Prop&rt 1 y 
 H.MOK3B5- 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 MOT R'S. 
 
 No. 4, 
 
 IK AR 
 
 Translations and Reprints 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 Original Sources of European History 
 
 MONASTIC TALES OF THE XIII. CENTURY. 
 
 EDITED BY DANA CARLETON MUNRO, M. A. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 The Department of History of the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa., 1895. 
 
 English Agency: P. S. KING & SON, 12-14 King Street, London, S. W. 
 
 Price , iq Cents. 
 
 f\ 
 
 
T HE use by readers and students of those original documents from 
 which our knowledge of history is so largely drawn has come to be 
 valued in recent times at something like its true worth. The sequence 
 of past events, the form and spirit of institutions, the characters of men, 
 the prevailing habits of thought, obtain their greatest reality when we study 
 them in the very words used by the men to whom the past was the living 
 present. Even historians who have not been characterized by a close de- 
 pendence on the results of patient investigation of the sources have recog- 
 nized the superiority of an appeal to original testimony. Mr. Froude says, 
 
 “ Wherever possible, let us not be told about this man or that. Let us hear 
 the man himself speak, let us see him act, and let us be left to form our 
 own opinion about him.’’ And in “Stones of Venice,’’ Mr. Ruskin writes, 
 
 ‘ ‘ the only history worth reading is that written at the time of which it 
 treats, the history of what was done and seen, heard out of the mouths of 
 the men who did and saw. One fresh draught of such history is worth more 
 than a thousand volumes of abstracts, and reasonings, and suppositions and 
 theories.” 
 
 Experience has proved not only that the interest of students can be 
 more readily obtained through the vividness of a direct and first-hand pre- 
 sentation, and that knowledge thus gained is more tangible and exact ; but 
 that the critical judgment is developed in no slight degree, and the ability 
 as well as the interest for further study thus secured. 
 
 The utilization of the original sources of history has, however, been 
 much restricted by their comparative inaccessibility. A great proportion of 
 such documents as illustrate European history exist only in more or less un- 
 familiar languages ; many are to be found only in large and expensive col- 
 lections, or in works that are out of print and therefore difficult to obtain or 
 consult. 
 
 The desire to overcome in some degree this inaccessibility, especially 
 for their own classes, led the editors of the present series of translations 
 and reprints from the original sources of European history to undertake its 
 publication. During the past year evidence has been given of the usefulness 
 of the documents in several directions. Their most considerable use has 
 naturally been with college classes. One or more of the issues has been 
 used in thirteen of the principal Universities and Colleges. In addition to 
 these and their use in lower schools they have been found to give increased 
 value to University Extension courses and reading circles. 
 
 The extent of this use, with the generous support of a considerable 
 number of general readers, has justified the editors in continuing the series 
 for a second year, in reducing the price, and increasing the number of 
 issues. As during the past year the publications will be in the three fields 
 of English, Modern European, and Mediaeval History ; and will be edited 
 respectively by Professor Edward P. Cheyney, Professor James Harvey 
 Robinson, and Mr. Dana C. Munro. They will consist of translations of 
 typical or especially significant original documents of those periods ; or in 
 a few cases of documents in English which are otherwise difficult of access. 
 
Translations and Reprints 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 ORIGINAL SOURCES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. 
 
 Vol. II. Monastic Tales of the XIII. Century. No. 4. 
 
 table of contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Tales of the Virgin. 
 
 1. Virgin saves matron and monk, who elope with treas- 
 
 ures of monastery, ...... 2 
 
 2. Virgin takes the place of nun, who has fled from the 
 
 convent, ....... 4 
 
 3. Woman is punished for despising a statue of the Virgin, 5 
 
 4. Horrible death of a blasphemer of the Virgin, . . 5 
 
 5. A robber is delivered from hanging, because of his pray- 
 
 ers to the Virgin, ...... 6 
 
 6. The devil thwarted by prayers to the Virgin, . . 6 
 
 II. Tales of the Devil. 
 
 1. Devil confesses that he entered a woman, because she 
 
 was delivered to him by her husband, . . .7 
 
 2. Devil carries a knight from the church of St. Thomas 
 
 in India to his own country, . . « 7 
 
 3. Two heretics work miracles by the aid of the devil, 9 
 
 III. Tales of Relics. 
 
 1. Relics of St. Martin heal two beggars against their will, 11 
 
 2. The arm of John the Baptist makes a merchant wealth} 7 , 12 
 
 3. Miracles wrought by bridle, falsely called a relic, . 14 
 
 IV. Tales of Confession. 
 
 1. By confession a guilty priest escapes exposure, 14 
 
 2. ' Through confession, the devil’s record is blotted out, 16 
 
 3. Through confession, a forgotten prayer is erased from 
 
 the devil’s book, . . . . . .16 
 
 4. A heretic healed by confession, relapses and is burnt, 17 
 
 V. Tales of the Host. 
 
 1. Christ is seen in the hands of a priest, . .18 
 
 2. Woman is punished for scattering the host upon her 
 
 vegetables, . . . . . 19 
 
 3. Bees construct a church for the host, . . 19 
 
2 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 I. TALES OF THE VIRGIN. 
 
 In the popular estimation the worship of the Virgin held the first place. She was 
 the mother of mercy, the intercessor. God, the Father, and God, the Son, might be 
 wroth against men, but could not withstand the pleadings of the holy Virgin. To her 
 nothing was impossible. 
 
 The impetus given to the worship of the mother of God by Bernhard of Clairvaux, 
 had been increased by the preaching of his Cistercian followers and had spread to the 
 whole church. In the XIII. century the people were taught the Ave Maria as well as 
 the Lord’s prayer and the creed. Attendance at church in her honor on Saturday 
 evenings was prescribed by the Council of Toledo in 1229. The celebration of the 
 feast of the Immaculate Conception was becoming common, although it was not recog- 
 nized as necessary. In fact, the popular enthusiasm for the worship of the blessed 
 Virgin far out-stripped the careful theories of the schoolmen as to the exact amount of 
 reverence due to her (the hyperdulia of Thomas Aquinas). 
 
 In the following tales we find her commanding the demons, rescuing those who 
 have done her honor and revenging herself on those who have neglected her. The 
 last trait is especially instructive as to the attitude of popular religion in the XIII. cen- 
 tury. When heresies were so rife and the church was in such sore straits, even the 
 mother of mercy was compelled to exact sternly the honor due to herself. The last 
 example illustrates the belief in the efficacy of the same prayer many times repeated 
 (by reason of which the rosary came into use). In other tales we find the Virgin 
 powerless to punish the wicked, because they pray to her assiduously. 
 
 1. VIRGIN SA VES MA TRON AND MONK , WHO ELOPE WITH 
 TREASURES OF MONASTERY. 
 
 Jacques de Vitry, CCLXXXII, pp. 117 ff. * 
 
 A certain very religious man told me that this happened in a place 
 where he had been staying. A virtuous and pious matron came 
 frequently to the church and served God most devoutly, day and night. 
 Also a certain monk, the guardian and treasurer of the monastery, had 
 a great reputation for piety, and truly he was devout. When, however, 
 the two frequently conversed together in the church concerning religious 
 matters, the devil, envying their virtue and reputation, tempted them 
 very sorely, so that the spiritual love was changed to carnal. Accordingly 
 they made an agreement and fixed upon a night in which the monk was 
 to leave his monastery, taking the treasures of the church, and the 
 
 * The editions cited in this pamphlet are: (1) The Exampla of Jacques de Vitry, edited by 
 Thomas Frederick Crane, M. A., published for the Folk Lore Society, 1890 ; (2) Caesarii Heister- 
 bacensis monachi ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus Miraculorum. Edited by Josephus Strange. 2 Vols. 
 Cologne, 1851 ; (3) Anecdotes Historiques, L6gendes et Apologues tir6s du recueil in6dit d'E'tienne 
 de Bourbon, dominicain du XHIg sigcle. Publics pour la Soci6t6 de l’Histoirg de France par A- 
 Lecoy de la Marche. Paris, 1877. 
 
VIRGIN SAVES MATRON AND MONK. 
 
 matron was to leave her home, with a sum of money which she should 
 secretly steal from her husband. 
 
 After they had fled, the monks on rising in the morning, saw that 
 the receptacles were broken and the treasures of the church stolen ; and 
 not finding the monk, they quickly pursued him. Likewise the husband 
 of the said woman, seeing his chest open and the money gone, pursued 
 his wife. Overtaking the monk and the woman with the treasure and 
 money, they brought them back and threw them into prison. Moreover 
 so great was the scandal throughout the whole country and so much 
 were all religious persons reviled that the damage from the infamy and 
 scandal was far greater than from the sin itself. 
 
 Then the monk restored to his senses, began with many tears to 
 pray to the blessed Virgin, whom from infancy he had always served, 
 and never before had any such misfortune happened to him. Likewise 
 the said matron began urgently to implore the aid of the blessed Virgin 
 whom, constantly, day and night, she was accustomed to salute and to 
 kneel in prayer before her image. At length, the blessed Virgin very 
 irate, appeared and after she had upbraided them severely, she said, “ I 
 am able to obtain the remission of your sins from my son, but what can 
 I do about such an awful scandal ? For you have so befouled the name 
 of religious persons before all the people, that in the future no one will 
 trust them. This is an almost irremediable damage.” 
 
 Nevertheless the pious Virgin, overcome by their prayers, sum- 
 moned the demons, who had caused the deed, and enjoined upon them 
 that, as they had caused the scandal to religion, they must bring the 
 infamy to an end. Since, indeed, they were not able to resist her com- 
 mands, after much anxiety and various conferences they found a way to 
 remove the infamy. In the night they placed the monk in his church 
 and repairing the broken receptacle as it was before, they placed the 
 treasure in it. Also they closed and locked the chest which the matron 
 had opened and replaced the money in it. And they set the woman in 
 her room and in the place where she was accustomed to pray by night. 
 
 When, moreover, the monks found the treasure of their house and 
 the monk, who was praying to God just as he had been accustomed to 
 do ; and the husband satf his wife and the treasure ; and they found the 
 money just as it had been before, they became stupefied and wondered. 
 Rushing to the prison they saw the monk and the woman in fetters just 
 as they had left them. For one of the demons was seen by them trans- 
 formed into the jlikeness of a monk and another into the likeness of a 
 woman. When all in the whole city had come together to see the mir- 
 
4 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 acle, the demons said in the hearing of all, “ Let us go, for sufficiently 
 have we deluded these people and caused them to think evil of religious 
 persons.” And, saying this, they suddenly disappeared. Moreover all 
 threw themselves at the feet of the monk and of the woman and 
 demanded pardon. 
 
 Behold how great infamy and scandal and how inestimable damage 
 the devil would have wrought against religious persons, if the blessed 
 Virgin had not aided them. 
 
 2. VIRGIN TAKES 7 HE PLACE OF NUN , WHO HAS FLED 
 FROM THE CONVENT 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Distinctio VII, Cap. XXXIV. Vol. II, pp. 42-43. 
 
 Not many years ago, in a certain monastery of nuns, of which I 
 do not know the name, there lived a virgin, named Beatrix. She was 
 beautiful in form, devout in mind, and most fervent in the service 
 of the mother of God. As often as she could offer to the Virgin special 
 prayers and supplications, she held them for her dearest delight. In 
 truth, being made custodian, she did this more devoutly and more 
 freely. 
 
 A certain clerk, seeing and desiring her, began to tempt her. When 
 she spurned the words of lust, and he insisted so much the more stren- 
 uously, the old serpent enkindled her breast so vehemently, that she 
 was not able to bear the flames of love. Finally, approaching the altar 
 of the blessed Virgin, the patroness of the oratory, she spoke thus : 
 “ My lady, I have served thee as devoutly as I could. Behold, I resign 
 thy keys to thee. I am not able any longer to withstand the tempta- 
 tions of the flesh.” And, placing the keys on the altar, she followed 
 the clerk secretly. 
 
 When that wretched man had corrupted her, he abandoned her 
 after a few days. Since she had no means of living and blushed to 
 return to the convent, she led a life of shame. After she had publicly 
 continued in that vice for fifteen years, she came, one day, in a lay 
 habit, to the door of the monastery. She said to the doorkeeper, “ Did 
 you know Beatrix, formerly custodian of this oratory ? ” He replied, 
 “ Certainly, I knew her. For she is an honest and holy woman, and 
 from infancy even to the present day she has remained in this monastery 
 without complaint.” When she hearing the man’s words, but not 
 understanding them, wished to go away, the mother of mercy appeared 
 to her in her well-known image and said, “ During the fifteen years of 
 
HORRIBLE DEATH OF A BLASPHEMER OF THE VIRGIN. 
 
 5 
 
 your absence, I have filled your office. Now return to your place and 
 do penance; for no man knows of your departure.” In fact, in the 
 form and dress of that woman, the mother of God had performed 
 the duties of custodian. Beatrix entered at once and returned thanks 
 as long as she lived, revealing through confession what had been done 
 for her. 
 
 3. A WOMAN IS PUNISHED FOR DESPISING A STATUE OP 
 
 THE VIRGIN 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. VII, Cap. XLIV. Vol. II, pp. 62-63. 
 
 In the chapel of the castle of Yeldenz there is a certain ancient 
 statue of the blessed Virgin, holding her son in her bosom. This statue 
 is, indeed, not very well made, but is endowed with great virtue. A 
 certain matron of this castle — which is situated in the diocese of Trier 
 — standing in the chapel, one day, looked at the image and despising 
 the workmanship, said, “ Why does this old rubbish stand here ? ” 
 
 The blessed Virgin, the mother of mercy, not, as I think, com- 
 plaining to her son of the woman who spoke so foolishly, but predicting 
 the future penalty for the crime to a certain other matron, said, “ Be- 
 cause that lady ” — designating her by name — “ called me old rubbish, 
 she shall always be wretched as long as she lives.” 
 
 After a few days that lady was driven out by her own son from all 
 her possessions, and up to the present day, she begs wretchedly enough, 
 suffering the punishment for her foolish speech. Behold, how the 
 blessed Virgin loves and honors those who love her, and punishes and 
 humbles those who despise her. 
 
 4. HORRIBLE DEATH OF A BLASPHEMER OF THE VIRGIN. 
 
 Etienne de Bourbon, No. 133, p. 113. 
 
 Also near Cluny it happened recently, — namely, in the year of our 
 Lord 1246, when I was there, — that I heard from several how a certain 
 tavern keeper on the Saturday before Advent, in selling wine and tak- 
 ing his pay, blasphemed Christ during the whole day. But when 
 about the ninth hour, in the presence of a multitude of men, he had 
 sworn by the tongue of the blessed Virgin, by blaspheming her he lost 
 the use of his tongue ; and by speaking basely of her, suddenly stricken 
 he fell dead, in the presence of the multitude. 
 
6 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AN£> REPRINTS. 
 
 5 . A ROBBER IS DELIVERED FROM HANGING, BECAUSE OF 
 HIS PR A YERS TO THE VIRGIN 
 
 fetienne de Bourbon, No. 119, p. 103. 
 
 Also it is read that a certain robber had this much of good in him, 
 that he always fasted on bread and water on the vigils of the blessed 
 Mary. And when he went forth to steal, he always said, “Ave Maria” 
 asking her not to permit him to die in that sin. When, however, he 
 was captured and hung, he remained there three days and could not 
 die. Then he called out to the passers by, that they should summon a 
 priest to him. When the priest came and the prefect and others, the 
 robber was removed from the gallows, and said that a most beautiful 
 virgin had held him up by his feet during the three days. Promising 
 reform, he was let go free. 
 
 6 . THE DEVIL THWARTED BY FRA YERS TO THE VIRGIN . 
 fitienne de Bourbon, No. 129, p. no. 
 
 Also it is said that there was a certain knight, lord of a castle in 
 Auvergne, whom the devil served in human form for twelve years. He 
 wanted to carry the knight off, if he should find him at any time 
 unfortified, on account of crime. When this was revealed to a certain 
 holy man, he approached the castle, saying that he wished to speak 
 with the servants. When, moreover, the devil seeing the holy man, 
 wanted to run and hide, the latter had him summoned, and adjured 
 him to say what he wanted and who he was. He replied that he was 
 the devil and that he had been waiting twelve years for a chance to 
 carry off that lord. But he was not able to do so, because seven times 
 each day the lord with bent knees saluted the Virgin, and said the 
 “Pater noster ” seven times. Adjured in the name of the blessed 
 Virgin, he left the foul corpse in which he was and fled. 
 
 II. TALES OF THE DEVIL . 
 
 The mediseval devil is a most interesting personage. He is ubiquitous and 
 apparently always on the watch to aid in evil doing. Yet when he has entered into 
 the body of a person, he proceeds to denounce his own followers, by revealing their 
 secret sins. He seems to be almost omnipotent, yet there are certain limits which he 
 cannot exceed and he can be routed by a simple Ave Maria. He is frequently 
 
THE DEVIL CARRIES A KNIGHT FROM THE CHURCH. 
 
 7 
 
 employed as an agent of God or in the service of some saint. Although the father 
 of lies, he must tell the truth when properly adjured. Although the arch deceiver, he 
 can be easily deceived and hoodwinked. His demons have the same inconsistencies 
 as he. They love jokes and laugh heartily at each other’s misfortunes. A large 
 proportion of all the sermon stories are concerned with the instrumentality of the 
 devil. 
 
 The first tale illustrates the readiness of the devil to take advantage of the least 
 word. The second shows the devil undergoing punishment. The last brings out the 
 popular belief that all heretics were necessarily emissaries of the devil. A knowledge 
 of this belief is essential to a clear understanding of the general attitude toward 
 heretics. If they led moral lives it was simply due to the wiles of the devil, who 
 simulated virtues in order to deceive the more grossly. 
 
 i. THE DEVIL CONFESSES THAT HE ENTERED A WOMAN , 
 BECAUSE SHE WAS DELIVERED TO HIM BY HER 
 HUSBAND. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. V. Cap XI. Vol. I, p. 291. 
 
 When our abbot was celebrating mass last year on the Mount of 
 the Holy Saviour near Aachen, a possessed woman was brought to him 
 after the mass. When he read the gospel lesson concerning the 
 ascension over her head and at these words, “ They shall lay hands on 
 the sick and they shall recover,” he placed his hands upon her head, 
 the devil gave such a horrible roar that we were all terrified. Adjured 
 to depart, he replied, “The Most High does not wish it yet.” When 
 asked in what manner he entered, he would not reply, nor would he 
 permit the woman to reply. Afterward she confessed that when her 
 husband in anger said, “ Go to the devil ! ” she felt the latter enter 
 through her ear. Moreover that woman was from the province of 
 Aachen and very well known. 
 
 2. THE DEVIL CARRIES A KNIGHI FROM THE CHURCH OF 
 ST. THOMAS IN INDIA TO HIS O WN COUNTR Y. 
 
 Csesar of Heisterbach, Dist. VIII, Cap. LIX. Vol. II, pp. 131, ff. 
 
 In a village which is called Holenbach, there lived a certain 
 knight named Gerard. His grandsons are still living and hardly a 
 man can be found in that village who does not know the miracle which 
 I am going to tell about him. He loved St. Thomas the apostle so 
 ardently and honored him so especially, above the other saints, that he 
 never refused any pauper seeking alms in the name of that apostle. 
 Moreover he was accustomed to offer to the saint many private services, 
 such as prayers, fasts and the celebration of masses. 
 
8 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 One day, by the permission of God, the devil, the enemy of all 
 good men, knocking at the knight’s gate, in the form and dress of a 
 pilgrim, sought hospitality in the name of St. Thomas. He was 
 admitted with all haste, and since it was chilly and he pretended to be 
 catching cold, Gerard gave to him his own fur cape, which was not 
 badly worn, to cover himself with when he went to bed. When the 
 next morning he who had seemed a pilgrim did not appear, and the 
 cape was sought and not found, his wife in anger said to the knight, 
 “ You have often been deceived by wanderers of this kind and yet you 
 persist in your superstition.” But he replied calmly, “Do not be 
 disturbed, St. Thomas will certainly make good this loss to us.” 
 
 The devil did this in order to provoke the knight to impatience on 
 account of the loss of his cape, and to extinguish in his heart his love 
 for the apostle. But what the devil had prepared for his destruction 
 redounded to the glory of the knight. By it the latter was incited the 
 more strongly ; the former was confused and punished. For after a 
 little time Gerard wanted to go to the abode of St. Thomas, and when 
 he was all ready to start, he broke a gold ring into two pieces before the 
 eyes of his wife, and joining them together in her presence, gave one 
 piece to her and kept the other himself, saying, “You ought to trust 
 this token. Moreover, I ask you to wait five years for my return, and 
 after that you can marry anyone you please.” And she promised. 
 
 He went on a very long journey and at length with great expense 
 and very great labor, reached the city of St. Thomas the apostle. 
 There he was saluted most courteously by the citizens, and received 
 with as great kindness as if he had been one of them and well known 
 to them. Ascribing that favor to the blessed apostle, he entered the 
 oratory, and in prayer he commended himself, his wife, and all his 
 possessions to the saint. After this, remembering the limit fixed, and 
 thinking that the five years ended on that very day, he groaned and 
 said, “ Alas ! my wife will now marry some other man.” God had 
 delayed his journey on account of what is to follow. 
 
 When the knight looked around in sorrow, he saw the above- 
 mentioned demon walking about in his cape, and the devil said, “ Do 
 you know me, Gerard ? ” He said, “ No, I do not know you, but I know 
 my cape.” The devil replied, “ I am the pne who sought hospitality from 
 you in the name of the apostle ; and I carried off your cape, for which 
 I have been severely punished.” And he added, “ I am the devil, and 
 I am commanded to carry you back to your own house before nightfall, 
 because your wife has married another man and is now sitting with him 
 
TWO HERETICS WORK MIRACLES BY THE AID OF THE DEVIL. 
 
 9 
 
 at the wedding banquet.” Taking him up, the devil crossed in part of 
 a day from India to Germany, from the east to the west, and about 
 twilight placed him in his own house without injury. 
 
 He, entering his own house like a stranger, saw his own wife eating 
 with her husband. Drawing near, in her sight he drew out the half of 
 the ring and sent it to her in a cup. When she saw it, she immediately 
 took out her half and joining it to the part given to her, she recognized 
 him as her husband. Immediately jumping up, she rushed to embrace 
 him, proclaiming that he was her husband, Gerard, and saying good- 
 bye to her new husband. Nevertheless, out of courtesy Gerard kept the 
 latter with him that night. 
 
 In this as in the preceding miracle, it is sufficiently evident how 
 much the blessed apostles love and glorify those who love them. 
 
 3. 7 WO HERETICS WORK MIRACLES BY THE AID OF THE 
 
 DEVIL. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. V, Cap. XVIII. Vol. I, pp. 296, ff. 
 
 Two men simply clad, but not without guile, not birds but raven- 
 ing wolves, came to Besan^n, feigning the greatest piety. They were 
 pale and thin. They went about bare-footed and fasted daily. They 
 did not miss a single night the early service in the cathedral, nor did 
 they accept any alms from anyone except necessary food. When by 
 such hypocrisy they had attracted the attention of everyone, they began 
 to vomit forth their hidden poison and to preach to the ignorant new 
 and unheard of heresies. In order, moreover, that the people might 
 believe their teachings, they ordered meal to be sifted on the sidewalk 
 and walked on it without leaving a trace of a footprint. Likewise 
 walking upon the water, they could not be immersed. Also, they had 
 little huts burnt over their heads, and after those had been burnt to 
 ashes, they came out uninjured. After this they said to the people, 
 “ If you do not believe our words, believe our miracles.” 
 
 The bishop and clergy hearing of this w 7 ere greatly disturbed. And 
 when they wished to resist those men, affirming that those were heretics 
 and deceivers and ministers of the devil, they escaped with difficulty 
 from being stoned by the people. Now that bishop was a good and 
 learned man and a native of our province. Our aged monk, Conrad, who 
 told me these facts and who was in that city at the time, knew him well. 
 
 The bishop seeing that his words were of no avail and that the 
 people entrusted to his charge were being subverted by the devil’s 
 
IO 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 agents, summoned a certain clerk that he knew, who was very well 
 versed in necromancy, and said, “ Certain men in my city are doing 
 so and so. I ask you to find out from the devil by your skill, who they 
 are, whence they come, and by what means so many and so wonderful 
 miracles are wrought by them. For it is impossible that they should 
 do wonders through divine inspiration when their teaching is so con- 
 trary to God’s.’ , The clerk replied, “My lord, I have long renounced 
 that art.” The bishop replied, “ You see clearly in what straits I am. 
 I must either acquiesce in their teachings or be stoned by the people. 
 Therefore I enjoin upon you for the remission of your sins, that you 
 obey me in this matter.” 
 
 The clerk, obeying the bishop, summoned the devil, and when 
 asked, told why he had called him. “ I am sorry that I have deserted 
 you. And because I intend to be more obedient to you in the future 
 than in the past, I ask you to tell me who these men are, what they 
 teach, and by what means they work so great miracles.” The devil 
 replied, “ They are mine and sent by me, and they preach what I have 
 placed in their mouths.” The clerk asked, “ How is it that they cannot 
 be injured, or sunk in the water, or burned by fire ? ” The demon 
 replied again, “ They have under their arm-pits, sewed between the 
 skin and the flesh my compacts in which the homage done by them to 
 me is written ; and by virtue of these they work such miracles and can 
 not be injured by anyone.” Then the clerk, “ Suppose those should be 
 taken away? ” The devil replied, “ Then they would be weak just like 
 other men.” The clerk having heard this, thanked the demon, saying, 
 “ Now go, and when you are summoned by me, return.” 
 
 He went to the bishop and recited these things to him in order. 
 The latter filled with great joy, summoned all the people of the city to 
 a suitable place and said, “ I am your shepherd, ye are my sheep. It 
 those men, as you say, confirm their teaching by signs, I will follow 
 them with you. If, however, they deserve punishment, you shall peni- 
 tently return to the faith of your fathers with me.” The people replied, 
 “We have seen many signs from them.” The bishop, “But I have 
 not seen them.” 
 
 Why protract my words? The plan pleased the people. The 
 heretics were summoned. The bishop was present. A fire was kindled 
 in the midst of the city. Nevertheless, before the heretics entered it, 
 they were secretly summoned to the bishop. He said to them, “ I want 
 to see if you have any evil about you.” Hearing this they immediately 
 stripped and said with great confidence, “ Search our bodies and our 
 
THE RELICS OF ST. MARTIN HEAL TWO BEGGARS. 
 
 IE 
 
 garments carefully.” The soldiers, truly, following the instructions of 
 the bishop, raised their arms, and noticing under the arm-pits some 
 scars that were healed up, broke them open with their knives and 
 extracted from them the little scrolls which had been sewed in. 
 
 Having received these, the bishop went forth to the people with 
 the heretics, and having commanded silence, cried out in a loud voice, 
 “ Now shall your prophets enter the fire, and if they are not injured I 
 will believe in them.” Then the wretched men, trembling said, “We 
 are not able to enter now.” Then the bishop told the people of the 
 evil which had been detected, and showed the compacts. Then all 
 furious hurled the devil’s ministers, to be tortured with the devil in 
 eternal flames, into the fire which had been prepared. 
 
 And thus through the grace of God and the action of the bishop 
 the rising heresy was extinguished and the people who had been seduced 
 and corrupted were cleansed by penance. 
 
 III. TALES OF RELICS . 
 
 Early in the fourth century, if not before, relics began to hold an important place 
 in Christian worship. The number of relics, the miraculous power imparted to them, 
 and the reverence in which they were held increased constantly. The crusades 
 greatly strengthened this movement in the west of Europe. And especially the fourth 
 crusade, in which Constantinople was captured. There the relics formed a most valu- 
 able portion of the spoils, and thence they were scattered throughout the west. The 
 miracles wrought by the relics increased, and, in fact, many relics revealed themselves 
 miraculously in order that they might be honored by the devout. The Mendicant 
 Friars were the most instrumental in fostering the faith in relics. 
 
 In the thirteenth century, therefore, we find a large number of tales devoted to 
 this subject. Most of them are evidently reworkings of familiar old tales, but all were 
 eagerly accepted by the multitude. At the same time the more learned attempted 
 cautiously to restrict the multiplication of relics. When men began to travel, and 
 found the same relic — the head of John fhe Baptist, for example — in two or more 
 places, they began to be sceptical. At the fourth Lateran (Canon 62) and other 
 councils decrees were passed against impostors. But even the sceptical admitted that 
 miracles were wrought by false relics. The testimony was too strong to be denied. 
 
 1. THE RELICS OF ST. MARTIN HEAL TWO BEGGARS 
 AGAINST THEIR WILL. 
 
 Jacques de Vitry, CXII, p. 52. 
 
 Moreover, although poverty and other tribulations are advantage- 
 ous, yet certain ones abuse them. Accordingly we read that when the 
 
12 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 body of St. Martin was borne in procession, it healed all the infirm 
 who met it. Now there were near the church two wandering beggars, 
 one blind, the other lame. They began to converse together and said, 
 “ See, the body of St. Martin is now being borne about in procession, 
 and if it catches us we shall be healed immediately, and no one in the 
 future will give us any alms. But we shall have to work and labor 
 with our own hands.” Then the blind man said to the lame, “Get up 
 on my shoulders because I am strong, and you who can see well can 
 guide me.” They did this, but when they tried to escape, the procession 
 overtook them ; and since, on account of the throng, they were not able 
 to get away, they were healed against their will. 
 
 2. THE ARM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST MAKES A 
 MERCHANT WEALTHY. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. VIII. Cap. LIII. Vol. II, pp. 125-26. 
 
 Not long ago a certain merchant of our country, crossing the sea, 
 saw the arm of St. John the Baptist in his hospital, and desired it. 
 Learning that the custodian of the relics was following a certain woman, 
 and knowing that there is nothing which women of that class cannot 
 extort from men, he approached her and said, “ If you will procure for 
 me the relics of St. John the Baptist of which your lover has the 
 charge, I will give you a hundred and forty pounds of silver.” She, 
 craving the money, refused to consent to the hospitaler until he 
 obtained the sacred arm. This she immediately delivered to the mer- 
 chant and received the promised weight of silver. 
 
 Do you perceive how great a mockery? Just as formerly the head 
 of St. John was delivered by Herod to a lascivious girl as a reward for 
 dancing, and by her was given to an adulterous mother, so at this time 
 the hospitaler, no less wicked than Herod, gave the arm of the same 
 saint to a base woman as the price of fornication, and by her it was sold 
 to the merchant. 
 
 The latter, not consigning it to the ground like Herodias, but 
 wrapping it in purple, fled almost to the extremities of the earth and 
 arrived at the city of Groningen, which is located at the entrance to 
 Frisia. There he built a house and, hiding the arm in one of the 
 columns, began to grow exceedingly wealthy. 
 
 One day when he was sitting in his shop, someone said to him, 
 “ The city is burning and the fire is now approaching your house.” He 
 replied, “ I do not fear for my house. I have left a good guardian 
 
THE ARM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST MAKES A MERCHANT WEALTHY. 
 
 13 
 
 there.” Nevertheless he arose and entered his house. When he saw 
 the column unmoved he returned to his shop. All wondered what was 
 the cause of so great confidence. 
 
 When questioned about the guardian of his house, the merchant 
 replied ambiguously. But when he realized that his fellow-citizens 
 noted it, fearing lest they might employ violence against him, he took 
 out the arm and delivered it into the care of a certain hermitess. She, 
 unable to keep the secret, told a man of her charge, and he told the 
 citizens. They immediately took the relics and carried them to the 
 church. When the merchant tearfully requested his relics, they replied 
 harshly. When they asked him of what saint these were the relics, he 
 not wishing to betray the facts said he did not know. Nevertheless in 
 grief he deserted the city, and falling into poverty he became very ill 
 not long after. When he eared death, he disclosed to his confessor 
 what the relics were and how he had obtained them. 
 
 When the citizens learned this, they made a receptacle, in the form 
 of an arm, of silver and gilt, adorned with precious stones, and placed 
 the relics in it. I saw the same arm two years ago, and it is covered 
 with skin and flesh. I also saw there among the relics a small gold 
 cross of Frederick the Emperor, which had been given to the above- 
 mentioned merchant at the same time as the arm. 
 
 Novice: “Since no one of the saints is believed to be greater 
 than St. John the Baptist, why is it that we do not read of any miracles 
 in his life ? ” 
 
 Monk : “So that God may show that holiness does not consist in 
 miracles, but in right living. For after death he was illustrious by 
 innumerable great miracles. The aforesaid citizens, in truth, fearing 
 for the relics of St. John, built of planks a very strong little house 
 behind the altar, and by night they had a priest sleep in the top of it. 
 The house was so shaken under him on the first night that he felt no 
 slight horror. In the second night truly it struck him when asleep 
 and hurled him onto the pavement. When one of the rulers of the 
 city fell sick, at his request Theoderic, the priest of the church, carried 
 the arm to his house and unwrapped it. He found the arm, as well as 
 the purple in which it was wrapped, covered with fresh blood. He told 
 me this with his own mouth. A priest cut off a small piece of flesh 
 from the same arm, and when he carried it off secretly in his hand, he 
 felt as much heat from it as if he had been carrying burning coal. 
 Many miracles and healings indeed were wrought in that city by the 
 same relics through the merits of St. John the Baptist.” 
 
14 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 3. MIRA CLES WROUGHT BY BRIDLE FALSELY CALLED 
 
 A RELIC. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. VIII. Cap. LXX. Vol. II, p. 140. 
 
 A certain kniglit loved most ardently the above mentioned martyr, 
 St. Thomas of Canterbury, and sought everywhere to obtain some relic 
 of him. A certain wily priest, in whose house he was staying, heard of 
 this and said to him, “ I have by me the bridle which St. Thomas long 
 used, and I have often experienced its virtue.” When the knight heard 
 this, thinking it true, he joyfully paid the priest the money which he 
 demanded, and received the bridle with great devotion. 
 
 God truly, to whom nothing is impossible, wishing to reward the 
 faith of the knight, and for the honor of his martyr, deigned to work 
 many miracles through the same bridle. The knight seeing this founded 
 a church in honor of the martyr and in it he placed as a relic the bridle 
 of that most wicked priest. 
 
 IV. TALES OF CONFESSION. 
 
 The theories as to the necessity and efficacy of confession varied greatly. But 
 the tendency to hold all Christians to a full confession of all sins increased, as the 
 members of the church realized what a powerful weapon such confession would place 
 in their hands. At the fourth Lateran council the confession of all sins to a priest was 
 made obligatory once a year. Soon after this the formula of absolution changed from 
 the deprecatory form to the statement that the contrite penitent was loosed from the 
 sins which he had confessed. By confession sins, otherwise mortal, were reduced to 
 the rank of venial. The two essentials were contrition and confession. If the first 
 was present confession to a layman was sufficient in case no priest could be found. 
 And, as we learn from Caesar of Heisterbach, in cases when immediate confession was 
 impossible, contrition alone was sufficient to loose from the consequences of sin. But 
 confession must follow at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 The following tales show the efficacy of confession — even to a layman ; the fact 
 that all sins, even the most trivial, must be confessed ; and the danger of backsliding 
 after confession. 
 
 1. BY CONFESSION A GUILTY FRIES!' ESCAPES EXPOSURE. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. Ill, Cap. II. Vol. I, pp. 1 1 2-1 3. 
 
 A certain soldier dwelt in a certain village, with whose wife the 
 priest of the same village committed adultery. The soldier was told 
 that the priest was carrying on an intrigue with his wife. He, since he 
 was a prudent man and did not readily believe the story, wished to say 
 
BY CONFESSION A GUILTY PRIEST ESCAPES EXPOSURE. 
 
 *5 
 
 nothing about it to his wife or the priest, but to learn the truth more 
 fully. But he was not without some suspicion. There happened to be 
 in another village, not far distant from the one in which the soldier 
 lived, a possessed person, in whom the demon was so vile that in the 
 presence of bystanders he revealed sins which were not cloaked by a 
 true confession. The soldier learned this from the common report and 
 asked the priest, whom he suspected, to go to a certain meeting with 
 him. And the priest promised. 
 
 When they had reached the village where the possessed one was, 
 the priest conscious of his guilt, began to suspect the soldier, because he 
 was not ignorant that one possessed by so vile a demon dwelt there. 
 And, fearing for his life if he was betrayed by the demon, feigning 
 some necessity, he entered a stable and throwing himself at the feet of 
 a servant of the soldier, said, “ I ask you in the name of the Lord to 
 hear my confession.” The servant greatly terrified raised him up and 
 heard what he had to say. After the confession had been made, the 
 priest asked that a penance should be inflicted upon him ; and the 
 servant replied very prudently, saying, “ Whatever you would enjoin 
 upon another for 3uch a crime, shall be your atonement.” 
 
 And so going on now in greater security, the priest went with the 
 soldier to the church. There meeting the possessed one, the soldier 
 asked, “ Do you know anything about me ? ” For he did this on pur- 
 pose to take away any suspicion that the priest might have. When the 
 demon made some reply to him which I do not know, he added, 
 “ What do you know about that master ? ” The demon replied, “ I 
 know nothing about this man.” And after he had said this in German, 
 he immediately added in Latin, “He was justified in the stable.” No 
 clerk was present at the time. 
 
 Novice : “ I am sure that the devil did not speak Latin of his own 
 free will at that time.” 
 
 Monk : “ He was not allowed to speak German, lest the knight 
 should understand what he said and learn the truth. And he was not 
 permitted to be silent, in order that he might show to the priest the 
 virtuejof confession.” 
 
 Novice: “ Great is the virtue of confession which blots out the 
 crime of adultery from the devil’s memory and liberates a man from 
 imminent peril.” 
 
 Monk : “ I heard also the result of this confession. The priest, not 
 unmindful of the benefit conferred upon him, deserted the world and 
 became a monk in a certain monastery of our order. He is believed to 
 
i6 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 be still living as I have learned from a certain abbot of the Cistercian 
 order.” 
 
 Novice : “ The prophecy of that impudent demon was the cause of 
 great salvation for him.” 
 
 2. THROUGH CONFESSION, THE BEVIES RECORD IS 
 BLOTTED OUT. 
 
 fitienne de Bourbon, No. 176, pp. 155-156. 
 
 The manifold inconveniences and losses which our enemies suffer 
 from the confession of our sins ought to incite us to confession. It 
 destroys the devil’s records. And note how, when a certain clerk was 
 leading a most holy life, so that the devil envied him, the devil by 
 tempting the clerk caused him to fall into grievous sin. When more- 
 over the devil wished to confound the clerk, assuming human form he 
 accused him before his bishop. 
 
 The day was fixed on which the devil was to prove his charges, by 
 bringing to the judge his accounts, in which were recorded the place, 
 the time, and the persons to whose knowledge the clerk had sinned. 
 The said clerk, seeing that he was in hard straits, confessed all, grieving 
 and purposing not to return to sin. When moreover they were in the 
 presence of the judge and the devil said he had much against the clerk 
 which he could prove by writing and witnesses, he unrolled his records 
 and found all that had been in them erased. He said, “ All that I had 
 against this man was certainly written here this very day and I do not 
 know who has destroyed it all.” Having thus spoken, he vanished. 
 The clerk, however, narrated all of these things to the bishop, in the secrecy 
 of confession. 
 
 3. THROUGH CONFESSION, A FORGOTTEN PRA YER IS 
 ERASED FROM THE DE VIES BOOK. 
 
 Etienne de Bourbon, No. 177, p. 156. 
 
 Also it is related that when a certain holy father was at one time 
 engaged with the brethren in some work, he forgot to say the none at 
 the right time, on account of his occupation. Afterwards he saw the 
 devil passing before him, bearing on his shoulders a very large book in 
 the shape of a roll which looked as large as a tower. And he adjured 
 the devil in the name of the Lord to drop that book. When he un- 
 rolled the book, he found written on one page that he himself had not 
 said the none on the day and at the hour when he ought to have said it. 
 
A HERETIC HEALED BY CONFESSION RELAPSES AND IS BURNT. 
 
 7 
 
 Moreover, prostrating himself at once at the feet of his companions, he 
 confessed his negligence, and immediately looking again in the devil’s 
 roll, he found that what had been written there was erased, and thereby 
 he knew the efficacy of confession. 
 
 4. A HERETIC HEALED BY CONFESSION RELAPSES 
 AND IS BURN 1 . 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. III. Cap. XVII. Vol. I, pp. 133-34. 
 
 In the same city, namely Argentina which is Strassburg, ten here- 
 tics were seized. When they denied their guilt, they were convicted by 
 the ordeal of glowing iron and were condemned to be burnt. When 
 on the appointed day they were being led to the fire, one of the attend- 
 ants said to one of them, “ Wretched one, you are condemned. Now do 
 penance and confess your sins, lest after the burning of the body, which 
 is only momentary, hell-fire burns your soul eternally.” When the man 
 replied, “I certainly think that I have been mistaken, but I fear repent- 
 ance in so great straits will be by no means acceptable to God.” The 
 former replied, “ Only confess from your heart. God is merciful and 
 will receive the penitent.” 
 
 Wonderful fact! For as soon as the man confessed his perfidy, 
 his hand was fully healed. While he delayed in confession, the judge 
 summoned him to the punishment. His confessor replied to the judge, 
 “ It is not just that an innocent man should be condemned unjustly.” 
 Since no trace of a burn was found in his hand, he was dismissed. 
 
 The man had a wife living not far from the city and absolutely 
 ignorant of these things which have been related. When he came to 
 her rejoicing and said, “ Blessed be God who has liberated me to-day 
 from the loss of body and soul ! ” and explained to her the cause ; she 
 replied, “ What have you done, most wretched man, what have you 
 done ? Why have you withdrawn from your holy and sacred faith from 
 fear of momentary pain ? You ought rather, if it were possible, to expose 
 your body a hundred times to the flames than once to withdraw from a 
 faith so well proven ? ” 
 
 Whom does not the voice of the serpent seduce ? That man, un- 
 mindful of the favor divinely conferred upon him, unmindful of the 
 so manifest miracle, followed his wife’s advice and returned to his former 
 error. God, not unmindful truly of the crime, in return for so great 
 ingratitude, tortured the hand of each one. The burn was renewed in 
 
iS 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 the hand of the heretic and, because his wife was the cause of his return- 
 ing to his error, she was made his companion in the renewed pain. So 
 vehement was the burn that it penetrated to the bones. And since they 
 did not dare in the village to utter the cries which the violence of the 
 pain extorted, they fled into the nearest woods, howling there like 
 wolves. Why protract my words ? They were betrayed, led back to 
 the city, and together cast into the fire which was not yet fully extin- 
 guished and they were burnt to ashes. 
 
 Novice : “They were very justly punished.” 
 
 V. TALES OF THE HOST 
 
 The beliefs about the Lord's Supper were a matter of constant strife. In the 
 fourth Lateran council Innocent III. gave ecclesiastical sanction to the expression 
 transubstantiation. “ The heightened conception of the miracle of the Supper ” was 
 marked by the “ Adoration of the Sacrament.” The rite of elevation, practiced by 
 the Greeks and introduced into Germany in the first years of the XIII. century,— in 
 use in France still earlier, — was made universal by Honorius III. in 1217. Naturally 
 new attention was directed to the miraculous qualities of the elements, and the tales 
 became more frequent. 
 
 No belief was too materialistic for the ignorant, miracle loving people. The 
 bread was seen transformed into raw flesh, or it became a beautiful boy just as it 
 was placed in the mouth of the communicant. The wine became real blood. To 
 convince the doubting, visions like the one in the first example were common. The 
 tales of the “ bleeding hosts ” had a different purpose. They were intended to prove 
 the scholastic doctrine of “ Christus totus in utraque specie ,” i. e., that Christ’s body 
 must be thought of as containing the blood also — and were due in part at least to the 
 increasing withdrawal of the cup from the laity. 
 
 The superstitious use of the host was practiced throughout the middle ages, but 
 became more common in this century. Both the second and third tales show the 
 nature of these superstitious beliefs. But the last shows also that even the least of 
 God’s creatures delight in doing reverence to the body of His son. Other tales might 
 be reproduced showing how insects were punished when they neglected the reverence 
 due to the host. 
 
 1 . CHRIST IS SEEN IN THE HANDS OF A PRIEST. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. IX, Cap. XXVIII. Vol. II, p. 186. 
 
 In Hemmenrode a certain aged priest, Henry by name, died a few 
 years ago. He was a holy and just man, and bad been for many years 
 sacristan in that monastery. When he was celebrating one day at the 
 altar of St. John the Baptist, in the choir of the lay-brethren, a certain 
 
WOMAN PUNISHED FOR SCATTERING THE HOST UPON HER VEGETABLES. I 9 
 
 one of the lay-brethren standing near, saw, in the hands of the priest, 
 the Saviour in the form of a man. Nevertheless the priest himself did 
 not see it. One of the elders of that convent related this to me. 
 
 2. WOMAN IS PUNISHED FOR SCATTERING THE HOSI 
 UPON HER VEGETABLES. 
 
 Caesar of Heisterbach, Dist. IX, Cap. IX. Vol. II, pp. 173-74. 
 
 On a certain island there was a certain possessed girl, not a nun, 
 whom I myself saw there. When the devil was asked by a priest why 
 he had so long and so cruelly tortured Hartdyfa de Cogheme, he replied 
 through the mouth of the girl. “ Why ? She has most certainly 
 deserved it. She scattered the Most High upon her vegetables.” 
 
 Since he did not at all understand the saying, and the devil was 
 unwilling to explain, the priest went to the woman and told her what 
 the devil had said about her, advising her not to deny it, if she under- 
 stood the saying. She immediately confessed her guilt, saying, “ I well 
 understand the saying, although I have never told any man of it. 
 When I was a young girl and had a garden to cultivate, I received a 
 wandering woman as a guest one night. When I told her of my losses 
 in my garden, saying that all the vegetables were being devoured by 
 caterpillars, she replied, ‘ I will tell you a good remedy. Receive the 
 body of the Lord, break it in pieces, and scatter it upon your vegetables. 
 And the caterpillars will disappear at once.’ I, wretched one ! who 
 cared more for my garden than for the sacrament, when I received the 
 body of our Lord at Easter, took it out of my mouth and did with it as 
 I had been taught. What I had intended as a remedy for my vege- 
 tables, became a source of torment to me, as the devil is my witness.” 
 Novice : “ That woman was more cruel than the attendants of 
 Pilate, who spared Jesus after His death, and did break up His bones.” 
 Monk : “ Therefore, up to the present day she atones for that 
 heinous sin and suffers unheard of tortures. Let those who employ the 
 divine sacrament for temporal gain, or — what is more execrable — for evil- 
 doing, give heed to this punishment. Also if vermin neglect to do rever- 
 ence to this sacrament, they sometimes suffer punishment.” 
 
 3. BEES CONSTRUC1 A CHURCH FOR THE HOST 
 Etienne de Bourbon, No. 317, pp. 266-67. 
 
 For I have heard that a certain rustic, wishing to become wealthy 
 and having many hives of bees, asked certain evil men how he could 
 
20 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND REPRINTS. 
 
 get rich and increase the number of his bees. He was told by someone 
 that if he retained the sacred communion on Easter and placed it in 
 some one of his hives, he would entice away all of his neighbor’s bees, 
 which leaving their own hives, would come to the place where the body 
 of our Lord was and there would make honey. He did this. 
 
 Then all the bees came to the hive where the body of Christ was, 
 and just as if they had felt compassion for the irreverence done to it, 
 by their labor they began to construct a little church and to erect 
 foundations, and bases, and columns, and an altar with like labor. 
 And with the greatest reverence they placed the body of our Lord upon 
 the altar. And within that little bee-hive they formed that little 
 church with wonderful and the most beautiful workmanship. The bees 
 of the vicinity leaving their hives came to that one ; and over that 
 work they sang in their own manner certain wonderful melodies like 
 hymns. 
 
 The rustic hearing this, wondered. But waiting until the fitting 
 time for collecting the honey, he found nothing in his hives in which 
 the bees had been accustomed to make honey. And finding himself 
 impoverished through the means by which he had expected to be 
 enriched, he went to that one where he had placed the host, where he 
 saw the bees had come together. But when he approached, just as if 4 
 they had wanted to vindicate the insult to our Saviour, the bees rushed 
 upon the rustic and stung him so severely that he escaped with difficulty, 
 and in great agony. Going to the priest he related all that he had 
 done and what the bees had done. 
 
 The priest, by the advice of his bishop, collected his parishioners 
 and made a procession to the place. Then the bees leaving the hive, 
 rose in the air, making sweet melody. Raising the hive they found 
 inside the noble structure of that little church, and the body of our 
 Lord placed upon’ the altar. Then returning thanks they bore to their 
 own church that little church of the bees constructed with such skill 
 and elegance, and placed it on the altar. 
 
 By this deed those, who do not reverence, but offer insult instead 
 to the sacred body of Christ or the sacred place where it is, ought to be 
 put to great confusion. 
 
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