Noitburga

ON ST. NOITBURGA, VIRGIN, AT COLOGNE,

PROBABLY ABOUT THE YEAR DCCXV.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Noitburgis, virgin, at Cologne. (S.)

BY R. D. B.

§ I. On the Acts of St. Noitburgis. Their sources. When they were written.

St. Noitburgis, virgin, called by some Noytburgis, or Noytburga, Notburga, Nortburgis, we must first of all distinguish from others called by the same name. Of St. Noitburgis, virgin, who is to be distinguished That is, besides St. Notburga the maidservant, who flourished in the thirteenth and at the beginning of the fourteenth century in the county of the Tyrol Acta SS., vol. IV Sept., p. 709 ff. , and whose cult, very celebrated on the 14th day of September, Pope Pius IX confirmed in the year 1862 Analecta juris pontificii, vol. III, ser. VI, col. 1811 f., Rome 1863. , there are venerated on the 26th day of January a certain Notburga, widow Acta SS., vol. II Jan., p. 750. , and on the 15th day of September another Notburga, virgin, daughter, as they relate, of a king of Austrasia. All hand down that the former lived in the ninth century in the diocese of Constance in Germany; but the history of the other, since it seems to have been handed down only in the memory of the fathers, is less certain and established. Whence it has come about that some historians thought this Notburga the same as the homonymous virgin, celebrated especially on the 31st day of October. But so far as can be gathered from the deeds of both, which have been recorded on the one side by popular tradition, on the other in manuscript codices, those servants of God differ greatly from each other,

[2] from the daughter of Dagobert I, For of the other, although some relate one thing and some another, nearly all agree that she was born to Dagobert I, king of Austrasia, that she fled from home lest she be compelled to marry a pagan prince; that then, near the place where the village of Hochhausen now stands, on the river Neckar *, not far from Heidelberg, she led a solitary life in a cave; finally that she joined many men to Christ, most famous for miracles even after her death. Her fabulous Acts, as they have lately been committed to writing [De Beauchesne, La vie de madame sainte Notburg, Paris 1880. Stamminger, Franconia sancta, vol. I, p. 22 ff., Würzburg 1881. Cf. manuscript cod. of the royal library of Brussels 8927, fol. 66 and 71.] , everyone will see to be different from the Acts of the other Noitburgis, which we now briefly comprise. Plectrude, wife of Pepin of Herstal, having parted from her husband for Cologne, built a monastery in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary; where she instructed Noitburgis, her sister's daughter, in all virtues. When her kinsfolk, after the death of Pepin's sons, Drogo and Grimoald, wished to give her in marriage to a noble man, the virgin begged the Lord that she might lose her life rather than her virginity. The Lord answered her vow, and adorned the funeral of his servant with miracles; since he set before the eyes of all two portentous lights, and recalled to life a certain dead man, brought into the church at the same time.

[3] The Acts survive in several manuscript codices, This Noitburgis, then, of whom we are to discourse today, is nowhere recorded in the old monuments of the annals. Whatever has become known of her we owe to the writer of the Acts, and he not very ancient. The Acts moreover, whether printed or manuscript, are conveniently distributed into two classes. For brief and contracted from others can be called both those which Surius edited, written succinctly in another style De probatis sanctorum Vitis, at the 31st day of Oct. , and the Life written in the codex of St. Martin of Utrecht Manuscript cod. of the royal library of Brussels 8927, fol. 64. ; which, indeed, although it differs somewhat from the other surviving Acts not only in words but also in matter, yet seems itself to be a summary of a fuller Life. To the other class belong the Acts printed at Cologne in the year 1483, in the supplement of the Golden Legend written by Jacobus de Voragine Fol. 358. . They present almost word for word the manuscript Acts, and especially those

which Father Jean Gamans sent to the Bollandists in the year 1641; very like these also seem those which, copied formerly by the Benedictines from a Gembloux codex, are now kept in the public library of Paris Cod. 11765, fol. 237; cf. cod. 11769. . Another copy existed in the first part of the Hagiologium of the Brabanters, which, written in the fifteenth century by Gilemannus Acta SS., vol. VI Jul., p. 314. , a canon at Rouge-Cloître near Brussels, we now seek in vain. But it came about most opportunely that Rosweyde formerly transcribed from it the Life of St. Noitburgis, and collated it with a manuscript codex of the canons regular at Corsendonk. The apograph is now kept in the royal library of Brussels, cod. 8927.

[4] of which one originates from Cologne. A fourth copy, finally, the learned presbyter Heuberger transcribed from a legendary of the thirteenth century. He had labored long in composing a history of the bishopric of Cologne, and when in the month of January of the year 1846 he died in the hospital of Koblenz, he left to his maternal aunt many monuments long since collected by him. Among these was found a copy of the Life of St. Noitburgis, which, carefully and literally copied, was sent here from the city of Constance on the 1st day of June of the year 1847. It differs from the other Acts especially both in that it is entitled Sermon on the Life of St. Noitburgis, and in fact has, as it were, the opening of a discourse, and also in that this sentence is lacking: St. Noitburgis rests now in the house of the Carthusians near Koblenz; which is read in most codices. That this Sermon was composed at Cologne seems to be gathered from the proem itself. The solemnity of the present day, says the author, it befits the inhabitants of this place to extol with great praises: because the merciful Lord has deigned to reveal his magnificence in this space to his bride St. Noitburgis. The servant of God lived at Cologne, rested there long after death, and was renowned there for miracles. In the other copies, moreover, there is either no prologue, or an altogether different one.

[5] They were composed according to the Life of Plectrude and other works, Who the writer was and in what age he lived is altogether unascertained; nor can all the sources from which he drew his narrative be indicated with certainty. In the first place it is established that among the diverse chronicles and legends which he testifies that he used Below, Life of St. Noitburgis, no. 2. , the common Life of St. Suitbert In Surius, at the 1st day of March. is not to be numbered, although a certain passage on Plectrude is similar in both writings. For, to omit other things, we find the Acts of St. Noitburgis in a codex of the thirteenth century, whereas that fictitious farrago on St. Suitbert was first composed at the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century [Cf. Wattenbach, Geschichtsquellen Deutschlands, vol. II, p. 399, Berlin 1877. Alberdingk Thijm, H. Willibrordus, p. 108 ff.] . But that the Life of Plectrude was employed by our author we learn from himself No. 4. : The cause of this betrothal is considered by conjecture from what is read in the little book of our queen Plectrude. This, unless my mind deceives me, was formerly kept in the Cologne abbey of St. Mary in the Capitol. For Gelenius edited Par sanctorum, Swibertus et Plectrudis, p. 21 f., Cologne 1640. a Compendium of the Life of B. Plectrude from a Manuscript of the Capitol of Cologne; and in this, in many places, the same things are related to the letter which we read in the Life of St. Noitburgis, as: But Plectrude with infinite treasures, as far as possessionibus No. 3. ; he was a most mild man, as far as orationibus No. 4. ; who coming to the city, as far as interfectus est Ibid. . Whether that Life of Plectrude is ancient, I leave unjudged, since I have not been able to find the codex itself, but have seen only the printed summary. But this is certain, that a number of things from the Continued Chronicle of Fredegar In Bouquet, Recueil des hist. des Gaules, vol. II, p. 453 f. have passed into the Little Book of Plectrude.

[6] certainly before the fourteenth century. Since the sacred body of Noitburgis was translated to the Charterhouse of Koblenz, someone will perhaps be led to believe that the Acts were composed there, and indeed by one of the Carthusian monks, or at least that they appeared after the foundation of the cenoby, seeing that it is recorded in the Life: She rests now in the house of the Carthusians near Koblenz; which house, as will presently be declared, began to be inhabited by the disciples of St. Bruno in the year 1331. Anyone indeed will admit that those copies in which the monastery is named were not written before this year. But neither does this mention occur in all the codices, and one of them certainly existed already in the thirteenth century. Yet I am very far from thinking this history very ancient, or altogether sincere. That it has moderate authority and was written long after the death of the virgin, is fully proved not only by the sources from which it was drawn, but also by the manner of speech itself and by the not few errors, as we shall presently show. That some Life of our St. Noitburgis was composed by Ingulph of Crowland, Ranbeck has asserted Calendarium Benedictinum, vol. IV, p. 246. , on what authority I know not. We have also sought in vain for a book published in the French language at Cologne in the year 1642, which is entitled: La vie et miracles admirables de S. Noitburge Chevalier, Répertoire des sources hist. du moyen-âge, col. 1652. .

* Neckar

§ II. On Pepin of Herstal and his wife Plectrude. The birth and period of St. Noitburgis. The monastery founded at Cologne.

In the Acts, which are not ancient, it is wrongly said that from King Pepin Before we share the Life of St. Noitburgis with the reader, the things handed down in it must come to examination; from which it will more easily appear what authority is to be accorded to the writer. The prologue finished, he says: Pepin, uncle of St. Noitburgis, is extolled in diverse chronicles or legends with these dignities: for some assert that he was mayor of the royal house, some have called him duke, some king; which dignities he doubtless attained successively. Pepin of Herstal, commonly so called, who was duke of Austrasia Cf. Waitz, Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte, vol. II, p. 711 f., Kiel 1870. and mayor of the palace of Neustria, others also have wrongly called king; but that our author is very far distant from those times appears manifestly from the very manner in which he speaks. We meet king Pepin and queen Plectrude in all the codices, except in that of Rouge-Cloître, where consistently prince is said for king, matron or spouse for queen, dominion for kingdom. Yet we do not think that this copy is more ancient than the others, since also in it many faults are noted, and the words king, queen etc. seem to have been removed or changed on purpose. Certainly the hagiographer of Rouge-Cloître was accustomed to change the style of the Lives somewhat. In this codex, as in others, we read of Grimoald: He was elected Mayor of the house or of the palace over the Franks; which princes indeed are now called counts palatine. It escapes no one that in Neustria and in Austrasia there were counts palatine from the very beginning [Cf. Jul. Tardif, Études sur les institutions de la France, vol. I, p. 53 ff., Paris 1881.] , and that they were distinct from the mayors of the palace Cf. Waitz, Deuts. Verfassungsgesch., vol. II, p. 405, 408, 508, etc. . And we meet them still under the third stock of the kings of the Franks, at a time when the supreme power of the mayors of the palace had long since ceased Du Cange, Glossarium, under major domus and comes palatii. . Not before that age was the author writing his little work; indeed perhaps not before there appeared in Germany, endowed with a certain new authority, those counts Palatine whom we see quite frequent especially from the reign of the emperor Otto I [Waitz, Deuts. Verfassungsgesch., vol. VII, p. 168 ff. Cf. Dümmler, Kaiser Otto der Grosse, p. 537 ff.] . Certainly a time remote from the events is smelled in what is narrated of Plectrude, wife of Pepin, and which is confirmed by no monument of the annals.

[8] his wife Plectrude departed. For the historian goes on thus: When the aforesaid king Pepin brought in over that glorious lady a certain other woman, Adlegis, by another name Alpais, she too, coming with infinite treasures to Cologne, there built also a monastery …, in which it is indicated that she lived a long while. There pertains to this in some way that very well known controversy long since established among the erudite, of whom some, as recently also that signally learned and expert man Godefroid Kurth Étude critique sur S. Lambert et son premier biographe, p. 61 ff. , argue that St. Lambert was killed because he had freely reproved the commerce of Pepin with Alpais; others on the contrary deny it, and in particular Bolland Acta SS., vol. I March, p. 78. , Suyskens Ibid., vol. V Sept., p. 539 ff. , Mabillon Acta SS. O.S.B., sæc. III, part I, p. 67 f., Venice 1734. , Le Cointe Annales eccl. Franc., vol. IV, p. 530. , Pagi Critica Baronii, at the year 698, no. V. , and not a few among the more recent authors: which dispute is not to be entered at this place. This only let the reader remember, that as to the concubinage of Pepin and Alpais there is full certainty, yet that Plectrude, as most historians now agree, neither willingly left her husband, nor was banished by him [Acta SS., vol. I March, p. 78. Cf. Friedrich, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, p. 303 f., Bamberg 1869.] . Indeed, even if she departed, this must have happened about the time when Charles Martel was born Breysig, Jahrbücher des Fränk. Reiches, Die Zeit Karl Martells, p. 7 f., 116 f. , and indeed between the years 687, in which Plectrude is recorded as wife of Pepin Gesta reg. Francorum, chap. 48, in Bouquet, Hist. des Gaules, vol. II, p. 570. , and 691, in which they jointly make a donation Pardessus, Diplomata ad res Gallo-Francicas spect., vol. II, p. 212; cf. p. 246. ; not however, as some assert Warnkönig and Gérard, Hist. des Caroling., vol. I, p. 126. , between the years 691 and 706. That they afterward lived in closest union can be shown both by other reasons, and especially by the diplomas of the years 702, 706, 714 Pardessus, vol. II, p. 259, 273 f., 298. . In this very year 714, in which he was to die, Pepin wrote at the estate of Bagolosum: Because we, on account of illness, could not write in the charter itself (by which the monastery of Susteren was given to St. Willibrord), we have asked Blittrude our spouse, and have given her the power, that she should confirm it in our stead; which she also has done Ibid., p. 299. . The same Pepin, excluding Alpais's son, Charles Martel,

ordered Theodald, the son of Grimoald and grandson of Plectrude, to be created mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy Breysig, op. cit., p. 10. . Then assuredly Plectrude, even if she had previously left, was reconciled to her husband, and our author, who signifies that at this time she was living separated at Cologne, is far deceived in his opinion.

[9] She was the maternal aunt of St. Noitburgis He adds that she dwelt there with St. Noitburgis, whom he makes her sister's daughter. In Greven's Usuardine martyrology the sacred virgin is said to have been sprung from the illustrious blood of the Franks. But neither there, nor in other ancient monuments of the histories, are her parents named. As for the more recent historians who discourse of the birth of St. Noitburgis, some think one way and some another. She was, says Cratepolius, the first-born of Pepin, king of the Franks De episcopis Germaniæ, p. 112. ; and Wallasser with others: She was the daughter of Pepin, first king of the Franks [Kirchenkalender, at the 31st day of Oct. Cf. E. Winheim, Sacrarium Agrippinæ, p. 305.] . But many authors, scorning this opinion, which is empty and wholly conflicts with the Acts, say that Noitburgis was born to Pepin of Herstal and Plectrude; so judge Barlandus Rer. gest. a Brabantiæ ducibus hist., fol. 2, Louvain 1566. , Pierre Divæus [Rerum Brabanticarum libri XIX, p. 45, Antwerp 1610. Cf. Molanus, Indiculus SS. Belgii, p. 87. Natales SS. Belgii, p. 235.] , Gelenius [Supplex Colonia, p. 181, Cologne 1639. Cf. Schönleben, Annus Habsp., p. 691. Saussay, Martyrologium Gall., p. 1186 and 1188.] , and besides many others Rader himself: Pepin, he says, had by B. Plectrude, princess of the Bavarians, B. Noitburga, although there is no mention of her in the annals of the Franks. But royal virgins unmarried or childless are for the most part passed over in silence Bavaria sancta, vol. II, p. 39. . Molanus, who in the Indiculus of the saints of Belgium called Noitburgis the daughter of Pepin of Herstal P. 87. , changed his opinion in the Natales of the saints of Belgium At the 31st day of Oct. : Her own churches, he says, which celebrate her birthday, affirm that she was renowned at Cologne in the monastery of blessed Mary, which Plectrude, not her mother, but her maternal aunt, built. To these we willingly assent, not only because it is not even hinted by the ancient writers that Pepin and Plectrude had a daughter, but also because in all the copies of the Acts the pious virgin is called the daughter of Plectrude's sister.

[10] and daughter of Hugobert. But concerning Plectrude herself it is disputed, who in very ancient Leonine verses in the archive of the Capitol college of B. M. V. at Cologne is written… the sister of Leo III, supreme pontiff, but, as Gelenius says Vita et annales S. Plectrudis, p. 2., cf. at the end, Relectiones. , by a too absurd error. Several authors have reported that Plectrude was born of Grimoald, duke of Bavaria and Champagne [Cf. Rader, Bavaria sancta, vol. II, p. 42. Ennen, Gesch. der Stadt Köln, vol. I, p. 145.] , because, says Eckhart, they saw that a son named Grimoald was born to Pepin by her; but he received this name not from the Bavarian, but from Grimoald, the brother of his grandmother Begga … Comment. de rebus Franciæ Orientalis, vol. I, p. 286. . Moreover Pepin himself removes all doubt, when in three diplomas, and these genuine, he calls his spouse the daughter of Hugobert Pardessus, Diplomata, p. 273 f., p. 298. . This Hugobert perhaps is the same as Chugobercthus the seneschal who is recorded in an instrument of the year 693 Ibid., p. 229. , or Hocioberchtus, who at the year 697 is called count of the palace by Pepin Ibid., p. 241. . And I do not know whether by these names only one man is signified Cf. Breysig, Jahrb. des Fränk. Reiches, p. 5. . But who the sister of Plectrude was from whom Noitburgis was born has not so far been established.

[11] She founded a monastery at Cologne, By her maternal aunt, then, if we follow the Acts, the noble girl was wholesomely instructed, and indeed in the monastery which Plectrude had built in honor of the Most Blessed Virgin. Many people of Cologne hand down that a new church was not built then, but that the Capitol of Agrippina, the dwelling and palace of the dukes of Austrasia, was changed into a monastery of Christian virgins [Gelenius, De magnit. Coloniæ, p. 323. Cf. Ennen, Gesch. der Stadt Köln, vol. I, p. 91 and 146.] ; and that there stands today that church, rebuilt to be sure, which was formerly called Maria alta, but now Mary in the Capitol. Certainly they stray in their conjectures: for learned men have made plain that the capitol and the palace of the princes stood elsewhere [Düntzer, Das Capitol zu Köln, in Jahrb. des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunde im Rheinlande, vol. XXXIX, p. 88 ff., 97 ff. Bonn 1866.] ; although some of these are mistaken when they contend that the name of Mary in the Capitol is very recent. For we find it in many diplomas, from the year 1233 on [Ennen and Eckertz, Quellen zur Geschichte der St. Köln, vol. II, p. 142, 363, 374, vol. III, p. 147, 204, 308 etc., vol. IV, p. 450.] . Likewise those have gone too far who deny that any monastery of St. Mary at all was built by Plectrude Düntzer, op. cit., p. 94. , because it is not recorded in the diploma of the year 867, where the churches of Cologne are reviewed Ennen and Eckertz. Quellen, vol. I, p. 447 f. . But, as Johann Friedrich says Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, vol. II, p. 311. , there also is omitted the Old Monastery of St. Cecilia, or rather only those sacred houses are enumerated which are known to belong to the same bishopric of Agrippina and to the church of St. Peter; while the church of St. Mary built by Plectrude was probably exempt. Nor from what is read in the testament of Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, who died in the year 965: To the altar of St. Mary two vessels of the better sort; for completing the monastery and cloister a hundred pounds Pertz, Mon., Scriptt., vol. IV, p. 274. , can it be gathered that the church indeed existed then, but that the cenoby had not yet been built; for of the church of St. Cecilia it is said in the same place: for finishing the monastery fifty pounds, which monastery yet existed long before and is recorded in a diploma of the year 941.

[12] in which the rule of St. Benedict long flourished; In sum, nothing prevents either Plectrude alone, or Pepin with Plectrude, who gave so much labor to building and endowing churches and cenobies Friedrich, Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, vol. II, p. 312. , from being said to have founded the monastery of the B. Virgin at Cologne, and indeed in that place where St. Mary in the Capitol is now seen. But it was doubtless rebuilt and renewed; most of all, as it seems, in the tenth century Cf. Binterim and Mooren, Die alte und neue Erzdiöcese Köln, part 1, p. 64. , at which time it was called the new monastery Acta SS., vol. II June, p. 281. ; and certainly the present building by no means reaches back to the period of Plectrude. The nunnery, which was extinguished in the year 1802 Cf. Otto Grote, Lexicon deutscher Stifter, p. 88. , had already, as it seems, in the fifteenth century been changed into a college of canonesses; but before that it followed the rule of St. Benedict [Binterim and Mooren, Die Erzd. Köln, part I, p. 64. Von Mering and Reischert, Die Bischöfe von Köln, vol. II, p. 183 f.] . Whether this was its condition from the beginning, I have neither reason to assert nor reason stubbornly to deny. Noitburgis moreover is thought to be a Benedictine, besides other authors, by nearly all who have composed the sacred calendars of the Benedictine family; whose works we review the more willingly because they are certain monuments of the cult accorded to the pious virgin. She has been entered among the saints of their Order, then, by Arnold Wion Lignum vitæ, p. 355. , Hugues Ménard Martyr. Ord. S. Benedicti, at the 31st day of Oct. , Bucelin Menologium Benedict., p. 748. , Ægidius Ranbeck Calendarium annale Benedict., vol. IV, p. 237 ff. , Antonio de Heredia Vidas de santos, vol. IV, p. 169. , Heinrich Braun Encomia SS. Ord. S. Ben., p. 318. . To these may be added Trithemius Viri illustres Ord. S. Ben., book III, chap. 256, p. 105, Mainz 1605. , Hieronymus Dungersheim Acta SS., vol. II Febr., p. 411. , and very many others.

[13] although some think that canonesses lived there from the beginning. It is good, however, to add what is said against this by Jean Mauburne, called of Brussels, abbot of Livry in Gaul, who at the end of the fifteenth century wrote the Venatorium of the saints of the Order of Canons Regular. Of that work, which was never, unless I am mistaken, published Cf. Paquot, Mém. p. l'hist. litt. des Pays-Bas, vol. 1, p. 311, Louvain 1765. , a few manuscript copies survive; we have used that which is kept in the Plantin museum at Antwerp: On some sacred Virgins who led a private life, such as St. Noitburga. If we wished to press on with reviewing the sacred virgins, the work would grow immensely. For there flourished under the profession of canonical religion many sacred virgins leading a private life. Of whose number are these: Noitburgis, niece of St. Plectrude, her sister's daughter, a virgin well-born and of outstanding sanctity, of whom it is read in the little book of the queen or duchess Plectrude, that, fleeing the kingdom of the world, she would not become queen, but, fleeing to this niece of hers, betrothed herself to Christ, living with her at Cologne in the monastery of canoness virgins in the Capitol or at the steps of Mary… The church of Mary in the Capitol is not the same as Mary at the steps. The other things which are here narrated less rightly or less accurately, the reader will easily correct from what has been said before.

[14] The time cannot be determined with certainty Now it must be inquired at what time the monastery of Cologne began to be built, that the years of Noitburgis herself may be worked out from it. Some report that it was founded jointly by Pepin and by Plectrude, as the verses inscribed in the present church under the images of Pepin and Plectrude testify [Gelenius, Par sanctorum, Swibertus et Plectrudis, p. 10 f. De magnit. Coloniæ, p. 324.] :

Giving kings a memorable example, the present

Church we found, we build, and we bless it largely

With gold, with sapphire, with a wondrous array of gems,

Adding lands, vassals, and many estates.

But other verses that stand in the same place contradict them:

Queen Plectrude, grieving, and resuming her spirit,

Acted with sufficient caution, withdrew with her treasures and possessions,

Goes on to Agrippina, disposing for her burial;

She despised the world, and faithfully clung to the Lord,

And establishing there a very precious cloister…

These testimonies are recent and to be held of very little account. Nor does it support them that both other writers

Cf. Michael Mörckens, Conatus chron. ad catal. episcoporum Coloniæ, p. 47. , and the author of the Life of B. Noitburgis himself, report that the monastery was founded when Plectrude withdrew from her husband to Cologne, and accordingly, as many say, about the year 690. For how incredible that repudiation or departure is, many have long since shown; and if in fact the wife did depart, why, says Düntzer Op. cit., p. 93. , is she said to have made for Cologne, where her husband often stayed, where he had a certain palace? Why should she not rather have gone back to her parents?

[15] at which the monastery of Cologne was built Since nothing can be gathered from that separation, others Cf. Ennen, Gesch. der St. Köln, vol. I, p. 146. refer the origin of the nunnery to the year 717, in which Charles Martel came to the city of Cologne, disputed with the matron Plectrude, and sagaciously recovered the treasures of his father Gesta reg. Franc., chap. 53, in Bouquet, Hist. des Gaules, vol. II, p. 572. , or, as we read in the Continued Chronicle of Fredegar, took the city when it was opened; the aforesaid Plechtrude gave back to him the treasures of his father, and restored all things to his dominion Ibid., p. 454. . Even if we do not hold it for certain that the illustrious widow then withdrew to Bavaria, as many hand down [Düntzer, Das Capitol zu Köln, p. 93. Cf. Ademar's chronicle, in Bouquet, vol. II, p. 574.] , it is at least doubtful that she remained at Cologne at this time, and labored in building a monastery. Nor is it any better established what most writers now assert, that the church of St. Mary began to be built in the year 700 Cf. Gelenius, Par sanctorum Swib. et Plect., p. 10. .

[16] and at which St. Noitburgis flourished. It is no wonder, then, if we have nothing certain and determined about the period of St. Noitburgis. The author of the Life indeed tried to describe the times, but it happened very inconveniently that he was little consistent with himself. For he relates that the virgin spent her life with her maternal aunt in the monastery of Cologne; that she was sought in marriage after the death of Drogo (the year 708) and Grimoald (the year 714); indeed, as is reported in most codices, at the time when her maternal aunt the queen was most wisely governing the kingdom and held in custody her stepson Charles, invader of the kingdom, that is, in the year 715. And not long after Noitburgis died. But at the end of the Life it is less consistently asserted that the blessed virgin flourished about the six hundred and ninetieth years of the Incarnation of the Lord or a little more; which yet we read in most codices. The author would have agreed better with himself, if he had written that Plectrude's niece then betook herself to the cenoby: for he himself said this was built at the time when Pepin was living with Alpais, that is about the year 690 Cf. above, no. 8. . If we understand the Acts thus, the religious life of St. Noitburgis will have to be enclosed between about the years 690 and 715, and therefore, unless something deceives me, most historians relate that she flourished about the year 700 [Cf. Cratepolius, De Germaniæ episcopis, p. 112. Cologne 1592. Schönleben, Annus sanctus Habspurgo-Austriacus, p. 691, Salzburg 1696. Bucelin, Menologium Benedictinum, at the 31st day of Oct.] . To us, however, what we read in the manuscript codex of St. Martin of Utrecht Manuscript codex of the royal library of Brussels 8927, fol. 65. is sufficiently approved, although it is not held as ascertained: This sacred virgin flourished in the seven hundred and fifteenth year of the Lord. To the Acts indeed no great authority is to be attached; but all the conjectures sought from elsewhere are equally or more uncertain [Cf. Barlandus, Rerum gest. a Brabantiæ ducibus historia, chap. 3, fol. 2, Louvain 1566.] .

[17] This saint was solicited to marry, yet not from the lack of a royal heir. While Noitburgis was staying in the monastery, her kinsfolk vehemently solicited her to marry, perhaps for this reason, says the writer of the Life, that they feared the kingdom would pass to the hands of a stranger, namely since Drogo and Grimoald, the sons of Pepin and Plectrude, had died, and only Charles remained, by Alpais; and a little below: For whom was the kingdom being kept but for her Noitburgis, if at least she would give consent to marriage, since the queen, widowed of her husband, would have no children? The error everyone sees through: for there was, besides Noitburgis, one to whom the power might be handed over. For Grimoald, as we read in the Deeds of the Franks, begot a son by a concubine, Theudald by name… And Theudald his Grimoald's son, on the order of his grandfather Pepin, they set up in the royal hall, exalted with his father's honor Bouquet, Hist. des Gaules, vol. II, p. 571. ; and since he was a little child [Ibid., p. 453. Annales Mettenses, in Mon. Germ., vol. I, p. 322. Cf. Breysig, Die Zeit Karl Martells, p. 4 f., 130.] , Plectrude herself … with her grandsons or the king governed all things under a discreet regimen Gesta Franc., in Bouquet, vol. II, p. 571. Cf. 453. . Theodald died, at least if we give credit to the Annals of Metz, in the year 715 or a little after [Cf. Böhmer and Mühlbacher, Die Regesten des Kaiserr. unter den Karoling., p. 11, Innsbruck 1880. Breysig, Die Zeit Karl Martells, p. 13 and 45.] ; but almost all historians now suppose that he was still surviving in the year 722.

§ III. On the ecclesiastical cult of St. Noitburgis. Remembrance in the sacred calendars. The church of St. Noitburgis at Cologne. Translation of the body to the Charterhouse of Koblenz.

By most authors she is recorded at the 31st day of October; St. Noitburgis is recorded at the 31st day of October in several martyrologies, and indeed in the Lübeck-Cologne Usuard in these words: At Cologne, the deposition of blessed Noitburg, virgin. Who now rests by translation on the mount of Saint Beatus, beside Koblenz. In Greven's Usuard, of the years 1515 and 1521: At Cologne, the deposition of blessed Noitburga, virgin. Who, sprung from the illustrious blood of the Franks, shone forth in sanctity in the time of Pepin. For commending her merits two lights sent from heaven were seen to stand by her funeral. She rests now on the mount of Saint Beatus, in a monastery of the Carthusian Order near Koblenz. In Molanus's Usuard we read also almost the same, except that in the edition of the year 1568 the words have been omitted: For commending as far as stand by; and in the edition of the year 1573 only this remains: At Cologne of St. Noitburgis, virgin, who, translated, rests near Koblenz, on the mount of Saint Beatus. In the footsteps of Greven and Molanus have followed Châtelain in the Universal Martyrology, Arnold Wion in the Lignum Vitæ Part II, p. 356. , Le Mire in the Belgian and Burgundian Fasti P. 641 . Nor is Wallasser to be passed over, who in the Canisian Martyrology, written in the German language, at the 31st day of October says: At Cologne on the Rhine, the burial of the holy virgin Noytburgis, who was the daughter of Pepin, first king of the Franks. Her mother Plectrude had the Capitol of Agrippina, which was then the house of the princes, consecrated and changed into a church sacred to St. Mary… What is to be corrected there we have already indicated above.

[19] some, however, think otherwise. And those authors indeed with a good many others assert that the feast day is observed at Cologne on the 31st of October. But another day and another place Saussay indicates in the supplement of the Gallican Martyrology. For first he writes at the 24th day of October P. 1186. : At Koblenz in the district of Cologne, of St. Nortburgis, who, daughter of Pepin, prince of the royal house of Austrasia, despising the glory of the world, bound herself to Christ by faithful service. When she had served him long, holy in body and spirit, dying most piously she attained the joys of unfailing life; then at the 31st day of the same month P. 1188; cf. p. 799. : At Koblenz in the district of Cologne, the entombment of St. Nortburgis, virgin, daughter of Pepin, mayor of the royal house of the Franks in Austrasia, but venerable bride of Christ the king of kings; to whom she passed joyfully on the 24th day of this month. Ferrari in the Catalogue of the saints relates that the 31st day of October is sacred to St. Noitburgis in the city of Cologne, but at Koblenz the 14th and 24th days of the same month. No other day than the 14th does Gelenius indicate De magn. Coloniæ, p. 731. , whom a few others follow Cf. Arthur du Monstier, Sacrum gynecæum, at the 14th day of Oct. . From the fact, however, that the Life presently to be edited is entitled: Sermon on the Life of St. Noitburgis … on the second of November, it cannot be gathered that the feast was celebrated anywhere on the 2nd day of November. For I do not doubt that the reading should be: on the second before the kalends of November.

[20] Cult was shown to St. Noitburgis perhaps from the eighth century, The sacred calendars which I have reviewed so far are not very old. Nevertheless, if we wish to hearken to Gelenius, the cult of St. Noitburgis is to be sought back from the furthest antiquity. For he thinks that the church of Cologne which even today is sacred to St. Noitburgis was built already in the first times, and in the eighth century dedicated to the pious virgin. There is in my possession, he says De admiranda magnitudine Coloniæ, p. 395, Cologne 1645. , a very old manuscript description of the churches of Cologne; it says at folio 181… that the sacred house of St. Noitburgis …, first dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul, was parochial; from which the cure was translated to the title of St. Martin the Lesser. Others add the argument that behind St. Noitburgis there was an immense cemetery, where now … the funeral field is. And in another place he adds Ibid., p. 646. Cf. Erhard Winheim, Sacrarium Agrippinæ, p. 305, Cologne 1607. : The foundation of this opinion seems to be both from the archives and from the authority of Marianus Scotus, who in the second book of the Journey or Perigesis of St. Peter intimates that St. Maternus cast down beside the Capitol the shrines of Mars and other idols, … and brought into them the worship of Christ, and adorned one nearer the Capitol with the name of St. Peter. Since therefore this church of St. Noitburgis is nearest to the Capitol, and once had the title of St. Peter, its beginning will have to be sought back from the time of St. Maternus. That it thereafter migrated into the title of St. Noitburgis is to be ascribed to St. Agilolf, because he raised the holy Noitburgis, renowned for great miracles, even for the raising of the dead, and by the frequency of her cult (especially as there were other churches of the name of St. Peter) changed the appellation.

[21] or at least from the Middle Ages, in which her church is often recorded, In the Acts also we read: So celebrated is her Noitburgis's name made, that that church lost the name of its first title of SS. Peter and Paul and is entitled by the inhabitants to this day St. Notburga. But the remaining views of Gelenius must be altogether rejected. For even if we grant that near the Capitol a church had been dedicated to St. Peter from those ancient times, it cannot be said to be the same as the present chapel of St. Noitburgis. For this one from the Capitol

is not nearest, as Gelenius wrongly judged, who with many others believed that the church of St. Mary had been built on the site of the Capitol. Which opinion is both false, and, as I judge, more recent than the period of Marianus Scotus himself Düntzer, Das Capitol zu Köln, p. 98 f. Cf. above, Prelim. Comment., no. 11. . As for his saying that the title of the church was changed by Agilolf, that conjecture is not only empty, but also in some way contrary to the Acts. Whatever the case, the church of St. Noitburgis Cf. Ennen, Quellen zur Gesch. der Stadt Köln, vol. IV, p. 261. or chapel of St. Noitburgis Cf. ibid., vol. II, p. 204. is not rarely recorded in the diplomas of the Middle Ages. From these also and from other instruments it appears that that church, if it was formerly a parish church, as many report [Ennen, Gesch. der St. Köln, vol. I, p. 708. Cf. Mering and Reischert, Die Bischöfe von Köln, vol. II, p. 199 f.] , had long since lost this title Cf. Binterim and Mooren, Die Erzdiöc. Köln, part I, p. 55. . Indeed, after the sacred body of the virgin was translated to the Charterhouse of Koblenz, the little church was so little cultivated down to our age, as Gelenius writes in the year 1645 De magn. Coloniæ, p. 646 f. , until at the urging of those skilled in the Walloon and French languages, the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, with great gain of souls, set forth sermons, a sodality and catechesis in the French vernacular. From which time the Walloon nation restored and adorned the church granted to it; whence also it was called the Walloon Chapel (die Wallonische Kapelle).

[22] and her relics were long kept near Koblenz. We have said more than once that in several copies of the Acts this is asserted of St. Noitburgis: She rests now in the house of the Carthusians near Koblenz; which is confirmed by martyrologies and other testimonies. When and by whose labor the body came there, we indeed have not been able to find; but this is established among all, that that church, long since built, was occupied by the Carthusians in the fourteenth century. The church, namely, situated in view of the city, took its name at the beginning of the eleventh century from the body of St. Beatus, which was translated there in the year 1017 [Cf. Gallia christ., vol. XIII, col. 517. Marx, Gesch. des Erz stifts Trier, part II, vol. II, p. 338.] . In it the black monks of St. Benedict set up their dwelling in the year 1153 [Cf. Wyttenbach and Müller, Gesta Trevirorum, vol. II, p. 235; animadversiones criticæ, p. 11 f.] . A larger church built there Henry, bishop of Ösel, dedicated in the year 1241 in honor of the B. M. Virgin and SS. Servatius and Beatus. But when the regular discipline had collapsed and did not seem easily able to be restored, Baldwin, archbishop of Trier, expelling the monks, substituted twelve canons in the year 1314 Wilh. Günther, Codex diplom. Rheno-Mosellanus, vol. III, part 1, p. 165 ff. , and in their place, on the 18th day of August of the year 1331, Carthusian monks [Hontheim, Hist. Trevirensis diplomatica, vol. II, p. 115 ff. Cf. Brouwer, Antiquit et annal. Trevir., vol. II, p. 196. Tromby, Storia del S. Brunone e del suo Ordine Cartusiano, vol. VI, p. 169.] . With them, therefore, the relics of St. Noitburgis long rested; yet not entire. For at Cologne, in the little church which is called by her name, there is kept a part of the arm of St. Noitburgis, virgin Cf. Gelenius, De magn. Coloniæ, p. 647. , and in the Charterhouse of Cologne there formerly existed an arm of St. Noitburgis of the family of B. Plectrude Ibid., p. 456. .

LIFE OF ST. NOITBURGIS, VIRGIN

from several manuscript codices collated with the Cologne edition of the year 1483.

Noitburgis, virgin, at Cologne. (S.)

BHL Number: 6244, 6245

FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.

PROLOGUE.

St. Noitburgis, noble by birth, is nobler by chastity. The solemnity of the present day it befits the inhabitants of this place to extol with great praises: because the merciful Lord has deigned to reveal his magnificence in this space to his bride St. Noitburgis ^b: who everywhere preferred the nobility of virtues to the nobility of birth, and chose to cling more to her bridegroom Christ than to the false blandishments of this world. Whence not undeservedly she could always repeat in her heart that verse of the Canticles, sixth chapter: My beloved to me and I to him, who feeds among the lilies. What is expressed by the lilies but the whiteness of chastity and the fragrance of good repute? Whence in the same place: My beloved has gone down into his garden to the bed of spices, to feed in the gardens and gather lilies. And of the fragrance the Apostle says: We are the good odor of Christ. So great a lily of chastity the Lord deigned to plant in the garden of her heart, that of his bride, of whom we speak, he could rightly say: As the lily among thorns, so my friend shines in chastity among the daughters ^c.

ANNOTATA.

SINGLE CHAPTER.

A monastery built at Cologne by Plectrude, wife of Pepin. Noitburgis holds it better to die than to marry. Miracles at her death.

Pepin has Drogo and Grimoald by Plectrude, The series of the birth and nobility of this holy Virgin S. Noytb. virg. pro huj. S. V. C, D. is declared in this order Series-declaratur om. B. . There was a man Fuit vir quidam B. illustrious in nobility, vigorous in warlike valor and very glorious in fame, Pepin by name, son of Ansegis Pipinus n. fil. Ansigisi B, C. Pipin. n. f. Angisi D. , who in diverse chronicles or legends is extolled et attollitur add. B. with these dignities. For some assert that he was mayor of the royal house, some have called nuncupuerunt A. him duke, some king ^a; which dignities he doubtless procul C, D. attained successively quidam enim - cons. est om. B. . For this noble man Qui siquidem admodum nobilis B. married a noble and et D. most prudent wife, Plectrude by name ^b. By whom he begot two sons d. fil. gen. C, D. videlicet add. B. , Drogo Dragonem A. ^c, duke of Champagne, and ac B, C. Grimoald Grimoaldum B, C, D. ^d, who, in the succeeding om. B, D. time, was elected est el. B, D. mayor of the house or palace over the Franks: which pridem B. princes are now called counts palatine ^e. This glorious queen matrona B. , after the begetting of her aforesaid children, in great humility and ac B. full chastity with other multis add. B, C, D. works of virtues carried her life through to old age usq. ad s. æt. B, D. ad usque s. æt. C. .

[3] who, withdrawing to Cologne, leads a monastic life with her niece Noitburgis. When the aforesaid king Cum autem præfatus princeps B. himself ipsi B, C, D. brought in over the glorious lady a certain other woman, Adelheid Adlegidam A. Adelbeydam C. Adelheidam D. , by another name Adelh. al. nom. om. B. Alpais Alpaydam C, D. nomine add. B. , she too matrona B. , coming to Cologne with infinite treasures ^f, and om. B. there built a monastery, which om. B. is called om. B. of the Girls, in honor honore B, D. of the most glorious virgin Mary ^g: which she endowed ditavit B. most richly amplissime B. with estates and possessions, and there ibi B. with her sister's daughter, St. om. C, D. Noitburga Noytburge D. virgine B. , she discharged peragebat B. a praiseworthy life for the Lord om. B. . St. Noitburgis, then, is most purely ac diligenter add. B. brought up, and et B. learned a most holy way of life sanctissima conversatione B. from her glorious maternal aunt mat. sua B. : as sicut B. is declared by what follows. For her kinsfolk arranged disposuerunt B, C, D. to fit her nyperiis etiam A. for marriage, and promised proposuerunt B. to betroth her to a certain noble man, putting forward perhaps that a great advantage would come from this to the kingdom reg. ex h. B, C, D. .

[4] St. Noitburgis, solicited to marriage, The cause cum C, D. of this betrothal is considered by conjecture from that hoc C, D. which qui C. is read in the little book of our queen reg. nost. om. B. Plectrude ^h: that qui C. both her sons died mortui C, D. before the death of their father Pepin Pippini D. ; for nam B. the elder, Drogo Drago A, C, D. , namely duke of Champagne, seized corruptus A. by a strong fever, dies, and the other, namely sanctus C. Grimoald Grimoaldus B, C, D. , who was a om. C, D. most mild man and full of gentleness, generous

in almsgiving and ready in prayers ⁱ: after his father Pepin at the estate of Joppila Jopilia B. Jopilla C. Joppilla D. ^k om. B. situated on supra B. the Meuse had begun to be sick, he invited his son Grimoald Grimoaldum B, C, D. to visit him. He, coming adveniens C, D. ad add. B. to the city om. D. of Liège, entered the basilica of St. Lambert the martyr, and there before his ejus sanct. C. D. holy body prostrated himself in prayer et ibid. — prostravit om. B. . And when he had prolonged his prayer from devotion and desire, he was killed in that very prayer by a most cruel and impious man Ramgarius Rangario B, C, D. . And om. B. so sieque B. Pepin Pippinus D. afterward dies moriens B. ^l, and om. B. left no surviving om. B. son except Charles by Alpais Alpayde B. . Whence perhaps forsan B, C. the friends, putting this forward to one another, feared that the kingdom regni negotia B. would pass to the hands of a stranger, and strove to bring the queen's niece neptemque conjugis ejus B. nepti reginæ C. to marriage ^m.

[5] in anguish she has recourse to Christ, And when the rumor of the marriage had reached the ears of the glorious om. B. virgin Noytburgis om. B, C, D. , she is deprived of the strength of her body et add. B. , and with her mind dismayed, she is in anguish with deep sighs anx. susp. B. what she can queat B. do, or where she ought to turn. She could not flee, because quoniam B. she was intimately loved by the queen matertera sua B. and the more closely guarded. And therefore she adopted adaptavit B, C, D. a secret place add. ex B, C, D. as a companion soc. secr. A. soc. om. C, D. of her mourning, that there more securely secretius B. and more abundantly Col. 843C she might complain querularetur B. of the distresses of her heart ang. suas B. to her bridegroom Christ, to whom she had betrothed desponderat B. herself, because quoniam C. she scorned to enter the bed of any man viri mortalis mire despexit D. . Set apart, therefore, with a pure mind and with the burning ardente D. fervor of an immaculate immanitati B. heart, she most humbly prostrated herself in prayer se in or. C, D. . For her heart had trust in the Lord hab. in Dom. B, D. , remembering reminiscens B, C. the word of her beloved dil. s. B. saying: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, this I will do. And she besought her most sweet dilectissimum C, D. lover, that he would deign to keep her untouched from all male company, and be willing to receive her spirit first prius a corpore auferat B, D. before quam B. she should have to endure oporteret B. it ac in conjugium consentire add. B. through the contrivance and sive B. om. C, D. deceit of friends, or aut B. per add. C, D. their om. B. power or atque B. om. C, D. violence.

[6] who frees her through death. O admirable clemency of the divine bounty, which deigned dignata est B. to pour such constancy into so delicate a girl, that in so flowering an age she should reject all these things videlicet add. B. , friends, spouse, kingdom dominium B. and life, that to her to live should be Christ and to die cum eo add. B, C, D. gain! For she well considered in mind how her maternal aunt the queen was most wisely governing the kingdom, and held in custody her suum add. C, D. stepson Charles, invader loco invasorem-servaretur, in A puncta aliquot. of the kingdom ⁿ. For whom was the kingdom being kept but for her, if at least she would give consent to marriage matrimonii omnino C. , since the queen, widowed of her husband, would have no children quia - haberet om. C, D. Bene enim-haberet om. B. ? But Sed h. om. B. all these she reckoned as dung, that she might gain Christ. What more? The merciful God Dominus C, D. , who does not forsake those who hope in him, but is ever present in their adest suis B. in suis trib. ad. C, D. tribulations, did not permit permittit C, D. his bride to be further afflicted, and sed B. fulfilled the petitions of her heart petitionem sui cord. B. to all her desire adsuum om. B. , and deigned to free so pure and holy a soul, whose beauty specimen A. he greatly desired, from the prison of the body, and took her to himself to reign for om. B. ever perpetue B. ^o.

[7] While her body, lit up by a portentous light, And her om. B. holy sacrum B. body, which obeyed so holy sancte vixit tamque sollicite B. a soul in all things, he deigned to adorn with a great miracle dig. e. mir. C, D. ; for where her lifeless body lay, it is lit illustratur B. by two lights from God; one indeed quippe B. is seen at the head, the other at the feet cern. rel. B. rel. cern. ad p. C, D. . Which is by no means without mystery, because, according to Gregory, by the head quia per cap., sec. sanct. Greg. B. in holy sacra C, D. Scripture the understanding is expressed expr. int. C, D. , by the feet the affections are understood per p. - intellig. add. ex B. per p. intell. aff. C, D. ; and because she had her understanding greatly illumined by God valde a Deo C, D. , and was most pure in her om. C, D. affections, the Lord, wishing to declare this of his bride, deigned to light her head with one light et add. B. , her feet with the other rel. ped. ill. dign. e. C, D. ped. illustrare dign. e. reliq. B. . And he who quod C. willed to do this for his bride sp. s. fac. B. s. sp. fac. C. D. invited those passing by the place where the lifeless body lay to the sight of the miracle. They came in swift running curs. c. C, D. to the household of the queen ad ejus parentes B. , and magnificently praised the mighty works of God, and they flocked in rivalry to see om. B. so great a miracle. They had amazement indeed and joy from the sight of the miracle, but no small cum add. C, D. mourning at so sudden subita B, C, D. a withdrawal add. ex B. habuere C, D. of their most beloved young lady dominæ C, D. . Hence tears, hence illinc B, C, D. joys arise, that the one might be tempered tem. peraretur D. by the other and the tears of mourning might be driven away by the sight of consolation vis. cons. C, D, consolatione visionis B. . What then should that unhappy felix A, C, D. queen matrona B. do, whom the divine mercy formerly antea B, C, D. willed to purge by so many tribulations concerning the king maritum B. and her children et add. B. , when now nisi B. it took away abstulit B. the hope of all the consolation she could poterit C, D. have on earth? This is known est add. B. to him alone soli C, D. whom none is permitted to search out, and from whom nothing quidquid D. can be hidden,

[8] is honored by all, a certain dead man rises again: Meanwhile, then, the little body of the glorious virgin, thus declared by the divine light, is carried et add. B, C, D. from the place in which it lay hidden, and is adorned decoratum C, D. with worthy condignis B, C, D. funeral rites and services et obs. om. B, C, D. . How great a veneration, do you believe, dearest ones om. C, D. , did the inhabitants of the city of Cologne strive to show et add. C, D. to this so holy little body in vigils, prayers om. C, D. , lights and other ceremonies, of whom quo A, D. they heard audierunt C, D. so stupendous a miracle add. ex B, C, D. ? Without doubt when it was being carried to the church, that et B. the office of the funeral rites due to her might be performed, the people did not cease non add. A. to flock in crowds, that by such a sight de huj. vis. B. they might merit meretur D. to be aided adjuvari B. by her ex D. merits ex mer. ejus C. . In the course translatione B. of the aforesaid rite it happened that in the same church a certain dead man, to be entombed, was laid at the side of the most holy body; and behold, miracle is heaped on miracle, and the Lord deigned to reveal to all present his treasure, which the prudent virgin pr. v. B. had strived to hide in her life. For that same dead man is recalled revocatus A. to life by the Lord, by the merit meritis C. of the holy virgin, and with all who were there at the funeral rites seeing audientibus add. B, C, D. and marveling, he rose up sound sur. san. B. and magnificently extolled the mighty works of God, and chiefly that add. ex B, C, D. he had been recalled esset B. to life on account of the virgin renowned for sanctity, and of how great merit and how great om. B. esteem existimationisque B. this Christi add. B. holy om. B, C, D. bride flourished foret B. with God, he did not cease to proclaim in magnificent narrative, until he had set forth even to her last mighty work quousque magnifice om. B. .

[9] wherefore all the afflicted flee to St. Noitburgis. Why do you think, dearest brothers, that quia C. the merciful God willed voluisset C, D. to do these wonders around the body of his bride s. sp. C, D. ? Does it not seem to you that ut A. he did it for this reason, to declare by open miracles that she is a city of refuge for the wretched and the troubled, whom he so kept among the castellans immune from worldly contagions cogitationibus C, D. ? Was it not needful oportet C. that she should very often sacrifice her flesh to the Lord, with pure heart and om. C. burning will, in vigils, fasts, prayers and continual chastisements, and therefore she is rightly called vocatur C, D. a city [p] of tribulations tribulantium C, D. ? Whence all, afflicted with miseries or et C, D. tribulations, flee confugiant C, D. to this city, because the merciful one dwells in it Quid putatis-in ea om. B. . After the funeral rites, then, her holy body corp. ej. C, D. is placed deportatur B. at the sepulcher prepared aptatum B. for it, with no small exultation cum exult. n. mod. om. B. , in the church ecclesiam B. of the holy

apostolorum B. om. C, D. Peter and Paul apostolorum add. C, D. et add. B. before the high suum A. altar. And as miracles increased Crebrescentibus C, D. at the sepulcher of the glorious virgin, so celebrated did her name become in the whole city of Cologne, that that church eccl. illa add. ex B. lost the name of its first title and to this day hucusque C, D. is entitled vocaretur B. intitulatur C. by the inhabitants St. Notburga Noytburgim B, C, D. [q]. The blessed virgin virg. b.om. B. flourished about the six hundred and twentieth [r] sexcentos nonaginta B. sexingentos nonaginta C, D. years of the Incarnation om. B. of the Lord, or a little more post B, C, D. , the year 620 [an. 620 om. B, C, D. Modo translata est de præfata ecclesia et quiescit apud Carthusiensium domum seu monasterium juxta Confluentiam add. B. Translata postmodum quiescit modo in domo Carthusiensium prope Confluentiam. Cujus festum servatur vigilia Omnium Sanctorum add. C, D.] [s].

ANNOTATA.

p. The writer thinks that a city of tribulations or of the troubled is signified by the word Noitburgis (Noth, Burg).

q. Cf. Prelim. Comment., no. 21.

r. I think this was written for six hundred and ninety, since in no way do the things narrated in the Life reach to the year 620.

s. In codices B, C, D and in the Surian edition, St. Noitburgis is said to rest in the Charterhouse of Koblenz. On the contrary, mention of this cenoby is lacking both in codex A and in the Utrecht Life. Cf. Prelim. Comment., no. 6.