Nigasius and Quirinus and Scubiculus and Pientia

ON SS. NIGASIUS AND QUIRINUS AND SCUBICULUS AND PIENTIA, MARTYRS, AT VADINIACUM IN THE VEXIN,

AT VADINIACUM IN THE VEXIN COUNTRY.

MORE PROBABLY ABOUT THE YEAR 286.

HISTORICO-CRITICAL COMMENTARY.

Nigasius, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

Quirinus, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

Scubiculus or Scuviculus, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

Pientia, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

BHL Number: 6084

BY C. B.

§ I. Where and when St. Nigasius suffered, and what credit the Acts deserve which state that this was done under Domitian.

The Veliocasses or Veliocassi, Velocasses, or even (for the name of this Gallic people, St. Nigasius in the Vexin country from which part of the region it inhabited was gradually, in the lapse of time, called the pagus Vilcassinus or Vulcassinus, or simply Vilcassinum or Vulcassinum, and at length also the Vexin, is written variously by various authors) Bellocasses or Bellocassi, inhabited, besides Rotomagus, or, as it is written by others, Rothomagus, their chief city, and whatever territory adjoins it about either bank of the Seine and is called the territory of Rouen, or Rotmense, in French le Roumois, also the tract of land which, cut off between the rivers Oise and Andelle, is closed in by the Seine to the South and by the territory of Beauvais and of Bray to the North. That people, or rather that tract of their land just mentioned, which, when in the tenth century one part of it had been conceded to the Normans, the other part remaining with the kings of the Franks, was divided into the Norman and the French Vilcassinum or Vexin, St. Nicasius, or rather (for so he is called in absolutely all the literary monuments older than the twelfth century, if you except perhaps the Hieronymian apograph of Corbie in Florentini, in which, no differently than in many more recent writers, Nicasius is written, and at the same time he is distinguished at least in name from St. Nicasius of Reims) Nigasius ennobled, his blood having been shed there for the faith of Christ while he was announcing the Gospel to the inhabitants. So constant tradition holds, which is also recorded in the Acts of St. Nigasius to be mentioned below; and since not only very many more recent sacred Fasti, in which Nigasius stands inscribed today, together with the present Roman Martyrology, but also Usuard, who is older than these and than all the writers who have spoken of Nigasius and the arena of his martyrdom, as well as all the learned with unanimous consent, also assent to the tradition, it surely does not seem that it should be called in doubt that Nigasius was afflicted with martyrdom there, and therefore in the diocese of Rouen, which contains both the one and the other Vilcassinum or Vexin (for neither Galesini, who notes him today at Ecbatana in Media, nor Tamayo, who, following the Pseudo-Liutprand, notes him near Villacassina in Spain, deserves to be heard here).

[2] in the village here mentioned But in what place of the Vilcassinum or Vexin (for I am pleased to determine more closely the arena of the Saint and his Companions) was this done? In that country, between Vernon and La Roche-Guyon, in French Roche-Guyon, at about half a league from this latter place, on the river Itta or Epte, which, separating from one another the two Vilcassina or Vexins mentioned above, has the French one adjoining it on the East and the Norman one on the west, there occurs a village which in French is called Gani or Gasni or even Gagni, and in Latin Vaniacum or Guaniacum, or even Ganiacum or Gagneyum; and, being joined partly to the French and partly to the Norman Vexin, it also comprises an island formed by that river, or, if this (as Farin in Christian Normandy, page 62, Le Cointe in the Ecclesiastical Annals of the Franks at the year 841, num. 24, and Pommeraye in the History of the Archbishops of Rouen, page 35, plainly teach, although Valois in the Notitia of the Gauls and some other writers, and the Rouen Breviary itself of the edition of 1736, which will be praised below, meanwhile oppose it) is now joined to the mainland on the side where the Itta faces the East and no longer presents any appearance of an island, it certainly comprises the place where that island formerly stood.

[3] In that village, and indeed in the region or part of it which pertains to the French Vexin, in the village of Vadiniacum, Nigasius is commonly believed to have undergone martyrdom, having been slain, as they say, on his journey, when, going from Paris to Rouen, he had not yet crossed the Itta or Epte. Certainly Dadré in the Chronology of the History of the Archbishops of Rouen, Davanne in the Life of St. Nigasius, of which more here later, Farin in Christian Normandy, and also Arthur du Monstier in Neustria Pia expressly affirm that Nigasius was slain in the said village, which, because it comprises the Ford of the Epte, previously unknown to men, as they will have it, by which Nigasius, after death had been inflicted on him, is related to have betaken himself miraculously into the island just mentioned, having taken up his head, which had been cut off from him, and so to have given to the said Ford the name of the Ford of Nigasius, is also, and indeed more commonly, called Vadiniacum by older writers, with a nomenclature, as some think, derived from that. Nor are Orderic Vitalis, Ecclesiastical History, book 5, at the year 1080, and the anonymous author of the Passion or Acts of St. Nigasius, of which below, who insinuate that the Saint fell for the faith in a certain market-place called Scamna (the Benches), to be judged opposed to these, since that village could formerly have been called otherwise than now, and could also have had more than one place of another name included within it. Wherefore, since nothing else prevents Nigasius from being believed to have undergone martyrdom at Vadiniacum, it likewise does not seem that it should be called in doubt that this happened there. The place, therefore, in which this Saint of ours suffered having now been determined closely enough, let us now inquire diligently into the time in which this was done, so far as the lack of monuments ancient enough for anything certain to be established in any way will permit.

[4] not indeed, as Butler seems to have judged, Butler, who about twenty years ago published at the London press the Lives of many Saints written by himself in English, keeping the order of the days and months to which they belong, today in this Work, which not long ago appeared again, translated also into the French language, being about to treat of SS. Nigasius and his Companions, prefaces in the following manner in English words, rendered here by me into Latin from the French version of them: Some Greek disciples of St. Polycarp and some other sacred heralds, having planted the faith at Lyons, founded a numerous church there. From this went forth the Apostolic men who brought the light of the Gospel into the various parts of the Gauls. SS. Alexander and Epipodius in the territory of Lyons, SS. Benignus the priest and Thyrsus the deacon at Autun, Andochius the priest at Langres, etc., were afflicted with martyrdom. So he; and since he presently adds that Nigasius too was most probably instructed in the same school or church of Lyons, founded, as is commonly known, from the second century onward, from which he insinuates that the martyrs Alexander, Epipodius, Thyrsus and Andochius whom he had just mentioned went forth, he seems to indicate that he ended his life by martyrdom at about the same time as they, and therefore, as one may gather from volume 6 of September of our Work, page 663 and following, toward the end of the second century or the beginning of the following. But besides that Thyrsus and Andochius certainly, as the things disputed concerning them with us at the 24th day of September clearly show, did not go forth from the school or church of Lyons, or, what comes to the same thing, were not instructed in it, I find no writer who pronounced this, I will not say most like the truth, but even like it, concerning Nigasius before Butler, nor do I see clearly enough by what reason he was moved to do it here.

[5] [toward the end of the second century or the beginning of the following, but more probably about the year] He affirms indeed that the name Nicasius is Greek and signifies a victor; but whether Nicasius or Nigasius, which latter name, certainly Greek

it is not, this Saint of ours is properly to be called can not undeservedly be called in doubt, as is clear from what has already been said above. Besides, although the names Nicetius and Niceta are undoubtedly Greek, and learned etymologists commonly affirm that both the one and the other signify a victor, I could nevertheless find none among them who establishes the same of the name Nicasius, although meanwhile the name Nicasius, rather than either Niceta or Nicetius, might seem derived from the Greek verb Νικάω, I conquer. Nor, even if it were otherwise, and the name Nicasius in actual fact were not only Greek and signified a victor, but also properly belonged to the Martyr with whom we are dealing here alone, would it follow from this that he was instructed in the school or church of Lyons. For what then? No one will certainly deny that the names of Thyrsus and Andochius are Greek, and yet these two apostolic men and martyrs, who laboured to illuminate Gaul with the light of the faith, were not instructed in that school or church, as I have just shown. Nor indeed would anyone assert this either of Dionysius, apostle of the Parisians, and his companion Eleutherius, although meanwhile anyone who has even greeted the Greek language from the threshold has clearly understood that their names are Greek. Therefore, since the things Butler brings forward are certainly not of a nature to persuade that Nigasius was instructed in the aforesaid school or church, there is no reason either why on account of them this Saint of ours should be believed to have undergone martyrdom toward the end of the second century or the beginning of the following, or at a time when that same school or church had not yet been founded very long. Nor do the things which I shall now bring forward seem to permit this to be done; for from them it appears more like the truth that Nigasius was afflicted with martyrdom neither then, nor in the reign of Domitian, or toward the end of the first century, but about the year 286. This will become plain to one who weighs them. They are the following.

[6] It is the common opinion that the light of the Gospel did not shine upon the city of Rouen before Mallonus was sent to govern it in the episcopal office, which was more probably done, as the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana teach, volume XI, column 6, toward the end of the third century or the beginning of the following; suffered martyrdom in 286, nor do the Acts which establish this under Domitian, wherefore, if Nigasius, by whom the Velocasses, or certainly, as is believed, not a few of them, were converted to Christ, had undergone martyrdom under Domitian, or toward the end of the first century, it would follow that the Christian faith was received by the Velocasses about two hundred years earlier than by Rouen, their chief city; and since this appears scarcely likely and difficult to believe, right reason seems to require that Mallonus be believed to have come to Rouen not very long after the martyrdom of Nigasius, and that the latter therefore shed his blood for Christ neither toward the end of the second century or the beginning of the following, nor in the reign of Domitian, when the first century of the Christian era was already almost completed, but only then, when the third was already verging to its end. Besides, both the anonymous author of the Passion of Nigasius existing with us and presently to be mentioned at more length below, who nevertheless, as we shall soon see, relates that he suffered under Domitian, and Pommeraye and other more recent writers affirm with almost unanimous consent that Nigasius fell by martyrdom under the same prefect Fescenninus, or, if you prefer, Fescenninus Sisinnius, under whom Dionysius, apostle of the Parisians, suffered, and not long after him; and since Dionysius, although he too is noted by many under Domitian, was nevertheless more probably crowned with martyrdom, as I showed in the Commentary prefatory to the Acts of this Saint, § IX, about the year 286, it follows that this desired lot more probably fell to Nigasius too at about the same year. His Passion just praised does indeed, as I have already noted we shall see, place the martyrdom of Nigasius under Domitian; but this does not deserve entire credit, as will become evident from the things which I am now about to adduce both concerning the time at which it seems to have been written and concerning the matters which it relates.

[7] I begin from the time at which it appears to have been written. [inasmuch as, although they are cited in the Acts of the archbishops of Rouen written in the eleventh century] In Mabillon, volume 2 of the Vetera Analecta, page 424 and the thirty following, there exist the Acts of the archbishops of Rouen; and since in these, under Mallonus, a certain passion of St. Nigasius is praised, it must be that this was composed before those were written by their author, and that he most probably judged that that work had been put together even long before (for otherwise he does not seem likely to have been moved by it to pronounce firm and settled the journey of Nigasius into the Gauls with Dionysius and the martyrdom endured there with Quirinus and Scubiculus, as he does in words to be recited below in §3); wherefore, since there is no reason to think that he strayed from the truth in this matter, and the said Acts of the archbishops of Rouen, as Mabillon, just praised, shows in the Annotation subjoined to them, were written while Gregory VII occupied the Roman Chair of Peter, and therefore when the eleventh century was growing old, it follows that the Passion of St. Nigasius which, as said, is praised in these was composed even long before the pontificate of the same Gregory, or the year 1073 in which it began. But what is this Passion of St. Nigasius? I find only two Passions of St. Nigasius mentioned, which are also commonly distinguished by the name of Acts. One of these, of which we also have a compendium taken from the manuscript codex of St. Salvator at Utrecht, and another sent to us by Father Dardes, exists with us in two manuscript copies, one of which, divided into nine Lessons for the ecclesiastical Office of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, is marked as taken from a manuscript codex of the parish church of St. Nigasius at Rouen, and the other likewise from a manuscript codex of St. Martin at Trier; while the other, of which we have no copy, is very often cited by Farin in Christian Normandy, from page 16 to page 67, with the Latin words of which it consists also transcribed in the margin.

[8] are cited; This latter, further, is almost wholly put together partly from the Passion of St. Nigasius just mentioned which exists with us, partly from the Work of an anonymous writer which Martène exhibits in volume 3 of the Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, column 1677 and the five following, as I discovered by comparing the words of this and of the Passion existing with us with the words of Farin transcribed, as he says, from the Acts or Passion of St. Nigasius; and since that writer most expressly relates that the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus were brought to Rouen in the year 1032, and plainly shows that he wrote the said work, in which he does this, not before that same year 1032 had already long gone by, it was most probably composed about the year 1112, which Martène writes in the margin. Wherefore it must be that the Passion of St. Nigasius which lay before Farin, and which, as said, is partly put together from that work, was written still later than the year 1112; and now, since it certainly, as follows from this, could not have been praised in the Acts of the archbishops of Rouen written, as said, under the Pontificate of Gregory VII, and therefore before the year 1086 in which this had already ended, it follows that in these the other Passion of St. Nigasius, the one existing with us, is most probably praised, and that therefore this, as everyone will conclude from what has already been alleged, was composed even long before the Pontificate of the same Gregory VII, or the year 1073 in which it began. But how long before this was it done? In that Passion Dionysius the Areopagite is confused with Dionysius the apostle of the Parisians; and since the opinion by which this is done is not older than the middle of the eighth century, as we showed in the Commentary prefatory to the fabulous Acts of Dionysius the Areopagite, § VII, surely that Passion was not written before the year 750, and therefore not more than about three hundred years before the year 1073; indeed, the things now to be said suggest that it was written even many fewer years before this year.

[9] [yet they were probably written at least seven centuries after the martyrdom of Nigasius,] The passion or Acts of Nigasius existing with us, into the epoch of whose writing we are here inquiring, most probably began to be worn by the hands of many people of Rouen from the very beginning, as soon as they were written; and it can hardly be doubted that, if they had been written before the age of Usuard, they would have come to the notice and into the hands of this martyrologist, who was a monk at Paris in the monastery of the Meadows (Saint-Germain-des-Prés) of the Order of St. Benedict, not very far distant from the abbey of the same Order at Rouen which has its name from St. Audoenus, and who was wholly intent on examining the things that pertained to the Saints; and that this did not happen I am persuaded, if only because he nowhere brought St. Scubiculus, although mentioned several times in those Acts, into his Martyrology. I know indeed that the Acts of Nigasius with which we are dealing here could not undeservedly have seemed to Usuard of doubtful credit, and that he therefore ought not to have been moved by them to inscribe Scuviculus in his Martyrology; but from a literary monument of this kind, if he had had it before his eyes, he seems likely at least to have seized the occasion of inquiring about Scuviculus among the monks of his Order at Rouen, and, from the information probably to be suggested by them in that case, to have numbered him in his Martyrology among the Martyrs of the Vexin country, if not on the same day as Nigasius, certainly on another, as Riculfus, bishop of Rouen, who, as I shall show afterwards, flourished at the same time as Usuard, does in a charter to be mentioned below; and since he did not do so, the said Acts of Nigasius probably did not lie before him; and since they were therefore, as appears to follow from what has already been said, not written before the age of Usuard, who ceased to live about the year 877, it surely by no means shrinks from the appearance of truth that this was done neither before the tenth century, nor yet, on account of what was said above, later than either then or at the beginning of the following. Now then, since this is so, and the Passion of St. Nigasius existing with us was therefore probably, as is easy to gather from what has just been alleged, composed at least seven centuries after the martyrdom of St. Nigasius, why, I ask, should the epoch which it assigns to that martyrdom be believed with certainty?

[10] I certainly do not see why; for since the author by whom that Passion was written and besides some things not easily, as from those by no means had older monuments lying before him (for otherwise he would have indicated this somewhere), and was, as said, at least seven centuries distant from the age or the martyrdom of Nigasius, he surely could by no means have had ascertained the things he narrates about this Saint of ours and the times to which he ties them; and since this is so, he by no means deserves entire credit in these things; and so much the less because, although by ancient and in every respect trustworthy testimonies it was certainly

destitute, as follows from what has already been said, he nevertheless also records such things as no prudent man would easily believe unless they were confirmed by testimonies of this kind. That it may be evident how true this is, and at the same time that the studious reader may behold, as it were at a single glance, the chief things which are narrated concerning SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, I am pleased to set before his eyes here that passion, contracted by me into a compendium, as it exists with us. The words by which I accomplish this are the following: Nigasius, ordained bishop at Rome by blessed Pope Clement, Quirinus the presbyter and Scuviculus the deacon come with St. Dionysius into the Gauls, in order to bring the light of the Gospel into them, and announce the Christian faith there in various places with most abundant fruit, the Lord confirming their words with signs.

[11] They come to Paris, and having there for some time laboured excellently in bringing the heathen to Christ, from the compendium here adduced they resolve to betake themselves from there together, Dionysius being left among the Parisians, to Rouen, which city, set upon the Seine, they had heard was most opulent and at the same time foully polluted with superstitions and the worship of idols; on their way thither they cross the Oise and enter the Vexin country; and while they are scattering the seeds of the divine word there in a village which is called in Latin Vallis and in French now Vaux, Nigasius, the inhabitants of the place having promised that they would embrace the Christian rites if he, by the power of his God, delivered them from a most monstrous dragon or serpent which lurked near a spring very useful to men and filled the region with pestilential stench, slaughter and terror, hands over his stole to Quirinus the presbyter, with the command that the deadly beast, bound with it, be brought to him. He, obeying his bishop at once, approaches the serpent fearlessly, and as it tries to rush upon him with its scales raised and its mouth gaping, he checks it by forming the sign of the Cross, and, having thrown the stole around its neck, drags it by force and, as it vainly resists, sets it before Nigasius; and while he, likewise forming the sign of the Cross, bursts it asunder in the sight of all, so that not even the appearance of its carcass remains, about three hundred and eighteen souls, the people being astounded by the miracle, convert themselves to the faith of Christ.

[12] it is clear by the compendium, These, further, having been taught what a Christian ought to know and washed in the sacred laver in the said spring, Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, intending to pursue the journey they had undertaken toward Rouen, set out for a place or village situated a little below Mantes on the Seine, which they now name in Latin Monticae and in French Moncaux or Montiers; and having arrived there, and presently attacking a demon which had fixed its seat there on a very lofty rock, or rather in a certain cave of it, and was hostile to the inhabitants and especially to those sailing by, they compel the abominable enemy of the human race, by an adjuration employed in the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, to withdraw from there, the rock itself being split from the bottom of the cave, because the Saints occupied its entrance, right up to its highest summit, and an opening being made in the form of a well, and to return to the place of its punishment; and while, the fame of this and of the other miracles which they perform being spread widely, they bring not a few to Christ, a persecution against the Christians having been stirred up by the emperor Domitian, they are seized in a certain market-place, or place then distinguished by the appellation of Scamna, by the prefect Fescenninus Sisinnius, who shortly before had slain Dionysius and his companions at Paris; by his order they are put to death not long after, and having been thrown out after death to the birds and wild beasts, they raise themselves up by night, the lictors having already withdrawn, and, taking up the heads which had been cut off from them, they hasten, angels accompanying them, to the river named Itta, cross by a Ford hitherto unknown to the opposite bank of the island formed by it, and, resting there, are honourably buried by Pientia, a matron who had been converted by them to the faith, a certain man named Clarus, a presbyter from the very company of the Saints, lending his assistance; and a church having been built on an estate which had been granted by the same matron for keeping their memory, they are forthwith honoured.

[13] [are to be believed without older testimony, and of the author, although meanwhile by him,] Such is the compendium of the Nigasian Passion existing with us which it seemed good to propose here. I have indeed passed over in silence, as the plan of a compendium required, some of the circumstances of the three prodigies, by the first of which a serpent or dragon was slain, by the second a demon expelled from a rock, and by the third, finally, the passage of the Saints into the island of the Itta, carrying the heads which had been cut off from them, by a Ford hitherto unknown, are narrated in that Passion; but what does it matter? Without ancient and trustworthy testimony, which they lack, they will not easily find credit with anyone even somewhat skilled in the critical art, whether the circumstances with which they are clothed are added or omitted. The Lord indeed says in Mark, chapter 16, verse 17 and following: And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover; but it does not follow from this that it is to be believed, without the testimony of trustworthy witnesses or writers, that all those signs followed each and every one who believed in Christ, or at least the apostolic men who are a part of these. Indeed, what prudent man, I ask, would persuade himself without testimony of this kind, even taking account of the words of Christ which I have just recited, that Nigasius or any other determinate apostolic man was honoured with even one of those same signs? But now, someone will perhaps say, did then the anonymous writer of the Passion of St. Nigasius existing with us, who relates the three miracles mentioned above and was, according to what has been said, destitute of such testimony as is required for believing them, either invent them all himself or commit to writing things already invented by others?

[14] Even if nothing at all had been committed to writing concerning the deeds of Nigasius and of his Companions Quirinus and Scuviculus, and therefore concerning those three miracles, as appears, not invented, the spring of the Vexin country, the island and the Ford, still distinguished even now by the name of Nigasius, of which mention is made in the compendium of the Nigasian Passion just given, likewise the rock still called the devil's today, and finally the opening fashioned in the form of a well, which, as the anonymous writer of the same passion says, is shown in it up to this time as a testimony of the power of God, are thought by Dadré, in the Chronology of the Archbishops of Rouen, page 13, to be a sufficient argument that these things truly happened; but why could it not have happened that that spring was distinguished, and is further distinguished even today, by the name of Nigasius only because Nigasius had baptized very many in it, and the island and the Ford adjoining it likewise only because he was buried not far from there in that very island? Why could it not also have happened that the said rock was called the devil's rock for no other reason than that the place was very rugged, and that it, together with the opening which is still seen in it today, was created by the Lord, the sole founder of all things, with no creature contributing anything thereto? I certainly do not see why not; and therefore, judging that one must by no means have recourse to what seemed good to Dadré in order that our anonymous writer of the Nigasian Passion be believed neither to have invented the three aforesaid prodigies nor to have recorded them as already invented by others, I assign another reason by which he could have been moved to commit them to writing.

[15] By the serpent or dragon, not far from the spring, burst asunder entirely and slain, include things by no means commending his perspicacity, idolatry cut off, very many heathen having been baptized in the spring; by the demon expelled from the rock, obstinacy in the worship of idols torn out of the hard and blind minds of the idolaters; and finally, by the head carried in the martyr's hand, the martyrdom endured by him through the cutting off of his head, can not ineptly be signified in an allegorical or symbolic sense. What if, then, our anonymous writer somewhere saw some ancient symbolic picture, in which, after the manner in which the emperor Constantine the Great, to signify that he had overthrown idolatry, is depicted trampling underfoot a dragon pierced through the middle of its belly, Nigasius was represented, to signify the three things just mentioned, pressing under his feet a serpent burst asunder not far from a spring, and a demon rushing forth from the middle of a split rock, and holding in his hands his head cut off from him; and from this, wrongly understood, he ascribed to Nigasius, who he knew from tradition had baptized very many, converted to the faith, in the spring of the village named Vallis, and had also brought not a few from idolatry to Christ in another village, which the inhabitants called Monticae, with a nomenclature perhaps derived from the rock, lofty like a mountain, which is still seen there today, the three miracles mentioned above, augmented now and then also with circumstances taken up at will for the sake of ornament? Certainly, if it actually happened so, as it may have, that he committed those prodigies to writing, he will have to be said neither to have invented them himself nor to have committed to writing things already invented by others. But although this is so, it would at least follow from this that he was of so little perspicacious a mind that he adopted, moved by a deceptive picture alone, even things which, as said, are not to be believed without the testimony of ancient and trustworthy writers, and brought them into the Passion of St. Nigasius composed by himself as though they were exceedingly true; and hence his credit, which, if only because, as I have shown, he lived at least seven hundred years removed from the age of Nigasius, wavers much in the narration of the things done by him, must needs be weakened not a little further.

[16] deserve credit in any way, and hence are not to be published here. Now then, since this is so, and therefore the Acts of St. Nigasius which were written by that author surely by no means deserve entire credit, we certainly ought not to be moved by them to believe that Nigasius, as according to what has been said they relate, underwent martyrdom under Domitian, and the same judgment is to be passed on the other things which they record and which cannot be confirmed from elsewhere. Whatever those Acts may meanwhile be, they will nevertheless be of use now and then here in the course of this Commentary, either when discourse is held concerning things which their author could have had clearly understood, or when some other reason occurs on account of which they may deservedly be alleged. Thus, since their author flourished in the tenth century, or certainly, as I showed above, not very long after, and is to be judged therefore to have had things done in that century quite well investigated, they surely serve not a little to prove that Nigasius was then held, not for a bishop of Rouen, but only for a regionary bishop; and hence I shall set before the reader's eyes the things conducive to this end which they supply when I treat of that matter. Thus, although indeed, because their author, as has been proved, lived too far removed from the age of Nigasius, they cannot make it certain that he had Scubiculus joined to him as a companion in martyrdom, they nevertheless add some weight to the reasons on account of which this is believed even by the learned themselves, and for that reason they will have to be alleged when discourse is held concerning that matter. But although this is so, and those acts are therefore not destitute of all utility,

nevertheless, because they deserve to be commended neither by the age in which they were written, nor in any way win entire credit for themselves in the things which they narrate as done by Nigasius and his Companions, I shall not subjoin them to this Commentary, since they are, as it certainly appears to me, plainly unworthy even of print, being content to have exhibited to the reader each and every thing worthy of note which they contain, contracted into the compendium already adduced above.

§ II. Whether St. Nigasius had joined to him as companion in martyrdom St. Scuviculus as well as St. Quirinus; in what place he was buried, and whether this was done by St. Pientia.

Nigasius, who is commonly believed to have suffered both with St. Scuviculus, The four writers praised in the immediately preceding §, namely Dadré, Davanne, Farin and Arthur du Monstier, who, as I showed there, clearly relate that Nigasius was slain for the faith at Vadiniacum, join to him as companions in martyrdom both St. Scubiculus or Scuviculus, or, as he is also written by others, Subiculus or Subilius, and St. Quirinus, and the same is also done by Orderic Vitalis in the place cited above, and by the anonymous Writer of the Acts of St. Nigasius. But whether rightly can be doubted; for although both the present Roman Martyrology and very many other more recent Sacred Fasti likewise commemorate today with Nigasius both St. Scubiculus and St. Quirinus, Usuard nevertheless makes mention of Quirinus but not likewise of Scubiculus. Scubiculus is indeed commemorated together with Nigasius, Quirinus and Pientia in the charter, still to be praised below, of Riculfus, bishop of the people of Rouen between the year 872 and the year 875, as may be seen in the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 23 and following; but from what is said in it, it can only be concluded that the bodies of these four Saints of ours were at some time preserved together at Vadiniacum; and who does not see that the body of Scubiculus could have been buried, and so also preserved, in the same place as the body of Nigasius, even though meanwhile he had been afflicted with martyrdom not on the same day as the latter, but only some time after?

[18] But even though the matter stands thus, Scubiculus is nevertheless noted together with Nigasius on one and the same present day in even the Mosander edition of Ado, such as it is, and with St. Quirinus, and it is expressly asserted in the Acts of the archbishops of Rouen that he endured martyrdom together with Nigasius and Quirinus, the Passion of St. Nigasius being cited in his favour too by their author, which, from what has been said above, was most probably not different from his Passion just praised which exists with us; and since this, as I have already shown, was most probably written in the tenth century, and the said Acts when the eleventh century was growing old, they are surely a very strong argument that it was already believed many centuries ago that St. Nigasius underwent martyrdom with St. Scuviculus as well as with St. Quirinus, nor can it be proved that the contrary was ever believed before the said tenth century; wherefore, although indeed the silence of Usuard related above compels doubt whether St. Scubiculus suffered with St. Nigasius, I would nevertheless not dare to assert that he is to be erased without doubt from the class of Martyrs with which we are dealing here, and that those therefore who judge that St. Scubiculus as well as St. Quirinus was joined to St. Nigasius as a companion in martyrdom certainly stray from the truth. Holding, therefore, the opinion by which Scubiculus is still commonly believed today to have been St. Nigasius's companion in martyrdom equally with Quirinus as neither certainly true nor certainly false, I now turn my discourse to the place in which those three Saints are thought to have been buried after their martyrdom.

[19] was buried at Vadiniacum in the island of the Itta, The anonymous author of the Nigasian Passion, Davanne, Arthur du Monstier, Farin and Pommeraye, having related the martyrdom of Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, affirm that they were presented with burial in the island of the Itta mentioned above, which, although the word vadum (ford) signifies not an island but a place in a river less deep and conveniently passable without employing swimming, a bridge or a boat, was nevertheless for a very long time called the Vanum or Vadum of Nigasius, while on the contrary some also called the same Vadiniacum, or, to distinguish it from the village in which it is situated, which, according to what has been said, was likewise formerly so called, Vadiniacum-at-the-island, in French Gany l'isle, as is understood from Orderic Vitalis in the place cited above. And indeed it is the common opinion, recorded in not a few literary monuments, that our Saints were actually interred in that island, and also that their bodies rested for a very long time there, not far from the parish church which is situated on the right or Western bank of the Itta and is dedicated to God under the invocation of St. Martin, in another church distinguished by the name of St. Nigasius and by a priory, which itself also is distinguished by the appellation of St. Nigasius and of Vadiniacum-at-the-island, and formerly depended on the abbey of St. Audoenus at Rouen; and this is also confirmed by the fact that those sacred pledges, more than three centuries having elapsed since the martyrdom of the Saints, were still preserved in the same place, as we shall see below, nor are they known to have been brought thither from elsewhere before that time.

[20] contrary to what the reformers of the older Rouen Breviary, with a more severe But, you will say, in the reformed Breviary of the church of Rouen published in print in the year 1736, in which the ecclesiastical Office of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Mellonus, under the triple rite of the first class, to be recited on the second Sunday of October, is set forth, these following words are read there in the fourth lesson concerning SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus: In the place which was formerly called Vadiniacum, upon the bank of the river Itta, they suffered and were buried. In the island which the same river surrounds there stands a chapel under the title of saint Nicasius, where, in the reign of Charles the Bald, the sacred bones of the Martyrs were laid; and since it is thus insinuated that our Saints were buried in the same place in which they had suffered, and therefore in the part of the village of Vadiniacum situated on the Eastern or left bank of the river Itta, and that their sacred bones were not deposited in the island formed by that river before Charles the Bald was already reigning, it must surely be that those who reformed the said Breviary judged that the opinion by which our Saints are commonly believed both to have been buried in the aforesaid island immediately after their martyrdom and to have rested there for a very long time was not very firm and well founded. I admit that it is so; but since I nowhere find anything by which what they judged in this matter can be confirmed, I think it arose solely from the more severe criticism which they employed in correcting the older Breviary of the church of Rouen that they did not closely follow that opinion. I explain more clearly what I mean.

[21] In an old Breviary of the church of Rouen which is at my hand, and is marked as printed in the year 1627, at the 11th day of October an ecclesiastical Office under the double rite is prescribed for SS. Nigasius, having employed criticism in correcting this, judged, Quirinus and Scubiculus, the fifth lesson of which is couched toward the end in these following words: Whose (namely Nigasius's) bodies, and those of his Companions, the attendants threw out unburied to the wild beasts and birds; which, guarded by angels and divinely raised up by night, having taken up their heads, when they had come to the river Itta, crossed by an unknown ford to the opposite bank of the island, and there were honourably buried by Pientia, a matron; where there now stands a church which is named by the title of saint Nicasius. The miracle, therefore, which is here asserted to have been done in order that the Saints, having seized the heads which had been cut off from them, might transfer themselves into the aforesaid island and be buried there, displeased, unless I am greatly mistaken, the reformers of the older Rouen Breviary, and, judging it for that reason to be corrected, they not only did not relate that miracle, but also noted that the Saints whom it concerns were not committed to the earth in that island immediately after their martyrdom. And deservedly indeed they did not record the miracle, since it is to be held in the same place, and therefore counted among inventions, as we have already pronounced in volumes 1 and 4 of October that two similar miracles ought to be held, one concerning St. Piatus and the other concerning St. Dionysius of Paris; but even though the Saints did not truly pass by a prodigy from the place in which they had been slain into the island of the Itta, it nevertheless cannot be inferred from this that they likewise did not obtain burial in it.

[22] For why could it not have happened that, when they had been slain on the left bank of the Itta, in the region or part of the village of Vadiniacum was buried; which pertains to the French Vexin, their bodies were carried from there to the said island by the Christians and committed to the earth there? Therefore, although indeed it does not appear that there was place for a miracle, the things adduced above which suggest that the Saints were actually buried there do not on that account lose their force, and those therefore who reformed the old Rouen Breviary wrongly corrected it as regards the place in which it states the Saints were laid in the tomb. But the opinion by which the Saints are believed to have been entombed in the aforesaid island being now sufficiently established, I proceed now to another matter which also pertains to their burial. The Passion, or the Acts of St. Nigasius existing with us, into the epoch of whose writing and their credit we inquired above, bear in the title only the names of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus; so that, since they nowhere hold discourse about the martyrdom endured by St. Pientia either, they pertain not properly to this Saint of ours but only to SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus; but although this is so, they nevertheless record that these were buried in the said island by her, who, as they add, had shortly before been converted by the same to the faith of Christ; and this very thing, as also that Pientia was afterwards afflicted with martyrdom and buried in the same place as they, several writers relate with almost unanimous consent in such a way that, while some attribute that last office toward the Saints to Pientia alone, Davanne, in the Life of St. Nigasius and his Companions, chapter 43, and Pommeraye in the History of the Archbishops of Rouen join to her in it several Christians as helpers or companions.

[23] And surely, if only Pientia actually buried the Saints, it appears most like the truth that several helpers or companions were then joined to her; but by St. Pientia, a certain man named Clarus, who was a priest of the true God but did this Saint of ours, whom some call a Virgin and others a Matron, while Usuard meanwhile attributes neither title to her, certainly do this? Before I set out my opinion on this matter, I here first set down a few things about a certain Clarus, who is expressly related by Pommeraye, in the place last cited, and by Farin in Christian Normandy, page 60, to have been present with Pientia as she buried the Saints, and afterwards to have undergone martyrdom with her, so that I may thus pave the way for the things which afterwards, when concerning the two Clari mentioned by du Saussay at the 4th day of November, the former of whom, as also appears to have seemed good to Tillemont in volume IV of the Ecclesiastical Monuments, article 18, from the Clarus just mentioned

does not seem distinct, will have to be said when they are treated in our Work. This Clarus, part of whose relics is related by Pommeraye, in the Archbishops of Rouen, page 34, to have been carried to Pontoise to the collegiate church of St. Mellonus, the other part having been dispersed at Meulan and other places, is asserted by Davanne, Farin and Pommeraye, praised above, to have been a petty priest of idols, and, after he had received the Christian faith when Nigasius was announcing it in the Vexin country, to have then shed his blood for it together with St. Pientia; but in the compendium of the Acts of St. Nigasius, already praised above, which exists with us and is marked as taken from the manuscript codex of St. Salvator at Utrecht, these following words are read toward the end, after the martyrdom of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus has been narrated: And a certain matron, named Pientia, with Clarus, a presbyter from the college of the Saints themselves (namely Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus), buried the bodies of the Saints in the same place (the island of the Itta mentioned above); in whose honour a church was built there, in which their benefits flourish.

[24] is asserted in the Acts of Nigasius, Pommeraye and others not agreeing, Further, with this compendium of the Acts of St. Nigasius these Acts themselves, existing with us in the two manuscript copies which I mentioned at num. 7, entirely agree here to a hair, although meanwhile they add that the estate on which the church mentioned in the words of the said compendium just given was built was donated by St. Pientia. If, therefore, we must stand by them, Clarus, who is narrated to have assisted St. Pientia as she buried St. Nigasius, was a priest of the true God; and since the things which Davanne and Pommeraye write of him do not seem to allow that he be said to have been made, from a petty priest of idols, a priest of the true God after his conversion to the faith, these two writers, as appears, conflict with the Acts of St. Nigasius. But are we to agree here with these or with those? Pommeraye praises a manuscript document for the things he writes about Clarus; and although he declares neither what, nor of what kind, nor of what antiquity it was, I would nevertheless not dare to assert that it was of less value than the Acts of St. Nigasius, which, as I showed in the immediately preceding §, are to be esteemed only little; and since this is so, I am compelled to doubt whether these Acts, which, as I have already shown, declare that Clarus was a priest of the true God, deserve greater credit than Davanne and Pommeraye, who make Clarus a petty priest of idols, and do not seem to permit that he be believed to have been made a priest of the true God after his conversion to the faith; and therefore I leave undecided whether Clarus was or was not at some time a priest of the true God.

[25] and from Clarus, bishop of Nantes. It could indeed be asserted without doubt that he was a priest of the true God if, as Denyau will have it in the Life of another Clarus, as is thought, to be mentioned below, pages 19 and 20, Lubin also agreeing with him in the Roman Martyrology Illustrated, he were one and the same with St. Clarus, first bishop of the people of Nantes; but of the latter we have already treated at the preceding day, on which he is venerated, and in what we showed there concerning that holy prelate nothing occurs from which anyone could deservedly suspect him to be the same as the Clarus who is narrated to have helped St. Pientia as she buried Nigasius. Besides, St. Clarus, bishop of Nantes, departed from life not as a martyr but as a confessor, as may be seen in the Historical Commentary which we composed on him at the day just mentioned; while Clarus, who is said to have buried St. Nigasius with St. Pientia, ended his life by martyrdom, as Davanne and Pommeraye openly teach, the Acts of St. Nigasius by no means opposing them here, since they do not declare by what kind of death he died. But since Clarus, the helper, as is said, of St. Pientia in burying SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, ended his life by martyrdom, as I have just said, and perhaps also, as everyone will gather from what was adduced above, was a priest of the true God, there will now perhaps be someone who thinks from this that he is the same as St. Clarus, who is announced at the 4th day of November by Usuard and the present Roman Martyrology in these words: In the Vexin country, of saint Clarus, presbyter and martyr.

[26] Certainly Castellan and the author or authors of the Paris Martyrology, which appeared in the year 1727, seem to have judged so. and likewise from Clarus, contrary to what seemed good to Castellan, This is my view, because, while at the 4th day of November they likewise announce St. Clarus, presbyter and martyr, in the Vexin country, they insinuate, by a note set in the margin, that he flourished in the third century, and I find no Clarus anywhere recorded in writing, different from Clarus, the helper, as is narrated, of St. Pientia in burying SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, who shed his blood for Christ in the Vexin country in the third century or earlier. Further, du Saussay had already gone before Castellan and the author or authors of the Paris Martyrology in his Gallican Martyrology, which he published in the year 1637; for while in it at the 4th day of November he notes St. Clarus, presbyter and martyr, in the Vexin tract, as he says, in the elogium subjoined he ties him to the first times of the church. Nor does it matter that he fetches the Clarus he mentions from Rome; for although he thus seems to oppose Davanne and Pommeraye, who count Clarus among the household of St. Pientia and thus, as appears, make him a native of the Vexin country, he nevertheless by no means contradicts the Acts of St. Nigasius, since they affirm that Clarus (see the words of their Compendium transcribed here at num. 23) was a presbyter from the college of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, whom they say were sent from Rome into the Gauls.

[27] But is Clarus, who is said to have helped St. Pientia in burying Nigasius, celebrated by Usuard at the 4th day of November, and from Clarus, in actual fact one and the same with the Clarus inscribed in the sacred Fasti mentioned above at the 4th day of November, and must we therefore agree here with the praised hagiologists who, as I said, seem to have judged so? On what day the Clarus who laboured with St. Pientia as she buried Nigasius is either venerated or suffered Martyrdom, neither Pommeraye nor other writers declare; wherefore, since this is altogether in obscurity, it surely cannot be inferred from the 4th day of November, on which Clarus, presbyter and martyr, is mentioned by Usuard and other hagiologists, that the latter certainly is or is not the same Clarus as the helper, as is said, of St. Pientia in caring for the funeral of Nigasius. Nor can it be inferred either from the fact that, as Pommeraye teaches, part of the body of this latter Clarus, the other part being left at Meulan and dispersed in some other places, was carried to Pontoise to the collegiate church of St. Mellonus; for in what place the relics of the Clarus who is celebrated at the 4th day of November by Usuard and other Martyrologists are preserved is nowhere declared by them. But in the Vexin country there is a celebrated Clarus, presbyter and martyr, who, slain there, as is said, for preserving chastity, is venerated in the town of his name situated on the Itta or Epte near Gisors; and that he, who, if the things which Pommeraye notes are consonant with the truth, Baillet meanwhile in the Lives of the Saints at the 4th day of November not altogether agreeing, is most certainly different from Clarus, the helper, as is said, of St. Pientia in caring for the funeral of St. Nigasius, is the very one who is mentioned at the 4th day of November by Usuard and the present Roman Martyrology, Denyau contends in the life of him which he published in the year 1633, and our Sollerius also agrees with him, as everyone will gather from our Work among the Passed Over at the 18th day of July; and not undeservedly.

[28] venerated on the Epte, most probably, as here For Clarus, venerated on the Epte, does not seem different from Clarus, the English hermit, mentioned in Capgrave in the New Legend of the Saints of England, page 59, and he, in the elogium with which he is adorned there, is asserted to have fallen on the fourth day of November, his head having been cut off. Nor, as appears, does it matter much that St. Clarus, who is venerated in the town of his name on the Epte, is commemorated by Molanus, Wion and others on the 18th day of July; for this, as is given to be understood from Denyau in the said Life of that Saint, page 22 and following, is done only because his translation, which the ancient Acts and the tradition of the church of Saint-Clair refer to the 17th day of the same month of July, is then celebrated in some places, although meanwhile the 4th day of November is consecrated to his birthday. But now, someone will say, St. Clarus, the English hermit, is related in his elogium in Capgrave to have been born under Edmund, king of the English, and since of the three kings of this name who ruled over the English, as Alford teaches in the Annals of the English Church at the year 855, num. 21, the elder began to reign in the year 855, as may be seen in the same Alford, it follows that Clarus the hermit, praised by Capgrave, was certainly not born before the year 855, and that therefore in the year 875 he numbered not more than twenty years of his age; and if this is so, who would believe that he, and therefore, according to what has been said, the Clarus who is venerated in the town of his name on the Epte, was already from that year a priest, and as such was announced at the 4th day of November by Usuard, who, as Mabillon solidly proves in the Prolegomena to the third Benedictine century, part 2, page LXXXVII, composed his Martyrology about the year 875, and, as may be seen in the Writers of the Literary History of France, volume 5, page 437, did not prolong his life beyond the year 877?

[29] brought forward This surely, I admit, is very difficult to believe, and certainly, as will be evident to one who considers it, is foreign to the truth if, as Denyau writes in his Life, still praised above, page 21, he was slain in the year 884, or, as Lubin says, in the year 894. In order, therefore, that the Clarus of Capgrave, and therefore, according to what has been said, he who is venerated on the Itta or Epte in the Vexin country, be thought to be announced by Usuard at the 4th day of November, it must be established both that he suffered martyrdom before the year 884 and, contrary to Capgrave, that he was born even earlier than under Edmund, king of England, who, as said, began to reign in the year 855. Wilson, who in his English Martyrology of the year 1640, at the 4th day of November, clearly commemorates no other Clarus than the one who is venerated in the town of his name on the Epte and is adorned with an elogium by Capgrave in the New Legend of the Saints of England, affirms that he was crowned with martyrdom about the year 666, although he also cites the latter in the margin. Further, Dempster also supports Wilson; for he, although he seems to make Clarus the hermit, noted by himself in the Scottish Menology at the 18th of February and of July, not an Englishman but a Scot, nevertheless likewise

lists no other Clarus than the one who is venerated in the town of his name on the Epte, and relates, in the Ecclesiastical History of the Scottish nation, chapter 251, that he, who he says was first called Guillermus or Guillelmus, and afterwards, when he had restored the use of their eyes to many, obtained from this the name of Clarus, lived in the year 600 or thereabouts. If, therefore, one must stand here by these two last writers, the Clarus of Capgrave, who is venerated on the Epte, obtained both the palm of martyrdom and his birth long before the year 884, indeed even before the year 855.

[30] But Arthur du Monstier, who also commemorates in Neustria Pia, page 68, Clarus the hermit or anchorite, suggest, not different, he seems to be distinguished, not different, as appears, from Capgrave's Clarus, adds that he was initiated into the priesthood about the year 870, without expressing the time at which he was born; and although I could not agree with du Monstier without doubt in this matter, if only because it would follow from this that Clarus could have been taken from among the living only three or four years at most before Usuard's Martyrology was composed, and it would therefore become very difficult to believe, if only for that reason, that he is announced in it, I am nevertheless also compelled to doubt whether that Clarus truly lived in the year 600 or thereabouts and ended his life by martyrdom about the year 666, because Wilson and Dempster, who assert these things, allege no ancient monument for strengthening their assertion. And indeed I think that they could not even have done so. For no monument of this kind exists, unless I am mistaken. Certainly I could find none anywhere, though a most diligent search was made. But since indeed, if one must agree with Pommeraye, who establishes two martyrs named Clarus in the Vexin country, Capgrave's Clarus, and therefore he who is venerated in the town of his name on the Epte, was some centuries later than the Clarus who, as is said, buried St. Nigasius with St. Pientia, it follows that the latter is different from the Clarus venerated on the Epte, and therefore also from the Clarus who is mentioned by Usuard on the 4th day of November; for I think it, as I have already intimated before, most like the truth that the latter is one and the same with the Clarus venerated on the Epte, because the latter, as I showed above, ended his life by martyrdom on the same 4th day of November on which the former is announced by Usuard.

[31] But whether rightly so or on the contrary wrongly [that that last office was rendered by her with one joined to her, Usuard forbids us to believe,] leaving the opinion to be discussed further at the said day of November, I now return whence I digressed and inquire whether St. Pientia, as the writers praised above will have it, buried St. Nigasius. Usuard again makes me doubt this matter, announcing St. Pientia today together with SS. Nigasius and Quirinus in his genuine Martyrology in Sollerius thus: In the Vexin country, the passion of the saints Nigasius the presbyter and his companions Quirinus and Pientia; for thus he plainly indicates, as appears, that St. Pientia underwent martyrdom together with SS. Nigasius and Quirinus. It can indeed be objected that Pientia is announced today by Usuard in the Vexin country jointly with SS. Nigasius and Quirinus, not because she suffered there together with them, but because she is venerated together on one and the same present day; but Pientia and Quirinus are called by Usuard companions of St. Nigasius; and since martyrs are certainly not accustomed to be called companions by Martyrologists on account of a cult which they enjoy together somewhere, it follows that Pientia and Quirinus must be judged to be called companions of St. Nigasius by Usuard either on account of the martyrdom which they underwent together with him, or certainly on account of the evangelical preaching which they discharged together with him; and since St. Pientia is not read to have preached the gospel together with St. Nigasius after her conversion to the faith, indeed, the things related of her seem scarcely, if at all, to allow that she be believed to have done so, nothing, as appears, remains but that she be judged to be numbered among the Companions of St. Nigasius by Usuard on account of the martyrdom which she endured together with him.

[32] unless he is understood in the way here set out. But if St. Pientia truly suffered martyrdom together with St. Nigasius, and therefore also with St. Quirinus, how, I ask, could it have come about that she committed their bodies to the earth? I surely do not see how. Yet since common tradition, as appears, holds that this was done by St. Pientia, and the same is also attested by almost all writers and almost all monuments when they hold discourse about the burial of St. Nigasius, what if St. Pientia is counted among the Companions of St. Nigasius by Usuard, not indeed because after her conversion to the faith she discharged the Evangelical preaching together with Nigasius, but because she brought him in it whatever help she could, according to her strength? Certainly in this way that martyrologist can in some manner be brought into concord with the tradition, writers and monuments which attribute the burial of St. Nigasius to Pientia; and since writers are not to be set in collision with other writers, tradition and monuments, but, if it can be done, reconciled, the equity of reason can seem to require here that Usuard, who, unless he is understood in the way already set out, forbids attributing the burial of St. Nigasius to St. Pientia, be in actual fact understood in that way. Wherefore, although indeed it is surely not certain in every respect, as everyone will gather from what has already been said, that St. Nigasius was buried by St. Pientia, nevertheless all credit is not on that account to be denied without doubt to those who assert that Pientia gave burial to Nigasius and was not afflicted with martyrdom before she had done so. Further, just as one can still be in doubt, on account of the things already adduced above, concerning that act of St. Pientia, even though asserted by many, so also, as appears, one can be in doubt concerning the episcopate of St. Nigasius at Rouen, indeed even concerning his episcopal character, even though both this and that are likewise asserted by many. This will become evident from what we are to say in the following §.

§ III. Whether St. Nigasius was bishop of Rouen, and whether he was even distinguished with the episcopal character.

[Although it is not validly argued against the episcopate of Nigasius at Rouen that he was never at Rouen,] It cannot indeed be validly argued against his episcopate at Rouen from the fact that Nigasius never came to Rouen; for whether or not he came to that city matters little, provided that he was ordained bishop for subjecting to Christ the Velocasses, whose chief city, as said above, was Rouen, announced the Christian faith to that people and sealed it among them by shedding his blood. So, nearly, and surely most rightly, the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 4; but was Nigasius truly ordained bishop for subjecting to Christ the Velocasses, and therefore the people of Rouen? Pommeraye, in the History of the Archbishops of Rouen, page 1, affirms that the public records of the cathedral church of Rouen, and the ancient Breviaries and Martyrologies which speak of that Saint, testify that he was ordained bishop at Rome by St. Clement the Pope and sent with Dionysius the Areopagite into the Gauls in order to announce the Gospel there, and by name in the city of Rouen. But the records of the church of Rouen which he praises are not at my hand, and I therefore neither deny nor affirm that they testify what he says; yet the ancient Breviaries and Martyrologies which he likewise praises compel me to doubt whether they truly do so; for although in two older Breviaries of the church of Rouen existing with us, one of which is marked as printed in the year 1581 and the other in the year 1627, Nigasius is said to have been ordained bishop by blessed Pope Clement, it is nevertheless only in the latter that this is related to have been done with the city of Rouen also assigned to him as his see, and I could find no ancient Martyrology that agrees with it.

[34] And indeed that Nigasius was not ordained bishop at Rome by Pope Clement, [yet that he was ordained bishop of Rouen at Rome, in the sixth century, as from Gregory of Tours,] with the city of Rouen assigned to him to illuminate chiefly with the light of the faith, is clear if only from the fact that Clement ended his life by martyrdom toward the end of the first century, and that Dionysius, apostle of the Parisians, with whom Nigasius is asserted to have been sent into the Gauls, is different from Dionysius the Areopagite, as I showed in the Commentary prefatory to the latter's fabulous Acts at the 9th day of this month, and did not arrive in the Gauls earlier, as I showed at the same day in the Commentary prefatory to the Acts of Dionysius of Paris, than about the year 250. Besides, since Nigasius, as the anonymous writer of his Passion, written, as said, in the tenth century, and another writer, likewise anonymous, who, as I have already shown, committed to writing in the eleventh century the Acts of the Archbishops of Rouen published by Mabillon, declare, and as the tradition of the church of Rouen, commonly admitted by Davanne, Farin, Pommeraye and other more recent writers, holds, was sent into the Gauls with Dionysius, apostle of the Parisians, it appears from Gregory of Tours that he was not ordained bishop of Rouen at Rome, even if you were to assert that this was done not by Clement but by any other Roman Pontiff whatever. For this ancient father of the History of the Franks, book 1, chapter 8, enumerating all the bishops who he judged were sent with Dionysius, apostle of the Parisians, into the Gauls to announce the Gospel there, by no means counts Nigasius among them, since he does not say a word about him. I know indeed that arguments drawn from the silence of authors frequently do not have much strength; but they are at least not without all force when the thing about which they turn is something which the authors, if it had been, would probably both have known and, knowing it, would have committed to writing; and since, if Nigasius had been ordained bishop of Rouen at Rome, Gregory would probably both have known it and, knowing it, would have committed it to writing, namely by numbering Nigasius among the bishops whom he writes came from Rome into the Gauls with Dionysius, apostle of the Parisians, the sees of each also being expressed, and yet he did not do so, there is surely reason for us to argue from Gregory that Nigasius was not ordained bishop of Rouen at Rome, or at least that this was not yet believed to have been done in the sixth century, in which that holy historiographer flourished.

[35] indeed also in the tenth century, as from the Acts of the Archbishops of Rouen Nor indeed was this yet believed only in the sixth century, but also, as appears, in the tenth. For he who in the eleventh century, as I have already shown, wrote the Acts of the Archbishops of Rouen, just praised again, speaks of the Roman ordination of Nigasius as bishop of Rouen as of a matter known not very long before his own age, in this manner: I think it is now manifest to not a few that he (namely Nigasius) was ordained at Rome by the blessed Pope Clement prelate of the city of the people of Rouen, which was not yet subject to the pastoral yoke of anyone; and thus he speaks of the said ordination of Nigasius, not as it was done by Clement, but as, Nigasius

having also been assigned the city of Rouen as his see, it is asserted to have been done, it appears that he holds discourse. For to the words just given he presently subjoins: Nor is it frivolous, but firm and settled, as his (namely Nigasius's) Passion testifies, that this same man (namely Nigasius), associated with blessed Dionysius, by permission of Pope Clement came down to the Gallic shores; and that, before he could reach his see, which he had received at Rome, as we have said, he endured martyrdom ... with Quirinus and Scuviculus; and thus, although in his earlier words he affirmed two things distinct from one another, namely that Nigasius was both ordained bishop at Rome by blessed Pope Clement and received the city of Rouen as his see, he nevertheless clearly insinuates that this latter is not related in the Passion of Nigasius which he praises, and which, from what I have shown above, you will understand was written in the tenth century.

[36] Acts Now then, since, from what has just been alleged, the writer of the eleventh century speaks thus, as I said, of the Roman ordination of Nigasius as bishop of Rouen, this is surely an argument that it was not yet believed in the tenth century: but I am pleased to add here yet another thing by which the matter may be proved more strongly. The Passion of St. Nigasius existing with us, which, from what has already been said above, was not different from the Passion praised, as I have just said, by the same writer, not only records nothing at all which declares that Nigasius received Rouen as his see from blessed Pope Clement, but on the contrary records things which even seem to require that this should not be believed. For the anonymous author who wrote it, toward the beginning of his work, having narrated the mission of Dionysius of Paris, whom he confuses with Dionysius the Areopagite, into the Gauls, which he ascribes to blessed Pope Clement, affirms that several companions from the ecclesiastical order were joined to him by the latter, so that he might more easily bring the heathen to the faith of Christ; and counting among these Quirinus, Scubiculus and Nigasius, ordained bishop at Rome (as he says, namely, with no mention meanwhile made of any see assigned to him) by blessed Pope Clement, he first sets out in what way those apostolic Men laboured for some time together with Dionysius at Paris, with happy success, in converting the heathen to Christ.

[37] Then further, having spoken in general of the same, and by name of St. Dionysius, in these following words, and from the things which occur in the Passion of St. Nigasius But the most holy companions of the illustrious Dionysius, seeing so great a salvation being worked by God in the city and territory of the Parisians through His servants, began themselves also to meditate on the proper expenditure of the talent entrusted to them, and to yearn with all their senses to pour in the Gospel of Christ for the healing of souls upon the peoples of various cities, situated both near at hand and also far off; and blessed Dionysius, having learned of this will and devotion, and understanding that the ready unanimity of his servants also proceeded from God, from whom all good things proceed, gave thanks to God, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, he presently adds, to the discourse on the exhortation which he says Dionysius here made to his holy companions, these words too, set down here just now: Discoursing these and very many other things, (Dionysius) bidding them farewell dismissed them, giving the peace of charity to all and commending them to the Saviour, the Lord of all; and they, being dismissed, were dispersed through all Gaul, Germany, Aquitaine and the other provinces far and wide, preaching the Gospel of the heavenly kingdom and healing languors and all infirmities; and at length, turning his discourse specially to Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, he writes of them the following: And the Saints of whom we made mention above, that is, Nigasius the bishop, Quirinus the presbyter, Scubiculus the deacon, hearing that the metropolis of the people of Rouen, situated far below Paris upon the bank of the Seine, was nevertheless most opulent in peoples and in the commerce of business, most delightful in the concourse of its port, most rich in abundance of fruits, fish and all things, and through this most filthy with the defilements of all demons and the superstitions of idols, strengthened by the example of the most holy Dionysius, resolved by a common vow to come to it as quickly as possible and, with God's help, to recall it from the worship of idols to the faith of Christ and the knowledge of the truth. Crossing therefore the river which is called the Oise, they came into the Vexin country.

[38] Such are the things relevant to our purpose here which the praised author supplies; it is elicited that it was not yet believed, and hence, and for other reasons and thus, as will become evident to one who considers them attentively, he does not relate that Nigasius received Rouen from blessed Pope Clement as his episcopal see, or was ordained bishop of the people of Rouen, or was sent to Rouen, either by him or, as Orderic Vitalis says, by St. Dionysius of Paris, to announce the faith of Christ there; but since on the contrary he records even things from which you would not undeservedly conclude, as appears, not that, but only that Nigasius was a Regionary bishop, as we say, who was attached to no see, it follows that, considering what he writes, Nigasius was ordained bishop of Rouen neither by Dionysius nor by anyone else. Now then, since the same author is older than the writer of the Acts of the Archbishops of Rouen just mentioned above, who, according to what has been said, flourished when the eleventh century was growing old, inasmuch as he is praised by the latter according to what was alleged above, and he most probably lived, as I showed above, either in the tenth century or certainly not later than the beginning of the eleventh, and no literary monument older than this latter century is found in which Nigasius is called bishop of Rouen, it appears that it must be concluded from all that has been said that Nigasius was still held in the tenth century only for a regionary bishop, and did not begin to be numbered among the bishops of Rouen before the eleventh century, in which the writer of the Acts of the Archbishops of Rouen, who, as already said, makes him bishop of Rouen, flourished, was already passing.

[39] [added here, it appears likely that he is not to be counted among the bishops of Rouen;] Wherefore, since Nigasius, as follows from this, was believed to be bishop of the people of Rouen not immediately from the origin, but only then when some centuries had elapsed after his martyrdom, and prudent and sound criticism advises that things which are detected to have been believed not immediately from the time at which they are said to have been done, but only long after, be rejected and counted among inventions, it appears likely that Nigasius is to be erased from the catalogue of the bishops of Rouen. Certainly I think so, and so much the more readily because not even Riculfus, who governed the church of Rouen in the office of bishop between the year 872 and the year 875 (see the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 23 and following), seems to have held him for a bishop of Rouen. For in the charter which Pommeraye records in the History of the abbey of St. Audoenus, published in the year 1662, page 399 and following, he speaks thus: In the first year of my ordination ... I thought it worthy to visit the thresholds of the Saints, namely of Audoenus, confessor of Christ, formerly the kindly prelate of the aforesaid city (of Rouen), and of the blessed martyrs Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and saint Pientia; and since here, while speaking of St. Audoenus, he calls him prelate of Rouen, as he was, and yet presently speaking of Nigasius does not attribute that title to him, even though he could have added to his name the words first prelate of the same city most easily and most opportunely, as will be evident to one who considers it, this is surely an argument that Nigasius was not held by him for a bishop of the people of Rouen.

[40] indeed whether he was even a bishop, Now then, since these things are so, in the Rouen Breviary which appeared in the year 1736 Nigasius is rightly called, not bishop of Rouen, but only Apostle of Neustria or Normandy, in which the Vexin country is included. Besides, some ancient Lists of the bishops of Rouen, which draw their beginning from Mallonus, are surely to be judged to do this, contrary to what the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana think, in the volume just cited, column 5, not only because Mallonus is believed to have founded the cathedral church at Rouen, or to have been the first to place the episcopal see there, but also because he was the first of all to be ordained bishop of that city, and in actual fact was therefore the foremost of the prelates of Rouen. Further, although indeed the Acts of St. Nigasius, which I have already praised rather often, plainly declare, as I insinuated above, that he was a regionary bishop, and indeed most expressly relate that he was ordained bishop by blessed Pope Clement, I nevertheless think it must also be doubted whether Nigasius was truly even a bishop; and whether deservedly or undeservedly it will be possible to establish from what is now to be said. The Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, who do not wish it to be doubted even whether Nigasius was the first bishop of the people of Rouen, in the volume just cited again, column 4, contend that, if only from the fact that Dionysius of Paris and other heralds of the Gospel, who are said to have had a presbyter and a deacon as companions, were bishops, it must be concluded that all Evangelical heralds with whom either a presbyter together with a deacon, or even two presbyters, are read to have been associated were certainly raised to bishops, and therefore, since the present Roman Martyrology together with certain Acts of St. Nigasius join to this most holy martyr as companions of his Evangelical preaching and of his last agony one presbyter, named Quirinus, and likewise one deacon, named Scubiculus, not a little is contributed from this to proving his episcopate.

[41] But the Acts of St. Nigasius which they praise are of very slight credit, is, also for reasons, against those who think otherwise as they themselves declare, and yield to Usuard the palm of antiquity, as they do not dare to deny; wherefore no one ought to be moved by them, which most probably are not different from the Acts of Nigasius existing with us, already praised rather often, of no great value, as I have already shown above, to believe without doubt either that Quirinus, to whom Usuard does not give the title of presbyter, was a presbyter, or that Scubiculus, of whom the same martyrologist does not even make mention, was joined to Nigasius as a companion either in Evangelical preaching or in his last agony. The same, further, must be established concerning the present Roman Martyrology: for whatever things it records which are absent from Usuard were drawn either from sacred Fasti far more recent than that Martyrologist, or from the very Acts of Nigasius just praised again, or certainly (for I know no monuments better either in credit or in antiquity than these from which they could have flowed) from monuments of no better credit, likewise more recent than Usuard. But, they say, grant even that in the history of St. Nigasius Quirinus and Scubiculus are adventitious; it will nevertheless be lawful to gather from this that the fable was invented for this reason, that at the time at which it was devised, and that indeed a very remote one, our forefathers were persuaded that Nigasius had been distinguished with the episcopal character. So, almost word for word, the praised Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana too; but what, I ask, do they elicit from this whereby Nigasius may be believed without doubt to have been a bishop?

[42] That our forefathers believed what they had received from their fathers (they add) the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana we must believe, unless it is shown either that they themselves invented the fable or that they were deceived by some more recent fable; but what of that? To us, surely, that our Forefathers, when they believed that St. Nigasius had been distinguished with the episcopal character

believed it, believed nothing at all other than what they had received from their fathers, must be believed most firmly too; but will it follow from this that we must believe without doubt that Nigasius was a bishop? This certainly does not appear so to me. For what then? That SS. Nigasius and Quirinus and Scubiculus, whom most join to him as companions, seized with their own hands after death the heads cut off from them, and, carrying them, crossed by a Ford previously unknown to the opposite bank of the island formed by the river Itta, our Forefathers believed, as everyone will gather from the Acts of our Saints praised above and still to be praised below, and from other documents; and that they thus believed nothing but what they had received from their fathers must be believed by us too (for it cannot be shown either that they themselves invented the fable or that they were deceived by a more recent fable invented by others); but who would conclude from this that it must be believed without doubt that Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus truly carried after death, by a remarkable prodigy, the heads cut off from them with their own hands? No one certainly who has considered that undoubted credit would otherwise have to be won by a like manner of arguing for innumerable inventions.

[43] brought forward Therefore we ought to believe without doubt, unless something advises the contrary, the things which we know our Forefathers believed and received from their fathers, for the most part only when these are known to have lived so little removed from the time at which those things happened that they could have had them understood perfectly well; and since, if you except the charter of Riculfus praised above, and perhaps the Hieronymian apograph of Corbie in Florentini, in which Nigasius is listed without the title of bishop, all the monuments in which Nigasius is treated, and the very Passion or Acts of this Saint themselves, as I showed above of set purpose, are, as I noted before, more recent than Usuard, who ceased to live about the year 877, it surely appears altogether unlike the truth that those from whom our Forefathers received the things narrated about Nigasius in those monuments lived so little removed from the time at which they are said to have been done that they could have had them ascertained perfectly well; wherefore there is no reason why we should believe without doubt, on the credit or authority of these, that Nigasius was distinguished with the episcopal character, as some of the same monuments relate. And indeed Usuard too, who, as said, is older than all those monuments, seems to oppose those who believe it; for he calls Nigasius not a bishop but only a presbyter. I know indeed that in the first three centuries of the Church the name of presbyter was used indiscriminately to designate both a bishop and a priest of the lower order; but this no longer obtained in the ninth century, in which Usuard flourished. So, namely, the learned commonly judge, nor, as appears, do the praised Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana themselves oppose them.

[44] here adduced, But in each and every century preceding the age of Usuard, and therefore also at the time when the monuments from which he drew his knowledge of Nigasius were written, were bishops still now and then called presbyters? So, as it seems, the same writers judge, and hence too they say it came about that Usuard, since he wrote according to the credit of the monuments lying before him, and did not wish to change even the name of presbyter, which he saw attributed to Nigasius in them, distinguished this Saint by that alone. But although this appears to me very doubtful, and, not to say anything worse, uncertain, let it be as they think, and let it likewise have happened from this that Usuard adorned Lucian of Beauvais, even though called bishop by many, at the 8th day of January with the title of presbyter alone; it will at least follow from this that those whom this martyrologist calls bishops he also found called, not presbyters, but bishops in the monuments lying before him; and since this is so, by what fate or by what reason did it come about that of these, all of whom without exception are certainly known to have been in truth bishops, absolutely none, and yet both Nigasius and Lucian, of whom (see Tillemont, volume IV of the Ecclesiastical Monuments, page 747 and following) it is surely no less doubtful than of Nigasius whether he was a bishop, were given only the title of presbyter in the monuments lying before Usuard? This surely happens most wonderfully, and makes one suspect that Lucian and Nigasius were in actual fact not bishops, but only priests or presbyters of the lower order.

[45] Therefore, although indeed I would not dare to assert for certain that Nigasius was only a priest of the lower order, uncertain and doubtful. I am nevertheless compelled by the things already alleged to doubt whether he was truly a bishop, and therefore whether they did not make him, from a mere presbyter, such as he was believed to be at the beginning, a regionary bishop, and then, as fables grow with the progress of time, from a regionary a bishop of Rouen. Nor can the Acts of the archbishops of Rouen, praised more than once above, which also teach it most clearly, move me to believe that he was a bishop: for besides that what I said above in general of all the monuments which spoke of Nigasius after Usuard fits these, they were written only in the eleventh century, as I showed, and therefore at a time far too remote from the age of Nigasius for him who wrote them to have been able to have it well enough understood whether he was a bishop or not. The church of Rouen has indeed for a very long time already venerated Nigasius as a pontiff martyr; but since not even the century in which it began to venerate the Saint thus can be determined in any way, it appears doubtful and uncertain to me whether it did not do so moved, if not by the Acts of the Archbishops of Rouen just praised again, of slight authority in this matter, perhaps solely by the Passion of St. Nigasius existing with us and already praised rather often. For this expressly calls Nigasius a bishop in more than one place; but since it by no means deserves entire credit, as I showed above, and hence cannot make certain the time which it assigns to the martyrdom of St. Nigasius, the same must be said for the same reason of the episcopal character which it attributes to this Saint of ours.

§ IV. The memory of the Saints in the sacred Fasti, their ecclesiastical cult in various places, their relics first translated.

To our Saints, whose memories in the ninth century, Our holy martyrs Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia, who are announced today in the present Roman Martyrology in these following words, In the Vexin country, the passion of the holy martyrs Nicasius, bishop of Rouen, Quirinus the presbyter, Scubiculus the deacon, and Pientia the virgin, under the governor Fescenninus, are likewise commemorated today, as I already intimated above, in several other more recent sacred Fasti, which it is not necessary to list here, since they add no weight at all either to what has been said or to what is further to be said; and since Nigasius, Quirinus and Pientia stand inscribed today also in the Usuardine Martyrology, as we have already seen before, and the inscription of Saints in ancient or classic Martyrologies, such as the Usuardine is, is held as ecclesiastical cult, this is surely an argument that those three of our holy Martyrs last named, the first of whom is also mentioned in the most ancient Hieronymian apograph of Corbie in Florentini and d'Achery, enjoyed cult of this kind already from the ninth century, in which the author of the Usuardine Martyrology flourished. Nor does it appear that it should be doubted that Scuviculus too was already then honoured with the same honour; for although Usuard, who must have drawn the class of our Martyrs from some particular notice unknown to us, nowhere made mention of Scuviculus, Riculfus nevertheless, bishop of Rouen, who flourished in the same ninth century as Usuard, in the first year of his episcopate, the year of Christ 872 according to what is to be said below, betook himself to Vadiniacum to venerate the relics and implore the suffrages of St. Scuviculus as well as of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Pientia, as is clear from the charter of that prelate of Rouen to be transcribed here below; and he does not seem likely to have done this unless Scuviculus had already then, equally with Nigasius, Quirinus and Pientia, obtained the honours which the Church is accustomed to pay to Saints.

[47] [indeed perhaps from the fourth century the honours of the heavenly ones were paid,] But were not the honours of the heavenly ones paid to our Saints even earlier than when the ninth century was already passing? The Nigasian Acts, as they exist with us in the two manuscript copies praised above, expressly relate that, as soon as Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus had been afflicted with martyrdom and given burial in the island of Vadiniacum, a church was built there, and indeed by St. Pientia; but no one certainly who has weighed what I discussed above about their doubtful credit will think that this is on that account to be believed. The anonymous author of the Work existing in Martène and praised by me above at num. 8 also affirms, from the History of their Passion which he praises, that a church was built for Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus at Vadiniacum; but at the same time he plainly indicates that this was not done immediately after their martyrdom. And surely, since, when our Saints had been slain for the faith, which, as I showed above, more probably happened about the year 286, the Christians in the Gauls did not yet enjoy peace immediately, no one would easily persuade himself that a church was then built by them in honour of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus. But since it appears indeed beyond doubt that a sacred building was built in antiquity at Vadiniacum for these three Saints of ours, when shall we establish that this was done? Davanne, a man of altogether exceptional piety and veneration toward our Saints, as will become evident from what is to be said below, suspects, in their Life, which, composed by himself, he published first in the year 1628, and then, augmented by various additions, in the year 1643 with a repeated printing, already rather often praised by me above and still to be praised several times below, chapter 47, that the matter is to be referred to the age of Constantine the Great, or the beginning of the fourth century; and not undeservedly; for since then, as he rightly observes, sacred buildings were erected both at Rome and throughout the empire far and wide, and by name in Gaul in very many places, it by no means shrinks from the appearance of truth that then likewise at Vadiniacum a building of this kind was erected over their tombs in honour of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, and indeed of St. Pientia, who, although perhaps she did not undergo martyrdom together with Nigasius, as said, had nevertheless been buried in the same place at Vadiniacum as they.

[48] Further, he affirms in chapter 48 that this sacred building, which he relates was only of slight size, and the relics in the seventh century, or indeed, remained in its primitive state until the seventh century, and that it was then at length raised into a priory by St. Audoenus, or, as he is otherwise called, Dado, bishop of the people of Rouen, more probably from the year 640 until the year 683, as may be seen in our Work at the 24th day of September, on which that Saint was treated there, monks being brought into it whom he had fetched from the suburban abbey of the Order of St. Benedict at Rouen, then called of St. Peter, afterwards of St. Audoenus; presently also adding that then, too, a part of the bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia was carried from there to Rouen, by the care of the same holy prelate, to the said, then

and for a long time still afterwards outside Rouen, but now situated within it, abbey. Neither of these assertions, indeed, the first of which Le Cointe nevertheless seems to admit as undoubtedly true in the Ecclesiastical Annals of the Franks at the year 841, num. 24, does he confirm by any ancient document of a nature to establish credit; but since St. Audoenus, while he was at Rome, at Cologne and in other places where he knew relics of Saints were to be found, strove greatly, as Pommeraye teaches in the History of the abbey just mentioned, book 1, the Lives of Audoenus with us in the place last cited by no means opposing him, to obtain portions of them for himself, in order to enrich the churches of Rouen with sacred wealth of this kind, it appears likely, at least from this, that it was arranged by that holy prelate, to the same end, that some part of the relics or bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus should be translated from the church or priory of St. Nigasius at Vadiniacum to Rouen. But if anyone should still obstinately wish that this was not done by St. Audoenus, and therefore not in the seventh century, it appears nevertheless that it must be concluded from the Charter of Riculfus, archbishop of Rouen, that notable relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, and indeed of Pientia, were at least within a space of some years before the year 841 translated from the village of Vadiniacum to Rouen to the abbey of St. Audoenus there, as I shall presently show when I have transcribed it here, already praised more than once.

[49] as from the Charter of Riculfus, which here It is couched in these following words in Pommeraye, in the History of the abbey just named again, page 399 and following: In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, I, Riculfus, although my merits deny it, yet by the help of the divine Clemency the most humble archbishop of the church of Rouen, or abbot of the monastery of saint Peter and the kindly Audoenus, which once shone more august in the suburb of the metropolitan city, in the first year of my ordination, namely on the 16th day before the Kalends of December, thought it worthy to visit the thresholds of the Saints, namely of Audoenus, confessor of Christ, formerly the kindly prelate of the aforesaid city, and of the blessed martyrs Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and saint Pientia (whose most sacred bodies at that time were in exile at the estate of Vadiniacum on account of fear of the Northmen, although on their own soil), and to supplicate their suffrages, that I, whom I remembered to be adorned with no good of merits, and whom I grieved with frequent sighs to be imbued with no prudence of ecclesiastical doctrine, might, their patronage interceding with the Lord, the fount of piety and wisdom, both deserve to be washed of my own squalor, and be able wholesomely and sufficiently to distribute the food of divine wheat to the people formerly committed to us from heaven. Then on the morrow, which was the 15th day before the Kalends of December, moved by pastoral care and by the affection of devotion, impelled (God is witness) by no curiosity of rashness, I resolved, with certain brethren of the best religion of the same congregation taken with me, that it should be searched out with the greatest veneration whether the most sacred body of the aforesaid kindly confessor Audoenus was worthily preserved in the casket of its deposition. Which when we had learned, in accordance with the very great ardour of desire which I had continually had concerning his cult, having at length obtained the long-desired and fitting time, I took with me certain pledges of his own body, so that if ever by the lapse of human infirmity I should decline from the line of the right path, fortified by his patronage I might deserve pardon in heaven, carrying whose memory with me on earth I would render continual service.

[50] is transcribed here entire, And that I might be able more especially to win his clemency for myself, lest, namely, I should incur the wickedness of great peril, as one who, squalid with the guilt of so many crimes, had presumed to handle so pure and sacred a body with undeserving hands, having found a wholesome counsel, I resolved to give as a perpetual gift two mansi which are in Bidoliacum, with the bondsmen of these names, Bertuinus, Vuinetrudis, Gumberga, Ruduis, and the other appurtenances from the estate of Rumiliacum, for the perpetual maintenance of his lights, so that while the lamps glowed before his venerable sepulchre by the little gift of our offering, I might be able by his prayers to obtain among the prudent Virgins, who carry the lamps of good works, at least the last little place, and to come to meet Christ with a secure heart. I beseech therefore all my successors the bishops that this constitution of our authority may remain inviolate with them, so that they too, while our good does not displease them, may be able to receive the reward of eternal retribution from Christ the pious judge. But if anyone else shall attempt to act against this decree, let him know that he is condemned by us with perpetual anathema, unless he restrains himself from this presumption: so that he who does not wish to show honour to the Saints with us may be punished with the damnation of Gehenna in hell with the unclean spirits. And that this our constitution may remain unshaken for future ages, we have strengthened it with our own subscription; and that the gift of our writing might be held more firmly through the revolving times, we have confirmed it below with our hand, and we have commanded our canons and monks and faithful laymen also to corroborate it, and, that it might be held more firmly, we have impressed it with the ring of holy Mary. Such is the Charter of Riculfus, which I judged was to be set entire here before the eyes of the reader, because it has already been alleged more than once above and is still to be alleged below, omitting however the names of its subscribers, which it matters little to know here.

[51] He, who was also abbot of St. Audoenus, governed the church of Rouen from the year 872 to the year 875, it appears that it must be concluded as the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana teach, volume XI, column 23 and following; wherefore, since he says, in the Charter, given, as appears, somewhat afterwards, and just now transcribed here, that he visited the thresholds of SS. Audoenus, Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia in the first year of his ordination, he undoubtedly did so in the year 872 or the following; but since the place in which Martyrs suffered and were buried is to be judged in a certain manner proper to them, and certainly, while their bodies either rest or are preserved in a place of this kind, it can by no means be held as a place of exile in respect of them, how, I ask, does Riculfus, who himself also calls the estate of Vadiniacum the proper soil of our Saints, affirm in the same Charter, without injury to the truth, that their bodies were then in exile there? What if those bodies, or at least notable bones of them, if not already from the seventh century, then at least afterwards, toward the end of the eighth century or the beginning of the following, and therefore within the space of at least some years before the year 841, were translated from the village of Vadiniacum to Rouen to the abbey of St. Peter or St. Audoenus, and thence, after they had been preserved for several years in that sacred retreat, were brought back to Vadiniacum in the year 841 for fear of the Normans, who then, as Mabillon teaches at the same year in the Benedictine Annals, num. 32, bursting into Neustria under their leader Oscherius, burned Rouen and that abbey neighbouring the city?

[52] So certainly, account being taken of the said abbey, from which those sacred pledges, it appears, were translated to Rouen before the year 841. after they had rested in it for several years, were brought back to Vadiniacum for fear of the Normans in the year 841, Riculfus, when he came to that village in the year 872 or the following, would have affirmed in the Charter recited above, with no injury to the truth, that they were then in exile there, although on their own soil. He would likewise indeed have to be judged to have asserted it with truth if the same bodies, or notable bones of them, had been brought back to Vadiniacum for fear of the Normans in the year 841 from a place different from the abbey of St. Audoenus, in which they had been preserved for several years; but no one has ever asserted that those sacred pledges were translated to a place different from that abbey, from which, after they had rested there for a space of several years, they were brought back to Vadiniacum for fear of the Normans in the year 841, nor does anything occur anywhere from which you could even suspect that this was done. Now then, since this is so, and Pommeraye, in the History of the abbey of St. Audoenus, page 202, insinuates that he read in a manuscript codex of that abbey that the bodies of Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia, or notable bones of them, were carried to Vadiniacum together with the body of St. Audoenus, which (see the Commentary prefatory to the Acts of this Saint, inserted in our Work at the 24th of August, num. 47) was without any doubt translated thither for fear of the Normans in the year 841, it surely appears, all that I have now said being considered, that it must be concluded, if not from this, certainly from the Charter of Riculfus, inasmuch as in it Riculfus, who is certainly not to be accused of falsity in that matter, affirmed that in the first year of his ordination, the year of Christ 872 or the following according to what has been said, they were in exile at the estate of Vadiniacum, undoubtedly for no other reason than the one assigned above, that those sacred pledges were carried from that estate or village to Rouen to the abbey of St. Audoenus within a space of some years before the year 841.

[53] [either partly, or all, in the church of this city where even today two of St. Nigasius,] Further, Davanne, who, as I have already noted, writes in chapter 48, cited above, that part of the bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia was translated, by the care of St. Audoenus, to Rouen to the suburban abbey of St. Audoenus or St. Peter, adds there besides that the same holy bishop of Rouen both dedicated at Rouen under the name of St. Nigasius a sacred building, which is now a distinguished parish church, and enriched it with two bones of this Saint, which are still preserved in it today; and then, in the chapter next following, he affirms that at that time too Audoenus shared with the bishop of Lisieux certain bones of St. Pientia, which the latter, as he says, deposited at Rouen in the chapel of his palace, now changed into the collegiate and parish church of St. Candidus the Old. But these things, although certainly, if they ever took place, they long preceded the age of Davanne, this writer again confirms here by no ancient testimony; wherefore, although perhaps what he says of the two bones of St. Nigasius placed by Audoenus in the church at Rouen distinguished by the name of this Saint can seem not unlike the truth for the reason alleged at num. 48, it and the other things which he records of certain bones of St. Pientia, shared by Audoenus with the bishop of Lisieux and then deposited by the latter at Rouen, are nevertheless by no means to be held as certain and beyond doubt. But although this is so, you may rightly believe, even on the credit of Davanne alone, that two bones of St. Nigasius are still preserved today at Rouen in the parish church named after this Saint, although meanwhile it is uncertain when, by whom and from where (for I think credit is not to be given here to the author of the Antiquities of Rouen, published in the year 1587, who asserts without any surety that they were received from Meulan) they were brought thither; for he could have had this understood from trustworthy notices either received from Rouen or even procured by himself there, and in actual fact most probably had it.

[54] but not likewise are any bones of St. Pientia preserved. Hence also you may believe that formerly at least some bones of St. Pientia, as follows from the words of the same Davanne which I have already mentioned, were preserved at Rouen in the collegiate church of St. Candidus the Old, although meanwhile it is likewise uncertain when, by whom and from where they had been brought thither,

I believe on the sole authority and credit of that writer, and so much the more readily because, as he says, those bones are listed in an authentic charter of the same church which he intimates lay before him. But do these or other sacred remains of St. Pientia likewise still exist today in the said church of St. Candidus the Old? He says indeed that the girdle of this Saint of ours, by which, when laid upon women in danger in childbirth, help is not rarely given miraculously, as he says he heard from canons of the said church, is still preserved there now, but he asserts that the bones were thrown into the fire and consumed by the flames by the Calvinists, who in the year 1562, as is very well known, raged most impiously at Rouen against all sacred things. But Arthur du Monstier, in the Gynaeceum Sacrum, published in print not earlier than the year 1657, and therefore long after the year 1562, affirms that today, one part of the relics of St. Pientia having been carried to Avranches and deposited there in the cathedral church, the other part is honourably preserved at Rouen in the collegiate church of St. Candidus the Old and at Meulan in the priory of St. Nigasius; and thus that writer seems to conflict with Davanne, who, as said, says that the bones of St. Pientia which were preserved at Rouen in the collegiate church of St. Candidus the Old were burned by the heretics in the latter year. There will perhaps be someone who, to bring him into concord with Davanne, would wish du Monstier to be understood, by the relics of St. Pientia which he asserts are preserved at Rouen in the church just mentioned, to mean nothing other than the girdle of the same Saint of ours mentioned above by Davanne; but this interpretation seems altogether foreign to du Monstier's mind; and since no other way can be assigned, as appears, by which those two writers may be reconciled, with which of them must we agree here? Since Davanne seems to have learned what he writes about that matter from the very canons of St. Candidus the Old, who surely, as it is proper to believe, had the things which pertained to that church and had been done no earlier than within the memory of their fathers investigated very well, one must, as it certainly appears to me, stand by this writer here, and therefore judge that the bones of St. Pientia which were formerly preserved at Rouen in the said church no longer exist there.

[55] But although this is so, and likewise the bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus which were formerly preserved in the abbey or church of St. Audoenus at Rouen in various sacred places, are no longer found there, as I shall show below, nevertheless the canons of the former church still celebrate Pientia, and the monks of the latter Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, with a solemn feast, or certainly celebrated them in the century just past, its middle part not yet elapsed, in which Davanne flourished, who teaches us these things in chapter 49 and following. Nor do I doubt that Nigasius too, together with Quirinus and Scuviculus, is honoured with some special cult at Rouen in the church of his name mentioned above, in which, as said, two of his bones are still preserved today, or certainly was formerly so honoured; for although I find this nowhere committed to writing, the passion of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus existing with us nevertheless persuades me of the matter, divided into nine lessons for the ecclesiastical office and, as the note written at its head states, taken at Rouen from a manuscript of the parish church of St. Nigasius and transmitted thence to our predecessors in the year 1642. But in what manner and with how great solemnity are these three Saints of ours venerated there, or were they formerly venerated? Absolutely nothing occurs by which I might determine this; but you may judge otherwise of the cult which they enjoyed in the century just past in the abbey or church of St. Audoenus at Rouen; for it celebrated them every year on the 11th day of October with an office of triple rite, the lessons of which it partly consists comprising their life and martyrdom, in the century just past, its middle part not yet elapsed, in which Davanne flourished, who again teaches us this in chapter 50; and since this is so, the same church celebrated SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus in the century just past with an even more solemn rite than the remaining places both of the city and of the diocese of Rouen, if you except perhaps La Roche-Guyon, where they say part of the head of St. Pientia is preserved; the abbey of the Order of St. Benedict of Fécamp, where some bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, enclosed in a silver Casket, exist, as Pommeraye affirms; the priory or village of Vadiniacum, where all four of our Saints were slain for the faith and buried, and part of their relics is still held in veneration; the church of St. Nigasius at Rouen, just mentioned again, and another there, the church of St. Vivianus, where the author of the Antiquities of Rouen, praised above, page 72, says some relics of our Saints are also found; and finally Pontoise, which Nigasius is said to have illuminated with the light of the faith.

[56] indeed they were formerly venerated in the whole diocese of Rouen, This, and also that these three Saints of ours nevertheless then enjoyed, and further still enjoy today, a plainly exceptional ecclesiastical cult in the whole diocese of Rouen, in whose cathedral church some relics of St. Nigasius are still honourably preserved today, as Farin says, Christian Normandy, page 69, will become plain from what is now to be said. There exists with us a Breviary of the metropolitan church of Rouen, which is marked as revised by order of the most illustrious and most reverend lord François de Harlay, archbishop of Rouen, and printed in the year 1627. In this, and in another still older Breviary of the same church, which likewise exists with us, committed to print in the year 1581, at the fifth day before the Ides, or the 11th day of October, an ecclesiastical office of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus is prescribed to be recited, not under the triple, but only under the double rite. And hence indeed it becomes plain that SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus were honoured every year with a surely exceptional cult, but yet less solemn than in the said church of St. Audoenus, in the whole, or certainly, since this was perhaps performed with no less solemnity than in that church in the places of the city and diocese of Rouen just mentioned, in almost the whole diocese of Rouen, during that entire space of time which runs from the year 1581 to the year 1627, indeed, on account of what is presently to be alleged, to the year 1736, and therefore during the whole century just past; and in the said year 1736 it seemed good to move those three Saints of ours from the fifth day before the Ides, or the 11th day of October, to which they had been fixed, to the second Sunday of this month, recurring now on this day, now on another, and thenceforth to celebrate them, employing the rite of a higher class and introducing a very great change into the ecclesiastical office with which they were previously venerated, not alone but together with St. Mellonus. All these things I understand from the very Breviary of the church of Rouen which was printed in that year and which lies before my eyes.

[57] and further today For in this an ecclesiastical office is prescribed, furnished at its head with this following title, The Festival of SS. Nigasius, apostle of Neustria, and his companion Martyrs, and of Mellonus, who founded the church of Rouen, and to be recited on the second Sunday of the month of October under the triple rite of the first class; and this office, to pass over in silence the other things in which it differs from the offices previously customarily recited in honour of our Saints on the eleventh day of October according to the prescription of the older Rouen Breviaries of the year 1581 and the year 1627, comprises a prayer and lessons proper to the Saints whom it celebrates, which differ very greatly from the prayer and lessons which are read concerning SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus in those two older Breviaries. That it may be evident to the reader's eye how true this is, I transcribe here only the prayer which occurs both in these and in the other more recent Rouen Breviary just mentioned, omitting meanwhile the lessons for brevity's sake, because they are too lengthy. The former, which is not different in the said two older Breviaries, although these comprise lessons very greatly disagreeing with one another, reads thus: Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that, as the Christian people most devoutly flocks together to the temporal solemnity of Your holy martyrs Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, so it may fully enjoy the eternal one, and lay hold in effect of what it celebrates in its prayers. Through the Lord, etc. The latter, however, is couched in these words: O God, who dwell in light inaccessible, and by the ministry of saints Nigasius with his Companions and Mellonus have called us out of darkness into Your marvellous light, grant that by their intercession we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with You, etc. Let the studious reader now weigh these two prayers and the other things now alleged, and he will at once clearly understand that both what I asserted above concerning the change introduced into the ecclesiastical office of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus and what I asserted concerning the remarkable cult which they enjoyed in the whole diocese or church of Rouen in the century just past, and further still enjoy today, are exceedingly consonant with the truth.

[58] But the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume XI, are venerated, column 5, speak in the following manner of the cult which Nigasius formerly enjoyed in the church of Rouen and further still enjoys: Nigasius, together with saint Mellonus his next successor (namely the latter was the second, while Nigasius, as they think from what was said above, was the first bishop of Rouen), is venerated in the church of Rouen on the first Sunday of October from these recent days in which the Breviary of the same church was both revised and committed anew to print (namely, as said, in the year 1736). He was previously venerated alone on the third day before the Ides of October; but these things by no means agree with what I have already shown concerning the days sacred to the cult of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus today and formerly; and everyone will easily believe that an error lurks in those writers in the days which they here assign to the older and the present cult of Nigasius, who has considered that what I asserted on this subject was drawn from the very Breviaries of the church of Rouen which I praised above, inspected by me most diligently. Meanwhile, content to have noted this here, I now turn my discourse from the cult which our Saints, either partly or all, enjoy and formerly enjoyed in the diocese of Rouen, to their cult in some other places also situated outside that diocese. In Normandy, on the river Seine, eight leagues above Rouen toward the south-east and six from Évreux toward the east, is situated Vernonium, in French Vernon, a town of the diocese of Évreux under the metropolis of Rouen, illuminated with the torch of the heavenly light by St. Nigasius, if du Saussay notes rightly in his Gallican Martyrology.

[59] and the same at Vernon, Davanne affirms, in his Additions to the first edition of the Life of St. Nigasius, chapter 10, that he learned from the parish priest of the place that the memory of St. Quirinus is held there in great veneration, and that the priest at the same time indicated that this was done on account of certain relics of this Saint preserved in the said town and of the tradition about the faith brought into it by him;

and although he does not set out the kind of exterior cult by which that veneration is shown there toward St. Quirinus, nor is this known to me from elsewhere, it is nevertheless by no means foreign to the appearance of truth that Quirinus, and indeed together with him Nigasius and Scubiculus, are venerated there on the 11th day of October with at least a semidouble rite. I judge so because, since in the Breviary of the diocese of Évreux, which is at my hand and is marked as printed in the year 1586, at the 11th day of October an ecclesiastical office of nine lessons of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus is prescribed to be recited with a semidouble rite, as the Kalendar prefixed to the Breviary shows, then surely, in the year 1586, and therefore already from a very long time, an ecclesiastical cult of such rite was shown to these three Saints of ours in that diocese, in which, according to what has been said, Vernon is situated, nor for any cause does it seem that it should be doubted that this is still done there today, if not with a rite of a higher Order, at least of the same. I now come to the cathedral church of Avranches, which is the other episcopal city of Normandy under the metropolis of Rouen, enriched with relics of St. Pientia, as, according to what has been said, Arthur du Monstier writes.

[60] at Avranches, where St. Pientia. Davanne indeed contends in chapter 49 that no relics of St. Pientia exist in that church, citing also in his favour the author of the Antiquities of Rouen praised by me above; but I nowhere find in the latter what he says; and since that writer himself admits that the entire body of St. Pientia is not preserved at Meulan, why could part of it not exist in the cathedral church of Avranches? In the Proper of the Saints of this church, which exists with us and is marked as committed to print in the year 1635, at the 11th day of October an ecclesiastical office of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia is proposed to be recited with the double rite of the first class, in which a prayer is assigned for these four Saints of ours, couched in the words which I subjoin: O God, who have consecrated for us the holy solemnity of this day in honour of Your holy martyrs Nicasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus, Pientia and the others whose relics are contained in our church, be present to the prayers of Your family, and grant that we may be relieved by the merits and intercessions of those whose festivity we celebrate. Through our Lord; and from this and from the ecclesiastical office to be recited thus, as I said, every year concerning our Saints in the cathedral church of Avranches, it appears that it must be concluded that there exist there relics not only of St. Pientia, but also of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, or at least that the people of Avranches, whom I know of no reason to oppose in this matter, are persuaded of it; and at the same time, which pertains chiefly to this place, it also comes about that absolutely no room for doubt is left concerning the remarkable cult of our four Saints among them, which, if it were otherwise, could be clearly proved even from the fact that these are noted, both in the said Proper and in the Kalendar prefixed to it, in exactly the same way as Saints to be venerated with abstinence from servile works.

[61] Further, not only at Avranches and Vernon, at Orléans, but also throughout the whole dioceses of Avranches and Évreux, to which these two cities belong, our Saints, either partly or all, are venerated every year on the 11th day of October, as everyone will gather from what has already been said; and the same is to be said by equal right of the four remaining dioceses subject to the metropolis of Rouen, namely Coutances, Sées, Lisieux and Bayeux, as I learn from either the Kalendars, or the Propers of the Saints, or finally the Breviaries of all of these. Further, I could adduce here several other dioceses of the Gauls besides by which our Saints are likewise then venerated, and by name that of Chartres, which, as Baillet teaches, comprises the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan, often to be mentioned below, and the parish named after St. Scuviculus; but since the celebrity of the ecclesiastical cult which our Saints enjoy is sufficiently and more than sufficiently established from what has already been alleged, it is not worth the trouble to list all those dioceses one by one here now, and hence to the dioceses, or, to speak generally, to the places already mentioned in which our Saints, either partly or all, are venerated, I add only three others besides, of which mention chiefly occurs among the authors speaking of our Saints, namely the church of St. Anianus at Orléans, the abbey or church of Malmedy, distinguished first by the name of St. Peter alone and then, the relics of St. Quirinus having been carried thither, as I shall show below, also by the name of this Saint, and finally the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan. I begin from the church of St. Anianus at Orléans. This, since the earlier one, which had stood at Orléans dedicated to God under the name of the same Saint, had been destroyed by the Normans, Robert, king of the Franks, raised from the foundations in the year 1029 on a more eminent place of this city, as Helgaud, a writer contemporary with this prince, teaches in du Chesne, Writers of the History of the Franks, volume 4, page 72; and when it had been brought to its roof and consecrated to God under the invocation of St. Anianus, the bodies of SS. Anianus and of several other Saints were translated from the old into this new building; and among these Helgaud, who so names the sacred pledges of which he speaks, in du Chesne, in the volume cited, page 73, lists St. Scubilius there.

[62] Tillemont indeed insinuates, in volume 4 of the Ecclesiastical Monuments, in his notes 19 and 24 on Dionysius of Paris, that there is reason why it can be called in doubt whether the names of SS. Baudelius and Scubilius or Scubiculus have not been added to the text of Helgaud in du Chesne, where some relics of St. Scubiculus doing so namely for the reason that le Maire, author of the Antiquities of Orléans, which came forth to the light with a repeated printing in the century just past, when he relates from Helgaud the translation of Anianus and other Saints made at Orléans in the year 1029, makes no mention of Bedelius and Scubiculus, although meanwhile he commemorates the remaining Saints whose bodies or remains are narrated by Helgaud to have then been translated together with the body of St. Anianus. But if the praised author of the Antiquities of Orléans truly received from Helgaud what he narrates about that translation, it appears that it must be believed that the error was made in the copy of the latter which lay before him by the omission of the said names, and not by addition in the copy which du Chesne used, if only because ancient copies of writers, taken from older copies of them, are found disfigured very frequently by the omission of words, but by addition very rarely, or certainly much less frequently. Besides, the translation both of SS. Baudelius and Scubilius and of the other Saints whose bodies are related by Helgaud, in the place cited above, to have been translated at Orléans into the new church together with the body of St. Anianus in the year 1029, is noted at the 14th day of June in the Usuardine Auctarium of Molanus, who flourished long before du Chesne and the author of the Antiquities of Orléans, at Orléans; and a writing existing with us, which is marked as taken from an old manuscript of the church of St. Anianus at Orléans and is prefixed to an old Kalendar of the same church, agrees with this Auctarium of that Martyrologist.

[63] some relics, For it supplies the following words, which bear on this: There were translated into that church (namely the new one of St. Anianus at Orléans) by Robert (king of the Franks) the bodies of SS. Anianus, Euspicius, Monitor, Flosculus, confessors, Baudelius and Scubilius, Martyrs, and Agia, widow; wherefore, since it seems that the bodies or remains not only of the Saints whom the praised author of the Antiquities of Orléans mentions, but also of the Saints whom he omitted, Baudelius and Scubilius or Scuviculus, were actually translated at Orléans from the old into the new church of St. Anianus in the year 1029, and Helgaud, who was then living, undoubtedly had this clearly understood, why should we suspect that the names of each of those Saints in the copy of that writer which lay before du Chesne did not proceed from Helgaud himself, but were intruded into his text by a later hand? Whatever Tillemont argues here, therefore, I am persuaded, moved by the authority of Helgaud, that the remains of St. Scuviculus were actually preserved in the year 1029 in the church of St. Anianus at Orléans; and although I have not ascertained what or of what kind they were, or whence and when they were brought there, it is nevertheless certain to me, which pertains chiefly to this place, from the old Kalendar of that church already praised above, that St. Scubiculus was formerly venerated at the 5th day of October in the said church at Orléans. For in it Scubiculus is indicated at that day, at which he has therefore already been related by us among the Passed Over, to have then been venerated in that church with an Office of nine lessons, to be recited with double rite. Nor do I think it should be doubted for any reason that Scubiculus is still venerated there today, especially if the sacred remains of him which were formerly preserved there still exist now.

[64] and finally at Malmedy and at Meulan it was formerly done and is still done now. Now as to what concerns the church of St. Peter or St. Quirinus at Malmedy and the priory of St. Nigasius mentioned above: that church or abbey, which, as Denis de Sainte-Marthe teaches in volume 3 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 724, separated by scarcely two miles from Stavelot, an abbey of the diocese of Liège, had the same abbots and founder as the latter, is situated in the diocese of Cologne between the Ardennes Forest and Liège on the little river Warche, in the lands beyond the Meuse; while the priory is situated on the island of Meulan, which is separated by a small arm of the Seine from the city of the same name, three leagues distant from Mantes and as many from Poissy, and which, although the city belongs to the diocese of Rouen, nevertheless belongs to that of Chartres. In both these places, of which I shall now and then henceforth for brevity's sake call one simply Malmedy and the other Meulan, our Saints, either all or partly, still enjoy today a plainly remarkable cult, and certainly, if not earlier, have enjoyed it from that time at which their sacred relics were carried thither; but although this, as also that the principal parts which still remain of the bodies of our Saints are now preserved at Meulan and Malmedy, is admitted among almost all who have spoken on this subject, it is nevertheless not a little disputed both when those sacred pledges were carried to Malmedy and when to Meulan; and since the matter, as appears, is not unworthy of discussion, I shall examine it in this Commentary, although entangled with many difficulties, and further try to clarify it, at the same time also, when it happens opportunely, intending to adduce more concerning the cult of our Saints among the people of Malmedy and of Meulan than I have now said about it; but before I do so, it will help, for the sake of method and procedure, to have weighed in the following § the things which are narrated concerning their bodies, or certainly, on account of what I am about to say below, a part of them, translated for fear of the Normans from the village of Vadiniacum to Condé and thence to Wambez, and at length, that fear having long since ceased, brought to Rouen.

§ V. The relics carried for fear of the Normans to Condé and Wambez, and afterwards, that fear having long since ceased, brought to Rouen.

The relics of our Saints here mentioned, for fear of the Normans, That some time before the year 841 from the Vadiniacum

estate or village, where the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia had been buried, as said, no small parts of them were translated to Rouen to the suburban abbey of St. Audoenus, to which that estate belonged, and were brought back thence before the year 872 to the same village for fear of the Normans bursting into Neustria, it appears must be concluded from the Charter of Riculfus, bishop of Rouen, transcribed here at num. 49 and following, as the things observed on it at num. 51 and following show. Further, these relics, as also nearly all the remaining relics of our Saints which had not been translated to Rouen, unless perhaps those which now exist at Malmedy and Meulan had already earlier, which I shall discuss below, been brought either to both those places or to one of them, were afterwards translated from Vadiniacum to Condé, which, as Pommeraye teaches in the History of the abbey of St. Audoenus, book 4, chapter XI, was another estate of that abbey, to be mentioned more fully below, for fear of the same Normans, who were raging with sword and fire in various provinces of the Gauls. The things which I am now about to adduce will give this clearly proved. In Martène, volume 3 of the Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, column 1677 and the five following, there is exhibited a certain writing, which I praised above at num. 8, and which, as I showed there, appears to have been written toward the beginning of the twelfth century, on the translation of blessed Nicasius and his Companions, as the title bears, taken from a manuscript of St. Audoenus at Rouen of about 600 years, as Martène notes, and composed by an anonymous author.

[66] as the author of their Translation testifies, from Vadiniacum to Condé, He further, who plainly shows himself to be a monk of St. Audoenus at Rouen, having said by way of preface, at num. 2, toward the beginning of that little work, of which a manuscript copy, excerpted by Pommeraye from the St. Audoenus manuscript, also exists with us, that the bodies of these three Martyrs of ours rested for a long time at Wadiniacum in the church built in honour of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, then presently continues at num. 3 thus: After very many courses of years, therefore, the savage nation of the Danes, practising piracy after the barbaric manner, began with a huge fleet to burst into the border of France and to consume by devastation the province of the Western region which is now called Normandy. For fear, therefore, of these unspeakable heathen, the bones of the aforesaid Martyrs and of saint Pientia were translated with the remains of the most blessed prelate Audoenus to the village of the people of Condé. So he, surely most clearly relating that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia were translated from Vadiniacum to Condé; and although the aforesaid author also plainly indicates by the words already recited, as I said, that these, or certainly those which were of Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, rested at Vadiniacum until the time at which the Normans began to burst into the Gauls, or into the Western province of them which is now called Normandy, and therefore until the year 841, in which, as the learned commonly believe, this was done, he is nevertheless not on that account to be judged opposed to what we have shown concerning the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus having been partly translated to Rouen before that year; for while part of those sacred pledges was then carried to Rouen, another, much larger part of the same remained at Vadiniacum; and since the denomination is accustomed, and indeed deservedly, to be taken from the larger part, and therefore the praised anonymous writer could indicate, with no injury to the truth, that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus still rested at Vadiniacum in the year 841, even though these were then no longer entire there, there is surely no reason why he should be judged opposed to us, who showed above that those sacred pledges were partly carried to Rouen before the same year.

[67] not indeed, as he seems to indicate, at the beginning of the Norman incursions, But by the words already recited he also seems to indicate openly that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, and likewise of SS. Pientia and Audoenus, were translated from Vadiniacum to Condé as soon as the Normans or Danes, having arrived there by the Seine, began to burst with a huge fleet into the Gauls, or into the Western province of them, afterwards given the name of Normandy, which, as I have already said, was done in the year 841; and this undoubtedly conflicts with the charter of Riculfus, bishop of Rouen, transcribed here at num. 49 and following; for in it Riculfus, affirming that in the first year of his ordination, the year of Christ 872 or the following according to what was said above, he went to Vadiniacum to the thresholds of SS. Audoenus, Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia, at the same time adds that their sacred bodies were then in exile there for fear of the Normans, and thus plainly shows that they had been carried neither to Condé nor elsewhere. Wherefore, since one must most certainly stand here by the charter of Riculfus, which shows, as everyone will elicit from what has already been said, that these sacred Pledges had not yet been translated from Vadiniacum to Condé in the year 841, the praised anonymous author of the translation of St. Nigasius and his Companions, when he indicates that the bodies of St. Audoenus and of our four Saints were translated from the village of Vadiniacum to Condé already from that year, or from the beginning of the incursions which, as said, the Normans made into Neustria, afterwards distinguished by the name of Normandy, undoubtedly strays from the truth. Nor is there reason for anyone perhaps to reply here that the bodies of our Saints, after they had been translated from Vadiniacum to Condé in the year 841, were brought back from this latter village to the former before the year 872, and that hence it came about that they existed there when Riculfus came to Vadiniacum in this year; for this can neither be confirmed by any ancient document nor is it found asserted anywhere by anyone.

[68] Besides, in Martène, volume 3 of the Thesaurus Novus Anecdotorum, column 1657 and the three following, there is also listed another writing, but, as the things here adduced which, as its title bears, treats of the translation of blessed Audoenus and the integrity of his most sacred body, and which for that reason has already been brought into our Work at the 24th day of August, on which we treated of that most holy bishop of the people of Rouen, likewise taken, as Martène notes, from the manuscript of the abbey of St. Audoenus at Rouen of about 600 years praised above; and in it the anonymous author, who seems to have flourished not later than he who wrote the Translation of St. Nigasius and his Companions, having said by way of preface that the body of St. Audoenus was translated by the monks of St. Audoenus for fear of the Normans from Rouen to Wadiniacum, which, as we showed in the Commentary prefatory to the Acts of this Saint, num. 47, happened in the year 841, and rested there for some years, shining with miracles, then continues in the following manner: After these things, the savagery of the pagans growing strong and the army of the enemy increasing daily, when almost the whole province of the Western region was being laid waste by frequent incursions and fire, the aforesaid monks translated the bodies of saint Audoenus and of the holy martyrs Nicasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus to their estate of Condé. So he, surely plainly declaring that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus were translated to Condé at the same time as the body of St. Audoenus. But what now from this for our matter? It is established from the Charter of Riculfus praised above that the body of St. Audoenus, which, as said, was carried from Rouen to Vadiniacum in the year 841, still existed there in the year 872; and no one would certainly say that this happened because, although that sacred pledge had been translated from Vadiniacum to Condé before the year 872, it had nevertheless been brought back thence to Vadiniacum before the same year.

[69] Wherefore, since the body of St. Audoenus, which, in order that it might be withdrawn from the fury of the Normans, suggest, were not translated before the year 872, had been brought by the monks of the abbey named after this Saint at Rouen from Rouen to Vadiniacum in the year, as I said, 841, remained there for some years, until almost the whole province of the Western region, as the anonymous author just praised speaks in the words just recited, or Neustria, had been laid waste by the Normans, indeed, on account of what has already been said, from the year 841 to at least the year 872, and was never in the meantime carried by the said monks to Condé and brought back thence to Vadiniacum, who would easily persuade himself that either in the very year 841, or in that space of time which runs from it to the year 872, the relics of our Saints were translated by the same monks to Condé, in order that they might be withdrawn from the fury of the Normans, and were brought back thence to Vadiniacum? For what then? Did these perhaps judge that the relics of St. Audoenus, but not likewise those of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia, were safe at Vadiniacum from the rage of the heathen, or were they more solicitous about preserving the sacred remains which were of these than those which were of Audoenus? Both the one and the other shrink, as appears, from every appearance of truth; and since this is so, it does not appear likely that the bodies of our Saints were brought back from Condé, whither they had been carried in the year 841, to Wadiniacum before the year 872, and that hence it came about that they existed there in that year; wherefore both the bones of our Saints which were brought back in that very year to Vadiniacum from Rouen, from the abbey of St. Audoenus, whither, according to what has been said, they had been carried before the year 841, and all the rest which had remained in this latter place, unless perhaps what I said above, and shall examine below, took place, most probably remained there until the year 872, and only then, when almost the whole province of the Western region of the Gauls, as the praised anonymous author of the Translation of St. Audoenus speaks, had been laid waste by the Normans with frequent incursions and fires, were translated from there to Condé together with the body of St. Audoenus; and this seems to have been done before the year 876, and therefore between this very year and the year 872.

[70] and part of them afterwards from Condé first to Wambez For in the year 872, as we saw above, Riculfus, bishop of Rouen, came to Vadiniacum; and since he clearly shows, in the Charter given afterwards and transcribed here above, that the bodies of our Saints existed there at that time, he seems thus to indicate that they no longer existed there when he gave it; wherefore, since Riculfus did not prolong his life beyond the year 875, and therefore gave that Charter before the year 876, it follows that the bodies of our Saints no longer existed at Wadiniacum in that year, and therefore that they were translated from there to Condé between the year 872, in which, according to what has been said, they were still there, and the year 876. But although this is so, and therefore the anonymous writer of the Translation of our Saints, who declares that the matter took place at the beginning of the Norman incursions into Neustria, undoubtedly erred, as follows from what has already been said, in determining the time at which this was done, the things which he presently subjoins to the words transcribed here at num. 66, concerning the body of St. Quirinus in great part and a portion of the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scuviculus having been carried away thence with the greatest veneration to Malmedy, when the bodies of our Saints had not yet been long carried to Condé, nevertheless seem exceedingly consonant with the truth, as below, when concerning the time at which those sacred pledges

were shared with the people of Malmedy, I am about to dispute, I shall show. Nor, although an accurate and severe examination was instituted, could I find anything in which he could deservedly be accused of error, when he then records that what had remained of the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, part of them having been carried, as I said, to Malmedy, was translated by the monks of St. Audoenus, then dwelling at Condé, from the village or estate of Condé to another estate of the abbey of St. Audoenus, then distinguished by the appellation of Wambez, from the village named Wambasius which comprised it, and which, then joined to Eastern France or Lotharingia, now belongs to the duchy of Luxembourg and the diocese of Trier, as Pommeraye teaches in the History of that abbey, book 4, chapter 12, and afterwards changed into a priory, which they called Vallis-monachorum (Valley of the Monks); and that thence at length, when it had been stolen from that priory by theft, or certainly covertly, it was brought to Rouen in the year 1032.

[71] Indeed I find it also recorded in writing in the History of the Translations of St. Audoenus, inserted in volume IV of August of our Work, from page 820, that the relics of St. Nigasius and his Companions, or, as I said, part of them, were translated to Wambez; carried in a year not ascertained, and then in the year 1032 but neither the author of that History nor the author of the Translation of our Saints supplies anything from which you might elicit even in any way the year about which this was done. The former of these two authors writes indeed that the matter happened when want or famine was pressing; but since in the ninth century, when the Normans were very frequently bursting into the Gauls and laying everything waste with sword and fire, both before and after the year 872, before which, as said, the relics of our Saints were not translated from Vadiniacum to Condé, people not rarely laboured under want or famine in many places, surely from the fact that the relics of our Saints of which I spoke were carried from Condé to Wambez when want was pressing, the year about which this was done can by no means be determined; and since nothing else is found either from which you might define even broadly about when the matter took place, that year must necessarily remain altogether unascertained. But although this is so, the matter nevertheless stands otherwise as regards the year in which the relics of our Saints which had been carried to Wambez were brought thence to Rouen, the fear of the Normans having long since ceased. For the author of the Translation of our Saints expressly teaches us that this was done in the year 1032; and since he had, as appears, everything that he relates on this subject, or concerning the part of the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus carried first to Wambez and then to Rouen in that year, very well understood, and the things he writes are entangled in no difficulties, I now set them here before the reader's eyes, as they exist in Martène in the place cited above, without interrupting the series of the narrative, both because they conduce not a little to the glory of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus and because they will still be of use below.

[72] The words in which they are couched there are these following: to Rouen, as in the words which here Meanwhile the monks of Condé, want pressing upon them, carried (in our Manuscript there is added: the bodies) of the blessed martyrs Nicasius and Scuviculus with the relics of blessed Quirinus to the Eastern quarter of France, which is called Lotharingia, to a place of our possession which is called Wambasius; and there they rested until the times of Henry, king of the Franks. At this time a venerable abbot named Henry presided over the monastery of blessed Audoenus at Rouen, under whom no small throng of monks served the true king Christ according to the rule. There was among them a certain elder, by name Genricus, advanced in age and mature in counsel, who was sent by the same father as legate to the place which we mentioned before, for the benefit of the monastery. When he saw the most precious members of the Soldiers of Christ, for the present indeed dissolved according to their condition, but to be restored by the general resurrection with an indissoluble framework and to be adorned with the glory of immortality, held in neglect there, and noticed that they were not frequented with the fitting office of ministers, as was worthy, he resolved altogether to translate them to his own monastery, if only the decision of almighty God, in whose hand are all things, should grant it.

[73] the series of the narrative Wherefore, having returned in great haste, he made the cause known to his abbot; from whom he at once received the command to return, and moreover also support for accomplishing what he had resolved. But the elder, fearing lest he be hindered by the inhabitants of the place, to whom the holy Martyrs were exceedingly an object of veneration and glory, if this were done openly, or be altogether frustrated in his undertakings by the faction and tumult of the populace, in the silence of the dead of night secretly approaches with his men the place where so great a treasure was kept; and having broken the coffers and reverently taken up the bodies of the holy martyrs Nigasius and Scuviculus with the relics of saint Quirinus, he withdrew thence very quickly. It is also related that, when they were trying to unlock the bier in which they had lain, one nail, leaping far out of it, disappeared. Whence, greatly terrified lest perhaps it should be discovered by this indication of the hidden work, invoking the help of the Lord, they left everything decently arranged as they had found it.

[74] not interrupted, before the eyes of the reader Therefore the aforesaid hero, laden with the greatest treasures, the divine grace accompanying him, took to the road, and, the journey having been prosperously accomplished, arrived at Rouen, and, a messenger having been sent ahead to the abbot, disclosed the cause of his coming. When knowledge of this matter had therefore been obtained, the honourable bishop of the same city, named Robert, with all the ranks both of the ecclesiastical and of the monastic Order, went forth with festive worship to meet the relics of the Saints with great heraldings of praise, as befitted the triumphant ones and friends of God, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For there was glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will, when the lifeless body of the most holy prelate and most invincible Martyr returned thither whither once, living in the flesh, he could not come, being forestalled by his glorious passion. For the triumph of martyrdom forestalled the office of the priest; and the homage of angels preceded the praise of men. O glory of the Pontiff, who consecrated the beginning of his pontificate with his own blood, and, like a chosen ram, offered himself first as a sacrifice for the salvation of his flock.

[75] are set, the same author relates, was brought; The most reverend father Henry, therefore, with the college of his monks, and also lord Isembert, abbot of the monastery of the holy Trinity of the neighbouring mount, of Teutonic race, most learned in the liberal disciplines and most approved in all religion, with many other religious men, in the presence of the renowned duke of the Northmen, Robert, son of Richard the Second, with his nobles and a very great multitude of both sexes, receiving the pledges of the blessed Martyrs, fragrant with the odour of balsam and incense, honourably deposited them with hymns and spiritual canticles in the church of blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and of saint Audoenus, the eminent confessor, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand and thirty-two, on the day before the Ides of December; where through their merits the grace of the Lord and Saviour deigns to bestow very many benefits on all who ask faithfully. Who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit in perfect Trinity lives and reigns God through all ages of ages. Amen. So the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus which remained at Condé, part of them having been translated thence to Malmedy, are narrated by the anonymous author, whose work on the translation of our Saints exists in Martène in the place cited above, to have been carried first to Wambez and then brought to Rouen and deposited there in the most celebrated abbey of St. Audoenus; nor does anything occur in the words already given, in which this is done, on account of which credit should be withdrawn from him.

[76] The Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 126, indeed affirm that Isembert, whom he calls abbot of the monastery of the most holy Trinity, and although he, in doing this, does not render himself unworthy of credit, obtained the abbatial blessing only in the year 1033; but nothing prevents him from being believed to have been taken up to the government of that monastery, dedicated in the year 1030, as the same writers teach there in column 125, already from the year 1032, in which the sacred remains of these three Martyrs of ours were brought to Rouen, and hence to be called its abbot by our author; and as for the remaining illustrious persons under whom he relates that those venerable pledges arrived at Rouen in the year 1032, it is altogether established from the historiographers of the Gauls commonly met with that Henry, the first of this name, then reigned in the Gauls, and that Robert, son of Richard the second, held the duchy of Normandy; nor is it less certain, from what the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana adduce in the volume just cited, that a bishop named Robert then presided over the church of Rouen and an abbot named Henry over the abbey of St. Audoenus. What more? Nor is there reason either why the credit of this anonymous writer of ours should be held suspect from the fact that, as appears, he narrates that the matter of which we are treating here was done with theft intervening; for in the eleventh century, to which this belongs, not a few men, even religious, by no means accounted it a sin to steal relics of Saints by theft from sacred places; and since the village or priory of Vallis-monachorum depended on the abbey of St. Audoenus at Rouen, whatever theft it was by which, at the command of its abbot, the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus were carried away thence, lest they should continue to be held in neglect, can seem in some way worthy of excuse.

[77] But although this same anonymous writer of ours, in the words transcribed here at num. 66, presently narrates that the sacred remains of St. Pientia as well as of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus yet the relics of St. Pientia, which he does not mention there, first to Wambez were translated from Vadiniacum to Condé for fear of the Normans, nevertheless afterwards, while he relates that one part of the relics which were of these last three Martyrs was carried to Malmedy and another to Wambez, or to Vallis-monachorum, he makes no further mention either of St. Pientia or of her relics; and thus he gives occasion for suspecting that these were not translated to Wambez; but was this truly not done, and is he therefore to be judged rightly not to have mentioned St. Pientia and her relics there? He seems to have had it as his purpose to speak chiefly of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus and their sacred spoils, and hence I think it easily came about that, since he had to record that part of the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, but not also, the truth so requiring, of St. Pientia, was carried to Malmedy, his discourse having slipped hence to them alone, he no longer mentioned St. Pientia and her relics, although meanwhile these no less than what remained at Condé of the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, part of them having been carried off to Malmedy, had been carried thence to Wambez. The same anonymous author, in the words transcribed above at num. 66, presently records that the sacred remains of St. Audoenus as well as of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus were translated from Vadiniacum to Condé, and yet afterwards, while he relates that the relics of these three Martyrs were partly carried off to Wambez, he makes no further mention of Audoenus and his relics; but as, although this is so, nevertheless to Wambez, as may be seen with us at the 24th day of August in the Commentary prefatory to the Acts of this holy prelate, num. 49, St.

Audoenus's body was carried, so too the relics of St. Pientia were most probably carried thither.

[78] and that they were then also translated to Rouen, Indeed, since they are not read to have afterwards remained at Wambez or to have been carried off thence to a place distinct from the city of Rouen, I think it likely that they were likewise brought to Rouen in the year 1032 together with the part of the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus mentioned above, and deposited there in the abbey of St. Audoenus. Nor perhaps will there be wanting someone who now also suspects from this that it was only in that very year 1032, or even somewhat after, and not, as Davanne will have it according to what was said above, already from the seventh century, that both the relics of St. Pientia which formerly existed at Rouen in the church of St. Candidus the Old and those of St. Nigasius which still exist today in his church there were brought to each of these sacred places. But now, you will perhaps ask, what in the end became of the sacred spoils of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and probably also St. Pientia brought from Wambez, or from Vallis-monachorum, to Rouen in the year 1032? Pommeraye, setting out in a lamentable narrative in the History of that monastery, book 2, chapter 26, how the raging Calvinists in the year 1562 plundered the monastery of St. Audoenus at Rouen and consumed with fire most of the relics of Saints preserved there, counts among those sacred remains an arm of St. Nigasius, enclosed in a golden casket adorned with thirty gems, and relics of St. Scuviculus preserved in another casket, picked out with gold and silver, Farin adding to these also relics of St. Quirinus, likewise enclosed in a third reliquary.

[79] appears likely. And although both there, and when in the following chapter he speaks of the few relics which then escaped the hands of those heretics, he makes absolutely no mention of the relics of St. Pientia, it cannot nevertheless be argued from this that the bones or remains of this Saint which had been at Condé were not carried to Wambez and brought thence to Rouen in the year 1032. For Pommeraye also numbers there among the relics of Saints which, in the place just cited, he says were burned by the Calvinists in the year 1562 in the monastery of St. Audoenus at Rouen several relics of St. Nigasius and his Companions, among whom, as I showed before, St. Pientia is counted by Usuard, different from those already mentioned above, enclosed in a reliquary made of gold and silver. Besides, what if the sacred relics of St. Pientia which were brought to Rouen in the year 1032 were carried away thence elsewhere before the year 1562, and are those very ones which are now preserved at Meulan, brought thither from Rouen after the year 1060, after they had existed there for about thirty years or even more, together with the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus which are likewise still preserved there today? Davanne and others indeed contend that all these sacred pledges were carried to Meulan even long before the year 1032, and therefore were not taken from the relics of our Saints at Rouen; but Arthur du Monstier, in Neustria Pia, page 332, judges that the contrary is most like the truth; and whether or not he is to be agreed with in this matter it will be for the reader to discern from what I shall adduce in the following §.

§ VI. When the remains of our Saints which exist at Meulan were carried thither.

What the sacred remains of our Saints are which still exist today at Meulan, Being about to inquire into the time at which the relics of our Saints, still preserved today in the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan, were carried thither, I first set out what and how great these are, so that a plainer way may thus be paved for what is now to be said on this subject. Davanne, who, as I showed above, committed to writing the deeds done by our Saints and the martyrdom endured by them, in the second part of the little work in which he did so, treating of their sacred relics, miracles and remarkable cult among the people of Meulan, teaches in more than one place, and especially in chapters 51, 64 and 75, that the principal bones from the bodies of all four of our Saints, enclosed in as many different Reliquaries, and besides three heads, of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Pientia, likewise enclosed in as many different Reliquaries, are preserved at Meulan, or in the priory of St. Nigasius there. But although this writer, who, born at Meulan, also held the priory of St. Nigasius there by title of benefice, searched most diligently, as he himself declares, the Reliquaries of our Saints mentioned above, and examined and inspected each and every one of their bones contained in them, I nevertheless think that the things he declares concerning the principal bones of the body of St. Quirinus and his very head being preserved at Meulan are by no means to be admitted without doubt, unless they are explained of a part of the head and of not very many bones of the body. My view is this, because, as I shall show below, it appears beyond doubt that the body of St. Quirinus, either entire or certainly in great part, together with his head, or at least, on account of what is to be said below, a part of it, is preserved at Malmedy, having been brought thither from the village or priory of Condé when the ninth century had already long passed its middle part.

[81] What if the head of St. Scuviculus is taken by mistake by the people of Meulan for the head of St. Quirinus? the sacred remains of our Saints, is set out; Surely this does not seem to me to shrink from the appearance of truth, since I nowhere find it committed to writing in what place the head of St. Scuviculus exists. The people of Orléans indeed, according to what has been said, ascribe to themselves the body of St. Scubiculus; but these, as you will understand from what is to be said below, take a part for the whole, and nothing suggests that this part is the head. However it may meanwhile be, the things which Davanne says concerning the relics of St. Quirinus are by no means, as I have already said, to be believed without doubt unless they are taken in the sense just explained; and as for the relics of SS. Nigasius, Scubiculus and Pientia, I believe Davanne when he asserts that their principal bones, and the very heads of SS. Nigasius and Pientia, or at least the greater part of these (for a part of the head of St. Pientia is said to be preserved at La Roche-Guyon), are kept at Meulan, being so disposed in mind, namely, because I nowhere find anything of a nature to prevent me from doing so. Du Saussay indeed seems to indicate today in his Gallican Martyrology that the crown or head of St. Nigasius is preserved at Rouen; but I find this asserted neither by the author of the Antiquities of Rouen praised above, nor by Dadré or Farin, nor finally by any other writers who treat of Nigasius and his relics; and since that Martyrologist seems to have strayed from the truth more than once, as we shall see, in other things which he writes concerning the relics of our Saints, I certainly think that in the matter of which we are speaking here one must agree not with him but with Davanne; and now, these things having been premised, I undertake to inquire into the time at which the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist today at Meulan were brought thither.

[82] [these were not carried thither immediately, as du Saussay will have it, after peace was restored to the Church,] Three opinions on this are circulated; of which the first, extending itself only to the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, establishes that the matter took place immediately after peace was restored to the Church following the storms of persecution, the second at the beginning of the Norman incursions into the Gauls, or about the year 842, and finally the third some time after the year 1060. Du Saussay embraced the first and proposes it today in his Gallican Martyrology in these following words: For the rest, the bodies of the Athletes of Christ (namely Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus), resting there (in the island of Vadiniacum) beyond the assaults of the raging, Pientia, a noble woman, whom they had irradiated with the torch of the heavenly light, buried with great reverence. Which, first, after the whirlwinds of persecution had been calmed, divinely distinguished by prodigies, were honourably translated to the town of Meulan, where the divine Heralds of the Gospel had sown the first-fruits, and were laid with much religion in a shrine consecrated for that reason to the memory of saint Nigasius. So the praised Martyrologist; but that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, and likewise of St. Pientia, rested at Vadiniacum, where they had been buried, until the year 841, indeed at least until the year 872, and that only some of their bones were translated to Rouen before the said year 841, either by St. Audoenus or by anyone else, appears plain from what was disputed in the immediately preceding §, as everyone who has considered it will easily recognise, unless I am mistaken; and since this is so, du Saussay, who besides confirms what he says by no ancient testimony, is surely not to be heard here; nor indeed could I so far find any writer who has followed his opinion in that matter.

[83] nor, as Davanne, whose opinion Wherefore nothing remains but that, this being disregarded, we now also examine the two remaining ones proposed above. I begin from the former of these, whose author seems to be Davanne. This biographer of our Saints, having said by way of preface in chapter 51 that the monks of St. Audoenus at Rouen, when the Normans burst into the Gauls in the year 842, or rather, on account of what was already said above, in the year 841, having taken to flight, carried to Condé and at length to Wambez, or to Vallis-monachorum, the body of St. Audoenus and whatever they had of the relics of St. Nigasius and other Saints, and that these, after they had rested long in that latter place, were at last brought to Rouen in the year 1032 and deposited there with great solemnity, and finally burned in the year 1562 by the Heretics, who were turning all sacred things upside down at Rouen, then presently adds that at that time, when the Normans burst into the Gauls in the said year 841, or, as he writes, 842, the count of Meulan, who through his wife was Lord of Vadiniacum, skilfully and providently arranged that the principal bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia which were there should be carried to Meulan and deposited there in a building dedicated to the most holy virgin Mary, which the island, separated, as I already showed above, from that city only by a small arm of the Seine, comprised; and since afterwards he indicates in more than one place that the principal bones of our Saints of which he speaks here are those very ones which are still preserved today at Meulan, he plainly shows that these were brought to Meulan by the count of Meulan from the village of Vadiniacum in the said year 842, or rather, as I have already noted, in the year 841, if you except however the head of Nigasius and some lesser bones, which, as we shall see below, he says were carried thither later.

[84] But who would believe this, which, if it had taken place, would have preceded the age of Davanne by about eight centuries, by reasons when this writer asserts it without surety? No one certainly who has considered that the things which are brought forward about matters so ancient by more recent writers without the testimony of older ones are deservedly to be despised, according to the very well-known dictum of Baronius. Besides, Davanne says in the place cited that those sacred remains were then translated by the count of Meulan from the village of Vadiniacum to Meulan, or to the island neighbouring this city, in order that they might be more certainly withdrawn from the fury of the Normans; but from those heathen, who had entered Neustria by the Seine and were certainly to pass with their fleet near the said island, then fortified by no human art, as that writer himself admits,

how could the count of Meulan be persuaded that the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia would be safer in this than in the village of Vadiniacum, more remote from that river? This I surely do not see clearly enough. For if at that time more was to be feared from those barbarians at Vadiniacum than in the island of Meulan, certainly continually exposed to the assaults of the Normans, how, I ask, did it come about that the monks of St. Audoenus at Rouen, as we saw in the immediately preceding § that they did, carried the body of St. Audoenus, in order to withdraw it from the fury of that heathen nation, to Vadiniacum in the same said year 841, or, if you prefer, 842, and left that sacred pledge there until at least the year 872?

[85] Davanne adds indeed that the count of Meulan foresaw that the island of Meulan would remain untouched by the Normans, by those brought forward here from the fact both that those heathen only passed through the regions like a torrent, nowhere setting a fixed foot, and that that place comprised only poor fishermen's huts, by no means of a nature to excite the desire of plundering; but since indeed there was situated in the said island, as this writer himself admits, the church sacred to the Most Holy Virgin Mary in which the count of Meulan placed the bones of our Saints brought from Vadiniacum, and those barbarians, enticed by hope of plunder, made it their custom to plunder and devastate sacred places above others, it surely does not appear likely that the count of Meulan could deservedly, from what Davanne says, I will not say foresee, but even hope, that the said sacred building, and the island comprising it, would remain free from the assaults and plundering of the savage nation. If anyone should assert that the count of Meulan, moved by firm confidence in SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia, then translated their sacred spoils from Vadiniacum to Meulan in order that the place might be preserved free from the fury of the said barbarians by their powerful patronage, his speech might perhaps seem not unlike the truth; but the charter of Riculfus, bishop of Rouen, already often praised above, and the anonymous Writer of the translation of our Saints, likewise often praised above, prevent the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist today at Meulan from being believed to have been carried thither, whether for this or for any other end, when the Normans burst into Neustria in the year 841.

[86] and especially from the Charter of Riculfus and the anonymous For Riculfus clearly shows in that charter, as I showed above, that in the first year of his ordination, the year of Christ, as has already been said more than once, 872, the bodies of SS. Audoenus, Nigasius, Quirinus, Scuviculus and Pientia still existed at the estate of Vadiniacum. Nor is there reason for you to reply that by the most sacred bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia, of which he speaks, Riculfus understands only lesser or less principal parts of them, and not entire bodies; for Riculfus speaks of the body of St. Audoenus there in the same way as of these; and since, as no one will deny, by that sacred pledge not merely lesser or less principal parts of it, but the body either altogether or at least almost entire, is understood by that archbishop of Rouen, why should we think that by the bodies of our Saints, of which he speaks in the place cited, only lesser or less principal parts of them are understood by him, and not also bodies either altogether or at least almost entire? Now as to what concerns the anonymous writer of the translation of our Saints, he, by the things which he records at num. 2 and 3 of his work in Martène (see what was said by me above at num. 65), plainly shows that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, and indeed of Pientia, rested at Vadiniacum until the time at which they were translated thence to Condé for fear of the Normans, and therefore, as I showed above follows from this, until at least the year 872; and it appears to me all but certain that he does not take a part for the whole, or that by the bodies of our Saints of which he speaks he understands not merely lesser or less principal parts of them, but bodies either altogether or certainly almost entire.

[87] For after he has narrated that the bones of our Saints were translated from Vadiniacum to Condé for fear of the Normans, he presently subjoins: after an interval of a little time the body of blessed Quirinus in great part, and some of the relics of the blessed Nigasius and Scuviculus, are carried off with the greatest reverence to the place is refuted by the writer here mentioned, contends, which is called Malmedy; and then, after interposing some things which do not bear on this, he speaks in our Manuscript in the following manner: The monks of Condé, want pressing upon them, carried the bodies of the blessed martyrs Nigasius and Scuviculus with the relics of Blessed Quirinus to the Eastern quarter of France, which is called Lotharingia, to a place of our possession which is called Wambasius; and since, as is clear from these two texts of his, he distinguishes the body of St. Quirinus, the greater part of it having been carried to Malmedy, by the appellation of relics only, and on the contrary the bodies of SS. Nigasius and Scuviculus, only the lesser part of them having been carried to the same place, by the appellation of bodies, this is surely a very strong and almost indubitable argument that by bodies he understands, not lesser or less principal parts of them, but bodies either altogether entire in all their members or at least consisting of the greater part of them. Wherefore, since he distinguishes the bodies of all four of our Saints, or certainly of Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, when he shows in the place cited above that they rested at Vadiniacum until the time at which they were translated to Condé, or, according to what has been said, until at least the year 872, not by the appellation of relics but of bodies, certainly he too, who, as I showed above, flourished at the beginning of the twelfth century, and at the same time, according to what has been said, the charter of Riculfus stand in the way of the principal bones of our Saints being believed to have been translated to Meulan already from the year 842 or 841.

[88] Nor could I find anywhere anything solid enough whereby credit might be won for Davanne, at the beginning of the Norman incursions into Neustria. who asserts it; this writer does now and then cite old manuscripts in his work on our Saints; but he does not declare what or of what kind they were, or whether they were altogether worthy of credit; and since, although furnished with them, he has slipped into not a few errors, as you will understand from what is to be said below, they become suspect to me if only for that reason. Nor can Farin and Pommeraye move me to believe that the principal bones of our Saints were carried to Meulan already from the year 842 or 841; for although these, and some other still more recent writers besides, agree with Davanne, who asserts it, they themselves nevertheless also allege no ancient and trustworthy document by which what he says here may be confirmed. All these things, therefore, having now been duly and diligently weighed, of the three opinions or views mentioned above concerning the time at which the remains of our Saints still preserved today at Meulan were carried thither, the third pleases me best, by which it is established that this was done neither immediately after peace was restored to the Church following the storms of persecution, nor at the beginning of the Norman incursions into Neustria, or about the year 841, but certainly not before the year 1032, and probably also not before the year 1060.

[89] Arthur du Monstier, in Neustria Pia, page 332, but, as, the things which bear on this being transcribed, after narrating that the bodies of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus, together with the relics of St. Quirinus, were brought from Wambez to Rouen in the year 1032, embraces it and proposes it in these following words, which it will help to have transcribed here: Therefore it seems doubtful to no one that the sacred pledges of the aforesaid holy Martyrs (and indeed of St. Pientia) were afterwards translated thence (namely from Rouen) to Meulan, the cause of which Davanne himself discloses thus. That, when Waleran, count of Meulan, having followed the party of Henry, king of the Franks, had been captured by the duke of Normandy in the battle of Varaville in the year 1060, he made a vow to God and to the holy Martyrs themselves, whom he venerated with special devotion, about building a church in their memory, if at their prayers he should obtain his liberty from almighty God; whose pious petition being presently heard from heaven, he went free in the 2nd year of his captivity. Then, mindful of his promise, he laid the foundations of a church and priory in honour of St. Nicasius and his Companions at Meulan, which is a most noble town on the river Seine, of the diocese of Rouen; and the place designated for this new structure was in the island of Meulan, where there already stood a certain little chapel dedicated to the virgin Mother of God; which having been levelled to the ground, another remarkable basilica was built there under the name of the same Virgin Mother of God and of St. Nicasius and his Companions, martyrs.

[90] bear, by the words of du Monstier, Then in the year 1067, more rightly in the year 1076, indeed, on account of what is to be said below, more rightly still in the year 1077 or another later one, on the 28th day of October, it was dedicated to God with solemn rite by Geoffrey, bishop of Chartres, to whom an island of this kind belongs. On account of this matter it is probable that count Waleran himself obtained, not without great urgency, the sacred bones of the holy Martyrs Nicasius and his Companions, and had them brought from Rouen to Meulan into this new church; which was afterwards adorned with great miracles, divinely wrought at the intercession of these Saints, and enriched with huge estates, lands and most ample possessions, both by the counts and viscounts of Meulan and by the nobles and magnates of the province: all which the kings of France and England and the dukes of Normandy readily confirmed and enlarged; and the supreme Pontiffs too, the archbishops of Rouen and also the bishops of Chartres, made the same place illustrious with many privileges, graces, indulgences and other favours, the token of which Davanne pursues at length. Thus far the praised writer, pronouncing it probable that the most sacred remains of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, and therefore, on account of what was said above, also of St. Pientia, which still exist today at Meulan, were carried thither on the occasion which he sets out, and therefore only after the year 1060.

[91] it is proved, not before the year But before I propose to the reader the things I think must be said on this matter, which pertains chiefly to this place, I first show in the following manner that those sacred pledges were in actual fact brought from Rouen to Meulan, as he says by the words recited, at their very beginning, and that this was therefore certainly done not earlier than the year 1032. That the bodies of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus were brought from Wambez to Rouen in the year 1032 together with the relics of St. Quirinus, the anonymous author of the Translation of our Saints in Martène, in the place assigned above, clearly teaches, as we saw above; and since that writer, by whom one must certainly stand here, since he is both older and more excellent than all who have spoken on this matter, does not, as I already showed above, take a part for the whole, or, what comes to the same thing, by the bodies of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus, which he writes were brought to Rouen in the year 1032, understands not merely lesser or less principal parts of them, but bodies either entire in absolutely all their members or bones, or

at least consisting of the greater part of them, it follows that, together with the relics of St. Quirinus, or less principal parts of the body of this Saint, the bodies of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus, and indeed, on account of what was said above, of St. Pientia, either entire or almost entire, existed at Rouen in the year 1032, and therefore that, since, as follows from this, the principal bones of our Saints which are still preserved there today had not yet been brought to Meulan at that time, they were carried thither both after the said year 1032 and from nowhere else than Rouen.

[92] If the body of St. Scubiculus, which Helgaud, as I already showed above, records was translated at Orléans in the year 1029 from the old church of St. Anianus into the new, or rather 1032, indeed probably also not before, (for that author must be judged to have taken here a part for the whole, since no one would deny that the principal bones of this Saint of ours still exist at Meulan today) some part of that sacred pledge, had been carried from Meulan to Orléans, as some more recent writers think, it could surely not undeservedly be argued from this that the sacred remains not only of St. Scubiculus, but also of the three other Saints of ours which are still preserved today at Meulan, were carried thither both before the year 1032 and from elsewhere than Rouen; but those who think what I said confirm this opinion of theirs neither from Helgaud, since he declares neither whence nor when the relics of St. Scubiculus which he writes were translated at Orléans in the year 1029 were brought thither, nor from any other writer or ancient document; and I find nothing to prevent its being believed that what of the relics of St. Scubiculus is preserved today at Orléans, or certainly was formerly preserved there, was carried to Orléans already from the ninth century, when the remains of our Saints already existed either at Condé or at Wambez, from one or the other of these places; and since this is so, and therefore from the relics of St. Scubiculus translated at Orléans in the year 1029 from the old into the new church of St. Anianus nothing at all can be inferred against the opinion by which the sacred remains of our Saints which are still preserved today at Meulan are judged to have been carried thither neither before the year 1032 nor from elsewhere than Rouen, let us now show that those sacred pledges were probably carried from Rouen to Meulan on the occasion which du Monstier assigns in the words already recited, and therefore not before the year 1060, since before it, according to what is to be said, that occasion had no place.

[93] War having arisen between Henry the first, king of the Franks, and William the Bastard, or, which, when after the battle of Varaville as he is called by others, the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, Davanne, citing in his favour a Chronicle of Normandy unknown to me, affirms in the Life of our Saints, chapter 54, that a battle was fought between these two princes in the year 1060 in Normandy at the causeway of Varaville, in French à la chaussée de Varaville, and Mézeray likewise does the same in the Chronological Abridgment of French History composed by himself, volume 2, page 498. He indeed, who places the said causeway, or, as we commonly say, Calceia, between Caen and Lisieux, ties that battle, which he adds turned out unfavourably for the king of the Franks, not to the year 1060, as Davanne does, but to the year 1058; but in which of these years it happened matters little. For it cannot be inferred from this that the occasion on which, as I think probable with du Monstier, the sacred remains of our Saints which exist at Meulan were translated thither took place before the year 1060, and therefore that those sacred pledges were carried to Meulan before it. The matter will become evident from what is now to be said. Galeran, the first count of Meulan of this name, who, standing for the king of the Franks, was captured in the battle mentioned by the duke of Normandy, as Davanne also teaches from the said Chronicle of Normandy which he praises, vowed a vow to God and to St. Nigasius for obtaining his liberty; and when he had obtained it after a year and had returned home, intending to fulfil the faith of his vow, he ordered the church sacred to the Most Holy Virgin Mary in the island of Meulan to be destroyed, and in the same place where it had stood laid the foundations of the church and priory of St. Nigasius; and when these buildings had been brought to their roof after about five or six years, the church was consecrated with solemn rite to God under the invocation of the Most Holy Virgin Mary and of saints Nigasius and his Companions in the year 1067, on the 28th day of October, sacred to SS. Simon and Jude, by Geoffrey, bishop of Chartres. So, namely, Davanne in the Life of our Saints, chapter 57; but since that church, as is clearly understood from the charter of Galeran the second, count of Meulan, which the same Davanne praises afterwards in chapter 59, was in actual fact consecrated by Geoffrey, bishop of Chartres, this biographer of our Saints most certainly strays from the truth when he says that this was done in the year 1067.

[94] the new church of St. Nigasius here mentioned, by Geoffrey, For certainly Geoffrey did not begin to govern the church of Chartres in the episcopal office before the year 1077, as the things which the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana adduce, volume 8, column 1123 and the two following, clearly prove. But although Davanne, who, as follows from this, wrongly ties the consecration of the said church to the year 1067, and therefore most probably also not rightly, as appears must be concluded from this, affirms that the foundations of that sacred building, not consecrated before the year 1077 according to what has been said, were laid already from the year 1061 or the following, slipped into several other grave errors when in chapter 57 he holds discourse about Robert de Beaufour, who was the first prior instituted of the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan, as the charter of Ivo, bishop of Chartres, in du Monstier's Neustria Pia shows, he nevertheless rightly relates, as I have already indicated, that the same church of St. Nigasius at Meulan was consecrated by Geoffrey, bishop of Chartres; and since the latter does not seem to have presided over the church of Chartres, which, according to what has been said, he had not obtained before the year 1077, beyond the year 1088, as one may gather from the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana in the place last cited, it follows that the new church of St. Nigasius at Meulan of which we are speaking here was consecrated by him in the year 1077 or in one of the ten following; and I think it probable with du Monstier that it was then, and therefore certainly after the year 1060, that the relics of our Saints which are still preserved there today, having been requested with most urgent prayers by Galeran mentioned above, the first count of Meulan of this name, who therefore must have prolonged his life long beyond the year 1070, contrary to what Davanne writes in chapter 57, were brought from Rouen to Meulan by his care.

[95] It cannot indeed be proved by any ancient document that this was done then; but neither can the contrary be proved by a document of this kind; consecrated, bishop of Chartres after the year 1076, it was consecrated, and since those sacred pledges, as I showed above, did not yet exist at Meulan before the year 1032, nor were carried to the church of St. Nigasius there from elsewhere than Rouen, nothing seems more obvious and more congruous with reason, considering the ancient custom by which relics of Saints were accustomed to be sought out from all sides for consecrating new churches, than that they should be said to have been brought thither at length from Rouen, by the care of Galeran, count of Meulan, when the new church of St. Nigasius at Meulan, already brought to completion, was to be consecrated, on the occasion of this consecration, and therefore, as everyone will gather from what was said above, not before the year 1060. Nor is there reason for anyone to object here the charter of count Galeran, already mentioned several times, given in the year 1035 and praised by Davanne in his Additions to the Life of our Saints, chapter 2, from which, as I shall show below, it is established concerning the cult paid to St. Nigasius at Meulan even long before the year 1060; for this charter, since in it, contrary to what is customarily done in charters speaking of a cult customarily shown somewhere to some determinate Saint, no mention at all seems to have been made of relics of St. Nigasius already existing then at Meulan, as is not undeservedly concluded from Davanne's silence about it there, rather helps than hinders the opinion by which we judge that the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist today at Meulan were carried thither on the occasion just mentioned, and therefore not before the year 1060.

[96] But someone will perhaps reply: if those sacred pledges were in actual fact carried off or translated from the abbey of St. Audoenus at Rouen to Meulan not before the year 1060, or, if this displeases, probably also not before, indeed, as follows from what was already said above, not before that space of time which runs from the year 1077 to the year 1088, how did it come about that the anonymous writer already very often praised above, who, since, as said, he was a monk of St. Audoenus at Rouen and flourished toward the beginning of the twelfth century, would surely have had a translation of this kind, if it had taken place, very well understood, since it was made either in his very age or not long before, nevertheless makes no mention of it in the work in which he treats of the sacred remains of our Saints carried from Vadiniacum to Condé and Wambez and brought thence at length to Rouen in the year 1032? This, I admit, can seem not altogether undeservedly in some way surprising; but although this is so, he will nevertheless easily, unless I am mistaken, cease to wonder at his silence on this matter who has considered that that anonymous writer most probably wished to set out, not whatever had been done with the sacred remains of our Saints, but only how and from what places these had at length been brought to his monastery of St. Audoenus at Rouen. But if this reply displeases anyone, I shall not unwillingly concede that the remains of our Saints which still exist there today were not carried to Meulan on the occasion which we have just proposed, intending even so to defend my opinion that the relics of our Saints were probably translated to Meulan also not before the year 1060; for, this being granted, it will become probable that those sacred pledges were carried thither on another occasion, which took place even later than the one already mentioned, indeed only after the work composed by our anonymous writer on the translation of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia about the year, as I showed at num. 8, 1112. The matter will become evident from what is now to be said.

[97] [which, when monks had been brought into that church at the beginning of the twelfth century, and therefore] When the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan had already been built some time after the year 1060, Galeran, count of Meulan, its founder, first established secular clerics there, as one may gather from the Charter of Ivo, bishop of Chartres, produced by Arthur du Monstier in Neustria Pia, page 333, and then, as Pommeraye teaches in the History of the Archbishops of Rouen, page 37, from the Bull of Pope Paschal II, monks of the Order of St. Benedict under

toward the beginning of the twelfth century, count Robert of Meulan assenting, and indeed acting, were substituted for them. What if, then, those religious men, when they had already occupied that house for some years, grieving that the relics of the Saints who were chiefly venerated there were not in their possession, instilled into count Robert the desire of obtaining them, and thus, he being joined to them, most urgently requested no small parts of those sacred pledges from the monks of their Order at St. Audoenus at Rouen, and these, in whose possession there was a huge abundance of sacred remains, assented to the petition of their brethren and of count Robert, who was most devoted to the Benedictine Order, as William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and others testify, retaining for themselves only those bones of our Saints which were afterwards burned by the raging Calvinists? I think it probable that this was indeed actually done then, and that therefore the principal bones of our Saints which still exist there today were carried to Meulan on this occasion. For since these, which certainly were not carried to Meulan before the year 1032, as I showed above, were also not brought thither, as I granted, when the new church of St. Nigasius was to be consecrated at Meulan after the year 1076, the nearest thing seems to be that this should be believed, at least probably, to have been done only then at last, when monks of the Order of St. Benedict had already been introduced into that church for some years.

[98] not before the year 1060, although perhaps on account of Davanne's, which here But whether the principal bones of our Saints which still exist there today are established to have been carried to Meulan on the one or the other of the two occasions just assigned, it follows indeed from what has just been said, which pertains chiefly to this place, that it probably also happened that these were carried thither not before the year 1060, and that the matter was certainly accomplished even a very long time after this year, if perhaps, which however I do not think, the little manuscript Chronicle of Bec, which, as Arthur du Monstier teaches in Neustria Pia, page 334, notes at the year 1196 that the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Pientia were translated into the church of Meulan, ought to be understood of the translation by which they were first carried into it. But now, someone will perhaps still say, although it appears from what has been said that the principal bones of our Saints which are preserved at Meulan were probably also not brought thither before the year 1060, yet all these do not seem to have been carried off from Rouen to Meulan. Indeed (for I would not wish to be silent about this here), Davanne expressly relates in the Life of our Saints, chapter 64 and following, that some bones of St. Nigasius and even the head itself were brought to Meulan not from Rouen but from Vadiniacum, although meanwhile he himself too, who nevertheless, as we have seen, will have it that the principal bones of the Saints were brought to Meulan already from the year 842, refers this matter to a time later than the year 1060; but the narrative by which he does so seems suspect to me; and so that the studious reader may discern whether deservedly or undeservedly, I exhibit it here contracted into a compendium. It comes almost entirely to this.

[99] In the village of Vadiniacum, when the bodies of our Saints were being translated thence elsewhere, as the Normans frequently burst into the Gauls in the ninth century, in a compendium some lesser bones of them, together also with the very head of St. Nigasius, had been left, for an uncertain cause; and since those sacred pledges, which the peasants had hidden in a secret place, had been preserved there until the eleventh century, then at length, after the death of Galeran I, count of Meulan, and therefore, as everyone will elicit from what was said above, certainly not before the year 1060, certain lesser parts of the body of St. Nigasius were brought from there to Meulan to Hugh, who had succeeded his brother Galeran in the county of Meulan, and, not a few years having elapsed afterwards, the head of St. Nigasius too was brought thither from the same village of Vadiniacum to Galeran II, likewise count of Meulan. So the praised biographer of our Saints, supplying thus far nothing which appears very difficult to believe; but hear what he adds. Count Hugh, wishing to test whether those lesser parts or bones of the body which had been brought from Vadiniacum to Meulan were true relics of St. Nigasius, orders the clergy and people of Meulan to assemble in the church of St. Nigasius and a great fire to be lit in it; and when those bones had been thrown into it, all most earnestly praying God that, if they were true bones of St. Nigasius, they should remain untouched by the fire, but if not, they should be consumed by the flames no differently than other human bones, and when at length, after they had remained long unharmed in the midst of the flames, they had leaped out of them of their own accord, they were recognised by all, astounded by the prodigy and praising God, as true relics of St. Nigasius.

[100] Now as to what concerns the head which had been brought from Vadiniacum to Galeran II, contracted, is proposed to the reader, in order that the doubt might be removed by which both he and others hung uncertain whether it was the true head of St. Nigasius, Goslenus, bishop of Chartres, in the sight of the neighbouring people and clergy who, summoned by Galeran, had betaken themselves into the church of St. Nigasius, places that head at one horn of the principal altar, and at the other horn the other bones of St. Nigasius which already existed at Meulan before; and when, all humbly asking God that He would deign to manifest by some sign whether it was the true head of Nigasius, it had of its own accord moved from the horn of the altar on which it had been placed to the other horn, on which the other bones of St. Nigasius had been placed, no one any longer judged that it should be doubted that it was the true head of this Saint. Davanne, therefore, clothes his narrative concerning some lesser bones and the head of St. Nigasius brought from Vadiniacum to Meulan with two plainly remarkable miracles, just now set out here. But although miracles, merely because they are miracles, are not to be rejected and counted among inventions, I nevertheless think that they are by no means to be believed unless they are supported by testimonies in every respect trustworthy; and whether testimonies of this kind stand in favour of the two miracles of which we are speaking here I have not ascertained. Davanne indeed cites for the former of these some ancient manuscript which exists in the church of St. Nigasius at Meulan.

[101] and further that it can be called in doubt But he does not declare what or of what kind it is, and hence I am compelled to doubt whether it can be counted among documents of proven note; and although I likewise would not think it should be doubted that, as most other things which he records, so also the latter of the two miracles already related, he received from some ancient manuscript of the church just mentioned, even though he praises none, I nevertheless think that it, of whatever kind it was, was of only doubtful credit, if only because Davanne, who undoubtedly followed it, ties the last-mentioned miracle to the year 1140, and yet affirms that at that time, while it happened, the relics of our Saints were translated at Meulan from the old Reliquaries into new ones by Goslenus, bishop of Chartres, who, as becomes plain from the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume 8, column 1139 and the two following, did not preside over the church of Chartres before the year 1149. Wherefore, since Davanne's narrative concerning some lesser bones and the head of St. Nigasius translated from Vadiniacum to Meulan does not, as appears from what has already been said, deserve certain and indubitable credit, I surely think that it can also, not altogether undeservedly, be called in doubt whether those sacred pledges were brought from Vadiniacum to Meulan, as it holds. And not a little am I confirmed in this opinion, as regards the head of St. Nigasius, by the following two hexameter verses which Dadré alleges in his Historical Chronology of the Archbishops of Rouen, published at Rouen in the year 1618, page 14: Prelate of Rouen given by Clement, Nicasius, if you did not sit, by sending your head you stood.

[102] it is shown, that the narrative not all from Rouen, were carried For thus it is indicated that the head of St. Nigasius was at some time brought to Rouen; and although those verses, which Dadré in the place cited attributes to Orderic Vitalis, are not read in that monk of Saint-Évroul, or in the ecclesiastical History which he wrote, as it came forth from the Paris press in the year 1619, by the care of André du Chesne, from the manuscript codex of the most distinguished man Jean Bigot, it must nevertheless be believed, on the credit of this writer, that they were found in the manuscript copy of the same History, which runs from the arrival of Rollo in Neustria to the year 1140, which lay before Dadré; and they were perhaps omitted in the Bigot codex which du Chesne used, because it was written some time after the year 1140, and the head of Nigasius then no longer existed at Rouen, having already been carried thence to Meulan; and now, if those two verses are rightly attributed by Dadré to Orderic Vitalis, who flourished in the twelfth century, as seems to follow from what has been said, it follows that the head of St. Nigasius was brought thither too from there already before the age of Orderic, and therefore most probably already from the year 1032, in which, as we showed above, the bodies of the same Saint and likewise of SS. Scuviculus and Pientia, together with the relics of St. Quirinus, were brought from Wambez to Rouen; and from this it now comes about that I am more and more confirmed in the opinion by which I think it can deservedly be called in doubt whether that sacred pledge was carried from Vadiniacum to Meulan, as Davanne teaches. But even if both this and some lesser bones of St. Nigasius were perhaps in actual fact carried from Vadiniacum to Meulan, as Davanne's narrative alleged above holds (for one might suspect this also from the indulgences granted by Hugh, archbishop of Rouen, on account of the finding of relics of Saints at the Ford of St. Nicasius in the year 1160, as Arthur du Monstier notes in Neustria Pia, page 333), nothing at all can nevertheless be inferred from this, as will be evident to one who considers it, against the opinion by which we judge that the principal bones of our Saints which still exist today in this latter city were brought thither from nowhere else than Rouen, and not before the year 1032, indeed probably also not before the year 1060; and the things which we established above on that matter therefore remain unshaken.

petitione qua

§ VII. The ancient and more recent cult of the Saints among the people of Meulan, and some miracles wrought by their patronage.

[The cult which was shown to Nigasius at Meulan when the relics of our Saints had not yet been carried thither,] Although the sacred remains of our Saints which are still preserved today at Meulan probably did not exist there, as I showed in the immediately preceding §, before the year 1060, indeed probably also not before the twelfth century had already begun some years, it is nevertheless established by the grant made to the monastery of Coulombs of the diocese of Chartres by Galeran I, count of Meulan, a copy of which Davanne says he saw, in his

Additions to the Life of our Saints which he composed, chapter 2, insinuates, a Charter of the year 1035: for by this, in which Galeran approves and confirms the donation of tithes and other goods depending on the county of Meulan made to that monastery by a woman named Helvisa, he does so, as Davanne testifies in the place cited, only on this condition, that the abbot of Coulombs should come every year on the day sacred to St. Nigasius to the castle of Meulan, to celebrate Mass there and to occupy therefore the more honourable place among the other abbots likewise summoned thither then. And this is a very strong and almost indubitable argument that some time before the said year 1060, and therefore probably, according to what has been said, before the relics of our Saints had been carried thither, the feast of St. Nigasius was celebrated at Meulan every year on the 11th day of October with great solemnity, since abbots too were convoked to increase it, by the count and people of Meulan (judging, namely, that they ought to do so, because they thought that their forefathers had been illuminated with the light of the faith by Nigasius).

[104] But the cult of St. Nigasius, which had been so solemn among the people of Meulan before the relics of our Saints were carried to their city, afterwards, these having been translated thither, increased not a little, and extended itself from St. Nigasius, [afterwards also extended itself to them, and now not only the feast of all four on the 11th day of October,] to whom alone, as appears, it previously pertained, also to SS. Quirinus and Scubiculus, and indeed to St. Pientia, nor did it remain fixed, as before, to the 11th day of October alone, sacred to our Saints. All these things will become plain to the reader from what is now to be said. Davanne, who does not doubt that some relics of our Saints were translated from Vadiniacum to Rouen by St. Audoenus, calls this translation in chapter 64 the first of our Saints; and although he clearly records, as we saw above, that the principal bones of them which now exist at Meulan were afterwards translated from Vadiniacum to Meulan by the count of Meulan for fear of the Normans, he nevertheless does not bring this translation into the reckoning, because it was accomplished not so much for honouring our Saints as for withdrawing their sacred spoils from the insane fury of the heathen; and not counting either the one by which these were translated into the new church built at Meulan by Galeran I, he calls in the aforesaid chapter 64 the second translation of the same the one, already mentioned by us above, by which they were transferred there from the old reliquaries into new ones under Galeran II, count of Meulan.

[105] [but also the translation is celebrated there on the next Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord,] Nor does he do this for any other reason than that this, as he says there, was very solemn, and that, as he adds, it is celebrated every year at Meulan with an ecclesiastical Office to be recited, namely, as the things which he afterwards adduces show, on the Sunday next after the feast of the Lord's Ascension. But although indeed it is surely to be believed without doubt, on the credit of Davanne, that this is done there every year, this writer nevertheless, as I have already noted before, either wrongly ties that translation, or transfer of the relics into the new reliquaries which Galeran II, count of Meulan, had made, to the year 1140, or wrongly affirms that it was made by Goslenus, bishop of Chartres, who, according to what has been said, did not preside over that church before the year 1149; and from this it comes about that the year of the same translation cannot be determined either, other documents from which it might become known with certainty here being also lacking; and there will perhaps also be someone who suspects that this translation or transfer of relics is neither to be tied to the year 1140 nor ascribed to Goslenus, bishop of Chartres, but is one and the same with the translation of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus noted in the Chronicle of Bec, which I praised further at num. 98, at the 25th day of May of the year 1195 or the following, and understood in the manner which Pommeraye assigns in the History of the Archbishops of Rouen, page 37.

[106] [and the relics are carried around every year on this very feast with the greatest,] However that may be, in the year which immediately followed the said translation or transfer, and which, as I think, was at least one of the twelfth century, the count of Meulan, if Davanne is to be believed, in order that by the patronage of our Saints the public calamity by which the region was then oppressed might be averted, ordered the reliquary of St. Nigasius to be carried to a village named Jusiers, about one league distant from Meulan, in a solemn procession, the parish priests of the neighbouring parishes and the people having been summoned to it; and when this had been accomplished with the desired success, and on the same day on which the procession was held two miracles had been wrought at the touch of the said reliquary, by one of which a woman had been freed from paralysis, and by the other a young man from quartan fever, the count of Meulan prescribed, in memory of these and of the help with which the region had then been succoured in urgent necessity through the prayers of the holy Martyrs, that a similar procession should be held every year on the feast of the Lord's Ascension; and since this was thenceforth, as Davanne adds in the same chapter 66 in which he narrates these things, religiously observed every year perpetually with solemn rite, the reliquaries not of Nigasius alone but of all four of our Saints, as he afterwards teaches, being carried around, it follows from this and from the other things said above that our Saints are honoured every year at Meulan on three different occasions, namely on the 11th day of October, on which their martyrdom or happy departure from among the living is commemorated; on the Sunday next after the feast of the Lord's Ascension, on which their translation last mentioned here is celebrated; and finally on that very feast, on which their relics are carried around.

[107] Further, Davanne, after he has narrated in chapter 66 the things I have just set out, [which Davanne, having first said some things about the manner in which those sacred pledges are preserved at Meulan,] presently in chapter 67 and the two following enumerates the Bulls of Roman Pontiffs and the letters of various other prelates granted in favour of the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan, and likewise the indulgences conferred for promoting the cult of our Saints in the same priory; and then, having applied himself in chapter 71 and the two following to relating very many miracles wrought by the patronage of our Saints, some of which, more worthy of note, I shall list below, being presently about to hold discourse about the relics of our Saints which are accustomed, as I showed above, to be carried around every year at Meulan through the greater crossroads of the city on the feast of the Lord's Ascension, and at the same time about to set out with how great solemnity this is done, he first in a certain manner explains in chapter 75 with how great care and how great reverence that sacred treasure is preserved in the church of St. Nigasius at Meulan, in these following words, which I render into Latin from the French: In our church of St. Nigasius, situated in the castle of Meulan, which belongs to the diocese of Chartres, which is a very beautiful and sufficiently ample and spacious building, solidly built of cut stones in the form of a cross and furnished with side chapels, there are near the choir, above the first vault, two arched chapels, to which one ascends by steps about thirty-six feet in height. In one of these, above a beautiful tabernacle of more polished work, four reliquaries are placed together with several other relics.

[108] Further, this chapel and the stairway by which one ascends to it [and likewise, having said by way of preface the things which are done there on the eve of the same feast,] are closed by greater doors with two keys, one of which we keep, and the other the lord Lieutenant General, whether as the king's officer or as consul and prefect of the inhabitants, by a very long custom, which, though I could not declare how ancient it is, I can nevertheless assert to be excellent, lest so precious a treasure be scattered. As for the heads of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus (see what was said by us above at num. 80 and following) and Pientia, these are accustomed to be kept near the principal altar in a cupboard of hewn stone fortified with gratings. And these things having been premised, he then proceeds thus, so as first also to inform the reader of what is done on the eve of the solemnity: On the Vigil of the Ascension, the church having been adorned with tapestries, vespers are sung with solemn rite. The aforesaid Lieutenant General attends them, or sends officers carrying his key, and with this together with ours the place is opened; and while the Antiphon at the Magnificat is sung, the priests, clad in surplices and stoles, ascend into that high chapel and let down the reliquaries, which are placed upon the altars. When this is done, a great number of people is present, and one pushes another so that he may be the first to pass beneath the reliquary of St. Nigasius; and this is placed before the high altar upon a cupboard made with joiner's art to this end, that each one, having kissed the relics, may easily pass beneath it, as is the custom.

[109] he sets out to the reader in the words here proposed, So he, who, now at length coming to the matter itself, speaks of it in chapter 76 in the following manner: On the following day, the feast of the Ascension, the morning hours are recited; then the neighbouring parishes, fifteen or twenty in number, sometimes even thirty according to the circumstances of the time, some of them three leagues distant from there (namely from Meulan), arrive in procession toward the ninth hour, and at once the three parishes of the city betake themselves there, and then the general procession is begun. In it are borne in front Cymbals, banners, blessed candles and the crosses of all those parishes; and behind, first some caskets which contain the relics of those parishes, then four reliquaries (namely of Saints Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia), the last of which is that of St. Nigasius, carried by priests clad in albs and tunics, with beadles and guards walking at the side to guard them; and finally the presbyters, parish priests and our clergy follow in order; and after these we the Prior, performing the office, come next together with our deacon and subdeacon, by one of whom the head of St. Quirinus is carried and by the other the head of St. Nigasius, while we carry the cross, in which a part of the true Cross of our Lord and several other sacred relics are enclosed. These things Davanne says of the beginning of that procession, in which the relics of our Saints are carried around every year at Meulan with a surely most solemn rite, as I said; and presently also, after declaring that twelve or fifteen thousand persons of various order and state attend it, he supplies the following about its end: The squares of the Greater castle and of the city having been gone round, they return in the same order to the church of St. Nigasius, where at the great door the reliquary of St. Nigasius is placed upon certain stones set there for that purpose, which all, both clerics and laymen, kiss, and passing beneath it enter the church, where Mass is celebrated with the most solemn rite possible.

[110] are carried around with solemnity, and that writer, at whose request, also to it This finished, all the parishes depart in procession. At Vespers, while the proper Responsory after the Magnificat is sung, those reliquaries (namely of Nigasius, Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia) are raised in the same order in which they had previously been let down, and are replaced in their places, which are locked with the same common keys, and are not touched again until the following year, unless perhaps it is necessary to exhibit them in order to satisfy the piety of some prelate or prince; and this is then done only under safe and faithful guard, supplied by the said lieutenant general. So far Davanne on the subject proposed here; and from these words of his, the solemnity with which the sacred remains of our Saints are carried around every year at Meulan on the feast of the Ascension

of the Lord is surely the greatest possible, as everyone will understand. Further, this biographer of our Saints, and at the same time, as said, Prior of the priory of St. Nigasius at Meulan, who also, as we shall see below, transferred those sacred pledges into new reliquaries which he had caused to be made, always intent on promoting the cult of Nigasius and his Companions, invited to that solemnity in the year 1641, in order that it might be rendered more august by the bishop celebrating the divine service with pontifical rite and accompanying the procession, Léonor d'Étampes, prelate of the church of Chartres, to which, as I showed above, that priory belongs; and he, in order to venerate our Saints, complying with the desire of him who invited him, betook himself from Mantes, where he was attending the general assembly of the Gallican clergy, to Meulan on the feast of the Lord's Ascension, which then fell on the 9th day of May; and the solemnity which he had come to increase being finished, he also granted a charter in perpetual memory of the matter. Because it testifies to most of the things that bear on this, I transcribe it here from Davanne, who records it in his Additions to the Life of our Saints, chapter 12.

[111] It is couched in these following words, which I turn from the French language into Latin: [of Chartres, as his charter, which is given here, testifies, the prelate came in the year 1641,] Léonor d'Étampes, by the grace of God and the authority of the apostolic See bishop of Chartres, counsellor of the king in his councils of state and privy council, to all clerics and faithful of Christ, greeting and blessing. We make known that at the prayers of Lord Nicolas Davanne, priest, commendatory Prior of the Nigasian priory in the castle of Meulan in our diocese, we went today, the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, falling in the year 1641 on the 9th day of May, from Mantes, where we were attending the general assembly of the Gallican clergy, to the said priory, where we performed with pontifical rite the solemnity of the annual general procession in veneration of the relics of St. Nigasius, St. Quirinus and St. Scubiculus, his Companion martyrs, of St. Pientia, also a martyr, and of other saints, whose reliquaries or caskets of relics are preserved in the said church and were carried in this procession with great reverence, accompanied in seemly order by the parish priests and clerics of the city and of twenty-four neighbouring parishes, both of the archdiocese of Rouen and of our diocese, who had betaken themselves thither in procession from the morning, walking in front, and we behind together with our officers and household, and then in order the king's officers, nobles, aldermen and inhabitants of the city and of the neighbouring places following with a great multitude of people; who all attended the solemn Mass, which we also celebrated with pontifical rite, and we imparted to all our blessing together with the ordinary indulgences; concerning which matter, for the memory of posterity, we have made and signed the present instrument, to be deposited in the archive of the said Priory, on the day and year aforesaid. Signed d'Estampes, etc.

[112] From the solemnity with which, as we have already seen, the relics of our saints are accustomed to be carried around every year at Meulan, from the old into new reliquaries, which he caused to be made I now turn my discourse to another proof of the veneration shown toward them in the century just past. When the four reliquaries, the first of which contained the sacred remains of St. Nigasius, the second of St. Quirinus, the third of St. Scubiculus and the fourth finally of St. Pientia, had already in the past century, its middle part not yet elapsed, been not a little worn by the kisses and touches of pilgrims and other pious persons continued through a very long series of years, and the wood of which the reliquaries of SS. Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia were made had become corrupted by mere age, Davanne, the Prior of St. Nigasius at Meulan already very often praised, who had already restored its collapsed buildings and had decorated the church, presented by him with priestly vestments, with various ornaments too, not yet content to have done these things, judged in accordance with his singular piety toward the Saints that new reliquaries should also be procured by himself for preserving their sacred remains. In order, therefore, to do this, he began with the three reliquaries of SS. Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia, which, as said, were of wood, intending afterwards to be concerned about the reliquary of Nigasius, which was of silver. These were made in a short time with elegant work, such as suited the time, and Davanne, having obtained permission for this from the bishop of Chartres, transferred into them the sacred remains of SS. Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia, persons of no low rank standing by, on the eve of the Ascension of our Lord in the year 1639, as he himself teaches in his Additions to the Life of our Saints, chapter XI; and when the reliquary of St. Nigasius, of two thousand four hundred French livres, which he had caused to be fabricated of silver by a goldsmith, partly at his own expense, partly with money contributed by the pious veneration and munificence of others toward St. Nigasius, had been completed in the year 1643, he himself in this year, permission having been given him by the bishop of Chartres, on the eve of the Ascension of the Lord, which then fell on the 13th day of May, in the presence of five thousand persons, on a stage prepared for this in the church of St. Nigasius, likewise transferred the bones of this Saint, drawn out of the old reliquary in which they were kept, into that new one, after he had first shown each of them to those standing by.

[113] he transferred, and also not a few things in writing, So again Davanne himself teaches us in the Additions mentioned above, chapter XIII, adding there also that he enclosed in the same new reliquary the Acts of that translation, so that how, when and by whom it was accomplished might be transmitted to posterity. Nor, content to have done this, he records in the said Additions those entire Acts too, as also others testifying to the translation or transfer made by himself of the relics of SS. Quirinus, Scubiculus and Pientia into new reliquaries, and enclosed, as he says, by himself in each of these too, the former in the same chapter XIII and the latter in chapter XI. But not thinking that these are to be transcribed, because they do not enumerate each and every one of the bones of our Saints translated or transferred into those new reliquaries, and teach nothing worthy of note bearing on this besides what has already been said, I now proceed to the miracles wrought by the patronage of our Saints, or certainly of Nigasius, at Meulan or in its neighbourhood. Davanne, who, as I have already noted more than once, worked out the Life of our Saints, also lists in the second part of the little work in which he did so not a few miracles which happened at their invocation, and especially that of Nigasius. And first he records four mentioned in Martène by the anonymous Writer of the translation of our Saints, very often praised above, and therefore, since he flourished in the twelfth century, done a very long time ago; and then far more, wrought within more recent memory.

[114] some of which But since the former occur among the miracles of St. Quirinus which I am going to subjoin to this commentary, it would be superfluous to list them here; and as for the others, it has seemed good to set before the reader's eyes here, before I put an end to this §, not all of them, but, lest I be too prolix, only some, taken from Davanne's chapter 71 and turned from the French language into Latin. Most, or perhaps even all, are more recent than the fifteenth century. I begin from those which I think older, and I shall propose both these and the others in an uninterrupted series. Let us approach the matter itself. In the city of Meulan there was a blacksmith whose head and throat had become so swollen from toothache that he could neither see nor open his mouth to eat; and since he was of great devotion toward St. Nigasius, he invoked him to his aid; and having received water in which his head had been dipped, and a linen cloth which had been applied to it, when he had drunk of that water and applied that cloth to his head, he was at once restored to health. When a younger girl was suffering from an ailment of the foot which caused her very great pain from the burning heat of inflammation, her parents led her to that church, and she directed prayers to St. Nigasius, vowing that, if she recovered health by his help, she would both serve him devoutly and make an offering every year. The prayer and vow having been made, she felt herself perfectly restored to health, and returned home with her parents. For two years she fulfilled the vow; afterwards she neglected to do so; immediately she was seized by the same ailment; wherefore her parents brought her back to the church, and when she had asked pardon and promised that she would no longer fail in her obligation, she was again restored to health, and no longer forgot her vow.

[115] A fisherman from the village of Vaux, named Nigasius Langlois, was of singular devotion toward St. Nigasius, before the reader's whose name he bore, and frequently came to his church on Sundays to attend the sacrifice there. It happened that, when he and one of his sons were fishing in the river, the boy slipped from the little boat into the water, and his father could not help him, because he did not come up out of the water. At once the unhappy man, bending his knees in his little boat, devoutly besought Nigasius to come to the aid of his son in this peril; and without delay he caught sight of his son on the bank, about two hundred paces distant from the place where he had fallen into the water, and going to him he found him safe and saying that no harm had befallen him, and that an old man, shining with splendour on every side, had seized him by the head and led him to the bank. At the same hour they betook themselves to the church of St. Nigasius, to give thanks to this Saint for the help brought, and narrated what has already been said. The wife of Pernot le Biche, of the parish of Les Mureaux, injured herself when she was pregnant, whence she gave birth before term, being seized thereby with a grave illness, from which she was rendered very deaf and almost blind; and she remained in that state for a year, until, having heard of the miracles which frequently took place at the letting down of the reliquary of St. Nigasius, she came to the city on the eve of the Ascension, led by her daughter, and there, after pouring forth prayers, she kissed the reliquary with firm confidence, and at that very hour began to see and hear; and when Vespers were finished, she felt herself entirely restored to health, and on the following day came to the procession, giving thanks to God and narrating to all the miracle which had befallen her.

[116] On the feast of the Lord's Ascension in the year 1525 three miracles happened in the church of St. Nigasius. before the eyes, First, Ruvina Veteuil of the parish of St. James, who had long laboured under ill health, had herself carried into the church to kiss the reliquaries of the holy Martyrs, and when she had done this with great faith and devotion, she found herself so relieved that after the Office she returned home on foot, and within three days was restored to complete health. Second, Martina, wife of Colin Robineau, a vine-dresser living at Cormeilles, seized with great deafness, having had the Gospel recited and having lit candles at the reliquaries, commended herself to St. Nigasius with such fervour that she obtained the effect of her prayers and returned home with her hearing fully recovered. Third, Philibert Tourneur, living by the labour of his hands, into whose hand a thorn had fixed itself while he was attending to his work, and whose hand together with the arm had hence become so swollen and black that it was thought this would have to be amputated, came to the church asking alms, and when St.

Nigasius's reliquary passing by, he applied his hand to it, praying God and the blessed Martyr to have mercy on him, and presently, the ailment being diminished, he was restored to health within two days; on account of which matter he came to give thanks to God and to narrate what has just been said.

[117] placed here, he included the miracles of our Saints. I, John Belot, priest, living at St. James in the castle of Meulan, bear witness that my right hand, when I had injured it with a knife, swelled up and became black, and that the surgeons said it was seized with gangrene and must be amputated; but when I was attending the Office in the church of St. Nigasius, the Prior was showing the head of St. Pientia to a devout person who had come and desired to see it, and when the reliquary was opened, I applied my sick hand to it, praying God inwardly through the merits of His Saints to relieve my pain. At once it ceased, and within two days that hand was healed, with which I have written in this book what I have just said, on the last day of August in the year 1530. A poor woman living at Meulan by the quarries near St. Avitus used to come devoutly on Sundays to St. Nigasius, toward whom she was of remarkable piety, for Mass and holy water, and then returned home to attend the solemn Sacrifice of her own parish. It happened that fire seized the straw on which she slept, and when this had begun to burn and its flames to scorch her little house, woken by the heat she cried out, "St. Nigasius, help me"; then the fire was extinguished of its own accord, and the wood of the bed and all the rest remained unharmed. All these things and many others, which, as I have already noted, I do not transcribe here for brevity's sake, Davanne relates in the aforesaid chapter 71, adding generally in the chapter next following that he received from him who, before he himself received that church as a benefice, had performed the office of chaplain in the church of St. Nigasius for fifteen years, very many other miracles wrought at the invocation of our Saints in persons who were afflicted either with fevers or with deafness, and especially in pilgrims flocking together to Meulan from all sides every year on the feast of the Lord's Ascension; but these and many others which the same writer also records afterwards I likewise pass over here in silence, and chiefly for this reason, that I think the knowledge of them will not be greatly desired by the reader; and I proceed to the things which are to be said concerning the sacred remains of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus preserved at Malmedy.

§ VIII. Whether the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist today at Malmedy were carried thither in the year 808.

[What relics of SS. Nigasius and Quirinus exist at Malmedy, from the Notice here given] What I did at the very beginning above, when I was about to inquire into the time at which the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist there today were carried to Meulan, I now do here likewise, being about to inquire into the time at which the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which are still preserved there today were carried to Malmedy, and therefore before all things I set out what these are. Of St. Poppo, abbot of Stavelot in the diocese of Liège, which, as I showed at num. 64, had the same abbots as Malmedy and is scarcely two miles distant from it, Bolland treated in our Work at the 25th day of January, on which his name is inscribed in the sacred Fasti; and there in the Preface, num. 7, the following words of an anonymous monk of Malmedy concerning him are read, which Johannes Gamans, priest of the Society of Jesus, copied from an old manuscript codex of the Charterhouse of Cologne and sent to our predecessors: In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord 1042, Henry being king, and the venerable abbot Poppo presiding over this place, there arose concerning the relics of saints Quirinus and Justus, through the ignorance of the people, who judged that we did not have them, a confused error, some murmuring one thing and others another, now secretly, now in public. Which the aforesaid father of venerable memory learning, at the petition and by the common counsel of the brethren and of faithful laymen, opened the shrines of the Saints on the day before the Ides of June, and found, we standing by, not only the relics which were hoped for, but several others which were unknown; and leaving them decently arranged as he had found them, he faithfully sealed them again with his seal at the same hour, we looking on; and thus both our credulity and the rashness of the people became evident. And these were the relics: two teeth of saint Peter the Apostle, the entire bodies of the saints Quirinus and Justus with their heads, and very great relics of saint Nigasius and of blessed Scuviculus and of saint Melantius and of saint Audoenus, and his chasuble, and of other Saints unknown to us.

[119] The things which are related in the notice couched in these words [and at the same time from others, both those concerning the arm of St. Nigasius and the body of St. Quirinus,] its author himself, as he clearly declares in it, beheld; and since nothing occurs on account of which he should not be believed, there is surely reason for us to believe on his credit that the body of St. Quirinus with his head existed at Malmedy in the year 1042, and that very great relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus were besides joined to it; and although he does not declare what or of what kind the very great relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus which he mentions were, nor is this known from elsewhere as regards the relics of this latter Saint of ours, yet another anonymous monk of Malmedy teaches us that what he calls the very great relics of St. Nigasius was the right arm of this Saint of ours, in his work on the arrival of St. Quirinus the martyr at Malmedy, which was published by Martène, volume 3 of the Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, column 1685 and the five following, from a manuscript of the monastery of St. Trond, and will be subjoined by us to this Commentary, printed again; and he, although he does not everywhere write things consonant with the truth, as we shall see below, nevertheless wins entire credit for himself when he speaks of the relics of Saints which he says are preserved in his monastery, because he must be judged to have had this ascertained perfectly well. Further, the inmates of that sacred retreat judge that the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which, according to what has been said, existed at Malmedy in the year 1042 still exist there today. But the anonymous author of the Translation of our Saints, very often praised above, relates in express words that the body of St. Quirinus was carried from Condé to Malmedy not entire, as the notice already given holds, but only in great part; and since it could easily have happened that the author of the notice given at num. 118 took by mistake the bones of St. Quirinus, separated from one another and mixed together, for an entire body, even though some were also lacking to them for constituting an entire body, I think that the body of St. Quirinus, which the anonymous author of the Translation of our saints says was translated to Malmedy not entire but only in great part, in actual fact exists there too not entire, as the given notice holds, but only in great part, especially since the people of Meulan, as I already showed above, claim for themselves a certain part of that sacred pledge too, and the raging Calvinists burned another at Rouen in the year 1562.

[120] [and those concerning the head of this Saint, which at Meulan by Davanne, and at Rodon] But here besides another difficulty arises as regards the relics of the same St. Quirinus. For since Davanne, as I have already noted before, affirms that the head of this Saint of ours, which, from the notice just transcribed here, appears certainly to be preserved at Malmedy, exists among the people of Meulan, there will perhaps be someone who contends from this that it is not certain from the Malmedy notice already given that the head of St. Quirinus exists at Malmedy; but that writer can have taken by mistake either the head of St. Scubiculus (see what was already said above at num. 81) for the head of St. Quirinus, or certainly (for for no cause does the contrary appear) a part of it for the whole; and since this is so, he surely cannot bring it about that it is not certain from the Malmedy notice that the head of St. Quirinus, either entire or at least a part of it which can not absurdly be called a head, exists at Malmedy. But there will now perhaps also be someone who is persuaded, from the things which Arthur du Monstier records, that not even half of the head of St. Quirinus is preserved at Malmedy. For he, treating in Neustria Pia, page 603 and the eight following, of the priory of Rodon, which, situated in the diocese of Chartres and about one league distant from Mantes, belongs to the monastery of Fontenelle of the diocese of Rouen, first writes thus there in chapter 2: Since ... the head of St. Quirinus the martyr, the most loving companion of blessed Nicasius, first bishop and martyr of Rouen, was brought to Rodon, it was illustrated there from heaven with such frequency of miracles that the faithful from every province piously flew in rivalry to venerate it; indeed, they were also more strictly bound to keep and fulfil the things which they promised by an oath religiously taken upon the very head of Saint Quirinus; and then, after transcribing from the Acts of St. Nigasius and his Companions, which we showed above to be of doubtful credit, some things not bearing on this concerning SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus, he subjoins: A certain modern author contends that the relics of these holy Martyrs were carried off thence (namely from Vadiniacum) by the counts of Meulan and translated into the church of the priory then built by them in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of SS. Nicasius and his Companions; and that the head of St. Quirinus is preserved there to this day together with the others.

[121] But with the leave of so great a man (namely, as he notes in the margin, is asserted by du Monstier to be preserved, at least for the greater part, Davanne) I would say that this is asserted gratuitously, if he understands it of the complete integrity of the same consecrated head; since it appears more certain than certain from what follows that the head of the same St. Quirinus the martyr, at least for the greater part, is piously venerated at the church of the priory of Rodon already from the year 1200, as we have shown. That St. Quirinus the martyr and his relics were indeed held in the greatest veneration at Rodon already from the year 1200 is clearly established from an ancient document which du Monstier alleges in the place cited, chapter 1, §5. Nor do the letters of Peter, bishop of Chartres, and of Ralph, archbishop of Rouen, given in the year 1446, which he adduces afterwards in chapter 3, allow it to be doubted that the head of St. Quirinus the martyr, enclosed in a silver reliquary fashioned in the shape of a human head, is in very truth preserved in the aforesaid priory of St. Mary at Rodon; but since neither those letters nor any other ancient documents teach when or whence that sacred pledge was brought to Rodon, I surely think it can not undeservedly be doubted whether it is the head of Quirinus, the companion of St. Nigasius, or of another Martyr of the same name. Surely in the praised letters of the prelates of Chartres and of Rouen, Quirinus the martyr, whose head, they say, is in veneration at Rodon and shines with miracles, is neither called the companion of St. Nigasius, nor does anything occur from which you might conclude that he underwent martyrdom either in the Vexin country or with St. Nigasius. What if, then, of another Martyr, Quirinus

by name, but who suffered neither with Nigasius nor in the Vexin country, the head was brought, either from Rome or from elsewhere, to Rodon, which is joined to this country, or certainly, as may be seen in du Monstier in the place cited, chapter 1, §1, neighbouring it, in the twelfth century, or, if you like, even earlier, and in the lapse of time, because scarcely any other Martyr named Quirinus was known there than the one who had undergone martyrdom with Nigasius in the Vexin country, it was taken by mistake for the head of Quirinus, the martyr of the Vexin?

[122] This surely, considering what I have already said, appears by no means altogether unlike the truth. are brought forward here, Wherefore, since it appears that it must be doubted no less whether the head of Quirinus of the Vexin, either entire or in part, is preserved at Rodon than whether it is at Meulan, how, I ask, can it be concluded from the things which du Monstier records in the immediately preceding number that not even half of the head of St. Quirinus exists at Malmedy? But let us grant for the moment that the sacred pledge which is held at Rodon for the head of St. Quirinus, the martyr of the Vexin, is in actual fact this Saint of ours; it can nevertheless still not undeservedly be doubted whether it is the head, at least for the greater part, as du Monstier will have it. For although this writer affirms, by the words recited in the preceding number, that what he says on this matter appears more certain than certain from what follows, or from the things which he subjoins afterwards, I nevertheless find nothing from which this appears even in some way certain, either in the letters of the bishops of Chartres and Rouen praised above, which he records afterwards, or in the others which he brings forward. An anonymous writer, whose work on the miracles of St. Quirinus as venerated by the people of Rodon du Monstier records afterwards in chapter 2, cited, from a Rodon manuscript codex, does indeed affirm, in § VI there toward the end, which alone seems able to support du Monstier here, that the reliquary or casket which Thomas, Prior of Rodon, had caused to be fabricated at Paris in the year 1432 for preserving the head of St. Quirinus the martyr and other sacred remains seemed less capacious than the holy head itself, and that hence the said Prior resolved to enlarge it; but since he does not express the size of that casket, it may have been so small that it did not suffice to hold even half of the head; and therefore what du Monstier says by no means appears more certain than certain from what has just been said, which he subjoins to his words recited above from that anonymous writer concerning that casket; and since it does not become even in some way certain from the other things either which he either subjoins or prefixes to the same words, surely, even if the sacred pledge which is held by the people of Rodon for the head of St. Quirinus, martyr of the Vexin, were in actual fact this Saint's, it would still be doubtful whether it is his head, at least for the greater part.

[123] [are determined. These and others of St. Scubiculus, of what kind they are is unknown,] But although this is so, and therefore it cannot be concluded for certain from the things which du Monstier writes in the words transcribed here above that not even half of the head of St. Quirinus exists at Malmedy, I nevertheless think it must be doubted whether the entire head of the same Saint is preserved at Malmedy. My view is this, both because perhaps some part of that sacred pledge is in actual fact found among the people of Rodon or of Meulan, or even among both these and those, and because the author of the Malmedy Notice, already praised more than once, when he speaks of the head of St. Quirinus preserved at Malmedy, adds no word at all which indicates its integrity, and yet does so when he holds discourse about the body of the same Saint, which he was persuaded, although by mistake according to what has been said, existed entire at Malmedy. But why more on this matter? That the head of St. Quirinus, either entire or at least a part of it, whether half or even greater than this, or certainly such as can deservedly be called a head, exists at Malmedy is certain from what has been said, and especially from the Malmedy Notice adduced above (for no one would weaken its credit in this matter); and since it is likewise certain from what has been said above that there also exists there the body of the same Saint of ours, almost entire or in great part, and the right arm of St. Nigasius, and since thus the sacred remains of SS. Nigasius and Quirinus which exist at Malmedy have already been determined as closely as was possible, let us now inquire into the time at which these were carried thither together with certain relics of St. Scubiculus, of what kind I can in no way define. Du Saussay ends the prolix elogium with which he celebrates our Saints today in his Gallican Martyrology with these following words, having first spoken of the veneration in which he says the relics of SS. Nigasius and Pientia are held in the Gauls: But the glory and veneration of Quirinus and Scubiculus spread beyond the borders of Gaul.

[124] For when in the year of Christ eight hundred and eight the sacred pledges of these and of Nicasius had been translated from their own mausoleum to the village of Condé in the territory of Paris, Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, then staying at Paris, were not, contrary to du Saussay and the one who, and Odulf, provost of Malmedy, obtained from Charlemagne and from Deodefrid, prelate of the royal city of the Parisians, the body of St. Quirinus, an arm of saint Nicasius and the more important relics of saint Scubiculus; which sacred pledges they carried across to Malmedy, where Quirinus himself and Scubiculus especially shone with frequent miracles, by which they won to themselves the devotion of the inhabitants of the whole region. If, therefore, the praised martyrologist records true things here, the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist there today were carried to Malmedy already from the beginning of the ninth century, indeed in the determinate year of it 808. Further, Molanus went before du Saussay here in the Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium in such a way, however, that, contrary to what the latter does, he neither sets Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, whom both he and du Saussay affirm obtained the mentioned relics from Charlemagne and the bishop of Paris, present at Paris while he was obtaining them, nor expresses by name the prelate of the Parisians whom he declares imparted those sacred pledges together with Charlemagne. I transcribe here his very words too, because they will still be of use below. They read thus: For the rest, in the year eight hundred and eight, when the bodies of saints Nicasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, translated through fear, were kept in middling places in the village of Condé, which adjoins the city of the Parisians, Odulf, provost of Malmedy, and Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, obtained from Charlemagne and from the prelate of the Parisians the body of St. Quirinus, the right arm of blessed Nicasius and relics of Scuviculus.

[125] So he; and since these things do not surely agree exactly, as I have already indicated, with what du Saussay records in the words last recited, of Malmedy, whose words here it can be doubted, if only from this, whether that martyrologist, who nowhere declares from what source he received them, drew them from the same monument from which Molanus drew his; but although this is so, everyone, unless I am mistaken, will recognise from what is to be said below that the monument which lay before du Saussay was certainly of no better note than the one which lay before Molanus. But from what monument did Molanus receive the things which he records in the words transcribed here above? Being about to treat, in the place cited above, of the martyrdom of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus and of their translation, and by name that of Quirinus, to Malmedy, he declares at the head that he drew the things he is about to bring forward on both these subjects from the histories of the martyrdom and translation, in manuscript at Malmedy. In order, therefore, that we may have it ascertained from what monument Molanus received the things he writes in the words recited above, it must be investigated what this History of the translation of St. Quirinus which he mentions here is. In Martène, volume 3 of the Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, column 1685 and the five following, there is exhibited a certain work, entitled On the arrival or translation of St. Quirinus the martyr at Malmedy, which supplies exactly the same things about it as Molanus does from the said History which he cites, taken, as Martène notes, from a manuscript of the monastery of St. Trond, and already praised by us at num. 119; and since a copy of this work, whose anonymous author shows himself in more than one place to be a monk of Malmedy, also exists with us, and it, no differently than the History of the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy mentioned by Molanus, was taken, as the note which it bears at its head establishes, from a Malmedy manuscript, it surely appears beyond doubt from what has been said that this History is the very work on the arrival of St. Quirinus at Malmedy, just mentioned, which Martène published.

[126] are given, following the anonymous, Molanus went before him, vo-[check] Further, the anonymous monk of Malmedy who composed this work, which, as I noted above, is to be subjoined to this Commentary, and who flourished toward the end of the eleventh century, as I shall show below, writes thus at the very beginning: It was the eight hundred and eighth year from the Incarnation of the Lord, when the mercy of the Deity who disposes all things, looking out for our necessities, for this reason enriched us with the most blessed body of the most precious martyr Quirinus. For this reason also it conferred upon us by its condescension the relics of his colleagues, so that, since we are strengthened by no authority of merits, we may be brought, by their intercession, to the joys of the heavenly citizens. So he, most expressly tying the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy to the year 808; and since Molanus received what he writes about it from that anonymous writer of Malmedy, as follows from what has been said, it follows that he also followed him in the year 808, to which, together with du Saussay, he ties that translation? But did this in very truth happen in that year? The anonymous author of the translation of our Saints, already very often praised above, writes thus in Martène, in the place cited above, num. 3: For fear, therefore, of these unspeakable heathen (namely the Normans or Danes), the bones of the aforesaid Martyrs (namely Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus) and of saint Pientia were translated with the remains of the most blessed prelate Audoenus to the village of Condé. After an interval of a little time the body of blessed Quirinus in great part, and some of the relics of the blessed Nicasius and Scuviculus, are carried off with the greatest reverence to the place which is called Malmedy, where they are continually made illustrious by the glory of miracles.

[127] in the year 808 So the said anonymous writer; nor does the likewise anonymous writer of the aforesaid Malmedy work differ from him. For in it, as it is exhibited below divided by us into numbers, he first speaks at num. 6 in the following manner: There is a little village of Condé, adjoining the city of the Parisians, where the bodies of the holy Martyrs Nicasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, translated formerly through fear of the Danes, who were laying the regions waste with plunder and fire, from their seats where they had first been placed, were kept up to that time in middling places; and then, after he has narrated the things which he will have it were then done for obtaining from the emperor the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus preserved in the village of Condé, whither, as he had said, they had been translated for fear of the Normans,

he subjoins at num. 13, a little before the end of his narrative or work: What more? The emperor assented to this opinion with his nobles, and commanded that the Saints be carried out from their places by the hand of him (the bishop of Paris), satisfying the desire of our people with all good things, by sending to us one of the three, blessed Quirinus, and by restoring the holy prelate Nigasius to his own see, namely to the city of the people of Rouen, whose right arm he also bestowed on us, with relics of the levite Sceuviculus and of Melantius the bishop, and also the chasuble of St. Audoenus, likewise archbishop of the people of Rouen. The sacred relics of these same three Saints of ours which still exist there today were therefore carried to Malmedy, considering the testimonies of the two anonymous writers which I have already alleged, only then, when the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus had been brought to Condé for fear of the Normans; nor do I find anything of a nature to suggest that this was done earlier.

[128] Wherefore, since the Normans or Danes, as is agreed among all, carried to Malmedy. began to be feared in the Gauls, and relics of Saints began to be translated from place to place through fear of them, only then when, bursting into Neustria either in the year 841 or certainly not long after, they had laid Rouen waste, who would believe that the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist today at Malmedy were carried thither already from the year 808? The latter of the two anonymous writers just adduced does indeed most clearly affirm that it was done then, as is plain from his words transcribed here at num. 126; but since he at the same time relates no less clearly, as becomes plain from his words transcribed here in the immediately preceding number, that the matter was not done before the bodies of the same Saints of ours had been carried to Condé for fear of the Normans, and therefore, according to what has been said, not before the year 841, of these two assertions of his, which conflict with one another, one of which must necessarily be false, the latter is undoubtedly to be embraced. My view is this, because not only the former of the two anonymous writers just alleged, but also the Charter of Riculfus, already very often praised before, most openly supports it, inasmuch as from it, as we saw above, it is established that the bodies of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus, either entire or almost entire, still existed at Vadiniacum in the year 872, and therefore, as follows from this, that the parts of them which are still preserved today at Malmedy had not yet even then been carried thither.

§ IX. The writing of the anonymous author on the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy is rejected, and this is established to have been made about the year 876 from the village of Condé, more probably not adjoining Paris.

[The anonymous writer of Malmedy, who declares that the body of St. Quirinus was not carried to Malmedy before the Norman incursions,] Since the anonymous monk of Malmedy, in his Writing on the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy, clearly relates, as I have already noted, two things conflicting with one another, namely that the body of St. Quirinus together with the right arm of St. Nigasius and the relics of St. Scubiculus was carried to Malmedy both in the year 808 and only then when the Normans or Danes had begun to terrify the Gauls with their incursions into them, which, as said, did not happen before the year 841, Martène, who, according to what has been said, published that little work in volume 3 of the Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, having perceived this, observes thus at the lower margin of the page on the words of that writer transcribed here at num. 126, in order to bring him into concord both with himself and with historical truth, which holds that the body of St. Quirinus was truly not carried to Malmedy together with the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus before it had already been brought to Condé for fear of the Normans: Here by the drowsiness of the writer some number has been omitted; perhaps 848 should be read. For the Normans, laying Rouen waste about the year 841, gave occasion to the translation of the bodies of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus to the village of Condé, whence after some years the body of St. Quirinus, or the greatest part of it, was carried to the monastery of Malmedy. So he; but since the year to which, by the said words, the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy is tied in the work of the anonymous monk of Malmedy is expressed neither by Latin numeral signs nor by Arabic ciphers but by numeral adjectives, it must be, if what Martène says is consonant with the truth, that in these the numeral adjective fortieth has been omitted; and since this adjective is found no more in the Malmedy manuscript, from which that work will be subjoined to this Commentary, than in the edition of the same work made by Martène from the St. Trond manuscript, that omission, if it is to be admitted, most probably proceeded not from a copyist who transcribed the said work but from its author himself; and that it came about that he, intent on expressing the year to which he thought the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy should be tied, omitted out of mere drowsiness an adjective of this kind, which was most especially to the point, appears to me scarcely likely.

[130] and yet that this was by Charlemagne And indeed I am persuaded that this did not happen from the fact that that author judged that the body of St. Quirinus together with the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus was actually carried to Malmedy in the year 808, and not in the year 848, which Martène suspects should be substituted for it. For that these sacred spoils were imparted to the people of Malmedy not by Charles the Bald, who reigned in the year 848 and for a long time still afterwards, but by Charlemagne, who ceased to live in the year 814, he plainly shows in more than one way in the course of his work, after the words recited at num. 126, by which he writes at the very beginning of his work that Malmedy was enriched with that precious treasure in the year 808. The matter, unless I am mistaken, will become evident from what is now to be said. Immediately after the words by which, as I said, he writes at the beginning of his Work, he speaks in the following manner of the prince who imparted the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus to the people of Malmedy: The emperor Charles governed the monarchy of the kingdom with valour, counsel and prudence, and not only protected the commonwealth with arms, but also amended it with laws and adorned it with morals. Before all things he loved Christ, the king of all, without whom no one reigns or rules justly; loving Him he feared Him, and by obeying His commands he wished rather to profit the age than to preside over the people. He was fortified with the arms of justice, lest he be corrupted by love of money, lest he deviate from the truth through respect of any person. The kingdom of the Franks rejoiced in his rule, the Roman empire was glad of his dominion; the rich and the needy and all the sons of the church exulted. Before his sight the haughty pride of the wicked languished, the bent covetousness of the proud grew torpid, the afflicted innocence of the poor grew strong. It was not lawful for the greater to oppress the lesser, but rather to say: Lesser ones, obey the greater.

[131] The proud saw him terrible, the humble mild. [judged, by more than one reason, to have been granted together with the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus] He vigorously defended the boundaries of the empire lest they be broken into by enemies, and strove to extend those very boundaries for the more abundant peace of the church. Against hostile nations he waged frequent battles; those willing to serve he received willingly; those prepared to resist he attacked with prepared forces; those attacked he overcame; those overcome he took; those taken he slew. He spared no kingdoms that refused to submit themselves to him; he spared all peoples that of their own accord submitted their hands to his dominion. No one could ever escape the power of his valour except him who preferred to bow his neck to the power of his valour. These and many other things the praised anonymous monk of this retreat says of the prince who, as said, granted the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus to the monastery of Malmedy; and since, taken together, they fit by no means Charles the Bald but in some way Charlemagne, he thus surely plainly shows that those sacred pledges were imparted to the people of Malmedy by the latter, whom he calls now king, now emperor, and not by Charles the Bald. But lest anyone perhaps reply that all these things could have been said by the aforesaid monk of Charles the Bald too by an unusual hyperbole exceeding not only credibility but also measure, I show in yet another way that what I said is truly shown by this writer. He first relates, after the words just recited, at num. 6 and following, that Odulf, provost of the monastery of Malmedy, who had very great favour and influence both with Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, and with the king or emperor, was stirred up or induced by the monks of Malmedy to request for their monastery the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus from the latter, to whom he was then being sent by Hildebald.

[132] Then, having said by way of preface that the same monks, in order that Odulf might more certainly obtain from the king or emperor what he was about to request, and especially from Hildebald's asked Hildebald for letters of recommendation to him, and that the latter benevolently complied with their wishes, he records those letters entire; and then he relates, toward the end of his work, that, when they had been read before the king or emperor, the body of St. Quirinus together with some relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus was granted by him, at the persuasion of the bishop of Paris, to the monastery of Malmedy. These things having been premised, I now undertake to prove what I said. Hyldebald or Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, who wrote those letters, occupied the see of Cologne from about the year 790, as Denis de Sainte-Marthe teaches in the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume 3, column 633 and the three following, until about the year 818; wherefore, since during that whole space of time which runs from the year 790 to the year 818 no other king or emperor named Charles reigned in France, to whose king the letters just recited here were written by Hildebald, than Charles surnamed the Great, it follows that these were certainly directed not to Charles the Bald but to Charlemagne. There are indeed those who contend that Hildebald is one and the same with Hadalbald or Hagebald, Hildebold or Hadalbold, who others will have it succeeded him in the see of Cologne; but Denis de Sainte-Marthe, just praised, shows in the volume cited, column 636, that Hadalbold or Hildebold is different from Hildebald.

[133] bishop of Cologne Yet lest anyone perhaps suspect that by an easy change of a single little letter Hyldebaldus is wrongly read for Hyldeboldus or Hildeboldus in the letters transcribed here above, I show in yet another way that these were written not to Charles the Bald but to Charlemagne. After the year 850 certainly no bishop who was called either Hildebald or Hildebold any longer occupied the see of Cologne, as may be seen in the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume 3, among the bishops of Cologne; wherefore it must be that the letters of Hyldebald, bishop of Cologne, of which we are speaking here, were written, if not in that very year 850, certainly before it; and since in these the Charles to whom they were given is called emperor, and Charles the Bald was not distinguished with the imperial crown before the year 875, it follows that not to him, but to Charlemagne (for to one or the other of them

they must necessarily have been given) they were directed. I know indeed that the kings of the Franks, even if they had not been adorned with the imperial crown, were now and then called emperors. I know too that the title of emperor is attributed to Charles the Bald himself, before he was presented with this dignity, in Charter 74 of the cartulary of Beaulieu in Besly, The Kings of Aquitaine, page 3; but it does not appear likely that that title was attributed to Charles the Bald, not yet adorned with the imperial crown by the Pontiff, by Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, whose see never belonged to the dominion of Charles the Bald.

[134] by the letters But here is yet another argument by which what I said may be proved more strongly. Hildebald, in his letters of which we are speaking here, calls Odulf, provost of the monastery of Malmedy, the common monk both of himself and of the king to whom he writes, so that Odulf, considering Hildebald's words, was the monk both of Hildebald himself and of that king; and as Odulf was Hildebald's monk because Malmedy, of which he was a monk, was subject to the diocese of Cologne, so too he was the monk of the same king because Malmedy was subject to the dominion of the king to whom Hildebald was writing. Besides, Hildebald, in his letters of which we are speaking here, plainly shows that he was one of the subjects of king Charles, to whom he writes; for in them he pronounces that no one is more faithful to him than himself, and he would certainly not have spoken thus (for a bishop, writing to some king to whose dominion he knows his diocese is not subject, would not even call himself faithful to him) unless he himself, or rather the diocese of Cologne, of which he was bishop, had been subject to the dominion of that king. Therefore Malmedy and the diocese of Cologne together belonged, as is easy to gather from what has been said, to the dominion of king Charles, to whom Hildebald gave the letters transcribed here above; and since before the year 850, after which certainly no bishop named Hildebald presided over the church of Cologne, neither the diocese of Cologne nor Malmedy ever belonged to Charles the Bald, it follows from what has just been said that those letters were certainly written not to him but to Charlemagne, who had under his dominion not only Malmedy but also the whole diocese of Cologne.

[135] Now then, since this is so, and, as I have already noted, is proved. the Malmedy anonymous writer already often praised relates that, these having been read before the king or emperor to whom they had been sent, the body of St. Quirinus together with the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus was sent by him to Malmedy, he surely thus plainly shows, which was to be shown here, that the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist today among the people of Malmedy were imparted to them by Charlemagne; and since he is therefore by no means to be judged, since he certainly judged, on account of what has been said, that these were translated to Malmedy in the year 808, the year 848 ought not to be substituted, as Martène suspects in the words transcribed here at num. 129, for that year in which he declares this was done. Molanus saw this, and hence, since he at the same time perceived that what had been done in the year 808, or under Charlemagne, could not have been done on the occasion of the fear struck by the Normans or Danes, who ranged far and wide through the Gauls with sword and fire, he judged that the error lay not in the said year but in the occasion on which the Malmedy anonymous writer relates that the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist there today were carried to Malmedy; and, content to have recorded that these had been translated to Condé through fear before this was done, he made absolutely no mention of the Normans or Danes, from whom that fear had arisen (see his words transcribed here at num. 124).

[136] But now, you will perhaps ask, since the letters of Hildebald, and certainly from these, that through the same about which so much has just been said here, were written not to Charles the Bald but, according to what has been said, to Charlemagne, must it therefore be concluded from them that the sacred remains of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist there today were in actual fact imparted to Malmedy by this latter prince? So indeed, according to what has been said, the Malmedy anonymous writer judged, who records those letters entire in his work to be subjoined to this Commentary, num. 8 and 9; but his opinion seems to have deceived him in this matter. Nor will this appear very surprising to anyone, once he has heard the reason for which I think he erred. After the words in which he sets out the relics which the emperor, Hildebald's letters having been read to him, granted, as he thought, to Malmedy, he presently proceeds thus: But if anyone is of such madness that he perhaps dares to waver concerning a treasure of this kind conferred on us by God, we send him to the clergy of the church of Rouen; there he will be taught by the testimony of truth what we have often experienced by God's help. For, that all doubt may be removed concerning their presence, the frequent working of mighty deeds through them testifies, as will hereafter be made manifest by the credit of writings; and thus he seems to indicate that it was still called in doubt at that time, when he wrote these things, whether the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which were said to have been brought to Malmedy in actual fact existed there; and there will perhaps be someone who suspects from this that he flourished about the year 1042, in which likewise, as the Malmedy Notice transcribed here at num. 119 teaches, it was doubted whether the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus truly existed at Malmedy; but there is also reason why you should doubt whether a suspicion of this kind is well enough founded.

[137] For the bodies of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus, together with the relics of St. Quirinus, were brought from Wambez to Rouen in the year 1032, as we saw above, and this was probably learned at Malmedy (for I think that it was for this reason that it was doubted whether the sacred remains of those three Saints existed there, as was said); those sacred pledges imparted to Malmedy, and since this is so, and yet our Malmedy anonymous writer does not seem to have had this understood, since he wrongly notes, by the words transcribed here at num. 127, that the body of Nigasius was carried to Rouen not then but at the very time at which the body of Quirinus was carried to Malmedy, this is surely an argument that he did not flourish about the year 1042. But I add what is also certain. In our Work, at the 9th day of July, St. Agilolf, bishop and Martyr, was treated; and from what is said there in the Commentary prefatory to the Acts of this Saint, num. 27 and the two following, it is plain that both the Passion of St. Agilolf and the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy were written by the same Malmedy anonymous monk of ours who also committed to writing the miracles of this latter Saint; so that therefore, since he, as is shown there, flourished toward the end of the eleventh century, it was, after no very great space of time had elapsed since the year 1042, again begun to be doubted at Malmedy whether the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus existed there, as you will gather from what has just been said. Wishing, therefore, to remove that doubt from men's minds, our Malmedy anonymous writer searched the ancient writings of his monastery, in order to find in them what would be suited to this purpose of his; and since he had found among them the letters of Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, transcribed here above, he inserted them in his work on those sacred pledges conferred on that retreat, as letters from which it was established that the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus had been requested from the emperor Charles for the monastery of Malmedy.

[138] to conclude, as he seems to have done, But what he thought is by no means established from those letters, since in them not even the name of Nigasius, or of Quirinus, or of Scubiculus is read. Hildebald indeed, toward the end of them, after declaring that the monastery of Malmedy sighed for the benefits of the emperor in its necessities, sets out in these following words what is asked of him through it: Whence this brother (a monk of Malmedy) is present, sent by us, desiring nothing of worldly pomp and thirsting for none of those things which mortals esteem first; but showing my requests and his own desires, as you will learn through him or from him, and asking that my requests and his desires be brought to effect through you or by you. But who would conclude from this that the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus were requested from the emperor by Hildebald for the monastery of Malmedy? Could not perhaps a benefit be asked of the emperor which was different from the grant of relics and yet neither savoured of worldly pomp nor consisted in those things which mortals esteem first? I surely do not see why not; and even if it were in every respect certain that nothing of this kind was requested, it could still not be inferred from this that the relics of Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus were in actual fact requested from the emperor by Hildebald. In the Notice of the relics which existed at Malmedy in the year 1042, transcribed here at num. 119, there are listed the sacred remains not only of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus, but also of SS. Justus, Audoenus and Melantius, and likewise of other Saints, as is said, unknown; and since this is so, no one could deservedly infer from Hildebald's letters recited above that he asked the emperor for the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus, and not of some of these last Saints, even if we were to grant that nothing at all was requested by them which, being different from the grant of relics, either savoured of worldly pomp or consisted in those things which mortals esteem first.

[139] Now then, since this is so, and therefore it is not established from those letters even that the relics of SS. Quirinus, could not, is for this reason rejected by us here, Nigasius and Scubiculus were requested from the emperor by Hildebald, as the Malmedy anonymous writer already often praised thought, there is surely no reason why anyone should conclude from the same letters, even though, as I showed above, they were written not to Charles the Bald but to Charlemagne, that the sacred remains of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist there today were imparted to Malmedy by this latter prince. Further, since that writer nevertheless did so, as appears from what has been said, and besides, as I have already noted above, joins the translation of those sacred pledges to Malmedy, which he believed was made under Charlemagne, and indeed thought should be tied to the determinate year 808, with the fear arising from the Normans bursting into the Gauls, which began to have place only long after that year and the reign of Charlemagne; and since it certainly cannot be concluded from the letters of Hildebald which he alleges that the remains of our Saints were requested for Malmedy through them; and since he, who moreover, as I have just noted again, wrongly relates that the body of St. Nigasius, brought from Wambez to Rouen only in the year 1032 according to what was said above, was brought thither already from the ninth century, or at the time when the sacred remains of St. Quirinus were being carried to Malmedy; I think that he is to be altogether rejected here by us, as unfit for determining the time at which the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist today at Malmedy were carried thither.

[140] Nor is there reason why this should seem very surprising to anyone. and their translation to Malmedy For this writer, as one may see in the Commentary prefatory to the Passion of St. Agilolf, which I further praised above, num. 25 and following, now and then unskilfully confused some of the historical matters which he either read or heard; so that surely there was no reason why Molanus should tie the translation of St. Quirinus to Malmedy to the year 808 on account of his work, by the words recited at num. 124. Nor do I think there was reason either for du Saussay to do so; for the document from which he received the things which he relates in the words likewise transcribed there was of no better credit than that work. This is clear if only from the fact that, no differently than Molanus, he writes that the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist there today were imparted to Malmedy in the year 808 by Charlemagne, and besides calls the bishop of Paris, by whose intercession he says this was done, Deofrid, who, considering what the Writers of the enlarged Gallia Christiana write in volume VII, column 29 and following, must have died long before the year 808. But since these things are so, by what way, finally, or by what reason may we define aptly enough the time at which the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus which still exist there today were granted to Malmedy and carried thither?

[141] about the year 876 That these were certainly carried from Vadiniacum to Condé for fear of the Normans not before the year 872, and probably between this very year and the year 876, becomes plain from what we disputed above at num. 67 and the three following; and since those sacred pledges, as is agreed among all, were not carried to Malmedy before they had been brought to Condé for fear of the Normans, it follows that this certainly did not happen before the year 872. Besides, since the sacred remains of our three Saints, according to what has been said, were probably brought to Condé before the year 876, it must now also be examined by us here how long they remained there before they were carried to Malmedy, so that the time at which they were carried thither may thus be defined more closely. The anonymous writer of the Translation of our Saints, very often praised, most expressly relates in the words transcribed here at num. 126 that, only a little interval of time having elapsed after the time at which the bones of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus and likewise of St. Pientia had been brought to Condé for fear of the Normans, the body of blessed Quirinus in great part and some of the relics of the blessed Nigasius and Scuviculus were carried off to the place which is called Malmedy; and since, as everyone will establish from what was said above, we can safely stand by that writer here, I am persuaded that the sacred remains of our Saints which still exist today at Malmedy were probably carried thither about the year 876.

[142] from the village of Condé, which more probably in the diocese of Soissons, Further, as in the time at which this was done, so also in assigning the situation of the place, from which, when the bodies of our Saints had first been brought thither, the body of St. Quirinus together with the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus was carried to Malmedy, our Malmedy anonymous monk seems to have strayed from the truth. For he expressly places Condé, or the village of Condé, or, as he says, the little village, to which the sacred remains of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus were first carried and from which they were afterwards carried off to Malmedy, near Paris (see his words transcribed here at num. 127); but since, as the Normans ranged more and more through the Gauls, the bodies of our Saints were carried by the monks from Vadiniacum to Condé, in order that they might be withdrawn from the fury of these heathen, and indeed, according to what has been said, not before the year 872, and since at that time it could in no way be hoped that the sacred spoils of the Saints would be safe in places near the city of the Parisians from the Normans, who, borne up the Seine in their ships, had penetrated as far as Paris already from the year 854, as may be seen in Pagi's Critica, had laid this city waste in the year 857, had burned the sacred retreat of St. Germain there in the year 861, and further hung daily, so to speak, at the throat of the regions adjoining the Seine, who, I ask, would easily persuade himself that the bodies of our Saints would then have been carried by the monks, who were striving to lay them aside in a safer place, to Condé, if this place had been near the city of the Parisians, as the Malmedy anonymous writer says, and would have been left there even for some space of time?

[143] and not, The anonymous writer praised at num. 68, who treats of the Translation of blessed Audoenus and the integrity of his body, expressly relates in the words recited there that the bodies of saint Audoenus and likewise of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus were translated by the monks of St. Audoenus from Vadiniacum to their estate of Condé, as the savagery of the Normans grew strong; and since I nowhere find mentioned an estate named Condé situated near Paris and belonging to the abbey of St. Audoenus at Rouen, and Pommeraye, in the History of the same abbey, book 4, chapter XI, places in the diocese of Soissons an estate or property of that name conferred on that abbey by St. Audoenus and afterwards changed into a priory, it surely appears more probable, from the things just adduced on this matter, that the bodies of our Saints, part of which were afterwards carried thence to Malmedy, were brought for fear of the Normans to that estate, situated above Soissons on the Aisne, which the anonymous author of the translation of our Saints simply, without addition, calls the village of Condé, and not, as the Malmedy anonymous writer will have it, to a little village of the same name which adjoined the city of the Parisians.

[144] Martène, after he had transcribed in the place assigned above the entire work of the Malmedy anonymous writer, already often praised by us, from the St. Trond manuscript, [as the Malmedy anonymous writer, as appears, not sufficiently consistent with himself,] as he notes at the head, then subjoins to it these following words: In the Manuscript there follow the miracles at the arrival of the body of St. Quirinus the martyr and of the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scuviculus, Audoenus, Melantius, which we deliberately pass over; and since that work ends with these following words, That all doubt may be removed concerning their presence (namely of Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus), the frequent working of mighty deeds through them testifies, as will hereafter be made manifest by the credit of writings, and the miracles which Martène says he deliberately passed over were found by him in the same St. Trond manuscript in which the said work was found, what I said above is confirmed by this, namely that both the latter and the former were written by the same praised anonymous monk of Malmedy: nor do I doubt that those miracles, which Martène deliberately passed over, are the very ones which exist with us under the title of a book on the miracles of St. Quirinus the martyr, received from a Malmedy manuscript by Father Johannes Gamans, priest of the Society of Jesus. Further, to come now to what bears on this place, the author of those miracles, who, as I noted, is not different from the anonymous Malmedy writer of the said work, having begun to narrate the translation of the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus from the village of Condé and the miracles which accompanied it on the journey toward Malmedy, brings the brethren or monks making that translation, on the second day after the journey undertaken from the said village toward Malmedy, toward evening into the suburb of Laon.

[145] Wherefore, since Laon, in French Laon, he seems to have judged, near Paris, is twenty-nine leagues distant from Paris, and it therefore could not have happened that those who were carrying the sacred pledges on foot from there to Malmedy arrived at Laon on the second day after their departure from the village of Condé, if this was near Paris, the translation of the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus with which we are dealing here was undoubtedly, if that author writes rightly there, accomplished from the village of Condé situated in the diocese of Soissons on the Aisne, and removed only about eight leagues from the city of Laon; and it will therefore follow that he, inasmuch as he expressly relates, as we saw, that the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus were brought for fear of the Normans to the village or little village of Condé which adjoined Paris, and were partly translated thence to Malmedy, is by no means consistent with himself. But then he leads those who carried out the translation from Laon to Rebais; and since it is in no way credible that they, hastening to the Ardennes and Malmedy, held that route, the suburb of Lugdunum may perhaps have crept by mistake into our manuscript on the miracles of St. Quirinus in place of that of Meaux, which, being only ten leagues distant from Paris, it does not exceed belief that those who had departed from a village near this city easily reached toward evening on the second day after their departure from it, and that, hastening thence to Malmedy, they proceeded to Rebais, situated in the diocese of Meaux. But Rebais is six leagues distant from Meaux toward the winter sunrise, and is not situated on the road which leads straight to Bastogne, whither those who were carrying the sacred pledges were proceeding, intending to make for Malmedy thence; wherefore, although indeed it is not altogether incredible that they went from Meaux to Rebais, it nevertheless does not appear likely. What if, then, in the manuscript which lay before the Malmedy anonymous writer, the error was made not in the name of Lugdunum, but on the contrary in the name of Rebais?

[146] was situated; is established to have been made, What if he, who, as said, unskilfully confused some of the historical matters heard or read by him, read in the manuscript lying before him that the sacred remains of our Saints which exist at Malmedy were obtained from the king, while he was staying at Paris, the bishop of Paris interceding, and hence judged that the village of Condé, from which they were translated, was situated near Paris? However it may be, I think it more probable, on account of the things which I discussed above on this subject, that the village of Condé, to which the bodies of our Saints were brought for fear of the Normans and from which they were afterwards partly carried to Malmedy about the year, as I have already established, 876, was situated not near Paris but in the diocese of Soissons on the Aisne. The anonymous author of the Translation of our Saints in Martène, in the place assigned above, num. 3, speaking of the body of St. Quirinus translated together with the relics of SS. Nigasius and Scubiculus to the monastery of Malmedy, does indeed write thus: But for what cause or in what order this was done, and also by what signs the Lord declared their merits on the very journey of the translation, have by no means been smeared over by oblivion, but have been handed down at present to literary skill by those to whom this happened. But the Malmedy anonymous writer, who has included in writing the translation of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus from the village of Condé to the Monastery of Malmedy and the signs which accompanied it, flourished at least two hundred years after it (see what was said at num. 137), and therefore most certainly is not one of those who, as the other anonymous writer of the Translation of our Saints says in the words just now recited, both took part in the event and committed to writing both it and the cause for which and the order in which it was done, together with the miracles which then occurred; and that he

did not have ancient writings concerning it by those who took part in the translation of which we are now speaking lying before him he himself shows, when toward the end of his Work he refers those who still dared to doubt whether the relics of our Saints were at Malmedy to the clergy of Rouen, that they might learn the truth from them, and not to ancient manuscripts lying before him from which it might be established.

[147] But although this is so, he nevertheless seems to have drawn from ancient Writings lying before him the miracles which he narrates, both those which accompanied the translation of our Saints from the village of Condé [and the miracles then and afterwards wrought by their help are subjoined to this Commentary.] and those which were afterwards wrought by the patronage of the same, and especially of St. Quirinus, in the church of Malmedy, which thenceforth began to be called St. Quirinus's, when their sacred remains had been brought to it. I judge so, first, because, being about to treat of those miracles, or, as he says, mighty deeds, of the Saints, he speaks in the following manner to confirm the belief by which the relics of our Saints are believed to exist among the people of Malmedy: That all doubt may be removed concerning their presence, the frequent working of mighty deeds through them testifies, as will hereafter be made manifest by the credit of writings; and then, because he narrates some of those miracles, and the anonymous writer of the Translation of our Saints, very often praised above, insinuates in Martène, in the place cited above, that he drew these from ancient manuscripts. Since, therefore, those miracles by no means seem to be rejected as certainly false, and contribute not a little to proving the cult which SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus enjoy at Malmedy, or certainly formerly enjoyed, I subjoin them to this Commentary, because, as said, they were both written by the same Malmedy anonymous writer by whom the translation of our Saints to Malmedy was written, and are partly most closely connected with it, in a continuous series, under the title of one and the same work, which comprises at once both them and the translation of our Saints to Malmedy, divided into chapters and numbers according to our custom, from the manuscript of the patrons of Malmedy, a copy of which, together with the Passion of St. Agilolf, bishop of Cologne and martyr, taken from the same manuscript, Father Johannes Gamans, priest of the Society of Jesus, sent from Cologne to Antwerp in the year 1638.

THE TRANSLATION TO MALMEDY AND THE MIRACLES, by an anonymous monk of Malmedy, from the manuscript of the patrons of Malmedy, a copy of which Father Johannes Gamans sent from Cologne in the year 1638.

Nigasius, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

Quirinus, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

Scubiculus or Scuviculus, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

Pientia, M., in the Vexin country. (S.)

BHL Number: 7040, 7041

By an Anonymous author.

CHAPTER I. The body of St. Quirinus, the right arm of St. Nigasius and relics of St. Scubiculus are obtained for the monastery of Malmedy.

The relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus It was the eight hundred and eighth year ^b from the Incarnation of the Lord, when the mercy of the Deity who disposes all things, looking out for our necessities, for this reason enriched us with the most blessed body of the most precious martyr Quirinus, for this reason also conferred upon us by its condescension the relics of his Colleagues, so that we, who are strengthened by no authority of merits, may be brought, by their intercession, to the joys of the heavenly citizens. And by what occasion this matter made us partakers of so great a gift, we have judged it best first of all to transmit to later nations, so that, as true lovers following the truth in all things, we may gradually come to narrating their mighty deeds.

[2] the emperor Charles, into whose praises The emperor Charles governed the monarchy of the kingdom with valour, counsel and prudence, and not only protected the commonwealth with arms, but also amended it with laws and adorned it with morals. Before all things he loved Christ, the King of all, without whom no one reigns or rules justly; loving Him he feared Him, and by obeying His commands he wished rather to profit the age than to preside over the people. He was fortified with the arms of justice, lest he be corrupted by love of money, lest he deviate from the truth through respect of any person. The kingdom of the Franks rejoiced in his rule, the Roman empire was glad of his dominion; the rich and the needy and all the sons of the Church exulted. Before his sight the haughty pride of the wicked languished, the bent covetousness of the proud grew torpid, the afflicted innocence of the poor grew strong. It was not lawful for the greater to oppress the lesser, but rather to say: lesser ones, obey the greater. The proud saw him terrible, the humble mild. He vigorously defended the boundaries of the empire lest they be broken into by enemies, and strove to extend them for the more abundant peace of the Church.

[3] Against hostile nations he waged frequent battles; those willing to serve he received willingly; the author digresses, those prepared to resist he attacked with prepared forces; those attacked he overcame; those overcome he took; those taken he slew. He spared no kingdoms that refused to submit themselves to him; he spared all peoples that of their own accord submitted their hands to his dominion. No one could ever escape the power of his valour except him who preferred to bow his neck to the power of his valour. From the rising of Phoebus's lamp to the farthest bounds of Ocean, all peoples experienced what his arm could do. Although he ruled over various kingdoms, although he extended his empire into various kingdoms, he is said to have cherished the Ardennes ^c above the others with his fortunes, and the Ardennes at his end to have grieved so much that it cried itself full of grief and misery, being left alone by the emperor Charles at his departure. Besides, he took care of churches and holy places above all, and piously succoured the poor, pilgrims, widows, orphans and all who suffered necessity.

[4] Although the most powerful prince sustained so many and so great affairs, on the occasion here set out, by Odulf of Malmedy, he never boasted at all in any praise of himself, lest he diminish the secret of a conscience approving itself by displaying the deed and receiving the price of fame. When, I say, being placed in so great a height, he was always hindered by innumerable successions of cares, and tossed heavily amid the eruptions of enemies and the fires of wars, and likewise was treating about establishing the peace of the kingdom with lord Hildebald, archbishop of Cologne Agrippina, very venerable indeed in life and wisdom, a certain Odulf, provost of our monastery, was the intermediary of this business, and, so to speak, was the apocrisiarius of the lord archbishop, a man himself very fit, who was also powerful by close kinship among those especially who at that time seemed to adhere more nobly to the king's palace.

[5] For this reason, not without divine disposition, I believe, he bound that man to the prince himself and to all his chief men who had very great favour with him, the provost Odulf. with such familiarity that none or few sat with him in a nearer place of friendship: for that royal power so inclined itself to the benevolence of the brother that it deigned to raise his humility to the boldness of asking, if he wished anything, promising by a word of faith that he should wish nothing in vain which it belonged to the royal dignity to grant. But he, as a true monk, who did not care even to have himself in this world, said that nothing was in his desire except the gift of his favour, that he was exceedingly adorned with a royal gift, whom he had deigned to receive so kindly into the arms of his friendship: besides, that every monk content with poverty alone was most rich, and on the contrary that he was poor and wretched who, neglecting the continence of a monk, had or wished to have silver or gold: thus the abstinence of the brother won so much the greater praise and merit with the prince, the greater the constancy he had in contempt of royal gifts.

[6] When so great a favour of the man had been learned by our brethren, impelled by his monks to ask for them it was certainly not a cause of envy, not of indignation, but rather of the greatest joy to all, since they judged that the familiarity of one would also be the common advantage of all, as afterwards became evident through him in effect. At once it was the care of all to consider among themselves with diligent inquiry for the obtaining of what thing especially it would be worthy that the aforesaid brother should extend prayers into the royal ears, lest the benignity of so great a prince should have offered itself in vain. At length, divinely, this one counsel, this one opinion settled on all, that that was to be asked which befitted a monk, and which it beseemed the royal majesty to bestow. There is a little village of Condé, adjoining the city of the Parisians ^d, where the bodies of the holy martyrs Nigasius, Quirinus and Scuviculus, translated formerly through fear of the Danes, who were laying the regions waste with plunder and fire, from their seats where they had first been placed, were kept up to that time in middling places.

[7] and by letters of recommendation of Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, Since they knew that these had been disciples of blessed Peter the apostle, and had been destined by Clement, successor of the apostle, with saint Dionysius into the Gauls for the sake of converting the people ^e, they resolved that nothing better and nothing more fitting should be asked, namely, that they should also cling bodily to him whose hearers they had been in doctrine and mighty deeds. And that this petition might prepare for itself an easier access to the royal ears, and might also obtain an easier effect for so arduous a matter, it pleased all to use, in aid of so pious a devotion, the patronage of the archbishop of Cologne, so that, the authority of so great a man being joined, the brother's favour might be more powerful in obtaining. They therefore asked the prelate for letters of entreaty to the king for the obtaining of so great a treasure; which, granted by him with the greatest benevolence, they had read through the aforesaid brother in the ears of the king, who by chance was staying at Paris in those days, to be recited in this manner.

[8] which entire "To the most illustrious emperor Charles, Hildebald, not, I say, Ruler but weak helper of the see of Cologne, wishes him to reign and conquer in Him whom to serve is to aspire to true liberty. Your exceptional benignity, renowned prince, most clement of all whom I have known, gives no small confidence to my petitions of obtaining even any arduous things, because my wishes, mostly admitted to the ears of your piety, do not yet know what a repulse is: therefore, with confidence of fulfilling my desire, I dare to address your majesty with prayers not only for my own but also for another's business, and to present to your piety this monk, as familiar to you as to us, our common one, to speak both my cause and his own, whose worthy and laudable desire it may be of your goodness first to hear, and then also to grant.

[9] are transcribed here, "There is in our parts a certain place to which the name of Malmedy has been given ^f, consecrated by its founders to the patronage of Peter, prince of the apostles, built quite fittingly by your predecessors, magnificently adorned by the same with royal gifts; which, although it testifies to their glory and liberality by many gifts, nevertheless equally sighs for your benefits in its necessities; whence this brother is present, sent by us, desiring nothing of worldly pomp and thirsting for none of those things which mortals esteem first; but showing my requests and his own desires, as you will learn through him or from him; asking that my requests and his desires be brought to effect through you or by you; let him obtain this by the humility of prayers and the devotion of service of the pastor of the people of Cologne, such as he is, than whom no one is more faithful to you, no one more obedient. Make it, my lord king, make yourself will it, if you can; but why did I say, if you can? Rather make yourself will it, since the power is not lacking."

[10] These letters having been read through in the ear of the king, and the causes of what was requested and of him who requested it having been learned, there were present

very many things which advanced, aided and promoted this cause of the embassy, being furnished, being asked for the same, on the one side the familiarity of the messenger himself, on the other the episcopal authority, all of which supplicated the royal majesty with honourable and manifold support. What rejection, then, of a repulse, what contradiction could such intercessors fear? For that that brother should not be heard, whom the king had rather often invited to ask something, would be unworthy; not to attend to the authority of the pontiff, who had often and much laboured in hope of favour, would be absurd; not to weigh with just examination the dignity of the petition itself, seeking only religious and holy things, would perhaps seem unskilled.

[11] Therefore he gave his assent most kindly to such pious wishes, most kindly but nevertheless, because in so great a matter there was need of the counsel of the prudent, he ordered all the nobles of the court endowed with age and wisdom to assemble in the hall, especially those by whose more skilful providence the affairs of the kingdom were more conveniently and more fittingly handled. All these standing by him, he brought forward, as though doubtful, to be treated in the common counsel of all, what he had proposed within himself to do at the dictation of clemency; he asks their opinions as though himself uncertain of mind; he inquired whether he ought to grant those about whom the matter was. The first in answering, who was the first voice there in the council, was the bishop of Paris; and because he had long been well known to our bishop of Cologne and was bound to him by the greatest familiarity, he recounted before all very many of his benefits faithfully done toward the king, and with many praises made the favour of that man, which was previously great with the prince, much greater.

[12] Then, the benevolence of the king himself and of all who stood by having now been sufficiently won for himself, by the persuasion of the bishop of Paris "The very faith and goodness of so great a man, Lord king," he said, "are counsel enough for you in this matter: his very merits, though we be silent, furnish no uncertain indication of what you should answer him. For who is so devoted in administering the affairs of the kingdom, who more ready to undergo all perils, than that renowned brother of ours, Hildebald? But I judge it superfluous to gratify your piety with my praises of him, who is known to be exceedingly commended to you and yours by his own probity. It befits therefore a prince of royal majesty to recompense so great a pontiff with royal benefits: whence, if it pleases the piety of the king, I judge that the petition of so great a pontiff should be favoured."

[13] What more? The emperor assented to this opinion with his nobles, was imparted to the people of Malmedy. and commanded that the Saints be carried out from their places by his hand, satisfying our desire with all good things, by sending to us one of the three, blessed Quirinus, and by restoring the holy prelate Nigasius to his own see, namely to the city of the people of Rouen ^g; whose right arm he also bestowed on us, with relics of the Levite Scuviculus and of Melantius the bishop, and also the chasuble of saint Audoenus, likewise archbishop of the people of Rouen. But if anyone is of such madness that he perhaps dares to waver concerning a treasure of this kind conferred on us by God, we send him to the clergy of the church of Rouen; there he will be taught by the testimony of truth what we have often experienced by God's help. For, that all doubt may be removed concerning their presence, the frequent working of mighty deeds through them testifies, as will hereafter be made manifest by the credit of writings.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II. The translation of the relics of SS. Nigasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus from the village of Condé to Malmedy, and the miracles which accompanied it.

[With exultation, a miracle also increasing it, the Saints are carried out from the village of Condé,] The divine goodness willed to make known to all how highly it holds the Saints in the heavenly mansion, making them wonderful in the sight of men through the operations of its marvels, of whose manifold number we here take the beginning of speaking, that God may be glorified in miracles, who willed to be admirable in His Saints. At their ^b translation from the village of Condé there was great exultation for our brethren ^c, and also an escort by the people of both sexes with lighted candles. That day, quite difficult from morning until the sixth hour with the violence of winds, the downpour of rains and the crash of thunder, disclosed by the indication of a succeeding sign of what merit those were who were being translated. For of the lights which were carried in the hands of the common people none could be extinguished for the space of four miles; and what is still more delightful, not even one drop of rain flowed upon the bodies of the Saints.

[15] To this is added a miracle by which the Founder of things was glorified in His Saints. on a boy deaf, dumb and contracted, being invoked, they confer health, The ninth hour had turned the day downward, and the nearness of night compelled the same brethren to rest after the fatigue of labour and journey. It pleased them therefore to go into a certain meadow, because the fertility of the grass and a spring flowing by seemed to afford the place much pleasantness and convenience. Nor was the matter hidden from the inhabitants of that place, and they vied with one another in bringing their sick, presuming certain health from such great Intercessors. Among others a boy named Helpricus was carried in the arms of his sorrowful mother, who neither gave voice from his mouth nor drew it in with his ear, and moreover from a deformed contraction bore deformed limbs. He was nine years old, and had completed the nine years of his age in the very affliction of the illness; but at the first approaches of his mother he performs the office of speech and hearing ^d. The mother, astounded at the miracle of so great a thing, gave thanks to God as she knew how, because, before prayer was poured out for him, His mercy came to him at the plea of His Saints: at which the brethren, not a little glad, decided that the bier should be set down. That boy, while he lay near it, was held by sleep. Roused from sleep, he rejoices at the gift received, the gift, I say, of the desired health in the straightening of his formerly contracted body.

[16] The next day had now shone, and the brethren, pressing on the road they had begun, they are brought to the suburb of Laon, where they cure another contracted man, when the sun was plunging its rays into the Western shores, came into the suburb of the city of Lugdunum ^e: and without delay the matter, spread abroad everywhere, flew as far as the pontiff of the place, who, coming, earnestly asked the brethren to entrust themselves to the walls of the city, taking with them the relics of the Saints. Whether he wished this with a pious mind is uncertain to us. Yet the outcome of the matter proved of what intention or affection he was: the brethren giving their assent, that bishop first, putting his hands to it, strove to lift the bier, intending to place it * upon his shoulders, but, a band of soldiers also being admitted, they laboured long in vain. For it remained so fixed to the ground that, like an immovable mountain, it could not be moved at all. Perceiving, therefore, that what he had attempted was not permitted, he ordered them to spend that night there, spread a tent over them for the honour of the Saints, and supplied them abundantly with the cost of food. Dawn had put to flight the darkness of the night that was past, and the prelate, coming again with the clergy and with the devout people, completed the solemnities of Masses with solemn office. In which place the protection of the Saints was not lacking, as it is everywhere. For a certain Albodus, contracted in his whole body, carried by the help of others and brought into their presence, is suddenly straightened before the faces of those standing by, and, straightened, rejoices to walk on his own soles.

[17] These things having been done, the brethren, taking up again their saving burden, they are wonderfully withdrawn from the plots of robbers or thieves, took their way with great exultation, and having passed the monastery whose name is Rebais ^f, they had already made the fourth mile from it, when their former exultation brought in upon them somewhat of sadness by a sudden grief; for the neighbours round about, hearing the report of them, by diabolical instigation conspired in one opinion, to carry off by violence the treasure conferred by God. And when they wished to accomplish this in deed, the Lord sent between the men of each party so dense a cloud that they could in no way approach one another. Thus, the plots of the wicked availing nothing, ours escaped safe by divine protection, with exulting minds. This is, good Jesus, the working of Your mercy. By these titles of mighty deeds You are made known to the whole world. So once You were present with the hand of defence to Your people, the sons of Israel, destroying Your enemies with the arm of Your truth. Them, led out of Egypt, You protected in the pillar of fire; us not unlike *; the patrons whom You had provided You saved from the midst of a hostile nation, a cloud serving You.

[18] having been brought into the Ardennes, at Bastogne sight to a blind man; Many labours having therefore been spent, and many fears both of robbers and of the roads having been passed through, at length they came into the Ardennes country ^g, where a village built by the inhabitants obtained from of old the name of Bastonia ^h. Here a young man, ignorant of light, drawing out the darkness of his birth, affected his parents with lamentation so much the sharper as he was the more diligently cherished by the affection of his parents; but trust in God, beloved company of parents; rejoice, young man, in this lot of yours, for after the stormy perils of the fluctuating air a welcome hour will come upon you which will not be hoped for. Therefore in hope and confidence of receiving health he is set with prayers before the presence of the Martyrs, and abundant weeping is also added to the devout prayers, so that the faith of the suppliants might wrest what nature had denied. The piety of the Deity is moved by these, from whose fount the saving medicine proceeded, and, the darkness being removed, it filled the empty windows with an unknown sun ⁱ.

[19] at Wisibrona the faculty of walking to a paralytic, The brethren having advanced thence, and having entered another little village of the same country named Wisibrona ^k, a certain paralytic meets them, scarcely sustaining his weak limbs with a staff guiding him, as that infirmity requires. He, drawing heavy sighs from the bottom of his breast, suppliantly implored the suffrages of the Saints; and they, since they are always easy to grant, assenting to his petition, health being conceived, the sinew which had before been slack is bound fast. Men marvel at so sudden a change of the man; they are no less astonished at the straightness of his unaccustomed walking, and attribute in praises to the grace of God the mighty deeds which were done through the Saints of God.

[20] at Amblève, in a most wretched manner The skilled hunter is accustomed in those parts to [set] his hunting-spears

stretch where he knows that more wild beasts flock together through care of more abundant pasture; the skill of fishers or fowlers is accustomed to cast nets there where it can catch abundance of swimming or flying creatures. Not otherwise the fraternity of this holy fellowship, wherever it had passed, left monuments of its holiness, and as, living, it had laboured to win souls, no less, received into the joy of its Lord, it took care of * the infirmities of bodies. As, therefore, it happened from the straightness of the route that they came to the village of Amblève ^l, it became clear from the form of the work with how great a perfection of merits they flourish. Phoebus had now climbed the middle heights of heaven, and, the hour pressing, it was needful for the brethren to repair their weariness by the necessary custom of necessary food. While this was being done, the bodies of the Saints are shut in the church with a boy of seven years, from whom a most wretched deformity of contraction, by a most wretched kind of suffering, had taken away the hope of living.

[21] soundness to a contracted boy, For the disease had grown so pitiable that his head, bent back as far as the legs, almost clung to his buttocks, so that you would behold a deformed monster, and could not distinguish the man from the monster. Both parents stood before the doors, lamenting the calamity of their son, commending the life and health of their son to the disposition of the Saints. What was being done in the recesses of the church it belonged to the Divinity alone to know, and alone to the devotion of the martyrs interceding with God for the sick one. The prayers of the parents to the Saints, of the Saints to the common Lord, prevailed, being heard; swift health overtakes the sick one lying there, and standing on his feet he raises his dying limbs to life. He being thereafter found sound, the people were amazed at the miracle, our brethren wept for joy, the name of Christ was proclaimed by all, through whom He had shone so much grace upon His Martyrs.

[22] Then, having accomplished the journey for some little while, they come to a certain spring, [and at a spring, afterwards called St. Quirinus's, they impart soundness to a woman bent over for a very long time,] where on account of the heat it was needful to rest to refresh the needs of their bodies. Meanwhile a woman, comparable to that one in the Gospel—for she could not look upward—bent over now for eighteen years, prostrates herself before the Saints, praying with such devotion as she could to be presented with the soundness she had long lacked. Tears follow upon prayer: the voice is seized by a shaking sob, the tongue is hindered by weeping, and in the midst of the effort speech is interrupted by groaning. I would truly say that she merited more while she wept, because tears do not ask for pardon, but merit it. Restored, therefore, according to her petition, she returned home with exultation. From that time that spring was called saint Quirinus's; which name it has kept to the present time, and not undeservedly; for it is not only sweet to drink, but also confers healings according to the faith of those who ask.

[23] There is near by a place which they call Campaniatum ^m, at Campaniatum a gift from their bier, where at the arrival of this most blessed fellowship the divinity shone forth by the display of its power, and the merit of the Saints was made plain to the glory of the divinity. Because there appears to be there a very beautiful plain for resting, the brethren who carried the blessed relics had laid their bodies on the ground, whether for the sake of repairing their weariness or in expectation of the people following; for celebrated fame had summoned from all sides a copious multitude of common people, and, as a matter of such novelty required, some brought their gifts according to their means to the honour of the Saints. Among those in whom there was the mind and will to bestow their goods, a woman brought a linen cloth and spread it over the bier of the blessed ones; but the matter, falling out to the contrary, showed that that cloth had come from the wrong side. For as soon as it touched the bier, it was carried, as though driven back by a vehement wind, through the space of the air, until, falling, it passed beyond the number of the people lying round about on the ground; and being placed upon it a second and a third time for the sake of trial, it was a second and a third time driven back in like manner as before.

[24] Whence it is given to be understood that the holy Martyrs, who, clinging to true justice, shed their blood for the name of Christ, wish nothing unjust. being unjustly acquired by a woman, they drive it back, This woman, being questioned on a matter of this kind, confessed her guilt in this manner. "It is the custom," she said, "for women to put their flax in flowing waters, so that, taking strength from them, it may become workable for necessary uses. From it, secretly carrying off various portions from various places, in order to provide for my poverty out of another's abundance, I was not ashamed to undergo the mark of this infamy." Having so spoken, she openly showed repentance for her error, intending thenceforth to yield to the filth of a similar offence; thus was the iniquity of that infamous woman detected, thus was the holiness of the Martyrs of Christ wonderfully manifested. I am about to tell a thing as wonderful as it is glorious, and, because it is seen even today, full of credit. That place where the bodies of the Saints rested, or where the popular crowd sat around, perpetually preserves its greenness with grass, so that it is neither burned by summer heat nor taken away by winter cold. Let each of the faithful weigh how much they avail with God in heaven, on whom so much grace has been conferred by God on earth.

[25] and at length brought to Malmedy Hence rest was to be undergone, sought by our brethren through long sweats, and the blessed Martyrs were to be brought into their seats, which the Lord had chosen beforehand for them from the beginning of the world for our salvation. At their reception, how much joyfulness flowed together in the clergy and people, who of the skilled could set forth in skilled speech? You would see old men rushing with the younger from all the neighbourhood, and little ones hastening with the greater from all places, so great an ardour of mind had blown through all to run to meet their patrons, and in running to meet them to show each his service according to his measure. If secular care had also occupied some in necessary affairs, they rejoiced to be freed of it voluntarily, provided it befell them to take part in the desired joys. There were those whom age had bent into old age, and those whom the misfortune of debility had thrown upon their couches; these a certain force from God snatched to the voices of gladness, as though forgetful of their age and infirmity.

[26] [they are received most honourably, a miracle also making their arrival illustrious.] All, therefore, running to various tasks, some, the obstruction of the roads being removed, laid the roads level; some vied with one another in taking turns under the Holy burden; those to whom this is not granted in effect esteem it great even to behold the bier by following it. Therefore these leaped with praises, those with applause, and saluted the common glory with equal piety. With such honour they receive those whom God has exalted with inestimable glory; with such magnificence, I say, are brought in those who would be through the ages the remedy and solace of our sins. Indeed, as the bearers of the blessed pledges entered the thresholds of the monastery, a wonderful fragrance of wonderful sweetness boiled forth, lasting for nearly the days of one month as a token of the holiness of the Martyrs. From that time their name began to be held celebrated, and the sick people to run together from all sides to their suffrages, as will thereafter be faithfully related by us.

ANNOTATIONS.

whether id? supply: You succoured i.e. curabat* (took care of)

CHAPTER III. Miracles wrought by their patronage at Malmedy after the relics of SS. Quirinus, Nigasius and Scubiculus had been carried thither.

A vision is offered where those who were translating the Saints had rested; There is a mountain adjoining the monastery which they call the Seat of Bertulf, because that man, first fixing his tents there, gave the place a name from his own name. The day of the bringing in of the martyrs having therefore been exultantly fulfilled in divine praises, when the sun was already dyeing its red robes in the Ocean, the people, who had come together from different directions,

was returning rather late to their homes. And some, passing over the brows of the aforesaid mountain, saw from afar, where the weary brethren had set down the bier that same day, as it were three lights in manifestation of the three Saints; and lest a thing seen once should win belief with difficulty, a threefold beholding through three nights afforded no uncertain means of believing. Where, for the honour of the Saints and for the memory of those to come, a lofty cross was set up, which, dissolved through the succession of times by old age and always renewed by the faithful, offers until now attestation of this matter ^b.

[28] a woman by a penalty divinely inflicted on her, Below the aforesaid mountain lies a spacious meadow, serving the Lordship of many, enriching its Lords in its season with a large share of hay. Here a girl, while the others were hastening to the feast day, whether through fear of her employer or heedless of the glorification of God and the martyrs, alone pressed on with the labours of her hands, and raised into a heap the hay which she had gathered with a fork. But she did not bear with impunity what she presumed with the daring of rashness; for, that vengeance might be taken on her as an example to posterity, she could not put down the fork, which had already stuck to her palms. She does violence to herself, striving with all her effort to be loosed, but there was present a certain inner force binding her with inner bonds. She stuck fast, therefore, astounded, and on account of what had happened was astounded, sticking fast. Besides, she showed by the greatness of her cries with how great suffering she was afflicted in her hands. Terrified by her voice, those who were flocking from all sides to the festivity ^c run up not without wonder, relieve her with soft consolation as one set in ecstasy, and hasten to bring her with them, that they may set her before the help of the martyrs. Before they accomplish the middle of the way, the girl recovered the health of her hands, an example being left to those placed in necessity never to distrust the help of the divinity.

[29] [another from the infestation of a demon, and her sister from insanity, are freed;] A woman named Widrada was tormented by a most evil infestation of a demon, but, being brought in hope of being cured to our monastery ^d, she swiftly obtained a remedy from God through the blessed Martyrs. For, bound with strong bonds, she is left by their help, the doors of the church being locked; and again, when we desired to know what she was doing, she is found emptied of her possessor and restored to herself. Her sister also, named Theduidis, lost her senses, came wandering to their memorial, and at once was made mistress of herself, so that for as long a time as she lived she remained sound.

[30] There was a certain Wimboleus so infirm by bodily contraction that his soles clung to his buttocks. one contracted in a pitiable manner, Someone addressed him in a nocturnal vision in these words: "If it is your will to obtain the gift of being straightened, enter the forest of the Ardennes, asking that the monastery of Malmedy be shown to you, where Saints lately translated shine daily with the power of miracles." The man awoke, and giving thanks to God for what had been shown him, obeyed the command as quickly as he could. The solemn joy of the glorious passion of blessed Peter the apostle was present for the whole body of the worshippers of God, when he, carried on others' shoulders, asks to be brought into the protection of the martyrs, where, during the night lying prostrate in prayer as far as he knew and could, and awaiting from God through them the thing necessary for him, while we were pressing on with the morning vigil Hymns, the knots of his limbs being loosed, he gave immense cries to heaven, by which those present were terrified, but, rejoicing at the soundness granted him, they press on with the divine Praise with as great a voice of exultation as they can. But he who merited his own cure forbade himself further the will of departing and returning to his own home. He was so bound to the love of the Saints by desire of love that he gave himself thenceforth to the service of them and of those who served them ^e.

[31] The birthday of blessed John the Baptist is honoured by the faithful with faithful devotion, a blind and likewise bent woman and according to the promise of the divinity through the Angel many rejoice at his nativity. Whence it comes about that at the revolution of each year people run exultantly to his memorial, so that, because he had cried, do penance, indulgence for sins may be obtained through the urgency of good working. By the benevolence of this custom so great a number of a mixed multitude had flowed together here that you would see nothing but people throughout the crossroads and throughout the squares. There was present at this rejoicing a woman, brought by the zeal of her own people, who, deformed with a bending of all her limbs, also lacked the light of both eyes. One of the brethren, named Hugo, recalling according to holy custom the mysteries of life, stood at the holy altar, in which there is no small portion of the Lord's wood. The woman, laid down by her own people before the very steps, stood quite near the priest. Already the secret prayers were being said more secretly, and the people standing round were offering themselves to the Lord in prayers, when suddenly she cries out with clear words: "Behold, I see, I see; praise and glory be to Christ."

[32] soundness A manifold murmur arises among those standing by from gladness at so great an event, persisting with suppressed voice until the Offices of the Mass were ended. Then indeed all burst forth into divine praises, and, astounded at a deed of such kind, they pray in common with common supplication to the Divinity that the power shown in the restoration of the light might be shown in the repair of the rest of the body. Nor was He lacking to the supplication of the humble, who is always present to the will of those who fear Him. For under the eyes of all who were present the dry frame suddenly seizes back the returning sap; the stiff sinews also return to their former offices, and the footsteps seek again the flow that had been forbidden. The woman arose sound, and, rejoicing, placed upon the altar as a gift a silver necklace hanging from her neck. I believe that, if as many weights of gold had been present as there are leaves on trees, she would gladly have conferred them all on God and the Saints ^f. That matter went as far in admiration as the multitude of people was great that was present at the working of it ^g.

[33] In the new village which lies under our jurisdiction, a woman named Ada was vexed so wickedly by a wicked spirit and a possessed woman, the demon being expelled, obtains sense and mind; that, having put off womanly softness, she scarcely yielded to a robust multitude of men; but in truth she relied on others' strength, which manly strength could not withstand. She, for the sake of recovering health, with friends as guides, went through some places of the Saints, but, the suffrages of the Saints having been implored in vain, she is brought to be cured to our Lords and Patrons. This is to be noted as having been done from heaven, that she should be rescued from the necessity of infirmity through those whose handmaid she had formerly been in health. Some days having therefore elapsed, she persevered in the expectation of her liberation, and, because salvation is given to perseverance unto the end, she afterwards experienced in herself the divine mercy at the plea of the Saints. The seventh light was shining widely in the wide world, and while we were serving together at the divine Offices of the Masses, she alone was being agitated with horrible cries; but suddenly, the fury of the malign spirit being divinely suppressed, changed for the better, she was without the demon, and recovered mind and sense ^h. It pleased her to pass that day in the silence of which she had been deprived; but the following Sunday was the testimony of what had been done, when the throng of clergy and people coming together into one rejoiced in gladness to the Lord, Saviour of all.

[34] A girl, on the occasion which here The insolences of men requiring it, the Lord was striking terrors of a heathenry about to come upon them, and as soon as the report of so great an evil began to be heard within the boundaries of the Gauls, it had to be met, not with the exterior protection of arms, but with saving fasting together with prayer. At that time Hermann, a man of severe industry ⁱ, was administering the pontifical fillets in the city of the people of Cologne, who, struck with fear at so dire a report, had a thing worthy of relation done through all the parishes subject to his jurisdiction, namely that a three-day abstinence should be observed by all, if perhaps the omnipotence of God could be placated for the ceasing of a plague of this kind. Here, after the manner of the Ninevites, every age took up lamentation, all youth grows pale, and the best colour of virgins is changed; for gem and silk the matron puts on grey garments; no one mindful of drinking, no one of eating. And what the affliction of inner sorrow of a contrite and humbled heart had conceived, outward grief expressed. For they had heard that a similar loss once came into these regions, and after the depopulations and burnings of cities, after the wicked slaughters of very many, many Christians were carried off.

[35] is set out, crushed and dead, Whence it was the common counsel to approach the divinity concerning a business of this kind; since, therefore, our abbey belongs to his diocese, we too strove to do the same, as far as we could, God granting it. The third day of the appointed fast was present, and a mixed people had rushed with unanimous wish to the solemnities of the masses, filling even the porches themselves with so great a multitude that you would surely understand it could not be contained within the enclosure of the church. Already the series of the Gospel reading was being recited, when a certain girl, crushed amid the densest crowds, is dissolved into the sleep of death. She, being at once carried outside, was after a little to be handed over to burial. Then one of those standing round, having a more prudent, indeed a more confident mind, said: "Not so, brethren, not so is it to be done; not all hope of safety is consumed. Surely where none is thought to be, the almighty Lord will bring the desired relief. These Saints, at whose tomb we stand, are held great by very great mighty deeds day by day. Wherefore, if it pleases, if the mind is not to distrust, let her be left to their help."

[36] He had spoken; the others assenting to the hope of his words, the dead body is left beside the dead bodies, she is recalled to life; but I would not call those equally dead through which death is overcome, Life returning. I would not, I say, call those equally dead through which that which was difficult for men to hope for was openly made very easy for men from the foreknowledge of God. For after the time of the fast, food having been taken and our bellies fed, returning we found the girl presented with the light of life. To those who asked where or how she had been, she said: "Drawn out of the body, I was conducted by two of wonderful beauty into a place of pleasantness, until a certain cleric in order, comely in appearance, tall in body, naming himself Quirinus, took me away from there and led me back to the dark paths of this exile ^k." Of this matter there are as many supporters as there are people dwelling round about us.

[37] Nor is this to be passed over in silence, which once appeared in our monastery. those who guard the relics of the Saints with heavenly One of the brethren, named Hermeradus, supported by the religion of a happy life, had undertaken the custody of the Saints, and, because he was consumed with great age, had taken a younger one, named Nevelo, to sustain him. Both, therefore, resting in the same oratory, both merited to become hearers of a heavenly harmony. He who was eminent in old age, lying on his bed for two nights and pressing on wakeful with psalms, heard in the choir of the brethren as it were voices of infants singing psalms and praising God, although he did not grasp with understanding even one word at all. But on the third night he who seemed of the younger age, while he was likewise wakeful pressing on with prayers, heard the same voices of the heavenly host. Thinking, therefore, that the brethren had already risen to sing psalms, calling his master in silence, he said: "Is it time to signal the nocturnal hour, because I hear the brethren singing psalms in the choir?" But he said: "No, but compose your limbs to rest, and when the cock crows it will be the hour for calling the brethren to sing psalms. For these voices, which you perceive by hearing, have already sounded in my ears on the two past nights, and you should know them to be not of men living in the flesh, but of holy Angels."

[38] Some courses of hours had then passed, when, proceeding thence *, the same hosts of the Blessed entered the church nearest to the monastery, are refreshed with harmony; consecrated in the names of blessed Laurence and of many Saints, and of the martyr Agilulf,

who was resting there until then, and, going round this tomb, intoned the antiphon: "Who has set your soul unto life." And there, the matins for the souls of the faithful having been sung, that heavenly vision vanished from human sight. Concerning the man of blessed memory described above, many things would be available which could be said in praise, but because he was taken from us and translated elsewhere ^l, we have thought it better to be silent thereafter. Yet, lest it be reputed to sloth not to glorify God, wonderful in His Saints, lest we be accused of envy for not making much of the Saints glorious through God, it has pleased us to explain in very few words who and how great a man he was. Born of noble stock, he was handed over by his parents to Anglinus, abbot of this place ^m, to be formed according to rule under the instruction of a monk. He, having spiritually imitated the manners and life of his spiritual father, was made his successor by the will of God; then, being given as prelate to the see of the people of Cologne, he did not lay down the burden of abbot either, until, governing both most vigorously, he was crowned with martyrdom at Amblève ⁿ for the faith of the kingdom ^o, and had his place of burial with us, where he had presided in the name and work of abbot, as long as God willed. Let these things about him suffice for those desiring to know; from here let the course of our discourse that was begun be turned back.

[39] the land, by a rather long drought After some years the quite joyful day of the Passion of the Martyrs shone, on which God made those standing at the evening praises partakers of a marvellous vision; for at the head of the threefold company of the Saints three stars appeared, so divinely radiant that all the candles that were burning in the church were obscured by their reflection. Which deed, because, done in a great multitude of people, it could not lie hidden, was published everywhere. The sky being closed and the rains restrained, the drought of the earth announced to the world a famine to come, the insolence of men meriting this by the manifold increase of sin. Hence it was brought about, by quite worthy vengeance, that, as the tares of iniquities increased, necessary things decreased for human uses. But because God has mercy on those who sin against Him, unless they despair, and does not spurn those who sin against Him, if they come to their senses—for He promises, "Turn to me and I will turn to you"—at length the terror that could be moved by prayer suspended its blow, at length we were brought to the port of safety after the tossings of a doubtful voyage.

[40] dried up, is watered by rains For, the bodies of the martyrs having been taken up by common consent, we went round in processions of three days the villages nearest our abbey, restraining the offence of hidden chastisement by a change of exterior dress. You would see the clergy with the people putting on grief instead of joy, beating at the ears of the divinity in a spirit of humility. Softened by these and such things, the censure disarms the right hand of continual indulgence, and turns its anger back to the work of mercy. The third day had dawned, full of joyfulness, on which an abundance of blessing flowed forth for mortals. For on returning and entering the gate of the oratory, a greatness of rains followed, so watering the face of the lands with its flood that on the morrow the grass, which already seemed reduced to dust, gathered its strength again, conferring so much fruitfulness on grasses and crops that the year, which was already despaired of by all, was called full by the mouth of all.

[41] and at other times from too great an abundance of them Just as want of bread is accustomed to come from excessive drought, so through the flooding of rains the labour of men often perishes, when the country folk, frustrated in their hopes, grieve that what the winter had received to nourish, and what the summer had received to reap, returns to destruction through the inclemency of the air. Iniquity would at some time have wrung a deadly peril of this kind upon the human race, unless the regard of the divinity, always ready to spare, turned away from sinners through the Saints the anger of its indignation. For from the Kalends of the month of August until the twelfth day of September the heavenly Aquarius had poured forth continual waves so greatly that the crops, at first strengthened for the harvest, afterwards reduced to nothing by the floods of waters, received the curved sickles to no purpose for gathering; and while the storm shook almost all irremediably, yet a heavier tempest than that of the others laid waste especially the fields of those who inhabited the village of Amblève, and the inhabitants, compelled by extreme ills, seek by common deliberation the help of God and of the Saints.

[42] are freed; The dedication of our temple makes celebrated the day of which we have spoken beforehand, to which that people, coming together both out of reverence for the feast and the necessity of the time, and showing through mournful dress what mind they had, begs that the blessed martyrs be carried out, intending, by going round the oratory * with them, to petition the Lord concerning the imminent plague. Which as soon as it was obtained, suddenly so great a serenity of the sky shone out, and so great a favourableness of the air followed, that the summer, which seemed already to have passed, was thought then first to be beginning. You would see the crops gradually returning to their former strength, and those which the outpourings of waters had spoiled gradually restored to ripeness. What more? Neither did the sky give rain nor was abundant dew lacking upon the earth, until the grain, gathered with favourable successes, was stored in the barns; concerning which, if anyone is slow to believe, let him have recourse to the testimony of the aforesaid people; who, not unmindful of the benefit received, promised that they would observe the day of so great a solemnity and come to it every year with their gifts, and until now remains faithful in its promise [p].

[43] The solemnity of the Prince of the apostles which is entitled ad vincula a peasant, because in servile work at an unlawful time brings in its season the joys of great devotion, but because it is mostly observed rather negligently by some, it mostly comes about on this account that vengeance is divinely inflicted on some. And that the matter proposed may be evident, a matter made public by the faithful attestation of many is to be brought forward. At Ledernacum [q] there was a peasant named Gerbert, who, a despiser of God and men, counted it for nothing if he had received any command from God through the priest. For, a sign having been given by the priest, by which craftsmen are accustomed to be released from work, he who had a heart made gross for doing well urgently gave his effort to doing ill. Therefore, the evening of the aforesaid solemnity already coming on, the same unsound man, having seized a reaping sickle, entered the meadow adjoining his house, to gather a little bundle of grass for his calves; on account of which he deserved to be rebuked strictly indeed, but mercifully, that he might know whether the divine power can do anything, that he might notice of what power and might he is whom God has established as shepherd of all in the universal Church of the faithful.

[44] For at the first gathering of grass he could neither put down the sickle with his right hand being divinely punished, is free nor the grass with his left, but through the remaining time of the day and of the following night he suffered difficult torments in both. For it seemed to him that as many fingers as there were on his palms, so many iron spikes were being fixed into his palms. Moreover, if anyone tried to pull either thing from either hand, the wretched man was affected with greater suffering, so that he understood without doubt that he was held by divine power. What more? Constrained by so great a loss and compelled by so great a necessity, by the counsel and help of friends he was brought to our monastery. As soon as he touched its doors, and, touching them, kissed them, suddenly he threw away what was held in both hands, as though he had suffered no inconvenience. Whoever you are, doubtful in faith, still weighed down by the mass of unbelief, learn in a holy work that the Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth. For because this man asked, nothing wavering in faith, because he sought the Lord not with a double heart but in truth, before he entered the house of prayer he obtained the effect of his petition. The same, having gone in, rendered thanks to God and the Saints for the health received, and, returning Home, left to posterity an example of correction; and thus the health of one becomes for others a cause of health.

[45] a woman having her fingers bent back, Whatever is done by the Saints or through the Saints is ascribed to the grace of the divine power *. Whence no one ought to delay too much to declare, in what words he can, the operations of the Saints; for as men are of diverse merit, so the sufferings of infirmities in men are diverse. And we, who have begun to narrate the acts of the Saints, who have to note the diverse manners of infirmities in men, voluntarily apply our mind, after things related, to things to be related. The right hand of a woman, the sinews withering and the fingers numb, was bent back into the palm, and the nails, growing too much with too great advances, because they had gone under the flesh, added very great pains to the wretched woman. For as many fingers as the hand had, so many points of nails you would see piercing the hand. So grave a pain and suffering; but there was hope in her of recovering health from the Lord through the Saints. Standing therefore during the solemnities of the masses, she was devoutly pouring out supplications to God, when suddenly, snatched from the monstrous peril, she received again the office of her lost right hand, which was recalled in wonderful order to flexible use [r]. Hence, what thanksgivings she made you can notice, reader, in silence.

[46] a man, invoking St. Quirinus in great peril, We often see the observers of Holy days advance for the better and those not caring for Holy days decline for the worse, as will easily be able to be recognised by the following example. One of those whom they call Corydons [s], caring not a straw for the observance of the present day, wished to drive home hay placed on a wagon, but the divine power did not bear his rash presumption, and, fire being sent from heaven, burned the wagon together with the hay. He, rejoicing because he escaped alive, faithfully gave, delivered from so great a peril, one of the oxen, which, placed in so great a peril, he had vowed to saint Quirinus for the rest reserved to himself, offering to those present and to come an example from his own case, that the Lord does not judge the sinner at once, but, having mercy, waits for repentance.

[47] and another woman, her census not paid, by the Saints, being wronged, Among many whom the grace of prayers had compelled to leave their country, there was present a woman from the town of Nivelles [t], a handmaid of our church, who, because she seemed remote from our borders, had not paid the census of her head for a long time. Paying, therefore, that of one year, she retained the census of many years, to her own ruin, to the glory of God, to the correction of men, to the glorifying of the Saints. Having fulfilled, therefore, the things for which she had come, she was returning by that which is called the path of the Franks, which has until now the sign of the holy Cross in testimony of the mighty deed wrought there. In her company were men and women who were to be witnesses to their own people of how great things God works through the Saints.

[48] and hence punished, they find these propitious to them. As soon, therefore, as she climbed the top of the mountain, astounded by excessive horror she trembled, and, her foot clinging to the ground, stood immovable. Her companions thought that she had suffered an injury of the foot; but she was held by another power. They run up from all sides and try to lift her, but there is no means either to change place or to turn her step anywhere. At length, coming to herself, she was turned with her whole mind to the Saints, striving by prayers to make placated those whom she suffered angry on account of her unfaithfulness. She promises amendment of her guilt by restoration of the census taken away. Nor was it difficult with them to grant pardon to one praying [u]. Released, therefore, from the bond of her foot, she increased the admiration among the people: she returned to us with rejoicing, and gave thanks for the office of walking received. Thereafter, having returned home, she remained faithful in her promise [x].

ANNOTATIONS.

p. From what is said in the two miracles narrated last here, everyone will easily elicit that our Saints enjoy, or certainly formerly enjoyed, a plainly remarkable cult at Malmedy.

q. I do not find a place of this name in the Geographical Maps; but the one named here was undoubtedly situated not far from Malmedy.

r. This miracle, to be ascribed, as appears, to all the Patrons of Malmedy, our Malmedy anonymous writer transferred to St. Agilolf, only those things being changed which it was necessary to change in order that it might fit him alone, in the Passion of that holy prelate of the people of Cologne, num. 16, no differently than another, of which already at letter f.

s. I nowhere find the signification of this word, nor am I pleased to divine it by adducing uncertain conjectures.

t. This town of Brabant is more commonly called Nivigella, commonly Nivelle, and is five leagues distant from Brussels and eight from Namur.

u. The woman to whom what is narrated here happened was bound to the service of the church of Malmedy, or of the Patrons of Malmedy who are venerated in it, in that sense which is explained in volume 1 of October of our Work, page 300, in the Annotations subjoined to the miracles of St. Bavo, at letter c.

x. Our anonymous writer ends his work here with a very lengthy narration, which, since it pertains to St. Peter alone, is not to be transcribed here by us.

progredientia ambientia alio whether pratorum septa (the enclosures of the meadows)? perhaps virtutis*