treaties of disturbed peace. In the port of Antwerp they waited two days for him as he was coming, with sixteen long ships; but, the necessity of the journey tying delays on him, compelled by the exactions of their general assembly, which was imminent on the third day, to return, they commended the honour of his arrival and reception to their kinsfolk and friends, the magistrates of that emporium. Now all their crops had withered from the intemperance of the air, nor were they watered by any moisture of dew and rain, but a sterile year threatened to fall upon the harvests. And when the wind, bearing on the yielding sails, was driving the fleet forward and the vessels had held the middle deep, Lucan. 3, 1 – 2. though with mournful mind, yet kindled with immense ardour of faith, they cried out with glad devotion: "O lord, O St. Willibrord, if you are to come to us, your own people, the seal of your apostolate in the Lord, give an evident indication and, Verg. Aen. 5, 243. before we are hidden in the deep harbour, make a fruitful rain descend and flow in." Without delay, Ibid. 2, 692 – 93. it thundered on the left with sudden crash, and the turbid seas bear witness to the wind conceived, Lucan. 5, 567. and now the clouds, pressed to the pole, thicken into showers, Ibid. 4, 76 – 77. and, condensed, they flow and shut out the losses of burning heat and drought. Ps. 67, 10. God set apart a voluntary rain for his inheritance; by a most evident sign of his clemency he declared the coming in spirit of his beloved. Forthwith the nautical shout strikes the ether, Verg. Aen. 5, 140 – 43. and with arms drawn back the seas foam and gape, torn up by the oars and the creaking beaks, and all, singing together an ecclesiastical, not a nautical, shanty, leap out joyful on to their shores. But scarcely as they were entering their own walls, the vicar of the outstanding prelate Willibrord, all the people of Antwerp proceeding far from the city with the pyxes of their saints, wrought in gold and silver with laborious artifice, to meet him as the angel of the Lord, as Christ Jesus, was received with immense glory, and there, those at variance being brought back into favour and allied in most firm peace, he was carried across by their honourable conveyance to the docks of the port of Middelburg. In the twilight of the day, his arrival being learned, all the islanders of both sexes and of divers ages had filled the shores with a glad company and, Ibid. 5, 107. as if their common patron and lord himself had come in the flesh, they received him with the affection of inmost devotion and with magnificence of honour and led him with hymn-singing outcry into the prayer-house of prayer. On the next day, when first the bright day rising put the stars to flight, they assembled thronging through the glad thresholds, Ibid. 5, 42 – 43. and before the legate of the Lord, to strengthen the state of present affairs, against barbarian custom they stood by with the highest discipline and reverence. Ibid. 1, 153. But he, ruling their minds with words and soothing their breasts, resolved first to approach and treat moderate matters, and to defer the greater and harsher to the morrow. And while, intent on these, he held a council of them and of others whom he thought suitable, he saw close by one of the flock of the needy prostrate himself and embrace the feet of one of the lineage and order of the rich, on whom at one time inconsiderate insolence had inflicted a wound almost irremediable and deadly. He rises, runs up, prostrate with the prostrate he kisses his knees, and, laying down on the ground before him, refusing and resisting more obstinately, the staff of the outstanding prelate, he begs, admonishes and adjures him to grant pardon for the offence to the penitent. But his adamantine heart and contemptuous mind is softened by no warmings of sound doctrine, Alcuin, book I, 9. and, all those standing round crying out and detesting so great a hardness, he does not blush, he does not acquiesce. Not master of his mind, he departed, burst out, returned home, and there on the instant paid the penalties of his contempt and disobedience. For, made a demoniac, he terrified all those standing by with the spectacle of his stroke and brought the utmost sorrow and grief to all his neighbourhood and household. His panting breast and distended paunch were shaken with frequent and most heavy pulsings, and a sound was heard as if some force within were driving against the cage of his ribs and his stomach with hard bars. And what more cruel than so great a torment, what more bitter? Terrified by so great an animadversion of divine vengeance, his clients and fellow tribesmen with much supplication compelled the wearied defetigatam Schm. courier of the Lord to go there, that he might snatch the captive from the bitterness of so great a punishment. He came, placed his little casket, in which a little portion parciuncula Schm. of the rib of the most clement father Willibrord is laid up, upon the belly of the possessed man, and on the instant the devil, because he could not bear the weight of so great holiness, deserted the vessel which he had seized to avenge the disobedience, to the glorifying of the power of the supreme maker. An immense rejoicing arose, because salvation was made for that house, because a son of Abraham was freed and absolved from the son of eternal death. Luke 19, 9., Luke 13, 16.

Meanwhile, in the assembly of the people standing by and waiting, another sign was ennobled, of a like cause indeed, but of an unlike punishment. A certain man fell on his face before a rich man long since wounded by him, and with submissive prayers laboured to make him propitious and placable to himself. There approached together the one refusing and resisting the interpreter of the lord hegumen, Ekehard, an outstanding monk, before his conversion most renowned among the princes of the same island; he approached, I say, and with many and most humble supplications and bendings of the knees besought that his mind, averse by the law of nations, might piously, for God and Clement Willibrord, be reconciled to the one seeking pardon. But he, wicked with youthful arrogance, disdained to hear, leapt out, departed and withdrew a little, when behold divine vengeance came upon him. For, as his inner eyes were deprived of the inner light, so his outer eyes were deprived of the outer light and darkened by the sudden darkness of blindness, and he whose iniquity came forth as from fatness, and who, not scourged, swelled with the breath of pride and did not fear to set his mouth against heaven, was compelled to feel under the lash what it was. Ps. 72, 7., Ps. 72, 9. He struck and was struck, groping this way and that, he turned about tottering, and, clothed with his confusion as with a double cloak, he feared the meeting and sight of men. Ps. 108, 29. At length his father met him, staggering with stumbling feet, all bathed in a shower of tears, and, rebuking the hardness of his heart, with outstretched hand he led him back to the place from which, moved by bile, he had gone out with rash daring. There he gave pardon to his suppliant, received the brightness of sight, repaid to the illuminator of all as great thanks as he could. A beautiful spectacle that day the divine piety displayed to pious minds, and, by striking dread and the greatest terror into the proud, laid the foundation of the future peace and reconciliation. In the moment of a narrow time four miracles were celebrated in two men. For the one, for the guilt of his contempt, went senseless with madness, and, for the profit of many, came to his senses and grew strong again with saner understanding; the other, seeing the mote in his brother's eye, not seeing the beam in his own, incurred the stumbling-blocks of blindness, but, led by penitence, was illumined with clearer light in body and soul. Matth. 7, 3., Verg. Aen. 7, 148 – 49. And when the next day, risen, was lighting the lands with its first lamp, with one mind and the same opinion the columns of the whole island assembled like swarms of bees, that before the vicar of the outstanding bishop and his relics the causes and quarrels of all might be examined and terminated, and the old offences of feuds and the deadly hatreds might be laid to rest. Judg. 5, 20. They stood like stars in their station and order, and with most subtle searching they investigated the light and counsels of prudence, because all her ways are beautiful and all her paths (p. et o. s. e.) omits Schm. are peaceable. Prov. 3, 17. Without delay, the eternal wisdom, which sang itself through the mouth of Solomon Jedidiah, saying: I am present in learned thoughts; mine is counsel and equity, mine is prudence and strength; through me the founders of laws decree just things, by the grace of its hidden inspiration drew the breasts of all into the sum of one and the same counsel, that from each of the families of the slain on either side seven heads nearest in blood should be chosen, and by their decree and that of the presiding archimandrite of the Lord and his companions, and by most diligent investigation, the treaties of most firm peace should be composed. Prov. 8, 12 — 15 So, according to their common counsel and decree, those guilty of blood, having first deposited, after the custom of the nation, thrice thirty pounds as threefold composition, willing or unwilling, lest any dissension should arise from things done before, were made, for the eternal oblivion of discords, the soldiers of the avengers of blood. By no human but by divine terror, men endowed with such beauty of form and tallness of body and greatness of strength and wisdom that one who did not know them would judge them chosen not from one nation but from the whole world; men, I say, most excellent in birth, fame and wealth, were compelled to submit themselves to and obey orphans far inferior to themselves, which, as a disgrace of reproach, unless they had been restrained by heavenly virtue, they would prefer to gain by death than to endure. It is indeed to be noted and to be transmitted to posterity for the highest wonder that a nation so harsh, bold, warlike, which could never be tamed by iron, suffered itself to be bound and constrained by the thongs of simple words and, to be silent about the edicts of the courier of God himself, whatever his aforesaid interpreter ordered by his authority and that of the holy father Willibrord, as if it were ordered iuberentur Schm. from his own mouth, no one of all presumed to violate and transgress, no one delayed to obey; so great a terror of the Lord fell upon all. Peace of good will thenceforth, private as well as public, through the wonderful merits of the outstanding prelate Clement Willibrord, as if he himself were sitting in bodily session and ordering it, was restored and confirmed by the sacrament of an oath, not only in the island of Walcheren but in every adjacent island, and golden Plenty poured out fruits with full horn, Hor. I Epist. 12, 28. and through the course of two months, during which the hegumen, the little home-born servant of the home-born servants of God, tied delays there for the common utility, no works, no studies were exercised there, except joy, honour and rejoicings, wonderful exultation, feast days, banquets and feasts. Then at length he returned to his homeland in the magnificence of the highest honour, and, received with the immense gladness of his whole city poured out to meet him, he sacrificed to the everlasting Trinity the victim of due praise.

And we, Verg. G. 2, 541 – 42. because we have completed an immense sea in our courses and it is now time to loose the foaming necks of the horse,

, a certain unusual miracle being passed over, namely that in the basilica endowed with the blood of so great a father the silver taken by theft from the cross, put to the fire for three days, could not be melted, and, cut into equal parts as a seed-bed of discord for men of three names [To have three names was proper to a freeborn and free Roman man. Schmitz judges that by these words thieves are bitingly designated by Thiofrid, whom he had read named in Plautus (Aulul. 2, 4, 46) "men of three letters." Yet I should rather believe that Thiofrid was led to designate thieves thus by a misunderstood passage of Juvenal (Sat. 5, 125 – 27). Cf. below on the metrical Life, book III, v. 125.], it seemed in no way to be equalled; and the altar cloth could not be cut by shears, nor by knife, finally not by the sharpest sword; this sign so wonderful being passed over, I say, let us put an end to the long work, that in the end which is without end we may remain in Christ Jesus, our only Lord, paying him manifold thanks according to our small measure for all the things which he has rendered to us, and for the multitude of goods which he has bestowed on us through the renowned patronage of his most beloved Clement Willibrord, according to his indulgence and according to the multitude of his mercies. Isai. 63, 7. To whom be praise, honour, unimaginable and ineffable glory and dominion through infinite ages. Amen.

Here ends the life of St. Clement Willibrord, archbishop.

II. METRICAL LIFE

Prologue to the life of Wilbrord, worthy of the krousma. κροῦσμα or κροῦμα, a musical mode.

There leaps in me no flowing so also T. vein of deep talent, Prose Life, prol. Nor does the glory of windy fame seize and puff me up; But Alcwin, the prudent shield-bearer of Charles, moves me, [5] Who in song retells the sacred deeds of our patron. But he does not attend to which syllable is long, which short, And like Lucilius, while he flows on, is muddy; Hor. I Sat. 4, 11; 10, 50. Watchful rather over the cares of the imperial court, He compels me to enter upon sounding measures with hoarse throat so also T.. Boethius, De cons. phil. I, 1, 2. 10] I do not take away the crown of praise set upon him, [Hor. I Sat. 10, 48 — 49. But rather I fear lest envy deny me all things, Lest the biting asp, lest the snake of Lerna bite. Yet I trust that, if you defend me with your arms, I crush the viper's venom, I tread upon the basilisk. Ps. 90, 13; Luke 10, 19. [15] May the highest Spirit breathe upon me, blow through my canvas, Carry me across into a quiet harbour without tempest.

Here begins the life of Wilbrord in heroic Camenae.

[1] [The numbers, by which the metrical Life is not so much divided into chapters as reminders are given of the chapters of the prose Life in which the same things are narrated, are presented only by T in the margin.] The Britons brought forth the sun of the fourfold cosmos, Cf. Sedulius, Carm. pasch. 5, 190: Quattuor inde plagas quadrati colligat orbis. The sun Wilbrord, who adorns the world with light, [20] With heavenly light, with the seed of the divine word. He was known to the world before he was formed so also T., born; Revealed before he obtained the lemmata of the flesh. For the mother of so great an offspring, the flower of nobility, A woman distinguished by the titles of the highest ancestors, Lucan. 8, 73. [25] Joined to Wilgils Wilgisilo T., a worthy chief, as husband, Not through the heat of the flesh, but for the sake of posterity, While she was scarcely loosing her tender soma into sleep, When Night, borne aloft on her sluggish nigris corrected Rossberg. two-horse car, goes round the air, [Verg. Aen. 5, 721: Et nox atra polum bigis subvecta tenebat. Yet that that car was sometimes slow Thiofrid could have taken from Valerius Flaccus, 3, 211, from Seneca, Agam. 817 — 18, from others; cf. Sedulius, Carm. pasch. 1, 165 – 166: nec luna cucurrit ordine pigra suo.] Went with watchful breast into the ethereal cycles; [30] She beheld as it were the horns of the cold moon being born, Growing, curving, and rolling under a full orb, And revolving through the neighbouring signs of the zodiac, Gliding with headlong course into her breast, And herself burned with the harmless flames of the typical bush. [Exod. 3, 2. Cf. Sedulius, Carm. pasch. 1, 127: Ignibus innocuis flagrans … rubus.] [35] Without delay her belly boils with hot innards; Her breast grew warm, a sick panting shakes her limbs. Verg. Aen. 5, 432. Streams of flowing an gelidi? Rossb. sweat flowed on every side. Ibid. 200. Blinking, she raised herself, she started up from the bed, No less shaken than one who flees the strokes of thunder. 40] And when Leucothea, glowing at the risen Phoebus, [What crime Aurora betrayed we do not know. Betrayed the deadly, bloody crime of the Ambrones, Verg. Aen. 6, 511: scelus exitiale Lacaenae. She lays open the vision to a certain man rounded in virtue, Cf. at v. 197. And, having confessed the lawful embraces of her charming husband, She learned the proclamations of the son not yet formed, [45] Set out by prophetic mouth in such an order: "The globe of golden-haired Phoebe, full in itself and in you, Is the son of light, whom so also T. you, a daughter of light, will bear. This sun will put forth in himself the radiance of the Sun of justice; Malach. 4, 2. He will excel men, as the moon the lesser stars. Hor. I Carm. 12, 47 – 48; Epod. 15, 1 – 2. 50] And as the Phoebean lamp drives away the darkness [so also T.] of night, [Verg. Aen. 3, 637; 4, 6. So with the rays of the word he will shut out so also T. the clouds of the mind. All day and all night he will labour that the night may perish, The night darkening the edge of the psyche with the gloom of the tegna. That is, of technae. He will sprinkle the fields of the heart with the sprinkling of dew, [55] Of the dew of the Paraclete, by which the mind of the microcosm is nourished; He will make fruitful the fields dry with the burning heat of error, As dewy Phoebe makes fruitful the crops dry by day." Verg. Georg. 3, 337.

[2] With such answers brought forth from the seer's breast, Issa — which comes from is — returned, foreknowing her offspring in hope, [Jerome, Liber hebr. quaest. in Genesim (P. L., vol. XXIII, col. 942A): It does not seem to sound in Greek and in Latin why woman is so called because she was taken from man; but the etymology is kept in the Hebrew speech. For man is called IS and woman ISSA. Rightly therefore from IS woman was called ISSA.] [60] The offspring which she bore, to give birth for the salvation of the world. She fulfilled the number established by the reckoning of genesis And bore a child, the honour of the whole cosmos. The little twig brought forth an unfading flower. She hung the illustrious sun, her son, at her breasts, Sedulius, Carm. pasch. 1, 113. [65] She exulted rejoicing so also T., as rejoices so also T. whoever triumphs. No longer did she remember the anguish of the begetting of flesh; John 16, 21. She cherished in her bosom him whose proclamations she knew, Received with "the bread of will", "not the bread of sorrow". Cf. Ps. 126, 2: panem doloris. She gives the name Wilbrord to him reborn in the font so also T. of life; [70] For since the idiom of Teutonic speech is thus, The first syllable sounds will, the last bread, Cf. p. 462, note 1. If the dog's letter yields and leaves the second-to-last. [That is, if from the name Willibrord you take away both the letter r and the second-to-last syllable (li).] She nourished the nursling of life with her honey and nectar, The mother's milk nourished the infant. Through the mirror of the flesh she saw the adornments of character, [75] From which so great a little boy grew up to be adorned, Who with his beautiful face painted both parents. Thereupon, counsel being shared with her husband, As Anna vowed the seer Samuel so also T. to the Lord, I Reg. 1, 11. So she vowed the boy to the boy born of the virgin, 80] Who, putting his hand from the milk over the cave of the asp, [Isai. 11, 8. Broke the bar striking the human race. ["The bar is to be understood as Satan. Cf. Isai. 27, 1: In that day the Lord will visit … upon Leviathan the bar serpent" Rossberg. Yet I rather think you may better compare with this passage of Thiofrid that of Amos 1. 5: And I will break the bars of Damascus.] Each parent vowed a ratified so also T. and pleasing holocaust, And, lest long delay should draw out the pious vow, The father offered his sweet little son to be instructed 85] By the outstanding fathers of Ripon, Israelites, [Cf. John 1, 47. That he might learn in tender years the norm of virtue And hear nothing, see nothing but honourable things.

[3] Nor did the father's mind grow sluggish, the offering of so great a disposition made, But thirsting for the theorems of the speculative life, 90] He resolved to stand at the mouth of the cave of the psyche [psyces G.], [III Reg. 19, 9 — 12. That the thin whistling of Elijah's breeze might breathe upon him, And, invigorated by the highest sweetness tasted, He might live in the winding of the flesh without the action of the flesh. Stripped of the tunic in which the old Adam clothed himself, Gen. 3, 21. Eph. 4, 22 — 24. [95] He clothed himself with the garment of the new Adam, the fleece of the lamb. A simple sheep, he enters the fold of the illustrious Andrew, He, more fruitful, is joined to fruitful sheep. The poplar rods — the dogmas, the lives of the saints — Gen. 30, 37 ff. Placed by Jacob's art through the waters of Scripture, [100] In which is the colour of history and of tropology, Gazing at them more often, he conceived offspring from the image; The offspring brings forth living spiritual acts; He unlearned the world, he learned to adorn a clean heart, With his mind he drew the salutary odours of contemplation. [105] But as one hungering, burning to be satisfied more richly, From a coenobite there goes forth a new anchorite so also T., He went forth taught to overcome the aerial phalanxes; Cf. Eph. 2, 2. He fought, he conquered, he subdued himself and the world to himself. Hidden, he lay concealed, but could not lie concealed on the citadel; 110] The citadel of the city does not lie hid, nor the city on the top of the mountain. [Matth. 5, 14. He was betrayed by signs and stupendous wonders; He was spread abroad by celebrated fame in the hall of the nobles. The practical life returns to him, the contemplative does not yield. And because his primary virtue pleased the princes, [115] By ratified tradition broad estates were given him, Which are beside the sea, which the promontories so also T. gird. He built a fold for the flock, the cattle of the highest shepherd; He pastured the sheep with young and washed in the blood of the lamb. Apoc. 7, 14. Ripe with old age, with slack skin, with hoary crown, [120] Sighing to discharge the duty of a veteran soldier, He passed from the mire, from the blind prison of the flesh; Face to face he saw him whom he thirsted for in his mind. I Cor. 13, 12. The chapel of the theoticos cf. prose Life, ch. 82, 201 received the lifeless limbs. [That is, they laid his body in the oratory of the Blessed Mary (cf. Alcuin, metrical Life ch. 33, v. 91 – 94).]

[4] But because I have digressed, using the train of the song, [125] Returned to the by-path, I wear down the road begun. Wilbrord, of so great a lineage and of lofty disposition, Tender in age, another Samuel in progress, I Reg. 2, 26.

Grew, advanced; the boy did nothing boyish; He, little, does not long to play with little companions so also T., [130] But, intent on sacred studies with sharpness of mind, He flourished more richly like the cedar, the palm, the cypress. Ps. 91, 13. And when his age was ticking off two decades, All that he had laboured at before he reckoned as nothing, And seeks the dove's wings with which to fly away, Ps. 54, 7. [135] That he may flee far off, may live without whirlwind of mind. He burns to go away in flight and leave the sweet land, Verg. Aen. 4, 281. But not without the consent of his spiritual father. He discloses to him the fire burning the secrets of his mind, That he may connive at his setting out into the Lord's harvest, Matth. 9, 37. [140] Where the reaper is rare, but the fruit of the crop rich. Each fills his bosom with tears welling up from the heart; This one asks, that one refuses; the father stands in the way, the son presses, Nor does he desist until he softens the father's bowels, And the harmonious company of the elders escorts him, [145] Not with dry eyes, but dyed with a river of weeping; The fervent heat of love gives kisses, embraces. In this age Ireland shone with famous men, It flourished in studies, as Athens with gymnosophists. Hither the lofty form, the glory of youths, gave himself to be taught. [Thiofrid places gymnosophists at Athens by a strange error, perhaps because he "confused sophists and gymnastic exercises", as seemed to Rossberg.] [150] And he learned the reasonings of logic, ethics, physics, What are the two things into which dialectic divides being, What genus and species are, and the enthymeme, the sorites, What mathesis is, what spirit turns the aplanes orb. [Cf. Chalcidius, Comm. in Tim. Platonis, §113: from the outer orb which is called aplanes. Thiofrid cites Chalcidius in the prose Life, ch. 6 middle.] He plucked the flowers of the divine library [155] And built, like the bees, spiritual honeycombs. No greater strictness flourished so also T; riguit Decker, with Rossberg approving. in the whole world. For if, under the lot of the kitchen, to any monk [The so-called Coenobitic Rule of the brothers of St. Columban (ed. O. Seebass, in Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, vol. XVII, p. 218 ff.), ch. 3 and ch. 2.] One grain of any legume was lost, Or two or three, chastised by all together, [160] He did penance as if for the account of the sacred property, Pressing on with twice six psalms at the end of the synaxis, Helped by the brothers' prayers and released. He who neglects to say "amen" at the verse of the table, Ibid., ch. 1. As if wandering in mind, endures six strokes of the scourge. 165] He suffers as many who, touched with the rheum of a cough, [Ibid., ch. 2. Does not sing in the psalmody with resounding voice; Equally each one pays who has said that anything is his own. Ibid., ch. 2. If he loses drops of strong wine through sluggish care, Ibid., ch. 3. The loss is assessed, the guilty man is harassed more sharply; [170] The due hemina of wine is not shared out to him, But he drinks from the spring, until as much as he lost is there. If anyone pierces the table with a sharp knife, Ibid., ch. 2. He suffers ten savage weals for the crime. And he who sleeps where a woman gives her limbs to slumber Ibid., ch. 13. Hor. II Sat. 2, 80 — 81: sopori membra dedit. [175] And does not fear the flame loses his customary daily ration; He is permitted to use a narrow bread, a short water. But that he is fined who is thrown down by chance Columban's Rule, ch. 15. From a bridge or from a skiff or from a horse, the fall striking him, Silius Ital. 14, 678: tanta feriente ruina. What it is I know not; reporting it, unbelieving, I hate it. Hor. II Epist. 3, 188: incredulus odi. 180] He who bears the gall of envy, and burns with the fires of anger, [Columban's Rule, ch. 14. Unless he soon repents, unless he discloses the wounds of the heart, As many suns as he was silent, so many fasts he pays, Atoning with bread and water for what he is weighed down with in bitter mind. But with fifty lashes he is purged in his skin Ibid. [185] Who does not carry out more quickly whatever is ordered, Who repeats myths, who handles the trifles of the table, Ibid., ch. 4. Who says anything out not submissively nor honourably, Ibid., ch. 5. Who gives an impudent answer with confused mind, Ibid. Who, entering the holy places, covers his head with the cowl drawn on, Ibid., ch. 14. 190] And who eats anything if he does not pray first. [Ibid. But he from whom there falls a word void of fruit, inept, Ibid. Ibid., ch. 8. Either atones with twice six lashes, or keeps silence for two hours. In these schools the athlete so also T. studied three times four years, As many as were the summers of the Wisdom of the Father, the Word, Luke 2, 42 ff. [195] When, joining himself to initiates skilled in the law, He learned what he taught; as if ignorant he knew all things.

He was rolling thrice ten and three solar orbs — It is the age at which the death of Christ was slain by death — [200] The offspring of Abraham, the pilgrim patriarch, An exile, was unwilling to visit his paternal fields; He preferred to be ignoble among remote peoples And to be a pilgrim and to meditate the tomes of the law; With wakeful breast he runs through the climes of the cosmos, [205] Whither he should turn aside, where he should scatter the seeds of the word. To his mind as it turned over lofty things there sat the opinion To visit the lands cold with Arctic frost. But Should v. 208 be placed after v. 209? Rossb. what his mind conceived, what it brought forth, he disclosed; He did not keep silent to his companions, whom the fire of the Pneuma burned, 210] And he chose in order four times three stars, [Cf. above, p. 463, note 3. Stars of the zodiac * Rehni GT; but cf. v. 517. surpassing the constellations of heaven, Lucan. 7, 363. With whom he might withdraw the darkness of the idol from the world. And so, discerning the clouds and the winds that bear, He placed his companions on a ship under payment of the fare; [215] But because he could give nothing so also T. for himself but himself, He was not admitted. The wind spreads the canvas, Ibid., 9, 77. The shore is deserted, the vessel is borne over the sloping sea. Verg. Aen. 18, 548 — 49. He follows with tears; eye and mind cling to the waves, Ibid., 6, 476. Until nowhere does he discern the planking of the companion keel. [220] He stands; what to do with himself, where to turn, he ponders within himself. But what befell, if I bring it forth, who believes me? Posterity believes what ancestral antiquity hands down. He sees from afar a stone like an incense-burning altar. Ibid., 4, 453. He rolls it to the sea, swiftly leaps upon it as on a ship. [225] He sails, the wave lifts the mass and does not refuse to bear it. It carries him out, it does not so also T. sink him, it loses the functions of nature; The sea bears without weight the weight placed upon it, Carries him into the longed-for harbour without skiff so also T., without rower. The force of the liquid element sustains two weights, [230] Weights to which nature fixed one fall. Not more wonderfully would he tread with his foot the surge of the sea. He went out upon the shore; the hospitable land so also T. is astounded at the sign. As evidence the stone is placed beside the altar. Having boarded a ship, he goes down to the mouths so also T. of the Rhine Rehni GT; but cf. v. 517.; 235] He comes to Utrecht, the famous city of the Vilti, [Cf. Bede, above, p. 415 E. To be endowed by him as a bride, as it were, of the highest bridegroom, Not on this entry, but on a later return. A guest, he goes here without hope, he who would sit as ruler and heir. Neither time nor place smiled on him for building; 240] There raged there the turbid tempest of savage war, [Verg. Aen. 12, 283 – 84. The rage of Rathbod lording it over the nation of the Frisians. This city was the citadel and first court of his kingdom; Here he forbade ships to send across their customary wares; The road here is for wars, here flourishes the grim rebellious nation; Lucan. 1, 257. [245] Here the soldier, accustomed to run across into the neighbours, Preferred arms to the toga, kindled with love of plunder. Ibid., 9, 199; Verg. Aen. 7, 496. The legate of peace, moved by the discordant whirlwind, Withdrew the seeds of the word from the faithless nation. He departed sad, to return without sadness. [250] He makes for where Francia spreads out its broad fields And visits Duke Pippin, lording it over lords, Dardanian offspring, the honour of the Trojan nation, Verg. Aen. 6, 756, 767. For, as histories and old chronicles disclose, He obtained ancestors famous by the stem of Anchises, [Not without design, it seems, did Thiofrid join to the name of Anchises, who is said to be the father of Aeneas, the corrupted name of Duke Ansegisil, of whom Pippin, mayor of the palace, was born.] [255] Flowers of the Aeneadae, tamers of sea and land; He was begotten of the noble Duke Anschisus Anchiso Rossb..

[6] This man of virtue, a duke of so great nobility, Applauds for so great a guest as for Christ as guest; He subjected himself and his people to him to be instructed. [260] Nor defrauded so also T. in hope, but gladdened in mind, When he saw the sharp thickets of error being plucked out And the clods of the mind being cut by the ploughshare of the word And the wheat of God being laid up through the divine granaries, Matth. 13, 30. He lays open to his initiates what is the judgment of his mind: [265] "There is a man among us who irradiates us like the sun, Who drives far from us the darkness of Acheron. I have it in mind to send him to Rome, mistress of the world, Where he may be exalted, adorned with the prelacy, That he may plant more widely, water, and God give the increase, I Cor. 3, 6. [270] That the shepherd may pasture through the pastures the sheep rejoicing in life. Unless I am mistaken, he will refuse, he will resist with humble reasoning; He does not want what we want, he wants to be removed from the world. Be zealous, I beg you, to pray that he allow himself to be overcome. But let an embassy of ours be sent to him more quickly; [275] Let him be present at our counsels, let him, consulted, counsel as he knows how." The initiates approve the prince's beginnings; they pray him to finish. Without delay the one sent goes off; Wilbrord Willbrord GT. comes in time. Received with becoming honour as an angel of the Lord, Gal. 4, 14. He sat on a lofty dais in the midst of the nobles; 280] The honeycomb of life flowed distilling from his mouth. [Cant. 4, 11. He is chosen in the lot of God by the whole company, The lot of God is the same as the clergy. By the harmonious company, and by the duke of the whole kingdom. It is acclaimed that he will be worthy of the episcopate; But he did not consent, because he thought meanly of himself; [285] Small in his own eyes, great in yours, O Christ, following you, You who, mortal, covered with the mantle so also T. of flesh, Martianus Capella, §67. Showed that the chairs of primacy are to be fled, Luke 20, 46. When you had withdrawn into the mountain and lain hidden, John 6, 15. Cf. Martial, 7, 30, 5: recutitorum Iudaeorum. Lest the circumcised people should choose you, to whom alone [290] The monarchy of the world yielded, as king for itself. Your follower, O Christ, led along your footsteps, Did not set his heart upon it, but loosed his mouth in these words: Ps. 61, 11. Col. [ ] "O illustrious prince, O chief men so also T., immense glory,

Turn away your minds, kindled against me or advertite? Rossb.. [Rossberg bids us compare Verg. Aen. 5, 304: laetasque advertite mentes, and Sil. Ital. 4, 823: totasque advertite mentes. For my part I think nothing should be corrected, and it is to be understood thus: Turn away (from me) your minds kindled toward me, that is, think about appointing another bishop.]

[295] I forsook my fatherland for the court of the heavenly fatherland, [Alcuin, De sanctis Eubor. eccl. 1014: Qui liquerat patriam patriae caelestis amore.]

Not that I might grow rich, nor that I might lord it in exile,

But that, naked, I might follow the naked Christ crucified. Jerome, Ep. 125, 20.

I have not learned the lofty things of the contemplative life;

In my heart I tremble at the tome of the virtues, to be noted by the mind, Cf. Alcuin, c. 6.

[300] To be fulfilled in deeds, drawn from the breast of Paul,

Proper to bishops, the catechists of souls.

Why do you desire to entrust to me the summit of so great an honour?

There is no greater burden, nor is there any greater honour so also T.;

Nothing is heavier for a mind that thirsts for the fountain of life,

[305] Nothing more intolerable than to bear the tumults

And clamours of men, the passionate motions of souls.

The tower of David set on Lebanon represents the bishop, [Thiofrid has put together Cant. 4, 4: the tower of David, and Cant. 7, 4: the tower of Lebanon.]

From whose watch-tower the watchman looks out on the heights,

Looks out, and announces that the airy phalanxes are on the march, Cf. on v. 107.

[310] Discloses where the filthy stench of crime reeks,

Where the fragrance of virtue breathes, where there is life and where death.

And what burden can be made equal to so great a load?

Who can make his summit match so lofty an honour?

It is not from the earth, but from the supernal citadel of the ether;

[315] It is borne on earth, but is not held to be earthly;

It is not given here to the flesh, but to the spiritual mind;

The uncircumscribed Spirit gives it as a gift,

A special gift, the one more precious than all.

The bishop is a second god, whose mind is heavenly;

He enters the holy of holies with a consecrated mind, Lev. 16, 2 ff.

He is adorned with eight vestments of wondrous weave, Jerome, Ep. 64, 10–19, 22.

He touches the altar, he rings through the little bells, Exod. 28, 34–35.

Wholly resounding, he bears the adornment of the deity, Jerome, Ep. 64, 14 and 23.

[325] An office that no tongue can clearly tell.

He does not go forth outside from the holy things sacris Rossb., lest he die; Lev. 21, 12.

Within, upon the altar, he gives fuel to the perpetual fire,

The fire which God wills to be kindled beneath every heart, Ibid., 6, 12.

And, lest it fail, he supplies the moral wood,

[330] The wood of the fathers' admonitions and the deeds of the celibate life.

While the victim is offered, such as and of the kind the law commands, Num. 18, 18.

The breast, the paunch, and the right shoulder are given to him;

Lest in the flock entrusted to him anyone be wiser than he,

Nor anyone be stronger against the hostile wings of the air; [the wings of the air, that is, the winged demons of the air. Cf. on v. 107. Rossb.]

But who is worthy of these things so also T., who stands out as fit and apt?

The law does not choose him who bears a blemish in his body, Lev. 21, 18–20.

Not the blind, not the blear-eyed, not the lame, nor so also T. the hunchback,

Not one with a great nose or a crooked one, nor neque T. with a broken foot.

[340] It belongs to the leader of the church to shine with the brightness of the mind,

That he may ward off the darkness dense with the gloom of death,

And far outshine those over whom he is set in honour.

With unimpaired sight, let him not be blear-eyed in the action of the mind; [Thiofrid meant this to be the genitive case of the word νοῦς, which he had read in Martianus Cap. §§92, 126, 567.]

In the rule of faith let him not limp as an heresiarch;

[345] What gives off fragrance, what stinks, let him take care, being skilled, to discern;

Let him be upright in mind, not pressed down by the weight of the flesh.

No one who does not know properly how to govern his own life

Can be the judge and leader of another's life.

He who fears to unmoor a skiff, how shall he steer a trireme?

[350] Through a heavier burden comes a heavier fall beneath the weight.

Therefore, my lords, do not be troublesome to me,

But seek out a better overseer than me."

When this river of living water flowed from the father's mouth,

He was held the worthier, because he did not seem worthy to himself.

That he should not excuse himself nor refuse the life-giving burden,

Since for this cause he was far removed from his ancestral fatherland.

Let him, rejoicing, give his own life for the life of others.

What was he to do? what was he to say? on this side love, on that side fear presses; Ovid, Epist. 12, 61.

[360] This one counsels that he yield; against it that one clamours that he withdraw.

He stood between the two; he turned over the records of the law.

The law commands that if anyone has paid the debts of the flesh Deut. 25, 5–10.

Lacking posterity, if his wife survive him,

She should be the wife of his brother in stable wedlock, Verg. Aen. 1, 73.

[365] Lest the brother's so also T. seed perish, his succession, his name.

If he refuses to take her, if he scorns the ratified betrothal,

Let the widowed woman spit in his manly face,

Let one shoe be taken from his feet,

That, called barefoot, he may be worthy of no name.

[370] God, made of a virgin, became our brother,

While he took from Adam our form, not our guilt, Phil. 2, 6–7; Heb. 4, 15.

That the new Adam might wipe away the stains of the old Adam. I Cor. 15, 45.

He espoused to himself the chaste Church as bride; Cf. Eph. 5, 23–29.

But the only offspring of the Father died as though lacking issue,

[375] He left his beloved consort widowed,

While she had not yet brought forth all her heaven-born offspring.

If the bridegroom's brother be unwilling to stand by this so great widow,

If he be unwilling to be joined to her, when he could give the dowry,

Since he is very rich, seeking the gains of the virtues,

[380] Let his sandal be stripped off excutitur Rossb., let him be befouled with spittle in the face,

Let him be a disgrace, because he was unwilling to be an honour,

Let him be guilty before God for as many gains of souls

As he could easily have gained, had he been zealous.

Virtue seeks not its own, but the things that are another's. I Cor. 13, 5; Phil. 2, 4.

[385] He who can be of profit and will not is a fool;

Living, he is dead, and more worthless than the stump of a herm. Juvenal 8, 53.

He does not cut off the neck of the dove that is not to be cut off, Lev. 1, 15; 5, 8.

Nor twist its head toward the turned-back wings, as so also T. the law admonishes,

While he so craves the leisure of the contemplative life

[390] That he neglects the ways and labours of the active.

Reckoning this with himself and weighing it with the keenness of his mind,

He set himself after himself; he willed what he had not willed to be.

He saw that rest was good, that the land was very good, Gen. 49, 15.

Not the rest of the flesh, nor the soil, but the glory of the soul spyches GT..

To carry the sweet tribute of doctrine.

He obeyed, he assented, he gladdened those present;

There was acclamation; offices of praise were rendered.

The duke dissolved the assembly and cherished the one elected,

[400] And sent him across with the escort that befitted him;

He sent his gifts to the hierarch of the apostolic see —

Sergius was his name, an omen for nations to be saved, Note the remarkable etymology: "for nations to be saved."

A man of the highest merit, the glory of the whole world, —

A throne carved with wondrous signs in relief, III Kings 10, 18 and 7, 29.

[405] On this side with oxen, on that with lions; on this side kind, on that stern,

A prudent steward, dispensing the divine daily rations.

[7] While he was resting here, and light slumber bedewed his bones,

An angel shone forth; the night gleamed again with his light. Acts 12, 7.

He addressed him as a sweet friend addresses a friend:

[410] "The Creator of all nature sends me to you;

What he wills and through me commands you, lay up in your mind.

A dear fellow-initiate, consecrated before in the womb,

He appoints to be consecrated and adorned by you.

He is a mirror of life, unequal to none in virtues.

[415] Waver not at all in his regard: God is, and reigns, in him.

When the fourth light has removed the dusky shadows of night,

He will enter the Mavortian walls of lofty Rome. Verg. Aen. 1, 276.

Rise to meet him; take care so also T. that you do not dismiss him; press kisses on him;

In the worthy minister of the Lord venerate the Lord.

[420] Whatever he wills of you, whatever he asks, let him seek it from you;

Deny him nothing; refuse to give him nothing that you have;

Send him back adorned by you with the highest honour."

Night rushed on; the angel departed; the pope wakes and rises.

No dread and terror, and no error, snatched sleep from him, Ibid. 7, 458–59.

[425] No sweat broken out corr. Rossb.; GT. drenched his face and limbs;

He does not deign to turn over the natural gates of sleep,

He cares not what the ivory one sends, nor what the horn one, Ibid. 6, 893–96.

Although the latter is for true things so also T., but the other open to false;

He felt nothing doubtful; no scruple clung to his heart;

[430] He rendered thanks so also T. to the divine essence for the vision.

But the Muse counsels me to stand at the bolted gates,

That they may be handled by me, and unlocked by the key so also T. of metre;

For they are built according to natural reason. Cf. below on v. 460.

All truth lies hidden, covered with dense gloom,

[435] But the power of the soul wills to see this in clear light;

It goes and returns to itself as though by a free lot of ruling,

While slumber gliding in bedews the wearied limbs; Verg. Aen. 3, 511.

It is moved with eternal motion and in perpetual act,

Now within, now without, now below, now above,

[440] And the power of its nature preserves and puts forth in itself;

It beholds the species and ideas of things of every kind.

If the mind is given over to the vices of the wanton flesh,

If it seethes either with lust or with the flames of anger,

If the heart flows out into ambitious avarice,

[445] It dreams what it does, what it thinks; it shudders, it grows dull;

It sees foul and unspeakable things, it does them; illusion torments it; it, that is, the mind. Rossb.

It attends to false things, beneath which lies the gate of the elephant. [it directs the mind to false things, beneath which lies the gate of the elephant (that is, the ivory gate). Rossb.]

For by the force of nature ivory is so condensed in itself

That no sight can pierce it, even scraped evasum corr. Rossb. thin.

[450] No rest is had where so great a clamour is held.

But if it is not infected with the poisons of crime,

But is free of allurements, delivered from biting cares,

It enjoys its own power, it foresees many things to come,

It strains toward the truth, which it discerns beneath a veil.

[455] A cloud drawn over it stands in the way as it strains and gazes;

The bonds of nature, dim and darksome,

Dull so also T. mortal sight, hold it back from the light,

And, as though through a veil, man sees the truth in dreams;

The gate of horn lies open; the truth shines clear without fiction.

[460] The eye is harder than the other limbs of the body, [Cf. Servius, Comm. in Verg. Aen. 6, 893: But natural philosophy holds this: by the gate of horn the eyes are signified, which are both of the colour of horn and harder than the other members; for they do not feel the cold.]

Its colour is of horn; free of cold, it does not freeze.

But I delay; I have digressed; it pleases me to go back whence I withdrew.

The sun brought forth the fourth day, irradiated with light;

The Alps crossed, pressed with frozen snow and cold so also T.,

[465] Willibrord came to the famous city of Romulus.

The apostolic one went to meet him, the glory and light of the world;

He received the legate of Christ as though Christ himself,

He cherished him with an embrace, because he knew him full of the Spirit,

The Spirit by which the palace of the fourfold world is ruled. Cf. on v. 18.

[470] Whatever offices he could, whatever he ought, he discharged them all;

He summoned the sacred clergy, and the senate with the people;

He went forth with a great throng of companions pressing about him; Verg. Aen. 1, 497.

He mounted into the church of Peter, prince of the Church,

And led the elect of God with his companion right hand.

With which he was accustomed to be girt on a solemn feast,

A typical adornment, woven with fine weft, ff. Jerome, Ep. 64, 19.

Wherein are woven the manner, the action, the mind of the bishop, —

There are the elements, the pole, the sun, the path of the zodiac, time, —

May count the losses of creation as his own, may sacrifice and pray

Not so also T. only for himself but also for every condition.

As Rome applauded and gave its accustomed suffrages,

He anointed him, and granted him to discharge the pontifical order.

[485] Turning over in his lofty mind how kind and merciful he would be,

He changed his name and called him Clement,

On the tenth day before the Kalends of December, as the sun was rising,

When the cycle of the year of the begotten Word had passed

Par six hundred, nine times nine tenfold, [Thiofrid seems to have added Par to fill out the verse; and par indeed is the number of years 600, but not 695!]

[490] And the fifth not finished by the solar hinge.

He kept him with him, having discharged the heavenly office,

That the two cherubim cherubin G., the living creatures of life, might look upon each other, Exod. 25, 19–20.

That they might strike each other more nearly with joined vinctis Rossb. wings. Ezek. 1, 9; 3, 13.

In alternate turns their mutual virtue touched each other.

[495] The divine fire, sent from the Father through the Word,

Illumined the heart of each, kindled from itself;

The living coals drew the warmth so also T. of life;

By their merits they shone more brightly than the lamp of the sun;

Each was fed by the other with spiritual food.

[500] The teacher knew his disciple to know the best things;

He gave him relics of the saints, a precious gift.

[8] Enriched with gifts so also T., when twice seven suns had passed,

He dismissed him to return, attesting testatur Rossb. his love with tears.

Dismissed, he returned; he revisited the realms of the Franks.

[505] The highest men came to meet him with Duke Pippin,

Highest in wealth from their forefathers and in ample honours.

The clergy rejoices, all the people exult and sing hymns.

They come vying with one another; they give faithful kisses in turn.

They would not exult more if God himself were coming.

[510] The highest honour was paid him, because he was worthy;

The pontifical see of Utrecht was given him,

A see not yet built, but to be built.

He came to Viltalburg so also T., whence he had formerly withdrawn when coming,

And at the end left behind the heavy labours of the voyage.

He longed for men through whom he might heap up the sheaves.

Founding the enclosures of a monastery on the bank so also T. of the Rhine,

He consecrated it in honour of the Cross and of the divine Mary;

He established for himself a cathedra and an oratory for preaching.

[520] But I must not advance further on the foot of the Pierides;

I must take breath, and pause after the manner of refreshing myself.

Here ends the first book.

Here begins the second book.

[9] Set upon the cathedra in great honour, Willibrord

Taught no otherwise than he lived, but did it first;

Whatever he urged to be done, he flew before as leader going ahead,

He moved his step first, that the flock might follow him and not a stranger, Verg. Aen. 6, 677. John 10, 4–5.

[5] That the flock might follow the shepherd, not the enemy of the flock.

And, overseeing, like lightning returning as it goes,

He remembered that he was a monk dedicated from his mother's womb;

He pressed on the monk's purpose, and his course, and his flight.

He nurtured in this order the clergy subject to him.

[10] [10] A man leading an angelic and not a human life,

He surpassed man; he bore the flesh without the flesh;

He was zealous to multiply tenfold the approved mina Nam male corr. Rossb. entrusted to him. [Luke 19, 12–17. Since Rossberg did not remember that gospel mina, he understood probatam as the flock of monks (= τὰ πρόβατα); a remarkable error. For the rest, although the remaining words are clear, what this probatam means is not plain. Does Thiofrid hint that the servant who had brought ten minas was praised by the lord? or did he remember that of Gen. 43, 23: the money which you gave me I have as approved?]

He went through Frisia to the court of the reigning Radbod;

He instilled into him the treasures of the heavenly kingdom;

[15] But he accomplished nothing, because he did not come in season.

For God has given a time to every thing under the sun, Eccles. 3, 1–8.

A time which Ecclesiastes divides through its species,

Not, like Aristotle, through subtle reasonings so also T.,

But through an allegory unheard of by the Spartans.

[20] Awaiting a fitter time, and turning over with himself

That without the key of David nothing is shut, nothing opened, Cf. on bk. I, v. 320.

He departed sorrowful, to have a joyful return.

He visited the neighbouring Danes, nurslings of Dis,

Where a man harder than rocks, fiercer than bears, raged,

[25] Not to be called a man, but a lion and a savage tyrant,

Called Ongendus, worthy of the prison of the Furies,

By his name displaying the fierce ways inborn in him.

"On" is being, which proceeds from "is": it does not stand in place of a genus. [Let him who has leisure examine these philosophical matters, which Thiofrid seems to have drawn from Boethius' commentaries on Porphyry (P. L., vol. LXIV, col. 43) and on Aristotle's book Περὶ ἑρμηνείας (ibid., col. 312D), and has thrust in here unseasonably. As they are not clear, so it is plain that the name Ongendus was derived by Thiofrid from ὄν-gens-dura.]

Not as the Isagoge derives genus from species,

[30] Nor is it so said of the ten categories,

But rather equivocally, not by univocal reasoning.

But since a syllable by itself designates so also T. nothing but itself,

But co-signifies, if the word too does not stand together,

Let the latter be joined to the first and the last to the second,

[35] And let the canine letter be bound to the final a:

"Est gens dura" — "is a hard race" — the connexion of the name, once made, resounds.

A hard so also T. king deserved to rule a hard race.

The adamantine heart turned itself into a crooked bow; Ps. 77, 57.

It could not be broken, nor cut by the magnet of the word, Cf. Silius Ital. 3, 265–66: There came the Ethiopians … who cut the magnet!

[40] The magnet by which iron is drawn, by which the iron mind is lightened so also T.,

Is rapt into heaven, and, suspended, contemplates God (s. D.) so GT (not, however, suspensa dum); dum suspensa Rossb..

But, his rage suppressed and the fires of his anger lulled,

He discharged the office of courtesy and the right of hospitality;

Yet he did not attend, but scorned the seeds of the word;

[45] What he had learned he did not unlearn; he did not abandon his figments.

Weighing the force of so great a hardness, the follower of life

Was unwilling to strive in vain and be harassed further;

He desisted, he went out, and sought again his own folds.

In returning he grieves that he brings back no talents,

[50] That he returns empty, that the threshing-floor ceases from threshing.

There came to his mind the prudence of the great Paul: Acts 16, 7.

Paul resolved to go into the borders of Bithynia,

To drive out the darkness of death and overturn the altars so also T.;

But the Spirit of Jesus Christ withstood him as he went:

[55] He desisted, and was zealous to join Mysia as bride to the Lamb.

After this pattern the apostolic man, released from his grief,

Having gained a modest little profit by the merchandise of doctrine,

Carried across with him thirty chosen youths;

He fortified them with the breastplate of faith and the helmet of the word;

[60] He forestalled the contrivance and hindrance of Dis;

He washed them from the guilt which the old Adam contracted.

[11] But since there is nothing joyful, nothing quiet in the flesh,

Nay, what is conceived is troubled as it is begotten,

Carried out on a ship, he is tossed by a great whirlwind;

[65] Yet he suffers no loss, he is not delayed,

But a little island receives him with shattered oars,

The island of Fosyteslant Fositesland Rossb. under the dominion of the Frisians.

Here lies open a most pleasant plain of broad field;

It is fertile in grass and flowers, in the richness of its glebe. Verg. Aen. 1, 531; 3, 164.

[70] The flocks, fat of belly, crop the joyful greensward.

The losses of the long day are repaired in the short night, Verg. Georg. 2, 201–202.

The cold dew restores as much as the heat has consumed.

There flows a perpetual fountain of water, a stream of superstition; Hor. II Sat. 6, 2.

He who drinks from it is silent and dares to speak nothing at all;

He does not draw to himself the coins cast into the pail.

He prays as he approaches; so he prays when he withdraws.

A profane shrine is cultivated in solemn manner;

No traveller approaches, unless a longer road distresses him.

For he who presumes perishes; the last lot punishes him.

In this valley he ordered his tents to be pitched;

He scorned the cult so also T. and the superstitious rite;

He did not fear the rage of the king, nor the brawls of the people.

[85] He allowed all the fattest beasts to be slaughtered for the table;

He baptized three men in the fountain, made new;

He allowed so also T. libations to be taken from the bottom of the little pitcher.

Without delay a concourse is made; the base rabble is at hand; Verg. Aen. 1, 149.

It rages in sedition; fury burns its rabid minds;

[90] It reckons so great a crime must be expiated by the lightning's fire,

And that the avenging gods, stirred up to vengeance,

Would bring the Night-born Allecto from the Stygian banks Ibid. 7, 323–31,

With twisted snakes, as the muse of Maro sports. Ausonius, Cupido cruciatus, 1.

But when it sees nothing harmed, nothing grievous to be feared,

[95] It scarcely held itself back; it did not rush upon him; its anger subsided.

Yet Rumour, than which no monster is more pernicious, Verg. Aen. 4, 174–75.

Thriving by its mobility so also T., gaining strength as it goes,

Feigning things that are not, mixing lies with truths, Ibid. 188.

Rumour, of giant stock so also T., the fury and vengeance of the earth, Ibid. 178–80.

As many watchful eyes, and pricks up as many ears,

Turns its course corr. Rossb.; currus GT. into the king's terrifying court, Ibid.

It kindles flames in his mind, it stirs him, it heaps up so also T. his wrath,

And spreads abroad that a man hostile to the gods has come, Ibid. 191.

[105] A hater of the kingdom, urging that the deities be spurned.

The king believes the rumour; he roars; his indignation grew;

Yet he does not slacken the reins to the courses of his hot anger.

He orders the chief men of the people to be called within his halls; Ibid. 7, 168–69.

They are present; he sat down in the midst on his ancestral throne,

[110] He seeks counsel, he asks what he is to do.

By decree of the nobles he decides that it is to be proved by lot

Whom, as guilty, the gods so Rossb.; dipendere GT. bid pay cruel penalties. Ibid. 6, 20.

Thrice three times the lot was cast on three days;

But the partner of life remained without share in the peril so also T..

[115] The lot did not betray him, yet it fell on one of his companions,

One, to be adorned with the palm of the merit of martyrdom.

But what is to be thought, what is to be conjectured in this matter so GT.?

Had he not offended, the lot would not have fallen on him;

He contracted a blemish to be healed by dripping blood;

[120] He first, touched by greed, took the coins so GT. in the pail.

He did not beware the snare which the robber of life had prepared;

But yet he escaped, because he washed his crime with blood;

So he was cleansed and joined to the dwellers in heaven;

The guilt removed, the crown was not removed.

[125] For the divine judgement leaves nothing unpunished;

Here or elsewhere offences must needs be expiated;

Yet the reward of virtue is fixed upon its hinge.

The law was given through Moses, entrusted to the leader of the mysteries;

But since so also T., mourning and hesitating, he struck the flint, Num. 20, 10–12.

If Moses was not so also T. spared, no one is spared.

A truth-telling prophet was sent to the shrines of Bethel; III Kings 13, 1–28.

The altar is rent, the ashes are lost, the king's right hand withers,

It is restored; he goes away, but is deceived; he returns, he eats;

[135] He broke the command; a savage lion slew him with its tooth;

It did not touch the ass; it stood; it did not so also T. eat of the flesh,

But guarded the limbs as though entrusted so also T. to it, to be buried.

So he of whom I have sung is granted the honour of triumph.

But the king, having obtained the death of one by lot,

[140] Thinks he has overcome so also T. the head and has prevailed;

He summons him and tries to terrify him with severe words;

He expostulates over the empty things of the shrine; he makes charge about the altars;

He complains that he has been spurned and the decrees of the laws betrayed.

The bishop is not deterred, he is not moved in mind,

[145] But bears the venom, the hissings of the serpent's tongue;

He renders an account such as befitted the king and himself:

"I have not deserved anger; I have not harmed you, illustrious king.

You are wise. Anger does not befall, you know so also T., the wise man.

Hear what the Lord God speaks to you through me.

[150] The god in whom you fix your hope is the work of a craftsman;

He is not your god; he is nothing; rather, you are his god;

He did not form you, but you worship what was formed so also T. by you;

You live, he does not live; you feel, the image does not feel.

You err, you are deceived; beneath the figment lurks the serpent,

Who spat out the venom of fraud and poured it into the first-formed,

Breathed into them the sulphur of eternal death,

And through them swallows down all their posterity.

To him, alas, O king, you are a slave; to him you bend your noble neck;

[160] He will plunge you, his subject, beneath Avernus so also T.,

Where the worm gnaws the soul spychen GT. and the fire burns it through; Mark 9, 44–45.

The worm does not die, the force of the fire is not quenched,

There is being without failing, death without death,

There is an end without end. What is more bitter than these things?

[165] But while you have time, put off this mind which you bear.

Take counsel, spare yourself, be converted, cease to be deceived;

Forsake what is not, that you may perceive the true Is.

What you believe is not 'being that which is,' but is your death.

'Being that which is' is God; this every created thing is.1 Exod. 3, 14.

[170] If you wish to be, see what you do, that you may merit to be;

Hasten to be purified in the saving fountain,

Lest you lack life, lest you leave the sceptre of the kingdom,

But that you may reign through him who is King and the life of kings, Apoc. 17, 14.

Who gives kingdoms to whom he will and transfers them whither he will." Dan. 2, 21; cf. 4, 14.

"I know what you desire, what your ready will is;

I know that you wish to die; it shall not befall you through me.

Live, though you be unwilling so also T.; you have matched your words with deeds. Lucan 2, 512.

Yours is an invincible force, a constancy of mind.

[180] Therefore return more swiftly; go out from our borders."

Here so great a chief is to be imitated by chief men;

A heathen gives an example to be pondered by Christ-worshippers so also T..

For because, following the ordinances of the Spartan Lycurgus, Cf. above, p. 467, note 2.

He found laws by which the savage mind is restrained,

[185] He set a curb on anger, a measure; he judged equal right;

He was unwilling that anyone guiltless should perish without law;

He harmed no one accused unless marked by the lot.

O how great a fire had kindled the furnace of his mind,

When he saw himself despised and his sacred things refuted.

When it bursts forth a cloud of pitchy smoke into the ether

And belches out balls of flame and torn-off crags,

Drives the bowels of the mountain under the sky, licks the stars;

But, conquering himself, he quenched the fires of his breast.

[195] But our nobles, swelling with stirred so Rossb.; commoto G first hand, T. bile,

Leap out of themselves; they do not rest in their own skin; : Straightway it turns its course to the king…

They do not check their minds with reins or bind them with chains;

There is no measure to their anger, no delay of punishment;

Their eyes flash, they are bloodshot so also T. and truculent; Persius 3, 117.

[200] Their face takes fire; the use of the tongue trips itself up;

They lose their senses; they are not themselves within their breast.

Mad Orestes would swear them to be madmen. Id. 3, 118.

But why do I weave delays, about to plough the waves of the sea?

Radbod, his rage and the swelling of his bile exploded,

[205] Changed his mind, which had before raged against right,

He wished to be converted, as the ancient account so also T. relates; On which tale cf. above, p. 429, note 7.

Under the appearance of faith he thirsted to enter baptism;

He put in his soles, but sprang back the worse,

Whether moved by fear of his people or by the crime of his mind.

The son of wrath exceeded the rule of measure.

But although drawn away, although he had so also T. become an apostate, Sedulius, Carm. pasch. 5, 138.

He allowed the legate of the word to return in honour.

[13] The bishop went out and crossed so also T. to the people of Walcheren. [Thiofrid passed over in the metrical Life whatever chapter 12 of the prose Life had narrated.]

[215] This is a savage people, fearing neither rights nor laws,

Not accustomed to the yoke, nor to command, without a curb,

Stiff-necked, changeable as the waves of the sea, Exod. 32, 9; 33, 33; al.

By which, foaming round about, the island is girt.

By the river Scheldt so also T. he enters the haven he longed for;

The companions leap out, singing a joyful boat-song;

He advances, with the band of companions crowding so also T. about him, Ibid. 4, 136.

He enters an oratory foul with the squalor of its rite.

There he sees various images of the gods so also T. and altars.

The zeal with which Phinehas so also T., with which the mind of Mattathias burned; Num. 25, 7–8; I Macc. 2, 24 ff.

He threw down the forged figures unto perdition,

He drove out the demigods; Summanus fled with Jove; Martianus Capella, §§156, 160, 161.

He cleansed the temple; renewing the altar, he dedicated it.

He ran up, straining with his sword into a mighty blow,

He put forth his strength; he broke the confines of the brain;

He would have deprived him of life, had not life overcome death.

But he did not die; he could not be harmed by the wound.

[235] He was preserved for the gifts of common salvation.

Scarcely did he restrain the dire wrath of his companions on his behalf;

Lest vengeance proceed on his account, he set himself in the way.

He defended his enemy; he paid back peace so also T. for strife.

Yet the wrath of God did not allow the man to enjoy peace.

[240] He gained nothing, having become the possession of Dis;

Bound, harassed, he paid dire torments.

He offered to his people sorrowful spectacles in himself;

With his neck uncertain, the order of his limbs is undone, Lucan 5, 172.

His heart is swollen with rage, his panting breast swells,

His countenance so Rossb.; cultus GT., his bearing, his colour did not remain one.

And when on the fourth day the sun was rising with swift axle, Juvenal 1, 60.

He was choked and entombed in the Stygian lake.

Nor did he perish alone; he left memorials of his crime:

[250] Vengeance was poured out upon kinsmen not yet born;

From an evil root the branches were vitiated.

Down to the present time his posthumous offspring is condemned: Verg. Aen. 6, 763.

Either it grows longer or shorter, it shrinks in its limbs,

Or it is disfigured or weighed down with a foul pestilence;

[255] It is a disgrace to itself, and notable to the whole world.

But the people were pressed by the greatest dread;

They grew pale, they were terrified, they thought they could not live;

They submitted themselves with every effort to the legate of the Lord.

As the hart thirsts for the fountain after draughts of serpents, [Ps. 41, 2. Thiofrid mingles in the tale of harts chewing serpents (cf. Pliny, Hist. nat. VIII, 32, 50; XXVIII, 9, 42).]

[260] So they thirsted to be reborn in the life-giving fountain.

He destroyed the shrines, he built divine sanctuaries.

The old error departs, and the pollution of the old cult;

The old darkness is driven off and thrust out by the new light.

There Christ the bridegroom took a beauteous bride.

[265] Willibrord was made the worthy groomsman of the bridegroom;

Through him beautiful necklaces were given to the beautiful bride.

And while he was tarrying there, and multiplying the espousals,

He learned that the streams of the ocean were pouring over the fields,

That houses were being torn away and sunk in a vast whirlpool. Verg. Aen. 6, 296.

He thrust the mass of waters into its native nativam T, corrected by another hand bed,

He set as bars the heaps of standing sand;

For the gravel stood as a barrier to the sea like a wall.

It lasts to this time; here the Earth-shaker is broken. Juvenal 10, 182.

[275] Nor does he pass the bound set by the virtue of faith,

But rages within the shores as though bound with fetters.

O how great he stands, who bids the sea stand, and it stands!

Not unlike Joshua, who, signifying Jesus by his name,

Commanded Hyperion, sinking with his flames, to stand, Josh. 10, 12 ff.

[280] Not to roll on anywhere, not to be moved from his station,

Until he had led a magnificent triumph over the enemy

And had made firm the peace of the Gibeonite proselytes.

There the sun went backward; here the abyss withdrew backward.

The sea is shut in; the island receives the fruit of life.

[14] [285] The bishop returned, the rudiments of the faith made firm.

The shepherd went to his sheep; he fed them through rich pastures.

He did not forget with how great an honour he had been endowed,

When he was not harmed, though struck with a deadly wound so also T.,

When by the word he subjected a people raging into arms, Lucan 1, 68.

[290] Tamed a people unconquered by kings, conquered by himself, a poor man,

And bound Nereus and fixed bars to the ebbing tide.

The stream of Lethe could not submerge this,

But, sifting himself, turning over the gifts bestowed on him,

Whatever he had sweated over before he reckoned as nothing;

[295] He resolved to enter upon difficult labours.

Imitating Paul, the chosen vessel, the precious vessel, Acts 9, 15.

By gracious deeds he was made all things to all men. I Cor. 9, 22.

The fire running to and fro, burning through the holy living creatures so also T., Ezek. 1, 13.

Runs to and fro through him through the gatherings of the brethren,

Blazing with this fire, by a spiritual coursing,

He sought the monastic enclosures in the township of Susteren.

Driven by the love of a shorter way and one to be hastened,

He crossed through the ears of corn by a narrow path drawn out,

[305] A path which the geometers call a thin straightness, Boethius, Euclidis geometrica, I (P.L., vol. LXIII, col. 1332d)

Drawn like a line to a sign marked beforehand;

But the guardian of the crop, moved with the bile of fury,

Runs like a madman, poured out insults,

And forbade the horn-footed steed to go forward along the trodden way.

[310] The servant of God grieved, was silent, turned aside, went away.

But when the dawn, rising from the couch of Tithonus, Verg. Georg. 1, 446–47.

Ran before the worldly sight, the rising sun,

The blasphemer returned to the care of his tilled little field;

He went secure, but to perish for ever.

[315] By sudden death he fell through the divine wrath,

And so detestable a death struck fear.

By this death let all perish who obstruct wayfarers.

O of how great merit the man, how dear to the deity!

God did not let him, offended and repulsed, go unavenged;

[320] He was not wanting to his heart, nor to his mouth.

He himself willed nothing but what God himself willed;

He ran to and fro everywhere in the zeal of sound doctrine.

[15] And while he was crossing along the shores of the billowy sea,

As the sun baked the day, the heat kindled the fire of thirst.

[325] The throats of his companions had dried up, their mouths, tongues, palates.

There is water beside them, but its saltness drives them from it.

They see it and do not touch it, and thirst the more because they see it.

That they might be the less able to bear the burning vapours, Lucan 4, 305–6.

You, waters, seen, made yourselves like bitter salt;

[330] The man of honey-flowing piety condescended to them,

Exhorting them not to despair, not to waver.

With hope mingled with faith he went beneath the pitched tents

And allowed no one to linger there nearer.

He lay prostrate, a little trench having been made, poured out on the shore,

[335] He spread out his palms, he pierced heaven with prayers:

"Most high God, kind, dear God, my hope, my strength,

Sweet fountain of life, nothing is sweeter and better than you;

You alone have being, from which the being of things flows forth;

You give its being to each thing; what is given, you change as you will.

The Nile, the river of Memphis, was made blood; Exod. 7, 20.

The water, before of dire savour, flowed forth sweet, Exod. 15, 25.

Made sweet by the type of the cross, the wood cast into it;

The rock, signifying the Rock Petrum corr. Rossb. and ministering mystic gifts, Exod. 17, 6. Cf. bk. I, v. 290.

[345] Quenched the burning thirst of the circumcised people. [Cf. I Cor. 10, 4: and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ. In which place Paul looks back to this narrative of Exod. 17, 6. Whence it is plain that petram is by no means to be changed to Petrum.]

You are the same God now, and you can do the same, O kind one, as then.

May an equal and like grace refresh us, your servants;

The fountain remains sweet to the taste and wholesome to the touch.

Lest those be consumed who accompany me for your sake,

[350] Whom you have entrusted to me, and whom you have granted me;

May they be saved through me; may your glory be magnified."

Scarcely was the prayer finished when the sweetest water flowed;

He drew forth a spring, gushing with its jets until now.

They run up nimbly, and, thirsting, allay their thirst;

[355] The thirst was quenched; a victim of praise was given to the Lord.

Willibrord, illustrious, is more illustrious; lofty, he is loftier;

Dear to his own before, he became there most dear.

Yet, lest the heavy heat should parch them further,

They drew the sweet liquid and carried it with them,

[360] Not distrusting, but fearing to trouble him.

[16] Things to be wondered at and astonishing follow upon wondrous signs.

Intent on heavenly studies and kindly arts,

He never failed; he did not rest night and day,

But gave the wheat of faith to the hungry people.

[365] And while, putting death to flight, he was passing through a region,

There came to meet him twelve beggars,

Sorrowful with poverty, covered by no garment

Save a covering of dry-leaf-coloured thorns knit together. Juvenal 6, 519. Verg. Aen. 3, 594.

What was he to do? he had no money, no loaves nor garments.

[370] There is a wicker vessel, round, open with a narrow mouth,

Got ready for the journey; it scarcely holds the draught of a hemina.

This being brought to him, he sated the weary with wine.

That small liquid was not exhausted, but increased;

Poured out, it flows from it as though poured in, poured back again.

[375] They had drunk and passed on and were singing a hymn;

The vessel was found as full of wine as before.

What mind can conceive, what eloquent so also T. tongue unfold

How great is the kindness of God, how great his benign will,

The sole cause of the creating of the whole creation?

[380] It is agreed that the will is the mother of things.

God is best, willing all the best things and fulfilling them;

All things that he willed, as the psalmist sings, so he made; Ps. 134, 6.

Matter, ideas, heaven, earth, the waves of the sea

He founded out of nothing, and distinguished so also T. them in fixed order.

[385] So again he rendered full the emptied vessel.

[17] By a like sign the virtue of the father was made known to the world.

Having set in order outside what seemed fitting to him,

He resolved to set in order the interior things of his cloister.

He came and was received like an angel with epic hymns.

[390] The head greeted the members; he gladdened all

Who hung upon him; he received those who received him;

He bestowed kisses; he fed them with the honey of doctrine.

He went round the little buildings fitted to the brothers' uses,

To see whether anything had collapsed, whether anything was to be built.

[395] He entered the store-room; nothing was ready to be brought out on this occasion;

He found nothing there; the supply of wine had failed;

Yet a scanty liquid was found in one vessel.

He thrust in the staff he carried for support,

Trusting in the help of him by whose power the cruse, III Kings 17, 12–16; IV Kings 4, 2–6.

[400] Through whom the widow's hope, the pitcher, remains full of meal,

At whose nod the oil, drawn before, flowing,

Poured into typical vessels, flows to their vents.

He paid by his merits the debts of Elisha's mother.

With his whole mind he poured prayers into the divine ears;

[405] Nor did he ask in vain, for the draught of Bacchus increased.

Augmented, it filled the empty hollows of the wine-jar so also T.,

It moistened the ground; it caused no loss.

The matter was hidden; the keeper of the store came, unlocked it;

He saw and was astounded; he shut it and silently withdrew.

[410] He goes alone so also T. to him alone, discloses the great works of the Lord.

The bishop rejoices, gives thanks, offers songs, praises.

He does not exalt himself, but turns over with mindful mind Matt. 17, 9.

That Christ was transfigured on the heights of Tabor;

He forbade the mystery of so great a vision to be told

[415] Before his supreme triumph over conquered death.

By this celebrated example he bids this be kept silent concerning him,

Lest anyone learn of it while he pays the debts of the flesh,

Lest popular favour enervate the strength of his mind.

He did not ascribe the gifts of salvation to his own merits,

[420] But to the Lord alone, the progenitor of the virtues.

He set himself beneath himself, and thence grew above himself;

He shone forth more clearly; conceived in light, he gleamed.

[18] Making his way on a journey he came to the friendly house of a host.

The host, embracing him with dutiful zeal,

[425] Set before him a table heaped with various dishes;

He blushed because the vein of Falernian failed him.

But the branch of the true vine, dripping with kindness, John 15, 1 and 5.

Came to the aid of the sad blush with wondrous power;

He mixed cups from twice two vessels of craft,

[430] Woven of wicker, fitted to four heminae;

And four times ten banqueters were sated.

As the fountain of perpetual water flows forth with pure waves, Hor. II Sat. 6, 2.

Nor suffers loss through its veins flowing back into it,

So the vine's liquid flowed forth so also T. from small jugs.

[435] Grace gave this, which nature denied.

The grain of wheat, to be quickened after death, John 12, 24; I Cor. 15, 36–37.

Distributed five loaves among five thousand, Matt. 14, 15–21.

And two fishes, signifying the two testaments;

Giving to the mind courses from the table of the Pentateuch,

[440] He drove away hunger with the feast; he propped corr. Rossb.; fulcit GT. the famished hearts;

He crammed twice six apostolic baskets with the fragments.

What mind may track out by reason the mind of the Lord?

Whatever he wills, this is done; what he wills not, is not done at all.

He resolved to ennoble his nursling by merits:

[445] As he himself increased food, he granted this man to increase the wine.

The guests, sated, renewed by the novelty of the thing,

Burst forth into songs of divine praises.

[19] The bountiful bishop, withdrawing amid so great honour,

Resolved to go more speedily into the borders of Frisia,

[450] That he might sate a people in want of the divine bread.

And when, wearied, scorched by the lamp of Phoebus, Verg. Aen. 4, 6.

He turned aside into the broad meadow of a wicked rich man,

A man of shaken head ran forward, a victim of Dis; [Jerome, Against Vigilantius, c. 4: a man of shaken head. Cf. Seneca, Epist. 114, 8: his head was shaken by too great good fortune. And indeed Thiofrid, who elsewhere copied out that passage of Jerome (above, p. 459F), seems to have looked back to the same here; nor would I follow Rossberg, who teaches that "to move the head is the mark of one who threatens (Hor. I Sat. 5, 58)."]

He vomited out the foul pus and venom of strife, Hor. I Sat. 7, 1.

[455] He drove the horn-footed beasts, beaten, from the joyful vetch.

But the swift horsemen, not bearing such brawls,

When they wished to deprive the insolent enemy of life,

He ordered them not to do it, not to stain themselves with blood.

With sweet words he soothes this man in return for his bitter deeds:

[460] "Spare yourself, my son; do not rage; spare your fury.

Gather yourself to yourself, rule your mind, stand, come to your senses;

Weigh whether, if you were taking a journey, you would wish this done to you.

What barbarous people keeps so cruel a custom, Verg. Aen. 1, 539–40.

That it should keep the weary from the green grass of the field,

That it should watch over or obseret ut? Rossb. the springs, deny the down-flowing streams?

We do not contrive harm to you; we come for peace,

We are making for Frisia, to join a bride to the Lord.

If you help the legates of the bridegroom with all care,

[470] You will receive rewards through us, as though you laboured yourself.

Put away rancour, drive the swelling far from you.

Dine with us, drink, and withdraw with us." Hor. II Epist. 1, 199–200.

The tale is told to a deaf man with no profit. Martianus Capella, §807.

The ass at the lyre onoc GT; cf. p. 48618*. suits this man. His anger hardened.

[475] The father poured in honey; that man poured back venom and gall:

"You do not come for peace. You seem to be a teller of tall tales; Juvenal 15, 16.

But I despise and refute the force of your words.

I will not let my meadows be grazed; I will not yield to you.

I do not want you to tarry; go away; do not harm my pastures;

[480] I do not want your gift; I do not dine so also T., I do not drink with you."

"Then drink not; so be it," said the divine teacher, and went.

He left the place of avarice, the vicious root.

He was not far off when a fiery thirst grew in his enemy,

As though a parching dipsas had crept through his veins. Lucan 9, 718.

[485] Vengeance raged; the sick man returns; he calls for cups.

He scarcely waited, and hated the space of a brief delay.

He moved to his lips a bowl, full and spacious;

But the liquid of the wine did not flow in; nay, it flowed back.

He sank his whole mouth in; it profited nothing; the burning scorched him;

It exhausted the juice spread around his vitals.

His tongue glowed, swelling in his dry palate;

The accustomed sweat does not flow over his wearied limbs;

The burnt-out marrow is parched through the dried bones.

He does not believe that the divine scourge is punishing him,

But calls Archigenes, demands the art of medicine; Juvenal 6, 236.

He gave very great gifts, promised far greater,

At the highest expense he bought fomentations for his pain.

[500] The labour failed, fruitless, and the increased pain clung to him.

At length, worn out, relying on no remedy,

He remembered him whom he had scorned, whom he had driven off by force.

He repented; he would have wept, if the vein of weeping had been strong.

He seeks the absent one whom he, grim, had compelled to depart;

[505] In case he should return, he watches the crossroads round about.

So great a punishment lasts until the year comes round.

When at last he returned, by whose avenging the suffering had begun,

The guilty man was brought, wasted with leanness, burnt up.

He complains of the force of the anger; he confesses that he has sinned;

[510] He begs pardon, a remedy for so great a pest.

Nor did the mind of Clement shut the fountain of kindness;

Signifying the thing by his name, he did the thing signified;

With clement goodness he checked the punishment and the anger;

From his own cup he mixed strong wine for the sick man.

[515] "Drink not" condemned him; "Drink" restored the condemned.

In his ways he turned one before a wolf into a gentle lamb;

He sent him back safe and cheerful to his faithful friends.

He was made the cause of salvation to him and to many.

Death and life, health and sickness, grace, virtue,

[520] At the nod of the Lord obey his sway.

[20] Trier is a mighty city, holding the Gallic realms in check, [He took the sum of the fabulous narrative from the inscription spoken of above, p. 471, note 2, and from Justin, I, 2 (cf. vv. 528, 529 with Justin, I, 2, §§8 and 7).]

Victorious in warfare, a mistress, a second Rome;

It has the decrees of the plebs, the fathers, and forums and rights, laws;

It is the head of Europe, the head of cosmography;

[525] It is more ancient than ancient cities in its monuments so also T..

For, as inscriptions taken from a tomb set forth,

Semiramis, proud while her husband Ninus reigned,

Not content with her Ninevites, called after him,

Built the wall of baked brick of Babylon;

[530] She subdued to herself in war all the peoples of the East;

By a stepmother's fraud she thrust her stepson, deprived of the summit of the kingdom,

Out of his fatherland and his father's city.

He, wandering through so many peoples, through so many regions,

Came at length to the fish-filled river of the Moselle

[535] And chose ground apt for founding walls;

He set up a most famous city; he saw his walls.

Trebeta was his name; he gives the name to the city of Trier.

By arms he tamed his neighbours and those far removed;

The son of the exile so also T., Hero, reigned on the throne so also T..

[540] Here is built the house of Mary, the mistress of the world;

It is inhabited by chaste adorners of virginity.

There raged the horrid tempest of a mighty disease; Hor. Epod. 13, 1; Silius Ital. 4, 440.

The virgin flowers changed their colours, Bede, Hist. eccl. 4, 18: virgin flowers.

The rose grew pale, withering; briars darken the lilies;

[545] The handmaids of the Lord, beauteous in form, languish.

As the king of terrors, treading upon the sick limbs, Job 18, 14.

Made an end of some, and left the rest beneath death,

The work of medicine brought no help to so great a plague.

Mourning sounds everywhere; sobbing beats the breasts. Verg. Aen. 2, 368; 9, 415.

[550] There the spiritual mother, all wet with tears,

Looks now on those despaired of, now on the lifeless;

Whom to bewail she knows not; a twofold grief and toil distress her;

She herself longs to die and to be added as a companion to her sisters. Ibid. 6, 528.

The sad halls howl with women's lamentations. Ibid. 2, 487–88.

[555] What were they to do? At last, after many funerals of their own,

After various disasters, one will settles upon all:

Without delay to send faithful messengers to Willibrord,

That he might hasten to be present to relieve their sunken affairs. Ovid, Met. 1, 380.

He came in haste; seeing the mournful things, he wept;

[560] With the nectar of doctrine he forbade the laments to sound;

Then he offered the Lamb as a holocaust for sins,

The Lamb who, offered on the sacred altar of the cross Thiofrid wished σταυρός to be kept even in the genitive.,

Condemned death and washed away Adam's crime with his blood.

He himself did not cease to be burned on the altar of his heart,

[565] While compunction carried the incense of prayers upward

To the throne of the Lord, the senate of heaven and earth.

He gave water to be drunk, blessed by his mouth;

He purified the cells of the emptied cloister with sprinkling.

So he took away the extermination, so the stroke of the avenger,

The little daughters of beautiful Jerusalem were restored.

Life, health was given back; death and torment fled.

The great city forbids this of the great person to lie hidden;

They rejoice that so great a star glows beside them.

[21] [575] It befell, these things done, that a great trial came upon a certain man.

He was terrified by monsters; like the mournful house of Raguel, Tob. 3, 8.

When so many bridegrooms of Sara perished by Asmodeus,

The mourner's dwelling was subjected to a like disaster.

A harmful phantasm, an ephialtes, inflicted horrors, Cf. above, p. 472, note 2.

[580] Or some other more wicked thing, greater in the weight of its oppression.

It could not be seen, nor heard, nor touched;

It came and went out, it returned; but no one learned

Whither it had gone, or when it was present, and whence it had returned.

It seized as plunder the napkins, the frieze cloth, the table,

[585] The vessels, the dishes, the garments; it reduced all the store to fire.

It carried off an infant lying in its mother's lap;

It would have burned it in the flames, had not the father set himself in the way

And swiftly caught it, flung out, in his arms.

No one was allowed to presume upon untroubled sleep;

[590] Every corner holds what terrifies trembling hearts.

And what force could drive away an invisible enemy?

Shut in, it could not be shut out nor thrust out.

Here exorcism scarcely availed for a short hour.

The phantasm gave way a little; it did not withdraw further from there;

[595] It rushed in hostile, as though avenging itself more cruelly,

It raged the more; it left almost nothing there.

The house lay in mourning; the neighbourhood fled from it.

But at length came the time of having mercy on the wretched man. Ps. 101, 14.

Amid the terrors of so great a disaster he came back to himself,

[600] He remembered the miracles which corr. Rossb.; quos GT. Willibrord had made famous,

He conceived within himself strife and anger against himself,

That, sick, he had put off the medicine near at hand,

That he should be tortured with dire punishment while the virtue was close by.

He flies out in haste; fear binds wings to his feet; Verg. Aen. 8, 224.

He unfolds the trailing robe of the tragedy which he had borne in himself;

He asks protection for his house and a remedy for the plague;

Nor does the fountain of kindness deny its gifts, but overflows;

He hands him a draught of water sanctified by himself,

[610] With prophetic mouth he uncovers the secrets of the future:

"Be not saddened, be not weighed down, bereft of mind.

This house is given to Dis; it will all be burned with fire.

The judgement so also T. of the Lord, once fixed, cannot be unfixed, Cf. Verg. Aen. 6, 622.

But whatever you can, first draw out and hide farther off,

[615] Sprinkle the hidden things with the liquid of the saving water.

Stand so also T. signed with the cross; look upon the losses of your guilt.

When you have seen the burning coals dissolved,

Carry out the unclean ashes and the burnt-in filth, Verg. Georg. 1, 81.

With lustral water without, the dens within torn down,

[620] Build secure, to have joyful days.

Thrust out like Asmodeus, your enemy is bound.

Do not repeat it further, lest your state be worse." John 5, 14.

Strengthened by this hope he departed; he carries out the commands, Verg. Aen. 4, 295.

He carried out his goods, he sprinkled. He stood; he saw fire rise.

[625] Beneath the steps of the bed there sounded as it were a motion of the earth;

Fire burst forth; it burst the gables of the roof;

It wrapped the guilty house in avenging flames; Ibid. 2, 587.

There remained no wall, no tile, door, fence.

The site is cleansed; a fitter house is built.

He lived there safe, wealthy, without share in peril.

Roving rumour sang of him, renowned for rich signs;

The signs spoke, which are celebrated from then until now.

[635] Duke Charles of the highest justice loves him as himself;

Sweet to him are the praises of his sweet friend;

He trusts so also T. to be honoured through him and exceedingly blessed.

He entrusts to him his son, to be consecrated in the fountain of life;

The bishop rejoices; he confirms the consecrated one with chrism,

[640] He calls him by the name of Pippin, adorning his grandfather's name,

And to his fellow-initiates, lifted up by the light of his mind,

He wove together all the future as though past,

All that the Lord had provided for this offspring's honour:

"This son of the duke, whom I have washed in the fountain of salvation,

[645] Will be greater than his great forebears, loftier than the lofty.

Among the nobles whom wealthy Francia has nurtured

None has risen more illustrious; arduous virtue will advance him. Lucan 4, 576.

He will be heaped with fasces and gifts and triumphs."

The vision of the fellow-initiate Isaiah is not truer;

[650] For, born a duke of the stock of dukes, a follower of kings,

By the edict of Pope Zachary he was anointed king;

First of so great a progeny he wore the worthy diadem,

First, having obtained it, he wore the royal robe;

Nor content with the bound of his kingdom, he went forth beyond,

[655] He extended its borders, he subdued the neighbouring realms,

Here he checked the Lombards, there the Aquitanians,

Victorious by his valour he led magnificent triumphs;

In the world no king was to be compared with him.

From him arose Charles the Great, the sun of the earth,

[660] The sun with whose rays the Gallic world is illumined;

He is known to fame where Atlas holds up the sky, Verg. Aen. 4, 247; 8, 137.

Where the Caspian barriers draw out their long recess. Lucan 8, 291.

Nor does Rome boast herself more of Augustus as monarch

Than Germany applauds so great a prince, the Great.

[665] He made the empire of the Roman citadel subject to the Gauls,

He exalted the bishops of Christ as though kings;

Nothing is richer than they, nothing more excellent than they.

He burst forth against no people, against no city,

Which he did not crush, from which he did not bring back ample trophies. Cf. Verg. Aen. 4, 93.

[670] The father founded the kingdom; the son adorned it.

From this green plant a royal forest grew up,

Emperors and kings of ancestral stock;

From so great a seed came forth Henry the Fourth,

Caesar and Augustus, with which star the world shines,

For as so also T. a line is made by direct drawing from a point,

So the stock, drawn by natural course,

Brought forth the illustrious mother of his own father,

Whose name was Gisela; her grandfather Conrad, king of the Allobroges. Thiofrid wrote Allobroges for Burgundy, for the sake of the metre.

[680] This outcome of affairs proves that the prophet uttered the truth.

[23] His foreknowing mind knew the divine sense;

He foreknew that he would be released so also T. from the prison of the frail flesh;

A soldier who had served his time, he longed to end his labours;

He fixed the gaze of his mind where he knew he would go. Cf. above on bk. I, v. 343.

[685] But he felt himself weighed down by the pastoral load.

Having taken counsel, as the order of the assembly granted,

He judged that Winfrid should be bishop in his stead.

He, great in merits, a Briton of noble stock,

Fled the delights of his fatherland as though the wearinesses of life;

[690] He made himself subject to him; he clung to him as a son to his father;

For three and ten years heart obeyed heart. Cf. above, p. 473, note 7.

Him, thus bound to himself, he addressed as a friend:

"My sweet son, hear my words, the words of an old father:

You see how I myself am weighed down by heavy old age,

My cold blood grows sluggish, my sense is made void of its keenness;

I cannot feed this company of the flock as I have fed it;

The course run out, I touch the confines of the goal.

But you flourish in joyful, flowering youth;

[700] You are wholly green, your veins stretched with blood;

You are a mirror to the old, to be imitated by the troops of the young.

Do not therefore deny me, do not refuse me with excuses;

Do for me what I ask of you, take up this rule in my stead,

Relieve me of this load, succeed me, rule the bride of God so also T.."

[705] The father poured these things in, but the son poured these back:

"I am not equal to the burden with which you urge me to be burdened,

Nor does the gravity of the canons command this, nor does my age permit it;

My fiftieth year is not completed,

In which the law entrusts the vessels to the divine Levites.

[710] I did not come to be exalted, nor to be glorified;

The apostolic Gregory, the leader of the watchmen, sent me,

The leader, I say, of the watchmen over the vigils of souls,

That through me Germany might take the breast of the word;

But because I saw you contemplating the likeness of the Lord,

Cease to compel me; I dare not act in your stead,

Unless I be permitted by him by whose word I was sent."

With these modest sayings the parting was made.

But as the bishop disposed, the succession fell out,

[720] Not by his laying himself aside, but by his being led out of the prison of the flesh.

[24] He, enriched and increased with such great riches of the soul spyches GT.,

As he was beautiful within, so shone beautiful without

In the excellent form of his body and his comely face.

With snowy whiteness of hair sprinkled over his comely crown,

[725] The grace of his mind showed itself through the mirror of the flesh.

As the delight of David, Abishag the Shunammite cherishes him, III Kings 1, 3.

The highest wisdom embraced the old man, still green so also T..

Old age, by divine divino Rossb. gift, did not diminish his sense;

His voice was sweet, his eloquence a honeycomb.

[730] It did not irk him to live, because he did not live as flesh to the flesh;

But, thirsting to behold the face of the Lord face to face, I Cor. 13, 12.

He poured out from the depths overflowing rivers of tears,

He turned over beneath his breast complaints mingled with prayers:

"Why do I tarry here, what am I doing, God so also T., and when shall I see you?

Make me run beneath the fragrance of your ointments.

I knock, an old man; open to me; grant me to be sated with you." Apoc. 3, 20.

But why do we put off what we cannot prolong?

Concerning the death of the flesh a law was given in paradise, Gen. 3, 19.

[740] An impassable law under the fixed limit of the end.

Death, which severs the dear, which parts the united, Jerome, Epist. 60, 2.

He perceived that death would be sent upon the flesh, for food;

With his inner ears he heard the song of love:

"The rain and the winter are gone, and the ripe harvest is come; Cant. 2, 10–12.

[745] Arise, come, hasten; you long for the bridegroom's chamber; enter."

He rises that he may go forth, and goes out that he may go in.

In the year of the Word begotten under the image of the flesh,

The seven hundredth, the thirtieth, and the odd ninth, For 9 is an odd number. Cf. above on bk. I, v. 489.

Forty years and six of his see completed,

[750] His age having run through nine times the number of the ennead,

He passed out of Sodom and the stinking whirlpool of death;

He ascends to heaven like a column of aromatic so also T. smoke, Cant. 3, 6

He gathered his soul phychen GT. into the eternal rounded orb. Lucan 9, 9.

Wondering at the heavenly spheres spheras T, corrected by another hand and the fires of the ether, Ibid. 9, 12.

[755] The adornment, the harmony, the melodies of the symphonies,

He judged under how great a night our day lay, Ibid. 9, 13–14.

And sang with the citizens of Sion a new hymn.

Nor was the jubilation, which no one can tell, hidden from the world.

For his foster-son, a man perfect to the fingernail, watching all night, Hor. I Sat. 5, 32.

[760] Watching all night in psalms, sad at his father's death,

Saw so also T. with bodily eyes and with the light of the mind

Heaven-born troops leading down so great a soul;

He heard hymn-singing odes of the highest sweetness.

Without delay, the eclipse of so bright a sun having arisen abortum G "rightly?" Rossb.,

Every sex and age rushes to his obsequies;

In common they bewail so also T. the father of the fatherland departing.

And when cum //// T corrected they had sought a stone fit so also T. for the sacred limbs,

A certain woman gave a white marble like Parian;

[770] But when measured it was seen to be less by half a foot.

They mourn at the shortfall so also T.; they are fixed in more intent doubt what to do,

When swiftly, through his merit, what was lacking was doubled.

What nature denies, heavenly virtue supplies;

Hence, sad no longer but cheerful, polishing the stone of the tomb,

[775] They keep the part cut off as a medicine for the sick;

For the tiny chips drive away grievous pains.

They lay down the bewailed body in the burial-place.

Honour was paid; the ardour of the flock was shown.

An angelic company, standing by, fulfils its offices;

[780] A fragrance sweeter than precious ointments was poured out;

The place here was seen to be fragrant like paradise.

I could not press on further with full sails;

I scarcely touched harbour, because I drew a sickness in my body;

I felt the bilge; I feared sad Libitina.

Here ends book II.

Here begins the third book.

Safe and sound I make again for the ship and leave the shore.

May the Spirit breathe upon me and not deprive the sails of breeze.

The fragrance drawn in by the nostrils was not diminished,

But rather grew; it filled the holy places with its vapour;

[5] It was poured out like a cloud, like the smoke of a censer so also T.,

It covered the bed wet with the river of tears,

On which the old man was warmed or cubuit? Rossb., on which he cherished his aged limbs,

Whence he sought the pole when he left the themes of the flesh.

There a divine light was seen to shine,

[10] A light whose ruddy rising night does not interrupt.

O should v. 11 be placed after v. 12? Rossb. how happy is he whose dwelling is with those above!

It wards off the nocturnal shadows from the bright limbs.

The flesh breathes not a stench but the fragrance of amomum;

It breeds no putrid worms, but surpasses spices.

[15] While he dies, he lives, because he lived as a court of life,

In which God reclined, supped with the father, abode;

He makes known the sweet reclining by the sweet fragrance.

The father's mausoleum was greatly ennobled;

Great miracles exceed a fixed number,

[20] But they were not set down on paper, the writer being idle.

For indeed the Scot Scotius Rossb. is idle, who first attempted so great a matter;

With the fog of his wit he covers and smears over the famous deeds.

This the wise Alcuin, the shield-bearer of Charles, perceives;

He busies himself to set aside the insipid by graceful speech; Hor. II Epist. 3, 273.

The decurion, intent on various cares, sleeps;

He passes over things to be wondered at among wonders, astonishing things among astonishing.

He spreads his mind, failing, over very many things,

He reads the rhetorical flowers and the arts of Aristotle,

[30] Given to which the lofty mind of great Charles burned,

That he might bring forth what was worthy of so great a nursling,

The demonstrative kind and the curved enthymeme. [Cic. De Inv. 1, 5, 7: The demonstrative (kind, among the rhetoricians) is that which is assigned to the praise or blame of some definite person. Juvenal 6, 449–50: let her twist … the curved enthymeme.]

Both having the itch of writing, silent on things worthy of writing, [καχέτης seemed to Thiofrid the same as κακοήθης (cf. Juvenal 7, 51–52: the incurable itch of writing holds many), and what in Juvenal was a substantive he made an adjective.]

Though both are idle, yet the world recounts the signs

[35] Which mindful fathers send on to those after them.

Before the doors of the church there hung chains of iron;

Loosed from the hands of the guilty through the merit of so great a man,

There hung trices tritae corr. Rossb.; but cf. p. 475, note 2. and chains that had burst asunder,

Chariots, litters, carriages, four-wheeled wagons, coaches, Hor. II Epist. 1, 192.

[40] Images of limbs drawn out of wax with the thumb. [Cf. the prose Life, c. 24: wax transformed into the various shapes of limbs. In what sense Thiofrid wished mappa to be understood is not plain. Perhaps he had himself heard in the schools that a picture too was called mapa, as Papias teaches in his glossary (cf. Ducange, Mappa, 2); and, not content with this, he determined that mappa designated not only a picture but any likeness of things whatever.]

Many yoke of oxen could not carry away, unfixed,

What was fixed there, the memorial of so many signs.

Thence Germany and Gaul visit our place

In the celebrated week of the descent of the Spirit on high,

[45] When in the course of the fourfold year it flows together.

[25] But we, who have digressed, let us return and take up what we began.

The oil hanging in the lamps before the father's sepulchre

Conquered the night; night could not darken it;

At the setting of the sun, at the sun's rising, it shone.

[50] During the solemnities of the Masses it rose on high,

It boiled over; it wetted the ground, poured over the brim.

It was caught in phials, in glass flasks.

It was dispensed as a divine medicine.

Nor was faith disappointed; it drove out all diseases.

It refreshed the typical widow and the typical Elijah,

The highest mystery, the food, the anointing, the life of the two;

But it brought no protection, no strength, to anyone else.

By this unguent health was restored, disease driven off.

A living fountain, I say, the lively virtue of Willibrord.

[26] A certain woman was carried here with her limbs paralysed.

For seven years all vigour had dried up in her;

Her strength was consumed; her body lay as though a corpse;

Here a thin breath moved the ruined places of her heart.

She was laid prostrate on the ground with tearful sobbing;

With such sense as she had strength for so also T. she poured out devout prayers,

More with the silent heart than with the sluggish plectrum of the tongue.

[70] She felt herself heard, as vigour returned;

Her soles were made firm quicker than it can be said;

Vital warmth returned and cherished the vitals;

The loosened members were endowed with firm jointure;

She rises sound, nor does she seek supports.

[75] She wonders what she was, what she is; she withdraws so also T. joyful;

Sound, she treads the earth, not touched for so long a time;

She leaps up, leaving behind the bearers by whom she had been carried in.

Likewise a famous sign was famously celebrated,

Equal to the sign by which the city of Hippo grew famous, [De civ. Dei, 22, 8, §22 (P. L., vol. XLC, cols. 769–71).]

[80] Such as Augustine, the skilled fellow-initiate, relates:

A citizen of Caesarea, a mother most famous for her offspring,

Bore ten children and nourished them at her breast, Verg. Aen. 5, 285.

Seven flowers of young men and three sisters.

But when in sorrow she had buried her faithful husband,

[85] She was offended by them; goaded by the force of fury,

Changing her mother's mind, imitating a stepmother,

With venomous tongue she heaped curses upon them;

And as though she were giving them fattened draughts of viper's venom, Juvenal 6, 631.

In all their limbs they trembled with the stupor of trembling;

[90] No rest from the motion, no delay, no measure at all.

Exiled from their fatherland they had passed through foreign lands,

Horrid spectacles to the nations of the divine wrath.

Of these, a sister and a brother, restored at Hippo so also T.,

Brought forth jubilation of mind for the children of the Church.

[95] Like these, a certain man with trembling framework of the flesh,

Broken by so many motions for many years past,

Carried to Echternach, was placed beside the altar.

The people and the senate of the whole city came;

They saw him; they feared for themselves so dire a wrath of the avenger.

The organs of his limbs are void of the reason of measure;

He is wholly shaken; he seems to be as though dead,

Deceived in the hope of death, having got himself a bier scandapilam GT.. Ibid. 8, 61.

But while so also T. he so trembled, while he wept and remained in prayer,

[105] In the moment of an hour he rose with a sound body semate GT; cf. bk. I, v. 27; bk. II, v. 723, etc..

He recovered; his trembling limbs were made firm.

He drew forth tears from those who paid odes on his behalf.

He sang so also T. a hymn; safe and sound he revisited his home.

[27] But we turn aside beneath the ship-breaking shores of the Cilicians;

[110] We make by the path of the mind from joyful things into sad.

There was not in the world a more honourable monastic order. Understand: "than in the monastery of Echternach."

No rule was better, nowhere was discretion greater;

As it had learned from the father, so the harmonious assembly lived.

But because evil things are mixed with good, and dark with bright,

[115] Like Judas, a thief in the highest apostolic order,

So a robber lay hidden, a wolf among the spiritual sheep, Matt. 7, 15.

A vessel of ignominy, but discharging the honour of a deacon.

The great roll of Zechariah did not deter the thief, Zech. 5, 1–4.

Stretched out in breadth to a space of ten cubits

[120] And in length of twenty, mystically written,

Marking beforehand in one decade all prosperous things,

In the two, the deserved punishments for a twofold crime.

The sluggard did not read it, did not know it, scorned to know it,

Did not remember that there every curse is written.

[125] That on every perjurer, on the thief who had got Cacus' three names, [Cf. Juvenal 5, 124–27: You shall be dragged by the foot like Cacus struck by Hercules, and set out of doors, if ever you try to open your mouth, as though you had three names (that is, "as though you were a free and free-born man"). Which last words Thiofrid both misunderstood and believed to be said of Cacus; whence it came about that he persuaded himself that "three names" somehow pertained to thieves. Cf. bk. IV, v. 352; the prose Life, c. 36 (above, p. 483, note 1).]

It should not be scraped away, but where the thief is, it should go /// gradiatur GT.,

Should consume the timbers of the house, the stones, the thresholds, the posts.

Not fearing this crime, he was zealous to commit a greater.

For, having packed up precious ornaments,

[130] As though he had done nothing and had not deserved to be hanged,

Pressed by a heavy weight, he pressed himself down with a heavier

And stole the cross, gleaming with gems and gold or auroque nitentem? Rossb., Verg. Aen. 1, 728.

The thing borne by so great a father, his special adornment. Ibid. 7, 246.

Nor was opportunity given the thief to break up these sacred things;

[135] No means was granted to the unspeakable sacrilegious man;

He hid it stealthily in lurking-places known to himself alone.

But as soon as the theft of so great a loss came to light,

The flock of the Lord grieved to be marked with suspicion so also T.;

They wrapped the complaints stirred up beneath their silent breast, Lucan 1, 247.

[140] They shuddered at the horrible crime and its criminal author,

The cunning fox, lurking, dissembling;

They wept the sacrilegious loss, scarcely to be repaired. Ovid, Met. 1, 379.

He saw, he did not acknowledge; he was not moved by exhortation.

To exhort themselves, to search out what lay hidden from them,

[145] Sad, they sat with their sad spiritual father;

What should be done, he consults in close debate.

He promises pardon to the one who fears to disclose his guilt,

He beseeches, he exhorts, that the guilty man confess the crime,

That he uncover the hidden sanctified treasure.

[150] At length he judged the concealing and unconfessing man an enemy:

Place, communion, food were forbidden him;

He was also suspended suspensu G; susspensus T. from office and from sacred order,

That there should be Est et corr. Rossb., yet doubting. maranatha upon him, death, anathema. I Cor. 16, 22.

Yet the mocker Anubis did not seem sad; Juvenal 6, 534.

[155] He mocked the admonitions, sunk beneath the whirlpool of crimes.

He hungered; about to die, he came to the forbidden food;

The transgressor poured out empty words with a sneer:

"Does the abbot command me not to eat nor drink?

I count it for nothing; I will eat, I will be sated with drink."

[160] He tasted, fell, perished; yet before that he disclosed

All that he had hidden; he went down to the pools of Phlegethon.

By this death, you cenobites, dread to perish.

What your name, bent from a Greek name,

Is, and what it admonishes, let your prudence turn over.

[165] Lead a kind, harmonious life in common,

Leave with Joseph the garment to the jealous Pharian woman, [Gen. 39, 12. Pharian, that is, Egyptian. That Thiofrid should call that woman jealous, Rossberg judges he was led by having read of a certain jealous adulteress in Juvenal (Sat. 6, 278). Not badly,]

Nor seek again what you have blown away, what you have fled.

Ponder silently that apostolic saying:

"I am dead and crucified to the world, and the world to me." Gal. 6, 14.

[170] Dead flesh neither sees nor knows lifeless flesh;

So let the world not know you, nor you know the world.

Know that the monk is so called from the divine vel dya adds G and T first hand above the line monad vocatum adds G and T first hand above the line.

In you so also T. let there be the monad; let there not be the line, the dyad, Martianus Capella, §732.

Except that which proceeds from here, which love stretches out;

[175] Among those named from "one" let there be no division of mind.

Care nothing for the world, love nothing of it;

Let the world care nothing for you so also T., love nothing, desire nothing.

The contempt of the world concerns the perfect monk,

That he bewail himself, that he bewail the whole human race.

[180] All holy things befit you; let there be no theft among you;

Let not Achan lie hidden; let him touch nothing of the accursed thing, Josh. 7, 1, 24, 26.

Lest the glory of the palm of Jericho be darkened;

Let him, crushed with stones, be buried in the valley of Achor.

Let there be no fraud among you, no lot of avarice,

The dutiful assiduity toward his Elisha profited him nothing,

Nothing the love he spent, nothing the right of service;

He was subjected to punishment with all his posterity.

Ponder how grave the vice is, how wicked it is,

[190] For which a friend so condemned a faithful friend.

Let the zeal of Peter be a fear to those greedy to defraud:

He restored the body of Tabitha, Dorcas, who had died; Acts 9, 36 ff.

With the sword of his word he laid two bodies low in death, Ibid. 5, 1 ff.

He struck down Ananias with Sapphira, his partner in sin so also T.,

He cannot be a monk who is displeased with the act of Peter.

He who deceives himself, who thinks or chatters thus:

"I do not think him sacrilegious who steals one coin Hor. I Epist. 16, 55. Cf. below, v. 206.

Or more, and incense, candles, which are for use.

He knows nothing who knows thus, and knows not distinctions.

Paul does not approve this, nor Flaccus, famous in song. On St. Paul see below, v. 214 ff.; on Horace, v. 203 ff.

Hear the brief quatrain of Flaccus, you who are so foolish:

You will admit nothing into yourself for fear of punishment; Hor. I Epist. 16, 53–56.

[205] Let there be hope of deceiving, you will mix sacred things with profane.

For when you steal one peck of beans out of a thousand,

The loss is, by that bargain, not a crime more lenient to me.

Mark this, fear, be converted, thief, come to your senses.

Do not pick the sacred from the sacred; be not a Celaeno; [Hor. I Sat. 3, 117: who … has picked the sacred things of the gods. Juvenal 8, 130: Celaeno, to snatch the coins.]

[210] Do not snatch, do not take the sacred from the sacred, do not take the sacred,

Which you corr. Rossb.; de GT. desire to hide in a casket not sacred.

Wish for nothing at all which you believe will harm you as guilty;

Have nothing, desire nothing, except what the rule gives you.

Paul wills that one be sated at the altar from the mysteries, I Cor. 9, 7–14.

[215] That nothing be carried off secretly should v. 215 and v. 216 be transposed? Rossb., but that the sacrilegious be removed,

And that one use the expenses granted from the common store.

Every sacrilegious man, made a victim of Pluto,

Thrust into destruction, falls into the torment of the abyss.

Shun this, my lords, brothers and friends.

Lest God, finding you selling and buying, John 2, 14–15.

Drive you out so also T. with cords and thrust you from the threshold of life.

[28] But since we are the flat dregs of sharp vinegar,

Let us turn aside where the cellars are fragrant with wine.

[225] The annual celebration of Wilgils' feast came round,

With a solemn office praise is paid to his honour,

The flock of the sweet son gives a chroma to the sweet parent. [Martianus Capella, §955: the kinds of modulation are three, ἐναρμόνιον, χρῶμα, διάτονον.]

But when it sought the solemnities of the accustomed table,

The juice of the vine, at which the heart rejoices, did not suffice;

[230] The cellarer had nothing, empty, but two little vessels,

Little vessels plaited of pliant willow rods.

From these they drank, and less was left from it for supper.

But when the sweet evening hymns had been celebrated,

The hegumen Adalbert summons the cenobites;

[235] With fatherly address he strengthens their harmonious hearts:

"My little sons and lords, be blessed.

Be not sorrowful; let not joys be lacking to your mind;

Let not grief affect those in whom the bread of life abounds.

Live to the spirit; do not spread your heart beneath the flesh;

[240] Let not prosperity puff you up, nor adversity weary you.

Not levity of mind so also T., not want has united you;

You have not gathered here for rich delights,

But to endure hunger so also T., the heat of thirst, losses, labour.

God is in you so also T.; be in him; abide.

[245] You keep the solemnities of our father and patron;

You have discharged your task; you have deserved full feasts;

But there is no wine; scarcely can the throats be moistened.

Do not despair; do not stain yourselves with murmuring.

The son of this master, Willibrord, the glory of heaven,

[250] Has pledged wines which nature did not create;

But the merit of faith, a kind mind, a sweet, serene heart

Is so able to increase the drops of a little wine."

The old man fed their hearts; the sower of the vine increased the wine.

As a fountain flows forth, so the small drink overflows.

[255] From it the cups are pledged; the brotherly cohort is sated;

The vessel is not exhausted, but is found full.

Praise is given to the father, to the offspring, and to the honour of the deity.

Hesperus found them all exulting thence, and left them so.

But while I sing wonders, I turn over things more wonderful.

[260] He here is equal to the highest chief men of the court above;

He did and does things scarcely to be unfolded by skilled tongues.

He planted dry tongues and grains in hard soil,

He did not dig round them, he cherished them with no manure,

No zealous water-bearer ever poured water on them.

[265] Beyond the bounds of nature these grew strong,

They take root, they put forth leaves, they flower with ripe bud;

Dryness ceases, greenness enters, sap so also T. abounds;

The fruits with the leaves heal the sick and panting;

And it is agreed as a wonder that they last through so many ages,

[270] Never fail nor lose their branches.

What can I compose of his saving beds,

On which he reclined, which he consecrated by night with weeping?

He did not use delights, as is the custom now.

Now the affairs of bishops surpass the affairs and summits of kings;

[275] They are mighty in riches, by which the way of the mind is blocked,

That it may not fly upward, but go downward so also T. by byways;

Distended with dishes which the forest, the sea, the earth nourish;

They recline on soft couches, beneath panelled ceilings,

They rest, they do not keep vigil, they sing hymns with the sparrow,

[280] They forget what they are, are called, are held to be;

Yet not all do this, but the left-handed, whose mind is light.

Not so did he rule the governance of his life:

He fought against himself, conquered and tamed himself

By watching through the night and suffering hunger, thirst, cold.

[285] His couches were placed beside the scaffold of the altar,

That, weary, rising, he might lay his limbs there on the steps

And, dozing a little, rise up again to the use of prayer;

They are everywhere; they lack rot; they ward off the race of the moth;

A splinter of the wood releases the gums from a grievous pest.

[290] For almost five hundred years the straw is not dissolved, Almost five hundred, nay in fact less than four hundred (from 739 to 1105).

It is not crushed, nor broken small by dryness so also T.;

It breathes forth no foulness, but the fragrance of spices.

It is Eest G. the medicine of God to every faithful one who asks.

[30] Still held by the frail mortal fetter of the flesh, [The whole of chapter 29 of the prose Life Thiofrid passed over in the metrical Life.]

[295] He joined Amalberga to Christ as bride with chrism.

It pleases my mind to set forth a few things of so great a virgin. [The Life of Amalberga (Act. SS., July vol. III, p. 90), from which Thiofrid had taken certain things in writing the Miracles (above, p. 458, c. 4), and a little more in the prose Life (above, pp. 477–78, c. 30), he here turned over again and compiled more amply.]

No nobler maiden lived in the whole world. [A Hebrew noun. But since we are by no means compelled to suppose that Thiofrid was versed in the Hebrew tongue, he must be believed to have taken the word, which he also displayed in the prose Life, c. 30, from Jerome's Book of Hebrew Names (P. L., vol. XXIII, col. 803): Bethula, virgin.]

Weaned, she wishes to chew the solid food, Christ, Heb. 5, 12–14.

She shuns every vice of girlish levity,

[300] For chaste virgins she brings forth a pattern of integrity.

Not like Dinah does she look out of doors at the matrons of the region, Gen. 34, 1 ff.

Lest the prince Shechem take her virginity from her.

She tames the flesh by the mind; she frequents the sanctified places;

Whatever she sees in the church she fulfils in her father's house.

[305] Her father's orchards or pomaria? Rossb. By no means. are green with flowers and fruits; Life of Amalberga, no. 2.

Here the kindly child-bearing virgin dedicates an altar to God; [That this (child-bearing virgin), which is proper to Mary the mother of Christ, is ineptly predicated of Amalberga, Rossberg rightly noted.]

She offers pomegranates, nuts, incense, flowers.

But the begetter of death, the savage enemy of life, envies her, Ibid., no. 3.

Through whose envy envious death swallowed up the earth,

The author of sin builds snares against piety:

The thief polluted one boy among the boys with theft,

He drove him to fall upon the consecrated blessed bread;

But while he consents, while the little boy stretches out his right hand,

[315] Divine vengeance punishes the outstretched arm;

He was made harder than a herm, as hard flint is;

He could not draw it back, nor lay it down, nor bend it. Ibid., no. 3.

The guilty one stands astounded, bound by a divine fetter;

He wails, he cries out; his conscious mind condemns him;

[320] He would rather die than be so divinely distressed.

His companions run up swiftly, and his sorrowing parents,

They pour out complaints and weeping from the bottom of the breast.

They weep that they have deserved the anger of the excellent virgin;

They pray that she release the captive and loosen his guilt.

[325] Nothing is more clement than gentle virginity.

The virgin pours out prayers, God hears, the little man applauds,

Safe and sound he rejoices, he praises the great works of the Lord.

Acquaintances and kinsfolk rejoice over such a virgin;

They venerate the virgin flower and its fragrance.

When Willibrord turned aside into the known court of her father,

While he was hastening to the town of Echternach;

The old host received the worthy, old friend

And was zealous to overcome fastidiousness with a varied table;

[335] He fed him with fleshly fare, being fed with spiritual.

He discloses to him the wondrous sign spoken of his little daughter;

The sweet bishop rejoices; he increases the praises of the virgin,

He gives her kisses, he confirms her with the divine chrism,

He soothes her with words filled with the honey of kindness:

[340] "O how happy you are, who are the rich bride of God,

Espoused before the spirit ruled your limbs,

Pleasing to the highest bridegroom before being founded in the world.

I have deserved nothing such, who have lived to Christ, not to myself;

You surpass me, worn out with age, heavenly virgin.

[345] Flourish with Thecla, fare well; be such as Agnes;

May your part be the best, with the divine mother Mary." [Thiofrid seems, through I know not what carelessness, to have imagined these words spoken by Willibrord not, as the writer of the Life of Amalberga did, of Mary the sister of Lazarus (cf. Luke 10, 42: Mary has chosen the best part), but of Mary the mother of Christ.]

Nor could the bishop's blessing be empty; Life of Amalberga, nos. 9, 10, 20.

For she was zealous for nothing at all but to live to Christ.

And when she had grown up and was, for the time, marriageable,

[350] King Charles, inflamed, burned with love for her,

Charles, all the glory of kings, by surname the Great;

He descends, like one in need, to all exhortations and prayers. Verg. Aen. 5, 782.

He vowed so also T. all his wealth and the imperial fasces,

Whereby he wished her to be dedicated to him as queen in wedlock or coniugii, sc. regina? Rossb..

[355] But, fortified with the helmet of her bridegroom, she did not yield,

She did not set her heart on it; she refused the diadem of the kingdom, Cf. bk. I, v. 292.

She spurned the blandishments, the terrors and spears of the enemy,

She fled as a dove without gall flees the rapacious hawk. Ovid, Met. 5, 605. Cf. Isidore, Etym. 7, 3, 22.

The king, unconquered invinctus G. by all, was conquered by a virgin.

[360] Victorious, she sings hymns; she presses on more loftily in virtues.

And when she was labouring and taming the flesh by watching, Life of Amalberga, nos. 39–40.

Sleep crept upon her; it flowed into her weary limbs;

The excellent Willibrord was seen to stand by her in a vision, —

Gertrude accompanied him, the crown of sisters, —

[365] He consecrated the veil; he wrapped her reverend head;

He foretold to her the brevity of her human life,

That she might know that, three years completed, she was to be released,

To be led down to behold the face of the bridegroom.

The virgin, waking, gave kisses to the sacred cloth,

[370] She poured on it tears sought from the bottom of her heart.

O delightful father, groomsman of the highest bridegroom!

He espoused the bride while he bore the themes of the flesh,

But confirmed her as soon as he had penetrated the heavens so also T..

He did not forsake her until he had joined her to the bridegroom.

[375] But I delay among great things; greater things remain than those related.

Here ends (E. l. t.) omits G, for this reason, as it seems, that the page was full. Rossb. the third book.

Here begins the fourth book.

[31] There is beside the waves of the sea a common pasture-field,

Drawn out far, broad with a spacious margin,

Already subject to the dominion of the kindly Willibrord,

A welcome rest for sailors wearied by the windy whirlwind. Ovid, Met. 14, 52.

They dry their limbs, wasting with salt, at the fires of the sun,

They repair the damaged so T; lȩta G. stern-ornaments of the gaping ship,

They eagerly ply commerce for various gains,

They await easy so also T. courses and favouring winds;

But while the delightful place brings such advantages,

The sea, pouring out its billows, broke through the confines, Lucan 2, 435–36.

The wave drives monster-bearing bays, the stirred tide rages, Ibid. 5, 620; Verg. Aen. 1, 107.

It sucks the soil into itself; the turf becomes a useless pool,

[15] The joyful pastures lie hidden, the famished beasts of burden mourn,

The crowd of sailors grieves, fear presses the inhabitants.

They know not what to do, what counsel to take for themselves.

They come together, they debate, and they praise what is fitting;

They decree that a just single combat shall decide

[20] Whether the area of the field, now submerged, belongs to the bishop or to the sea.

Twice six champions leap forth, keen of mind,

Notable for strength, bulwarks and flowers of the fatherland,

To render the doubtful cause certain by the contest.

They make their preludes, they leap, and throw out their arms in turn; Ovid, Met. 4, 353.

Six swear for the father's right according to the rite of the region;

But when the oath began to be in the mouths of the speakers,

The liquid element blushed, fearing to be conquered,

It fled and moved off its billows and twisted them back as they ebbed,

[30] Conquered, it stole itself away; it sank into its vast gulf.

The field recovered; it grew green; it is green until now;

It feeds, as before, the oxen, which drag their fat dewlaps.

O human heart, how hard, how heavy, how brutish!

There is nothing it shuns, but whatever it thinks, it fulfils.

[35] Perverse man does not do what the billow of the sea did:

He forswears and deceives, he undertakes perjuries, he listens to them;

What he knows, he denies he knows; he swears that what was entrusted to him was handed over;

By an oath he possesses his neighbour's field.

Thetis did not do this, did not hear it; she withdrew beforehand,

[40] Nor did she wish to watch a doubtful duel on her own behalf.

And it is plain, certain by experience along the shores of Nereus,

That the sweet Willibrord, endowed with a special gift,

Can by his merits succour wearied ships.

Hence a purse is wont to hang from the yard of the mast,

[45] Into which is gathered what is vowed in the tempest;

And when, checked by pious prayers, the tide has given way

And the ships have stood safe at their accustomed station,

It is given either to churches or to the sick or the needy.

[32] Willibrord is the hope of the despairing, the anchor of sailors.

[50] Since this is known, I prove it by song, that it may be better known,

And from a famous city I choose a famous person.

Hilderic of Trier, the glory of the clergy, an excellent man,

Went to Jerusalem by ship, to the city of peace,

Famous for the Anastasis of the Saviour, the citadel of David.

The winds fell upon the sea as though in a column formed; Ibid. 1, 84 and 82.

None tarries so also T. in the prison of the Aeolian rock, Lucan 5, 609.

They shake out the tides, they roll the billows to the shores. Verg. Aen. 1, 86.

The seas, swept away, bear them, and fearful lightnings run, Lucan 5, 613 and 630.

The clouds are touched by the sails and the earth by the keels; Ibid. 642.

All these threaten the sailors with the wounds of death. Verg. Aen. 1, 91.

In so great a plague their limbs are loosened with cold, Ibid. 92.

They lift their faces and hands; they press on with prayers, with outcries.

[65] The man of Trier prays to the citizens of heaven by name;

But Jesus sleeps; the horrid tempest rages. Matt. 8, 24.

A cleric sprung from the Morini stood fearful in the ship

And counselled that the name of Willibrord be recited,

Whose annual solemnities the world was then keeping.

[70] Both cry out, and both invoke the father's name,

And of how great merit he is is disclosed to all the world.

God, roused from sleep, commands the Earth-shaker, Ibid. 8, 25–26.

And commands the winds; the fleet flies over the calm sea, Verg. Aen. 11, 746.

And by a shorter way is carried to the mouth of the harbour.

[33] [75] Willibrord, by surname Clement, is kind and clement,

He stands by suppliants, favours them, and hears their prayers,

He hates the robbers who seize the goods of the Church;

Punishments were inflicted upon them through him for their crime.

There is a ready will to run through these, excerpted,

[34] In the year one thousand, the thirtieth, and the simple first, [simplice fills out the verse, in just the same manner as dispare above, bk. II, v. 748.]

Since the Word of the Father, not made, was made flesh, John 1, 14.

Humbert, the sweet glory of monks, a spiritual man, Hor. I Carm. 1, 2.

Resolved to translate the limbs of the wondrous patron.

[85] He summoned the nobles, mighty in wealth and in virtue,

The gem of bishops, you, Poppo, the divine hierarch,

And Duke Henry, to whom the Norican people gives honour.

All the doors were shut with firm bars;

Diggers chaste in body were appointed.

[90] But when Thietmar, touched by a nocturnal phantasm,

Unknowing, wished to swing the two-edged axe,

He could not lower his arms; he grew pale; he was fixed.

He was admonished not to dissemble his silent guilt,

For to be unwilling to confess an offence is to wish to die.

[95] But since he did not know what he could disclose about himself,

He stood aside, went out, saw his breeches polluted.

He groaned, he washed; the work he had left he took up again.

He would not have approached, had he remembered the offence.

For as many as are the flows, so many passages does nature give,

[100] The mouth, the eyes, the ears, the penis with the anus (p. c. p.) T does not omit, the nostrils:

The gathered humour seeks these withdrawals from the flesh.

It is no vice unless delight begets it;

Free of this, the young man took up the zeal of uprightness.

The earth carried out, three crypts were found;

[105] The third held the treasure, the precious pledge,

Covered with a little pall woven with the weft of the Seres. — that is, with silken weft.

This, incorrupt, vitiated by no old age,

Hangs on the principal feasts among new palls,

Lasting against nature through so many ages. —

[110] The hegumen, all the glory of his own, came nearer,

He poured out tears, he joined sighs to prayers,

He bent down; the marble of the tomb lifted,

He saw the sacred body not dissolved into ash,

Not rotten, corrupted, not broken small by the worm's jaw,

[115] But sound of itself, not by the condition of the flesh,

Clothed after the monastic manner in a dark cowl,

And with a shaggy garment woven of goats' hair,

For overcoming the mind and taming the flesh.

An aromatic smoke pressed the eyes of the beholder.

[120] He drew out a rib to be distributed for sacred uses;

He grew pale, astounded; his pain terrified his limbs.

A fragrance was sent forth, as though paradise were there.

There came a certain man worn out with diseases and years,

Famous in warfare while he put on the soldier's arms, Verg. Aen. 9, 180.

[125] But, bearing the standards, while he was laying the enemy low more fiercely,

He fell from his horse and lay, and dislocated his slipped bowels,

Nor could medicine profit his grievous pain;

Having taken up the cross of Christ, he left the empty things of the world,

His two modest pledges having been offered beforehand.

[130] He, prostrate on the ground, asks that his intestines be put back;

Nor was he cheated of the benefit of his brief prayer;

While he raises his sick limbs from the trembling pavement,

Unknowing, he struck his hinder parts against the tomb;

He rubbed it a little; he felt the virtue to be present:

[135] The slipped vitals were set in their own seat,

They were hidden in the case of the belly; they were made firm.

Safe and sound he rejoices, he applauds, he composes quilismata of praises; [κυλίσματα, vibrations of the voice (G. Goetz, Corpus gloss. lat., vol. VII, p. 173; cf. Ducange, s.v. Heptaphonos).]

With the company of the people the renowned assembly of the clergy sings.

The ark of the living God is translated, the body of the patron;

[140] Beneath the table of the altar the heavenly ark is placed,

Of the altar which is dedicated to the King, three and one.

Here disease dies, here grace and virtue rise; Gen. 22, 17: Sedulius, Carm. pasch. 1, 101–102.

The signs equal the stars of the pole, the sands of the sea.

[35] But the people of Walcheren is the happier for these gifts.

It is like the foam of the sea; it follows the sea in the whirlwind of its mind,

It is constrained by no lords, by no laws,

There is nothing it fears, unless it learn through miracles:

Hence they happen there more often; they bind fierce hearts.

[150] Robert, governor of Flanders, vigorous in arms,

Driven against Walcheren by the goads and fire of fury,

Gathered into one the Morini, the farthest of men, Verg. Aen. 8, 727.

Teutons nimble, robust in strength, keen;

He chose for himself thrice ten strong legions,

[155] He carried the troops across through the waves of the river Scheldt.

He came terrible; he withdrew thence pitiable,

A flame at his approach, a vapour and soot at his withdrawal.

For when the men of Walcheren, numbering scarcely three thousand,

Had sought peace by prayer, but had not obtained it,

[160] They entered the church hallowed by the blood of Willibrord.

They complained as though to one present and speaking with them;

They complained of the inexorable hatred, the war.

With right hands raised they vowed a tax every year,

If they should be saved and be made victors.

[165] Without delay, having departed, sated with the sacraments,

They glow with the fire of faith and set up for themselves as leader of the war

The patron's casket, placed at the front of the standard.

At a run they rush forward; they leave the sun behind their backs,

That their view might not be taken from them, nor the stroke of their swords.

[170] No one fortifies himself with a breastplate, no one with a helmet,

Using the arms of the Lord more than material ones;

No one turns over shameful flight, nor betrayal. Hor. III Carm. 2, 13.

It entered their minds that it is sweet to die for love of the fatherland.

But the Morini leap from the ships; they join their columns,

[175] They fit their brazen breastplates, the crests on their heads;

They see the enemy few and naked of body,

They spurn them like mice leaping out of their holes, Judith 14, 12.

They hope for nothing but a magnificent triumph over a Rossb. the enemy.

While the sad trumpet gives the signal for savage war, Verg. Aen. 11, 474–75.

Advances, ordered in number and in fixed order. Verg. Aen. 11, 599. Lucan 7, 216.

The fields glitter with arms; the iron field bristles with spears, Verg. Aen. 11, 601–2.

Their wrath takes fire; a mighty shout sounds on both sides, Ibid. 9, 66.

The wings run together; the air is woven over with iron, Lucan 7, 519.

Deaths fall from it; they break the bonds of nature. Ibid. 517.

How small a part of the slaughter is done by bloody javelins? Ibid. 489–91.

The sword, drawn by inward hatreds, suffices.

The column flies at headlong course, with fierce mind, Ibid. 336.

It is driven into the dense wedges, seeking a way to the heart. Lucan 7, 497.

The sword pierces the breast under its safe covering; Ibid. 499.

The breastplate profits nothing with its heavy chains set against it so also T.; Ibid. 498.

One side suffers a hard fight, the other wages it, Ibid. 502.

[195] The naked of body give those clad in iron to death.

Here war rages with throats, there with sharp swords; Ibid. 533.

Then the slaughter loses its measure, the dying their number. Ibid. 532.

These are weary with slaying, those with suffering.

A few, half-dead so also T., make for the ships through wounds,

And the billow, covered with clotted blood, foams.

This battle lost you, Flanders, the flowers of your nobles;

From it you receive a wound graver than you could believe;

This deadly day snatched away your strong forces.

For the likeness of a snowy dove was seen by the worthy

To have spread its wings over the wings of the column so also T..

A bird lacking gall, by a topical tropico corr. Rossb. theorem, shining white —

Like the typical bird sent forth by Noah beneath the deluge, Gen. 8, 10–11.

[210] Which, to the glory of the Church, carried the branch of olive,

The sign of peace, of baptism, of the lofty charism —

So great a bird flies, it ministers strength and spirit, Verg. Aen. 9, 764.

Nor does it depart before the victorious troop withdraws,

Enriched, without loss of its own, with a joyful trophy.

[215] Under the appearance of loss, only three met death,

And that only through their own guilt, as report relates.

The company Lȩtus begun to be written, at once changed to Cȩtus G. to whom the victory so fell assembled,

It confirmed and renewed the vow which it had vowed.

It dedicated the standards of the conquered prince to the honour

[220] Of Father Willibrord Wilbrordū G., its special defender,

It sent them to Echternach, it asked that what was sent be kept,

That they might be a perpetual memorial of so great a triumph.

So great discord makes small things out of great.

[225] In this war the people, concordant, one in affections,

Victor in foreign wars, turned about by a giddiness, Lucan 1, 3.

Turned the sword-point against itself and slew itself;

With its victorious right hand it poured out its own bowels and entrails.

An intestine war was waged with blood;

[230] Out of one people two were made, under none;

They nearly perished in civil sedition.

At length, wearied, they grieved over so many disasters;

Envoys are sent as legates to the town of Echternach,

They solicit with prayer the hegumen, Thiofrid by name written in gold letters in G, in red in T.,

[235] That he come out, make haste, come, and restore peace.

He assented; they return and bring back joyful news.

The people exults, makes ready, is prompt to go to meet him,

Hastens to Antwerp and enters the harbour in light boats.

For two days it waits, hanging in hope, in a joyful band; Hor. I Epist. 18, 110.

[240] But when by chance the abbot was weaving delays in coming,

Despairing, it grieved; sad, it made again for the ships; the subject of the sentence is populus, as in vv. 237–239. Rossb.

It committed the care of the one who was to come to faithful friends;

And when it had left the shore and gone away in haste,

With vows of every kind it thus disclosed the hidden things of its heart:

[245] "O Willibrord, open your kind bowels to your band.

If you deign to visit us, your special sheep,

Give us a sign, not doubtful, but open;

Bring a fruitful rain, fit for our uses."

It began, and it thundered on the left; the crash moved the seas. Verg. Aen. 2, 692–93.

And, thickened, they flow; the storm-cloud quenches the lightnings.

Hope returns to the despairing, ready to cry out:

"Our salvation, hail, Willibrord, we trust in you,

We believe; behold, you come; you will reach shores faithful to you."

[255] The fleet is wet with rain; it enters the harbour with drenched limbs so also T..

Scarcely does each dry himself at home; he gives his limbs to sleep sapori GT.. Hor. II Sat. 2, 80–81.

The archimandrite Thiofrid written in gold letters in G, in red in T. came to the aforesaid trading-town;

There he was treated as an angel in the stead of Christ;

There he pacified the discordant with a perpetual peace.

[260] From there he was carried across by oarsmen to the longed-for harbour;

He put in; there is much running through the docks;

The whole island rushes to meet the divine minister, Cf. bk. III, v. 227.

It sang a seemly chroma, and so led him into its walls,

It served him as though a king of the Romans.

[265] And when the radiance of the sun removed the clouds of night,

The chief men of the fatherland hasten, with the people accompanying them;

They stand by reverently, their barbarous manner checked,

And they undertake to prepare a state of new things.

But as those whom a naval war presses to be waged

[270] Feign on a calm sea as it were a game of battle,

Prepare oars and arms, press on in various runnings to and fro,

So it pleased them first to make a prelude with small causes.

Behold, a certain man without hope exspes Rossb. embraces the feet of a rich man,

He clasps them more tightly, he asks pardon, he imprints kisses;

[275] He grieves that so great a man was almost slain by him with the sword.

The servant of God hastens, prostrates himself for the suppliant, prays,

He places the bishop's staff before the insolent citizen;

He adjures him that, turned in upon himself, he examine himself,

That he may be forgiven, that he forgive, that he have compassion. Matt. 6, 12 and 14.

[280] The bystanders ask again and again; they weary him with their voice as he refuses.

The adamantine heart, the wicked heart, is not softened;

He went out, he burst forth, he ran back swiftly to his own house. Cic. Catil. 2, 1.

But he did not escape; the due vengeance laid him low;

The devil invaded him, harassed him, tortured him;

[285] None more savage broke into the limbs of either sex;

With blows, with goads, he shakes the inward parts of the raging man;

A sound was heard, as though the belly were bearing strokes;

The ribs are shaken, as though they were beaten with bars.

The madman raves and pays a mighty punishment.

[290] Great mourning and terror arose for his kinsfolk;

They entreat the servant of the Lord to have mercy on the wretched man.

He rises, he visits the guilty man lying out of his mind,

He places a little shrine upon his panting breast. Verg. Aen. 6, 48.

The demon fled, tormented under so great a weight;

[295] It felt there the rib taken from the body corr. Rossb.; semate GT. of Willibrord;

It left the possessed man; it revisited the pools of Phlegethon. Ibid. 330.

The sick man recovered; the household and neighbourhood applaud.

From a like fault a sign comes about with an unlike punishment:

A poor young man fell before the feet of a rich man,

[300] On whom, moved by a whirlwind of the mind, he had inflicted a wound;

He seeks to be forgiven, to be reconciled in heart.

Eckhard leaps up, formerly one of the chief men,

But then an excellent monk, crucified to the world; Gal. 6, 14.

An interpreter, relying on the method of ready speech,

[305] He runs up so also G corrected by the first hand; occurrit G before correction, he lies on the ground with the avenging rod,

He beseeches, he rebukes, he adjures; that stone refuses,

He leapt out, he fled; God closed his eyes;

He lost his sight; he stood, shuddering to direct his step,

With stumbling feet he walks, led by no guide,

[310] He strikes against things, tottering; groping, he is struck on every side.

His father met the blind man with sorrowing breast.

He blushed, he shed tears, and led his son back.

The novice repented; granting peace to his enemy,

He forgave; he saw; and, rejoicing, he went back home.

[315] This fair day gave these spectacles to the hard people;

By divine help so also T. seeds as it were of peace were cast,

Minds were softened which before were rougher than bears;

A fairer light arises; 〈[…] candida supplied Rossb.〉 peace accompanies it.

They all burst forth like bees from their own dwellings,

They treat of such great matters with keenness of mind.

On both sides seven so also T. were given, near in the flesh,

The chief men of the kindred; through them the compact of peace is made,

It is made through the archimandrite's companions, who know law and ordinances.

[325] Far removed, alone, they search out serious matters,

And, a way found, they return, they disclose what seemed good to them.

They decree that thirty pounds, tripled, be paid,

That the guilty man be handed over in place of the soldier to the avenger of blood.

This was begun, I think, by an ingenious counsel,

[330] That it might bind more firmly the compact established by services.

The soldier was made, by a reversal, the rich man of the poor man,

Which, as the gall of reproach so also T., he would rather have gained by death.

It is to be wondered at, to be noted with subtle mind,

That a monstrous people, to be likened to the whelps of a lion,

[335] A people of dreadful aspect, which tyrants did not tame,

Was conquered by the simple words of a monastic man,

Obeyed the commands of him who ordered it like a bought servant,

And, as though it saw Willibrord present in the flesh,

So it thronged his faithful minister with honour.

[340] With private peace the public peace was consolidated,

Anger, enmities, the furies of hatred gave way,

Plenty from her full horn gave crops in the year. Hor. I Epist. 12, 28.

There banquets, songs, games are held.

When Phoebe had twice laid aside so also T. her flames and twice taken them back,

[345] Affairs settled, the hegumen returned exulting;

He knows that the hearts of his own hang upon his return;

He was received by them with worthy applause and hymns.

But since I am weary amid the ship-breaking waves of Nereus,

Wet, I sigh, the shore seen from afar;

[350] I glide in on account of weariness with a sign passed over in silence,

A sign performed by the mighty virtue of Willibrord.

There a grave theft was committed by one with three names; Cf. on bk. III, v. 125.

A little pall is snatched; the cross is stripped of its silver,

But it could not be melted down by furnace or fire;

[355] Cut into parts, it does not unfold an equal weight;

To each his part is smaller; the other, greater, begets strife.

The purple could not be broken by hands, nor cut by the sword,

Nor cut by shears; by no art could it be harmed.

This passed over, I leave the sails beneath the harbour;

[360] Yet so many things remain, and very famous ones stand,

Which, if the mind of Homer, the bard of Smyrna, knew, Lucan 9, 984.

He would scarcely sing them, though he treats of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Here ends the fourth book.