Fructus and Companions

ON SS. FRUCTUS AND COMPANIONS: FRUCTUS, CONFESSOR, AND VALENTINE AND ENGRATIA, MARTYRS, AT SEGOVIA IN SPAIN,

IN THE YEAR 715 AND THOSE FOLLOWING.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Fructus, confessor, martyr in the diocese of Segovia in Spain. (S.)

Valentine, martyr in the diocese of Segovia in Spain. (S.)

Engratia, martyr in the diocese of Segovia in Spain. (S.)

BY V. D. B.

§ I. The principal writers on these Saints. Their homeland. Their manner of life. The coming of the Moors into Spain and to the parts of Segovia. St. Fructus's controversy concerning the Eucharist. The martyrdom of SS. Valentine and Engratia. Singular piety toward their severed heads.

At the day immediately preceding, among those Passed Over and referred to other days, we indicated that the natal day of St. Fructus, [On the deeds of St. Fructus, whose natal day Tamayo wrongly celebrates on the 24th of October, no contemporary and few other documents survive.] hermit and patron of Segovia, had been undeservedly placed by Tamayo de Salazar in his Spanish Martyrology under the 24th day of October, and that we would speak of him on the following day, on which his name is inscribed in the General Catalogue of the saints of Ferrari, in the Universal Martyrology of Castellanus, in the Key of Sacred Spain of Pedro Sainz de Baranda, and in many other books, and on which in fact his feast has long been celebrated at Segovia and more recently in all Spain. We now make good these promises. A number of writers have spoken of this holy man; but, as far as I see, no one in narrating his life has used historical documents which can safely be believed; nor do similar records appear ever to have existed. I do indeed see ancient manuscript codices of the church of Segovia praised; but what is brought forward from them does not breathe that antiquity, nor does it contain those indications of truth by which the mind is easily inclined to give belief; and so I fear that all that is reported of St. Fructus was collected many centuries after his death and rests on popular tradition alone: nor do the most learned Spaniards, and the Segovians themselves, think otherwise, openly stating that no writings exist on St. Fructus older than the twelfth century Cfr Gaspar Ibañez, Dissertaciones eclesiasticas, diss. I, cap. 3, pag. 21 et 22.. And what is put about concerning his deeds seemed so suspect to Antonio de Yepes Coronica general de S. Benito, tom. VI, fol. V° 320. that he refused to insert them in his History of the Order of St. Benedict.

[2] The principal ones are reviewed, At Valladolid in the year 1610 there came out in a separate volume the Life of St. Fructus and his companions, written in Spanish [Historia de la vida del glorioso S. Frutos, patron de la ciudad de Segovia y de sus hermanos san Valentin y santa Engracia: contiene la destruicion de España por los Moros, grandezas y antiguedades de la ciudad de Segovia con un compendio de los regnos de España despues de su restauracion.] [History of the life of the glorious St. Frutos, patron of the city of Segovia, and of his brother St. Valentine and sister St. Engracia: it contains the destruction of Spain by the Moors, the grandeurs and antiquities of the city of Segovia, with a compendium of the kingdoms of Spain after their restoration.]. The author of this book is given out and entitled as Laurence Calvete, born at Orche, a town of the Alcarria, that is, of the northern part of New Castile, and chaplain to the dukes of the Infantado; but its true maker is a certain Hieronymite monk, brother of Laurence, surnamed John of Orche; which, says Nicolás Antonio Bibliotheca scriptorum Hispaniæ, tom. II, pag. 2., is made known by the acrostic verses attached to the same book by Jerome Valera Arcæus of Segovia, and Diego Colmenares confirms it in the History of this city; with whom Antonio de Yepes agrees Coronica general de S. Benito, tom. VI, fol. V° 320.. This same Colmenares pursued the deeds of St. Fructus at length in this same History of Segovia, and allowed nothing that pertained either to the life of the blessed man or to his cult to pass without first bringing it into his work. John de Castro, monk of St. Dominic of Silos, in his History of this saint and of the antiquities of the monastery of Silos [Vida, virtudes y milagros de Sto Domingo de Sylos. Noticia del real monasterio de Sylos y sus prioratos, p. 368 et seqq.], likewise gave the Lives of SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia; with a magnificent preface that he was sorry he could not discourse on them at length, that singular matters about them were known to him, and other things of that kind; but in fact these are trappings for the people. For although he spreads himself widely over their deeds, he nevertheless brings forward nothing new; moreover, although he published his book in the year 1688, when the lies of the pseudepigraphal books had been laid bare to every learned person, he continually has recourse to them, affirming that no one save those envious of the glory of the Spaniards can doubt their trustworthiness; this persuasion was tolerable in some fashion in Colmenares, who wrote forty-eight years before; but who could bear it so many years afterwards? Moreover, although the matters of St. Fructus were obscure enough, the Spanish fable-makers of the very close of the sixteenth century nevertheless made them more obscure, mingling new fictions with them, and fabricating a certain St. Hierotheus, bishop of Segovia, to be patron in place of St. Fructus. Wherefore Gaspar Ibañez de Segovia, a man most highly cultivated in letters, who was perhaps the first who did not blush to expose in written books the persuasion, almost common to the Spanish nation, and to Dexter and the like,

forged at Toledo and elsewhere and sent out publicly as the legitimate offspring of the ancients, wrote and in the year 1666 published in print at Zaragoza a Historical Discourse on the patronage of St. Fructus against the supposed episcopate of St. Hierotheus and the pretended authority of Flavius Lucius Dexter [Discurso historico del patronato de S. Frutos contra la supuesta cathedra de san Hierotheo en Segovia y pretendida autoridad de Dextro.]. But when some persons, thinking that by fables they were rendering a service to their Segovian homeland, had risen up against this apology for the truth, in the year 1671, again from the press at Zaragoza, he brought before the public the first part of his Ecclesiastical Dissertations in honour of the old saintly patrons against more recent fictions [Dissertaciones eclesiasticas por el honor de los antiguos tutelares contra las ficciones modernas.]; in which he dwells at length on clearing up the matters of St. Fructus. Henrique Florez also spoke diligently about St. Fructus España sagrada, tom VIII, pag. 89 et seqq., yet following too closely in the footsteps of his predecessors and so more easy than usual in approving popular little tales.

[3] [who have written on St. Fructus. Wherefore SS. Valentine and Engratia, who are venerated on the 26th of October, are spoken of at the same time.] Many others too have spoken about St. Fructus. Lucius Marineus Siculus, who covered the affairs of Spain in twenty-two books and dedicated his history to the Emperor Charles V, in book V Ap. And. Schottum, Hispania illustrata, tom. I, pag. 345., which is almost entirely on Spanish saints, briefly pursued the praises of St. Fructus, employing the old liturgical Lessons of Segovia as an aid, or rather taking excerpts from them. Another brief encomium, by an uncertain author, was published by Gononus Vitæ Patrum Occidentis, lib. IV, pag. 276., who forgot to indicate where he had received it; a very long one, on the other hand, by Tamayo de Salazar Martyrologium Hispan. tom. V, pag. 626 et seqq., who writes that he received it from the sanctorals or Proper Offices of Segovia and Toledo: but it is a fabrication of Tamayo that anything about St. Fructus was written at that period in the Sanctoral of Toledo; nor did he leave the old Segovian Lessons themselves inviolate, but disfigured them with the corrupted wares of Dexter, Luitprand, and others of that kind. In the year 1651 Antonio de Quintanadueñas, a presbyter of our Society, in his book on the Saints of Toledo Santos de la imperial ciudad de Toledo, pag. 451 et seqq., also praised SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Encratis, his whole narrative being likewise embellished according to the fabulous histories of Higuera and others. Alfonso de Villegas Flos sanctorum, Çaragoça, 1583, fol. 408. did little else than mention the Segovian patronage and hermit life of St. Fructus; nor do I find more in Juan Marieta in that part of his work which is at my hand Tratado de las fundaciones de las ciudades etc. fol. 38.. Antonio de Yepes Historia general de la orden de san Benito, tom. VI, fol. 320. also mentions St. Fructus, chiefly as regards his cult. Gil Gonzalez Davila Teatro eclesiastico de las dos Castillas, tom. I, pag. 520 et 521. treats only of the priory of St. Fructus. See others praised in Tamayo de Salazar. Since SS. Valentine and Engratia have long been said to have been brother and sister of St. Fructus, it thus comes about that those who have spoken more fully on this saint have at the same time treated of those two others. For which reason it pleases us to do the same in this place; especially because on the following day, or the 26th of October, they are venerated at Segovia. So I am persuaded not only by Tamayo de Salazar, but also by Pedro Sainz de Baranda in the Key of Sacred Spain and John de Castro in his Life of St. Dominic of Silos.

[4] St. Fructus is reported to have been born in the year 642 at Segovia Now all those whom I have learned to have spoken of the homeland of St. Fructus declare that he was a Segovian by nation. This city is situated between Madrid and Valladolid on a huge rock between two deep valleys, of which one is cut by a stream named Clamores, the other by the river Areva *, which gave its name to the Arevaci, the former inhabitants, and receives the waters of the Clamores below the city [Alex. de la Borde, Itinéraire descriptif de l'Espagne, edit. III, tom. I, p. 365.]. It is reckoned among the most ancient towns of Spain; and certainly seventy-nine years before Christ the place was already notable, since Lucius Florus Lib. III, cap. 22. relates events of the Sertorian war at Segovia. It has an ancient aqueduct, nearly three thousand feet long; and I for my part doubt whether a more magnificent structure of the same kind has been erected anywhere else [Cfr Florez, España sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 63 et seqq.; de la Borde, tom. I, p. 369 et seqq.; Miñano, Diccionario geografico de España y Portugal, tom. VIII, p. 192.]. But although that place was notable and very ancient, nevertheless in the year 527 it does not yet seem to have had its own bishop, but was included in the diocese of Palencia: only somewhat before the year 589 did it obtain its own president of sacred things Cfr Florez, España sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 73 et seqq.. Florez gathered Ibid., p. 90. from his Office that St. Fructus first saw the light while Chindasuinth was reigning in Spain, Eugene II of Toledo was presiding as metropolitan over the province of Cartagena, and Bishop Ansericus was occupying the see of Segovia, and in the year 642; in which Office it is related, according to a twelfth-century record, or epitaph and altar title of the priory of St. Fructus Calvete, Historia de la vida etc., fol. 4 et 6., that he died in the year of Christ 715 and of his age the 75th.

[5] and to have been the brother of SS. Valentine and Engratia More recent writers relate that he had a brother, St. Valentine, and a sister, St. Encratis or Engratia; but as far as I understand, this relationship was first introduced by the Pseudo-Julian; who, to cover his lies the better, called St. Engratia Susanna: by which name some Spaniards Colmenares, Historia de Segovia, p. 73. contended that grace was signified, although its true sense is lily. But even if St. Fructus was said to be the brother of SS. Valentine and Engratia before the Pseudo-Julian was brought forward, not every doubt will thereby be removed; for certainly this tradition is not older than the twelfth century, and the common people at all times have been ready to devise a kind of brotherhood among neighbouring saints; as we showed above at the 24th day in the Commentary on St. Felix and at this very day in the Commentary on St. Spanus, there concerning twelve brothers, here concerning nine or even twelve.

[6] These things and many others are absent from the Life published by Gononus. Wherefore I would not dare to admit as true what is now put about as having been done by the three saints together; nor yet what Calvete has thought up by himself about the pious upbringing of St. Fructus Historia de la vida etc., fol. 7 et seqq.. I therefore turn to the brief Life which Gononus published and which is free of these things. St. Fructus or, as it is written there, Fructuosus lived very blameless in his morals, full of the simplicity of the dove. And indeed, since he was the wealthiest citizen of the said town, perceiving that all things are perishable and vain, and at the same time greatly panting after the solitary life, he distributed all his riches and treasures to the poor, and, content with one tunic only, he betook himself to a cave of a very high mountain: where he remained until the end of his life in fasts, vigils, and afflictions of the body; and he endured many combats of demons both visible and invisible, the assaults of winds, the inclemencies of rains, the chill of snows, and many labours of that kind, and took them up for the love of Christ not only with patience, but also willingly and with desire. The following things are added in the same place, which I could wish were supported by contemporary testimony: Moreover, the wild beasts of the forest used to come to him, from which he suffered no harm; but on the contrary they lay down at his feet with great gentleness, and he gave them orders as if they were rational: and they obeyed his voice at once. After, therefore, he had lived for many years separated from all the tumult of men, at length, foreknowing his death, he prepared himself for it, and died in his cave; his soul the angels bore up to heaven with hymns and canticles. His body the church of Segovia possesses, and it celebrates his feast solemnly every year, and venerates him as patron of the church and city.

[7] [The places which the three saints are said to have inhabited are accurately described.] The place in which St. Fructus lived so holily is accurately described by Calvete, or rather John of Orche Historia de la vida, etc., fol. 16., Colmenares Historia de Segovia, p. 73., Castro Vida de S. Domingo de Sylos, p. 361 et seqq., and Florez España sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 90.. It lies to the north, or rather to the summer east, ten leagues distant from Segovia and three from Septempublica on the right bank of the river Duraton. This river, that is, coming down from the mountains and running at first from south to north, has the shape of a sickle near Septempublica; whence it gave to the neighbouring cœnobium of the Franciscans, which was formerly called St. Mary of the Angels, the name of St. Mary of the Sickle ; although others De Castro, Vida de S. Domingo, p. 376. would have that name come from the knights Hozes. Over against this ascetery rise rugged mountains, so that they seem inaccessible. In the lower part, toward the south, near an abundant spring by whose waters a mill is turned, St. Engratia is said to have had her dwelling, and St. Valentine in a cave of the northern slope; while on the summit, or fifty feet higher, St. Fructus built his hut, and is reported to have raised there with his staff a spring, still flowing, with which to water his little garden Ibid. et apud Calvete, Historia de la vida etc., fol. 25 et 26.: but a similar miracle is ascribed to so many saints, and the belief in it could so easily arise from the custom of blessing springs in honour of the saints and thence calling them by the saints' names, that without the best testimonies, which are here altogether lacking, it does not seem admissible.

[8] [In the year 711 southern Spain is occupied by the Arabs, partly by force, partly by surrender;] St. Fructus is reported to have lived until the times when the Moors and Arabs occupied Spain. Under the leadership of Tariq, the Arabs took possession of the neighbouring mountain of Calpe, thereafter Djebal or the Mountains of Tariq, commonly called Gibraltar, on Monday the fifth of the month of Rajab, in the year of the hegira 92, that is, at the end of the month of April of the Christian year 711; others afterwards at once invaded parts of Spain [Conde et de Marlès, Histoire de la domination des Arabes et des Maures en Espagne et en

Portugal, tom. I, p. 69; Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, tom. II, p. 31 et seqq.]; and, to use the words of Isidore of Beja Chronicum, ap. Florez, España sagrada, tom. VIII, p . 291., Musa, the supreme commander, or rather Tariq, the inferior commander, than whom no one among the Arabs was then more eminent, breaking in as far as Toledo, the royal city, and sorely scourging the adjoining regions with a treacherous peace, by means of Oppa, son of King Egica, the intruded archbishop of Seville, brother of Count Julian and his accomplice in summoning the Arabs, who was taking flight from Toledo *, cuts the throats of some noble elders, who had in one way or another remained, with the sword of the gibbet, and on his occasion beheads all with the sword. And thus he lays waste not only further Spain, but also nearer Spain as far as beyond Zaragoza, a most ancient and flourishing city, long since left plainly open by the judgment of God, with sword, famine, and captivity: he brings down beautiful cities by burning them with fire, he sentences the elders and the powerful of the world to the cross, he slaughters young men and sucklings with daggers; and thus while he goads all with such terror, some cities which remained, now compelled, cry out for peace, and by persuading and mocking he deceives them with a certain cunning. Without delay they grant what they ask: but when, peace having been obtained, they kick back, terrified by fear, fleeing to the mountains, tried again, they are imperilled by famine and by divers deaths: and in that same unhappy Spain, at Cordoba, in the seat long patrician, which always stood forth as the most opulent above the other adjacent cities and brought to the kingdom of the Visigoths its choice delights, they set up a savage kingdom. And in these few words Isidore comprises the first deeds of the Arabs in Spain.

[9] [a little later Segovia, but it suffered neither long nor much from those barbarians.] From these things it is clear that some cities were captured by the Arabs by force, others by surrender. Where the Spaniards, or rather the Goths, surrendered (for the Spaniards or old Romans were excluded from the administration of the state and experienced a rather harsh domination), these were generally the conditions Conde et Marlès, tom. I, p. 81, 85, 86, 102, 103, etc.: let them hand over horses and arms; let those who please go out free from the city, but lose all their goods; let those who remain keep their property and homes inviolate, but let them pay each year a gold denarius, weighing seventy-two grains of barley , some however more, others less, and four modii of wheat, barley, mead, honey, sour wine, and oil; slaves and other tributaries half; let women and children not be led away into slavery; let the Christian churches remain and let divine worship be free within their precinct, forbidden outside; let no new churches be erected without leave; let those who have surrendered follow their own laws and have their own judges Cfr Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, tom. II, p. 38. Sometimes well, sometimes very badly, the Arabs observed these treaties, as they are read to have done in Asia and eastern Europe as well. Segovia was most certainly occupied by them; of which fact, even if no literary records existed, the most certain testimony would be the Arab fortress, still called the Alcazar, and other similar remains. But nowhere perhaps were the inhabitants treated more kindly; so much so that it is not established that any church was destroyed by them. At what time the followers of Muhammad penetrated there is related by no ancient historian: it is likely that this happened in the year 712, namely when Tariq, having settled affairs at Toledo, went on to the river Guadalaxara , crossed the Djebal or mountains of Sjarrat through an unknown valley, called by the Arabs Feg-Taric , and on the northern slope of the same mountains took Medina Almeida, or City of the Table (where a most rich and celebrated table was found, but whose site is hitherto unknown) Conde et Marlès, tom. I, p. 94 et 95..

[10] When these were in those parts, St. Fructus was still alive, Since in Marineus Siculus and Gononus, who used Lives certainly free of the fictions of fable-makers, nothing is read about Arabs, Moors, or Muhammadans; and since at the same time no other indications of time appear there; since Ibañez Dissertaciones eclesiasticas, etc. p. 29., attempting to establish the times of St. Fructus, brings forward nothing older than a liturgical Office, granted in the year 1609; and since, finally, Colmenares Historia de Segovia, p. 75. found nothing on the same matter except the same Office and recent authors (nuestros escritores modernos y el rezo deste obispado aprovado por la sede apostolica) [our modern writers and the office of this bishopric approved by the apostolic see]: one is inclined to fear that the Segovians, men certainly not severe, since they embraced with both arms the fabricated Hierotheus as their first bishop, first learned from the pseudepigraphal books in what age St. Fructus lived. Nevertheless that fear is empty; for in that Office the holy man is related to have died in the year 715; whereas the Pseudo-Julian wrote in his lying Adversaria Ibid., p. cit.: Near Litabrum (now Buitrago) on the 25th of October died St. Fructuosus, citizen of Segovia, famous in life and death for miracles, in the year of the Lord 725. There are those who say that he suffered at the hands of the Saracens with his sister and brother. The Mozarabs of Segovia in the year of the Lord 730 translated the bodies to Segovia, not yet demolished by the Moors: and so the Office of St. Fructus and the Pseudo-Julian differ from each other by a space of ten years; so that in the composing of that Office the Pseudo-Julian did not light the way; and indeed on a scroll of the altar, which Abbot Fortunius is reported to have had built at the beginning of the twelfth century, the following is read De Castro, Vida de S. Domingo de Sylos, p. 374 et 375.: THIS PAINTING WAS ORDERED TO BE MADE BY LORD FORTUNIUS, ABBOT OF ST. SEBASTIAN OF SILOS, TO THE HONOUR OF ST. FRUCTUS, WHO DIED IN THE ERA 753, ON THE 8TH BEFORE THE KALENDS OF NOVEMBER, IN THE 73RD YEAR OF HIS AGE. For my part I would not dare to assert that this scroll was contemporary with Fortunius; but it certainly has nothing in common with the pseudepigraphal writers.

[11] [and he is reported to have ended by a miracle a controversy which he was having with a Moor on the sacred Eucharist.] For which reason no one could rightly maintain that, before the pseudepigraphal books were produced, it had not been heard that St. Fructus flourished at the time of the Arab irruption. There is brought forward besides, from Alfonso Venero, a Burgos man by nation and a Friar Preacher by profession, a prodigy which became known before Higuera and his associates had begun to sell their deceitful wares: for that Venero was born in the year 1488 and died about the year 1560 Nicolaus Antonius, Bibliotheca scriptorum Hispaniæ, tom. I, p. 53.. He, that is, in his Spanish Hagiography, which lies hidden in the library of St. Lawrence of the Escorial Colmenares, p. 74., narrates the following [Ibid., p. cit.; ap. Tamayum, Martyrologium Hispanicum, tom. V, p. 629; ap. Calvete seu J. de Orche, Historia de la vida, etc. fol. 61 et seqq.]: A certain Moor, instructed in the doctrines of the Koran and a very keen champion of his sect, conversing with the blessed man about the sacred Eucharist, said that Christians adore an impossible thing, believing that bread is converted into God, and that he can be eaten by beasts as well as by men. Having heard this blasphemy, St. Fructus was affected with the greatest sorrow and the Christians present were stunned; but the Moors who were likewise standing by gloried in the victory they had gained. The good hermit, therefore, considering in his mind that faith works prodigies where words do not suffice, and full of confidence in the divine promises, agreed that it should come to an experiment. Wherefore the consecrated host was placed on top of a vessel full of barley, and a little ass was ordered to be brought. Innumerable Christians and Moors had flocked together to this spectacle; and St. Fructus with fervent prayers besought God that he would vindicate the heavenly truth from the gibes of the wicked. And when the brute animal came and saw the sacred host, it bowed its head and fell on its knees. At the sight of this miracle the Christians raised their hearts and voices up to God, who is not only wonderful in his saints, but is also acknowledged as eternal creator by beasts of burden. A splendid prodigy indeed, if Venero were a better witness and nearer to the times of St. Fructus; but that is not now at issue, but only that there is in that narrative a certain indication that, before Higuera's lies were brought before the public, it was already believed that St. Fructus did not depart this life before the Moors, or rather the Arabs, came into Spain. Hence too it becomes probable that SS. Valentine and Engratia, who in the letters of Pope Sixtus IV are called martyrs, suffered a bloody death under Muhammadan tyranny. I pass over other arguments, devised by John of Orche and Alfonso Vasquez, a neighbouring parish priest; in which there is nothing except that at the beginning of the seventeenth century they were commonly held to be martyrs.

[12] [SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia seem simply to have been hermits, enrolled in no cœnobium or rule.] On the profession of the three saints different things have been proposed by different writers. In the time of Antonio de Yepes Coronica general de S. Benito, tom. VI, fol. 320. it was said in the convent of St. Fructus, of which below, that they had observed the Rule of St. Benedict and had been subject to the abbot of St. Mary of the Angels, or of the Sickle *, and that hermits, then, were formerly often of the Benedictine order. This latter assertion is in fact true; but it does little to demonstrate that St. Fructus and his supposed brother and sister were in fact of the Benedictine family. Yepes admits Ibid., fol. 320 V°. that nothing similar is found in the ancient Office, in which he is only declared to have been a solitary; for example in the following verse, to be sung at Vespers:

The solemn rites of the kindly father

The Church together celebrates,

Of the famous solitary

Fructus, an outstanding man.

Concerning St. Valentine some persons have brought forward much more high-flown inventions. John of Orche Historia de la vida, etc. fol. 41. and in agreement with him Yepes Coronica general de S. Benito, tom. VI, fol. 320 V°.: Some, they say, affirm that he was bishop of Segovia, before the Moors devastated Spain; others make him a Benedictine monk, others abbot of St. Mary of the Angels; in a word, as many heads, so many opinions. This variety of opinions, Yepes rightly says, arose from the fact that so few documents survive. It is therefore safer to agree with those who prefer to seem ignorant rather than rash. Nevertheless it is the popular opinion that he was a bishop; for which reason in the priory of St. Fructus, in the cave where he is said to have led a penitential life, and elsewhere, he is painted in episcopal dress, wearing a mitre on his head; and in the monastery of St. Dominic of Silos the right hand of the holy man, furnished with an episcopal ring, is shown Calvete seu J. de Orche, Historia de la vida, etc. fol. 44..

[13] [The burial of St. Fructus. What is reported of SS. Valentine and Engratia. The custom of plunging their heads into water.] Ibañez Dissertaciones eclesiasticas, p. 54. and Florez España sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 92. declare that St. Fructus

was buried in a hollow of the wall of his hermitage by SS. Valentine and Engratia; that these then withdrew to the small chapel of St. Zoilus, nearest to the town of Cuellar and situated to the summer east, five leagues from Segovia; that there too they suffered martyrdom; that their heads were thrown by the Moors into a spring, still called the Holy Spring; that for this reason in their own times the neighbouring peoples were still accustomed to go to this spring in the manner of rogations with the heads of the saints; that Colmenares, who took part in a similar procession, is a witness of a marvellous rain which God granted through the intercession of the holy martyrs; that the heads, then, remained at Cuellar, but the headless bodies were carried to the hermitage of St. Fructus, where they were laid beside the body of this blessed man: and certainly, although I would not contend with those who have judged that the bodies of the holy martyrs were not carried from Cuellar to the hermitage of St. Fructus for burial, but rather were at some time taken from there and translated to Cuellar, I nevertheless hold firmly that the heads and the bodies belong to the same saints: for the state of things agrees with the tradition itself. And so that there may be no need to return afterwards to the matters of Cuellar, it pleases me to finish what pertains to the cult of SS. Valentine and Engratia. When the heads were carried to the spring for the purpose of obtaining rain, they were plunged into the water and left there until a day marked beforehand, or until the prayers had been fulfilled. For this was an old custom, especially practised by the Spaniards. We have already spoken of it at the 16th day of October in the Commentary on St. Gaudericus of Languedoc Acta SS., tom. VII Octobris, p. 1117.; where we pointed out that the Sacred Congregation of Rites decided in the year 1619 that it was in no way permissible, on the pretext of any custom, or more truly abuse, to plunge or wet the wood of the Holy Cross and the relics of the saints in water in order to obtain rain from God in time of drought. But since laws are more easily made than carried out, the old custom still persisted in the year 1688, when Castro published his Life of St. Dominic of Silos; except that by then the sacred heads had long ceased to be left immersed in the spring, but after the immersion and the completion of the prayers were solemnly carried back to the church. The cause of this change was as follows. A black slave of a knight of Muñoveros (this place lies next to Cuellar), knowing that the heads lay immersed in the water, betook himself there rather to mock the saints than to venerate them. He had with him an iron spike, which he tried in many places to thrust into the head of St. Engratia; but in vain. Yet at length he carried off a small particle of the skull fixed on the iron; but punishment followed very closely. When he had given himself to sleep on top of the chest in which he had shut up the holy pledge, he burst asunder in the middle, losing body and soul. When this had become known, lest the sacred heads should afterwards be violated anew, it was decreed that they should no longer be left alone in the spring De Castro, Vida de S. Domingo de Sylos, p. 378 et 379.. At what time these things were done and by what witnesses they were committed to writing has been omitted by Castro, from whom this is drawn.

* Eresma

* Sepulveda

* de la Hoz

* arripientes

* or fifteen gold francs

* Henarez

* Sierra de Caadarama

* Perhaps Valdepegnas

* de la Hoz

§ II. Translations of the relics. Liturgical Offices. Cult in the priory of St. Fructus, at Segovia, in the monastery of the Escorial. Indulgences.

[In the year 730 the relics of SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia were not translated to Segovia, which was then still subject to the Arabs.] Concerning the cult we have things much more certain. First of all, the assertion of the Pseudo-Julian that the three bodies of the saints were translated to Segovia in the year 730 must be reckoned among the fables. This city was at that time still occupied by the Arabs or Moors, since about the year 746, when Yusuf, the supreme emir, divided the whole Arab dominion in Spain and Portugal into five provinces, it was reckoned part of the province of Toledo Marlès et Conde, Domination des arabes en Espagne, t. I, pag. 168 et 169,. A little later, however, it was recovered by Alfonso I, king of the Asturias; who, before in the era 795, or the year of Christ 757, he gave over his most valiant spirit into the hands of the Lord, had added to the kingdom which Pelayo I had delivered from the tyranny of the Arabs part of Galicia and Lusitania, many cities of the kingdom of León, middle Castile, almost all Biscay, and some districts of Navarre Ibid. pag. 148.. The cities which that great-souled man added to his dominion are listed individually in the Chronicle of Sebastian, bishop of Salamanca, commonly called the Chronicle of King Alfonso III Ap. Florez, España Sagrada, t. XIII, p. 481 et 482.; and among them come Secobia and Septempublica, in whose neighbourhood, as I have already shown, was the hermitage of St. Fructus. Surely before the victories of Alfonso III there could be no thought of translating the relics of the saints to Segovia; nor immediately afterwards. For the city did not remain in the hands of the Christians, although it is quite obscure how it was lost again [Florez, España Sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 81 et seqq. 65; Madoz, Diccionario geographico, tom. XIV, p. 140.]. But when it again bore the yoke of the Arabs, it did not lose its episcopal see at the outset: certainly in the year 940 there is recorded Ilderedus, bishop of Segovia Florez, tom. cit. p. 84 et 85; Madoz, tom. cit. p. 148.; and this kind of bishop was quite like the Byzantine bishops of today, depending far too much on the Muhammadans Cfr Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, tom. II, p. 47.. But however great this misery was, more calamitous days came; so that at the beginning of the twelfth century the see was held to have been vacant for three hundred years, as is established from the letters of Pope Callistus II given in the year 1123 to Peter, promoted to the see of Segovia before the year 1115, but consecrated ^a in the year 1120: It is clear, he says Calvete, Historia etc. fol. 125; Colmenares, Historia de Segovia fol. 110., to all who know the decretals of the saints, that the church of Segovia was once of great nobility and power in the parts of the Spains. But, the multitude of the people's sins bringing it about, the same city was captured by the Saracens and the liberty of the Christian religion there was reduced to nothing: so much so that for three hundred years and more no dignity of a Christian pontiff flourished there. That the city had already been recovered by Alfonso VI at the end of the eleventh century, and was furnished with Christian citizens about the year 1088, is the common opinion, relying on the authority of Pelagius of Oviedo, Lucas of Tuy, and the Annals of Toledo Florez, tom. cit. p. 88; Madoz, tom. cit. p. 140.: but above all on that of Pope Callistus II, whose words in those letters are these Calvete, fol. 125; Colmenares, fol. 110.: But in our times divine providence, looking upon its people, through the zealous agency of King Ildefonsus of glorious memory, the city of Secopia was rebuilt and restored to the Christian religion. This is not to be understood as if all the buildings had been demolished and no Christians were any longer present (for the Arab fortress Alcazar, the aqueduct, and many surviving churches suggest otherwise), but that the walls were restored and the number of Christians greatly increased, who would thereafter defend the city Cfr Florez, tom. cit. p. 88.. But this suffices for our purpose. Why should I pursue further the fabrications of the Pseudo-Julian and others, so often already laid bare by the learned? I therefore dismiss them and come to better things.

[15] [About the middle of the ninth century there existed the priory of St. Fructus, which Alfonso III and VI gave to the monastery of Silos. In the year 1100 it is built anew;] That a priory or cell of a few monks was founded at the hermitage of St. Fructus is a certain fact; but at what time is not at all clear. About the middle of the ninth century, however, it seems to have existed. For John Calvete, or rather John of Orche Historia de la vida etc. fol. 117 et seqq., brought forward a diploma of Alfonso VI, by which he renewed and confirmed the charter by which Alfonso III or the Great, his great-grandfather, conferred about the year 864 this same priory on the monastery of Silos. But Calvete published only a Spanish version; nor does Castro seem to have known the Latin words themselves Vida de S. Domingo de Sylos, p. 362.. I will therefore not give the diploma entire, but only a few words of Alfonso III, rendered in Latin: I offer, he says Historia de la vida etc. fol 118., to the aforesaid holy altars of SS. Dominic the confessor, St. Martin the bishop, Sebastian and Fabian, a very small gift, namely the ancient place which is called St. Fructus, in which is his body and which is near the town called Sepulveda, at the river Duranton. Alfonso VI himself, when in the year 1076 he conferred new goods on the same monastery, listed the old ones, not forgetting among them the priory of St. Fructus; on which occasion he granted to the abbot of Silos and to the prior of St. Fructus the right of admitting inhabitants to the neighbourhood and of holding them in the number of their vassals: whence the borough of St. Fructus arose De Castro, p. 363 et 397.. And to this licence he added many new gifts. Equipped with these aids, Abbot Fortunius built a new house and church. This construction was completed and consecrated by Bernard, archbishop of Toledo, in the year 1100. Of this event the following inscription, carved in stone, preserves a lasting memory [Yepez, Coronica de S. Benito, t. VI, fol. V° 321; Colmenares, p. 102; de Castro, p. 363 et 364; Gonzalez Davila, Teatro eclesiastico de las dos Castillas t. I, p. 521; Calvete seu J. de Orche, fol. 120.]: THIS IS THE HOUSE OF THE LORD BUILT IN HONOUR OF ST. FRUCTUS BY ABBOT FORTUNIUS OF THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY OF ST. SEBASTIAN OF SILOS AND HOLDING RULE IN THIS CŒNOBIUM, DEDICATED BY ARCHBISHOP BERNARD OF THE SEE OF TOLEDO. IT WAS BUILT IN THE ERA ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT AND THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED.

[16] [on which occasion the relics are moved from their place. Part of them is shortly afterwards given to the cathedral church of Segovia, where they become patrons and are honoured with an office.] When this celebration had been carried out, the bodies of the three saints were translated to a new monument, or rather into a cavity above the south door; where at the beginning of the seventeenth century a small window, protected by iron bars, was to be seen Calvete seu J. de Orche, f. 121.. But they did not long rest there entire. For when Peter, whom Bernard, archbishop of Toledo, had summoned from Gaul to promote monastic discipline in Spain, had ascended in the year 1120 the see of Segovia, restored three years later to its rights by Pope Callistus II Cfr Bulla Callisti II ap. Calvete. f. 125 et seq., this prelate took pains that

he might obtain for his cathedral church the bodies of SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia. At first the monks of Silos refused; but Bernard interposed his efforts and brought it about that, through the intercession of King Alfonso VIII, they granted notable portions to the prelate of Segovia. The sacred remains were therefore taken out of their monument and the place was marked by Abbot Fortunius with the following letters: F. L. A. V. O. A. N. L. A. S. P. R. O. AN. XXV. These sigla no Œdipus, surely, will ever unravel; but the clergy of Segovia and the monks of Silos were better interpreters, who said that by these was signified [Cfr Calvete seu J. de Orche, f. 148; Colmenares, p. 114; de Castro, p. 382; Florez, t. VIII, p. 95.]: Fuit locus antiquus venerandorum ossium: asportaverunt non longe: asportavere Segovienses partem rationabilem omnium anno XXV [This was the ancient place of the venerable bones: they carried them away not far: the Segovians carried away a reasonable part of all in the year 25]. And when the holy burden came to Segovia, Bishop Peter is reported by Calvete Historia de la Vida etc. f. 140. and by John de Castro Vida de S. Domingo de Sylos, p. 382., on the authority of the martyrology of the abbot Mesanenso, to have assembled a synod and to have ordered that thereafter the feast of St. Fructus should be kept on the 25th day of October and on the following day a memorial made of SS. Valentine and Engratia: which institution lasted until in the year 1566 Pope St. Pius V forbade that the office of SS. Valentine and Engratia should be said any longer; why he forbade it Calvete admits he does not know Historia de la Vida etc. f. 140., especially since according to the rubrics of the Missal it is permitted to celebrate Mass in honour of saints of whom notable relics are possessed. A long narrative of this translation was composed by Laurence Calvete, or rather John of Orche Historia, fol. 131 et seqq.; which Castro abridged somewhat Vida de S. Domingo, p. 379 et seqq.. Although this abounds in words, it nevertheless contains so many particulars and seems so greatly to pursue accuracy that it was doubtless drawn up according to the best records. But since these very records nowhere come forth, nor is it known where they now lie hidden, we regret that we cannot publish them in this place: for it is not worth the trouble to prepare a Latin version from the Spanish of Calvete or Orche and to put it to the press. On account of the inscription mentioned a little before, Orche referred that translation to the year 1125 Historia, fol. 141.; and with him Colmenares Historia de segovia, p. 115. and Castro Vida de S. Domingo, p. 382. agree, nor does Florez dissent España Sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 95.. But I prefer the prudence of Yepes Coronica de S. Benito, t. VI, f. 321., who preferred to refrain from indicating the time more exactly. Orche rightly observes Historia etc. f. 133., moreover, that John de Castañiza, a Benedictine monk, in his book on the Illustrious Men of his order (where he also lists the most important sacred relics of the individual houses), errs when he says that in the monastery of St. Dominic of Silos there is only the hand of St. Valentine, but the body of St. Fructus in the priory that bears his name: for the bodies of SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia are partly at Segovia, partly in the priory of St. Fructus; the heads of SS. Valentine and Engratia in the town of Cavallar; and in the monastery of Silos a finger of St. Fructus and the right hand of St. Valentine.

[17] [The relics, which had passed into oblivion, are found about the year 1461 and a new office is instituted.] But the treasure which the Segovians had acquired for themselves with such zeal they guarded very negligently; so that at one time they knew only this, that it existed in the cathedral church, but were wholly ignorant in what place. Wherefore, after John Arias de Avila had been promoted to the see of Segovia on the 23rd of May of the year 1461, he had nothing more at heart than to recover the lost relics of the saints. He therefore proclaimed fasts and prayers, and on an appointed day shut himself in the church with the dignitaries and some prebendaries of the chapter and a number of workmen, to search for the holy bodies. The workmen struck many walls in vain, until at length a certain John de Toro, a stonecutter, on striking the altar of St. James, understood that it was hollow. Immediately he opened a hole with a hammer or sharp iron and, having put in his hand, cried out that it was burning. When he drew it out, in order to make way for others, he saw that a finger, which he had previously been unable to bend, was fully movable and no less useful than the rest. At the same time there came forth a most sweet odour, by which the whole church was filled. The whole coffin was therefore opened and the sacred relics appeared with indications by which it was sufficiently established that they were from the bodies of SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia. Then the bishop ordered the doors to be opened to the people, that they might be witnesses of the discovered treasure. The happy news being spread, the whole city was filled with joy and the bells were rung as a sign of gladness. The common people therefore flocked together, and a guard was placed. Meanwhile the bishop saw to it that a chest should be made of wood and gilded iron plates, and the translation was proclaimed for the 21st day of November. This was carried out in most solemn pomp, in the manner of the nation, with religious dances and other pious sports through the whole city; and when the relics were brought back into the church, the reliquary was placed in a high position on the main altar, so that popular piety might be satisfied Historia, fol. 172 et seqq.; and there they rested for some time. John Arias is reported to have ordered an ecclesiastical office to be recited thereafter; having narrated which, Colmenares says Historia de Segovia, pag. 372.: Calvete, or John of Orche, errs when he declares that this liturgical office is read in the Breviary of Segovia printed in the year 1493; but it is found under the 21st day of November in the Breviary which Bishop Diego de Ribera had printed in the year 1527. The year is not altogether certain; it is undoubted, however, that in the year 1466 those relics had already been rediscovered, as is established from an inquiry made in this year into the many miracles which God had worked and was still working through the intercession of the saints as a favour to those who venerated the relics. We have seen this original inquiry in the archive of the cathedral church, where it still exists, and many miracles that are narrated in it are listed in the said Breviary.

[18] [John Arias, bishop of Segovia, adorns the chapel in which the relics of SS. Fructus and his companions rested.] John of Orche also handled these writings with his own hands, and from them excerpted the chief things. On his testimony, therefore Historia, fol. 176 seq., John Arias ordered that a chapel should be built in honour of St. Fructus; and meanwhile that the altar of St. James, to which the relics had been brought, should be surrounded with a grille, so that some particles could be shown to the people by a presbyter through the openings and held out to be kissed: for so great a multitude of people was flocking together that there was no other way of showing them. He also bought and gave to the fabric of the church, and for sacred vestments, four thousand annual maravedis from the revenues in Robledo and Chavela, which were of the jurisdiction of the city. In fact, some years later the chapel was finished in most splendid workmanship in this very place where the altar of St. James had stood. It was surrounded by gilded iron grilles; in a compartment above the altar was placed a casket, secured with a key and containing the bones of SS. Fructus, Valentine, and Engratia; and behind other gilded grilles and in another compartment a pyx, in which were enclosed the shoulder blade and jawbone of St. Fructus, to be shown separately for veneration. All around were hung votive offerings of every kind, offered in memory of benefits, namely the supports and staves of the weak, the lame, and the maimed who had been healed; heads, arms, legs, hearts, and other parts of the body, from pain in which each one had either been freed or had asked to be freed.

[19] [Among the miracles that followed comes the healing of one cripple and of another lame man.] Orche relates these miracles individually. In the suburb of Puente Castellano * John de Rivo was suffering from very high fevers and was much pained in the head; besides, his body was contracted and he could be moved only with incredible pain. Having therefore heard of the benefits which others had obtained from God through the intercession of St. Fructus, full of faith and piety, he got up from his bed and, leaning on a staff, resolved with the greatest labour to visit the relics of St. Fructus. When he had come into the church and was praying there, the presbyter to whom the care of the relics was entrusted came up carrying some of the water in which the relics had been washed after their finding. As soon as he had washed with it the joints of his limbs and the parts in which he had suffered pain, he was at once healed and began to walk without difficulty. And when the people, who had known him as a cripple, understood this, they blessed the Lord for so great a miracle. When the fame of prodigies of this kind had spread in every direction, not only the inhabitants of Segovia and its neighbours came to the relics, asking the help of St. Fructus in their needs, but outsiders also. John Sanchez de Arienza, from the place of Riaza, had already for a year and a half been infirm in his left leg, so that he limped, and could neither stand on it nor walk without a staff and very great pain. Having heard of the miracles of St. Fructus, he came on an ass to Segovia and in the cathedral church humbly asked God to heal him through the merits of St. Fructus. And when with the greatest exhaustion he had come to the relics, they brought some of the water which the other sick man had used. He too washed his infirm leg, and at once became sound and began to walk without any difficulty. Meanwhile piety glowed no less in the priory of St. Fructus, so that there would be no end, says Orche Ibid. fol. 177., if all the blind, deaf, mute, paralytics, and sick of every kind who were cured by his intervention were to be listed. But he relates nothing individually; and we shall give the later miracles at the end.

[20] [Henry IV, king of Castile, institutes three chaplaincies at Segovia and gives other things.] When the fame of these miracles had reached the ears of Henry IV, king of Castile, he instituted in honour of the three siblings, at the altar and in the chapel of St. Fructus at Segovia, three chaplaincies, with the obligation that the beneficiaries should celebrate three Masses each week. He also gave twelve copes of cloth of gold *, and as many of silk, adorned with the royal arms; likewise a larger organ, which was not without praise in the kingdom, and many other things, and many privileges to the church and the beneficiaries. For which reason, besides the Masses celebrated every year, there are sung, says Orche, two most solemn responsories, by the cantors and by all the prebendaries; one on the vigil of St. Fructus, the other on the vigil of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: for which purpose there is built on a staging an immense cenotaph, two monuments being placed one on top of the other, covered with cloth of gold, with a silver-gilt crown on the summit and royal arms gleaming all around.

[21] The cathedral church decaying both from age and from civil wars; That same king had conceived in his mind the plan of transferring the cathedral church, in which lay the relics of St. Fructus and his companions, since it adjoined the Arab fortress, to a better place; but, there being opposed

the bishop and the canons, whose houses were nearby, nothing could be done at that time Calvete seu d'Orche, Historia, fol. 178 et 179.. But in the year 1510, when they saw it decaying and heard the divine offices daily disturbed by the noise of cannon, they approached King Ferdinand, asking for the former house of the nuns of St. Clare Madoz, Diccionario geografico, tom. XIV, pag. 121.. Nevertheless, not even then was anything accomplished; but it was necessary that the sacred building should first suffer greatly from the arms of war. That is, in the year 1520, on the 29th day of May, when tumults had not long before been stirred up at Toledo against the tax collectors, at Segovia too there was talk about the ills of the country, and people went over to the party of the Comuneros. What followed thereafter the Spanish historians will give in many places. This one thing pertains to us, that the Arab fortress and the cathedral church were occupied by the royal soldiers, the canons being sent away to the house of St. Clare; that these same were surrounded by a siege by the popular party, who tried to overthrow the walls of the chapel of St. Fructus; that the canons asked in vain that the relics be given to them; that these were carried with the rest of the richer furnishings into the fortress and guarded there Calvete seu d'Orche, Historia, fol. 180 et seqq.. But when an end had been put to those troubles, it was hoped that shortly afterwards it would come about that they could again be exposed to the piety and veneration of the faithful. But this hope deceived the Segovians; for it appeared that the church could not be restored. The canons therefore asked the count of Chinon to give back to them the relics and the wonder-working images which had been transferred from the church to the fortress. But he, with what design I do not know, was at pains to put this off, interposing the authority of the absent bishop, Diego de Ribera.

[22] [from the Arab castle the relics of St. Fructus are carried on the 24th of October into the church of St. Clare;] Meanwhile the count and the others who stood in the way died Cfr Ibid. fol. 181 et seqq.. Wherefore in the year 1522, on the eve of the feast of St. Fructus, the treasurer D. Balthasar de Monguia obtained from the bishop leave to carry out the desired translation on the next day: who also granted forty days of indulgence and for three days suspended all sentences of excommunication. Very little time remained to prepare a splendid solemnity; but it was spent as well as possible. On the natal day of St. Fructus, therefore, there came forth from the church of St. Clare a huge procession, which was made up of the confraternities, the religious orders, and the clergy of the city, and went on to the Arab castle. There entered the dean D. Pedro Vaca, D. Diego de Hierro the cantor, the aforesaid D. Balthasar de Monguia, the licentiate Andrew de Camargo, provisor, with some prebendaries; then the corrector John Alvarez Maldonado, the lieutenant Christopher Perez de Toro, and the licentiate Andrew Lopez del Espinar with some rectors and knights. When they came into the royal chapel, they found the gilded chest containing the relics of St. Fructus and his companions and placed on a bier; on another bier the wonder-working icon of the Mother of God, and under a baldachin a large image of Christ fixed to the cross, which was afterwards preserved in a parish church. Then the bachelor John de Carboneras and Bernardine de Berrio, canons and stewards, asked the provisor to inquire into the integrity of the holy pledges. Accordingly there affirmed on oath that nothing in them had been changed the cleric Alfonso Ximenez, chaplain of the count, Francis de Villareal, treasurer of the mint, and Roderick de Luna, keeper of the church tower. Then the dean, asked to show the key, complied, and asserted on the sanctity of his oath that it had always remained in his keeping. Then the relics were opened, which all venerated; and a record was written of what had been done. The pious procession then set out on its way; the relics and images were carried among the ranks of the canons; the dean carried the shoulder blade of St. Fructus, covered with a most precious cloth Colmenares, Historia de Segovia, pag. 485 et 486.; and so they came to the gate of the fortress, where the governor Alfonso Sanchez de Toledo was waiting; who, before the notary John de Pantigoso, protested in the name of the lady of Chinchon that those same holy treasures were being returned which had been brought from the cathedral church into the chapel of the fortress; that during the whole time of the siege Mass, Vespers, and the Salve had been recited almost daily before them by two clerics; that the soldiers had been marvellously helped in bearing the labours of the siege; and that he himself had been preserved by a great miracle; namely, that when a little before the siege he had fallen from a ladder and had broken the shoulder of his left arm with the greatest pain, the shoulder blade of St. Fructus, kept separately, had been placed on the broken shoulder by the chaplain Alfonso Ximenez, and immediately all the pain had left; that thereafter, even when the weather changed, he felt no pain in the broken arm, but sometimes in the other; moreover, that when the relics of St. Fructus were offered to him to be kissed he had perceived a sweet odour Calvete seu de Orche, fol. 194 et 195.. And when these things too had been written into the acts, the pious procession advanced to the church of the Mercedarians and from there to the church of St. Clare; where the biers were placed on three altars, while the dean solemnly celebrated the sacrifice of the Mass, Diego de Truxillo, prior of Holy Cross, delivered a panegyric oration, and the portioner John de Pantigoso read an authentic report of many miracles which God had worked at the intercession of SS. Fructus and his companions. This celebration was concluded with the highest joy, and on the same day there ceased the pestilential sickness which they called modorrilla and from which the city had suffered the whole summer. These things again are from Colmenares Historia de Segovia, p. 485 et 486.; whoever wants more, let him go to Calvete or de Orche, who sets out all the parts of this translation one by one; from whom I will take only this one thing, that before this translation almost every week twenty-five or thirty inhabitants of the city and suburbs perished by the plague or wasting *; but that afterwards the pestilence marvellously ceased; whence he was made patron against this scourge.

[23] [in the year 1558, the new church and chapel being finished, they are carried into it.] In the following year the Emperor Charles V gave the means by which a hundred houses might be bought for the site of the new church. On the 24th day of May of the year 1525 the earth was solemnly dug with the first strokes of the mattock; on the 8th of June the first stone was laid; on the 16th of the same month the collection of alms began, which within a few days rose to 1,623,385 maravedis: and this liberality of the citizens never allowed itself to be exhausted. Meanwhile men and women, rich and poor, devoted their labour, some digging the earth, others carrying away stones, others performing other tasks. It had been resolved, moreover, to build the new church and cloister in great part out of the stones of the former church. Then on the 15th day of August of the year 1558 this structure, which is reckoned among the most splendid of Spain, was finished sufficiently for the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the relics of the three saints, and other holy pledges to be brought into it.

[24] [How beautiful this chapel and other parts of the church are in honour of St. Fructus.] When the roof burned in the year 1614, it was restored shortly afterwards, and about the year 1626 was added a most beautiful façade, called that of St. Fructus, with his statue placed on it; nor thereafter was there hardly any ceasing from the adorning of this sacred building, which in the year 1768, on the 16th of July, was dedicated to God in honour of St. Fructus and the other patrons by John Joseph Martinez Escabro, bishop of Segovia Madoz, Diccionario, tom. XIV, p. 121.. When in the year 1752 Florez was discoursing on this church España sagrada, tom. VII, p. 96., he affirmed that the chapel of St. Fructus and his companions, although it was very splendid, did not in his times seem splendid enough for the dignity of the patrons of the diocese, and that for this reason the construction of a new building had been undertaken, but that through the error of the architect much damage had occurred. This was repaired some years later. Hear how Madoz describes it: In the rear choir, he says Diccionario, etc. tom. XIV, p. 123., rises a marble altar, whose middle part formerly stood in the palace of Riofrio * and was given as a gift by King Charles III. It consists of four columns with bronze capitals, by which is formed the compartment of the relics of St. Fructus, which were placed there on the 25th day of October of the year 1793; in the upper part is seen the Holy Trinity, and on one side St. Peter, on the other St. Paul, and above two angels: all these statues are of white marble, according to a design signed in the year 1784 by Ventura Rodriguez at Madrid. And so that this choir might not seem empty, the chapter wished two structures to be erected of Spanish jasper with statues of SS. Philip and Elizabeth of Genoese marble, low grilles being placed around the whole altar. This chapel must be distinguished from another, in which also an image of St. Fructus is to be seen and of which Antonio Ponz spoke when in the year 1785 he published the second edition of his Spanish Journey. On this author's account, therefore, Charles III, king of Spain, had ordered to be erected in the same church at his own expense a magnificent marble altar, in which are seen statues of St. Fructus, St. Hierotheus, the pseudo-bishop of Segovia, SS. Valentine and Engratia, and in the middle compartment an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in silver, formerly given as a gift by King Henry IV Ponz, Viage de España, tom. X, cart. 8, num. 9, p. 231 et 232.. This construction was begun in the year 1770, as Madoz sets forth at greater length Diccionario, etc. tom. XIV, p. 122.; see him.

[25] [The office is abrogated on account of the bull of St. Pius V; but in the year 1610 a new one is granted by Paul V; which in the year 1729 is extended to all Spain.] While these things were being done in the cathedral church of Segovia to the honour of the patron saints, care was also taken in composing a new liturgical office. When the bull of St. Pius V on the new Roman Breviary came out in the year 1568, the Segovians had given up reciting the old office. Wherefore at the beginning of the seventeenth century D. Pedro Arias de Virues, canon of Segovia and archdeacon of Septempublica, composed a new one, to be recited on the feast day and through the octave. It was sent to Pope Paul V, to whom Bishop Antonio Idiaquez Manrique, the chapter, and the Catholic King Philip III wrote; who also addressed letters to the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Cardinal Bellarmine made the report and the pontiff granted the wishes of the Segovians. On Sunday, therefore, the 24th of October of the year 1610, first Vespers from this office were sung in honour of St. Fructus in the whole diocese of Segovia Colmenares, Historia de Segovia, p. 605.; and the same office was extended with double rite to all Spain in the year 1729 España sagrada, tom. VIII, p. 90.. In this office the versicles, antiphons,

responsories, hymns, and lessons are proper. The Lessons we shall give at the end; but here the hymns; the rest contains nothing singular except some plays on the name of St. Fructus.

Hymn for First and Second Vespers:

[26] Hymns at Vespers, The proud dwellings of the citizens,

The crowds of the fickle populace,

And the circles of detraction

You resolve, O Fructus, to shun.

You enter the secret places of the desert;

You lie concealed, hidden away in caverns,

To flee the harmful eyes of the world

As those of the basilisk.

Solitude refreshes you,

The companion of tranquillity,

A life dreadful to worldly men,

Most welcome to those of heaven.

The summit of the steep mountain

By difficult paths

You ascend, that you may arrive

At the height of virtue.

Glory be to you, O Lord,

Fruit of the fruitful Virgin,

Who with the fruits of the tree of life

Refresh blessed Fructus. Amen.

Hymn at Matins:

[27] at Matins When Fructus * came to tread

The top of the high mountain,

And thence, as from a watchtower,

To see the troubles of the earth,

He devotes himself wholly to God:

He is girded with the arms of virtue,

He presses down the body by fasting,

He refreshes the heart with the bread of heaven.

Fortified by these defences,

He blunts the weapons of the demon,

The famous man by a miracle

Terrifies the raging Moors.

He strikes the heights of the mountain,

He cleft the rock with his staff,

The depth of the valley is seen,

The enemies overcome with terror.

Glory be to you, O Lord, etc.

Hymn at Lauds:

[28] and at Lauds Now full of years, near

The last of fleeting life,

He desires to be loosed from the chains of the body

And to be with Christ.

Ripe in age, he longs to offer

Early fruits,

And to render thanks to God,

As the earth does to its cultivator.

O Fructus, flower and most fruitful

Offshoot of the tree!

Under whose shade the city

Of Segovia reclines.

Overshadow your citizens,

That the heat of sin may be absent,

And obtain that on them may breathe

The breeze of the heavenly Spirit.

Glory be to you, O Lord, etc.

[29] In the year 1681 the Segovians to King Charles II Although in the seventeenth century the Segovians were rightly most devoted to their patron St. Fructus and held his relics at the highest value, they nevertheless shared them at one time with others, as is established from the following documents, which one of our predecessors (Cuperus, if I am not mistaken) found on the 28th day of February of the year 1722, partly copied in the Lipsanologium of St. Lawrence of the Escorial, immediately before the history of the consecration of the church of St. Lawrence, celebrated in the year 1595, partly among the autograph diplomas. I render them into Latin from the Spanish, taking my beginning from the Lipsanologium. There one reads: On the 23rd day of the month of October of the year 1681 the master and lord King D. Charles II gave as a gift to this royal monastery of St. Lawrence a pyramid-shaped reliquary of white silver, containing a bone * of the arm of St. Fructus, patron of the city of Segovia and confessor, whose natal day is celebrated on the 25th of the said month and who died in the year 715; which relic was offered by the said city of Segovia to the royal majesty on the said day and month on which it was given as a gift to this monastery, as is established from a document preserved in the writing-office of the treasury and drawn up by Miguel Gonzalez de Tejada, apostolic notary and secretary of the dean and chapter of the said city.

[30] give as a gift relics of St. Fructus, This document I likewise render into Latin: I, Miguel Gonzales de Tejada, royal chaplain of one of the chaplaincies which King D. Henry IV (may he enjoy God!) founded in this holy cathedral church of the city of Segovia, apostolic notary by apostolic and ordinary authority, portioner and secretary of the dean and chapter of the said holy church, certify and attest that, when yesterday, Friday, the 17th of the present month and year, the chapter had been assembled in chapter, knowing that it had pleased the king our lord Charles II (whom may God preserve!), staying at his royal residence and palace of Balsabin, to come to this city and to visit the church and fabric of the said holy church and its relics; and desiring to render some singular homage to his majesty, it was agreed that one of the sacred relics should be given to him. When therefore, in accordance with the wishes of the said chapter, the king deigned on this day, on which this very diploma was drawn up, to enter the said holy church, D. Francisco de Bustamante, the dean, came forward and gave to his sacred majesty a bone * of the arm, taken out of the urn in which is preserved the body of the glorious St. Fructus, who died in the year 715 and whom Pope Callistus in the year 1123 chose as patron of Segovia and its diocese; which bone was enclosed in a pyramid-shaped column of white silver, supported on a square base; on one side of which is engraved a vase full of lilies, the arms of the said holy church of Segovia, and on the other, opposite side these words: Relics of St. Fructus, patron of the holy church of Segovia, with two projections above two shells and two seraphim, and on the summit two angels, likewise of silver, with a crowning composed of a capital, a circlet, and a cross. Of which relics, at the petition of the most serene King Philip III, Pope Paul V on the 25th day of March of the year 1610, the third of his pontificate, granted that the office should be said in double rite of the first class with octave in this city and diocese; as is established from many bulls and instruments of the said holy church. And since D. Mathias de Morratinos, by the grace of God and of the holy apostolic see bishop of the said city and diocese, is present at this donation, he makes it certain and firm that to the said relics, as true remains of the said patron St. Fructus, there must be shown the cult and veneration due to them; and for this reason he confirms the present instrument with the seal of his arms; and when I, the said notary and secretary, had offered my testimony together with the testimony of D. Antonio, marquis de Prado, scholasticus, canon and chief steward of the said church, D. Diego Jerome de las Peñas, canon, and D. Miguel Martinez, prefect of the works, in order that the matter may be established for every age, I drew up the present instrument in the city of Segovia on the 18th day of the month of October of the year 1681. Mathias, bishop of Segovia. And I, the said Miguel Gonzalez de Tejada, who was present at the things of which mention has been made, have signed in attestation of them in testimony of the truth. Miguel de Tejada, protonotary, secretary. Here the arms were affixed.

[31] which are stored in the sanctuary of the Escorial. I, Brother Andrew de Villa Castin, professed of the royal convent of St. Lawrence, by apostolic authority apostolic notary of the kingdoms of Spain, secretary of our Most Reverend Father Francisco de los Santos, general historiographer of the order of our holy father Jerome, prior of the said royal convent of St. Lawrence, prior of St. Thomas del Puerte and abbot of Parrazes, of no diocese, etc., certify and attest that on Wednesday, the 22nd of October of the present year 1681, D. Sebastian de Vivanco, knight of the order of St. James, assistant chamberlain of the royal majesty and his chamber secretary, and also Pedro Martinez, barber of the royal majesty, delivered to the said Most Reverend Father Prior the relic of St. Fructus, patron of Segovia, with the case and monument of which mention was made above, by mandate of our king D. Charles II (whom may God preserve!); who with his inborn zeal and diligence, befitting a Catholic king, and also with his customary devotion in sacred matters, ordered it to be placed among the other sacred relics of this sanctuary, that there it might receive due cult and veneration. This sacred relic was carried from the holy church of Segovia to the royal majesty in this royal house of St. Lawrence by D. Juan Francisco Hidalgo, portioner, and D. Miguel Martinez, chaplain of the number and prefect of the holy church. Our Most Reverend Father Prior placed it on the altar of his oratory. But on the eve of the glorious saint, at the first hour, when he had arranged everything so that on his natal day the translation should take place with the highest solemnity, lightning fell on the spire of the dome, overthrew it, and did much damage. On Saturday, therefore, the 25th day of the said month and year, on the feast of St. Fructus, the Most Reverend Father Prior celebrated Mass, and then held a procession, during which the hymn Te Deum laudamus was sung. The king took part in all these things and also in the procession; and four religious, clad in most rich copes, carried relics in their hands, while the Most Reverend Prior bore the reliquary of St. Fructus. When the procession was completed, they stopped at the altar of St. Jerome, as is customarily done in solemn processions. And so that these things may be established for all time, the Most Reverend Father Prior ordered me to draw up this instrument, which the same Most Reverend Prior wished to be confirmed with the sign and seal of his office. Of all which I give attestation and testimony, who was present at these things. In the royal monastery of St. Lawrence, on the 27th day of October of the year 1681. Fr. Francisco de los Santos. And I, the said notary secretary, was present at all the things mentioned, and in attestation of them have signed and confirmed in the customary manner. In testimony of the truth, Andrew de Va Castin, apostolic notary, secretary.

[32] [Bull of Sixtus IV granting indulgences to those who extend helping hands to the priory of St. Fructus.] We must now return to the priory of St. Fructus. This was enlarged in the year 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV in the following apostolic letters, given in the form of a bull [Ap. Yepez, Coronica general de S. Benito, t. VI, app. monum. XXXIV fol. V° 479; Colmenares, Historia de Segovia, p. 76; Calvete seu J. de Orche, Historia de la Vida, fol. 95 et seqq.]: Sixtus, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all the faithful of Christ who shall inspect the present letters, greeting and apostolic blessing. God, glorious in his saints, through the ineffable clemency of his goodness adorns with the inestimable glory of brightness the citizens of the heavenly homeland, who, happily emerging by constancy of faith beyond the waves of this stormy age, have attained to eternal beatitude. Thus we, though undeserving, holding on earth the place of him in imitation of whom we rejoice that the churches of any of the saints, piously dedicated to the honour of the Most High and under their names, are celebrated by the devout veneration of the faithful of Christ. And that this may be fulfilled the more fervently, we gladly bestow the gifts of the spiritual treasury on those who visit them; that those whose souls rejoice in heaven may have their names celebrated on earth: and through this, they at last interceding for us, we may be able happily to obtain the rewards of the heavenly court together with them. Desiring therefore that the church of the monastery of St. Fructus the confessor, and St. Valentine and St. Engratia the martyrs, where their bodies are laid up, may be frequented with fitting honours and be repaired and maintained in its structures and buildings, and that the faithful of Christ of both sexes may the more gladly flock to it for the sake of devotion and the more readily extend helping hands to such repair and maintenance, the more abundantly they shall find themselves refreshed there by the gift of heavenly grace, trusting in the mercy of almighty God and the authority of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul, to all who are truly penitent and confessed, who the church itself in each

of the feasts of the same St. Fructus and of the Most Holy Trinity, namely from the first until the second vespers of each of the same feasts, shall devoutly visit annually, and shall extend helping hands to such repair and maintenance, we mercifully relax in the Lord seven years and as many quarantines of the penances enjoined on them: the present letters to endure for all time. We will, however, that if any other indulgence in perpetuity or for a certain time not yet elapsed has been granted by us to those otherwise visiting the church itself or extending helping hands to the structure, repair, or fabric of the same church, or otherwise bestowing pious alms there, the present letters shall be of no force or moment. Given at Narni in the year of the Lord's incarnation one thousand four hundred and seventy-six, on the Ides of August, in the fifth year of our pontificate. Castro calls Vida de S. Domingo de Sylos, p. 387. the concession made by Sixtus IV a jubilee and plenary indulgence; but the error is evident. Nor is the error less manifest by which that indulgence in the year 1596, as Castro likewise narrates Ib., p. cit., and even at the end of the seventeenth century, was still held valid: for the Council of Trent, and most laudably indeed, willed that all indulgences granted to those extending helping hands should be abolished. But although this is so, so great a number of people flocked together to gain that jubilee that on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity a free fair took place there. The few other things that remain I will indicate in the annotations to the Lessons of the second nocturn, of which I have often already spoken, and which at their head are said to be taken from the manuscripts of the church of Segovia.

[33] [Among the miracles collected in the priory of St. Fructus, there come in the year 1588] First, however, I must here report in Latin from the Spanish some miracles which Orche Historia, etc. fol. 199 et seqq. found written down in the priory of St. Fructus in a separate codex and confirmed by the hand of the priors and other witnesses. On the 25th day of October, then, of the year 1588, the Most Reverend Father Brother John de Heredia being prior of this house and monastery, on the feast of the glorious St. Fructus there came to this house Martin Gonçalez, an inhabitant of Septempublica, and his son, Martin Gonçalez, who testified and confirmed on oath that this son had been ruptured on one side; that the father had commended him to the glorious St. Fructus, promising that, if he were healed, he would offer as much wheat as the sick person weighed; and that now the son was healthy. Father and son signed. The witnesses are John de Lucas and John Gil. Done before me, Brother John de Heredia, prior of this house; wherefore he has signed his name. The truss was hung up in the chapel of St. Fructus.

[34] two ruptured persons On the said day, month, and year there appeared before me, the said prior, Pedro Mate and Catharine de Charidade, his wife, inhabitants of Septempublica, and they said that they had brought a daughter ruptured on one side and had offered her to St. Fructus, no other observance being performed in his honour; that she had been healed by the intercession of that glorious saint and that they were bringing her to his chapel. The witnesses are Father Brother Diego Juarez and the aforesaid Martin Gonçalez. Done before me, Brother John de Heredia, prior of the said house. In faith of which we have all signed our names.

[35] and one swollen in the throat: On the said day, month, and year there appeared before me, the said prior, Alfonso Rojo and Eulalia *, his wife, inhabitants of the village of Calabazas, bringing with them a daughter who had suffered from a swelling in the throat. They had commended her to the glorious St. Fructus, who had healed her; and she was altogether sound. For which reason they had brought her to the said house for the sake of fulfilling their promise. The witnesses are John de Oliva and Martin Gonçalez, inhabitants of Septempublica, and Father Brother Diego Juarez. Done before me, John de Heredia, prior of the said house. In faith of which we have all signed our names.

[36] there comes a paralysed woman; Maria Regidora, from Fuente el Soto, came to the priory of St. Fructus in order to perform a nine days' exercise of piety, since, having been paralysed for four months, she felt herself immediately healed as soon as she commended herself to St. Fructus and promised that she would venerate him for nine days.

[37] in the year 1607 there comes a sick boy who was already held to be dead; On the feast of the Most Holy Trinity in the year 1607, Father Brother John de Santaren * being prior, there came to the priory of St. Fructus Isabel de Pascual, wife of Pedro Andres, from the village of Cogezes, and she said that, when she already held her son for dead, she had promised that he would be brought by her to the lord St. Fructus, and that he had at once recovered and that she was coming to perform the promised pilgrimage. Done before me, Brother John de Santaren. In faith of which I sign my name.

[38] and in the year 1608 a boy suffering from a double rupture, On the 25th day of October of the year 1608, the said Father Brother John de Santaren being prior, there came to this house of the lord St. Fructus Michael de Fuentenebro, from Ureñas, and he said that his son had been ruptured on both sides; that he had offered him to the lord St. Fructus and had promised that he would give as much wheat as he weighed and half a pound of wax; moreover, that it had pleased God our Lord to heal the boy by the intercession of that glorious saint: and indeed that he was sound and in as good health as if he had never been sick. There saw him suffering from a great double rupture John de Esteban *, Fructus de Sancto Marco, and Michael Pastor; and there saw him this day sound and strong John Arquero, Fructus Gomez, and Martin de la Fuente, inhabitants of Calabazas, and Christopher de Morales from Carrascal. Done before me, Brother John de Santaren, prior of the said house. In faith of which we have all signed our names.

[39] and a son born of a sterile marriage. On the 16th day of the month of August of the year 1608, the said Father Brother John Santaren being prior, there came to this house and monastery of St. Fructus Bertrand Casas, a citizen of Segovia, and he said that four years before, that is, in the year 1604, he had come with his wife to the said monastery; that they had then already been married for four years without having any offspring; that he had asked of that glorious saint that he would obtain a son for him from God: that in recompense and acknowledgment of this benefit they would call him Fructus and once every year would bring him to this house, to render thanks to our Lord and to his saint: and for this cause he came here in the aforesaid year and day, bringing with him the son whom God had bestowed on him through the intervention of that glorious saint; and he said that he had come in two other years in order to bring his son here. There were present as witnesses Bernard Castan and Dominic de Prate, citizens of Segovia, and Fructus Garcia and Francis Baquerizo, from Aldiguelas; all of whom signed their names. As is evident, all these things were recent when Calvete or Orche had them printed at the press of Valladolid in the History of the Life of St. Fructus in the year 1610.

* Puenta Castellana

* brocart

* corregidor

* regidores

* modorrilla

* Riofrio

* Fructo

* canilla

* canilla

* Olalla

* Sancta Irene

* Stephanus

LESSONS FROM THE OFFICE OF ST. FRUCTUS, CONFESSOR,

Approved by Pope Paul V in accordance with the report made by the V. S. D. Cardinal Bellarmine.

[St. Fructus with his brother and sister SS. Valentine and Engratia leads the monastic life near Septempublica;] Fructus, a citizen of Segovia, fleeing the enticements of the world, shuddering at the sins in which Spain was entangled [a], having distributed his very ample patrimony to the poor, withdrew into a vast desert of the territory of Septempublica ^b. There, drawn away from the cares of the world, he led an angelic life, and taking his brother and sister Valentine and Engratia as companions, he wonderfully cultivated the monastic life. It can hardly be said of what kind and how great is the roughness of the place: for accessible only to hawks, crowded with junipers, it smacks of the Great Oasis or the desert of Libya. There, intent on vigils, fasts, and prayers, he constantly besought the Lord for his own sins and those of the whole people. And having reduced his body to the servitude of the spirit by long abstinence, hair shirt, and sleeping on the ground, he arrived at the highest contemplation of heavenly things.

[2] by a cleft in the mountain he is defended from the Moors. Enriched by these and other splendid virtues, beloved of God and dear to men, he began to be hateful to the Saracens, enemies of the faith; whom he, on fire with zeal for the faith, tried by deed and word to turn away from the nefarious sect of Muhammad. But they, all southern Spain being now devastated, laying waste the remaining cities, churches, and religion itself ^c, burning with an immense desire to kill him, came to his poor cell. But he, supported by divine power, most eager for martyrdom, going out to meet them (God so willing) not only escaped the blows of the impious, but eluded them by the breaking apart of the rock (which still remains intact ^d); and rightly he sang with the prophet: I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me, because the Lord is my protector.

[3] [After death he shines with miracles. Pope Callistus II establishes him as patron of Segovia.] Having therefore accomplished many labours for Christ, at length, full of days and of advanced age, in his seventy-third year, on the eighth before the Kalends of November, in the year of salvation seven hundred and fifteen, he fell asleep in the Lord. His death has been ennobled by very many miracles. For many, held fast by various illnesses, obtained their former health by his intercession. Among which this is wonderful, that a woman who for the sake of devotion was serving the monks of the monastery (which was raised up from the holy man's little cell by royal munificence ^e), having been thrown headlong from a very high place through the jealousy of her husband, came away safe and unhurt ^f, magnifying God who is glorious in his saints. Whence it came about that the renowned city of Segovia, recovered from the Moors, and after many courses of time restored as it were by right of postliminy to cathedral status, under Callistus the Second in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and twenty-three adopted him as its titular ^g, and glories in so great a patron. Under his auspices it has received daily huge benefits from the Lord: to whom is due glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

abandoned the law of the Lord, all the hosts of the Goths perished by the sword of the Saracens. He reigned immediately before the coming of the Arabs for forty years.