Leaves from the Golden legend

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LEAVES FROM
THE GOLDEN LEGEND

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.

5 -^'!»^ LEAVES FROM THE

GOLDEN LEGEND

CHOSEN BY H. D. MADGE, LL.M.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
H. M. WATTS

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1898

BIRMINGHAM:
'HE GUILD PRESS, 45, GREAT CHARLES STREET

PROVO. UTAH ^^™

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INTRODUCTORY NOTE,

'EW books once as widely known as
the Golden Legend, have fallen after-
wards into so great an obscurity.
Three centuries of fame followed its
first appearance, and now it is to be
met with only in a few rare copies,
the treasured possessions of antiquarians and
book-lovers.

It belongs to the thirteenth century, the central
epoch of the middle ages. The author. Jacobus
de Voragine, was of some note in his time as a
theologian, a statesman and a man of virtue.
Born in 1230, at Varaggio, a small town on the
Gulf of Genoa, not far from Savoy, he joined,
while quite young, the recently founded Order of
Friars Preachers or Dominicans and soon dis-
tinguished himself by zeal for study and holiness.
When he had risen to the position of Provincial
of his order in Lombardy, the Pope paid a tribute
to his merits by choosing him for the grateful task

viii INTRODUCTORT NOTE.

of absolving the Genoese from censures which they
had incurred by disobedience to the Holy See.
The most eventful period of his life began in
1292, wrhen a unanimous vote of the Chapter
made him Archbishop of Genoa. He set himself
to be a peace-maker between the Guelphs and
Ghibellines, and his efforts to heal the unending
quarrel were rewarded by striking, though only
temporary, success : during the unheard-of period
of eleven months the republic enjoyed a cessation
of strife such as none even of the oldest inhab-
itants could remember. When the streets of the
city again became fields of battle, the good Arch-
bishop threw himself into the midst of the com-
batants and parted them at the peril of his life.
Other prelates would often spend much of their
time at Rome, the fountain-head of promotion ;
but like Chaucer's " poure persoun of a toune "
Jacobus de Voragine "dwelte at hoom and kepte
wel his folde'* : he made it a rule for himself
never to leave his diocese. The lax manners or
clergy and laity engaged him in anxious endeavours
after their improvement which were the more
readily accepted because his own private life was
austere. His charity towards the needy, as we
are told, knew no limits. At the age of 68 or 69,
death ended his seven years of troubled dignity on
July 14th, 1298, and he was buried, according to
his wish, in the Dominican church of his episcopal
city.

Among the nine works which historians of his
order ascribe to him are a Chronicle of Genoa, an

INTRODUCTORT NOTE, ix

account of his predecessors in the See and Sermons.
But his world-wide reputation rested on a book
written between 1270 and 1280 and called " His-
toria Longobardica sen Legenda Sanctorum," but
better known by the name which admiring readers
bestowed on it : The Golden Legend.

In intention it belonged to strictly religious
literature and was arranged to supply a course of
reading for the year in the order of the calendar.
Writings, of the Fathers, Lections appointed to be
read in churches, Acts of the martyrs and popular
traditions supplied the material which Jacobus de
Voragine compressed and abridged so as to bring
the whole within reasonably small compass. Out
of the vast multitude of saints he chose especially
those who were honoured in Italy. His labours
were lightened by some use of the " Mirror of
History," the third part of a voluminous " Specu-
lum Mundi,'' composed by Vincent de Beauvais,
tutor to the sons of Louis IX.

One cannot but admit that some of Jacobus de
Voragine's originals have suffered loss by the pro-
cess to which they were subjected. Still the
Golden Legend makes its claim on our attention
as the favourite manual of the most popular
literature of the middle ages. Although its com-
paratively small size was the cause no doubt of
the very large measure of acceptance which the
Ijook received, we should hardly describe it as
short, at least from a modern point of view. The
earliest printed Latin copy in the British Museum
(Basle 14.74) is a substantial folio containing 244

X INTRODUCTORT NOTE.

chapters including 26 notices of Festivals and
Fasts. In the hands of numerous editors and
translators, who felt themselves at liberty to make
additions as they pleased, the bulk of the volume
was almost doubled. Caxton's edition with its
448 chapters is the largest, but the French version
which he followed (Paris, 1480) is not far off with
440.

Among the varied contents of this storehouse
of medieval lore there was much which might
very probably not be unfitted to serve its original
purpose of edification for the readers of any age.
But we are not concerned here with the thirteenth
century theology and ethics expounded by the
Dominican preacher. Other hands before ours
doubtless have turned over these pages and rested
only at a tale. The Golden Legend is a story-
book : and few stories have exercised greater fas-
cination than some which appear among the lives
of the saints. The regard due to the " forcible
witnesses of ancient truth, provocations to the
exercise of all piety," as Hooker calls them, who
are unquestionably to be found in the church's
roll of honour need not be lessened when we
recognize that fancy has been largely at work
within the limits of the calendar. " Legends in
which noble men and women. Saints and Holy
Virgins, were at issue with power, with cruelty,
with fate" (Milman), formed not only lections
devoutly listened to in church, but were also the
recreations of castle, monastery or hut. A queen
would ask a troubadour to sing the " lay of Bren-

INTRODUCTORT NOTE. xi

dan '' or the tale of mild Margaret and her triumph
over the " loathly worm " would uplift the heart
of another " full fair maiden her flocks keeping,"
the peasant girl of France, Joan of Arc. The
legends took shape in countless manners ; some-
times the impression created by an attractive
character was embodied in a tale ; in not a few
instances so thick a network of fiction has been
woven round some venerated name that, like the
ivy which clings round an ancient tree, it goes
near to hide from all recognition the support on
which it grew. Sometimes the passion for creat-
ing fresh objects of reverence found evidence for
the existence of saints where a colder inspection
has been unable to discover it. Sometimes the
agent at work has been the grotesque humour
which relieved with lighter touches the grim
combat of the saints with ever-present forces of
evil. In this channel too flowed stores of the
imagination accumulated elsewhere : old materials
drawn from quite other regions were used afresh
in the legendary. Folklore contributed its share
as in the stories of Saint Barlaam and Saint Josa-
phat, Saint Julian Hospitator, and Saint Eustace ;
which take us to the familiar ground where the
sons of kings are shut up in towers to escape
inevitable perils, where wild animals talk and
prophesy and where those whom the hero suc-
cours reappear in their true form bringing gifts
and blessings. Recollections of heathen deities
were remoulded into Christian shapes as probably
in the case of Saint Ursula and of Saint Margaret;

X" INTRODUCTORT NOTE.

solar myth ends its various career as the combat
of Saint George and the Dragon ; chivalric ro-
mance presented the calendar elsewhere with
Saint Roland and Saint Oliver,* and has sup-
plied in the Golden Legend a setting for the
story of Saint Alban. The extracts given in this
volume are intended principally to illustrate the
fanciful aspect of saintly literature. "The
Legends/' says Renan, "are not for the most part
historical, and yet they are marvellously instruc-
tive as regards the colour of the period to which
they belong and its manners." Sometimes too
they have another interest in the fact that they
have furnished materials for art and literature.
As regards the latter, one need not point out the
particular instances in which Dante, Cervantes
and Shakespeare have found suggesrions in that
field as represented here.

An enormous number of exisdng manuscripts
attests the popularity of the Golden Legend.
Those who desired to meet with it in their
native tongue were soon gradfied by the appear-
ance of Italian, German, French and Spanish
translations. Early in the fourteenth century,
Jehan Belet produced a French rendering soon
followed by another the work of Jehan de Vignay
who dedicated his labours to the wife of Philippe
de Valois, "Jeanne de Bourgogne par la grace de
Dieu royne de France.'' The first English trans-
lation was " drawen out of Frensshe into Englisshe,

^^*^MartiIogc of Salisbury. June i6th. (p. 95. Ed, Procter, London'

INTRODUCTORT NOTE. xiii

the yere of Our Lorde MCCCC. and XXXVIII."
by " frere John of Benynguay '' (r Bungay).

Probably the size of the Golden Legend made
it's production seem rather too heavy an under-
taking in the earliest years of the printing press.
But no book was more frequently reprinted be-
tween the years 1470-1520: one bibliographer
has reckoned as many as seventy-four editions up
to the end of the fifteenth century. The French
translation which issued from Lyons, in 1476, is
the first book printed in France with a date.
After the " red pale " had been set up for about
seven years in the Almonry at Westminster,
Caxton accomplished his edition, certainly the
most extensive of all his works. At one time he
was inclined to relinquish the task; "For as moche
as this werke was grete and over chargeable to me
taccomplisshe I feryd me in the begynnyng of
the translacion to have continued it, by cause of
the longe tyme of the translacion, and also in
thenpryntyng of ye same, and in maner halfe
desperate to have accomplissd it, was in purpose
to have lefte it.'* Fortunately a promise from
the Earl of Arundel to take a reasonable quantity
and to allow him a buck in summer and a doe in
winter encouraged him to persevere. In 1483,
therefore, appeared a heavy folio without titlepage
but with it's conclusion as follows :

" Thus endeth the legende named in latyn
legenda aurea, that is to say in englysshe the
golden legende. For lyke as golde passeth in
valewc alle other metalles, so thys legende ex-

xiv INTRODUCTORT NOTE.

cedeth alle other bookes, wherin ben conteyned
alle the hygh and grete festys of our lord, the
festys of our blessyd lady, the lyves, passyons and
myracles of many other sayntes, and other hys-
toryes and actes, as al allonge here afore is made
mencyon. Whiche werke I have accomplisshed
at the commaundemente and requeste of the noble
and puyssaunte erle and my special good lord
Wyllyam erle of arondel, and have fynysshed it
at Westmestre the twenty day of Novembre, the
yere of our lord MCCCCLXXXIII, and the
fyrst yere of the reygne of Kyng Rychard the
thyrd. By me Wyllyam Caxton.''

A number of Old Testament stories were
added in this edition and also several lives of
English Saints who were represented in the
original only by Saint Thomas of Canterbury
and Saint Oswald. The compiling was done by
Caxton himself. " For as mocke as I had by me
a legende in frensshe and another in latyn, and the
thyrd in englysshe, whyche varyed in many and
dyvers places, and also many hystoryes were com-
prysed in ye two other bookes which were not
in the englysshe boke, and therfore I have
wryton one oute of ye sayd thre bookes, whyche
I have ordryd other wyse than ye sayd englysshe
legende is which was tofore made." The
" englysshe legende " provided him with the life
of Saint Alban, and most of the lives of English
Saints are to be found in manuscript elsewhere.

A slightly altered second edition is dated at
1487. Caxton had a third in hand at the time of

INTRODUCTORT NOTE. xv

his death in 1491, which was produced two
years afterwards by his successor Wynkyn de
Worde. Fifteen copies of the Legend were
" bequothen " in his will to Saint Margaret's,
Westminster : the parish accounts shew that
fourteen were sold and one retained apparently
for use in the church.

Wynkyn de Worde multiplied copies in three
editions up to 1527. But the Reformation was
at hand and the Golden Legend was little fitted to
face unprosperous weather. It has been pointed
out as a curious coincidence that while Wynkyn
de Worde was putting into type the last edition
of the Golden Legend, William Tyndale was
printing the New Testament in Cologne. Every
English copy of the book bears traces of the
change : for the life of Saint Thomas of Canter-
bury, a special object of Henry VIIFs aversion is
always carefully scored out. In the controversies
of the sixteenth century the Golden Legend was
discredited on all sides alike by those who re-
garded its legendary contents as ensnaring deceits
and by those who objected to burden their cause
by defence of its obvious unveracity. As early as
1543, Claude d'Espence, rector of the University
of Paris, dared to describe it from the pulpit as
*' Legenda ferrea," but the sentiment met with so
little approval that he was forced to make a pub-
lic recantation. Bacon, however, was exposed to
no such danger when he treated the book as an
example of lying in his Essay on Atheism, " I
had rather believe all the fables in the Legend,

xvi INTRODUCTORT NOTE.

and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that
this universal frame is without a mind/' The
judgment of the seventeenth century is summed
up there and in the vigorous denunciation of
Edv^ard Leigh of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. ''A
book w^ritten bv a man of a leaden heart for the
baseness of the errours that are without wit or
reason and of a brasen forehead for his impudent
boldnesse in reporting things so fabulous and in-
credible." (A treatise of Religion and Learning,
1656, p. 242.)

One can scarcely think that the old hagio-
grapher, who merely told the facts as he supposed
he found them, deserved such hard measure.
Modern readers could probably find books more
efficacious to " encreace in them virtue and expelle
vyce and synne." However, as the preface to the
Morte d'Arthur says, " For to passe the tyme thys
book shal be pleasaunt to rede in, but for to gyve
fayth and byleve that al is trewe that is conteyned
herin, ye be at your lyberte."

The text of these extracts is on the whole that
of Caxton, but I have not hesitated to follow
Wynkyn de Worde (1527) where he seemed to
give a smoother reading, and to make such alter-
ations or omissions as seemed likely to render the
book "pleasannt to rede in.'* The Kelmscott
Press edition (1892) has given me much help. I
hope that I am not wrong in believing that most
readers prefer a modernized spelling. A few
notes are added, but little is said about those lives
which are dealt with in such easily accessible

INTRODUCTORT NOTE. xvii

sources of information as Baring Gould's " Lives
of the Saints '' and " Curious Myths of the Middle
Ages," Alban Butler's "Lives of the Saints," and
Mrs. Jameson's " Sacred and Legendary Art."

CONTENTS.

Page

I. — At the Nativity of Our Lord i

IL— The Legend of St. Agnes - 4

III, — The Legend of St. Alban - 1 1
IV. — The Legend of St. Barlaam

and St. Josaphat - - 27
V. — The Voyage of St. Brandon- 52
VI. — The Legend of St. Christo-
pher - - - " 77
VII.— The Legend of St. Eustace - 87
VIII.— Legend of St. George - - 102
IX.— The Legend of St. Giles - 108
X. — The Legend of St. Julian

Hospitator - - -1^3

XI. — The Legend of St. Katherine 1 14

XIL — The Legend of St. Margaret 145

XIII. — The Legend of St. Sylvester 152

XIV. — The Passion of the Eleven

Thousand Virgins - - 161

XV.— The Seven Sleepers - - 166

XVI.— Of the Holy Cross - - I77
XVII.— Legends of St. John the

Evangelist - - - 181

XVIIL— A Legend of St. Martha - 192

XIX.— St. Longinus - - - 188

XX.— Of Judas and Pilate - - I93

XXL— Julian the Apostate - - 203

CONTENTS. x^

XXII.— Legends of St. Macarius - 206
XXIII. — St. Felix in pincis - - 200
XXIV.— Peter the Toller - - - 211
XXV. — The Invention of St. Firmin 2 1 5
XXVI.— Sundry Miracles of St. Nicho-
las - - - > - 218
XXVII.— Sundry Miracles of our Lady 220
XXVIII.—The Translation of St. Mark 235
XXIX. — A Miracle of St. Andrew - 238
XXX. — The Three Damsels of St.

Anastasia - - - - 24.^
XXXI.— A Vision of St. John the

Almoner - - - - 24.C

XXXII. — Labour and Pray - - 246

XXXIII. — St. Bernard and the Villein - 247

XXXIV. — The Hermit and St. Gregory 248

XXXV. — The Parents of St. Thomas

of Canterbury - - - 2 Co
XXXVI.— Miracles of St. Austin of

Canterbury - - - 25^

XXXVII. — A Priest espoused to St. Agnes 2 c6
XXXVIII.— A Miracle of St. James the

Great - - _ . ^ry

XXXIX. — A Miracle of St. Genevieve- 258
XL. — The Devil appears to St.

Martin - - - - 2 5Q
XLI. — The Devil appears to St.

vTTT ^^"^'^^^ - - - - 260

^Lll. — Purgatory and the Dead - 261

XLIII. — St. Patrick's Purgatory- - 265

XLIV. — Of some possessed vi^ith Devils 267

I._AT THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD.

SHEN the world had endured five
thousand and nine hundred years,
Octavius the Emperor commanded
that all the world should be in-
scribed, so that he might know

how many cities, how many towns,

and how many persons he had in all the universal
world. Then was so great peace in the earth
that all the world was obeisant to him. And,
therefore. Our Lord would be born in that time
that it should be known that he brought peace
from heaven. And this Emperor commanded
that every man should go into the towns, cities,
or villages from whence they were of, and should
bring with them a penny in knowlcdging that he
was subject to the Empire of Rome. ^ And by so
many pence as should be found received should
be known the number of the persons. Joseph
which then was of the lineage of David, and
dwelled in Nazareth, went into the city of Beth-
lehem, and led with him the Virgin Mary his
wife. And when they were come thither, by
cause the hostelries were all taken up, they were
constrained to be without in a common place
where all people went. And there was a stable
for an ass that he brought with him, and for an

2 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

ox. In that night our Blessed Lady and Mother
of God was delivered of Our Blessed Saviour
upon the hay that lay in the rack.

At ^Nh.lQ\i Nativity our Lord shewed many
miracles. For because that the world was in so
great peace the Romans had done make a temple
which was named the Temple of Peace. On
which they counselled with Apollo to know how
long it should stand and endure. Apollo answered
to them that it should stand as long till a maid
had brought forth and borne a child. And,
therefore, they did do write on the portal of the
temple, "Lo, this is the Temple of Peace that
ever shall endure.'' For they supposed well that
a maid might never bear nor bring forth a child.
This temple the same time that Our Lady was
delivered and Our Lord born, overthrew and fell
down. Of which Christian men afterward made
in the same place a church of Our Lady, which
is called Sancta Maria rotunda, that is 'to say,
the Church of Saint Mary the round.

Also the same night, as recordeth Innocent the
Third which was pope, there sprang and sourded
in Rome the same night a well or fountain that
ran largely all the night and all that day unto the
river called Tiber.

Also after that recordeth Saint John Chrysostom,
the III kings were this night in their orisons and'
prayers upon a mountain when a star appeared to
them, which had the form of a right fair child
that had a cross in his forehead, which said to
these three kings that they should go to Jerusalem,

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 3

and there they should find the son of a virgin,
God and man, which then was born.

Also there appeared in the orient three suns,
which little and little assembled together, and
were all in one: as it is signified to us that these
three things be the Godhead, the soul, and the
body, which be in three natures assembled in
one person.

Also, Octavius the Emperor, like as Innocent
recordeth, was much desired of his council and
of his people that he should do men worship
him as God, for never had there been tofore him
so great a master and lord of the world as he
was. Then the Emperor sent for a prophetess
named Sybil for to demand of her if there were
any so great and like him in the earth, or if any
should come after him. Thus at the hour of
mid-day she beheld the heaven and saw a circle
of gold about the sun, and in the middle of the
circle a maid holding a child in her arms. Then
she called the Emperor and shewed it to him.
When Octavius saw that he marvelled over much.
Whereof Sybil said to him : " Hie puer major
te est, ipsum adora." "This child is a greater
lord than thou art, worship him.'^ Then when
the Emperor understood that this child was a
greater lord than he was, he would not be wor-
shipped as God, but worshipped this child that
should be born. Wherefore the Christian men
made a church of the chamber of the Emperor
and named it Ara Caeli.

II.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT AGNES.

"^S^^^^ is said of agna, a lamb, for
she was humble and debonair as
a lamb, or of agno in Greek, which
is to say, debonair and piteous,
for she was debonair and merci-
ful. Or Agnes of agnoscendo, for
she knew the way of truth. And after this Saint
Austin saith, truth is opposed against vanity,
falseness, and doubleness, for these three things'
were taken from her for the truth that she had.
The blessed virgin Saint Agnes was much wise
and well taught as Saint Ambrose witnesseth that
wrote her passion. She was fair of visage but
much fairer in the Christian faith. She was
young of age and aged in wit. For in the xiiith
year of her age she lost the death that the world
giveth and found life in Jesus Christ, which
when she came from school the son of the pre-
fect of Rome for the Emperor loved her. And
when his father and mother knew it, they offered
to give much riches with him if he might have
her in marriage, and offered to Saint Agnes pre-
cious gems and jewels, which she refused to take.
Whereof it happed that the young man was ar-
dently esprised in the love of Saint Agnes and
came again and took with him more precious and

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, S

richer adornments made with all manner of pre-
cious stones and, as well by his parents as by
himself, offered to Saint Agnes rich gifts and
possessions and all the delights and pleasures of
the world and all to the end to have her in mar-
riage.

But Saint Agnes answered to him in this man-
ner: " Go from me, thou fardel of sin, nourishing
of evils and morsel of death and depart. Know
thou that I am prevented, and am loved of another
lover which hath given to me many better jewels,
which hath fianced me by his faith and is much
more noble of lineage than thou art and of estate.
He hath clad me with precious stones and with
jewels of gold. He hath set in my visage a sign
that I receive none other spouse but Him, and
hath shewed me over great treasures which he
must give me if I abide with Him. I will have
none other spouse but him, I will seek none
other. In no manner may I leave him. With
Him am I firm and fastened in love which is
more noble, more puissant and fairer than any
other, whose love is much sweet and gracious, of
whom the chamber is now ready for to receive
me, where the virgins sing merrily. I am now
embraced of Him of whom the mother is a virgin,
and His Father knew never woman. To whom
the angels serve. The sun and the moon marvel
them of His beauty. Whose works never fail,
whose riches never minish, by whose odour dead
men rise again to life, by whose touching the
sick men be comforted, whose love is chastity.

6 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

To Him I have given my faith, to Him I have
commended my heart. When I love Him then
am I chaste and w^hen I touch Him then am I
pure and clean, and w^hen I take Him then am I
a virgin. This is the love of my God/'

When the young man had heard all this, he
was despaired as he that was taken in blind love
and was over sore tormented in so much that he
lay down sick on his bed for the great sorrow
that he had. Then came the physicians and
anon knew his malady and said to his father that
he languished of love that he had to some woman.
Then the father enquired and knew that it was
this woman, and did do speak to Saint Agnes for
his son and said to her how his son languished
for her love. Saint Agnes answered that in no
wise she would break the faith of her first hus-
band. Upon that the provost demanded who
was her first husband of whom she so much
vaunted and in his power so much trusted.
Then one of her servants said that she was
Christian and that she was so enchanted that she
said Jesus Christ was her spouse. And when the
provost heard that she was Christian he was full
glad because to have power on her : for then
the Christian people were in the will of the lord
that if they would not deny their God or their
belief all their goods should be forfeited.

Wherefore then the provost made Saint Agnes
to come in justice and he examined her sweetly:
and after cruelly by menaces. Saint Agnes well
comforted said to him : " Do what thou wilt, for

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 7

my purpose shalt thou never change/' And when
she saw him now flattering and now terrible
angry, she scorned him. And the provost said
to her being all angry : " One of two things thou
shalt choose: Either do sacrifice to our gods
with the virgins of the goddess Vesta, or go to
the brothel to be abandoned to all that thither
come to the great shame and blame of all thy
lineage." Saint Agnes answered: "If thou
knewest who is my God, thou wouldest not say
to me such words. But forasmuch as I know
the virtue of my God, I set no thing by thy
menaces. For I have His angel which is keeper
of my body." And thus Saint Agnes, that re-
fused to do sacrifice to the idols, was delivered
naked to go to the brothel.

But anon as she was unclothed, God gave to
her such grace that the hairs of her head became
so long that they covered her to her feet so that
her body was not seen. And when Saint Agnes
entered, anon she found the angel of God ready
to defend her and environed Saint Agnes with a
bright clearness in such wise that no man might
see her nor come to her: There made she her
oratory and in making her prayers unto God, she
saw before her a white vesture and anon there-
with she clad her and said: "I thank thee, Jesus
Christ, which accountest me with thy virgins and
hast sent me this vesture." All they that entered
made honour and reverence to the great clearness
that they saw about Saint Agnes and came out
more devout and more clean than they entered.

« THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

At the last came the son of the provost with a
great company for to accomplish his foul desires
and lusts. And when he saw his fellows come
out and issue all abashed, he mocked them and
called them cowards. And then he all enraged
entered for to accomplish his evil will. And
when he came to the clearness, he advanced him
to take the virgin : and anon the devil took him
by the throat and strangled him that he fell down
dead.

And when the provost heard these tidings of
his son, he ran weeping to the place and began,
crying, to say to Saint Agnes : " Oh thou cruel
woman, why hast thou shewed thy enchantment
on my son?'' and demanded her how his son was
dead and by what cause. To whom Saint Agnes
answered, " He took him into his power to whom
he had abandoned his will." "Why be not all
they dead," said he "that entered here to fore
him ? '* " For his fellows saw the miracle of
the great clearness and were afeard and went
their way unhurt, for they did honour to my
God which hath clad me with this vestment and
hath kept my body. But your villainous son
as soon as he entered this house began to bray
and cry, and, when he would have laid hand upon
me, anon the devil slew him as thou seest." " If
thou mayst raise him," said he, "it may well ap-
pear that thou hast not put him to death." And
Saint Agnes answered, " Go ye all out that I may
make my prayer to God." And when she was
in her prayers, the angel came and raised him to

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 9

life. And anon he went out and began to cxj
with a high voice that the God of Christian men
was very God in heaven, and in earth, and in the
sea, and that the idols were vain that they wor-
shipped, which might not help themself nc none
other.

Then the bishops of the idols made a great
discord among the people, so that all they cried,.
"Take away this sorceress and witch that turneth
men's minds and alieneth their wits." When the
provost saw these marvels, he would gladly have
delivered Saint Agnes because she had raised his
son : but he doubted to be banished. And he
set in his place a lieutenant named Aspasius for
to satisfy the people. And because he could not
deliver her he departed sorrowfully.

Then Aspasius did do make a great fire among
all the people and did do cast Saint Agnes therein..
Anon as this was done, the flame departed into
two parts, and burnt them that made the dis-
cords : and she abode all whole without feeling
the fire. The people weened that she had done
all by enchantment. Then made Saint Agnes
her orison unto God thanking Him that she was
escaped from the peril to lose her virginity and
also from the burning of the flame. And when
she had made her orison the fire lost all its heat
and quenched. Aspasius, for the doubtance of
the people, commanded to put a sword in her
body : and so she was martyred.

Anon came the Christian men and the parents
of Saint Agnes and buried her body. But the

lo THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

heathen defended it, and so cast stones at them
that unneth* they escaped. She suffered martyr-
dom in the time of Constantine the Great, which
began to reign the year of our Lord CCCIX.

Among them that buried her body there was
one Emerentiana which had been fellow unto
Saint Agnes howbeit she was not yet Christened
but a holy virgin. She came also to the sepulchre
of Saint Agnes, which constantly reproved the
Gentiles and of them she was stoned and slain.
Anon there came an earth quave, lightning and
thunder that many of the paynims perished so
that forthon the Christian people might surely
come to the sepulcure unhurt.

It happed that when the friends of Saint
Agnes watched at her sepulchre on a night, they
saw come a great multitude of virgins all clad in
vestments of gold and silver and a great light
shone tofore them. And on the right side was a
lamb more whiter than snow. And they saw
also Saint Agnes among the virgins, which said
to her parents, "Take heed and see that ye be-
wail me no more as dead but be ye joyful with
me. For with all these virgins Jesus Christ hath
given me most brightest habitation and dwelling.
And I am with Him joined in heaven whom in
earth I loved with my thought."

And this was the viiith day after her passion.
And because of this vision holy church maketh
memory of her the eighth day of the feast after
which is called Agnetis Secundo.

♦ Scarcely.

III.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT ALBAN.

FTER that Julius Caesar, the first
Emperor of Rome, had divided
the land of France, he made a
shipping into Great Britain, which
now is called England, in the time
of Cassibelan, King of the Britons,
And twice he was driven out and the third time,
by the help of one Androgens, Duke of Kent, he
had victory and conquered the realm and subdued
it to Rome, and made it to pay yearly tribute.
And he ordained and established certain statutes
in this land which were long observed and kept.
Among which, he ordained that none of this land
should receive the order of knighthood but only
at Rome by the hands of the Emperor : lest per-
adventure the rude people and unworthy should
take upon them that order unworthily, which is
of great dignity: and also they should make an
oath never to rebel nor bear arms against the
Emperor : which statutes were used in all places
obedient to Rome and under their subjection.

Then reigned in the land of Britain which
now is called England a King named Severus,
which for to please the Emperor Diocletian sent
his son that hight Baesian with many other lords'
sons of Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
unto the number of a thousand five hundred and

12 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

forty. Among which was a prince's son of
Wales in great array, which hight Amphibalus
a goodly young man and well learned in Latin,
French, Greek and Hebrew. And there was in
his fellowship a lord's son of the city of Verulam
named Alban which was a well-disposed and
seemly young man and discreet in his governance.

And all this fellowship came prosperously to
Rome in the time when Zephyrus was pope of
Rome : which saw the great beauty of this young
company and had compassion that they were not
Christian, and laboured as much as he might to
convert them to the faith of Jesus Christ. Among
all other he converted the prince's son of Wales,
Amphibalus and baptized him and informed him
secretly in the faith. And this holy Amphibalus
forsook the pomp and glory of the world and took
on him wilful poverty for the love of Jesus
Christ and ever after continued his life in per-
fection. Also there were many other converted
at that time whom Diocletian did seek but none
could he find.

Then he ordained a day in which these young
men should receive the order of knighthood of
the Emperor's hand : and he himself girded their
swords about them and informed them the rule
and estate of the order. And when all the cere-
monies were done longing to the order, and the
oath sworn, Bassian, son of King Severus, desired
of the Emperor that he might prove the facts of
knighthood there in jousting and tourneying ;
which was granted to him and greatly allowed for

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 13

his manly desire and noble request. In which
tourney and joust, Bassian and his fellowship had
the prize and victory. And among all other,
Alban was the best knight and most best proved
in strength, wherefore he had a sovereign name
to fore all other. Whose arms was of azure with
a saltire of gold : which arms afterwards bore the
noble king OiFa first founder of the monastery
called Saint Albans and he, bearing these arms,
had ever glorious victory. And after his death
he left those arms in the monastery of Saint
Albans.

Then when Bassian and his fellowship had long
sojourned in Rome, they asked licence of the
Emperor to return home into Britain, which the
Emperor granted to them all save to Alban ;
whom for his manliness and his prowess he would
retain to be in his service about his person. And
50 he abode with him there seven years. And
after, for divers causes, Maximian, which was
fellow to Diocletian, was sent in to Britain with
a great army for to subdue the rebels. With
whom Alban came and was ordained prince of
his knights and so entered into Britain again.

In that time Saint Pontian sat in the see at
Rome, which by himself and virtuous men that
preached, and by shewing of miracles, converted
unto the faith of Jesus Christ and christened in
the city of Rome, IxviM men. And when the
Emperor heard hereof, he assembled all the sen-
ators and kings, princes and lords, of every land
being under the obedience of Rome, to have ad-

14 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

vice how he might destroy the Christian faith.
And then it was concluded that the Pope should
be damned with all his Christian people and be
punished with divers torments, and that all the
books of Christ's law should be burnt and churches ^
thrown down, and all men of holy church to be
slain in every place. Which ordinance, when it
was known among the Christian people of Rome
of divers parts of the world, then they went and
departed into their own country.

Among whom Saint Amphibalus, which long
had dwelled at Rome, departed and came home
into Britain again where he was born. And so
came unto Verulam ; whereas none would receive
him into his house. And he walked about in the
streets abiding the comfort of God. And then it
happed he met with Alban which was lord of the
city and prince of the knights and steward of the
land, having about him a great multitude of ser-
vants, and at that time, Alban was richly arrayed
with clothes fringed with gold, to whom all the
people did great worship. Then Amphibalus
which had left the arms of a knight and was
arrayed like a clerk, knew well Alban but Alban
knew not him, how be it they had been tofore
both in one fellowship. And he desired and
prayed Alban of lodging for the love of God.
Alban without feigning, as he that alway loved to
do hospitality, granted him lodging and well
received him, and gave him meat and drink
necessary for him.

And after, when his servants were departed, he

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 15

went secretly to this pilgrim and said to him in
this wise : "How is it," said he, "that thou art a
Christian man and comest into these parts unhurt
by the Gentiles ? '^ To whom Saint Amphibalus
said: "My Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the
living God, hath surely conducted me and hath
kept me by His power from all perils. And the
same Lord hath sent me into this land to preach
and denounce to the people the faith of Jesus
Christ, to the end that they should be made
people acceptable to Him." To whom Alban
said : " What is he that is the Son of God whom
ye affirm to be Jesus Christ and son of the Virgin?
These be new things to me for I have not heard
of them. I would fain know what Christian men
feel thereof." Then Amphibalus expounded to
him and declared our faith and belief, in which
anon Alban disputed again and said that by reason
it might not be, and so departed from him.

And the next night after. Saint Alban saw in
his dream all the mystery of our faith, as well
how the Second Person of the Trinity came
down and took our nature and became man and
suiFered death, and of His Resurrection and
Ascension. Whereof he was greatly troubled
and came on the morrow to Amphibalus and told
him what he had dreamed. And then Saint Am-
phibalus thanked Our Lord and so informed him
in the faith that Saint Alban was stedfast in the
belief of Jesus Christ. And thus he kept his master
Amphibalus in his house six weeks and more and
always in a lodge apart they held their holy con-

i6 THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

versation, so long till at last they were espied and
complained on unto the judge. Wherefore the
judge sent for Alban and for the clerk.

And because that Amphibalus should go into
Wales, Saint Alban did do clothe him like a
knight and led him out-of the town, and departed
with many tears, and they commended each
other to the Lord. And after Saint Alban was
sent for : which came, having on him the clerk's
array and clothing, bearing a cross and an image
of Our Lord hanging thereon, to the end that
they should know verily that he was a Christian
man. And the men that came for him drew him
cruelly to the judge Asclepiodotus. And when
the Paynims saw him bear the sign of the cross
which was unknown to them, they were sore
troubled and afeard.

Then the cruel judge demanded him whose
servant he had been, and of what kindred, and
because he would not tell, he was much wroth ;
but among many questions, he told him that his
name was Alban and that he was a very Christian
man. Then the judge demanded him where the
clerk was that entered into the city now late,
speaking of Christ. "He is come for to beguile
and deceive our citizens, know ye well he would
have come into our presence but that his consci-
ence hath removed him ; and he hath mistrust in
his cause, and guile and falseness is hid under his
doctrine. Thou mayest well know, and evidently
understand, that thou hast given thy consent to a
foolish man. Wherefore, forsake his doctrine

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 17

and repent thee and make satisfaction for thy
trespass in doing sacrifice to our Gods. And that
done, thou shalt not only have forgiveness of thy
sin, but thou shalt have towns and provinces,
men, gold and power," Then said Alban to the
judge: "O thou judge, the words and menaces
that thou hast spoken be but vain and superfluous.
It is openly known that this clerk, if it had
thought him good and profitable, and also if our
both hearts had accorded thereto, he had come to
thine audience. But I would not assent thereto
knowing that this people is ever ready to do evil.
I knowledge that I have received his doctrine
and repent me nothing thereof. For the faith
that I have received restoreth the feeble and sick
to their health, for the deed proveth it. This
faith is more dear to me than all the riches that
thou promisest me, and more precious than all
the worship that thou purposest to give me. For
shortly your gods be false and failing : for they
that most busily serve them be most wretchedly
deceived."

Then came anon forth a great multitude of
Paynims, and with force and strength would com-
pel him to do sacrifice, and commanded him to
offer to the gods : but in no wise would he con-
sent to their cursed rites. And by the command-
ment of the judge, he was taken and stretched
abroad to be scourged. And as he was grievously
beaten, he turned him to Our Lord with a glad
visage and said : " My Lord Jesus Christ, I
beseech Thee keep my mind that it move not

B

iB THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

nor that it fall from the estate that Thou hast set
it in. For, Lord, with all my heart I ofFer my
soul to Thee in very sacrifice, and I desire to be
made Thy witness by shedding of my blood."
These words sounded he among his beatings, and
the tormentors beat him so long that their hands
waxed weary and the people hoped that Saint
Alban would change his purpose. And therefore
he was kept under the governance of the judge
six weeks and more. And all that time the
elements bare witness of the injury done to holy
Alban. For, from the time of his taking to the
time that he was delivered from the bands of his
flesh, there came never dew nor rain upon the
earth, but burning heat of the sun, and also in the
nights, all that time was unsufFerable heat: so
that neither trees nor fields brought forth no
fruit. And thus the elements fought for this
holy man against the wicked men.

And the judge Asclepiodotus dreaded for to
slay him, by cause of the great love that the
Emperor had to him, and for reverence of his
dignity and power of his kindred, unto the time
that he had informed Diocletian of his conversa-
tion. And when the Emperor had seen the
letters, anon Maximian came into Britain for to
destroy the faith of Jesus Christ. And he was
commanded that no Christian men should be
spared save only Alban; whom they should entreat,
to pervert him by fair promises and fear him by
menaces, and so to compel him to turn again to
to their sect. And if he would in no wise leave

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 19

the Christian faith, then he to have capital sen-
tence and be beheaded by some knight, for the
worship of the order of knighthood. And the
clerk that converted him to suffer the foulest
death that could be imagined, that the beholders
thereof may have dread and horror of semblable
pains.

And wrhen Maximian came into Britain, he
took with him the king Asclepiodotus, and went
straight to the city of Verulam for to fulfil the
commandment of the Emperor. And then Saint
Alban was brought forth tofore them out of
prison, and by all the ways that they could
imagine they attempted to pervert him ; but the
holy man was constant and firm in the faith.
Whereof they having indignation, ordained a day
of justice, which day come, they gave sentence
on Saint Alban that he should be beheaded ;
which sentence was given under writing.

Then all the burgesses of Verulam, of London,
and other towns about, were summoned to come
the next Thursday following for to hear the judg-
ment, and see the execution upon Alban, prince
of knights, and steward of Britain. At which
day came people without number for to see this
said execution. And then was Alban brought
out of prison whom they desired to make sacri-
fice to Jupiter and Appollyn : which utterly
refused it but preached the faith of Christ, that
he converted much people to be christened.

Then Maximian and Asclepiodotus gave final
sentence on him, thus saying : " In the time of

20 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

the Emperor Diocletian, Alban, lord of Verulam,
prince of knights, and steward of all Britain,
during his life, hath despised Jupiter and Ap-
pollyn our Gods, and to them hath done deroga-
tion and disworship. Wherefore by the law, he
is judged to be dead by the hand of some knight :
and the body to be buried in the same place
where his head shall be smitten off: and his
sepulchre to be made worshipfully for the hon-
our of knighthood whereof he was prince. And
also the cross that he bare and the pilgrim's
cloak that he wore should be buried with him
and his body to be closed in a chest of lead and
so laid in his sepulchre. This sentence hath the
law ordained because he hath renied our princi-
pal gods."

Then arose a great murmur among the people,
and they said that they ought not to suffer such
injury done to so noble and so good a man : and
specially his kindred and friends which laboured
full sore for his deliverance. Whereof Alban
was afeard to be delivered from his passion at
their request and instance, and stood up holding
the cross, looking toward heaven and saying,
" Lord God Jesus Christ, I beseech thee that
thou suffer not the fiend to prevail against me by
his deceits and that the people let not my mar-
tyrdom." And then he turned to the people,
saying, "Wherefore tarry ye and lose the time
and why execute not ye on me the sentence ?
For I let you wit I am a great enemy to your
gods, which have no power ne may do no thing.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 21

nor hear, nor see, nor understand, to whom
none of you would be like. O what vanity and
what blindness is among you to worship such
idols, and will not know Jesus Christ the only
son of God, and His very true law."

Then the paynims spake together and assented
that he should be put to death. And they chose
a place where he should be executed named
Holmeshurst. But then arose a contention a-
mong the people what death he should suffer :
some would have him crucified like as Christ was,
other would have him buried quick. But the
judge and the people of the city would have him
beheaded according to the commandment of the
Emperor.

And so he was led forth towards his martyr-
dom ; and all the people to the place following
this holy man with despiteous words and rebukes.
Whereto this blessed man Alban answered no
word but meekly and patiently suffered all their
reproofs. And the people were so great a multi-
tude that they occupied all the place which was
large and great ; and the heat of the sun was
so great that it burnt and scalded their feet as
they went.

And so they led him till they came to a swift
running river where they might not lightly pass
for the press of the people. For many were
shift over the bridge into the water and were
drowned : and many because they might not go
over the bridge for press, unclothed them for to
swim over the river : and some that could not

" THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

swim presumed to do the same and were wretch-
edly drowned, -whereof was a great rumour and
noise piteously among the people.

And when Saint Alban perceived this thing,
he wailed and wept for the harm and death of
his enemies that so were perished : and kneeled
down, holding his hand up to God, beseeching
Him that the water might be lessed and the flood
withdrawn, that the people might be near him at
his passion. And forthwith God shewed at the
request of Saint Alban a fair miracle. For the
water withdrew and the river dried up in such
wise that the people might safely go dry foot
over the river. And also by the prayer of this
holy man they that tofore had been drowned
were restored again to life and were founden
alive in the deepness of the river.

And then one of the knights that drew Saint
Alban to his martyrdom saw these miracles that
God shewed for him and anon threw away his
sword and knelt down at the feet of Saint Alban,
saying: " I knowledge to God mine error and de-
mand forgiveness," and wept sore and said : " O
Alban, servant of God, verily thy God is Almighty
and there is no God but He. And therefore I
knowledge me to be His servant during my life :
for this river by thy prayers is made dry. Where-
fore I bear witness that there is no god but thy
God which doeth such miracles." And when he
had said thus their fury and woodness increased
^nd they said unto him: "Thou art false: for it
IS not as thou sayest, ne as thou affirmest, for

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 23

this river is thus dried up by the benignity of our
gods. And therefore we worship Jupiter and
Appollyn which for our ease hath taken up this
water by the great heat. And because thou
takest away the worship of our gods, and reward-
est it to other by evil interpretation, thou hast
deserved the pain which longeth to a blasphemer."
And then forthwith they drew out the teeth of
his head : and the holy mouth that had borne
witness of truth was grievously beaten with so
many of them, that or they left they tare all the
members of his body, and to brake all his bones,
and all to rent his body and left him lying upon
the sand.

But who might without weeping of tears ex-
press how this holy man Alban was drawn and
led through briars and thorns and sharp stones,
that the blood of his feet coloured the way as
they went and the stones were bloody. Then at
the last they came to a hill where this holy Alban
should finish and end his life In which place
lay a great multitude of people nigh dead for
heat of the sun and for thirst. When they saw
Alban they grinted with their teeth upon him for
anger, saying : " O thou most wicked man, how
great is thy wickedness that makest us to die
with thy sorcery and witchcraft in this great
misery and heat." Then Alban having pity on
them sorrowed by great affection for them and
said : " Lord, that madest man's body of earth
and his soul unto thy likeness, suffer not these
creatures to perish for any cause committed

24 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

against me. And blessed Lord, make the air at-
temperate and send them water to refresh them."
And then anon the wind blew a fresh cool, and
also at the feet of this holy man Alban sprang up
a fair well, whereof all the people marvelled to
sec the cold water spring up in the hot sandy-
ground and so high, on the top of an hill : which
water flowed all about and in large streams run-
ning down the hill. And then the people ran
to the water and drank so that they were well
refreshed : and thus by the merits of Saint Alban
their thirst was clean quenched.

But yet for all the great goodness that was
shewed they thirsted strongly for the blood of
this holy man and bound him first to a stake, and
after hung him on a bough by the hair of his
head, and sought among the people one to smite
off his head. And then a cruel man was ready
and in an anger took his sword and smote off the
head of this holy man at one stroke, that the
body fell to the ground and the head hung still
on the bough. And the tormentor as he had
smitten off his head, both his eyes started out of
his head and the wretch might in no wise be
restored again to his sight. Then many of the
paynims said that this vengeance came of great
rightwiseness.

Then the knight which was left for dead upon
the sand a little before, enforced himself as much
as he might and crept upon his hands unto the
top of the hill whereas Saint Alban was beheaded.
And the judge, seeing him, began to scorn him

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 25

and all the miracles that had been shewed by
Saint Alban. And he said to him : '' O thou
lame and crooked, now pray to thine Alban that
he restore thee to thy first health. Run and hie
thee, and take the head, by which thou mayest
receive thine healing. Why tarriest thou so
long ? Go and bury his body and do him ser-
vice." Then this knight burning in charity,
said : " I believe firmly that the blessed Alban
by his merits may get to me perfect health,
and get to me of Our Lord that which ye say
in scorn." And when he had thus said he took
and embraced the holy head in his arms and
reverently loosed it from the bough and set it
fair to the body. And by the miracle of Our
Lord, he was forthwith restored to his first health
and forthwith began to preach the great power
of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of the great merits
of Saint Alban. And then he was stronger to
labour than ever he was before, whereof he gave
thankings and laud to God and to this holy mar-
tyr Saint Alban. And there in the same place,
he buried the holy body, and laid a fair tomb
over him. And afterward the paynims took this
knight and bound him to a stake, and after smote
off his head that same day. And after the judge
gave licence to the people to depart and go
home.

And the night after, was seen a fair beam
coming down from heaven to the sepulchre of
Saint Alban, by which angels descended and as-
cended all the night during, singing heavenly

26 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

songs, among which this song was heard : " Alban
the glorious man is a noble martyr of Jesus Christ."
And all the people came to behold this sight :
wherefore many were turned from their false
belief and believed in Jesus Christ,

IV.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT BARLAAM
AND SAINT JOSAPHAT.

'ARLAAM is he of whom Saint
John Damascene made the history
with great diligence, in whom
Divine grace so wrought that he
converted to the faith Saint Josa-
'phat. And then as all Ind was full
of Christian people and of monks, there arose
a puissant king which was named Avennir, which
made great persecution to Christian men, and
specially to monks.

And it happed so that one which was friend
of the king and chief in his palace, by the inspir-
ation of Divine grace, he left the hall royal for
to enter into the order of monks. And when
the king heard say that he was Christian he was
wood for anger, and did do seek him through
every desert till that he was found with great
pain, and then he was brought tofore him. And
when he saw him in a vile coat and much lean
for hunger which was wont to be covered with
precious clothing and abounded in much riches,
he said to him, "O thou fool and out of thy
mind, why hast thou changed thine honour into
villainy, and art made the player of children?"

28 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And he said to him, " If thou hear of me reason,
put from thee thine enemies." Then the king
demanded him who were his enemies. And he
said to him, " Ire and covetise, for they empeach
and let that truth may not be seen, and to assay
prudence and equity." To whom the king said,
" Let it be as thou sayest." And that other said,
"The fools despise the things that be, like as
they were not: and he that hath not the taste
of the things that be, he shall not use the sweet-
ness of them and he may not learn the truth
from the things that be not." And when he had
shewed many things of the mystery of the In-
carnation, the king said to him, "If I had not
promised thee at the beginning that I should put
away ire from my counsel, I should cast thy body
into the fire. Go thy way and flee from my
eyes that I see thee no more and that I distress
thee not." Anon the man of God went his
way all heavy because he had not sufi^ered mar-
tyrdom.

Then in the meanwhile it happed to the king
which had no child that there was a fair son born
of his wife and he was called Josaphat. And
then the king assembled a right fair company of
people for to make sacrifice to his gods for the
nativity of his son : and also assembled Iv astro-
nomers of whom he enquired what should befall
his son. And they said to him that he should be
great in power and in riches. And one more
wise than another said, "Sir, this child that is
born shall not be under thy reign, but he shall

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 29

be in another much better without comparison.
And know that I suppose that he shall be of
Christian religion, which thou persecutest.'' And
that said he not of himself but he said it by in-
spiration of God.

And when the king heard that, he doubted
much and did do make without the city a right
noble palace, and therein set he his son for to
dwell and abide. And set right fair younglings,
and commanded them that they should not speak
to him of death, nor of old age, nor of sickness,
nor of poverty, nor of no thing that may give
him cause of heaviness : " but say to him all
things that be joyous, so that his mind may be
esprized with gladness, and that he think on no
thing to come." And anon as any of his servants
were sick, the king commanded for to take him
away, and set another whole in his stead : and
commanded that no mention should be made to
him of Jesus Christ.

In that time was with the king a man which
was secretly Christian, and was chief among all
the noble princes of the king. And as he went
on a time to hunt with the king, he found a poor
man lying on the ground which was hurt on the
foot of a beast: which prayed that he would re-
ceive him and that he might of him be holpen by
some mean. And the knight said, "I shall receive
thee gladly, but I wot not how that thou mayest
do any profit.'' And he said to him, " I am a
leech of words, and if any be hurt by words I can
well give him a medicine." And the knight set

30 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

it at nought all that he said, but he received him
only for God's sake and healed him. And then
some princes envious and malicious saw that this
prince was so great and gracious with the king,
and accused him to the king and said that he was
not only turned to the Christian faith, but en-
forced to withdraw from him his realm : and that
he moved and solicited the company and coun-
selled them thereto. "And if thou wilt know
it," said they, "then call him secretly and say to
him that this life is soon done, and therefore thou
wilt leave the glory of the world and of thy realm.
And affirm that thou wilt take the habit of monks,
whom thou hast so persecuted by ignorance, and
after thou shalt see what he shall answer." And
when the king had done all that they had said,
the knight, that knew nothing of the treason,
began to weep, and praised much the counsel of
the king, and remembered him of the vanity of
the world and counselled him to do it as soon as
he might. And when the king heard him say so,
he supposed it had been true that the other had
said to him : how be it he said no thing. And
then the knight understood and apperceived that
the king had taken his words in evil, and went
and told all this unto the leech of words all by
order. And he said to him, " Know thou for
truth, that the king feareth that thou wilt assail
his realm. Arise thou to-morrow and shave off
thine hair and do off thy vestments, and clothe
thee in hair in manner of a monk, and go early
to the king. When he shall demand thee what

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 31

thou meanest, thou shalt answer, "My lord the
king, I am ready to follow thee : for if the way
thou desirest to go be hard, if I be with thee, it
shall be the lighter to thee : and like as thou hast
had me in prosperity so shalt thou have me in
adversity. I am all ready, wherefore tarriest
thou ? " And when he had thus done and said
by order, the king was abashed and reproved the
false men and did him more honour than he did
before.

And after this the king's son, that was nour-
ished in the palace, came to age and grew and
was plainly taught in all wisdom. And he mar-
velled wherefore his father had so enclosed him,
and called one of his servants which was most
familiar with him secretly, and demanded him
of this thing: and said to him that he was in
great heaviness that he might not go out, and
that his meat nor drink savoured him not nor did
him no good. And when his father heard this,
he was full of sorrow. And anon he let do make
ready horses and joyful fellowship to accompany
him, in such wise that no thing dishonest should
happen to him. And on a time thus as the
king's son went he met a lazar and a blind man.
And when he saw them he was abashed and
enquired what them ailed. And his servants
said, " These be passions that come to men "
And he demanded if those passions came to all
men. And they said, nay. Then said he, " Be
they which shall suffer these passions known
without fail?" And they answered, *' Who is

32 THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

he that may know the adventures of men ? '' And
he began to be much anguished for the incus-
tomable thing hereof. And another time he
found a man much aged which had his cheer
wrinkled, his teeth fallen, and was all crooked
for age. Whereof the king's son was abashed
and said he desired to know the miracle of this
vision. And when he knew that this was be-
cause he had lived many years, then he demanded
to know what should be the end. And they
said, death. And he said, " Is then the death
the end of all men or of some ? '' And they said
for certain that all men must die. And when he
knew that all should die, he demanded them in
how many years that should happen. And they
said in old age of fourscore years or an hundred,
and after that age the death followeth. And
this young man remembered oft in his heart
these things and was in great discomfort. But
he shewed him much glad tofore his father, and
he desired much to be enformed and taught in
these things.

And then there was a monk of perfect life
and good opinion that dwelled in the desert of
the land lof Sennaar named Barlaam. And this
monk knew by the Holy Ghost what was done
about this king's son, and took the habit of a
merchant, and came unto the city and spake to
the greatest governor of the king's son. And he
said to him, " I am a merchant and have a pre-
cious stone to sell which giveth sight to blind
men, and hearing to deaf men. It maketh the

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 33

dumb to speak and giveth wisdom to fools. And
therefore bring me to the king's son and I shall
deliver it to him.'' To whom he said, "Thou
seemest a man of prudent nature, but thy words
accord not to wisdom. Nevertheless that I have
knowledge of that stone shew it me, and if it be
such as thou sayest, and so proved, thou shalt
have great honour of the king's son." To whom
Barlaam said, " My stone hath yet such virtue,
that he that seeth it and hath none whole sight
and keepeth not entire chastity, if he haply see it
the virtue of seeing that he hath, he should lose
it. And I that am a physician see well that thou
hast not thy sight whole ; but I understand that
the king's son is chaste and hath right fair eyes
and whole." And then the man said, "If it be
so, shew it not to me, for mine eyes be not whole,
and I am foul of sin." And Barlaam said, " This
thing appertaineth to the king's son, and there-
fore bring me to him anon." And he anon told
this to the king's son and brought him in and he
received him honourably.

And then Barlaam said to him, " Thou hast
done well, for thou hast not taken heed of my
littleness that appeareth withoutforth. But thou
ast done like to a noble king which, when he
rode in his chair clad vvith clothes of gold and
met with poor men which were clad with torn
clothes, anon he sprang out of his chair and fell
down to their feet and worshipped them, and
after arose and kissed them. And his barons took
this evil and were afeard to reprove him thereof

34 THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

But they said to his brother how the king had
done this thing against his royal majesty, and his
brother reproved him thereof. And the king had
such a custom that, when one should be delivered
to the death, the king should send his crier with
his trump that was ordained thereto. And on
the even he sent the crier with the trump before
his brother's gate, and made to sound the trump.
And when the king's brother heard this he was
in despair of saving of his life and could not
sleep all the night, and made his testament. And
on the morrow early he clad him in black, and
came weeping with his wife and children to the
king's palace. And the king made him come to-
fore him and said to him, ' A fool that thou art,
if thou hast heard the messenger of thy brother,
to whom thou knowest well thou hast not tres-
passed, and doubtest so much, how ought not I
then doubt the messengers of Our Lord against
whom I have so oft sinned? which signified unto
me more clearly the death than the trump and
shewed to me horrible coming of the judge'

And after this he did do make four chests and
did do cover two of them with gold withoutforth,
and did do fill them with bones of dead men and
filth : and the other two he did do pitch, and did
do fill them with precious stones and rich gems.
And after this the king did do call his great,
barons, because he knew well that they com-
plained of him to his brother, and did do set these
four chests before them, and demanded of them
which were most precious. And they said that

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 35

the two that were gilt were most of value. Then
the king commanded that they should be opened
and anon a great stink issued out of them. And
the king said, 'These be like them that be
clothed with precious vestments and be full
withinforth of ordure and sin.' And after he
made open the others and there issued out a mar-
vellous sweet odour. And the king said, 'These
be semblable to the poor men that I met and
honoured. For though they be clad in foul vest-
ments, yet shine they withinforth with good
odour of good virtues. And ye take no heed but
to the withoutforth and consider not what is
within.' And thou hast done to me like as the
king did for thou hast well received me."

And after this Barlaam began to tell to him a
long sermon of the creation of the world, and of
the day of judgment, and of the reward of good
and evil, and began strongly to blame them that
worship idols. And told to him of their folly
such an example as followeth, saying, that an
archer took a little bird called a nightingale, and
when he would have slain this nightingale, there
was a voice given to this nightingale which said,
" O thou man what should it avail thee if thou
slay me ? Thou mayest not fill thy belly with
me. But and if thou wilt let me go, I shall teach
thee three wisdoms, that, if thou keep them dili-
gently, thou mayest have great profit thereof."
Then he was abashed of his words and promised
that he would let him go, if he would tell him
his wisdoms. Then the bird said to him, " Study

36 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

never to take that thing that thou mayest not
take. And of things lost which may not be re-
covered, sorrow never therefore. Nor believe
never thing that is incredible. Keep well these
three things and thou shalt do well.'' And then
he let the bird go as he had promised, and then
the nightingale fleeing in the air said to him,
"Alas, thou wretched man, thou hast had evil
counsel, for thou hast lost this day great treasure.
For I have in my bowels a precious margarite
which is greater than the egg of an ostrich." And
when he heard that he was much wroth and sor-
rowed sore because he had let her go, and en-
forced him all that he could to take her again,
saying, "Come again to my house and I shall
shew to thee all humanity and give to thee all
that thou shalt need and after shall let thee go
honourably whereas thou wilt." Then said the
nightingale to him, " Now I know well that thou
art a fool, for thou hast no profit in the wisdoms
that I have said to thee. For thou art right sor-
rowful for me whom thou hast lost which am
irrecuperable, and yet thou weenest to take me
when thou mayest not come so high as I am.
And furthermore thou believest to be in me a
precious stone more than the Qgg of an ostrich
when all my body may not attain to the greatness
of such an tgg,'*^ And in like wise be they fools
that adore and trust in idols, for they worship
that which they have made and call them whom
they have made keepers of them.

And after he began to dispute against the fal-

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 37

lacies of the world and delight and vanity thereof,
and brought forth many examples and said :

"They that desire the delights corporal and
suffer their souls to die for hunger, be like to a
man that fled before an unicorn that he should
not devour him. And in fleeing he fell into a
great pit. And as he fell he caught a branch of a
tree with his hand and set his feet upon a sliding
place. And then he saw two mice, that one
white and that other black, which without ceasing
gnawed the root of the tree, and had almost
gnawed it asunder. And he saw in the bottom
of this pit an horrible dragon casting fire that had
his mouth open and desired to devour him. Upon
the sliding place on which his foot stood, he saw
the heads of four serpents which issued there.
And then he lifted up his eyes and saw a little
honey that hung on the boughs of the tree, and
forgot the peril that he was in and gave him all
to the sweetness of that little honey. The uni-
corn is the figure of death, which continually fol-
loweth man and desireth to take him. The pit is
the world which is full of all wickedness. The
tree is the life of every man which by the two
mice, that be the day and the night and the hours
thereof, incessantly be wasted and approached to
the cutting or gnawing asunder. The place where
the four serpents were is the body ordained by
the four elements, by which the jointure of the
members is parted in bodies disordinate. The
horrible dragon is the mouth of hell which desir-
eth to devour all creatures. The sweetness of the

38 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

honey on the boughs of the tree is the false de-
ceivable delectation of the world by which man
is deceived so that he taketh no heed of the peril
that he is in,"

And yet he said that they that love the world
be semblable to a man that had three friends, of
which he loved the first as much as himself, and
he loved the second less than himself, and loved
the third a little or nought. And it happed so
that this man was in great peril of his life and was
summoned before the king. Then he ran to his
first friend and demanded of him his help, and
told to him how he had always loved him. To
whom the other said, " I have other friends with
whom I must be this day, and I wot not who thou
art, therefore I may not help thee. Yet never-
theless I shall give to thee two slops with which
thou mayest cover thee." And then he went
away much sorrowful and went to that other friend
and required also his aid. And he said to him,
" I may not attend to go with thee to this debate,
for I have great charge. But I shall fellowship
thee unto the gate of the palace, and then I shall
return again and do mine own needs." And then
he, being heavy and as despaired, went to the third
friend and said to him, " 1 have no reason to speak
to thee, for I have not loved thee as I ought; but
I am in tribulation and without friends ; and I
pray thee that thou wilt help me." And that
other answered with glad cheer and said, "Certes,
I confess to be thy dear friend, and have not for-
gotten the little benefit that thou hast done to me.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 39

And I shall go right gladly with thee before the
king for to see what shall be demanded of thee,
and I shall pray the king for thee." The first
friend is possession of riches, for which man put-
teth him in many perils : and when the death
Cometh he hath no more of it but a cloth for to
wind him in for to be buried. The second friend
is his sons, his wife and kin, which go with him
to his grave and anon return for to entend unto
their own needs. The third friend is faith, hope
and charity and other good works which we have
done : that when we issue out of our bodies they
may well go before us and pray God for us, and
they may well deliver us from the devils our ene-
mies.

And yet he said according to this, that in a
certain city is a custom that they of the city
should choose every year a strange man and un-
known to be their prince, and they shall give him
puissance to do whatsomever he will, and govern
the country without any other constitution. And
he being thus in great delights and weening ever
to continue, suddenly they of the city should
arise against him and lead him naked through the
city, and after send him in to an isle in exile, and
there he should find neither meat nor clothing,
but should be constrained to be perished for hun-
ger and cold. And after that they would enhance
another to the kingdom : and thus they did long.
At the last they took one which knew their cus-
tom. And he sent before him into that isle great
treasure without number during all his year. And

40 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

when his year was accomplished and passed, he
was put out and put to exile like the others. And
whereas the others that had been before him
perished from hunger and cold, he abounded in
great riches and delights. And this city is the
world, and the citizens be the princes of darkness
which feed us with false delectation of the world,
and then the death cometh when we take none
heed and then we be sent in exile to the place
of darkness. And the riches that be before sent
be done by the hands of poor men.

And when Barlaam had perfectly taught the
king's son, and he would leave his father for to
follow him, Barlaam said to him, " If thou wilt
do thus, thou wilt be semblable to a young man
that, when he should have wedded a noble wife,
forsook her and fled away and came in to a place
where as he saw a virgin, daughter of an old poor
man, that laboured and praised God with her
mouth. To whom he said, 'What is this that
thou doest, daughter, that art so poor and alway
thou thankest God like as thou hadst received
great things of Him ?' To whom she said, 'Like
as a little medicine oft delivereth a great langour
and pain, right so for to give to God thankings
alway of a little gift is made a giver of great gifts.
For the things that be without forth be not ours,
but they that be within us be ours. And there-
fore I have received great gifts of God, for He
hath made me like to His image. He hath given
to me understanding. He hath called me to His
glory, and hath opened to me the gate of His

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 41

kingdom : and therefore for these gifts it is fitting
to me to give Him praising.' This young man
seeing her prudence, asked of her father to have
her to wife. To whom the father said, ' Thou
mayest not have my daughter, for thou art the son
of rich and noble kin, and I am but a poor man.'
But when he so sore desired her, the old man
said to him, ' I may not give her to thee, since
thou wilt lead her home in to the house of thy
father, for she is mine only daughter, and I have
no more.' And he said, ' I shall dwell with thee
and shall accord with thee in all things.' And
then he did off his precious vestments and did on
him the habit of the old man, and so dwelling with
him took her unto his wife. And when the old
man had long proved him, he led him in to his
chamber, and shewed to him great plenty of riches,
more than he ever had, and gave to him all."

And then Josaphat said to him. " This narra-
tion toucheth me convenably, and I trow thou
hast said this for me. Now say to me, father, how
many years art thou old and where conversest
thou, for from thee I will never depart." To
whom Barlaam said, " I have dwelled xlv years in
the desert of the land of Sennaar." To whom
Josaphat said, "Thou seemest better to be Ixx
years." And he said, " If thou demandest of all
the years of my nativity thou hast well esteemed
them. But I account not in the number of my
life the years that I have dispended in the vanity
of the world. For I was then dead toward God,
and I number not the years of death with the

4i THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

years of life.'* And when Josaphat would have
followed him into desert, Barlaam said to him,
^' If thou do so I shall not have thy company, and
I shall be then the author of persecution to my
brethren. But when thou seest time convenable
thou shalt come to me." And then Barlaam
baptized the king's son and enformed him well
in the faith and after returned in to his cell.

And a little while after the king heard say that
his son was christened, wherefore he was much
sorrowful. And one that was his friend, named
Arachis, recomforting him said, " Sir king, I
know right well an old hermit that resembleth
much Barlaam, and he is of our sect. He shall
feign him as he were Barlaam, and shall defend
first the faith of Christian men and after shall
leave and return from it, and thus your son
shall return to you." And then the king went
into desert as it were to fetch Barlaam and took
this hermit and feigned that he had taken Barlaam.
And when the king's son heard say that Barlaam
was taken he wept bitterly. But afterward by
revelation divine he knew that it was not he.
Then the king went to his son and said to him,
" Thou hast put me in great heaviness, thou hast
dishonoured mine old age, thou hast darked the
light of mine eyes, son, why hast thou done so ?
Thou hast forsaken the honour of my gods."
He answered to him, " I have fled the darkness
and am come to the light, I have fled error and
know truth. And therefore thou travailest for
nought for thou mayest never withdraw me from

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 43

Jesus Christ. For like as it is impossible to thee
to touch the heaven with thy hand or for to dry
the great sea, so is it to thee for to change me.'*
Then the father said, " Who is cause hereof
but I myself, who so gloriously have nourished
thee, that never father nourished more his son?
For which cause thine evil will hath made thee
wood against me. And it is well right, for the
astronomers in thy nativity said thou shouldest be
proud and disobedient to thy parents. But and
thou now wilt not obey me, thou shalt no more
be my son, and I shalt be thine enemy for a
father, and shall do to thee that I never did
to mine enemies." To whom Josaphat said,
" Father, wherefore art thou angry because I am
made a partaker of good things? What father
was ever sorrowful in the prosperity of his son ?
I shall no more call thee father but if thou be
contrary to me I shall flee thee as a serpent.''

Then the king departed from him in great
anger and said to Arachis his friend all the hard-
ness of his son. And he counselled the king
that he should give him no sharp words, for
a child is better reformed by fair and sweet
words. The day following the king came to his
son and began to clip, embrace and kiss him, and
said to him, " My right sweet son, honour thou
mine old age, son, dread thy father. Knowest
thou not well that it is good to obey thy father and
make him glad, and for to do contrary it is sin,
and they that anger them sin evil ? " To whom
Josaphat said, " There is time to love, and time

44 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

to hate, time of peace, and time of battle, and
we ought in no wise love them nor obey to them
that would put us away from God, be it father or
mother/' And when his father saw his stead-
fastness, he said to him, " Since I see thy folly,
and thou wilt not obey to me, come and we shall
know the truth. For Barlaam which hath de-
ceived thee is bounden in my prison. And let
us assemble our people with Barlaam, and I shall
send for all the Galileans that they may safely
come without dread and dispute. And if that
ye with your Barlaam overcome us, we shall be-
lieve and obey you : and if we overcome you, ye
.shall consent to us."

And this pleased well to the king and to Josa-
phat. And when they had ordained that he
that named him Barlaam should defend the
faith of Christ, and suffer him after to be over-
come, and so were all assembled, then Josaphat
turned him toward Nachor, which feigned him to
be Barlaam, and said, " Barlaam thou knowest well
iiow thou hast taught me, and if thou defend the
faith that I have learned of thee, I shall abide in
thy doctrine to the end of my life. And if thou
be overcome, I shall avenge anon on thee mine
injury and shall pluck thy tongue out of thine
head with mine hands and give it to dogs, to the
end that thou be not so hardy to put a king's son
in error." And when Nachor heard that, he was
in great fear, and saw well that if he said contrary
he were but dead, and that he was taken in his
own snare. And then he advised that it were

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 45:

better to take and hold with the son than with
the father, for to eschew the peril of death. For
the king had said to him before them all, that
he should defend the faith hardily and without
dread. Then one of the masters said to him,
"Thou art Barlaam which hast deceived the son
of the king." And he said "I am Barlaam whick
hath not put the king's son in any error, but I
have brought him out of error." And then the:
master said to him, "Right noble and marvellous
men have worshipped our gods, how darest thou
then address thee against them?" And he an-
swered, " They of Chaldea, of Egypt and of
Greece, have heard and said that the creatures
were gods : and the Chaldees supposed that the:
elements had been gods which were created to the
profit of men. And the Greeks supposed that
cursed men and tyrants had been gods, as Saturn
who they said ate his son, and Jupiter which as
they say gelded his father; and Jupiter to be king
of the other gods by cause he transformed oft him-
self in likeness of a beast for to accomplish his
adultery. And also they say that Venus is Goddess
of adultery, and sometimes Mars is her husband and
sometimes Adonis. The Egyptians worship the
beasts, that is to wit, a sheep, a calf, a swine or such
others. And the Christian men worship the Son
of the right high King, that descended from hea-
ven and took nature human." And then Nachor
began clearly to defend the law of Christian men,,
and garnished him with many reasons, so that the
masters were all abashed and wist not what to an-

46 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

swer. And then Josaphat had great joy of that
our Lord had defended the truth by him that was
enemy of truth. And then the king was full of
woodness, and commanded that the council should
depart ; like as he would have treated again on the
morrow of the same fact. Then Josaphat said to
his father, "Let my master be with me this night
to the end that we may make our collation to-
gether for to make to-morrow our answer ; and
thou shalt lead thy masters with thee and shalt
take council with them ; and if thou lead my mas-
ter with thee thou doest me no right." Where-
fore he granted to him Nachor by cause he hoped
that he should deceive him. And when the king's
son was come to his chamber and Nachor with^him,
Josaphat said to Nachor, "Ne wenest thou not
that I know thee ? I wot well that thou art not
Barlaam, but thou art Nachor the astronomer."
And Josaphat preached then to him the way of
health, and converted him to the faith, and on the
morn sent him into desert and there he was bap-
tized and led the life of an hermit.

Then there was an enchanter named Theodas,
when he heard of this thing he came to the king
and said that he should make his son return and
believe in his gods. And the king said to him,
" If thou do so, I shall make to thee an image of
gold and offer sacrifices thereto, like as to my
gods." And he said, "Take away all them that
be about thy son and put to him fair women and
well adorned, and command them alway to abide
by him. And after I shall send a wicked spirit

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 47

that shall enflame him to luxury, and there is no
thing that may so soon deceive the young men
as the beauty of women/' And he said yet more.

" There was a king which had with great pain a
son, and the wise masters said that if he saw sun
or moon within ten years he should lose the sight
-of his eyes. Then it was ordained that this child
should be nourished within a pit made in a great
rock. And when the ten years were passed, the
king commanded that his son should be brought
forth and that all things should be brought tofore
him by cause he should know the names of those
things. And then they brought tofore him jewels,
horses and beasts of all manners, and also gold,
silver, precious stones, and all other things. And
when he had demanded the names of every thing,
and that the ministers had told him, he set nought
thereby. And when his father saw that he recked
not of such things, then the king made to be
brought tofore him women quaintly arrayed. And
he demanded what they were. They would not
so lightly tell him, whereof he was annoyed, and
after the master squire of the king said japing,
that they were devils that deceive men. Then
the king demanded him what he lievest have of
all that he had seen, and he answered, " Father
my soul coveteth nothing so much as the devils
that deceive men." "And therefore I suppose
that none other thing shall surmount thy son but
women, which move men all way to lechery."

Then the king put out all his ministers, and
set therein to be about his son right noble and

48 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

fair maidens, which alway him admonested to
play, and there were none other that might speak
nor serve him. And anon the enchanter sent to
him the devil for to enflame him, which burned
the young man withinforth, and the maidens
withoutforth. And when he felt him so strongly
travailed he was much angry, and recommended
himself all to God, and he received divine com-
fort in such wise that all temptation departed
from him.

And after this the king saw that the devil had
done nothing and he sent to him a fair maiden, a
king's daughter which was fatherless. To whom
this man of God preached, and she answered, "If
thou wilt save me, and take me away from wor-
shipping the idols, conjoin thee unto me by
coupling of marriage, for the patriarchs, prophets,
and Peter the apostle had wives." And he said
to her, " Woman these words sayest thou now
for nought. It appertaineth well to Christian
men to wed wives, but not to them that have
promised to Our Lord to keep virginity.'* And
she said to him, " Now be it as thou wilt ; but if
thou wilt save my soul grant to me a little re-
quest, lie with me only this night and I promise
to thee that to morn I shall be made Christian.
For, as ye say the angels have more joy in heaven
of one sinner doing penance than for many other,
there is great guerdon due to him that doth pen-
ance and converteth him. Therefore grant to
me only this request, and so thou shalt save me."
And then she began strongly to assail the tower

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 49

of his conscience. Then the devil said to his
fellows, " Go, see how this maid hath strongly
put forth that we might not move. Come then
and let us knock strongly against him since we
find now time convenable." And then the holy
young man saw this thing and that he was in that
caitifFness that the covetise of his flesh admon-
ested him to sin, and also that he desired the sal-
vation of the maid by enticing of the devil that
moved him, he then put himself to prayer in
weeping. And there he fell a sleep and saw by
a vision that he was brought in to a meadow
arrayed with fair flowers, there where the leaves
of the trees demeaned a sweet sound which came
by a wind agreeable, and thereout issued a mar-
vellous odour, and the fruit was right fair to see,
and right delectable of taste, and there were seats
of gold and silver and precious stones, and the
beds were noble and preciously adorned, and
right clear water ran thereby. And after that he
entered in to a city of which the walls were of
fine gold and shone by marvellous clearness, and
saw in the air some that sang a song that never
ear of mortal man heard like. And it was said,
"This is the place of blessed saints." And as
they would have had him thence, he prayed them
that they would let him dwell there. And they
said to him, "Thou shalt yet hereafter come
hither with great travail if thou mayest suffer."
And after they led him into a right horrible place
full of all filth and stench and said to him, "This
is the place of wicked people." And when he

50 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

awoke, him seemed that the beauty of that dam-
sel was more foul than all the ordure. And then
the wicked spirits came again to Theodas and he
blamed them, to whom they said, " We ran upon
him tofore he marked him with the sign of the
cross, and troubled him strongly, and when he was
garnished with the sign of the cross he persecuted
us with great force," Then Theodos came to
him with tht king and had hoped that he should
have perverted him, but this enchanter was taken
of him whom he supposed to have taken, and
was converted and received baptism and lived
after an holy life.

And the king was all despaired, and by counsel
of his friends he delivered to him half his realm.
And how be it that Josaphat desired with all his
thought the desert, yet for to encrease the faith
he received the realm for a certain time, and.
made churches and raised crosses and converted
much people of his realm to the faith of Jesus
Christ. And at last the father consented to the
reasons and predications of his son and believed
on the faith of Jesus Christ, and received baptism
and left his realm whole to his son and entended
to works of penance, and after finished his life
laudably.

And Josaphat oft warned the king Barachias
that he should go into the desert, but he was re-
tained of the people long time. But at last he
fled away in to the desert, and as he went in
desert he gave to a poor man his habit royal and
abode in a right poor gown. And the devil made

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 51

to him many assaults, for sometime he ran upon
him with a sword drawn and menaced to smite if
he left not the desert ; and another time he ap-
peared to him in the form of a wild beast and
foamed and ran on him as he would have de-
voured him ; and then Josaphat said : " Our Lord
is mine helper, I doubt no thing that man may
do to me/'

And thus Josaphat was two years vagant and
erred in desert and could not find Barlaam. And
at the last he found a cave in the earth and
knocked at the door and said : " Father, bless
me/' And anon Barlaam heard the voice of him
and rose up and went out. And then each
kissed other and embraced straitly, and were
glad of their assembling. And after, Josaphat
recounted to Barlaam all these things that were
happened, and he rendered and gave thankngs to
God therefore. And Josaphat dwelled there many
years in great and marvellous penance, full of vir-
tues. And when Barlaam had accomplished his
days he rested in peace about the year of Our
Lord CCCC and LXXX. Josaphat left his realm
the XXV year of his age, and led the life of an
hermit five and thirty years and then rested in
peace, full of virtues, and was buried by the body
of Barlaam. And when the king Barachias heard
of this thing, he came unto that same place with a
great company and took the bodies and bore them
with much great honour in to his city, where
God hath shewed many fair miracles at the tomb
of these two precious bodies.

v.— THE VOYAGE OF SAINT BRANDON,

jAINT BRANDON, the holy man,
was a monk and born in Ireland.
And there he was Abbot of a house
wherein were a thousand monks, and
there he had a full straight and holy-
life in great penance and abstinence,
and he governed his monks full virtuously. And
then within short while after there came to him
an holy Abbot, that hight Berinus, to visit him,
and each of them was joyful of other. And then
Saint Brandon began to tell to the Abbot Berinus
of many wonders that he had seen in divers lands.
And when Berinus heard that of Saint Brandon,
he began to sigh and sore wept. And Saint
Brandon comforted him in the best wise that he
could, saying : " Ye come hither for to be joyful
with me, and therefore for God's love leave your
mourning, and tell me what marvels ye have seen
in the great sea ocean that compasseth all the
world about and all other waters come out of him,
which runneth in all the parts of the earth."

And then Berinus began to tell to Saint Bran-
don and his monks the marvels that he had seen,
full sore weeping. And said : " I have a son, his
name is Mernoke. And he was a monk of great

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 53

fame, which had great desire to seek about by ship
in divers countries to find a solitary place wherein
he might dwell secretly out of the business of the
world for to serve God quietly and with more
devotion. And I counselled him to sail into an
island far in the sea beside the Mountain of
Stones, which is full well known. And then he
made him ready and sailed thither with his monks.
And when he came thither he liked the place full
well : where he and his monks served Our Lord
full devoutly.''

And then Berinus saw in a vision that this
monk Mernoke was sailed right far eastward in
the sea more than three days' sailing. And sud-
denly, to his seeming, there came a dark cloud
and over-covered them that a great part of the
day they saw no light. And as Our Lord would,
the cloud passed away and they saw a full fair
island and thitherward they drew. In that island
was joy and mirth enough. And the earth of the
island shined as bright as the sun ; and there were
the fairest trees and herbs that ever any man saw.
And there were many precious stones shining
bright, and every herb there was full of figures,
and every tree full of fruit : so that it was a glo-
rious sight, and a heavenly joy to abide there.

And then there came to them a fair young man,
and full courteously he welcomed them all, and
called every monk by his name. And he said
that they were much bound to praise the name of
Our Lord that would, of His grace, shew to them
this glorious place where is ever day and never

c

54 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

night. And this place is called Paradise Terres-
trial : but by this island is another island wherein
no man may come. And this young man said to
them : " Ye have been here half a year without
meat, drink, or sleep,** and they supposed they
had not been there the space of half an hour, so
merry and joyful they were. And the young man
told them that this is the place that Adam and
Eve dwelled in, and ever would have dwelled
there if that they had not broken the command-
ment of God.

Then the young man brought them to their
ship again and said they might no longer abide
there. And when they were all shipped, sud-
denly this young man vanished away out of their
sight. And then within short time after, by the
purveyance of Our Lord, they came to the Abbey
where they dwelled. And their brethren received
them goodly and demanded them where they had
been so long. And they said : " We have been in
the Land of Behest,* tofore the gates of Paradise,
whereas is ever day and never night.'* And they
said all that the place is full delectable ; for yet all
their clothes smelled of the sweet and joyful place.

And then Saint Brandon purposed soon after
for to seek that place by God's help ; and anon
began to purvey for a good ship and a strong and
victualled it for seven years. And then he took
his leave of all his brethren and took twelve monks
with him. But, or they entered into the ship,
they fasted forty days and lived devoutly and each

• Promise.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 55

of them received the Sacrament. And when
Saint Brandon with his twelve monks were en-
tered into the ship, there came other two of his
monks and prayed him that they might sail with
him. And then he said : " Ye may sail with me,
but one of you shall go to Hell or ye come again,**
But for all that they would go with him.

And then Saint Brandon had the shipmen to
wind up the sail, and forth they sailed in God's
name ; so that on the morrow they were out of
sight of any land. And forty days and forty
nights after they sailed into the East.

And then they saw an island far from them
and they sailed thitherward as fast as they could :
and they saw a great rock of stone appear above
all the water. And three days they sailed about
it or they could get into the place. But at the
last, by the purveyance of God, they found a little
haven and there went on land every one. And
then suddenly came a fair hound and fell down at
the feet of Saint Brandon and made him good
cheer in his manner. And then he bade his
brethren be of good cheer. " For Our Lord hath
sent to us his messenger to lead us into some good
place." And the hound brought them into a fair
hall, where they found the tables spread, ready
set full of good meat and drink. And then Saint
Brandon said graces, and then he and his brethren
sat down and ate and drank of such as they found.
And there were beds ready for them wherein they
took their rest after their long labour.

And on the morrow they returned again to their

56 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

ship, and sailed a long time in the sea after or they
could find any land : till at the last by the pur-
veyance of Almighty God, they saw far from them
a full fair island full of green pasture, wherein
were the whitest and greatest sheep that ever they
saw ; for every sheep was as great as an ox. And
soon after came to them a goodly old man which
welcomed them and made to them good cheer, and
said "This is the Island of Sheep. And here is
never cold weather but ever summer and that
caused the sheep to be so great and white : they
eat of the best grass and herbs that is anywhere."
And then this old man took his leave of them and
bade them sail forthright east and within short
time by God's grace they should come to a place
like Paradise wherein they should keep their
Easter-tide.

And then they sailed forth and came soon after
to land but could find no haven because of little
depth in some place and in some place were
great rocks. But at the last they went upon an
island weening they had been safe, and made
thereon a fire for to dress their dinner. But Saint
Brandon abode still in the ship. When the fire
was right hot and the meat nigh sodden, then this
island began to move, whereof the monks were
afraid and fled anon to the ship and left the fire
and meat behind them. And Saint Brandon com-
forted them and said that it was a great fish named
Jasconius which laboured night and day to put his
tail in his mouth but for greatness he may not.

And then anon they sailed west three days and

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 57

three nights or they saw any land, wherefore they
were right heavy. But soon after, as God would,
they saw a fair island full of flowers, herbs and
trees; whereof they thanked God of His good
grace and anon they went on land. And when
they had gone long in this, they found a full fair
well and thereby stood a fair tree full of boughs.
And on every bough sat a fair bird and they sat
so thick on the tree that unneth any leaf of the
tree might be seen, the number of them was so
great. And they sang so merrily that it was an
heavenly noise to hear.

Wherefore Saint Brandon kneeled down on his
knees, and wept for joy, and made his prayers de-
voutly to Our Lord God to know what these birds
meant. And then anon one of these birds fled
from the tree to Saint Brandon, and with flicker-
ing of his wings made a full merry noise like a
fiddle, that him seemed he heard never so joyful
a melody. And then Saint Brandon commanded
the bird to tell him the cause why they sat so thick
on the tree and sung so merrily.

And then the bird said: "Sometime we were
angels in Heaven. But when our master Lucifer
fell down into Hell for his high pride, we fell
with him for our offences, some higher and
some lower, after the quality of their trespasses.
And because our trespass is but little, therefore
Our Lord hath set us here, out of all pain, in full
great joy and mirth, after His pleasing, here to
serve Him in this tree in the best manner that we
can. This Sunday is a day of rest from all worldly

58 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

occupation, and therefore this day all we be made
as white as any snow for to praise Our Lord in the
best wise we may/' And then this bird said to
Saint Brandon: "It is twelve months past that
ye departed from your Abbey : and in the seventh
year hereafter ye shall see the place that ye desire
to come at. And all this seven years, ye shall
keep your Easter here with us every year. And
in the end of the seventh year, ye shall come unto
the Land of Behest."

And this was on Easter-day that the bird said
these words to Saint Brandon ; and then this fowl
flew again to his fellows that sat on the tree.
Then all the birds began to sing evensong so
merrily that it was an heavenly sound to hear.
And after supper, Saint Brandon and his fellows
went to bed and slept well. On the morrow they
arose betimes and then those birds began Matins,
Prime and Hours and all such service as Christ-
ian men use, to sing. And Saint Brandon with
his fellows abode there eight weeks till Trinity
Sunday was passed.

And they sailed again to the Island of Sheep,
and they victualled them well and took their leave
of that old man and returned again to ship. And
then the bird of the tree came against Saint Bran-
don and said : "I am come to tell you that ye shall
!sail from hence into an island, where is an Abbey
<of twenty-four monks, which is from this place
many a mile. There ye shall hold your Christ-
mas : and your Easter with us like as I told you."
And then this bird flew to his fellows again.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 59

So Saint Brandon and his fellows sailed forth
in the ocean ; and soon after fell a great tempest
on them in which they were greatly troubled
long time and sore for-laboured. And after that
they found by the purveyance of God an island
that was far from them, and then full meekly
they prayed to Our Lord to send them thither in
safety. But it was forty days after or they came
thither : wherefore all the monks were so weary
of that trouble that they set little price by their
lives, and cried continually to Our Lord to have
mercy on them and bring them to that island in
safety. And by the purveyance of God they
came in at the last into a little haven, but it was
so strait that unneth the ship might come in.

And after, they came to an anchor and anon
the monks went to land. And when they had
long walked about, at the last they found two fair
wells : one was fair and clear water, but the other
was somewhat troubled and thick. And then
they thanked Our Lord fully humbly that had
brought them thither in safety. And they would
fain have drunken of that water, but Saint Bran-
don charged them they should not take without
licence : " For if we abstain us awhile. Our Lord
will purvey for us in the best wise.'* And anon
after came to them a fair old man with hoar hair,
and welcomed them full meekly and kissed Saint
Brandon, and led them by many fair wells till
they came to a fair Abbey.

There they were received with great honour
and solemn procession with twenty-four monks

I

6o THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

all in royal copes of cloth of gold, and a great
cross was before them. And then the Abbot
welcomed Saint Brandon and his fellowship and
kissed them full meekly. Then he took Saint
Brandon by the hand and led him with his monks
into a fair hall and set them down in a row upon
the bench. And the abbot of the place washed
all their feet with fair water of the well that they
saw before. After, he led them in to the fratour*
and there set them among his convent. And
anon there came one by the purveyance of God
that served them with their meat and drink. For
every monk had set before him a fair white loaf
and white roots and herbs which were right de-
licious but they wist not what roots they were..
And they drank of the water of the fair clear
well which they saw before when they came first
to land which Saint Brandon forbade them.

And the abbot came and cheered Saint Brandon
and his monks and bade them eat and drink for
charity. " For every day, Our Lord sendeth a
goodly old man which covereth this table and
setteth our meat and drink before us. We know
not how it Cometh and we ordain never meat nor
drink for us, and yet we have been eighty years
here, and ever Our Lord, worshipped mote He
be, feedeth us. We be twenty-four monks in
number and every ferial day of the week He
sendeth to us twelve loaves and every Sunday and
feastful day twenty-four loaves ; and the bread
that we leave at dinner we eat at supper. And

* Frater-house, refectory or hall of the monastery.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 6i

now at your coming Our Lord hath sent unto us
forty-eight loaves for to make you and us merry
together as brethren. And always twelve of us
go to dinner while other twelve keep the choir.
Thus have we done these eighty years for so
long have we dwelled in this Abbey. We came
hither out of the Abbey of Saint Patrick in
Ireland and thus as ye see Our Lord hath pur-
veyed for us. But none knoweth how it cometh
but God alone to Whom be given honour and
laud, world without end. Here in this land is
ever fair weather and none of us hath ever been
sick since we came hither. And when we go to
Mass or to any other service of Our Lord in the
church, anon seven tapers of wax are set in the
choir and lit at every time without man's hand,
and burn day and night at every hour of service,
and have never wasted or minished as long as we
have been here, which is eighty years."

Then Saint Brandon went to the church with
the abbot of the place, and there they said
Evensong together full devoutly. And then
Saint Brandon looked upward towards the Cruci-
fix and Our Lord hanging on the Cross which
was made of fine crystal and curiously wrought.
And in the choir were four-and-twenty seats for
four-and-twenty monks, and the seven tapers
burning ; and the abbot's seat was made in the
midst of the choir.

Then Saint Brandon demanded of the abbot
how long they had kept that silence that none of
them spake to other. And he said : " This four-

62 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

and-twenty years we spake never one to another."
And then Saint Brandon wept for joy of their
holy conversation. And then Saint Brandon de-
sired of the abbot that he and his monks might
dwell there still with him. To whom the abbot
said : " Sir, that may ye not do in no wise. For
Our Lord hath shewed to you in what manner ye
shall be guided till the seven years be fulfilled.
Aud after that term thou shalt with thy monks
return into Ireland in safety. But one of the
two monks that came last to you shall dwell in
the Island of Ankers* and that other shall go
quick to hell."

And as Saint Brandon kneeled in the Church,
he saw a bright shining angel come in at the win-
dow, and lighted all the lights in the Church,
and then he flew out again at the window into
heaven. Then Saint Brandon marvelled greatly
how the light burned so fair and wasted not.
Then the Abbot said that it is written that Moses
saw a bush all on a fire and that it burned not :
"And therefore marvel not thereof for the might
of Our Lord is now as great as it ever was."

And when Saint Brandon had dwelled there
from Christmas even till the twelve days were
passed, then he took his leave of the Abbot of the
convent and returned with his monks to the ship.
And he sailed from thence with his monks on the
day of Saint Hilary. But they had great tempests
in the sea from that time till Palm Sunday.

And then they came to the Island of Sheep and

* Anchorites, hermits.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 63

there were received of the old man, which brought
them to a fair hall and served them. And on
Shere-Thursday * after supper, he did wash all
their feet and kissed them like as Our Lord did
to His disciples. And there they abode till
Saturday, Easter even.

And then they departed and sailed to the place
where the fish lay. And anon they saw their
cauldron upon the fish's back, which they had
left there twelve months before. There they
kept the service of the Resurrection, on the fish's
back.

And after, they sailed that same day by the
morning to the island whereas the tree of the
birds was. And then the bird welcomed Saint
Brandon and all his fellowship and went again to
the tree and sang full merrily. And there, he
and his monks dwelled from Easter till Trinity
Sunday, as they did the year before, in full great
joy and mirth. And daily they heard the merry
service of the birds sitting on the tree.

And then the bird told to Saint Brandon that
he should return again at Christmas to the Abbey
of Monks, and at Easter thither again ; and the
other part of the year labour in the ocean in full
great perils. "And so from year to year till the
seven years be accomplished. And then shall ye
come to the joyful place of Paradise and dwell
there forty days in full great joy and mirth. And
after, ye shall return home into your own Abbey

♦ The Thursday before Easter. So called because on that day the
monks used to shave their heads.

64 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

in safety, and there end your life and come to the
bliss of Heaven to which Our Lord bought you
with His precious Blood."

And then the angel of Our Lord ordained all
thing that was needful to Saint Brandon and to
his monks in victuals and all other things neces-
sary. And then they thanked Our Lord of His
great goodness He had shewed to them oft in
their great need, and sailed forth in the great sea
ocean abiding the mercy of Our Lord in great
trouble and tempests. And soon after came to
them an horrible fish which followed the ship long
time casting forth much water out of his mouth
into the ship that they supposed to have been
drowned : wherefore they devoutly prayed God
to deliver them of that great peril. And anon
after came another fish, greater than he, out of
the West sea and fought with him ; and at the
last clave him into three pieces and returned
again. And then they thanked meekly Our
Lord for their deliverance from this great peril.

Then were they in great heaviness because
their victuals were nigh spent. But by the ordin-
ance of Our Lord, there came a bird and brought
to them a great branch of a vine full of red grapes
by which they lived fourteen days. And then
they came to a little island wherein were many
vines full of grapes. And they there landed and
thanked God and gathered as many grapes as they
lived by forty days after : alway sailing in the sea
in many storms and tempests.

And as they thus sailed suddenly came flying

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 65

towards them a great gryphon which assailed them
and was like to have destroyed them. Wherefore
they devoutly prayed for help and aid of Our
Lord Jesus Christ. And then the bird of the tree
of the island where they had holden their Easter
to-fore came to the gryphon and smote out both
his eyes and after slew him.

And then they sailed forth continually till
Saint Peter's day, and then sung they solemnly
their service in the honour of the feast. And in
that place the water was so clear that they might
see all the fishes that were about them ; whereof
they were full sore aghast. And the monks
counselled Saint Brandon to sing no more : for
all the fishes lay then as they had slept. And
then Saint Brandon said : " Dread ye not. For
ye have kept by two Easters the Feast of the
Resurrection upon the great fish's back and there-
fore dread ye not of these little fishes." And
then Saint Brandon made him ready and went to
Mass and bade his monks to sing the best wise
they could. And then anon all the fishes awoke
and came about the ship so thick that unneth
they might see the water for the fishes. And
when the Mass was done, all the fishes departed
so as they were no more seen. And seven days
they sailed always in that clear water.

And then there came a south wind and drove
the ship northward whereas they saw an island
full dark and full of stench and smoke. And
there they heard great blowing and blasting of
bellows but they might see nothing, and heard

66 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

great thundering : whereof they were sore afraid
and blessed them oft. And soon after, there
came one starting out all burning in fire and
gazed full ghastly upon them with great staring
eyes, of whom the monks were aghast. And at
his departing from them he made the horriblest
cry that might be heard. And soon there came a
great number of fiends and assailed them with
hooks and burning iron mallets, which ran on the
water following their ship fast, in such wise that
it seemed all the sea to be on fire. But by the
pleasure of Our Lord, they had no power to hurt
nor grieve them nor their ship : wherefore the
fiends began to roar and cry and threw their
hooks and mallets at them. And they then were
sore afeard and prayed to God for comfort and
help, for they saw the fiends all about the ship,
and them seemed then all the island and the sea
to be on a fire. Whereat with a sorrowful cry all
the fiends departed from them and returned to
the place that they came from. And then Saint
Brandon told to them that this was a part of hell,
and therefore he charged them to be stedfast in
the faith for they should yet see many a dreadful
place or they came home again.

And then came the south wind and drove them
further to the north : where they saw an hill all
on fire and a foul smoke and stench coming from
thence : and the fire stood on each side of the
hill, like a wall, all burning. And then one of
his monks began to cry and weep full sore, and
said that his end was come and that he might

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 67

abide no longer in the ship. And anon he leapt
out of the ship into the sea. And then he cried
and roared full piteously, cursing the time that
he was born and also the father and mother that
begat him because they saw no better to his cor-
rection in his young age: "Wherefore now
I must go to perpetual pain." And then the
saying of the blessed Saint Brandon was verified
that he said to him when he entered into the
ship. Therefore it is good a man to do pen-
ance and forsake sin for the hour of death is un-
certain.

And then anon the wind returned into the
north and drove the ship into the south, which
sailed seven days continually. And they came to
a great rock standing in the sea : and thereon sat
a naked man in full great misery and pain, for
the waves of the sea had so beaten his body that
all the flesh was gone oiF and nothing left but
sinews and bare bones. And when the waves
were gone, there was a canvas that hung over his
head which beat his body full sore with the
blowing of the wind. And also there were two
ox-tongues and a great stone that he sat on which
did him full great ease.

And then Saint Brandon charged him to tell
him what he was. And he said : " My name is
Judas, that sold Our Lord Jesus Christ for thirty
pence, which sitteth here much wretchedly, how-
beit I am worthy to be in the greatest pain that
is. But Our Lord is so merciful that He hath
rewarded me better than I have deserved; for ol

68 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

right my place is in the burning hell. But I am
here but certain times of the year, that is, from
Christmas till the twelfth day, and from Easter
till Whitsuntide be past, and every feastful day
of Our Lady, and every Saturday noon till on
Sunday the evensong be done. But all other
times, I lie still in hell in full burning fire with
Pilate, Herod, and Caiaphas ; therefore accursed
be the time that ever I knew them.''

And then Judas prayed Saint Brandon to abide
still there all that night, and that he would keep
him there still that the fiends should not fetch
him to hell. And Saint Brandon said, " With
God's help thou shalt abide here all this night."
And then he asked Judas what cloth that was
that hung over his head. And he said that it
was a cloth that he gave to a leper, which was
bought with the money that he stole from Our
Lord when he bare His purse. " Wherefore, it
doth to me full great pain now in beating my
face with the blowing of the wind.* And these
two ox-tongues that hang here above me I gave
sometime to two priests to pray for me. Them
I bought with mine own money, and therefore
they ease me, because the fishes of the sea gnaw
on them and spare me. And this stone that I sit
on lay sometime in a desolate place where it
eased no man. And I took it thence, and laid it
in a foul way, where it did much ease to them
that went by that way. And therefore it easeth

* And therefore let every man alive beware that he take away no
taian's good wrongfully for he shall suffer pain therefore. (From the
manuscript used by Caxton.)

THE VOYAGE OF ST. BRANDON,

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 71

me now : for every good deed shall be rewarded,
and every evil deed shall be punished."

And then Sunday against even, there came a
great multitude of fiends blasting and roaring.
And they bade Saint Brandon go thence that
they might have their servant Judas : " For we
dare not come in the presence of our master, but
if we bring him to hell with us.'* And then said
Saint Brandon : " I hinder you not to do your
master's commandment, but by the power of the
Lord Jesus Christ, I charge you to leave him this
night till to-morrow.'' Thereto answered the
fiends : " How darest thou help him that so sold
his master for thirty pence and caused Him also
to die the most shameful death upon the cross ? "
And then Saint Brandon charged the fiends by
His Passion that they should not annoy him that
night. And then the fiends went their way,
roaring and crying, toward hell to their master
the Great Devil. And then Judas thanked Saint
Brandon so ruthfuUy that it was pity to see. And,
on the morrow, the fiends came with an horrible
noise, saying that they had that night suffered
great pain because they brought not Judas : and
said that he should suffer double pain the six days
following. And they took then Judas, trembling
for fear, with them to pain.

And after, the holy Saint Brandon sailed south-
ward, three days and three nights. And on the
Friday they saw an island. And then Saint Bran-
don began to sing ; and said : " I see the island
wherein Saint Paul the hermit dwelleth, and hath

72 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

dwelled there forty years without meat and drink
ordained by man's hand." And when they came
to the land, Saint Paul came and welcomed them
humbly. He was old and so forgrown with hair
that no man might see his body. Of whom Saint
Brandon said, weeping : " I see a man that liveth
more like an angel than a man : wherefore we
monks may be ashamed that we live not better.'*
Then Saint Paul said to Saint Brandon : " Thou
art better than I. For Our Lord hath shewed to
thee more privities than he hath done to me :
wherefore, thou oughtest to be more praised
than I.''

To whom Saint Paul said : " Some time I
was a monk of Saint Patrick's Abbey in Ireland,
and was guardian of the place whereas men enter
into Saint Patrick's Purgatory. And on a day
there came one to me and I asked him what he
was." And he said: "I am your Abbot Patrick,
and charge thee that thou depart from hence to-
morrow early to the sea-side. And there thou
shalt find a ship into which thou must enter,
which God hath ordained for thee, Whose will
thou must accomplish. And so the next day I
arose and went forth, and found the ship, in which
I entered. And, by the purveyance of God, I
was brought into this island the seventh day after.
And then I left the ship and went to land,
and there I walked up and down a good while.
And then, by the purveyance of God, there came
an otter, going upon his hinder feet, and brought
me a flint stone and an iron to strike fire with, in

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 73

the two fore-claws of his feet. And also, he had
about his neck great plenty of fishes, which he cast
down before me and went his way. And I smote
fire, and made a fire of sticks, and did seeth the
fish, by which I lived three days. And then the
otter came again and brought me fish for other
three days. And thus he hath done this fifty-one
years, through the grace of Almighty God. And
there was a great stone out of which Our Blessed
Lord made to spring fair water clear and sweet,
whereof I drink daily. And thus have I lived
one and fifty years. I was forty years old when
I came hither, and am now an hundred and nine
years old, and abide till it please Our Lord Jesus
Christ to send for me : and if it pleased Him, I
would fain be discharged of this wretched life.''

And then he bad Saint Brandon to take of the
water of the well and to carry it into his ship.
" For it is time that thou depart, for thou hast a
great journey to do. For thou shalt sail to an
island which is forty days' sailing hence, where
thou shalt hold thine Easter like as thou hast done
to-fore, whereas the tree of birds is. And from
thence, thou shalt sail into the land of Behest and
shalt abide there forty days, and after return home
into thy country in safety." And then these holy
men took leave each of other, and they wept both
full sore and kissed each other.

And then the blessed Saint Brandon entered
into the ship, and sailed forty days ever South in
full great tempest. And on Easter Even they
came to their procurator which made to them

74 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

good cheer, as he had before-time. And from
thence they came to the great fish where they said
Matins and Mass on Easter Day. And when the
Mass was done, the fish began to move, and swam
forth fast into the sea, whereof the monks were
sore aghast which stood upon him. For it was a
great marvel to see such a fish as great as all a
country for to swim so fast in the water. But,
by the will of Our Blessed Lord, this fish set all
the monks on land in the Paradise of Birds, all
whole and sound, and then returned to the place
that he came from. And then Saint Brandon and
his monks thanked Our Lord God of their deliver-
ance from the great fish, and kept their Easter-
tide till Trinity-Sunday, as they had done before-
time.

And, after this, they took their ship and sailed
forty days. And at the forty days' end, it began
to hail right fast. And therewith came a dark
mist which lasted long after : which feared Saint
Brandon and his monks, and they prayed to Our
Lord to keep and help them. And then anon
came their procurator and bad them to be of good
cheer : for they were come into the Land of
Behest.

And soon after the mist passed away. And
anon they saw the fairest country Eastward that
any man might see and was so clear and bright
that it was an heavenly sight to behold. And all
the trees were charged with ripe fruit and the
herbs were full of flowers. In which land they
walked forty days but they could not see none end

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 75

of that land. And there was always day and
never night and the land attempered neither to hot
nor to cold.

And at the last they came to a fair river : but
they durst not go over. And there came to them
a fair young man, and welcomed them courteously
and did great reverence to Saint Brandon. And
he said to them : "Be ye now joyful. For this is
the land that ye have sought. But Our Lord wills
that ye depart hence hastily, and He will show you
more of His secrets. When ye come again unto
the sea, Our Lord wills that ye lade your ship with
the fruit of this land and hie you hence : for ye
may no longer abide here. But thou shalt sail
again to thine own country and soon after thou
comest home thou shalt die. And this water that
thou seest herefdeparteth the world asunder. For
on the other side of this water may no man come
that is in this life. And the fruit that ye see here
is always thus ripe ; and always it is here light as
ye now see. And he that keepeth Our Lord's
hests at all times shall see this land or he pass out
of this world.''

And then Saint Brandon and his monks took of
the fruit as much as they would ; and also took
with them great plenty of precious stones. And
they took their leave, and went to ship weeping
sore because they might no longer abide there.
And then they took their ship and came home in-
to Ireland in safety, whom their bretheren received
with greait joy, giving thankings to Our Lord,
which had kept them all these seven years from

76 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

many a peril and brought them home in safety.
To whom be given honour and glory, world with-
out end, Amen.

And soon after this holy man. Saint Brandon,
waxed feeble and sick and had little joy of this
world, but ever after his joy and mind was in the
joys of heaven. And in short time after, he, being
full of virtues, departed out of this life to ever-
lasting life. And he was worshipfully buried in
a fair Abbey, which he himself founded : where
Our Lord shewed for this holy saint many fair
miracles. Wherefore let us devoutly pray to this
holy saint that he pray for us to Our Lord that He
have mercy on us. To whom be given laud, hon-
our, and empire, world without end. Amen.

VI.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT
CHRISTOPHER.

HRISTOPHER tofore his bap^
tism was named Reprobus. But
afterwards he was named Christo-
pher which is as much to say, as
bearing Christ. He bare Christ
in four manners, he bare him on
his shoulders, in his body by making it
lean, in mind by devotion, and in his
mouth by confession.

Christopher was of the lineage of the
Canaaneans and he was of a right great
stature, and had a terrible and fearful
cheer and countenance. And he was
twelve cubits of length. And, as it is
read in some histories, when he served
and dwelled with the king of Canaaneans,
it came in his mind that he would seek
the greatest prince that was in the world
and him he would serve and obey.

And so far he went that he came to a
right great king, of whom the renown
generally was that he was the greatest of
the world. And when the king saw him
he received him into his service and made
him to dwell in his court.

78 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Upon a time a minstrel sung tofore him a song
in which he named oft the devil. And the king,
which was a Christian man, when he heard him
name the devil, made anon the sign of the cross
in his visage. And when Christopher saw that,
he had great marvel what sign it was and where-
fore the king made it. And he demanded it of
him. And because the king would not say, he
said, " If thou tell me not, I shall no longer
dwell with thee." And then the king told to
him saying, " Alway when I hear the devil named,
I fear that he should have power over me, and I
garnish me with this sign that he grieve not nor
annoy me.** Then Christopher said to him,
"Thou doubtest the devil that he hurt thee not,
then is the devil more mighty and greater than
thou art. I am then deceived of my hope and
purpose ; for I supposed that I had founden the
most mighty and the most greatest lord of the
world. But I commend thee to God for I will
go seek him to be my lord and I his servant."

And then he departed from this king and
hasted him to seek the devil. And as he went
by a great desert he saw a great company of
knights. Of which a knight cruel and horrible
came to him and demanded whither he went.
And Christopher answered to him and said, " I go
to seek the devil for to be my master." And he
said, "I am he that thou seekest." And then
Christopher was glad and bound himself to be
his servant perpetual, and took him for his master
and lord.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 79

And as they went together by a common way,
they found there a cross erect and standing. And
anon as the devil saw the cross he was afeard and
fled, and left the right way and brought Christo-
pher about by a sharp desert, and after, when
they were past the cross, he brought him to the
highway that they had left. And when Christo-
pher saw that, he marvelled and demanded
whereof he doubted that he had left high and
fair way and had gone so far about by so hard
desert. And the devil would not tell to him in
no wise. Then Christopher said to him, "If
thou wilt not tell me I shall anon depart from
thee and shall serve thee no more.'' Wherefore
the devil was constrained to tell him, and said,
"There was a man called Christ which was
hanged on the cross, and when I see his sign, I
am sore afeard and flee from it wheresomever I
find it." To whom Christopher said, " Then he
is greater and more mightier than thou, when
thou art afeard of his sign. And I see well that
I have laboured in vain since I have not founden
the greatest lord of all the earth. And I will
serve thee no longer. Go thy way then : for I
will go seek Jesus Christ."

And when he had long sought and demanded
where he should find Christ, at the last he came
into a great desert to an hermit that dwelled there.
And this hermit preached to him of Jesus Christ
and informed him in the faith diligently. And
he said to him "This king whom thou desirest to
serve, requireth this service that thou must oft fast."

8o THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And Christopher said to him "Require of me some
other thing and I shall do it. For that which
thou requirest I may not do." And the hermit
said "Thou must then wake and make many
prayers.'' And Christopher said to him "I wot
not what it is. I may do no such thing." And
then the hermit said unto him "knowest thou such
a river in which many be perished and lost?"
To whom Christopher said, "I know it well."
Then said the hermit "Because thou art noble
and high of stature and strong in thy members,
thou shalt be resident by that river and shalt bear
over all them that shall pass there. Which shall
be a thing right convenable to Our Lord Jesus
Christ, whom thou desirest to serve, and I hope
He shall shew Himself to thee." Then said
Christopher, "Certes, this service may I well do,
and I promise to Him for to do it."

Then went Christopher to this river, and made
there his habitation for him. And he bare a great
pole in his hand instead of a staff, by which he
sustained him in the water : and bare over all
manner of people without ceasing. And there
iie abode, thus doing many days.

And on a time, as he slept in his lodge, he heard
the voice of a child which called him and said,
"Christopher, come out and bear me over." Then
he awoke and went out ; but he found no man.
And when he was again in his house, he heard the
same voice, and he ran out and found no body.
The third time he was called, and came thither,
and found a child beside the rivage of the river :

ST. CHRHSrOPHER.

I

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 83

which prayed him goodly to bear him over the
water. And then Christopher lift up the child
on his shoulders and took his staff and entered in
to the river for to pass. And the water of the
river arose and swelled more and more. And the
child was heavy as lead. And always as he went
further the water increased and grew more, and
the child more and more waxed heavy : in so much
that Christopher had great anguish and feared
to be drowned. And when he was escaped with
great pain and passed the water, and set the child
a ground, he said to the child, "Child, thou hast
put me in great peril. Thou weighest almost as
I had had all the world upon me. I might bear
no greater burden.*' And the child answered
"Christopher, marvel thou no thing. For thou
hast not only borne all the world upon thee ; but
thou hast borne Him that created and made all
the world upon thy shoulders. I am Jesus Christ,
the king to whom thou servest in this work. And
that thou mayest know that I say to thee truth,
set thy staff in the earth by the house, and thou
shalt see to-morrow that it shall bear flowers and
fruit." And anon he vanished from his eyes.

And then Christopher set his staff in the earth
and when he arose on the morrow, he found his
staff like a palm-tree bearing flowers, leaves and
dates.

And then Christopher went into the city of
Lycia and understood not their language ; then
he prayed Our Lord he might understand them :
and so. he did. And as he was in this prayer, the

84 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

judges supposed that he had been a fool, and left
him there. And when Christopher understood
the language, he covered his visage and went to a
place where they martyred Christian men, and
comforted them in Our Lord. And then the
judges smote him in the face. And Christopher
said to them : " If I were not Christian, I would
anon avenge mine injury." And then Christopher
pitched his rod in the earth and prayed to Our
Lord that, for to convert the people, it might
bear flowers and fruit. And anon it did so, and
then he converted eight thousand men. And
then the king sent two knights for to fetch him to
him. And they found him praying and durst not
tell to him so. And anon after, the king sent as
many more. And they anon set them down for
to pray with him. And when Christopher arose,
he said to them : " What seek ye ? " And when
they saw him in the visage, they said to him :
" The king hath sent us that we should lead thee
bounden unto him." And Christopher said to
them : " If I would, ye should not lead me to
him bounden nor unbounden." And they said
to him : " If thou wilt go thy way, go quit where
thou wilt, and we shall say to the king that we
have not found thee.'' "It shall not be so,*' said
he, "but I shall go with you." And then he
converted them in the faith ; and he commanded
them that they should bind his hands behind his
back and lead him so bounden to the king.

And when the king saw him, he was afeared
and fell down off his siege. And his servants

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 85

lifted him up, and then the king enquired his
name and his country. And Christopher said to
him : " Tofore or I was baptized, I was named
Reprobus and now am named Christopher : to-
fore baptism a Canaanean, now a Christian man."
To whom the king said : " Thou hast a foolish
name, that is to wit of Christ crucified which
could not help Himself ne may not profit to thee.
Therefore, thou cursed Canaanean, why wilt thou
not do sacrifice to our gods ?'' To whom Chris-
topher said : " Thou art rightfully called Dagnus
for thou art the death of the world and the fellow
of the devil ; and thy gods be made with the
hands of men.'' And the king said to him :
" Thou wert nourished among wild beasts, and
therefore thou mayest not say but wild language
and words unknown to men. And if thou wilt
now do sacrifice to the gods, I shall give to thee
great gifts and great honours. And if not I shall
destroy thee and consume thee by great pains and
torments." But for all this he would in no wise
do sacrifice : wherefore he was sent into prison.
And the king did do behead the knights that he
had sent for him, whom he had converted.

And at the last the king commanded that he
should be bounden to a strong stake and that he
should be shot through with arrows by forty
knights, archers. But none of all the knights
might attain nor hurt him, for the arrows hung
in the air nigh about him without touching. Then
the king weened that he had been through shotten
with the arrows of the knights, and addressed him

86 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

tor to go to him. And one of the arrows returned
suddenly from the air and smote him in the eye
and blinded him. To whom Christopher said :
."Tyrant, I shall die to-morrow. Make a little
clay with my blood tempered, and anoint there-
with thine eye, and thou shalt receive health."
Then by the commandment of the king, he was
led for to be beheaded, and then there he made
his orison and his head was smitten off, and so he
suffered martyrdom. And the king then took a
little of his blood and laid it on his eye and said,
" In the name of God and of Saint Christopher,'*
and was anon healed. Then the king believed in
God and gave commandment that if any person
blamed God or Saint Christopher he should anon
be slain with the sword.

VII.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT
EUSTACE.

USTACE was named tofore his
baptism Placidus, which is as much
to say as pleasant to God. And
Eustace is said of u that is to say
good, and stachis that is, fortune.
Therefore Eustace is, as it were,
good fortune. He was pleasant to God in his
conversation, and after, he held him in good
works.

Eustace which first was named Placidus, was
master of the chivalry of Trajan the Emperor,
and was right busy in the works of mercy but he
was a worshipper of idols. And he had a wife of
the same rite and also of the deeds of mercy. Of
whom he had two sons which he did do nourish
after his estate. And because he was ententive
to the work of mercy, he deserved to be enlu-
mined to the way of truth. So that on a day as
he was on hunting, he found an herd of harts,
among whom he saw one more fair and greater
than the others, which departed from the com-
pany and sprang into the thickest of the forest.
And the other knights ran after the other harts,
but Placidus sued him with all his might and en-
forced to take him. And when the hart saw

88 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

that he followed him with all his power, at the
last he went up on an high rock. And Placidus
approaching nigh, thought in his mind how he
might take him. And as he beheld and con-
sidered the hart diligently, he saw between his
horns the form of the holy cross shining more
clearer than the sun, and the image of Christ
which by the mouth of the hart (like as sometime
Balaam by the ass) spake to him saying, " Placidus,
wherefore followest thou me hither ? I am ap-
peared to thee in this beast for the grace of thee.
I am Jesus Christ whom thou honourest ignor-
antly. Thine alms be ascended up tofore me
and therefore I come hither so that by this hart
that thou huntest I may hunt thee.'' And some
other say that this image of Jesus Christ which
appeared between the horns of the hart said these
words. And when Placidus heard that, he had
great dread and descended from his horse to the
ground. And an hour after he came to himself,
and arose from the ground and said, " Rehearse
again this that thou hast said and I shall believe
thee." And then Our Lord said, " I am Jesus
Christ that formed heaven and earth, which made
the light to increase and divided it from darkness,
and established time, days and hours; which
formed man of the slime of the earth; which
appeared in earth in flesh for the health of the
lineage human ; which was crucified, dead, buried
and rose the third day. And when Placidus heard
this he fell down again to the earth and said, " I
believe, Lord, that Thou art He that made all

^T. EUSTACE.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 91

things and convertest them that err." And Our
Lord said to him, " If thou believest, go to the
bishop of the city and do thee to be baptised."
And Placidus said to Him, " Lord, wilt Thou
that I hide this thing from my wife and my
sons?" And Our Lord said to him, "Tell to
them, that they also make themselves clean with
thee. And see that thou come again to-morrow
hither that I may appear again to thee, and may
shew to thee that which shall come hereafter to
thee."

And when he was come home to his house and
told this thing to his wife in their bed, she cried,
" My lord," and said, "And I saw Him this night
that is passed and He said to me, 'To-morrow,
thou, thy husband and thy sons shall come to me ; *
and now I know that it was Christ." Then they
went to the bishop of Rome at midnight, which
baptized them with great joy and named Placidus
Eustace and his wife Theospita.

And on the morrow Eustace went to hunt as
he did tofore, and when he came nigh to the
place, he departed his knights as for to find
venison. And anon he saw in the place the form
of the first vision. And anon he fell down to
the ground tofore the figure and said, " Lord, I
pray Thee to shew to me that which Thou hast
promised to me Thy servant." To whom Our
Lord said, " Eustace, thou art blessed, which hast
taken the washing of grace. For now thou hast
surmounted the devil which had deceived thee
and hast trodden him under foot. Now thy

92 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

faith shall appear. The devil, because thou hast
forsaken him, is armed cruelly against thee, and it
behoveth thee to suffer many things and pains.
For to have the crown of victory, thou must suf-
fer much to humble thee from the high vanity of
the world and shalt afterwards be enhanced in
spiritual riches. Thou therefore fail not nor look
not unto thy first glory. For thee behoveth that
by temptations thou be another Job. And when
thou shalt so be humbled, I shall come to thee
and shall restore thee unto the first joy. Say to
me now whether thou wilt now suffer and take
temptations, or in the end of thy life.'' And
Eustace said to Him, '' Lord, if it so behoveth,
command that temptation come to me now. But
I beseech Thee to grant to me the virtue of
patience.'* To whom Our Lord said, " Be thou
constant, for My grace shall keep yonr souls."
Then Our Lord ascended into heaven, and
Eustace returned home and shewed all this to
his wife.

After this a few days, the pestilence assailed
his servants and his knights and slew them all.
And in a little while after all his horses and his
beasts died suddenly. And after this some that
had been his fellows seeing his depredation,
entered into his house by night and robbed him
and bare away gold and silver and despoiled him
of all other things. And he, his wife and chil-
dren thanked God and fled away all naked. And
because they doubted shame they fled away into
Egypt and all his great possession came to nought

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 93

by ravine of wicked people. Then the king and
all his senators sorrowed much for the master of
the chivalry which was so noble, because they
might hear no tidings of him.

And as they went, they approached the sea,
and found a ship and entered into it for to pass.
And the master of the ship saw that the wife of
Eustace was right fair and desired much for to
have her. And when they were passed over he
demanded his reward for their freight. And
they had not whereof to pay : so that the master
of the ship commanded that the wife should be
hold en and retained for his hire. And when
Eustace heard that he gainsaid it long. Then
the master of the ship commanded his mariners
to cast him into the sea. And when Eustace saw
that, he left his wife much sorrowfully, and took
his two children and went weeping.

And thus sorrowing, he and his children came
to a river, and for the great abundance of water
he durst not pass that river with both his sons at
once, which were then young. But at the last
he left one of them on the brink of the river and
bare over that other on his shoulders. And whea
he had passed the river he set down on the
ground the child that he had borne over, and
hasted him to fetch that other that he had left on
the other side of the river And when he was in
the midst of the water, there came a wolf and
took the child that he had borne over, and fled
withal to the wood. And he then all despaired
of him, went for to fetch that other. And as he

94 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

went there came a great lion and bare away the
other child so that he might not retain him : for
he was in the middle of the river. And then he
began to weep and draw his hair and would have
drowned himself in the water if the divine pur-
veyance had not letted him.

And the herdmen and ploughmen saw the lion
bearing the child all alive, and they followed him
with their dogs : so that by divine grace the lion
left the child all safe without hurt. And other
ploughmen cried and followed the wolf, and with
their staves and falchions delivered the child
whole and sound from his teeth without hurt.
And so both the herdmen and ploughmen were
of one village and nourished these children among
them.

And Eustace knew no thing thereof, but weep-
ing and sorrowing, said to himself, " Alas, woe is
me ; for tofore this mishap I shone in great
wealth like a tree, but now I am naked of all
things. Alas, I was accustomed to be accom-
panied with a great multitude of knights and
I am now alone and am not suffered to have my
sons. O Lord, I remember me that Thou saidst
to me, ' Thee behoveth to be tempted as Job
was.' But I see that in me is more done to than
was to Job. For he lost all his possessions but he
had a dunghill to sit on, but to me is nothing
left. He had friends which had pity on him and
I have none ; but wild beasts have borne away
my sons. To him was his wife left and my wife
is taken from me and delivered to another. O

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 95

good Lord, give Thou rest to my tribulations,
and keep Thou so my mouth that my heart de-
cline not into no words of malice and I be cast
from thy visage." And thus saying and walking
in great weeping, he went in to a street of the
town, and there was hired for to keep the fields
of the men of the town.

And so he kept them xv year. His sons were
nourished in another town and knew not that
they were brethren. And Our Lord kept the
wife of Eustace so that the strange man had not
to do with her nor touched her, but died and
ended his life.

In that time the Emperor and the people were
much tormented of their enemies and then they
remembered of Placidus how he many times had
fought nobly against them. For whom the Em-
peror was much sorrowful and sent out into
divers parts many knights to seek him, and pro-
mised to them that found him much riches and
great honour. And two knights which had been
under him in chivalry came in to the same street
where he dwelled. And anon as Placidus saw
them he knew them. And then he remembered
his first dignity and began to be heavy and said,
"Lord, I beseech Thee, grant to me that I may
sometime see my wife. For as for my sons I
know well that they be devoured of wild beasts."
And then a voice came to him and said, "Eustace,
have thou good affiance, for anon thou shalt re- ^
cover thine honour and shalt have thy wife and .^

children." And anon he went with these knights

t(.\ \ 0/

96 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

and they knew him not but demanded of him if
he knew any strange man named Placidus that had
a wife and two children. And he said, " Nay."
Yet he had them home to his hostel and served
them. And when he remembered of his first
estate he might not hold him from weeping.
Then he went out and washed his face and re-
turned for to serve them. And they considered
and said that one to that other how that this man
resembleth much to him that we seek. And that
other answered, " Certainly, he is like unto him.
Now let us see if he have a wound in his head
that he gat in a battle," Then they beheld and
saw the sign of the wound and they wist well
that it was he that they sought. Then they
arose and kissed him and demanded of his wife
and children : and he said that his sons were dead
and his wife was taken away from him : and then
the neighbours ran for to hear this thing, because
the knights told and recounted his first glory and
his virtue. And they said to him the command-
ment of the Emperor and clad him with noble
vestments.

Then after the journey of xv days, they
brought him to the Emperor. And when he
heard of his coming he ran anon against him and
when he saw him he kissed him. Then Eustace
recounted tofore them all by order that which
had happened to him : and he was re-established
unto the office to be again master of the chivalry
and was constrained to do the ofiice like as he did
tofore.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 97

And then he counted how many knights there
were and saw that there were but few as to the
regard of their enemies and commanded that all
the young men should be gathered in the cities
and towns. And it happed that the country
where his sons were nourished should make and
send two men of arms. Then all the inhabitants
of that country ordained these two young men
his sons most convenable above all other for to go
with the master of the chivalry. And then when
the master saw these two young men of noble
form, adorned honestly with good manners, they
pleased him much. And he ordained that they
should be with the first of his table.

Then he went thus to the battle. And when
he had subdued his enemies to him, he made his
host to rest iii. days in a town where his wife
dwelled and kept a poor hostelry. And these
two young men, by the purveyance of God, were
lodged in the habitation of their mother without
knowing what she was. And on a time about
midday, they spake that one to that other of their
infancy and their mother which was there
hearkened what they said much ententively. So
the greatest said to the less, " When I was a
child, I remember none other thing save that my
father, which was master of the knights, and my
mother which was right fair, had two sons, that is
to say, me and another younger than I. And
they took us and went out of their house by night
and entered into a ship for to go I wot not
whither. And when we went out of the ship

98 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

our mother was left in the ship, I wot not in
what manner. But my father bore me and my
brother sore weeping. And when he came to a
water he passed over with my younger brother
and left me on the bank of the water. And when
he returned a wolf came and bare away my
brother : and ere my father might come to me, a
great lion issued out of the forest, and took me
up and bare me into the wood. But the herdmen
that saw him took me from the mouth of the
lion and I was nourished in such a town as ye
know well. But I could never know what hap-
pened to my brother nor where he is.'' And
when the younger heard this, he began to weep
and say, " Forsooth like as I hear I am thy
brother. For they that nourished me said that
they had taken me from a wolf.'' And then
they began to embrace and kiss each other and
weep.

And when their mother had heard all this
thing, she considered long in herself if they were
her two sons, because they had said by order
what was befallen them. And the next day fol-
lowing she went to the master of the chivalry
and required him, saying, " Sir, I pray thee that
thou command that I be brought again to my
country. For I am of the country of the Romans
and here I am a stranger." And in saying these
words, she saw in him signs and knew by them
that he was her husband. And then she might
no longer forbear but fell down at his feet and
said to him, " Sir, I pray thee to tell of thy first

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 99

estate, for I ween that thou art Placidus master of
the knights which otherwise art called Eustace
whom Jesus Christ converted and hast suffered
such temptation and such. And I that am thy
wife was taken from thee on the sea, which
nevertheless have been kept from all corruption.
And thou hadst of me two sons, Agapetus and
Theospitus." And Eustace hearing this dili-
gently considered and beheld her and anon knew
that she was his wife. And he wept for joy and
kissed her and glorified much our Lord God
which comforted the discomforted. And then
said his wife, " Sir, where be our sons ? " And
he said that they were slain of wild beasts and he
recounted to her how he had lost them. And
she said, " Let us give thankings to God : for I
I suppose that like as God has given to us grace
each to find other so shall He give us grace to
recover our sons." And he said, " I have told
to thee that they be devoured of wild beasts."
And she then said, " I sat yesterday in a garden
and heard two younglings thus and thus ex-
pounding their infancy, and I believe that they
be our sons. Demand them and they shall tell
to thee the truth." Then Eustace called them
and heard their infancy and knew that they were
his sons. Then he embraced them and the
mother also and kissed them. Then all the host
enjoyed strongly of the finding of his wife and
children, and for the victory of the barbarians.

And when he was returned, Trajan was then
dead and Hadrian succeeded in the Empire which

loo THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

was worst in all felonies. And as well for the
victory, as for the finding of his wife and children,
he received them much honourably, and did do
make a great dinner and feast. And on the next
day after he went to the temple of the idols for
to sacrifice for the victory of the barbarians. And
then the Emperor seeing that Eustace would not
do sacrifice, neither for the victory nor for that
he had found his wife and children, warned and
commanded him that he should do sacrifice. To
whom Eustace said, " I adore and do sacrifice to
Our Lord Jesus Christ and only serve Him.''
And then the Emperor, replenished with ire, put
him, his wife, and his sons in a certain place and
did do go to them a right cruel lion. And the
lion ran to them and inclined his head to them,
like as he had worshipped them, and departed.
Then the Emperor did do make a fire under an
ox of brass or copper : and when it was fire hot,
he commanded that they should be put therein
all quick and alive. And then the saints prayed
and commended them unto Our Lord, and en-
tered into the ox and there yielded up their
spirits to Jesus Christ. And the third day after
they were drawn out tofore the Emperor, and
were found all whole and not touched by the
fire, nor as much as an hair of them was burnt,
nor none other thing on them. And then the
the Christian men took the bodies of them and
laid them in a right noble place honourably and
made over them an oratory. And they suffered
death under Hadrian the Emperor, which began

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. loi

about the year of Our Lord CXX, in the kalends

of November.

VIII.— LEGEND OF SAINT GEORGE.

AINT GEORGE was a knight and
born in Cappadocia. On a time he
came into the province of Lybia to
a city which is said Silena. And by
this city was a stagne or pond like a
sea, wherein was a dragon which en-
venomed all the country. And on a time the
people were assembled for to slay him. And
when they saw him they fled, and when he
came nigh the city, he venomed the people with
his breath. And therefore the people of the city
gave to him every day two sheep for to feed him,
by cause he should do no harm to the people.
And when the sheep failed there was taken a man
and a sheep. Then was an ordinance made in
the town that there should be taken the children
and young people of them of the town by lot,
and every one as it fell, were he gentle or poor,
should be delivered when the lot fell on him or
her.

So it happened that many of them of the town
were then delivered, in so much that the lot fell
upon the king's daughter. Whereof the king was
sorry and said to the people, " For the love of the
gods take gold and silver and all that I have, and
let me have my daughter." They said, "Sir, ye

SAINT GEORGE

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 105

have made and ordained the law and our children
be now dead ; and now ye would do the contrary.
Your daughter shall be given or else we shall burn
you and your house/'

When the king saw he might no more do, he
began to weep and said to his daughter, "Now
shall I never see thine espousals.'* Then returned
he to his people and demanded eight days respite
and they granted it to him. And when the eight
days were passed, they came to him and said
"Thou seest that the city perisheth.'' Then did
the king do array his daughter like as she should
be wedded, and embraced her and kissed her, and
gave her his benediction, and after led her to the
place where the dragon was.

When she was there, Saint George passed by
and when he saw the lady, he demanded the lady
what she made there. And she said, "Go ye your
way, fair young man, that ye perish not also."
Then said he, "Tell to me why ye weep and
doubt ye no thing.'' When she saw that he
would know, she said to him how she was deliv-
ered to the dragon. Then said Saint George,
"Fair daughter, doubt ye no thing hereof for I
shall help thee in the name of Jesus Christ." She
said, "For God's sake, good knight, go your way
and abide not with me, for ye may not deliver

me."

Thus as they spake together, the dragon ap-
peared and came running to them. And Saint
George was upon his horse and drew out his
sword, and garnished him with the sign of the

io6 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

cross, and rode hardily against the dragon which
came toward him, and he smote him with his
spear and hurt him right sore and threw him to
the ground.

And after he said to the maid, "Deliver to me
your girdle and bind it about the neck of the
dragon and be not afeard." When she had done
so, the dragon followed her as it had been a meek
beast and debonair.

Then she led him into the city. And the people
fled by mountains and valleys and said, "Alas,
alas, we shall all be dead." Then Saint George
said to them, "Ne doubt ye no thing; without
more, believe me in Jesus Christ and do ye to
be baptized, and I shall slay the dragon." Then
the king was baptized and all his people. And
Saint George slew the dragon and smote oiF his
head and commanded that he should be thrown in
the fields. And they took four carts with oxen
that drew him out of the city.

Then there were well fifteen thousand men
baptized without women and children. And the
king did do make a church there of Our Lady
and of Saint George, in the which yet riseth a
fountain of living water which healeth sick people
that drink thereof. After this the king offered
to Saint George as much money as might be
numbered but he refused all and commanded
that it should be given to poor people for God's
sake. And he enjoined the king four things,
that is, that he should have charge of the churches,
and that he should honour the priests and hear

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 107

their service diligently, and that he should have
pity on the poor peop'e; and after kissed the
king and departed.

It is found in the history of Antioch, that
when the Christian men went over sea to conquer
Jerusalem, that one, a right fair young man, ap-
peared to a priest of the host and counselled him
that he should bear with him a little of the relics
of Saint George, for that Saint George was con-
ductor of the battle. And so he did so much that
he had some. And when it so was that they had
assieged Jerusalem, and durst not mount nor go
up on the walls for the quarrels and defence of
the Saracens, they saw apertly Saint George,
which had white arms with a red cross, that went
up tofore them on the walls, and they followed
him. And so was Jerusalem taken by his help.

IX.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT GILES.

[ILES in English and Egidius in
Latin. And it is said of E that is
without, and geos, that is earth,
and dya that is clear or godly.
He was without earth by despising
of earthly things, clear by enlu-
mining of science, divine or godly by love which
assembleth the lover to him that is loved.

Saint Giles was born in Athens, and was of
noble lineage and royal kindred, and in his
childhood he was informed in holy lecture. And
on a day, as he went to the church, he found a
sick man, which lay all sick in the way and de-
manded alms of Saint Giles, which ga\e him his
coat : and as soon as he clad him withal he re-
ceived full and entire health. And after that
anon, his father and his mother died, and rested
in Our Lord. And then Saint Giles made Jesus
Christ heir of his heritage.

Then Giles doubted the peril of the world,
and went secretly to the rivage of the sea, and
saw there mariners in great peril, and like to
perish in the sea. And he made his prayer, and
anon the tempest ceased, and the mariners came
to land and thanked God. And he understood
by them that they went to Rome, and he desired

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 109

to go with them. Whom they received into thcif
ship gladly, and said they would have him go
thither without any freight or hire.

And then he came to Aries, and abode there
two years with Saint Caesarius, bishop of the
city, and there healed a man that had been sick
of the fevers three years.

And after he desired to go into desert and de-
parted covertly and dwelled there long with an
hermit that was an holy man. And there by his
merits he chased away the sterility and barrenness
that was in that country and caused great plenty
of goods.

And when he had done this miracle, he doubted
the peril of the glory human, and left that place
and entered further into the desert. And there
he found a pit, and a little well, and a fair hind
which without doubt was purveyed of God for
to nourish him, and at certain hours ministered
her milk unto him.

And on a time servants of the king rode on
hunting and much people and many hounds with
them. It happed that they espied this hind and
they thought that she was so fair, that they fol-
lowed her with hounds. And when she was sore
constrained, she fled for succour to the feet of
Saint Giles whom she nourished. And then he
was much abashed when he saw her so chafed
and more than she was wont to be : and then he
leapt up and espied the hunters. Then he prayed
to Our Lord that like as He sent her to him for
to be nourished by her, that He would save her.

no THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Then the hounds durst not approach her by the
space of a stone's cast, but they howled together
and returned to the hunters. And then the night
came, and they returned home again and took
nothing.

And when the king heard say of this thing he
had suspicion what it might be, and went and
warned the bishop. And both went together with a
great multitude of hunters. And when the hounds
were on the place whereas the hind was, they
durst not go forth as they did before. Then all
they environed the bush for to see what there
was. But that bush was so thick that no man
nor beast might enter therein for the brambles
and thorns that were there. And then one of the
knights drew up an arrow foolishly for to make
the hind afeard and leap out : but he wounded
and hurt the holy man which ceased not to pray
for the hind. And after this the hunters made a
way with their swords and went unto the pit and
saw there this ancient man, which was clothed in
the habit of a monk of a right honourable figure
and parure, and the hind lying by him. And the
king and the bishop went alone to him and de-
manded him from whence he was, and what he
was, and why he had taken so great a thickness of
desert and of whom he was so hurt. And he
answered right honestly to every demand. And
when they had heard him speak, they thought
that he was an holy man and required him humbly
of pardon.

And they sent to him masters and surgeons, for ta

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. iii

heal his wound and offered him many gifts. But
he would never lay medicine to his wound nor
receive their gifts, but refused them, and he
prayed Our Lord that he might never be whole
thereof in his life. For he knew well that virtue
should profit to him in infirmity. And the king
visited him oft and received of him the pasture of
health : and the king offered him great riches
but he refused all.

And after he admonished the king that he
should do make a monastery, whereas the dis-
cipline of the order of monks should be. And
when he had do make it, Giles refused many
times to take the charge. And at the last he was
vanquished by prayers of the king and took it.

And then King Charles heard speak of the re-
nown of him, and besought that he might see him :
and he received him much honourably. And he
prayed him to pray for him, among other things
by cause he had done a sin so foul and villanous
that he durst not be shriven thereof to him, or to
none other. And on the Sunday after, as Saint
Giles said Mass and prayed for the king, the angel
of Our Lord appeared to him, and laid a schedule
upon the altar, where the sin of the king was
written by order and it was pardoned him by the
prayers of Saint Giles, so that he were thereof re-
pentant, and abstained him from doing it any
more. And it was adjoined at the end that who
that required Saint Giles for any sin that he had
done, if he left it, that it should be pardoned to
him. And after the holy man delivered the

112 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

schedule to the king, and he confessed his sin and
required pardon publicly.

Then Saint Giles returned thence with honour,
and when he came to the city of Nismes, he
raised the son of a prince that was dead. And a
little while after he denounced that his monastery
should be destroyed of enemies of the faith. And
after he went to Rome and got privileges of the
Pope to his church, and two doors of cypress in
which were the images of Saint Peter and Paul.
And he threw them into the Tiber at Rome, and
recommended them to God for to govern. And
when he returned to his monastery he made a
lame man to go, and found the two doors of
cypress at the gate of his monastery. Whereof
he thanked God that had kept them without
breaking in so many adventures as they had been
in, and soon he set them at the gates of the
church for the beauty of them, and for the grace
that the Church of Rome had done thereto.

And at the last Our Lord shewed to him his
departing out of this world, and he said it to his
brethren, and admonished them to pray for him,
and so he slept and died godly in Our Lord.

And many witness that they heard the com-
pany of angels bearing the soul of him in to
heaven. And he flourished about the year of
Our Lord VII C.

X.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT JULIAN
HOSPITATOR.

JULIAN there was that slew his
father and mother by innocence.
And this man was noble and young,
and gladly went for to hunt. And
one time among all other he found
an hart which returned toward
him, and said to him : " Thou huntest me that
shalt slay thy father and mother." Hereof was
he much abashed and afeard, and for dread that it
should happen to him that the hart had said to
him, he went privily away that no man knew
thereof, and found a prince, noble and great, to
whom he put him in service. And he proved so
well in battle and in services in his palace, that
he was so much in the prince's grace that he made
him knight, and gave to him a rich widow of a
castellan, and for her dower he received the castle.
And when his father and mother knew that he
was thus gone, they put them in the way for to
seek him in many places. And so long they went
till they came to the castle where he dwelled.
But then he was gone out, and they found his
wife. And when she saw them she enquired
diligently who they were. And when they had
said and recounted what was happened of their
son, she knew verily that they were the father and

114 'I'HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

mother of her husband, and received them much
charitably, and gave to them her own bed and
made another for herself. And on the morrow
the wife of Julian went to the church, and her
husband came home while she was at the church.
And he entered into his chamber for to awake
his wife. And he saw twain in his bed, and
weened that it had been a man that had lain with
his wife, and slew them both with his sword.
And after he went out and saw his wife coming
from the church. Then was he much abashed,
and demanded of his wife who they were that lay
in his bed. Then she said that they were his
father and his mother which had long sought him,
and she had laid them in his bed. Then he
swooned and was almost dead and began to weep
bitterly and cry : " Alas ! caitiff that I am, what
shall I do that have slain my father and mother ?
Now it is happened that I supposed to have es-
chewed." And he said to his wife, "Adieu and
farewell, my right dear love. I shall never rest
till that I shall have knowledge if God will pardon
and forgive me this that I have done, and that I
shall have worthy penance therefore." And she
answered : " Right dear love, God forbid that ye
should go without me. Like as I have had joy
with you so will I have pain and heaviness."
Then departed they and went till they came to a
great river over which much folk passed, where
they edified an hospital much great for to harbour
poor people, and there did their penance in bear-
ing men over that would pass.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 115

After long time, Saint Julian slept about mid-
night sore travailed, and it was frore and much
cold. And he heard a voice lamenting and cry-
ing, that said: "Julian, come and help us over."
And anon he arose and went over and found one
almost dead for cold. Anon he took him and bare
him to the fire and did great labour to chafe and
warm him. And when he saw that he could not
be chafed nor warmed, he bare him into his bed
and covered him the best wise he might. And
anon after he that was so sick and appeared as he
had been measle, he saw all shining ascend into
heaven. And he said to Saint Julian, his host,
"Julian, Our Lord hath sent me to thee and send-
eth thee word that He hath accepteth thy pen-
ance." And awhile after. Saint Julian and his
wife rendered unto God their souls and departed
out of this world.

XL— THE LEGEND OF SAINT
KATHERINE, VIRGIN AND MARTYR.

ATHERINE is said of catha, that
is, all, and ruin, that is, falling ;
for all the edifice of the devil fell
from her. For th<e edifice of pride
fell from her by humility that she
had, and the edifice of fleshly de-
sires fell from her by her virginity, and worldly
covetise, for she despised all worldly things. Or
Katherine may be said as a little chain ; for she
made a chain of good works by which she mounted
into heaven. And this chain or ladder hath four
grees or steps, which be innocence of work, clean-
ness of body, despising of vanity, and saying of
truth. Which the prophet putteth by order when
he saith, "Quis ascendet in montem domini ? In-
nocens manibus.'* "Who shall ascend into the
mountain of Our Lord; that is, heaven." And he
answereth "The innocent of his hands, he that is
clean in his heart, he that hath not taken in vain
his soul, and he that hath not sworn in fraud and
deceit to his neighbour." And it appeareth in
her legend how these four degrees were in her.

Katherine by descent of line was of the noble
lineage of the Emperors of Rome. Whose most
blessed life and conversation wrote the solemn

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 117

doctor Anathasius which knew her lineage and
her life, for he was one of her masters in her
tender age before she was converted to the Christ-
ian faith. And after, the said Anathasius by her
preaching and marvellous works was converted
also, which after her martyrdom was made Bishop
of Alexandria and a glorious pillar of the Church
by the grace of God and merits of Saint Kath-
erine.

As we iind by credible chronicles, in the time
of Diocletian and Maximian was great and cruel
tyranny shewed in all the world as well to Christ-
ian men as to paynims, so that many that were,
subject to Rome put away the yoke of servage
and rebelled openly against the Empire. Among
whom the realm of Armenia was one that with-
stood most the tribute of the Romans. Wherefore
they of Rome deputed a noble man of dignity
named Constantine which was tofore other a val-
iant man in arms, discreet and virtuous. The
which lord after he came in to Armenia anoa
subdued them by his discreet prudence and de-
served to have the love and favour of his enemies,
in so much that he was desired to marry the
daughter of the king, which was sole heir of the
realm, and he consented and married her. And
soon after, the king her father died and then
Constantine was enhanced and t crowned king,
which soon after had a son by his wife named
Costus, at the birth of whom his mother died.
After the death of whom Constantine returned
to Rome to see the Emperor and to know how his.

ii8 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

lordships were governed. In the meantime tidings
came to Rome how that Great Britain which now
-is called England rebelled against the Empire.
Wherefore by the advice of the Consuls, it was
concluded that Constantine, King of Armenia,
should go into Britain to subdue them, which ad-
dressed him thither. And in short time after he
entered into the land, by his prowess and wisdom
he appeased the realm and subdued it again to the
Empire of Rome. And also he was so acceptable
to the king of Britain named Coel that he married
his daughter Helena, which afterward found the
holy cross. And in short time he gat on her
Constantine which afterward was Emperor. And
then soon after died Constantine, and Constantine
after the death of king Coel, by his mother was
crowned King of Britain. And Costus the first
son of Constantine, wedded the king's daughter
of Cyprus which was heir. Of whom, as shall
be hereafter said, was engendered Saint Katherine
which came of the lineage of Constantine.

In the year of Our Lord two hundred, reigned
in Cyprus a noble and prudent king named
Costus, which was a noble and seemly man, rich
and of good conditions, and had to wife a queen
like to himself in virtuous governance. Which
lived together prosperously, but after the law of
paynims and worshipped idols. This king, be-
cause he loved renown and would have his name
spread through the world, he founded a city in
which he edified a temple of his false gods. And
he named that city after his name Costi : which

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 119

after, to increase his fame, the people named it
Fama Costi, and yet unto this day is called
Famagusta. In which city he and the queen
lived in great wealth and prosperity.

And like as the fair rose springeth among the
briars and thorns, right so between these two
paynims was brought forth the blessed virgin,
Saint Katherine. And when this holy virgin was
born, she was so fair of visage and so well formed
in her members that all the people enjoyed in
her beauty. And when she came to seven years
of age, anon after she was set to school ; where
she proiitted much more than any other of her
age and was informed in the arts liberal, wherein
she drank plenteously of the well of wisdom.
For she was chosen to be a teacher and informer
of everlasting wisdom.

The king Costus her father had so great joy of
the great towardness and wisdom of his daughter,
that he let ordain a tower in his palace with
divers studies and chambers in which she might
be at her pleasures and also at her will. And
also be ordained for to wait on her seven the best
masters and wisest in cunning that might be
gotten in those parts. And within a while they
that came to teach her they after learned of her
and became her disciples.

And when this virgin came to the age of thir-
teen years, her father King Costus died and then
she was left as queen and heir after him. And
then the estates of the land came to this young
lady Katherine and desired her to make a parlia-

I20 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

ment, in which she might be crowned and re-
ceive the homage of her subjects : and that such
rule might be set in her beginning, that peace
and prosperity might ensue in her realm. And
this young maid granted to them their asking.

And when the parliament was assembled and
the young queen crowned with great solemnity,
and she sitting on a day in a parliament, and her
mother by her with all the lords each in his place,
a lord arose, by the assent of her mother, the other
lords and commons, and kneeled down before
her, saying these words, " Right high and mighty
princess and our most sovereign lady, please it
you to wit that I am commanded by the queen
your mother, by all the lords and commons of
this your realm, to require your highness that it
may please you to grant to them that they might
provide some noble king or prince to marry you,
to the end that he might rule and defend your
realm and subjects like as your father did before
you ; and also that of you might proceed noble
lineage which after you might reign upon us.
Which thing we most desire and hereof we de-
sire your good answer.''

This young queen Katherine hearing this re-
quest was abashed and troubled in her courage,
how she might answer to content her mother,
the lords, and her subjects, and to keep herself
chaste. For she had concluded to keep her vir-
ginity and rather to suffer death than to defoul it.
And then with a sad cheer and meek look she
answered in this wise :

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 121

" Cousin, I have well understood your request,
and thank my mother, the lords, and my subjects
of the great love that they all have to me and to
my realm. As touching my marriage, I trust
verily there may be no peril, considering the
great wisdom of my lady my mother and of the
lords, with the good obeisance of the commons,
trusting in their good continuance. Wherefore
we need not to seek a stranger for to rule us
and our realm, for with your good assistance and
aid we hope to rule, govern, and keep this our
realm in good justice, peace, and rest, in like wise
as the king my father held you in. Wherefore
at this time I pray you to be content and to cease
of this matter and let us proceed to such matters
as be request for the rule, governance, and uni-
versal weal of this realm.''

And when this young queen Katherine had
achieved her answer, the queen her mother and
all the lords were abashed of her words and wist
not what to say. For they considered well by
her words that she had no will to be married.
And then there arose and stood up a duke which
was her uncle, and with due reverence, he said
unto her in this wise :

" My sovereign lady, saving your high and
noble discretion, this answer is full heavy to my
lady your mother and to us all your humble liege-
men, without you take better advice to your
noble courage. Wherefore I shall move to you
of four notable things that the great God hath
endowed you with before all other creatures that

122 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

we know. Which things ought to cause you to
take a lord to your husband, to the end that the
plenteous gifts of nature and grace may spring of
you by generation, which may succeed by right
line to reign upon us, to the great comfort and
joy of all your people and subjects : and the con-
trary would turn to great sorrow and heaviness."
" Now good uncle," said she, " what be these
four notable things that so ye repute in us ? "
"Madame," said he, "the first is this that we be
ascertained that ye be come of the most noble
blood of all the world. The second, that ye be a
great inheritor, and the greatest that liveth of
women to our knowledge. The third is, that in
science, cunning and wisdom ye pass all other.
And the fourth is, in bodily shape and beauty,
there is none like to you. Wherefore, madam,
us think that these four notable things must needs
constrain you to incline to our request."

Then said this young queen Katherine, with a
sad countenance, " Now, uncle, since God and
nature have wrought so great virtues in us, we be
so much more bounden to love and to please
Him, and we thank Him humbly of His great
and large gifts. But since you desire so much
that we should consent to be married, we let you
plainly to wit that like as you have described us
so will we describe him that we will have to our
lord and husband. And if we can get such one
we will agree to take him with all our heart. For
he that shall be lord of my heart and mine hus->
band shall have these four notable things in him

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 123

over all measure ; so ferforthly that all creatures
shall have need of him and he need of none.
And he that shall be my lord must be of as
noble blood that all men shall do to him wor-
ship : and therewith so great a lord that I shall
never think that I made him a king : and so rich
that he pass all other in riches. And so full of
beauty must he be that all angels have joy to
behold him : and so pure that his mother be a
virgin : and so meek and benign that he can
gladly forgive all ojffences done to him. Now I
have described to you him that I will have and
desire to my lord and to my husband, go ye and
seek him, and if ye can find such a one, I will be
his wife with all my heart if he vouchsafe to have
me. And finally, but if ye find such a one, I
will never take none. And take this for a final
answer." And with this she cast down her eyes
meekly and held her still.

And when the queen her mother and the lords
heard this, they made great sorrow and heaviness :
for they saw well that there was no remedy in
thatmatter. Then said her mother to her with an
angry voice. "Alas, daughter, is this your great
wisdom that is talked of so far ? Much sorrow
be ye like to do to me and all yours. Alas, who
saw ever woman forge to her such an husband
with such virtues as ye do ? For such one as ye
have devised there was never none nor never shall
be. And therefore daughter leave this folly and
do as your noble elders have done tofore you.*'

And then said this young queen Katharine unto

124 "^HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

her mother with a piteous sighing : " Madam, I
wot well by very reason that there is one much
better than I can devise him. And but he by
his grace find me I shall never have joy. For I
feel by great reason that there is a way that we be
clean out of, and we be in darkness and till the
light of grace come we may not see the clear
way. And when it pleaseth him to come, he
shall avoid all darkness of the clouds of ignorance
and shew him clearly to me whom my heart so
fervently desireth and loveth. Wherefore I be-
seech you meekly my lady mother, that ye nor
none other move me more of this matter. For I
promise you plainly that, for to die therefore, I
shall never have other husband, but only him
that I have described, to whom I shall truly keep
me with all the pure love of mine heart." fcvsron

And with this she arose and her mother and all
the lords of the parliament with great sorrow and
lamentation, and taking their leave departed.
And this noble young Katherine went to her
palace, whose heart was set a-fire upon this hus-
band that she had devised ; so that she could do
no thing but all her mind and intent was set on
him. And she continually mused how she might
find him but she could not find the mean. How-
beit He was nigh to her heart that she sought ;
for he had kindled a burning love which could
never after be quenched for no pain nor tribula-
tion, as it appeared in her passion.

But now I leave this young queen in her con-
templation and shall say you, as far as God will

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 125

give me grace, how that Our Lord by his special
miracle called her to baptism in a special manner,
such as hath not been heard of before or since,
and also how she was visibly married to Our Lord
in showing to her sovereign tokens of singular
love.

Then beside Alexandria a certain space of
miles, dwelled a hermit in the desert named
Adrian which had served Our Lord continually
by the space of thirty years in great penance.
And on a day as he walked before his cell, being
in his holy meditations, there came against him
the most reverend lady that ever any earthly crea-
ture might behold. And when this holy man be-
held her high estate and excellent beauty which
was above nature, he was sore abashed and so
much astonished that he fell down as he had been
dead. Then this blessed lady seeing this, called
him by his .name goodly and said: "Brother
Adrian, dread ye no thing for I am come to you
for your good honour and profit. *' And with
that she took him up meekly, comforting him,
and said in this wise : "Adrian, ye must go on a
message for me into the city of Alexandria and in
to the palace of the queen Katherine. And say
to her that the lady saluteth her whose son she
hath chosen to be her lord and husband, sitting in
her parliament with her mother and lords about
her, where she had a great conflict and battle to
keep her virginity. And say to her that this same
lord whom she chose is my Son, that am a pure
Virgin, and He desireth her beauty and loveth her

126 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

chastity among all the virgins on the earth. I
command her without tarrying that she come with
thee alone unto this place, whereas she shall be
new clothed, and then shall she see Him and
have Him unto her everlasting spouse."

Then Adrian, bearing this, said dreadfully in
this wise : "Ah, Blessed Lady how shall I do this
message ? For I know not the city nor the way
thither : and who am I, though I knew it, to do
such a message to the queen. For her meinie
will not suffer me to come into her presence, and
though I came to her she will not believe me but
put me in duress as I were a deceiver.'' "Adrian,"
said this Blessed Lady, "dread ye not; but go ye
forth and ye shall find no letting, and enter into
her chamber : For the angel of my Lord shall
lead you thither and bring you both hither safely."

Then he, meekly obeying, went forth into
Alexandria and entered into the palace. And he
found doors and closures opening against him ; and
so passed from chamber to chamber till he came
into her secret study whereas none came but her-
self alone. And there he found her in her holy
contemplation and did to her his message, like as
you have heard, according to his charge. And
when this blessed virgin Katherine had heard his
message and understood by certain tokens that he
came for to fetch her to him who she so fervently
desired, anon she arose forgetting her estate and
meinie. And she followed the old man through
her palace and the city of Alexandria, unknown
of any person, and so into the desert. In which

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 127

way as they walked, she demanded of him many
an high question, and he answered to her suffi-
ciently in all her demands, and informed her in
the faith, and she benignly received his doctrine.
And as they thus went in the desert, this holy
man had lost his way, and wist not where he was.
And he was all confused in himself, and said sec-
retly : " Alas ! I fear me I am deceived, and that
this be an illusion. Alas ! shall this virgin here
be perished among these wild beasts ? Now,
blessed Lady, help me that am almost in despair :
and save this maiden that hath forsaken for your
love all that she had, and hath obeyed your com-
mandment.*' And as he thus sorrowed, the
blessed virgin Katherine perceived, and she de-
manded him what ailed him and why he sorrowed.
And he said, " For you : by cause I cannot find
my cell, nor wot not where I am." " Father,"
said she, " dread ye not ; for trust ye verily that
that good Lady which sent you for me shall not
suiFer us to perish in this wilderness." And then
she said to him, " What monastery is yonder that
I see which is so rich and fair to behold ?" And
he demanded of her where she saw it, and she
said, " Yonder, in the East." Then he wiped his
eyes and saw the most glorious monastery that ever
he saw. Whereof he was full of joy, and said to
her : " Now, blessed be God which hath endued
you with so perfect faith. For there is that place
wherein ye shall receive so great worship and joy."
" Now good father Adrian, hie ye fast that we
were there : for therein is all my desire and joy."

128 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And soon after they approached that glorious
place. And when they came to the gate, there
met them a glorious company all clothed in white
and with chaplets of white lilies on their heads.
Whose beauty was so great and bright that the
virgin Katherine nor the old man might not be-
hold them, but all ravished fell down in great
dread. Then one more excellent than another
spake unto the virgin Katherine : " Stand up, our
dear sister, for ye be right welcome," and led her
further in till they came to the second gate.
There another more glorious company met her
all clothed in purple, with fresh chaplets of red
roses on their heads. And the holy vigrin seeing
them, fell down for reverence and dread. And
they benignly comforting her, took her up and
said to her : " Dread ye no thing, our dear sister,
for there was never none more heartily welcome
to our Sovereign Lord than ye be and to us alL
For ye shall receive our clothing and our crown
with so great honour that all saints shall joy in
you. Come forth for the Lord abideth desiring
you." And then this blessed virgin Katherine
with trembling joy passed forth with them like as
she that was ravished with so marvellous joy that
she could not speak. And when she was entered
into the body of the church, she heard a melody
of marvellous sweetness which passed all hearts to
think it. And there they beheld a royal queen
standing in her estate with a great multitude of
angels and saints, whose beauty and richness might
no heart think and no pen write, for it exceedeth

S2\ KATHERINE.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 131

every man's mind. Then the noble company of
martyrs with the fellowship of virgins which led
the virgin Katherine fell down flat before this
royal Empress with sovereign reverence, saying in
this wise : " Our most Sovereign Lady, Queen of
Heaven, Lady of all the World, Empress of Hell>
Mother of Almighty God King of Bliss, to whose
commandment obey all creatures heavenly and
earthly, liketh it you that we here present to you
our dear sister, whose name is written in the book
of life : beseeching your benign grace to receive
her as your daughter chosen and humble hand-
maid for to accomplish the work which our
Blessed Lord hath begun in her." And with
that our Blessed Lady said : " Bring ye me my
well-beloved daughter." And when the holy
virgin heard our Lady speak, she was so much re-
plenished with heavenly joy that she lay as she had
been dead.

Then the holy company took her up and
brought her tofore our Blessed Lady. Unto
whom she said, "My dear daughter, ye be wel-
come to me. And be ye strong and of good
comfort, for ye be specially chosen of my Son for
be honoured. Remember ye not how sitting in
your parliament ye described to you an husband,
where as ye had a great conflict and battle in de-
fending your chastity?" And then this holy
Katherine kneeling with humble reverence and
dread said, " O most Blessed Lady, blessed be ye
among all women. I remember how I chose the
lord which then was full far from my knowledge.

132 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

But now, Blessed Lady, by His mighty power and
your special grace, he hath opened the eyes of
my blind conscience so that now I see the clear
way of truth. And humbly beseech you most
Blessed Lady, that I may have Him Whom my
heart loveth and desireth above all things, without
Whom I may not live." And with these words
her spirits were so fast closed that she lay as she
had been dead. And then our Lady in comfort-
ing her said, " My dear daughter, it shall be as
ye desire. But yet ye lack one thing that ye
must receive or ye come to the presence of my
Son. Ye must be clothed with the sacrament of
baptism. Wherefore come on my dear daughter,
for all thing is provided.** For there was a font
solemnly apparelled with all thing requisite unto
baptism.

And then our Blessed Lady called Adrian the
old father to her and said, " Brother, this office
belongeth to you, for ye be a priest. Therefore
baptize ye my daughter. But ye shall not change
her name but Katherine shall she be named still.
And I shall be her godmother." And then this
holy man Adrian baptized her.

And after our Lady said to her, " Now mine
own daughter be glad and jofyul, for ye lack no
thing that belongeth to the wife of an heavenly
spouse. And now I shall bring you to my Lord,
my Son which abideth for you."

And so our Lady led her forth unto the choir
door; whereas she saw our Saviour Jesus Christ
with a great multitude of angels, whose beauty

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 133

is impossible to be thought or written of earthly-
creature. Of whose sight this blessed virgin was
fulfilled with so great sweetness that it cannot be
expressed.

Then our Blessed Lady benignly said, " Most
sovereign honour, joy and glory be to you. King
of Bliss, my Lord, my God and my son. Lo I
have brought here unto your blessed presence
your humble servant Katherine, which for your
love hath refused all earthly things, and hath at
my sending obeyed to come hither, hoping and
trusting to receive that I promised to her." Then
our Blessed Lord took up his mother and said,
" Mother that which pleaseth you pleaseth me
and your desire is mine, for I desire that she be
knit to me by marriage among all the virgins of
the earth."

And He said to her, " Katherine come hither to
me." And as soon as she heard Him name her
name, so great a sweetness entered into her soul
that she was as all ravished. And therewith our
Lord gave to her a new strength which passed
nature, and said to her, " Come my spouse and
give to me your hand." And there our Lord
espoused her in joining Himself to her in spiritual
marriage promising ever to keep her in all her
life in this world and after this life to reign per-
petually in His bliss. And in token of this He
set a ring on her finger which He commanded her
to keep in remembrance of this, and said, " Dread
ye not my dear spouse. I shall not depart from
you but alway comfort and strengthen you*"

13+ THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Then said this new espouse, " O Blessed Lord, I
thank you with all mine heart of all your great
mercies: beseeching you. Sovereign Lord, to make
me digne and worthy to be Thy servant and
handmaid and to please you whom my heart
loveth and desireth above all things."

And then this glorious marriage was made,
whereof all the celestial court joyed and sang this
verse in heaven.

Sponsus amat sponsam

Salvator visitat illam ;
with so great melody that no heart may express ne
think it. This, was a glorious and singular mar-
riage, to which was never none like before on
earth. Wherefore this virgin Katherine ought to
be honoured, lauded and praised among all virgins
that ever were in earth. And then our Blessed
Lord after this marriage said unto the blessed
Katherine "Now the time is come that I must |
depart unto the place that I came from, wherefore
what that ye will desire I am ready to grant to ..
you. And after My departing ye must abide here '|
with old Adrian ten days till ye be perfectly in-
formed in all My laws and will. And when ye
5hall become home, ye shall find your mother
dead. But dread ye not : for ye were never
missed there in all this time. For I ordained
there one in your stead and all men ween it is
yourself. And when ye come home, she that is
there in your stead shall void. Now farewell, my
dear spouse.'' And then she cried with a full
piteous voice "Ah, my sovereign Lord God and

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 135

all the joy of my soul, have ever mind on me."
And w^ith that He blessed her and vanished away
from her sight.

And then for sorrow of His departing, she fell
in a swoon so that she lay still a large hour with-
out any life. And then was Adrian a sorry man
and cried upon her so long that at the last she
came to herself, and revived, and lift up her eyes
and saw nothing about her save an old cell and
the old man Adrian by her weeping. For all the
royalty was voided both the monastery and palace
and all the comfortable sights that she had seen :
specially He which was cause of all her joy and
comfort. And then she sorrowed mourned and
wept, unto the time that she saw the ring on her
finger. And for joy thereof she swooned ; and
after, she kissed it a thousand times with many a
piteous tear. And then Adrian comforted her
the best wise he could with many a blessed ex-
hortation ; and the blessed virgin Katherine took
all his comforts and obeyed him as to her father.
And she dwelled with him the time that our
Lord had assigned her, till she was sufficiently
taught in all that was needful to her. And then
she went home to her palace, and governed her
holily in converting many creatures to the faith
of Jesus Christ, on Whom all her joy was wholly
set and ever He was in her mind, and so dwelled
still in her palace, never idle, but ever in the ser-
vice of Our Lord, full of charity. Where awhile
I let her dwell fulfilled of virtues and grace.

And then in the meantime Maxentius that was

136 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

then Emperor and vicious to God's law and a
cruel tyrant considered the noble and royal city
of Alexandria and came thither and assembled all
the people, rich and poor, for to make sacrifice to
the idols. And the Christian men that would not
make sacrifice he let slay. And this holy virgin
was at that time eighteen years of age, dwelling
in her palace full of riches and of servants, alone
without parents and kin. And she heard the
braying and noise of beasts and the joy that they
made and song and marvelled what it might be,
and sent one of her servants hastily to inquire
what it was. And when she knew it, she took
some of the people of her palace, and garnished
her with the sign of the cross, and went thither
and found there many Christian men to be led to
do sacrifice for fear of death.

Then was she strongly troubled for sorrow, and
went forth hardily to the emperor and said in this
wise : " The dignity of thine order and the way of
reason have moved me to salute thee, if it may be
that thou canst know the Creator and Maker of
heaven, and wouldst revoke thy courage from wor-
shipping of false gods." And then she disputed
of many things with Caesar tofore the gates of the
temple. And then she began to say :

" I have set my cure to say these things to thee
as to a wise man. Wherefore hast thou now as-
sembled this multitude of people thus in vain for
to adore the folly of the idols ? Hast thou marvel
of this temple that is made with man's hand ?
Wonderest thou on the precious ornaments which

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 137

be as dust tofore the wind ? Thou shouldst rather
marvel thee of heaven and of the earth and of all
the things that be therein, and of the sun, the
moon, the stars and planets that have been since
the beginning of the world, and shall be as long
as it shall please God. And marvel thee of the
ornaments of heaven, that is to say, the sun, moon,
stars and planets how they move from the orient
into the Occident and never be weary. And when
thou shalt have knowledge of all these things and
hast apperceived it, demand after who is most
mighty of all. And when thou knowest Him
that is Sovereign and Maker of all things, to
Whom none is semblable nor like, then adore
Him and glorify, for He is God of gods and Lord
of lords."

And when she had disputed of many things of
the Incarnation of the Son of God much wisely,
the Emperor was much abashed and could not
answer to her. But at the last, when he was
come to himself, he said to her, " O thou woman,
suffer us to finish our sacrifice, and after we shall
give to thee an answer." Then commanded he
that she should be led to his palace and be kept
with great diligence, and marvelled much of her
great prudence and of her great beauty. For she
was right fair to behold unto all the people.

And when the Emperor saw that in no manner
he could resist her wisdom, he sent secretly by
letter for all the great grammarians and rhetor-
icians that they should come hastily to his prae-
tory at Alexandria, and he should give to them

138 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

great gifts if they might surmount a maiden well
bespoken. And there were then brought from
divers provinces fifty masters which surmounted
all mortal men in worldly wisdom. And then
demanded they for what cause they were called
from so far parts. And the Emperor answered
and said, "We have a maiden, none comparable
to her in wit and wisdom, which confoundeth all
wise men, and she saith that our gods be devils.
And if ye surmount her by honour, I shall send
you again to your countries with joy." And one
of them had hereof despite and said by disdain,
"This is a worthy counsel of an Emperor that
for one maid young and frail, he hath done as-
sembled so many sages and from so far countries,
and one of our clerks or scholars may overcome
her." And the king said to them, " I may well
by strength constrain her to do sacrifice but I
had liefer that she were overcome by your argu-
ments." Then said they, " Let her be brought
tofore us and when she shall be overcome in her
folly, she may know that she never saw wise men
till now."

And when the virgin knew the strife of the
disputation that she abode, she commended her-
self all unto Our Lord. And when she was
brought tofore the masters and orators, she said to-
the Emperor, "What judgment is this to set fifty
orators and masters against one maid, and to pro-
mise to them great rewards for their victory : and
thou compellest me to dispute with them without
hope of any reward ? Jesus Christ which is very^

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 139

guerdon of them that strive for Him shall be only
with me and He shall be my reward.

And when the virgin had right wisely disputed
and that she had confounded their gods by open
reasons, they were abashed and wist not what to
say but were all still. And the Emperor was re-
plenished with felony against them, and began
to blame them by cause they were overcome so
foully of one maid. And then one that was mas-
ter above all the other, said to the Emperor,
" Know thou, sir Emperor, that never was there
any that might stand against us but that anon he
was overcome. But this maid hath so converted
us that we cannot say anything against Jesus
Christ, ne we may not ne dare not. Wherefore,
sir Emperor, we knowledge that but if thou may-
est bring forth a more proveable sentence con-
cerning them that we have worshipped hitherto,
that all we be converted to Jesus Christ."

And when the tyrant heard this thing, he was
esprised with great woodness, and commanded that
they all should be burnt in the midst of the city.
And the holy virgin comforted them and made
them constant to martyrdom and informed them
diligently in the faith. And because they doubted
that they should die without baptism, the virgin
said to them: "Doubt ye no thing. For the
effusion of your blood shall be reputed to you for
baptism. And garnish you with the sign of the
cross and ye shall be crowned in heaven." And
when they were cast in to the flames of fire, they
rendered their souls unto God, and neither hair

I40 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

nor cloth of them had none harm nor was hurt
by the fire.

And when the Christian men had buried them,
the tyrant spake unto the virgin and said : " Right
noble lady virgin, have pity of thy youth and thou
shalt be chief of my palace next the queen.
And thine image shall be set up in the midst of
of the city and shall be adored of all the people
as a goddess." To whom the virgin said : " Leave
to say such things, for it is evil to think it. I am
given and married to Jesus Christ, He is my
spouse. He is my glory. He is my love. He is my
sweetness. There may no fair words nor no tor-
ments call me from Him." Then he being full
of woodness commanded that she should be
despoiled naked and beaten with scorpions and so
beaten to be put in a dark prison and there to be
tormented by hunger for the space of twelve days.

And the emperor went out of the country for
certain causes. And the queen was taken with
great love of the virgin and went by night to the
prison with Porphyry, the prince of knights.
And when the queen entered, she saw the prison
shining by great clearness and angels anointing
the wounds of the holy virgin Katherine. And
then Saint Katherine began to preach to the
queen the joys of paradise, and converted her to
the Christian faith, and said to her that she should
receive the crown of martyrdom. And thus
spake they together till midnight. And when
Porphyry had heard all that she had said, he fell
down to her feet and received the faith of Jesus

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 141

Christ with two hundred knights. And because
the tyrant had commanded that she should be
twelve days without meat and drink, Jesus Christ
sent to her a white dove which fed her with cel-
estial meat. And after this, Jesus Christ appeared
to her with a great multitude of angels and virgins,
and said to her : " Daughter, know thy Maker
for whom thou hast enterprized this travailous
battle. Be thou constant for I am with thee."

And when the emperor was returned, he com-
manded that she should be brought to him. And
when he saw her so shining whom he supposed
to her been tormented by great famine and fast-
ing, he supposed that some had fed her in the
prison, and was fulfilled with fury and commanded
to torment the keepers of the prison. And she
said to him : "Verily, I took never since meat of
man ; but Jesus Christ had fed me by his angel."

"I pray thee," said the emperor, "set at thine
heart this that I do admonish thee and answer
not by doubtful words. We will not hold thee
as a chamberer but thou shalt triumph as a queen
in my realm in beauty enhanced." To whom
the blessed virgin said: "Understand I pray thee
and judge truly. Whom ought I better to choose
of these two ? Or the king puissant, perdurable,
glorious and fair or one sick, unsteadfast, not
noble and foul." And then the emperor having
disdain, and angry by felony said : " Of these two
choose the one : or do sacrifice and live, or suffer
divers torments and perish." And she said
" Tarry not to do what torments thou wilt. For

142 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

I desire to offer to God my blood and my flesh
like as He offered for me. He is my God, my
Father, my Friend and my only Spouse."

And then a master warned and advised the king,
being wood for anger, that he should make four
wheels of iron environed with sharp razors cutting,
so that she might be horribly detrenched and cut
in that torment, that he might fear the other
Christian people by example of that cruel torment.
And then was ordained that two wheels should
turn against the other two by great force so that
they should break all that should be between.
And then the blessed virgin prayed Our Lord that
He would break these engines to the praising of
His name and for to convert the people that were
there. And anon, as this blessed virgin was set
in this torment, the angel of Our Lord brake the
wheels by so great force that it slew four thousand
paynims.

And the queen that beheld these things and
had hid her faith till then, descended anon and
began to blame the Emperor for so great cruelty.
And then the king was replenished with woodness
when he saw that the queen despised to do sacri-
fice, and first did do rent off her paps and after
smite off her head. And as she was led to martyr-
dom, she prayed Katherine to pray God for her.
And she said to her : " Ne doubt thee nothing,
well beloved of God, for this day thou shalt have
the realm perdurable for this transitory realm, and
an immortal spouse for a mortal." And she was
constant and firm in the faith, and bade the tor-

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 143

mentors do as was to them commanded. And
then the sergeants brought her out of the city and
rased off her paps with tongues of iron and after
smote off her head.

And Porphyry took away her body and buried
it. The next day following was demanded where
the body of the queen was. And the Emperor
bade that many should be put to torment for to
know where the body was. Porphyry came then
tofore them all and cried aloud saying " I am he
that buried the body of the ancil and servant of
Jesus Christ, and have received the faith of God."
And then Maxentius began to roar and bray as a
mad man and cried, saying : " O wretched and
caitiff: Lo, Porphyry, which was the only keeper
of my soul and comfort of all mine evils, is de-
ceived.'* Which thing he told to his knights.
To whom they said : " And we also be Christian,
and be ready to suiJer for Jesus Christ," And
then the Emperor, drunken in woodness, com-
manded that all should be beheaded, and that
their bodies should be cast to dogs.

And then he called Katherine and said to her :
"How be it that thou hast made the queen to
die by thine art magic, if thou repent thee, thou
shalt be first and chief in my palace. For thou
shalt this day do sacrifice, or thou shalt lose thine
head." And she said to him : '' Do all that thou
hast thought, I am ready to suffer all." And then
he gave sentence against her and commanded to
smite off her head.

And when she was brought to the place or-

144 "^HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

dained thereto, she lift up her eyes to heaven,
praying, and said : " O Jesus Christ, hope and
help of them that believe in Thee, O beauty and
glory of virgins, good king, I beseech and pray
Thee that who somever shall remember my pas-
sion, be it at his death or in any other necessity,
and shall call me, that he may have by Thy mercy
the effect of his request and prayer." And then
came a voice to her, saying : " Come unto me my
fair love and my spouse ; lo, behold the gate of
heaven is open to thee. And also to them that
shall hallow thy passion, I promise the comfort of
heaven of that they require."

And when she was beheaded, there issued out
of her body milk instead of blood, and angels took
the body and bare it unto the Mount of Sinai,
more than twenty journeys from thence, and
buried it there honourably : and continually oil
runneth out of her bones which healeth all mala-
dies and sickness. And she suffered death under
Maxentius the tyrant, about the year of Our Lord
three hundred.

XII.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT
MARGARET.

ARGARET is said of a precious
gem or ouch that is named a
margarite (pearl) which gem is
white, little and virtuous. So the
blessed Margaret was white by
virginity, little by humility, and
virtuous by operation of miracles. The virtue of
this stone is said to be against effusion of blood,
against passion of the heart and to comforting of
the spirit. In like wise, the blessed Margaret had
virtue against shedding of her blood by constancy,
for in her martyrdom she was most constant : and
also against the passion of the heart, that is to say,
temptation of the devil for she overcame the
devil by victory : and to the comforting of the
spirit by doctrine, for by her doctrine she con-
verted much people. Theotinus a learned man
wrote her legend.

The holy saint Margaret was of the city of
Antioch, daughter of Theodosius, patriarch of
the idols of paynims. And she was delivered to
a nurse for to be kept. And when she came to
a perfect age she was baptized, wherefore she was
was in great hate of her father.

On a certain day when she was fifteen years of

146 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

age, and kept the sheep of her nurse with other
maidens, the provost Olybrius passed by the way
whereas she was and considered in her so great
beauty and fairness that anon he burned in her love
and sent his servants and bade them take her and
bring her to him. "For if she be free, I shall
take her unto my wife and if she be bond I shall
make her my concubine/'

And when she was presented tofore him, he
demanded her of her lineage name and religion.
And she answered that she was of noble lineage
and her name Margaret and Christian in religion.
To whom the provost said, "The two first things
be convenient to thee, that is that thou art
noble and art ca led Margaret which is a most fair
name. But the third appertaineth nothing to thee
that so fair a maid and so noble should worship a
God crucified.*' To whom she said, "How
knowest thou that Christ was crucified? He an-
swered, "By the books of Christian men." To
whom Margaret said, "O what shame it is to you
when ye read the pain of Christ and the glory
and believe one thing and deny the other." And
she said and affirmed Him to be crucified by His
will for our redemption and now liveth ever in
bliss. And then the provost being wroth com-
manded her to be put in prison.

And the next day following, he commanded
that she should be brought to him and then said
to her, "O good maid have pity on thy beauty
and worship our gods that it may be well." To
whom she said, "I worship Him that maketh the

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 147

earth to tremble, whom the sea dreadeth, and the
winds and the creatures obey." To whom the
provost said, "But if thou consent to me, I shall
make thy body to be all to torn." Then Saint
Margaret said "Christ gave Himself over to the
death for me, and I desire gladly to die for Christ.'*
Then the provost commanded her to be hanged
on an instrument to be tormented of the people,
and to be cruelly first beaten with rods and then
with iron combs to rent, in somuch that the blood
ran out of her body, like as a stream runneth out
of a first springing well. They that were there
wept and said, "O Margaret verily we be sorry
for thee, which see thy body so foul and cruelly
torn and rent. O how thy most beauty hast thou
lost for thine incredulity and misbelief. Now
believe and thou shalt live." The provost cov-
ered his face with his mantle for he might not see
so much effusion of blood and then commanded
that she should be taken down and to shut her in
fast prison.

And there was seen a marvellous brightness in
the prison by the keepers. And whiles she was
in prison she prayed her Lord that he would visi-
bly shew unto her the fiend that had fought with
her. And there appeared an horrible dragon and
assailed her and would have devoured her. But
she made the sign of the cross and anon he van-
ished away. In another place it is said that he
swallowed her in his belly, she making the sign
of the cross, and the belly brake asunder and so
she issued out all whole and sound. This swal-

148 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

lowing and breaking of the belly of the dragon
is said that it is apocryphal.t

After this the devil appeared to her in likeness
of a man for to deceive her. And when she saw
him she went to prayer. And after she arose
and the fiend came to her and took her by the
hand and said, " That which thou hast done suf-
ficeth to thee ; but now cease as to my person."
She caught him by the head and threw him to
the ground and set her right foot on his neck,
saying, " Lie still thou fiend under the foot ot a
woman." The devil then cried, " O blessed
Margaret, I am overcome. If a young man had
overcome me I had not recked, but alas I am
overcome of a tender virgin, wherefore I make
the more sorrow."

Then she constrained that fiend to tell why he
came to her. And he answered that he came to
her to counsel her for to obey the desire and re-
quest of the provost. Then she constrained him
to say wherefore he tempted so much and so oft
Christian people. To whom he answered that
naturally he hated virtuous men. "And though
we be oft put aback from them, yet our desire is
much to exclude them from the felicity that we
have fell from. For we may never obtain nor
recover our bliss that we have lost."

And then she demanded what he was. And

t Then came there out of a corner a great horrible dragon and yawned
on her so that his mouth was on her head and his tongue was down to
her heel, and would have swallowed. And when he had her all in his
mouth, he all to burst in sunder for the cross that Margaret made in the
entry." — Liher Festivalis (a book of sermons founded on the Golden
Legend).

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 149

he answered, " I am named Veltis, one of them
whom Solomon closed in a vessel of brass. And
after his death it happed that they of Babylon
found this vessel and supposed to have founden
great treasure therein. And they brake the vessel
and then a great multitude of us devils flew out
and filled full the air, alway awaiting and espying
where we may assail rightful men.'' And when
he had said thus, she took off her foot and said to
him " Flee hence, thou wretched fiend." And
anon the earth opened and the fiend sank in.

Then the next day following when the all
people were assembled, she was presented tofore
the judge. And she not doing sacrifice to the idols
was cast into the fire and her body broiled with
burning brands, in such wise that all the people
marvelled that so tender a maid might suffer so
many torments. And after that they put her fast
bounden in a great vessel full of water that by
changing of the torments the sorrow and feeling
of the pain might be the more. But suddenly
the earth trembled, and the blessed virgin with-
out any hurt issued out of the water, saying to
Our Lord, " I beseech thee. My Lord, that this
water may be to me the fount of baptism in to
everlasting life.'* And anon there was heard
great thunder, and a dove descended from heaven,
and set a golden crown on her head. Then ^yq
thousand men believed on Our Lord, and for
Christ's love they all were beheaded by the com-
mandment of the provost Olybrius. Then Oly-
brius seeing the faith of the holy Margaret im-

ISO THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

moveable, and also fearing that others should be
converted to the Christian faith by her gave
sentence and commanded that she should be
beheaded.

Then she prayed to one Malchus that should
behead her that she might have space to pray.
And that gotten, she prayed to Our Lord, saying,
*' Father Almighty, I yield to thee thankings that
Thou hast suffered me to come to this glory,
beseeching Thee to pardon them that pursue
me. And I beseech Thee, good Lord, of thine
abundant grace. Thou wilt grant unto all them
that w^rite my passion, read it, or hear, and to
them that remember me, that they may deserve
to have plain remission and forgiveness of all
their sins. And also, good Lord, if any woman
with child travailing call on me, that Thou wilt
keep her from peril and that the child may be
delivered without any hurt." And when she had
finished her prayer, there was a voice heard from
heaven saying that her prayers were heard and
granted, and that the gates of heaven were open
and abode for her ; and bade her come into the
country of everlasting rest. Then she, thanking
Our Lord, rose up, and bade the hangman ac-
complish the commandment of the provost. To
whom the hangman said, " God forbid that I
should slay the virgin of Christ.*' To whom
she said, " If thou do it not thou mayest have no
part with me." Then he being afeard and
trembling smote off her head, and falling down
at her feet gave up the ghost.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 151

Then Theotinus took up the holy body, and
bare it into Antioch and buried it in the house
of a noble woman and widow named Synclecia.
And thus this blessed and holy virgin, Saint
Margaret suffered death and received the crown
of martyrdom the xiiith kalends of Aiigust, as
is found in her story : and it is read in another
place that it was the iii ides of July.

XIII.— THE LEGEND OF SAINT
SYLVESTER.

YLVESTER was son of one Justa
and was learned and taught of a
priest named Cyrinus, which did
marvellously great alms and made
hospitalities. It happened that he
'received a Christian man into his
house named Timothy, whom no man would re-
ceive for the persecution of tyrants. Now the
said Timothy suffered death and passion after a
year whiles he preached justly the faith of Christ.
It was so that the prefect Tarquinus supposed
that Timothy had had great plenty of riches,
which he demanded of Saint Sylvester, threaten-
ing him to the death but if he delivered them to
him. And when he found certainly that Timothy
had no great riches, he commanded to Saint Syl-
ester to made sacrifice to the idols, and if he did
not he would make him suffer divers torments.
Saint Sylvester answered : " False evil man, thou
shalt die this night and shalt have torments that
ever shall endure, and shalt know whether thou
wilt or not that He whom we worship is very
God." Then Saint Sylvester was put in prison
and the provost went to dinner. Now it happed
that, as he ate, a bone of a fish turned in his

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 153

throat and stuck fast so that he could neither
have it down nor up; and at midnight he died
like as Saint Sylvester had said. And then Saint
Sylvester was delivered out of prison.

He was so gracious that all Christian men and
paynims loved him. For he was fair like an
angel to look on, a fair speaker, whole of body,
holy in work, good in counsel, patient and chari-
table, and firmly established in the faith. He had
in writing the names of all the widows and
orphans that were poor and to them he adminis-
tered their necessity. He had a custom to fast
all Fridays and Saturdays. Now it was so that
Melchiades the bishop of Rome died and all the
people chose Sylvester for to be the high bishop
of Rome : which sore against his will was made
Pope. He instituted for to be fasted Wednes-
day, Friday and Saturday, and the Thursday for
to be hallowed as Sunday.

Now it happed the Emperor Constantine did
do slay all the Christian men all about where he
could find them. And for this cause Saint Syl-
vester fled out of the town with his clerks and
hid him in a mountain. And for the cruelty of
Constantine God sent him such a sickness that he
became lazar and measle. And by the counsel of
his physicians he gat three thousand young child-
ren for to have cut their throats to have the blood
in a bath all hot, that thereby he might be healed
of his measlry. And when he should ascend into
his chariot for to go to the place where he should
be bathed, the mothers of the children came cry-

154 ^^^ GOLDEN LEGEND.

ing and praying for sorrow of their children.
And when he understood that they were mothers
of the children, he had great pity on them, and
said to his knights and them that were about him :
" The dignity of the Empire of Rome is brought
forth of the fountain of pity, the which hath
stablished by decree that who that slayeth a child
in battle shall have his head smitten off. Then
should it be great cruelty to us for to do to ours
such things as we defend to strange nations, for
so should cruelty surmount us. It is better that
we leave cruelty and that pity surmount us, and
therefore me seemeth better to save the lives of
these innocents than that by their death I should
have again my health, of which we be not yet
certain. We may recover nothing for to slay
them. For if so were that I should thereby have
health, that should be a cruel health that should
be bought with the death of so many innocents."
Then he commanded to render and deliver again
to the mothers their children ; and gave to each
of them a good gift. And thus made them to
return to their houses with great joy from whence
they departed with great sorrow. And he him-
self returned again in his chariot unto his palace.
Now it happed that the next night after,
Saint Peter and Saint Paul appeared to this Em-
peror Constantine, saying unto him, " Because
that thou hast had horror to shed and spill the
blood of innocents. Our Lord Jesus Christ hath
had pity on thee ; and commandeth thee to send
unto such a mountain where Sylvester is hid

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 155

with his clerks. And say to him that thou com-
est for to be baptized of him and thou shalt be
healed of thy malady/' And when he was
awaked, he did do call his knights, and com-
manded them to go to that mountain and bring
the Pope Sylvester to him courteously and fair,
for to speak with him.

When Saint Sylvester saw from far the knights
come to him, he supposed that they sought him
for to be martyred and began to say to his clerks
that they should be firm and stable in the faith
for to suffer martyrdom. When the knights
came to him, they said to him much courteously
that Constantine sent for him and prayed him
that he would come and speak with him. And
forthwith he came.

And when they had inter-saluted each other,
Constantine told to him his vision. And when
Sylvester demanded of him what men they were
that so appeared to him, the Emperor wist not
ne could not name them. Saint Sylvester opened
a book wherein the images of Saint Peter and
Saint Paul were portrayed, and demanded of him
if they were like unto them. Then Constantine
anon knew them and said that he had seen them
in his sleep. Then Saint Sylvester preached to
him the faith of Jesus Christ, and baptized him ;
and when he was baptized he was healed forth-
with of his measlry.

And then he ordained vii. laws unto holy
church. The first was that all the city should
worship Christ as very God. The second thing

156 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

was that whosoever should say any villainy of
Jesus Christ he should be punished. The third,
whosoever should do villainy to Christian men he
should lose half his goods. The fourth that the
Bishop of Rome should be chief of all holy
church, like as the Emperor is chief of all the
world. The fifth, that who that had done or
should do trespass and fled to the church, that he
should be kept there free from all injuries. The
sixth, that no man should edify any churches
without licence of holy church and consent of
the bishop. The seventh, that the dime and
tenth part of the possessions should be given to
the church.

After this the Emperor came to Saint Peter's
church and confessed meekly his sins tofore all
the people, and what wrong he had done to
Christian men : and made to dig and cast out
to make the foundations for churches and bare on
his shoulders twelve hods or baskets full of earth.

When Helena the mother of Consiantine,
dwelling in Bethany, heard say that the emperor
was become Christian, she sent to him a letter in
which she praised much her son of this that he
had renounced the false idols, but she blamed
him much that he had renounced the law of the
Jews and worshipped a man crucified. Then Con-
stantine remanded to his mother that she should
assemble the greatest masters of the Jews and
he should assemble the greatest masters of the
Christian men, to the end that they might dispute,
and know which was the truest law.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 157

Then Helena assembled twelve masters which
she brought with her, which were the wisest that
they might find in that law. And Saint Sylvester
and his clerks were of the other party. Then
the emperor ordained two paynims, gentiles, for
to be their judges, of whom one was named
Crato and the other Zenophilus which were
proved wise and expert : and they to give the
sentence and be judges of the disputation.

Then began one of the masters of the Jews
for to maintain and dispute his law. And Saint
Sylvester and his clerks answered to his disputa-
tion and to them all alway concluding them by
Scripture. The judges, which were true and just,
held more of the party of Saint Sylvester than of
the Jews. Then said one of the masters of the
Jews named Zambri, " I marvel," said he, " that
ye be so wise and yet incline you to their words.
Let us leave all these words and go we to the
effect of the deeds." Then he did do come a
cruel bull and said a word in his ear, and anon
the bull died : then the people were all against
Sylvester. Then said Sylvester, " Believe not
thou that he hath named in the ear the name of
Jesus Christ, but the name of some devil. Know
ye verily, it is no great strength to slay a bull,
for a man or a lion or a serpent may well slay
him. But it is great virtue to raise him again to
life. Then if he may not raise him it is by the
devil and if he may raise him again to life I shall
believe that he is dead by the power of God."
And when the judges heard this, they said to

158 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Zambri that had slain the bull that he should
raise him again. Then he answered that if Syl-
zester might raise him in the name of Jesus of
Galilee his Master, then he would believe in
him. And thereto bound them all the Jews that
were there. And Saint Sylvester first made his
orisons and prayer to Our Lord, and then came
to the bull and said to him in his ear, "Thou
cursed creature that art entered into this bull
and hast slain him, go out in the name of Jesus
Christ. In whose name I command thee, bull,
arise thou up and go with the other beasts debo-
nairly." And anon the bull arose and went
forth softly. Then the queen and the judges
which were paynims were converted to the faith.

In this time it happed that there was at Rome
a dragon in a pit, which every day slew with his
breath more than three hundred men. Then
came the bishops of the idols to the Emperor and
said to him : " O thou most holy Emperor, since
the time that thou hast received Christian faith,
the dragon which is in yonder foss or pit slayeth
every day with his breath more than three hun-
dred men." Then sent the Emperor for Saint
Sylvester and asked counsel of him of this matter.
Saint Sylvester answered that by the might of
God he promised to make him cease of this hurt
and grief of the people.

Then Saint Sylvester put himself to prayer,
and Saint Peter appeared to him and said : " Go
surely to the dragon, and the two priests that be
with thee take in thy company. And when thou

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 159

shalt come to him, thou shalt say to him in this
manner, ' Our Lord Jesus Christ, which was born
of the Virgin Mary, crucified, buried, and arose,
and now sitteth on the right hand of the Father,
this is He that shall come to doom and judge the
living and the dead. I command thee, Satanas,
that thou abide Him in this place till He come.'
Then thou shalt bind his mouth with a thread and
seal it with the seal wherein is the print of the
cross. Then thou and the two priests shall come
to me whole and safe.'*

Thus as Saint Peter had said. Saint Sylvester
did. And when Saint Sylvester came to the pit,
he descended down an hundred and fifty steps,
bearing with him two lanterns, and found the
dragon. And he said the words that Saint Peter
had said to him, and bound his mouth with the
thread and sealed it, and afterwards returned.
And as he came upward again, he met with two
enchanters which followed him for to see if he
descended, which were almost dead of the stink
of the horrible dragon. Whom he brought with
him whole and sound which anon were baptized
and a great multitude of people with them.

Thus was the city of Rome delivered from
double death, that was from the culture and wor-
shipping of false idols and from the venom of the
dragon.

At the last when Saint Sylvester approached
toward his death, he called to him the clergy, and
admonished them to have charity, and that they
should diligently govern their churches, and keep

i6o

THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

their flock from the wolves. And after, the year
of the Incarnation of Our Lord three hundred
and twenty, he departed out of this world and
slept in Our Lord.

XIV.— THE PASSION OF THE ELEVEN
THOUSAND VIRGINS.

[HE Passion of the eleven thousand
Virgins was hallowed in this man
I ner.

In Britain was a Christain kir.^
named Notus or Maurus, whicl
engendered a daughter named Ur
sula. This daughter shone full of marvellou
honesty, wisdom, and beauty, and her fame and
renown was borne all about. And the king of
England which then was right mighty and sub-
dued many nations to his empire heard the re-
nown of her, and said that he should be well
happy if this virgin might be coupled to his son
by marriage. And the young man had great de-
sire and will to have her. And there was a solemn
embassade sent to the father of Ursula which
promised great promises and said many fair words
for to have her, and also made many menaces if
they returned vainly to their lord.

And then the king of Britain began to be much
anguished because that she that was ennobled in
the faith of Jesus Christ should be wedded to
him that adored idols : because that he wist well
she would not consent in no manner, and also be-
cause he doubted much the cruelty of the king.

i62 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And she that was divinely inspired, did so
much to her father that she consented to the mar-
riage by such a condition, that for to solace her,
he should send to her father ten virgins, and to
herself and to those ten other virgins he should send
to each a thousand virgins, and should give to her
space of three years for to dedicate her virginity ;
and the young man should be baptized and in
those three years he should be informed in the
faith sufficiently. And this she did so that by
wise counsel, and by virtue of the condition
made, he should with draw from his courage.

But this youngling received this condition
gladly, and hasted his father, and was baptized,
and commanded that all that Ursula had required
should be done. And the father of the virgin
ordained for his daughter whom he most loved
and the others that had need of comfort of men
and service, in their company good men for to serve
them.

Then virgins came from all parts and men came
for to see this great company. And many bishops
came for to go with them in their pilgrimage,
among whom was Pantulus, bishop of Basle, which
went with them to Rome and returned from
thence with them and received martyrdom. Saint
Gerasina, queen of Sicily, which had made of
her husband that was a cruel tyrant a meek lamb,
was sister of Matrisius the bishop and of Daria
mother of Saint Ursula, to whom the father of
Saint Ursula had signified the journey by secret
letters. She put herself in the way with her four

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 163

daughters, Babilla, Juliana, Victoria, and Aura and
her little son Adrian, which for the love of his
sisters went in the same pilgrimage. And by the
counsel of this queen the virgins were gathered
together from divers realms and she was leader of
them and at the last she suffered martyrdom with
them.

And then all things were made ready. Then
the queen shewed her counsel to the knights of
her company and made them all to swear this new
chivalry. And then began they to make divers
plays and games of battle and feigned many man-
ner of plays : and for all that they left not their
purpose : and sometime they returned from this
play at mid-day and sometime unneth at even-
song-time. And the barons and the great lords
assembled them to see the fair games and disports,
and all had joy and pleasure in beholding them
and also marvel.

And at the last when Ursula had converted all
these virgins unto the faith of Christ, they went
all to the sea. And in the space of a day, they
sailed over the sea, having so good wind that they
arrived at a port of Gaul named Tiel. And from
thence came to Cologne ; where an angel of Our
Lord appeared to Ursula and told her that they
should return again the whole number to that
place and there receive the crown of martyrdom.
And from thence by monition of the angel they
went toward Rome. And when they came to
Basle they left there their ships and went to Rome
a foot. At the coming of whom the pope

164 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Cyriacus was much glad because he was born in
Britain and had many cousins among them. And
he with his clerks received them with all honour.

And that same night it was shewed to the pope
that he should receive with them the crown of
martyrdom, which thing he hid in himself. And
he baptized many of them that were not then
baptized. And when he saw time convenable,
when he had governed the church one year and
eleven weeks, and was the nineteenth pope after
Saint Peter, he purposed tofore all the people and
shewed them his purpose and resigned his office
and his dignity. But all men gainsaid it and
specially the cardinals, which supposed that he
trespassed, leaving the glory of his papacy and
would go after these foolish virgins. But he
would not agree to abide but ordained an holy
man to occupy his place, which was named
Ametos. And because he left the siege apostolic
against the will of the clergy, the clerks put out
his name of the catalogue of popes. And all the
grace that he had gotten in his time, this holy
company of women made him leave it.

And then two felon princes of the chivalry of
Rome, Maximian and Africanus, saw this great
company of virgins and that many men and
women assembled to them, and doubted that the
Christian religion should be much increased by
them. Wherefore they enquired diligently of
their viage and then sent they messengers to
Julian, their cousin, prince of the lineage of the
Huns, that he should bring his host against them.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 165

and should assemble at Cologne and there behead
them because they were Christian.

And the blessed Cyriacus issued out of the city
of Rome with this blessed company of virgins :
and there followed him Vincent priest cardinal,
and James that was come from Britain into
Antioch and had holden there seven years the
dignity of the bishop, which then had visited the
Pope, and was gone out of his city, and held
company with these virgins when he heard of
their coming and suffered martyrdom with them.
And Maurice, bishop of Modena, uncle of Babilla
and Juliana, and Solarius, bishop of Lucca with
Simplicius, bishop of Ravenna, which then were
come to Rome, put them in the company of these
virgins.

Now Ethereus the husband of Ursula, abiding in
Britain was warned of Our Lord by a vision of an
angel that he should exhort his mother to be
Christian. For his father died the first year that
he was christened and Ethereus his son succeeded
after him in his reign. And then when these
holy virgins returned from Rome with the bishops,
Ethereus was warned of Our Lord that he should
anon arise and go to meet his wife at Cologne
and there receive with her the crown of martyr-
dom. Which anon obeyed the admonishments
divine and did do baptize his mother. And he
came with her and his little sister Florence then
also baptized, and with the bishop Clement,
meeting the holy virgins and accompanying them
unto martyrdom. And Marculus bishop of

i66 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Greece and his niece Constantia daughter of
Dorotheus king of Constantinople, which was
married to the son of a king but he died tofore
the wedding and she avowed to Our Lord her
virginity, they were also warned by a vision and
came to Rome and joined them to these virgins
unto the martyrdom.

And then all these virgins came with the
bishops to Cologne and found that it was beseiged
with the Huns. And when the Huns saw them
they began to run upon them with a great cry
and a- raged like wolves on sheep and slew all this
great multitude. And when they were all be-
headed, they came to the blessed Ursula. And
the prince of them, seeing her beauty so marvel-
lous was abashed : and he began to comfort her
upon the death of the virgins and promised her
to take her to his wife. And when she had re-
fused him and despised him altogether, he shot at
her an arrow and pierced her through the body
and so accomplished her martyrdom. These vir-
gins suffered death the year of Our Lord two
hundred and thirty-eight. But some hold opinion
that they suffered not death in that time. For
Sicily and Constantinople were then no realms^
But it is supposed that they suffered death long
time afterwards, when the Huns and Goths en-
forced them against Christian men in the time of
the Emperor Marcian that reigned in the year of
Our Lord, four hundred and fifty-nine.

XV.— THE SEVEN SLEEPERS.

HE Seven Sleepers were born in
the city of Ephesus. When Decius
the Emperor came into Ephesus
for the persecution of Christian
men, he commanded to edify the
temples in the middle of the city,
so that all should come with him to do sacrifice
to the idols ; and did do seek all the Christian
people and bind them for to make them to do
sacrifice, or else to put them to death : in such
wise, that every man was afraid of the pains that
he promised, that the friend forsook his friend,
and the son denied his father, and the father the
son. And then in this city were founden seven
Christian men, that is to wit, Maximian, Malchus,
Martian, Dionysius, John, Serapion and Constan-
tine. And when they saw this they had much
sorrow : and by cause they were the first in the
palace that despised the sacrifices, they hid them
in their houses and were in fasting and in prayers.
And then they were accused tofore Decius and
came thither and were found very Christian men.
Then was given to them space for to repent
them unto the coming again of Decius. And in
the mean while they despended their patrimony
in alms to the poor people. And they assembled

i68 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

themselves together and took counsel and went to
the Mount of Caelion and there ordained to be
more secretly, and there hid them long time.
And one of them administered and served them
alway. And when he went into the city he
clothed him in the habit of a beggar.

When Decius was come again he commanded
that they should be fetched. And then Malchus,
which was their servant and ministered to them
meat and drink, returned in great dread to his
fellows and told and shewed to them the furour
and woodness of the Emperor. And then were
they sore afeard. And Malchus set tofore them
the loaves of bread that he had bought, so that
they were comforted of the meat and were more
strong for to suffer torments. And when they
had taken their refection and sat in weeping and
wailings, suddenly, as God would, they slept.
And when it came on the morrow they were
sought and could not be found: wherefore Decius
was sorrowful because he had lost such young
men. And then they were accused that they
were hid in the Mount of Caelion and had given
their goods to poor men, and yet abode in their
purpose. And then commanded Decius that their
kindred should come to him, and menaced them
to the death if they said not of them all that they
knew. And they accused them and complained
that they had despended all their riches. Then
Decius thought what he would do with them, and,
as Our Lord would, he enclosed the mouth of the
cave wherein they were with stones to the end

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 169

that they should die therein for hunger and default
of meat. Then the ministers and two Christian
men, Theodore and Ruffinus, wrote their martyr^
dom and laid it subtilly among the stones.

And when Decius was dead and all that gener-
ation, three clxxii years after, and the xxxth year
of Theodosius the Emperor, when the heresy was
of them that denied the resurrection of dead
bodies and began to grow, Theodosius, then the
most Christian emperor, being sorrowful that the
faith of Our Lord was feloniously demeaned, for
anger and heaviness he clad him in hair and wept
every day in a secret place, and led a full holy
life. Which God merciful and piteous seeing,
would comfort them that were sorrowful and
weeping, and give to them esperance and hope of
the resurrection of dead men, and opened the
precious treasure of His pity and raised the fore-
said martyrs in this manner following.

He put in the will of a burgess of Ephesus
that he would make in that mountain which was.
desert and asper a stable for his pastors and herd-
men. And it happed that of adventure the
masons that made the said stable opened this
cave. And then these holy saints that were
within awoke and were raised and inter-saluted
each other, and had supposed verily that they
had slept but one night only, and remembered of
the heaviness that they had the day before. And
then Malchus which ministered to them said
what Decius had ordained of them. For he said,
" We have been sought like as I said to you yes-

I70 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

terday for to do sacrifice to the idols that is that
the Emperor desireth of us. And then Max-
imian answered, "God our Lord knoweth that
we shall never do sacrifice," and comforted his
fellows. He commanded to Malchus to go and
buy bread in the city, and bade him bring more
than he did yesterday, and also to enquire and
demand what the Emperor had commanded to
do.

And then Malchus took v. shillings and issued
out of the cave. And when he saw the masons
and the stones tofore the cave, he began to bless
him and was much amarvelled ; but he thought
little of the stones for he thought on other things.
Then came he all doubtous to the gates of the
city and was all marvelled for he saw the sign of
the cross about the gate. And then without tar-
rying he went to that other gate of the city and
found there also the sign of the cross thereon.
And then he had great marvel for upon every
gate he saw set up the sign of the cross and
therewith the city was garnished. And then he
blessed him and returned to the first gate and
weened he had dreamed. And after, he advised
and comforted himself and covered his visage and
entered into the city. And when he came to
the sellers of bread and heard the men speak of
God, yet then was he more abashed, and said,
*' What is this, that no man yesterday durst name
Jesus Christ and now every man confesseth him
to be Christian ? I trow this is not the city of
Ephesus for it is all otherwise builded. It is

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 171

some other city I wot not what." And when
he demanded and heard verily that it was Ephesus,
he supposed that he had erred and thought verily
to go again to his fellows. And then he went to
them that sold bread and when he shewed his
money the sellers marvelled and said that one to
that other that this young man had found some
old treasure. And when Malchus saw them talk
together, he doubted not that they would lead
him to the Emperor and was sore afeard and
prayed them to let him go and keep both money
and bread. But they held him and said to him,
" Of whence art thou ? For thou hast founden
treasure of the old emperors. Shew it to us and
we shall be fellows with thee and keep it secret."
And Malchus was so afeard that he wist not
what to say to them for dread. And when they
saw that he spake not, they put a cord about his
neck and drew him through the city into the
middle. And tidings were had all about in the
city that a young man had found ancient treasure^
in such wise that all they of the city assembled
about him. And he confessed there that he had
founden no treasure. And he beheld them all,
but he could not know no man there of his kin-
dred nor lineage, which he had verily supposed
that they had lived, but he found none. Where-
fore he stood as he had been from himself, in the
middle of the city.

And when Saint Martin the bishop and Anti-
pater the consul, which were new come into this
city, heard of this thing they sent for him that

172 THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

they should bring him wisely to them and his

money with him. And when he was brought to

the church, he weened well he should have been

led to the Emperor Decius. And then the bishop

and the consul marvelled of the money, and they

demanded him where he had found this treasure

unknown. And he answered that he had no

thing found, but it was come to him of his kindred

and patrimony. And they demanded of him of

what city he was. " I wot well that I am of this

city, if this be the city of Ephesus." And the

judge said to him, " Let thy kindred come and

witness for thee." And he named them but none

knew them. And they said that he feigned for

to escape from them in some manner. And

then said the judge, "How may we believe thee

that this money is come to thee of thy friends,

when it appeareth in the scripture that it is more

than ccclxxii. years since it was made and forged,

and it is of the first days of Decius the emperor,

and it resembleth no thing to our money. And

how may it come from thy lineage so long since,

and thou art young ? Thou wouldest deceive the

wise and ancient men of this city of Ephesus.

And therefore I command that thou be demeaned

after the law till that thou hast confessed where

thou hast found this money." Then Malchus

kneeled down tofore them and said : " For God's

sake, lords, say ye to me that I shall demand you

and I shall tell to you all that I have in my heart

Decius the emperor that was in this city where is

he ? " And the bishop said to him, " Son, there

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 173

is no such at this day in the world that is named
Decius : he was emperor many years since/'
And Malchus said, "Sir, hereof I am greatly
abashed and no man believeth me. For I wot
well that we fled for fear of Decius the emperor.
And I saw him that yesterday he entered into
this city if this be the city of Ephesus." Then
the bishop thought in himself and said to the
judge that this is a vision that Our Lord will have
shewed by this young man. Then said the young
man : " Follow ye me and I shall shew to you my
fellows which be in the mount of Caelion, and
believe ye them. This know I well that we fled
from the face of the Emperor Decius." And
then they went with him and a great multitude
of people of the city with them. And Malchus
entered first in to the cave of his fellows and the
bishop next after him. And there found they
among the stones the letters sealed with two seals
of silver. And then the bishop called them that
were come thither and read them tofore them all,
so that they that heard it were all abashed and
amarvelled. And they saw the saints sitting in
the cave and their visages like unto roses flower-
ing. And they kneeling down glorified God.

And anon the bishop and the judge sent to
Theodosius the Emperor, praying him that he
would come anon for to see the marvels of Our
Lord that He had late shewed. And anon he
arose up from the ground and took off the sack in
which he wept and glorified Our Lord and came
from Constantinople to Ephesus. And all they

174 ^^^ GOLDEN LEGEND.

came against him and ascended into the mountain,
with him together unto the saints in to the cave.
And as soon as the blessed saints of Our Lord saw "^
the Emperor come their visages shone like to the
sun. And the Emperor entered then and glori-
fied Our Lord and embraced them, weeping upoa
each of them, and said, " I see you now like as I
should see Our Lord raising Lazarus." And then
Maximian said to him, " Believe us : for forsooth
Our Lord hath raised us tofore the day of the
great resurrection. And to the end that thou
believe firmly the resurrection of the dead people,
verily we be raised as ye here see, and live."
And when they had said all this, they inclined
their heads to the earth and rendered their spirits
at the commandment of Our Lord Jesus Christ
and so died. Then the Emperor arose and fell
on them weeping strongly and embraced them
and kissed them debonairly. And then he com-
manded to make precious sepulchres of gold and
silver and to bury their bodies therein. And in
the same night they appeared to the Emperor
and said to him that he should suffer them to lie
on the earth like as they had lain tofore, till that
time that Our Lord had raised them, unto the
time that they should rise again. Then com-
manded the Emperor that the place should be
adorned nobly and richly with precious stones. |
It is doubt of that which is said that they slept
ccclxii. years. For they were raised the year of
Our Lord IIIICLXXXIIL And Decius reigned
but one year and three months and that was in

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 175

the year of our Lord CC and LXX., and so they
rslept but lie. and viii. years.

On an Easter day, when Saint Edward, the
King of England and Confessor, had received Our
Lord, and was set at his dinner, in the middle of
it, when all was silence, he fell in to a smiling,
and after in to a sadness, wherefore all that were
there marvelled greatly, but none durst ask of
him what he meant. But after dinner Duke
Harold followed him into his chamber with a
bishop and an abbot that were of his privy
council, and demanded of him the cause of that
thing. Then the king said, " When I remem-
bered at my dinner the great benefits of worship
and the dignity of meats, of drinks, of servants,
of array, and of all riches and royalty that I stood
in at that time, and I referred all that worship
to Almighty God, as my custom is, then Our
Lord opened mine eyes and I saw the seven
sleepers lying in a cave in the Mount Caelion
beside the city of Ephesus, in the same form and
manner as though I had been by them. And I
smiled when I saw them turn from the right side
to the left side, but when I understood what it
signified by the said turning I had no cause to
laugh but rather to mourn. The turning signi-
fieth that the prophecy be fulfilled which saith,
* Surget gens contra gentem,' that is to say,
' People shall arise against people and a kingdom
against another.' They have lain many years
upon their right side, and they shall lie yet upon

176 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

their left side Ixx. years, in which time shall be
great battles, great pestilence, and great murrain,
great earthquakes, great hunger and great dearth
throughout all the world." Of which saying of
the king they greatly marvelled. And anon they
sent to the Emperor to know if there were any
such city or hill in his land in which such seven
men should sleep. Then the Emperor marvel-
ling, sent to the same hill, and there found the
cave and the seven martyrs sleeping as they had
been dead, lying on the left side every one. And
then the Emperor was greatly abashed at that
sight, and commended greatly the holiness of
Saint Edward, the King of England, which had
the spirit of prophecy. For after his death began
great insurrections through all the world. For
the paynims destroyed a great part of Syria and
threw down both monasteries and churches, and
what by pestilence and stroke of sword, streets,
fields and towns, lay full of dead men. The
Prince of Greece was slain, the Emperor of Rome
was slain, the King of England and the King of
France were slain, and all the other realms of the
world were greatly troubled with divers diseases.

XVL— OF THE HOLY CROSS.

[HE holy cross was founden two
hundred years after the resurrec-
tion of Our Lord. It is read in
the gospel of Nicodemus, that
when Adam waxed sick, Seth his
son went to the gate of Paradise
terrestrial for to get the oil of mercy for to
anoint withal his father's body. Then appeared
to him Saint Michael the angel and said to him,
*' Travail not in vain for this oil, for thou mayest
not have it till five thousand and Hvq hundred years
been passed/' (Howbeit that from Adam unto
the passion of Our Lord were but Hvq MC, and
XXXI IL years.) In another place it is read that
the angel brought him a branch, and commanded
him to plant it in the Mount of Lebanon. Yet
find we in another place that he gave to him of
the tree that Adam ate of, and said to him that
when that bare fruit, he should be guarished and
all whole. When Seth came again he found his
father dead and planted this tree upon his grave :
and it endured there unto the time of Solomon.
And because Solomon saw that it was fair he did
do hew it down and set it in his house. And
when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon,

178 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

she worshipped this tree by cause she said the
Saviour of all the world should be hanged there-
on, by whom the realm of the Jews shall be de-
faced and cease. Solomon for this cause made it
to be taken up and buried deep in the ground.
Now it happed after that they of Jerusalem did
do make a great pit for a pool, whereas the minis-
ters of the temple should wash their beasts that
they should sacrifice : and there found they this
tree. And this piscine had such virtue that the
angels descended and moved the water and the
first sick man that descended into the water was
made whole of what somever sickness he was
sick of. And when the time approached of the
Passion of Our Lord, this tree arose out of the
water and floated above the water. And of this
piece of timber made the Jews the cross of Our
Lord. Then, after this history, the cross by
which we be saved came of the tree by which
we were damned. And the water of that piscine
had not his virtue only of the angel but of the
tree. With this tree whereof the cross was made,
there was a tree that went overthwart on which
the arms of Our Lord were nailed: and another
piece above which was the table wherein the title
was written : and another piece wherein the
socket or mortice was made that the body of the
cross stood in. So that there were four manner
of trees, that is, of palm, of cypress, of cedar, and
of olive. So each of these four pieces was of
one of these trees. This blessed cross was put
in the earth and hid, by the space of an c. year

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 179

and more. But the mother of the Emperor
which was named Helena found it.

The virtue of the cross is declared to us by
many miracles. For it happed on a time that
one enchanter had deceived a notary and brought
him into a place where he had assembled a great
company of devils, and promised to him that he
would make him to have much riches. And
when he came there he saw one person black
sittmg on a great chair, and all about him all full
of horrible people and black which had spears
and swords. Then demanded this great devil of
the enchanter who was that clerk. The en-
chanter said to him, "Sir, he is ours." Then
said the devil to him, " If thou wilt worship me
and be my servant and reny Jesus Christ thou
Shalt sit on my right side." The clerk anon
blessed him with the sign of the cross, and said
that he was the servant of Jesus Christ his Saviour.
And anon as he had made the cross that great
multitude of devils vanished away.

^ At Constantinople a Jew entered in to the
Church of Saint Sophia and considered that he
was there alone, and saw an image of Jesus Christ
and took his sword and smote the image in the
throat and anon the blood gushed out and sprang
in the face and on the head of the Jew. And he
then was afeared and took the image and cast it
into a pit and anon fled away. And it happed
that a Christian man met him and saw him all

i8o

THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

bloody and said to him, " From whence comest
thou ? Thou hast slain some man.*' And he said,
"I have not/' The Christian man said, "Verily
thou hast commised some homicide for thou art
all besprongen with the blood." And the Jew
said, "Verily the God of Christian men is great,
and the faith of Him is firm and approved in all
things. I have smitten no man but I have smit-
ten the image of Jesus Christ and anon issued
blood of his throat." And then the Jew brought
the Christian man to the pit and there they drew
out that holy image. And yet is seen on this
day the wound in the throat of the image ; and
the Jew anon became a good Christian man and
was baptized.

XVII.— LEGENDS OF SAINT JOHN THE
EVANGELIST.

HE holy Saint Clement rehearseth
in the sixth book of His tori a Eccle-
siastica that on a time Saint John
the Evangelist converted to the
faith a goodly young man, v^ell
favoured and strong, and com-
mended him unto the keeping, rule, and govern-
ance of a bishop. And within a little w^hile after
this young man forsook the bishop and fell into
evil company among thieves, and became and was
made master and prince of them. Anon after
the apostle came to the bishop and demanded for
this young man ; and the bishop was sore abashed.
When Saint John saw his countenance he de-
manded more busily after him and where he had
left him. " For I ask him of thee, whom I de-
livered to thee, and gave thee so great charge
with him.'' Then said the bishop to him,
" Father, truly he is dead in his soul, and is in
yonder mountain with thieves, and is their master
and prince.'' And when he heard this, for sor-
row he rent his clothes and said to the bishop,
" Thou art a feeble keeper, for to suffer thy bro-
ther to lose his soul." Anon he made a horse to
be made ready for him and rode fast to the moun-
tain. And when the young man espied and
knew him he so was sore ashamed that he fled

i82 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

from him. Then the Apostle forgat his age and
pricked after and cried after him that fled,
" My most sweet son, why fleest thou from thy
father, feeble and old. Be thou not afeard, son,
for I shall yield accounts for thee to Jesus Christ.
And truly I shall gladly die for thee, like as Jesus
Christ died for us. Turn again, my son, turn
again. Jesus Christ hath sent me to thee." And
when he heard him thus speak, he abode with an
heavy cheer and wept, repenting him bitterly,
and fell down to the feet of the Apostle and for
penance kissed his hand. And the Apostle fasted
and prayed to God for him and gat for him re-
mission of his sins and forgiveness. And he lived
so virtuously after that Saint John ordained him
to be a bishop.

It happed on a day that Crato the philosopher
made a great assemble of people in the midst of
the city, for to show them how they ought to
despise the world. And he had ordained two
young men, brethren, which were much rich, and
had made them to sell their patrimony and there-
with to buy precious stones. The which these
two young men brake in the presence of the
people for to shew how these precious and great
riches of the world be soon destroyed. That same
time. Saint John passed by and said to Crato the
philosopher: "This manner for to despise the
world that thou shewest is vain and foolish demon-
strance. For it seeketh to have the praising of
the world, and God reproveth it. My good

THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

183

Master, Jesus Christ, said to a man that demanded
of Him how he might come into everlasting life,
that he should go and sell all his good, and give
that he received of it to the poor people, and he
should find treasure in heaven/' Crato said then
to him: "The price and value of these precious
stones is destroyed in the presence of all men here.
But if thy master be very God, and He will that
the goods of the world be given to poor men, take
then the pieces of these precious stones and make
them whole stones as they were tofore. Because
if I have shewed this vain-glory, make thou them
to the honour of thy Master." Anon Saint John
took the pieces of the precious stones. And after
that he had made his prayer unto God, he shewed
to them the stones as whole as ever they were or
had been. When Crato the philosopher saw this,
anon he with his two men and his disciples fell
down to the feet of Saint John and received the
faith and baptism of Jesus Christ, and sold the
precious stones and gave the money thereof for
the love of God and began to preach the faith of
Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Cassiodorus saith that a man had given to Saint
John a partridge living, and he held it in his hand,
strokmg and playing with it other while for his
recreation. And on a time, a young man passed
by with his fellowship and saw him play with his
bird. Which said to his fellows, laughing : " See
how thejonder old man playeth with a bird like
a child.'' Which Saint John knew anon by the

i84 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Holy Ghost what he had said, and called the young
man to him and demanded him what he held in
his hand, and he said a bow. " What dost thou
withal ?'' said Saint John. And the young man
said, "We shoot birds and beasts therewith." To
whom the Apostle demanded how and in what
manner. Then the young man bent his bow and
held it in his hand bent; and when the Apostle
said no more to him, he unbent his bow again.
Then said the Apostle to him, " Why hast thou
unbent thy bow ?" And he said, " Because if it
should be long bent, it should be the weaker for
to shoot with it." Then said the Apostle, "So,
son, it fareth by mankind. By frailty in contem-
plation, if it should alway be bent, it should be too
weak and therefore otherwhile it is expedient to
have recreation. The eagle is the bird that flieth
highest and most clearly beholdeth the sun, and
yet by necessity of nature him behoveth to des-
cend low. Right so, when mankind withdraweth
him a little from contemplation, he after putteth
himself higher by a renewed strength, and he
burneth then more fervently in heavenly things.

There was a king, an holy confessor and virgin, ,
named Saint Edward, which had a special devo- ;
tion unto Saint John the Evangelist. And it j
happed that this holy king was at the hallowing j
of a church dedicate in the honour of God and of •■
this holy Apostle. And it was so that Saint John
in likeness of a pilgrim came to this king and de-
manded him alms in the name of Saint John.

^r. JOHN THE EVANGELIST,

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 187

And the king not having his almoner by him nor
his chamberlain of whom he might have some-
what to give him took his ring which he bare on
his linger and gave it to the pilgrim. After this
many days, it happened two pilgrims of England
for to be in the Holy Land. And Saint John
appeared to them and bade them to bear this ring
to their king and to greet him well in his name ;
and to tell him that he gave it to Saint John in
likeness of a pilgrim and that he should make him
ready to depart out of this world ; for he should
not long abide here, but come in to everlasting
bliss. And so vanished from them. And anon
as he was gone they had great lust to sleep and
laid them down and slept. And this was in the
Holy Land. And when they awoke they looked
about them and knew not where they were. And
they saw flocks of sheep, and shepherds keeping
them, to whom they went to know the way and
to demand where that they were. And when
they asked them, they spake English and said that
they were in England in Kent on Barham Down.
And then they thanked God and Saint John for
their good speed, and came to this holy king
Saint Edward on Christmas Day and delivered to
him the ring and did their errand. Whereof the
king was abashed and thanked God and the holy
saint that he had warning for to depart. And on
the vigil of the Epiphany next after he died and
departed holily out of this world and is buried in
the Abbey of Westminster by London whereas is
yet unto this day that same ring.

XVIIL— A LEGEND OF SAINT MARTHA.

AINT MARTHA, hostess of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, was born of a
royal kindred. Her father was named
Syrus and her mother Eucharia.
The father of her was duke of Syria j
and the maritime parts, and Martha fl
with her sister possessed by the heritage of their
mother three places, that was the Castle Magdala
and Bethany and a part of Jerusalem. It is no j
where read that Martha had ever any husband i^
nor fellowship of man. But she as a noble hostess
ministered and served Our Lord, and would also
that her sister should serve Him and help her, for
she thought that all the world was not sufficient
to serve such a guest.

After the ascension of Our Lord, when the .
disciples were departed, she with her brother ;
Lazarus and her sister Mary, also Saint Maximin,
which baptized them, and to whom they were
committed of the Holy Ghost, and many other,
were put in to a ship without sail, oars or other
governal, of the paynims. By the conduct of Our
Lord they came to Marseilles, and after came to
the territory of Aix, and there converted the
people to the faith. Martha was right fair of
speech and courteous and gracious to the sight of
the people.

ST. MARTHA.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 191

There was that time upon the river of Rhone
in a certain wood between Aries and Avignon a
great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than
an ox, longer than a horse, having teeth sharp as a
sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion,
tail like a serpent. And he defended him with
two wings on either side, and could not be beaten
with casting of stones nor with other armour, and
was as strong as twelve lions or bears. Which
dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and
perished them that passed by, and drowned ships.
He came thither by sea from Galatia in Asia, and
was engendered of leviathan, which is a serpent of
the water and is much wood, and of a beast
called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galatia.
And when he is pursued, he casteth out of his
belly behind his ordure, for the space of an acre
land, on them that follow him, and it is bright as
glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire.

To whom Martha at the prayer of the people
came in to the wood, and found him eating a
man. And she cast on him holy water and
shewed to him the cross. Anon he was overcome
and, standing still as a sheep, she bound him with
her own girdle, and then he was slain with spears
and glaives of the people. The dragon was called
of them that dwelt in the country Tarasconus,
wherefore in remembrance of him that place is
called Tarascon, which before was called Nerluc
and the Black Lake, by cause there be woods
shadowous and black.

XIX.— SAINT LONGINUS.

'ONGINUS, which was a puissant
knight, was with other knights
by the commandment of Pilate on
the side of the cross of Our Lord,
and he pierced the side of Our Lord
with a spear. And when he saw the
miracles how the sun lost his light, and great
earth quaking of the earth was, when Our Lord
suffered death and passion in the tree of the cross,
then believed he in Jesus Christ. Some say that
when he smote Our Lord with the spear in the
side, the precious blood descended by the shaft of
the spear upon his hands, and of adventure with
his hands he touched his eyes, and anon he that
had been tofore blind saw anon clearly. Where-
fore he refused all chivalry and abode with the
apostles, of whom he was taught and christened,
and after he abandoned to lead an holy life in
doing alms and in keeping the life of a monk
about xxxviii. years in Caesarea and Cappadocia,
and by his words and his example many men con-
verted he to the faith of Christ.

XX.— OF JUDAS AND PILATE.

T is read in a history, though it be
named apocrypha, that there was a man
in Jerusalem named Reuben and by
another name Simeon, of the kindred
of David, or, after Saint Jerome, of the
tribe of Issachar, which had a wife
named Ciborea. And on the night that Judas
was conceived his mother had a marvellous dream
whereof she was sore afeard. For her seemed
that she had conceived a child that should destroy
their people. And by cause thereof her husband
blamed her much, and said to her, "Thou sayest a
thing over evil, or the devils will to deceive thee."
She said, "Certainly, if so be that I shall have'a
son, I trow it shall be so, as I have had a revela-
tion and none illusion." When the child was
born the father and mother were in great doubt
and thought what was best to do, for they durst
not slay the child for the horror that they should
have therein, neither they wist not how they
might nourish one that should destroy their line-
^?^- Then they put him to a little basket well
pitched, and set it in the sea, and abandoned him
to drive whither it would. And anon the floods
and waves of the sea brought and made him
arrive in an island named Scarioth, and of this

194. THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

name was he called Judas Iscariot. Now it
happed that the queen of this country went to
play on the rivage of the sea and beheld this little
vessel and a child therein which was fair. And
then she sighed and said, "O Lord God, how
should I be eased if I had such a child, then at
least should not my realm be without heir.''
Then commanded she that the chi^d should be
taken up, and be nourished, and she feigned her-
self to be great with child, and after published
that she had borne a fair son. When her hus-
band heard say hereof, he had great joy and all
the people of the country made great feast. The
king and queen did do nourish and keep this
child like the son of a king. Anon after it hap-
pened that the queen conceived a son. And
when it was born and grown, Judas beat often
that child, for he weened that he had been his
brother. And oft he was chastised therefore, but
alway he made him to weep so long, that the
queen which knew well that Judas was not her
son, at last she said the truth, and told how that
Tudas was found in the sea. And ere this yet
was known, Judas slew the child that he had
supposed to be his brother and was son to the
king And in eschewing the sentence of death
he fled anon and came in to Jerusalem, and entered
into the court of Pilate which then was provost
And he so pleased him that he was great with
him, and had in great charity and nothing was
done without him.

Now it happed on a day that Pilate went for to

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. i^^

disport him by a garden belonging to the father
of Judas, and was so desirous to eat of the fruit of
the apples that he might not forbear them. And
the father of Judas knew not his son Judas, for he
had supposed that he had been drowned in the
!5.^ '°"8 f fore, nor the son the father. When
Pilate had told to Judas of his desire, he sprang in
to the garden of his father, and gathered of the
fruit for to bear to his master. But the father of
Judas defended him, and there began between
them much strife and debate, first by words and
after with fighting. So much, that Judas smote
his .ather with a stone on the head that he slew
him, and after brought the apples unto Pilate, and
told to him how that he had slain him that ought
the garden. Then sent Pilate to seize all the
goods that the father of Judas had and after gave

weJ?.-"-^""^"' \ ™""'"2"' ^"'i 'J^"^ Judas
wedded his own mother.

Now it happed on a day that the lady wept and
sighed much strongly and said, "Alas ! how un-
happy that I am, I have lost my son and my hus-

rh?A ^l '°'' "^f ^^'^ °'' '^' ''^ «"d I suppose
that he be drowned, and my husband is dead sud-

S\ ft ^'' '■'/ """'^ grievous to me that
niate hath re-married me against my will." Then
lemanded Judas of this child. And she told him
low he was set on the sea. And Judas told to
"iL Xat'?^' been founden onthisea; in such

^at he had slain h,s father and wedded his mother.
iVherefore then he went to Jesus Christ, which

1^6 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

did so many miracles, and prayed Him of mercy
and forgiveness of his sins. Thus far is it read in
the history which is not authentic.

PILATE.

Of the pain of Pilate and his birth thou shalt
find in one apocryphum, where as it is said in
this manner :

There was a king called Tyrus which knew
carnally a maid called Pila, which was daughter
of a miller named Atus. And of this daughter
he engendered a son. She took her name and
the name of her father which was called Atus,
and composed thus of their names one name to
her son and named him Pilatus. And when he
was three years old she sent him to the king.
And the king had a son of the queen which
seemed to be of the age of Pilate. And these
two sons when they were of age of discretion, oft
they fought together and with the sling they
played oft. And the king's son also which was
legitimate, was more noble, and in all feats he
knew more, and more was set by by cause of his
birth. And Pilate seeing this was moved of envy
and wrath and privily slew his brother. The
which thing the king heard say,^ and was much
angry and demanded of his council what he might
do and make of this trespass and homicide. The
which all with one voice said that he was worthy
to suffer death. And the king would not double
the pain and punition to himself, but by cause he
ought to the Romans yearly a tribute, he sent him

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 197

in hostage to the Romans as well for to be quit
of the death of his son, as that he should not be
constrained to put him to death, and for to be
quit of the tribute that he ought to Rome. And
this time was at Rome one of the sons of the
King of France which also was sent for tribute.
And when Pilate saw him he anon accompanied
with him, and when he saw that he was praised
tofore him for the wit and for the manners that
were in him, Pilate slew him also. And when
the Romans demanded what should be done in
this matter, they answered that he which had
slain his brother, and estrangled him that was in
hostage, if he might live should be yet much
profitable to the common weal, and should daunt
the necks of them that were cruel and wood.
And then said the Romans that since he was
worthy to die he should be sent in to an isle of
the sea named Pontus to them that will suffer no
judge over them, to the end that his wickedness
may overcome and judge them or else that he
suffer of them like as he hath deserved.

Then was Pilate sent to this cruel people and
wild which tofore had slain their judge. And it
was told to him to what people he was sent and
that he should consider how his life was hanging
and in great jeopardy. He went considering his
life and, thinking to keep it, did so much what
by menaces and promises and torment, as by
gifts, that he subdued them all and put them in
subjection. And by cause he had victory of this
cruel people, he was named of this Isle ot Pontus,

198 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Pontius Pilate. And when Herod heard his in-
iquities and his frauds he had great joy thereof.
And by cause he was wicked himself he would
have the wicked with him and sent for him by
messengers and by promise of gifts that he came
to him and gave him the power upon the realm
of Judaea and Jerusalem. And when he had as-
sembled and gathered together much money, he
went to Rome without knowing of Herod, and
offered right great sums of money for to get to
himself that which Herod so held. And so he
gat it. And for this cause Herod and Pilate were
enemies unto the time of the Passion of Jesus
Christ, whom Pilate sent to prison.

And when Pilate had delivered Jesus Christ to
the Jews for to be crucified he doubted the Em-
peror that he should be reproved of that he had
judged an innocent, and sent a friend of his for
to excuse him. And in this while Tiberius the
Emperor fell into a grievous malady. And it was
told to him that there was one in Jerusalem that
cured all manner maladies, and he knew not that
Pilate and the Jews had slain Him. He said to
Volusian, which was secret with him, "Go in to
the parts over sea, and say to Pilate that he send
to me the leech or master in medicine for to heal
me of my malady." And when he wss come to
Pilate and had said his message, Pilate was much
abashed and demanded xiii days of dilation within
which time Volusian found on old woman named
Veronica which had been familiar and devout
with Jesus Christ. He demanded of her where

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 199

he might find Him that he sought. She then
cried and said, "Alas, Lord God, my Lord, my
God was He that ye ask for, whom Pilate damned
to death, and whom the Jews delivered to Pilate
for envy and commanded that He should be
crucified." Then he complained him sorrow-
fully and said, " I am sorry by cause he may not
accomplish that which my lord the Emperor hath
charged me.*' To whom Veronica said, " My
Lord and my Master when He went preaching,
I absented me oft from Him, so I did do paint
His visage, for to have alway with me His pres-
ence, by cause that the figure of His image
hould give me some solace. And then as I bare
a linen kerchief in my bosom. Our Lord met me
and demanded whither I went and when I had
told him whither I went and the cause. He
demanded the kerchief, and anon He im-
printed His face and figured it therein. And
if thy lord had beholden the figure of Jesus
Christ devoutly he should be anon guarished and
healed. And Volusian asked, " Is there neither
gold nor silver that this figure may be bought
with ? *' She answered, " Nay, but strong of
courage, devout and of great affection, I shall go
with thee and shall bear it to the Emperor for to
see it, and after I shall return hither again."
Then went Volusian with Veronica to Rome,
and said to the Emperor, "Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou hast long desired, Pilate and the
Jews by envy and with wrong have put to death
and have hanged him on the cross. And a

200 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

matron, a widow, is come with me which bringeth
the image of Jesus, the which if thou with good
heart and devoutly wilt behold and have therein
contemplation, thou shalt anon be whole." And
when the Emperor had heard this, he did anon
make ready the way with clothes of silk, and
made the image of Jesus to be brought to fore
him. And anon as he had seen it and worshipped
it, he was all guarished and whole.

Then, when the Emperor heard that Pilate was
come to Rome, he was much wroth and inflamed
against him, and bad that he should be brought
tofore him. Pilate wore alway the garment of
Our Lord, which was without seam, wherewith
he was clad when he came tofore the Emperor.
And as soon as the Emperor saw him all his wrath
was gone and the ire out of his heart, he could
not say an evil word to him. And in his absence
he was sore cruel towards him, and in his presence
he was alway sweet and debonair to him, and gave
him licence and he departed. And anon as he
departed he was as angry and as sore moved as he
was tofore, and more by cause he had not shewed
to him his fury. Then he made him to be called
again and sware he should be dead. And anon as
he saw him his cruelty was all gone, whereof was
great marvel. Now was there one by the inspira-
tion of God, or at the persuasion of some Christian
man, that caused the Emperor to despoil him of
that coat. And anon as he had put it off, the
Emperor had in his heart as great ire and fury as
he had to fore, wherefore the Emperor marvelled

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 201

at this coat and it was told to him that it was the
coat of Jesus. Then the Emperor made Pilate to
be set in prison till he had counselled what he
should do with him, and sentence was given that
he should die a villanous death. And when Pilate
heard the sentence he took a knife and slew him-
self. And when the Emperor heard how he was
dead, he said, " Certainly he is dead of a right
villanous death and foul, for his own proper hand
hath not spared him.'' Then his body was taken
and bounden to a mill-stone and was cast in the
river of Tiber for to be sunken to the bottom.
And the ill spirits in the air began to move great
tempests and marvellous waves in the water, and
horrible thunder and lightning, whereof the people
was sore afraid and in great doubt. And therefore
the Romans drew out the body and in derision
sent it to Vienne and cast it into the river named
Rhone. Vienne is as much to say as hell, which
is said Gehenna, for then it was accused place,
and so there is his body in the place of maledic-
tion. And the evil spirits been as well there as
in other places, and made such tempests as they
did before, in so much that they of that place
might not suffer it. And therefore they took the
vessel wherein the body was and sent it for to
bury it in the territory of the city of Losane.*
And it was taken thence and thrown into a deep
pit all environed with mountains. In which
place, after the relation of some, be seen illusions,
and machinations of fiends be seen to grow and

* Lausanne or Lucerne.

202

THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

boil. And hitherto is the history called apocry-
phum read: They that have read this let them say
and believe as it shall please them.

XXL— JULIAN THE APOSTATE.

JULIAN there was that was no
saint but a cursed man, and was
called Julianus Apostata. This
Julian was first a monk and shew-
ing outward signs of great religion
and of great holiness, after that
that Master John Beleth reciteth. There was a
woman that had three pots full of gold, and by
cause the gold should not be seen she had put in
the mouth of the pots above ashes, and delivered
them to this Julian tofore other monks for to
keep, whom she reputed an holy man : but she
said not to him that they were full of gold.
When he had these pots he looked what was
therein and he found that it was gold, and took it
out all, and filled them full of ashes, and fled
withal to Rome. And he did so much that he
was of the councillors and governors of Rome.
But the woman, when she would have again her
pots, she could not prove that she had delivered
to him in keeping gold, for she made no mention
thereof tofore the monks, and therefore he retained
it, and procured withal the office of a consul of
the governance of Rome. And after that he pro-
cured so much that he was instituted emperor.

Whiles he was young he was taught in the art
of enchantment and of the invocation of fiends.

204 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And gladly he studied it and it pleased him much
and he had with him divers masters of the science.
Now it happed on a day that, as his master was
out, he began alone to read the invocations, and a
great multitude of fiends came about him and
made him afeard. And he made the sign of the
cross and anon they vanished away. And when
his master was returned, he told him what was
happened to him. But his master said to him that
;alway he had hated and feared that sign. Then
when he was emperor he remembered thereof and,
because he would use the craft of the devil over
all, where he found the signs of the cross he des-
troyed them, and persecuted the Christian men
because that he knew well that otherwise the
fiends would not do for him.

And, as it is read in the history of Saint Basil, he
came into Caesarea of Cappadocia and Saint Basil
came against him and presented three loaves to
him. And Julian had great indignation of this
gift and for the bread he sent to Saint Basil hay
saying, "Thou hast sent to me meat for dumb
beasts, therefore take this that I send to thee."
Saint Basil said, "We have sent to thee such as
we eat and thou sendest to us of that thou
nourishest thy beasts with." Of which answer
Julian was wroth and said, "When I shall have
done in Persia, I shall destroy this city in such
wise that it shall be better ordained for to ear and
^ow than for people to dwell in." And the
night ensuing Saint Basil saw in a vision in the
church of Our Lady a great multitude of angels,

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 205

and, in the middle of them, a woman being on a
throne which said to them, " Call to me Mercury
whom Julian the apostata hath slain, which bias-
phemeth me and my son." Mercury was a knight
that for the faith of God had been slain of Julian
and was buried in the same church. Then anon
Mercury with all his arms that were kept, was
present ; and at the commandment of the lady he
went to battle. Saint Basil awoke all afraid and
went to the tomb where the knight was buried in
and opened the sepulchre but he found neither
body nor arms. Then he demanded of the keeper
who had taken away the body. And he sware
that m the evening tofore it was there. Saint
Basil after on the morrow returned and found the
body and the armour and the spear all bloody.
And anon came one from the battle which said
that Julian the apostata and emperor was in the
battle and thither came a knight unknown all
armed, with his spear. Which hardily smote his
horse with his spurs and came to Julian the em-
peror, and brandished his sword and smote him
through the body, and suddenly he departed, and
never after was seen. And when Julian should
die, he took his hand full of blood and cast it into
the air, saying, "Thou hast vanquished, man of
Cjahlee, thou hast overcome." And in cryin?
thus miserably, he expired and died in great pain
and was left without sepulchre of all his men.
And he was flayed of the Persians and of his skin
was made to the king of Persia an under-covering
and thus he died cursedly.

XXII.— LEGENDS OF SAINT MACARIUS.

lAINT MACARIUS was in a desert
and entered into a pit or sepulture,
I where as had been buried many-
bodies of paynims, for to sleep.
And he drew out one of these bodies
'and laid it under his head instead of
a pillow. Then came thither devils for to make
him aghast and afeared, and said one to another,
*' Come with me to bathe thee.'' And the body-
that lay under his head said, "I may not come
for I have a pilgrim upon me lying that I may
not move.'* For all this Saint Macarius was not
afeard, but he beat the body with his fist and
said, "Arise and go if thou canst." When the |
devils saw that they might not make him afeard,
they cried with a great voice, "Macarius thou hast
vanquished and overcome us."

On a time as Macarius was nigh his house, the
the devil came with a great scythe on his neck
and would have smitten therewith Saint Macarius.
And the devil said to him, " Thou doest to me
great violence and force for I may not prevail
against thee. Lo, what thou doest I do. Thou
fastest and I eat not. Thou wakest and I never
sleep. But there is one thing in which thou
overcomest me." And Macarius said, "What is
that?" To whom the devil said, "That is

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 207

humility and thy meekness by which I may not
prevail against thee." It happened on a time
that a great temptation came upon Saint Macarius,
and much tempted him. And anon he filled a
sack full of stones and laid it on his neck and
bare it many journeys together through the desert*
Then another hermit met him and demanded him
why he bare so great a burden, and he answered,
" I travail my body because it sufFereth me not in
peace, and thus I vex him that vexed me."
Another time Saint Macarius met the devil and
demanded him whence he came. And the devil
answered, " I come from visiting thy brethren."
Then said Saint Macarius, " How do they ? "
The devil answered, " Evil." And he asked
wherefore, and the devil said, " For they be all
holy, and the worst of it, there was one that was
mine, and I have lost him, for he is now made
holier than the others." When Saint Macarius
heard this, he gave lovings and thankings to God.
It happed on a time Saint Macarius found
in his way the head of a dead man, and he
demanded of it whose head it was. And the
head answered, " Of a paynim." And Macarius
said to him, " Where is thy soul ? " He answered,
"In hell." And he demanded if it were deep in
hell. And he said, " Deeper than is from heaven
to earth." And after he demanded if there were
any beneath him. And he said the Jews be
lower than he was. He asked if there were any
lower or beneath the Jews. To whom he said
that the false Christian men be yet lower and

2o8 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

deeper in hell than the Jews ; for as much as they
have despised and villanied the blood of Jesus
Christ of which they were redeemed, so much the
more be they tormented.

On a time Saint Macarius went in a desert and
at the end of every mile he set a reed in the earth
for to have knowledge thereby to turn again; and
went forth ix. days journey and after he slept.
And the devil took all these reeds and bound them
and laid them at his head. Wherefore he had
great labour for to come again in to his house.

It happed on a time that Saint Macarius
killed a fly that bit him. And when he saw the
blood of this fly he repented him, and so, repentant
of that, would revenge it, and anon unclothed
him and went naked in the desert vi. months, and
suffered himself to be bitten of the flies.

XXIIL— SAINT FELIX IN PINCIS.

[ELIX was surnamed " in pincis " and
it is said of the place where he resteth
orof thepointelsof "grefFes** (graphs):
a "grefFe " is properly called a pointel
to write in tables of wax, by which
he suffered death. And some say
that he was a schoolmaster and taught children
and was to them much rigorous. After he was
known of the paynims and because he confessed
plainly that he was Christian and believed in Jesus
Christ, he was delivered to be tormented into the
hands of the children his scholars whom he had
taught and learned, which scholars slew him with
their pointels, pricks and greffes. And yet the
church holdeth him for no martyr, but for a
confessor. And the paynims said to him that he
should do sacrifice to the idols ; but he blew on
them and anon they fell to the the earth.

It is read in a legend that, when Maximus
bishop and Valerian fled the persecution of the
pagans, the bishop was tormented with hunger
and thirst so much that he fell down to the
ground. Wherefore Felix was sent of an angel
to him and he bare nothing with him for to give
him. And he saw hy him a cluster of raisins
hanging on a tree, which he laid on his shoulders

2IO THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

hastily and bare it with him. And when the
bishop was dead, Felix was elect and chosen
bishop.

And as he preached on a time the persecutors
sought him and he hid him in the clefts of a
broken wall ; and incontinent by the will of God
came spiders and made their work and nets be-
fore him that they might not find him. And
when the tyrants could not find him they went
their way. And he went thence and came to
the house of a widow, and took there his refec-
tion of her three months and yet he saw her
never in the visage. And at the last, when the
peace was made, he went unto his church and
there died and rested in Our Lord and was buried
by the city in a place that was called pincis.

XXIV.— PETER THE TOLLER.

|HERE was sometime a tax-gatherer
named Peter in a city, that was a
much rich man : but he was not
piteous but cruel to poor people :
for he would hunt and chase alway
poor people and beggars from his
house with indignation and anger. Thus would
no poor man come to him for alms. Then was
there one poor man said to his fellows, "What
will ye give me if I get of him an alms this day ? "
And they made a wager with him that he should
not. Which done, he went to the tax-gatherer's
house and stood at the gate and demanded alms.
And when this rich man came and saw this poor
man at his gate, he was much angry and would
have cast somewhat at his head but could find
no thing. At the last came one of his servants
bearing a basket full of rye-bread, and in a great
anger he took a rye loaf and threw it at his head
as he that might not hear the cry of the poor
man. And he took up the loaf and ran to his
fellows and said truly that he had received that
loaf of Peter's own hand. And then within two
days after this rich man was sick and like to die.
And as he lay he was ravished in spirit : in which
he saw that he was set in judgment and black
men brought forth his wicked deeds and laid

212 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

them in a balance on the one side. And on the
other side he saw some clothed in white mourn-
ing and sorrowful, but they had nothing to lay
against them in the other balance. And one of
them said, " Truly we have no thing but a rye
loaf which he gave to God against his will but
two days past." And then they put the loaf into
the balance. And him seemed the balances were
like even. Then they said to him, "Increase
and multiply this rye loaf or else thou must be
delivered to these black fiends.'* And when he
awoke he said, "Alas, if a rye loaf have so much
availed me that I gave in despite, how much
should it have availed me if I had given all my
goods to poor men with a good will."

As this rich man went on a day clothed with
his best clothes a poor shipman came to him all
naked and demanded of him some clothing for
the love of God to cover him withal ; and he
anon despoiled himself and gave to him his rich
clothing that he wore. And anon the poor man
sold it. And when he knew that the poor man
had sold it, he was so sorry that he would eat no
meat, but he said, "Alas, I am not worthy that
the poor man think upon me." And the night
following, when he slept, he saw one brighter
than the sun having a cross on his head, wearing
the same cloth that he had given to the poor
man. And he said to him, " Why weepest thou,
toller?" And when he had told to him the
cause of his sorrow, he said to him, "Knowest
thou this cloth ? " And he said, " Yea, sir."

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 213

And Our Lord said, " I have been clothed there-
with since thou gavest it to me. And I thank
thee of thy goodwill that thou haddest of my
nakedness, for when I was a cold thou coveredst
me/* And when he awoke he blessed the poor
people and said, "By the living God, if I live, I
will be one His poor men/'

And when he had given all his goods to poor
men, he called one of his secret men whom he
trusted well and said to him, " I have a secret
counsel to tell thee. And if thou keep it not
secret and do as I bid thee, I shall sell thee to the
heathen imen.*' And he took him x pound in
gold and bad him go in to the holy city and buy
some mercer's ware. "And when thou hast so
done, take me and sell me to some Christian man
and take that money that thou shalt receive for
me and give it to poor people.'' And the servant
refused it. And he said, "Truly, if thou sell me
not, I shall sell thee to the barbarians." And
then he took this Peter the toller as he had com-
manded him, which was his master, and clad him
in vile clothing and led him to the market and
sold him to a money-changer for xxx. besants

4-u- I ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^g ^^^ poor men.
^ This Peter then, thus sold, was bound and put
into a kitchen for to do all foul works, in such
wise that he was despised of every man of the
servants. And some oft smote him and knocked
him about the head and called him fool. Christ
appeared oft to him and shewed him his clothing
and the besants and comforted him.

214 "J^HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And the Emperor and other people were sorry
for the loss of Peter the Toller. And it happed
that noble men of Constantinople came unto the
place whereas Peter was for to visit holy places,
whom the master of Peter had to dinner. And
as they sat and ate at their dinner, Peter served
and passed by them, and they beholding him said
to each other in their ears, "How like is this
young man to Peter the Toller.'' And as they
well saw and advised him, they said, "Verily it
is my lord Peter, I shall arise and hold him."
And when Peter understood that, he fled away
privily.

There was a porter which was both deaf and
dumb and by signs he opened the gates. And
Peter bad him by words to open the gate, and he
anon heard him and receiving speech, answered
him. And Peter went his way. And the porter
returned into the house speaking and hearing,
whereof all they marvelled. To whom he said,
"He that was in the kitchen is gone out and
fleeth away. But know ye for certain that he is
the servant of God, for as he spake and bade me
open the gate, there issued out of his mouth a
flame of fire which touched my tongue and mine
ears, and anon I received hearing and speaking."
And anon they all went out, and ran after him,
but they might not find him. Then all they of
the house repented them and did penance, by
cause they had so foul entreated him.

XXV.— THE INVENTION OF SAINT
FIRMIN.

'N the time of the invention of Saint
Firminthe martyr there was Saint Salvius
Bishop of Amiens, and saw that tofore
him in the time of Saint Honorius, Our
Lord had done take up the bodies of
Saint Fulgentius, Saint Victorious, and
Saint Gentius, and thought all an whole night
upon the body of Saint Firmin the Martyr. And
when it was day, this holy man Saint Salvius sum-
moned the clergy and the people to fast and make
prayers through the city of Amiens, to the end
that Our Lord would shew them the place where
the body of Saint Firman the martyr lay. And
on the third day. Our Lord sent such a miracle
that He sent a ray of the sun which pierced the
wall of the monastery on the same side where the
body lay. Then they began to dig and delve
there. And when they came nigh the body there
issued out so great a sweetness out of the pit that
all they that were there weened they had been in
Paradise: and it seemed that if all the spices of
of the earth had been stamped together it should
not have smelled so well nor so sweet. And this
sweet odour spread through the city of Amiens
and divers cities about, that is to wit Terwan,
Cambrai and Noyon, And the people of these

2i6 THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

cities moved them each from his place with candles
and offerings, without sayer or commander, but
only for the odour that so spread, and came unto
this glorious saint. And as the body was borne
in the city of Amiens, there were shewed such
miracles that never none were like found nor seen
tofore of any saint. For the elements moved them
by the miracles of this saint. The snow that was
that time great on the earth was turned into pow-
der and dust by the heat that was then, and the
ice that hanged on the trees became flowers and
leaves, and the meadows about Amiens flowered
and became green. And the sun, which by his
nature should go low that day, ascended as high as
she is on Saint John's day at noon in the summer.
And as men bare the body of this saint, the trees
inclined and worshipped the body. And all
manner sick men, what malady they had, they re-
ceived health in the invention of the blessed body
of Saint Firmin. And the burgesses that were in
their gowns and mantles had so great heat that
they called their servants and bondsmen, of whom
there were many that day in Amiens, and affran-
chised them, for to bear their clothes into the city
of Amiens. Our Lord did do shew such miracles
and so far sent the odour, that the lord of Beau-
gency, which was at a window and was sick of
lazarie, he smelled the odour and was anon guar-
ished and whole. And he took his gold and came
and did homage unto the body of Saint Firmin in
the city of Amiens. Our Lord hath shewed many
miracles for this glorious saint, and much he ought

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 217

to be honoured in this world, and then pray we
unto this blessed saint, Saint Firmin, that he pray
for us to Our Lord that He will pardon us our
sins, and bestow and grant to us the glory of hea-
ven. Amen.

XXVI.— SUNDRY MIRACLES OF SAINT
NICHOLAS.

^^^S5^HERE was a man that had bor-
rowed of a Jew a sum of money
and sware upon the altar of Saint
Nicholas that he would render
and pay it again as soon as he
might, and gave none other pledge.
And this man held this money so long that the
Jew demanded and asked his money. And he
said that he had paid him. Then the Jew made
him to come tofore the law in judgment, and the
oath was given to the debtor. And he brought
with him an hollow staff in which he had put
the money in gold and he leant upon the staff.
And when he should make his oath and swear, he
delivered his staff to the Jew to keep and hold
while he should swear. And then he sware that
he had delivered to him more than he owed to
him. And when he had made the oath he de-
manded his staff again of the Jew: and he, know-
ing nothing of his malice, delivered it to him.
Then this deceiver went his way and anon after,
him listed sore to sleep, and he laid him in the
way. And a cart with four wheels came with
great force, and slew him, and brake the staff with
gold that it spread abroad. And when the Jew
heard this, he came thither sore moved and saw

THE GOLDEN LEGEND, 219

the fraud. And many said that he should take to
him the gold. And he refused it saying, " But if
he that was dead were not raised again to life by
the merits of Saint Nicholas, he would not re-
ceive it.'' Then he that was dead arose and the
Jew was christened.

Another Jew saw the virtuous miracles of Saint
Nicholas and did do make an image of the Saint
and set it in his house. And he commanded him
that he should keep well his house when he went
out and that he should keep well all his goods,
saying to him, "Nicholas, lo, here be all my
goods. I charge thee to keep them. And if
thou keep them not well, I shall avenge me on
thee in beating and tormenting thee." And on
a time when the Jew was out, thieves came and
robbed all his goods and left unborne away only
the image. And when the Jew came home he
found him robbed of all his goods. He areasoned
the image, saying these words, " Sir Nicholas, I
had set you in my house for to keep my goods
from thieves. Wherefore have you not kept
them. Ye shall receive sorrow and torments and
shall have pain for the thieves. I shall avenge
my loss and refrain my woodness in beating thee."
And then took the Jew the image and beat it and
tormented it cruelly. Then happed a great mar-
vel. For when the thieves disparted the goods,
the holy Saint Nicholas, like as he had been in
his array, appeared to the thieves and said to
them. *' Wherefore have I been beaten so cruelly
for you and have so many torments. See how

220 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

my body is hewen and broken ; see how that the
red blood runneth down by my body. Go ye
fast and restore it again or else the ire of God
Almighty shall make you to be as one out of his
wit, and that all men shall know your felony and
that each of you shall be hanged." And they
said, "Who art thou that sayest to us such
things ? *' And he said to them, " I am Nicholas,
the servant of Jesus Christ, whom the Jew hath
so cruelly beaten for his goods that ye bare away."
Then they were afeard and came to the Jew and
heard what he had done to the image, and they
told him the miracle and delivered to him again
all his goods. And thus came the thieves to the
way of truth and the Jew to the way of Jesus
Christ.

A man for the love of his son that went to
school for to train, hallowed every year the feast
of Saint Nicholas much solemnly. On a time it
happed that the father had do make ready the
dinner and called many clerks to this dinner.
And the devil came to the gate in the habit of a
pilgrim for to demand alms. And the father anon
commanded his son that he should give alms to
the pilgrim. He followed him as he went for to
give him alms. And when he came to the cross-
way the devil caught the child and strangled him.
And when the father heard this he sorrowed
much and strongly wept, and bare the body into
his chamber. And began to cry for sorrow and
said, " Right sweet son, how is it with thee.
Saint Nicholas, is this the guerdon that ye have

A MIRACLE OF ST. NICHOLAS.

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. zz^

done to me because I have so long served you ? "
And as he said these words and other semblable,
the child opened his eyes and awoke like as he
had been asleep and arose up tofore all the people
and was raised from death to life by the prayers
of the blessed Saint Nicholas.

There was a rich man that by the merits of
Saint Nicholas had a son and called him, Deus
dedit, God gave. And this rich man did do make
a chapel of Saint Nicholas in his dwelling-place
and did do hallow every year the feast of Saint
Nicholas. And this manor was set by the land of
the Hagarenes paynims. This child was taken
prisoner and deputed to serve the king. The
year following, and the day that his father held
devoutly the feast of Saint Nicholas, the child
held a precious cup tofore the king, and remem-
bered his taking, the sorrow of his friends, and
the joy that that day was made in the house of
his father, and began for to sigh sore high. And
the king demanded him what him ailed, and the
cause of his sighing, and he told to him every
word wholly. And when the king knew it he
said to him, " Whatsomever thy Nicholas do or
do not, thou shalt abide here with us." And
suddenly there blew a much strong wind that
made all the house to tremble, and the child was
ravished, with the cup, and was set to fore the
gate where his father held the solemnity of Saint
Nicholas, in such wise that all they demeaned
great joy. And some say that this child was of
Normandy and went over sea and was taken by

224 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

the Soldan which made him oft to be beaten to
fore him. And as he was beaten on a Saint
Nicholas day and was after set in prison, he prayed
to Saint Nicholas as well for his beating that he
suffered as for the great joy that he was wont to
have on the day of Saint Nicholas. And when
he had long prayed and sighed, he fell asleep.
And when he awoke he found himself in the
chapel of his father whereas was much joy made
for him.

A noble man prayed to Saint Nicholas that he
would by his merits get of Our Lord that he might
have a son, and promised that he would bring his
son to the church and would offer to him a cup
of gold. Then the son was born and came to
age. And the father commanded to make a cup,
and the cup pleased him much and he retained it
for himself and did do make another of the same
value. And as they went sailing in a ship toward
the church of Saint Nicholas, and as the child
would have filled the cup, he fell into the water
with the cup and anon was lost and came no more
up. Yet nevertheless the father performed his
vow, in weeping much tenderly for his son. And
when he came to the altar of Saint Nicholas he
offered the second cup. And when he had offered
it, it fell down like as one had cast it under the
altar. And he took it up and set it again upon
the altar, and then it was cast further than tofore.
And yet he took it up and remised it the third
time upon the altar, and it was thrown again fur-
ther than tofore. Of which thing all they that

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 225

were there marvelled, and men came for to see
this thing. And anon the child that had fallen
in the water in the sea came again all safe to fore
them all, and brought in his hands the first cup,
and recounted to the people that anon as he was
fallen in the sea the blessed Saint Nicholas came
and kept him that he had none harm. And thus
his father was glad, and offered to Saint Nicholas
both the two cups.

When there should be sung a new history of
Saint Nicholas in a church which was of the Holy
Cross and was subject to the Church of Our Lady
of Charity, the brethren prayed much instantly
their prior that they might sing this new history ;
which he in no wise would grant to them, and
said they ought not change their old for no new.
And yet the brethren prayed him more instantly,
and he in despite said, " Go your way, for in no
manner shall ye never have licence of me that
this new song shall be sung." And when the
feast of Saint Nicholas came, the brethren said
their matins all in heaviness and their vigils. And
when they were all in their beds. Saint Nicholas
appeared visibly and much fearfully to the prior
and drew him out by the hair, and smote him
down on the pavement of the dormitory, and be-
gan to sing the history, O Pastor Eterne, And at
every note he smote him with a rod that he held
in his hand right grievously on his back, and sang
melodiously this anthem unto the end. And then
the prior cried so loud that he awoke all his breth-
ren and was borne to his bed as half dead. And

226

THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

when he came to himself, he said, "Go ye and
sing the new history of Saint Nicholas from
henceforth."

XXVII.— SUNDRY MIRACLES OF OUR

LADY.

jE read an example of a noble
knight, which for to amend his
life gave and rendered himself
unto an abbey of Cistercians.
And for as much as he was no
1 clerk, there was assigned to him a
master for to teach him, and he was to be with
the brethren clerks. But he could no thing learn
in long time that he was there save these two
words, "Ave Maria," which words he had so
sore imprinted in his heart that always he had
them in his mouth where somever he was. At
the last he died and was buried in the churchyard
of the brethren. It happed after, that upon the
tomb grew a right fair lily, and in every flower
was written in letters of gold, Ave Maria. Of
which miracle all the brethren were marvelled,
and they did open the sepulchre, and found that
the root of this lily came out of the mouth of the
said knight. And anon they understood that
Our Lord would have him honoured for the
great devotion that he had to say these words
Ave Maria.

Another knight there was, that had a fair place
beside the high way where much people passed
whom he robbed as much as he might, and so

228 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

used he his life. But he had a good custom, for
every day he saluted the glorious Virgin Mary in
saying, "Ave Maria." And for no labour he
left not to greet Our Lady as is said. It happed
that an holy man passed by his house whom he
robbed and despoiled. But the holy man prayed
them that robbed him that they would bring him
to their master, for he had to speak with him in
his house of a secret thing for his profit. And
when the robbers heard that, they led him tofore
the knight their lord. And anon the holy man
prayed him that he would do come all his meinie
tofore him. And when his meinie by the com-
mandment of the knight were assembled, the holy
man said, " Yet be they not all here. There is
one yet to come." Then one of them apper-
ceived that the chamberlain of the lord was not
come. And anon the knight make him to come.
And when the holy man saw him come, anon he
said, " I conjure thee by the virtue of Jesus
Christ our Lord thou say to us who thou art and for
what cause thou art come hither." Anon the cham-
berlain answered, "Alas, now must I say and know-
ledge myself. I am no man but am a devil in the
form of a man, and have taken it xii years, by
which space I have dwelled with this knight. For
my master hath sent me hither to the end that I
should take heed night and day if this knight left
to say this salutation, Ave Maria. For then I
should strangle him with mine own hands and
bring him to hell because of the evil life that he
hath led and leadeth. But because he sayeth

A MIRACLE OF OUR LADY.

i

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 231

every day this salutation, Ave Maria, I might not
have him. And therefore I abode here so long,
for there passeth him no day but that he saluteth
Our Lady/' When the knight heard this, he
was much afeard and fell down to the feet of this
holy man and demanded pardon of his sins. After
this the holy man said to the devil, " I command
thee in the name of Our Lord that thou depart
hence and go into another place where thou
mayest grieve nor annoy no man."

There was a knight much noble, and devout
unto our Lady which went to a tourneying. And
he found a monastery in his way which was of
the Virgin Mary, and entered in to it for to hear
mass. And there were masses one after another,
and for the honour of our Lady he would leave
none but that he heard them all. And when he
issued out of the monastery he hasted him apertly.
And they that returned from the tourney met
him, and said to him that he had ridden right
nobly. And they that hated him affirmed the
same, and all they together cried that he had
right nobly tourneyed : and some went to him
and said that he had taken them. Then he, that
was wise, avised him that the courteous virgin
and queen had so courteously honoured him, and
recounted all that was happened, and then re-
turned he to the monastery, and ever after abode
in the service of Our Lord, the son of the blessed
Virgin.

There was a knight which was mighty and
rich that dispended foolishly his goods, and came

232 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

to so great poverty that he which had been
accustomed to give largely great things had need
to demand and ask the small. And he had a
right chaste v^rife and much devout to the blessed
Virgin Mary. And a great solemnity approached
at which the knight was accustomed to give many
gifts, and he had nothing to give, whereof he
was greatly ashamed. And he went into place
desert, full of heaviness and weeping, so long till
that the feast was passed, for to wail there his evil
fortune and for to eschew shame. And anon a
knight much horrible came sitting on a horse,
which areasoned the knight, and enquired of him
the cause of his great heaviness. And he told
him all by order as was happed to him. And
this foul knight said to him, " If thou wilt a
little obey to me, thou shalt abound in glory
and in riches more than thou wert tofore." And
he promised to the devil that he would do so
gladly if he accomplished that he promised. And
then he said to him, " Go home in to thine house,
and thou shalt find in such a place there so much
gold and so much silver. And thou shalt find
there also precious stones. And do so much that
such a day thou bring me hither thy wife.*' And
the knight returned home in to his house, and
found all things like as the devil had promised.
And anon he bought a palace, and gave great
gifts, and bought again his heritage, and took his
men again to him. And the day approached
when he had promised to lead his wife to the
fiend. And he called her, " Let us go to horse-

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 233

back, for ye must come with me unto a place far
hence." And she trembled and was afeard, and
durst not gamsay the commandment of her hus-
band. And she commended herself devoutly to
the blessed Virgin Mary and began to ride after
her husband. And when they had ridden a good
while they saw m the way a church. And she
descended from the horse and entered in to the
church. Her husband abode without. And as
she commended her devoutly to the blessed Virgin
Mary m great devotion and contemplation, she
suddenly slept. And the glorious Virgin did on
semb able habit of this lady, and departed from
the altar, and issued out, and mounted upon the
horse And the lady abode, sleeping in the
church and the knight weened that she had been
his wife that was with him, and went alway
torth And when he was come to the place as-
signed, the devil came with a great rush to the
piace. And when he approached and came near,
he quaked and trembled anon, and durst not go
no nearer. Then said he to the knight, "Thou
most traitor of all men, wherefore hast thou de-
ceived me and hast rendered to me harm for such
great goods as I have given to thee ? I said to
thee that thou shouldst bring thy wife to me, and
thou hast brought the Mother of God. I would
have thy wife, and thou hast brought to me
Mary. For thy wife hath done to me many TZ
juries wherefore I would take on her vengeance
and thou hast brought to me this for to tirmen;
me, and for to send me to hell." And when the

234 "^HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

knight heard this he was sore abashed, and might
not hold him from weeping, nor durst not speak
for dread and marvel. And then the blessed
Mary said, "Thou felon spirit, by what folly
durst thou will to grieve and annoy my devout
servant? This shall not be left in thee un-
punished. I bind thee in this sentence that
thou descend into hell, and that thou from hence-
forth have not presumption to grieve none that
call upon me." And then he went away with
great howling. And the man sprang down from
his horse, and kneeled down on his knees to her
feet. And the Virgin our Lady blamed him and
commanded him to return again to his wife,
which yet slept in the church, and bade him that
he should cast away all the riches of the devil.
And when he came again, he found his wife yet
sleeping and awoke her, and told to her all that
was befallen. And when they were come home,
they threw away all the riches of the devil, and
dwelled alway in the lovings of our Lady, and
received afterwards many riches that our Lady
gave to them.

XXVIII.— THE TRANSLATION OF SAINT
MARK.

^T happed in the year of grace iiii
hundred xvi., in the time of Leo the
Emperor, that the Venetians trans-
lated the body of Saint Mark from
Alexandria to Venice in this manner.
'There were two merchants of Venice
did so much, what by prayer and by their
gifts, to two priests that kept the body of Saint
Mark, that they suffered it to be borne secretly
and privily unto their ships. And as they took
it out of the tomb, there was so sweet an odour
throughout all the city of Alexandria, that all the
people marvelled, nor knew not from whence it
came. Then the merchants brought it to the
ship, and after hasted the mariners, and let the
other ships have knowledge thereof. Then there
was one man in another ship that japed and said,
*' Ween ye to carry away the body of Saint Mark ?
Nay, ye lead with you an Egyptian." Then anon
after this word the ship wherein the holy body
was turned lightly after him, and so rudely
boarded the ship of him that had said that word
that it brake one of the sides of the ship and
would never leave it in peace till they had con-
fessed that the body of Saint Mark was in the
ship. That done she held her still.

236 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

Thus as they sailed fast they took none heed,
and the air began to wax dark and thick, that they
wist not where they were. Then appeared Saint
Mark unto a monk, to whom the body of Saint
Mark was delivered to keep, and bad him anon to
strike their sails for they were nigh land. And
he did so and anon they found land in an island.
And by all the rivages where as they passed, it
was said to them that they were well happy that
they led so noble a treasure as the body of Saint
Mark, and they prayed them that they would let
them worship it. Yet there was a mariner that
might not believe that it was the body of Saint
Mark. But the devil entered into him and
tormented him so long that he could not be de-
livered till he was brought to the holy body.
And as soon as he confessed that it was the body
of Saint Mark, he was delivered of the wicked
spirit, and ever after he had great devotion to
Saint Mark.

It happed after that the body of Saint Mark
was closed in a pillar of marble, and right few
people knew thereof by cause it should be secretly
kept. Then it happed that they that knew
thereof died, and there was none that knew
where this great treasure might be. Wherefore
the clerks and the lay people were greatly discom-
forted and wept for sorrow and doubted much
that it had been stolen away. Then made they
solemn processions and litanies and the people
began to fast and be in prayers. And all suddenly
the stones opened and shewed to all the people

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 237

the place and stead where the holy body rested,
then rendered they thankings to God of this that
he had relieved them of their sorrow and anguish;
and ordained that on that day they shall hold
feast alway for this devout revelation.

There was a gentle man of Provence which had
a servant that would fain go on pilgrimage to
Saint Mark. But he could get no licence of his
lord. At last he doubted not to anger his lord,
but went thither much devoutly. And when his
lord knew it, he bare it much greviously. And as
soon as he was come again his lord commanded
that his eyes should be put out. And the other
servants that were ready to do the lord's will
made ready sharp spikes of iron, and enforced
them with all their power : and could not do it.
Then commanded the lord to hew off his thighs
with axes, but anon the iron was as soft as molten
lead. Then commanded he to break his teeth
with iron hammers, but the iron thereof was so
soft that they could do him no harm. Then,
when the lord saw the virtue of God so openly
by the miracles of Saint Mark, he demanded
pardon, and went to Venice to Saint Mark with
his servant.

XXIX.— A MIRACLE OF SAINT ANDREW

[HERE was a bishop that led an
holy and religious life, and loved
Saint Andrew by great devotion,
and worshipped him above all other
saints, so that in all his works he
remembered him every day and
said certain prayers in the honour of God and
Saint Andrew. In such wise that the enemy had
envy on him, and set him for to deceive him with
all his malice, and transformed him into the form
of a right fair woman, and came to the palace of
the bishop and said that she would be confessed
to him. And the bishop bade her to go confess her
to his penitencer. And she sent him word again
that she would not shew the secrets of her con-
fession to none but to him. And so the bishop
commanded her to come, and she said to him,
" Sir, I pray thee that thou have mercy on me, I
am so as ye see in the years of my youth, and a
maid, and was deliciously nourished from my in-
fancy, and born of royal lineage ; but I am come
alone in strange habit, for my father which is a
right mighty king would give me to a prince by
marriage, whereto I answer that I have horror of
all marriage, and I have given my virginity to
Jesus Christ for ever. And in the end he con-
strained me so much that I must consent to his

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 239

will or suffer divers torments. So that I am fled
secretly away, and had liefer be in exile than to
break and corrupt my faith to my spouse. And
by cause I hear the praising of your right holy
life, I am fled unto you and to your guard, in hope
that I may find with you place of rest where as I
may be secret in contemplation, and eschew the
evil perils of this present life, and flee the divers
tribulations of the world." Of which thing the
bishop marvelled him greatly, as well for the great
nobleness of her lineage as for the beauty of her
body, for the burning of the great love of God,
and of the honest speaking of this woman. So
that the bishop answered to her with a meek and
pleasant voice : " Daughter, be sure and doubt
nothing. For He for whose love thou hast des-
pised thyself and these things shall give to thee
great things. In this time present is little glory
or joy, but it shall be in time to come. And I
which am sergeant of the same, offer me to thee
and my goods : and choose thee an house where it
shall please thee. And I will that thou dine with
me this day." And she answered and said,
*' Father, require of me no such thing, for by ad-
venture some evil suspicion might come thereof.
And also the resplendour of your good renown
might be thereby impaired." To whom the
bishop answered, " We shall be many together,
and I shall not be with you alone, and therefore
there may be no suspicion of evil." Then they
came to the table and were set, that one against
that other, and the other folk here and there, and

240 THE GOLDEN LEGEND,

the bishop entended much to her, and beheld her
alway in the visage, and he marvelled of her great
beauty. And thus as he fixed his eyes on her, his
courage w^as hurt, and the ancient enemy saw^ the
heart of him hurt with a grievous dart. And this
devil apperceived it and began to increase her
beauty more and more, in so much that the bishop
was then ready for to require her to sin when he
might.

Then a pilgrim came and began to smite strongly
at the gate or door, and they would not open it.
Then he cried and knocked more strongly, and
the bishop axed of the woman if she would that
the pilgrim should enter. And she said men
should axe first of him a question, grievous enough,
and if he could answer thereto he should be re-
ceived, and if he could not he should abide with-
out and not come in, as he that were not worthy
but unweeting. And all agreed to her sentence,
and enquired which of them were sufficient for to
put the question. And when none was found
sufficient, the bishop said, " None of us is so suffi-
cient as ye, dame, for ye pass us all in fair speak-
ing and shine in wisdom more than we all ; pro-
pose ye the question.*' Then she said, "Demand
ye of him which is the greatest marvel that ever
God made in little space ?" And then one went
and demanded the pilgrim. The pilgrim an-
swered to the messenger that it was the diversity
and the excellency of the faces of men. For
among all so many men as have been since the
beginning of the world unto the end, two men

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 241

might not be found of whom their faces were like
and semblable in all things. And when the an-
swer was heard, all they marvelled and said this
was a very and right good answer of the question.
Then the woman said, " Let the second question
be proposed to him, which shall be more grievous
to answer to, for to prove the better the wisdom
of him." Which was this, " Whether the earth
is higher than all the heaven?" And when it
was demanded of him, the pilgrim answered, " In
the heaven imperial where the body of Jesus
Christ is, which is in the form of our flesh, He is
more high than all the heaven.'' Of this answer
they marvelled all when the messenger reported it,
and praised marvellously his wisdom. Conse-
quently she said the third question, which was
more dark and grievous to assail. " jFor to prove
the third time his wisdom, and that then he be
worthy to be received at bishop's table, demand
and axe of him how much space is from the
abysm unto the same heaven ?" Then the mes-
senger demanded of the pilgrim, and he answered
him, " Go to him that sent thee to me, and axe
of him this thing. For he knoweth better than
I and can better answer to it, for he hath measured
this space when he fell from heaven into the
abysm, and I never measured it. This is nothing
a woman, but it is a devil which hath taken the
form of a woman." And when the messenger
heard this he was sore afeard and told tofore them
all this that he had heard. And when the bishop
heard this and all other, they were sore afeard, and

242 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

anon forthwith the devil vanished away tofore
their eyes. And after, the bishop came again to
himself and reproved himself bitterly, weeping,
repenting and requiring, pardon of his sin, and
sent a messenger for to fetch and bring in the
pilgrim, but he found him never after. Then the
bishop assembled the people and told to them the
manner of this thing, and prayed them that they
all would be in orisons and prayers in such wise
that Our Lord would shew to some person who
this pilgrim was which had delivered him from so
great peril. And then it was shewed that night to
the bishop that it was Saint Andrew, which had
put him in the habit of a pilgrim for the deliver-
ance of him. Then began the bishop more and
more to have devotion and remembrance to Saint
Andrew than he had tofore.

XXX.— THE THREE DAMSELS OF
SAINT ANASTASIA.

AINT ANASTASIA had three
damsels, which were sisters, that
served her, whom she had enformed
and taught that they should not reny
their faith nor their good life for any
menaces nor threatenings that the
provost should do. The provost on a day came
to them for to draw them to him. And Saint
Anastasia did do hide them in her kitchen. The
provost went after for to accomplish his ribaldry.
And they kneeled down and prayed their prayers
in such wise that the provost lost his wit. And
when he supposed to have taken, embraced and
holden them, he embraced pots, pans and cauld-
rons and kissed them. In such wise that he was
so foul, horrible and black that when he issued
out, his meinie that awaited his coming supposed
that he had been out of his wit. And they beat
him well, and after fled from him for fear and left
him there alone. And he went for to complain
him unto the Emperor. And when he came to
the gate, the sergeants that saw him so black and
smutted, beat him well with rods, and scratched
him in the visage, and held him for wood. And
the caitiff knew not that he was so foul and black,
and therefore he marvelled much more why they

244 '^HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

did to him so much shame when tofore they did
to him so much honour. And he had supposed
that he had been clad in a white robe. When
they told him how he was arrayed, then he sup-
posed that the maidens had enchanted him and
sent for them and would have despoiled them all
naked before him. But their clothes were anon
so fast glued to their bodies that in no wise they
might be taken off nor despoiled. And then he
fell asleep and so fast that no man might awake
him. At the last these virgins were martyred
and suffered death.

XXXI.— A VISION OF SAINT JOHN
THE ALMONER.

AINT JOHN the Almoner was
Patriarch of Jerusalem. He saw on
a time, in a vision, a much fair maid
which had on her head a crown of
olive, and when he saw her he was
greatly abashed and demanded her
what she was. This maid answered to him, " I
am Mercy which brought from heaven the Son
of God, If thou wilt wed me thou shalt fare the
better.'* Then he, understanding that the olive
betokeneth mercy, began that same day to be
merciful, in such wise that he was called almoner
and he called alway the poor people his lord.

XXXII.— LABOUR AND PRAY.

|N a time as Saint Anthony wasi in
wilderness in his prayer and was
weary, he said to Our Lord, " Lord,
I have great desire to be saved, but
my thoughts let me.*' Then ap-
peared an angel to him and said,
**Do as I do and thou shalt be safe.'* And he
went out and saw him one while labour, and
another while pray. Do this and thou shalt be
saved.

XXXIII.— SAINT BERNARD AND THE
VILLEIN.

N a time Saint Bernard rode upon
an horse by the way, and met a
villein by the way. And he said
to the villein that he had not his
heart firm and stable in praying.
And the villein or up-landish man
had great despite thereof, and said that he had his
heart firm and stable in all his prayers. And Saint
Bernard, which would vanquish him and shew his
folly, said to him, "Depart a little from me, and
begin thy Paternoster in the best intent thou canst.
And if thou canst finish it without thinking on
any other thing, without doubt I shall give to thee
the horse that I am on. And thou shalt promise
to me, by thy faith, that if thou think on any other
thing, thou shalt not hide it from me." And the
man was glad, and reputed the horse his, and
granted it him. And he went apart and began
his Paternoster, And he had not said the half
when he wondered if he should have the saddle
withal. And therewith he returned to Saint Ber«
nard and said that he had thought in praying.
And after that he had no more will to advance
him.

XXXIV.— THE HERMIT AND SAINT
GREGORY.

|N that time there was an hermit, an
holy man, which had left and for-
saken all the goods of the world for
God's sake, and had retained no-
thing but a cat with which he
played oft, and held it in his lap
deliciously. On a day it happed that he prayed
God devoutly that He should vouchsafe to shew to
him to what saint he would be in like joy in
heaven, because for His love he had left all the
world and renounced it. Upon this God shewed
him in a vision that Saint Gregory and he should
have like joy in heaven. And when he under-
stood this, he sighed sore and praised little his
poverty which he had long suffered and borne, if
he should have like merit which abounded so
greatly in secular riches. Upon this came a voice
to him which said that the possession maketh not
a man in this world rich, but the ardour of cove-
tise. " Then be still thou : darest thou compare
thy poverty to the riches of Saint Gregory, which
lovest more thy cat, with whom thou ceasest not
to stroke and play than Saint Gregory doth all
his riches, for he ceaseth never to give alms for

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 249

God's sake ?" Then the hermit thanked Almighty
God, and prayed that he might have his merit and
reward with Saint Gregory in the glory of Para-
dise.

XXXV.— THE PARENTS OF
SAINT THOMAS OF CANTERBURY.

[ILBERT BECKET was a burgess
of the city of London and he was
|a good devout man and took the
cross upon him and went on pil-
igrimage to the Holy Land, and
had a servant with him. And
when he had accomplished his pilgrimage, he was
taken homeward by the heathen men and brought
into the prison of a prince named Amerant,
where long time he and his fellowship suffered
much pain and sorrow. And the prince had
great affection towards this Gilbert and had oft
communication with him of the Christian faith
and of the realm of England. By which con-
versation it fortuned that the daughter of this
prince had especial love unto this Gilbert and was
familiar with him. And on a time she disclosed
her love to him saying, if he would promise to
wed her, she would forsake friends, heritage and
country for his love and become Christian. And
after long communication between them, he pro-
mised to wed her if she would become Christian,
and told to her the place of his dwelling in Eng-
land. And after, by the purveyance of God, the
said Gilbert escaped and came home. And after
this it fortuned so that this prince's daughter stole

7HE GOLDEN LEGEND. ,5,

privily away, and passed many a wild place and

peat adventure, and by God's purveyance at the

' R.'.IT '^ 7 ^°"r ""' ^^'"^'^ding and crying,

not. Wherefore the people drew about her (what
for the strange array of her as for they under-
stood her not), and many a shrewd boy. So long
she went till she come to fore Gilbert's door
And as she there stood, the servant that had been
with Gilbert in prison, which was named Richard,
saw her and knew anon that it was the prince's
daughter. And he went in to his master and told
him how this maid stood at his door, and anon he
went out to see her. And as soon as she saw him,
she fell in a swoon for joy. And Gilbert took
her up and comforted her and brought her into
his house : and soon went to the bishops which
then were six at Paul's and rehearsed all the mat-
^VK jj J f'' '^^^ christened her, and forth-
with wedded her to Gilbert Becket ; and within
time reasonable and accustomed was brought
forth between them a fair son named Thomas.

There was a lady in England thai desired

she should be the more beauteous in the sight of
the people. _ And only for that cause she made a
vow for to visit Saint Thomas upon her bare feet.
And when she came thither and had devoutly
made her prayers to have her desire, suddenly she
was stark blind. And then she ^erceived^hat
she had offended and displeased Our Lord in the

tS2 1HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

request and cried God mercy of the offence, and
besought Him full meekly to be restored to her
sight again. And by the merits of the blessed
Saint Thomas she was restored to her sight again
and was glad to have her old eyes and returned
home again and lived holily to her life's end.

There was a tame bird kept in a cage which,
was learned to speak. And on a time he fled out
of the cage and flew in to the field. And there
came a sparrowhawk and would have taken this
bird and pursued after. And the bird, being in
great dread, cried, saying, " Saint Thomas, help
me," like as he had heard other speak ; and the
sparrowhawk fell down dead and the bird escaped
harmless.

XXXVI.—MIRACLES OF SAINT AUSTIN
OF CANTERBURY.

I S Saint Austin came into Oxford-
• shire to a town that is called
Compton, to preach the word of
God, to him the curate said,
"Holy father, the lord of this
lordship hath been ofttimes warned
of me to pay his tithes to God and yet he with-
Jioldeth them. And therefore I have cursed him,
and I find him the more obstinate." To whom'
Saint Austin said, " Son, why payest thou not thy
tithes to God and to the church ? Knowest thou
not that the tithes be not thine but belongen to
God?" And then the knight said to him, "I
know well that I till the ground, wherefore I
ought as well to have the tenth sheaf as the ix."
And when Saint Austin could not turn the
knight's intent, then he departed from him and
went to mass. And or he began, he charged that
all they that were accursed should go out of the
church. And then rose a dead body and went
out into the church yard with a white cloth on
his head, and stood still there till the mass was
done. And then Saint Austin went to him and
demanded him what he was, and he answered and
said, " I was sometime lord of this town, and be-
cause I would not pay my tithes to my curate he
accursed me, and so I died and went to hell."

25+ THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

And then Saint Austin bade him bring him to
the place where his curate was buried, and then
the carrion brought him thither to the grave.
And by cause that all men should know that life
and death be in the power of God, Saint Austin
said, " I command thee in the name of God to-
arise for we have need of thee." And then he
arose anon and stood before all the people. To
whom Saint Austin said, " Thou knowest well
that Our Lord is merciful, and I demand thee
brother, if thou knowest this man." And he
said, " Yea, would God that I had never known
him. For he was a with-holder of his tithes and
in all his life an evil-doer. Thou knowest that
Our Lord is merciful, and as long as the pains
of hell endure let us also be merciful to all
Christians." And then Saint Austin delivered to
the curate a rod, and there the knight kneeling
on his knees was assoiled. And then he com-
manded him to go again to his grave; and he
entered anon in to his grave and forthwith fell to-
ashes and powder. And then Saint Austin said
to the priest, "How long hast thou lain here?"
And he said, "An hundred and fifty year." And
then he asked how it stood with him and he
said, "Well, holy father, for I am in everlasting
bliss." And then said Saint Austin, " Wilt thou
that I pray to Almighty God that thou abide here
with us to confirm the hearts of men in very
belief? " And then he said, " Nay, holy father, ,
for I am in a place of rest." And then said '
Saint Austin, " Go in peace and pray for me and

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 255

for all holy church." And he then entered again
in to his grave and anon the body was turned into
earth. Of this sight the lord was sore afeard and
came all quaking to Saint Austin and to his
curate, and demanded forgiveness of his trespass
and promised to make amends, and ever after to
pay his tithes and to follow the doctrine of Saint
Austin.

After this Saint Austin entered into Dorset-
shire, and came in to a town where as were
wicked people that refused his doctrine and
preaching utterly, and drove him out of the town
casting on him the tails of thornback or like
fishes. Wherefore he besought Almighty God to
shew His judgment on them. And God sent to
them a shameful token, for the children that were
born after in that place had tails, as it is said, till
they had repented them. It is said commonly
that this fell at Stroud in Kent, but, blessed be
■God, at this day is no such deformity.

Also in the same country was a young man
that was lame, dumb and deaf, and by the prayers
of Saint Austin he was made whole. And then
soon after he was dissolute and wanton and noyed
and grieved the people with jangling and talking
in the church. And then God sent to him his
old infirmity again because of his misguiding
And at the last he fell to repentance and asked
God forgiveness and Saint Austin. And Saint
Austin prayed for him, and he was made whole
again the second time. And after that he con-
tinued in good and virtuous living to his life's end

XXXVII.— A PRIEST ESPOUSED TO
SAINT AGNES.

T is read that when the church of Saint
Agnes was void, the pope said to a
priest that he would give to him a wife
for to nourish and keep : and he meant
to commise the church of Saint Agnes
to his cure. And he delivered to him
a ring and bade him to wed the image. And the
image put forth her finger and he set on it the
ring, and anon she closed the finger to her hand
and kept the ring. And so he spoused her.

XXXVIII.—A MIRACLE OF SAINT JAMES>
THE GREAT.

MERCtlANT was detained of a
tyrant, and, all despoiled, was wrong-
fully put in prison. And he called
much devoutly Saint James in to
his help. And Saint James ap-
peared to him tofore them that
kept him, and they awoke; and he brought him
unto the highest of the tower and anon the tower
bowed down so low that the top was even with
the ground. And he went out without leaping
and unbound of his irons. Then his keepers fol-^
lowed after, but they had no power to see him.

XXXIX.— A MIRACLE OF SAINT
GENEVIEVE.

N the time that the city of Paris was
assieged by the term of ten years, like
as the ancient histories rehearse, there
followed so great famine and hunger
that many died for hunger. The holy
virgin, that pity constrained her, went
to the Seine for to go fetch by ship some victuals.
When she came unto a place of Seine where as of
custom ships were wont to perish, she made the
ship to be drawn to the rivage and commanded to
cut down a tree that was in the water, and she set
her to prayer. Then as the ships would have
smitten upon the tree, it fell down, and two wild
heads, grey and horrible, issued thereout which
stank so sore that the people there were envenomed
by the space of two hours. And never after
perished ship there, thank be to God and His holy
saint.

XL.— THE DEVIL APPEARS TO SAINT
MARTIN.

^T happed on a day that the devil ap-
peared to Saint Martin in the form of a
king, in purple and a crown on his
head, with hose and shoon gilt, with an
amiable mouth and glad cheer and
visage. And when they were both still
awhile, the devil said, " Martin, knowest thou not
He whom thou worshippest? I am Christ that
am descended into earth and will first shew me to
thee." And as Saint Martin, all admarvelled,
said no thing, yet the devil said to him, " Where-
fore doubtest thou Martin to believe me, when
thou seest that I am Christ? " And then Martin
blessed of the Holy Ghost, said, " Our Lord Jesus
Christ saith not that He shall come in purple nor
with a crown resplendishing. I shall never be-
lieve that Jesus Christ shall come but if it be in
habit and form such as He suffered death in, and
that the sign of the cross be borne to fore Him."
And with that word the devil vanished away and
all the hall was filled with stench.

XLI —THE DEVIL APPEARS TO SAINT
DUNSTAN.

'N a time as Saint Dunstan sat at
his work, his heart was on Jesus
'Christ, his mouth occupied with
holy prayers, and his hands busy on
his work. But the devil, which
ij'>ii^-«,i=«'*..~' ever had great envy at him, came
to him in an eventide in the likeness of a woman,
as he was busy to make a chalice, and with smil-
ing said that she had great things to tell him.
And then he bade her say what she would. And
then she began to tell him many nice trifles and
no manner virtue therein. And then he supposed
that she was a wicked spirit, and anon caught her
by the nose with a pair of tongs of iron burning
hot. Then the devil began to roar and cry and
fast drew away : but Saint Dunstan held fast till
it was far within the night and then let her go.
And the fiend departed with an horrible noise and
cry, and said that all the people might hear!
"Alas what shame hath this carle done to me_
how may I best quit him again?" But neve,
after the devil had never lust to tempt him in tha
craft.

XLII.— PURGATORY AND THE DEAD.

HERE was a knight that lay dead
and his spirit taken from him, and
a while after the soul returned to
the body again. And what he
had seen done he told, and said,
There was a bridge, and under
hat bridge was a flood, foul, horrible and full of
tench ; and on that other side of the bridge was
L meadow, sweet, odorant and adorned full of all
nanner flowers. And there on that side of the
ridge were peoples assembled clad all in white,
hat were filled with the sweet odour of the
.owers. And the bridge was such, that if any
f the unjust would pass over the bridge, he
hould slide and fall into that stinking river, and
he righteous people passed over lightly and
urely into that delectable place. And this
night saw there a man named Peter which lay
lound, and great weight of iron upon him.
Vhich when he axed why he lay so there, it was
lid to him of another, " He suiFereth by cause if
ny man were delivered to him to do vengeance,
e desired more to do it by cruelty than by
bedience.'' Also he said he saw there a pilgrim,
lat, when he came to the bridge, passed over
^ith great lightness and shortly, by cause he had
-ell lived here and purely in the world and

^62 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

without sin. And he saw there another named
Stephen, which, when he would have passed, his
feet slipped that he fell half over the bridge.
And then there came some horrible black men
and did all that they might do to draw him down
by the legs : and then came other right fair
creatures and white, and took him by the arms
and drew him up. And as this strife endured,
this knight that saw these things, returned to his
body and knew not which of them vanquished.
But this way we understand that the wicked
deeds that he had done strove against the works
of alms, for by them that drew him by the arms
upward, it appeared that he loved alms, and by
the other, that he had not perfectly lived against
the sins of the flesh.

It is read that some fishers of Saint Thibault,
that fished on a time in harvest took a great piece
•of ice instead of a fish. And they were gladder
thereof than of a fish, by cause the bishop had a
great burning of heat in his leg, and they laid
that ice thereto and it refreshed him much. And
on a time the bishop heard the voice of a man in
the ice, and he conjured him to tell him what he
was. And the voice said to him, " I am a soul
which for my sins am tormented in this ice, and
may be delivered if thou say for me thirty masses
continually together in thirty days." And the
bishop emprised to say them, and when he had
said half of them he made ready to continue
forth and say the other. And the devil made
a dissension in the city that the people of the

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 263

city fought each against other, and then the
bishop was called for to appease this discord,
and did off his vestments and left to say the mass.
And on the morn he began all new again, and
when he had said the two parts, him seemed that
a great host had beseiged the city, so that he was
constrained by dread, and left to say the office of
the mass. And after yet, he began again service,
and when he had all accomplished except the last
mass, which he would have begun, all the town
and the bishop's house was taken by fire. And
when his servants came to him and bad him
leave his mass, he said, "Though all the city
should be burnt, I shall not leave to say the
mass. And when the mass was done the ice
was molten, and the fire that they had supposed
:o have seen, was but a phantasm and did no
larm.

There was a man that alway as he passed
_hrough the churchyard, he said, "De profundis"
or all christian souls. And on a time he was
)eset with his enemies, so that for succour he
eapt in to ;the churchyard. And they followed
or to have slain him; and anon all the dead
bodies arose, and each held such an instrument in
_is hand that they defended him that prayed for
hem, and chased away his enemies, putting them
1 great fear.

It is read in the book of the miracles of our
lessed lady Saint Mary, that a judge named
tephen was at Rome, and took gladly gifts and
erverted the judgments. And this judge took

264 "l^HE GOLDEN LEGEND.

away by force three houses that were longing to
the church of Saint Lawrence and a garden of
Saint Agnes and possessed them wrongfully. It
happed that the judge died and was brought to
judgment to fore God. And when Saint Lawrence
saw him, he went to him in great despite and
strained him three times by the arm right hard
and tormented him by great pain. And Samt
Agnes and other virgins deigned not to look on
him but turned their visages away from him.
And then the judge giving sentence against him,
said, " By cause he hath withdrawn other men s
things, and hath taken gifts and sold truth, that
he should be put in the place of Judas the traitor.
And Saint Projectus whom the said Stephen had
much loved in his life came to the blessed
Lawrence and to Saint Agnes and cried them
mercy for him. Then the blessed Virgin Mary
and they prayed to God for him. And then it
was granted to them that the soul of him should
go again to the body, and there should do his
penance thirty days. And our blessed Lady
commanded him, that as long as he ^ved he
should say the psalm, Beati immaculatu And
when the soul came to the body again, his arm
was like as it had been burnt, like as he had suN
fered that hurt in his body, and that token and
sign was in him as long as he lived. Then ren-
dered he that which he had taken and did his
penance. ' And at xxx day he passed out of thu
world to Our Lord.

XLIIL— SAINT PATRICK'S PURGATORY

N a time as Saint Patrick preached
in Ireland the faith of Jesus Christ,
he had but little profit by his pre-
dication for he could not convert
the evil, rude and wild people. And
he prayed to Our Lord Jesus Christ
hat He would shew them some sign openly, fear-
ul and ghastful, by which they might be con-
certed and be repentant of their sins. Then, by the
:ommandment of God, Saint Patrick made in the
iarth a great circle with his staff, and anon the
;arth, after the quantity of the circle, opened and
here appeared a great pit and a deep. And Saint
^atrick, by the revelation of God, understood that
here was a place of purgatory into which who-
omever entered therein, he should never have
ther penance nor feel none other pain ; and there
vas shewed to him that many should enter which
hould never return nor come again. And they
hat should return should abide but from one morn
o another and no more. And many entered that
anie not again. As touching this pit or hole,
vhich is named Saint Patrick's Purgatory, some
Lold opinion that the second Patrick, which was
n abbot and no bishop, that God shewed to him
his place of purgatory. But certainly such a

a66 THE GOLDEN LEGEND

place there is in Ireland, wherein many men hav<
been and yet daily go in and come again. Anc
some have had there many marvellous visions anc
seen grisly and horrible pains. Of whom ther(
be books made as of Tundale and other.

XLIV.— OF SOME POSSESSED WITH
DEVILS.

HERE was a man that had a devil

within him, and after went to

Milan, and anon as he entered the

city the devil left him. And as

soon as he went out of the city the

devil re-entered in him again.

hen he demanded him why he did so, and he

iswered by cause he was afeared of Ambrose.

There was a maid demanded drink of a servant

her father's. And she gave her drink and said,

The devil mote thou drink.'' And she drank,

d her seemed that fire entered into her body.

hen began she to cry and her belly to swell like

a barrel, so that each man saw that she was de-

oniac. And she was two years in that estate

d after was brought to the tomb of Saint Eliza-

ith and was made perfectly whole and delivered

the fiend.

There was a man called Roba which had lost
s gown and all the money that he had. When
came into his house and saw himself in so great
verty he lay upon his bed and called the devils
d gave himself to them. Then came to him
ree devils which cast down Roba upon the floor
his bed-chamber, and took him by the neck :
d it seemed that they would have strangled him

268 THE GOLDEN LEGEND.

in such wise that he unneth might speak. When
they that were in the house beneath heard him
cry, they went to him ; but the devils said to them
that they should return, and they supposed that
Roba had said so, and returned. And after anon
he began to cry again, then apperceived they well
that they were the devils, and fetched the priest,
which conjured in the name of Saint Peter the
devils that they should go their way : then two of
them went away and the third abode. And his
friends brought Roba on the morning to the
church of the friars. Then there came a friar
named William of Vercello, and this friar William
demanded what was his name, and the fiend an-
swered, " I am called Balcefas.'' Then the friar
commanded that he should go out. And anon the
fiend called him by his name as he had known him
and said, "William, William, I shall not go out
for thee, for he is ours and hath given himself to
us." Then he conjured him in the name of
Saint Peter the martyr. And then anon he went
his way, and the man was all whole, and took
penance for his trespass and was after a good man-
As Saint Dominic preached on a time, some
ladies that had been deceived of heretics kneeled
at his feet and said to him, " Servant of God, help
us. If it be true that thou preachest, the spirit of
error hath blinded our minds. And he said, *'Bc
ye firm, and tarry a little, and ye shall see whal
lord ye have served." And anon they saw sprint
out of the middle of them a cat right horrible,
which was more than a great dog, and had grea/

THE GOLDEN LEGEND. 269

eyes and flaming, her tail long, broad and bloody.
She had the tail raised on high, and shewed the
after end which way she turned him, out of which
issued a terrible stench. And when she had turned
hither and thither among the ladies, at the last she
mounted up by the bell rope in to the steeple, and
vanished away, leaving a great stench after her.
And the ladies thanked God and were converted
to the faith Catholic.

NOTES.

P. 4. St. Agnes.

January 21st. Martyred A.D. 304 during the Diocletian
persecution,

P. II. St. Alban.

June 17th. This account of the first recorded martyrdom
in Britain is in the collection of " frere John of Benynguay."
It very closely coincides with a poem by John Lydgate written
in 1439, ^"^ produced at the request of John Wheathamstede,
Abbot of St. Alban*s, who caused a copy to be illuminated
and hung up over the altar of the abbey church. Robert
Catton, abbot, had it printed by John Herford of St. Albans
in 1534 — four years before the dissolution of the monastery.
The title page reads thus: — "Here begynnethe ye glorious
lyfe and passion of Seint Albon prothomartyr of Englande,
and also the lyfe and passion of Saint Amphabel, which con-
verted Saint Albon to the fayth of Christe."

P. 27. St. Barlaam and St. Josaphat.

There is no greater surprise in haglology than this fantastic
Oriental legend, which contains a number of tales from Indian
folk-lore and is founded on the life of Buddha. It*s Greek
form belongs to the seventh or eighth century and has usually
been ascribed to St. John of Damascus, at one time chief
councillor or vizier to the Caliph of Damascus and afterwards
a monk of St. Sabas near Jerusalem. The foremost theo-
logian of his age he especially distinguished himself by de-
fending in controversy the sacred images against the Icono-
clastic assaults of the Emperor Leo the Isaurian and his son
Constantine Copronymus. He died about A.D. 736. His

NOTES. 271

authorship of the legend has been called in question by recent
authorities especially by Zotenberg. (Notice sur le livre de
Barlaam et Joasaph, Paris, 1886). Whoever was the writer he
obtained his information as he says from " pious men from a
distant district of Ethiopia called India." The earlier part
of the story follows in its main outlines the legendary life of
Buddha as contained in Lalita Vistara^tht " Diffusion of Joys."
The date of that book — which is not, by the way, in the
Buddhistic canon — is uncertain, but its substance was certain-
ly known three centuries before the appearance of the tale of
Barlaam and Josaphat. The very name of the hero is the
same. "Josaphat is only the Roman spelling for Yosaphat,
this again being a confusion between the Biblical Jehoshaphat
and the Greek form Joasaph. This is distinctly derived
from the Arabic 5 it is a contracted form of Yodasaph, which
is a mis-reading for Bodasaph, since y and b in Arabic are
only distinguished by a diacritical point. Bodasaph is directly
derived, through the Pehlevi, from Bodhisattva, the technical
title of the man who is destined to attain Buddhahood, a
description which exactly applies to the career of Josaphat."
{^Barlaam and Josaphat, Ed. by J. Jacobs, D. Nutt, 1895.
Introd. p. xlvii.) The Lalita Vistara tells how a king of
the Sakyas in North-East India was informed that his newly-
born son Siddhartha would either be a great conqueror or the
Buddha and an ascetic. To avoid the latter alternative he
shuts him up in a palace where only pleasant sights could
meet his eyes. Then follow the Four Signs or Visions
which lead the Buddha to renounce the world. —

*Now Bhikshu the Bodhisattva ordered the charioteer,
"guickly get the chariot ready 5 I propose to go to the
garden."

Thereupon the charioteer repaired to the King S'uddhod-
ana, and said, "Sire the Prince desires to go to the garden."

The king reflected. The prince has never been to the
pleasure-garden to behold its well-laid parterres except in my
company. Now if he should go there surrounded by ladies
he will be disposed to dalliance and not think of renouncing
his home. So, out of profuse affection for the Bodhisattva,
he caused the news to be published by the ringing of bells
throughout the town that on the seventh day the Prince

272 NOTES.

would proceed to the pleasure-garden to behold the grounds ;
therefore the people should hide all offensive objects so that
the prince might not see anything repulsive 5 but all pleasant
and auspicious sights should be put forward.

Now on the seventh day the whole town was decorated.
The garden was spread with flowers of various colours, and
parasols, standards, and flags were set up everywhere. The
road by which the Bodhisattva would proceed was watered,
smoothed, sprinkled with perfumes, scattered with flowers,
made redolent with the incense of pastilles, and set off^ with
pitchers of water and rows of plantain trees : many-coloured
awnings were hung up everywhere, and also net-works decor-
ated with jewelled bells and garlands. The four-fold army
was set in arra) and attendants were ready for the decoration
of the prince's apartments.

The prince started for the garden by the eastern gate,
attended by a large retinue. Now, through the grace of the
Bodhisattva and the device of the Devaputras of the class
Suddhavasakayika, there appeared in front of that road an
emaciated old decrepit person ; his body was covered with
prominent veins ; he was toothless, covered with flabby ten-
dons, and grey-haired 5 he was humped ; his mouth was
sunken ; he was broken down, diseased, and leaning on a
staff. He had long passed his youth ; there was a rattling
cough in his throat ; bent forward by the weight of his body
he was leaning on a staff with the weight of his body and
members.

Though he knew what the sight meant, the Boddhisattva
thus questioned the charioteer :

"Who is this weak, powerless man, with dried-up flesh,
blood and skin, prominent veins, whitened head, scattered
teeth and emaciated body, painfully tottering on, leaning on
a staff?"

The Charioteer replied :

" Lord, this is a person over-powered by age, his organs
are feeble, and his strength and vigour arc gone. Abandoned
by his friends, he is helpless and unfit for work like wood
left alone in a forest."

The Boddhisattva said :

" Explain, charioteer, if this be the peculiarity of his tribe,

NOTES. 273

or is it the condition of the whole world ? Quickly answer
this question according to fact, so that I may, on hearing it,
enquire about it's source."

The charioteer replied :

"Lord, this is not a peculiarity of his race or country.
Age wears out youth in the whole creation. Even thou shalt
be separated from the society of thy mother and father and
kinsmen and relatives. There is no other lot for man."

The Boddhisattva said :

"Condemnable truly, charioteer, are the ignorant and
youthful, who, in the pride and intoxication of their youth,
do not reflect on decay. Turn back the chariot, I do not
wish to see anything farther. Of what avail are pleasures
and enjoyments to me when I am subject to decay ? "

Then the Boddhisattva caused the chariot to be turned
back and entered the palace.' (From the Lalita V'lstara^
translated by Rajendralala Mitra, Calcutta, 1848.)

Afterwards he met a sick man, then a <kad man in his
shroud, followed by his kinsmen crying, weeping and moan-
ing, and finally his choice of the ascetic life was determined
by the sight of a calm, quiet self-possessed Bhikshu, devoid
of affection and enmity, who had renounced all sensuous
desires. In the Christian legend this last has become Bar-
laam the hermit.

The transmigrations of the story are traced in Mr. Jacob's
Introduction. When it took it's place among the chronicles
of the saints, it was used as a means of presentin.g in a palat-
able form the principal doctrines of Christianity. The
Greek narrator puts bodily into the mouth of Nachor, the
unwilling defender of the faith, the whole of a celebrated
document which was supposed to be lost till it was discovered
here, the Apology of Aristides, presented to the Emperor
Hadrian in the first half of the second century. {The Apology
of Aristidesy Cambridge Texts and Studies, Vol. I., 1891.)

The text in the Golden Legend is very much shorter than
the original : the Latin version made in the eleventh or
twelfth century was abridged by Vincent de Beauvais, whose
narrative furnished the matter for Jacobus de Voragine's still
more scanty reproduction. Some of the apologues are omit-
ted. It was these of course which secured for the legend

274 NOTES.

such ready acceptance that before the thirteenth century it
was translated into almost every known language of the
world. Some of them found their way into other collections,
especially into the Gesta Romanorum, originally a " Preacher's
Promptuary of Anecdote" and then a well-known store-
house of poetic materials : doubtless the tale of the caskets
was known to Shakespeare through its presence there. Bar-
laam and Josaphat were included in the " Catalogus Sanc-
torum" of Petrus de Natalibus (about 1370) and in the
revised Martyrology sanctioned by Gregory XIII. (1584).
In the Eastern church Josaphat alone is honoured on August
26th, but in the West the 27th of November is assigned to
both saints.

"Buddha has become a Saint of the Roman church;
though under a different name the sage of Kapilavastu, the
founder of a religion which, whatever we may think of it's
dogma, is, in the purity of it's morals, nearer to Christianity
than any other religion, and which counts even now, after an
existence of 2,400 years, more believers than any other creed,
has received the highest honours that the Christian church
can bestow." (Max Miiller, Selected Essays I. p. 546.)

P. 52. St. Brendan, abbot.

Brandon or Brendan — named otherwise Brandan, Brennan,
Broenfind or Brennain — son of Finnlug, was born in Ireland
near Tralee and descended from Ciar, the ancestor of the
Ciarraighe whose name survives in that of County Kerry.
The date of his birth is given as about the year 484. His
youth was spent in intercourse with saints who at that time
abounded in Ireland, and wherf he arrived at man's estate he
devoted himself to the religious life. The seas were no bar-
rier between members of the community of Celtic monks,
and Brendan, like many others, visited his brethren in distant
countries in Wales and Brittany, and is said, though doubt-
fully, to have been a pupil of St. Gildas. He founded mon-
asteries, one at Ardfert and another at Cluain-fearta or
Clonfert — that is Cluain-fearta-Brennain, Lawn of the grave
of Brendan — which became a renowned abbey of which there
are remains to this day. Three thousand monks, so it is

NOTES. 275

said, gathered round him there. In his old age he paid a
visit to St. Columb of the Cells at lona. Brendan had
reached his ninety-fifth year when he died. The day which
the calendars assign for his commemoration is May i6th.

The tradition of St. Brendan's voyage reaches back to
within a hundred years of his life-time 5 and a church fes-
tival founded on it, Egressio familiae Brendani, the departure
of the following of Brendan, is of early date. Some genuine
incident very probably gave rise to the legend. Irish monks
of the fifth and sixth centuries were often hardy seamen :
moved by the love of solitude and the desire of penetrating
the unknown, they wandered far over the western seas in frail
coaches of wicker-work and hide ; and in such ill-provided
hazardous journeying the herbage of each new-discovered
islet would be green and various beyond the use of nature
and its springs of water more delicious than any nectar. A
voyage to the Hebrides or the Orkneys — perhaps to St.
Kilda's island where a ruined chapel of St. Brendan now
stands — might be suflftcient to sow the seed of a legend.
Some will have it that the saintly rover was carried to shores
which deserve a rapturous description, perhaps even to
America which the Vikings also were to reach. But what
St. Brendan did and what he saw cannot now be accurately
known : his voyage, as we have it, is a mosaic of tales of the
sea gathered from many different sources.

The earliest account is contained in the life of his disciple,
St. Malo, written by Bili, deacon of Aleth — afterwards St.
Malo — towards the end of the ninth century. Malo, or
Machu — Machutus is the Latin form — persuades his master
Brendan to set forth with him in search of Yma, the Island
of the Blest. On their first voyage they sail round the Orkneys
and return home. A second time they make the attempt. On
the day of Easter, St. Malo desires to celebrate Mass. He
casts his eyes around but sees no fit place, only the sky above
and the water beneath. So he prays to God and a whale rises
up in the water 5 some fear, but Malo bids them be of good
courage, and he goes and celebrates Mass on the whale's
back, and when all have returned, the monster sinks down
again into the depths of the sea. Then they come to an
island where is a huge barrow. St. Malo prays and it*s in-

276 NOTES.

mate, a man of incomparable stature, Is raised from the dead.
The giant, once a pagan and idolater, beseeches the saint to
baptize him that he may be delivered from hell. His request
is granted 5 and in return, he takes up the ship's anchor and
walking on the bottom of the sea, guides them towards the
place they seek. But great tempests arise, they return to the
giant's island and there he dies and is devoutly buried. They
wander for seven years, but never find the Island of the
Blest.

Two very early notices of St. Brendan also contain some
mention of the whale ; apparently they make the saint per-
form the whole of his journey on the creature's back. A
poet, Cuimin of Connor who died in the sixth century
writes :

" Brendan loved perpetual mortification,
According to his synod and his flock :
Seven years he spent on the great whale's back 5
It was a distressing mode of mortification."
In the life of St. David (Acta Sanctorum May I. p. 44) St.
Barrius riding on a horse amid the waves meets with St.
Brendan who is leading a marvellous life on the whale's back.
The completed legend of St. Brendan owes much, as it ap-
pears, to a tradition of a similar undertaking by a Celtic hero,
namely Maelduin, whose hnrama were part of the necessary
equipment of an Irish bard. The present text of Maelduin's
voyage is not earlier than the eleventh century. But Zimmer
(Brendans Meerfahrt in Zeitschrift fur Deutsches Alterthum^
vol. xxxiii., Berlin 1889) asserts that it is founded on a pre-
Christian legend from which much in St. Brendan's Voyage
has been borrowed. Another possible source has been sug-
gested in Sindbad's adventures in the Thousand and One
Nights. (For a full comparison see M. J. de Goeje La
Legende de Saint Brandan^ Leyden, 1890.) This mosaic of
sea-tales contained however much that was the common pro-
perty of East and West and it would perhaps be difficult to
extablish any direct connexion between the two narratives.

An Irish version of St. Brendan's life is contained in the
Li'ues of Saints from the Book of Listnore, (Edited by
Whitley Stokes, LL.D., Anecdota Oxoniensia, Clarendon
Press.)

NOTES. 277

The fame of St. Brendan was due to the Latin "Navlgatio**
which appeared on the Continent in the eleventh century,
probably first on the banks of the Rhine whither many monks
from Ireland had been driven by the invasions of the Danes
in the eighth and ninth centuries. It was surely well de-
served. There is nothing in literature quite like this fairy-
tale of the cloister, this dream of the world seen through the
medium of the monastic imagination. " Le poeme de Saint
Brandon " Renan calls it, " une de plus etonnantes creations
de I'esprit humain."

The "monkish Odyssey" became the most popular of
medieval tales. During the two hundred years which fol-
lowed it's appearance in Latin, it was translated into German,
French, English and Spanish. Troubadours made it a theme
for verse, one of them at the bidding of a Queen, Adelaide of
Louvain, wife of Henry I. England has no less than thirty-
seven manuscripts of different versions and there are eleven
in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, Commentators rec-
kon the " Navigatio " among the sources of Dante's Divine
Comedy.

Two old-world traditions are blended in the object of St.
Brendan's voyage : it is at once the Garden of Eden, sup-
posed to be still in unaltered existence on the earth, and also
the Fortunate Island of the West, the Garden of the Hes-
perides, the Ogygia of Calypso, in it's Celtic form Hy
Brasail, the Island of the Blest. Baring-Gould's Curious
Myths of the Middle Ages deals copiously with both. His
remarks as to the Terrestrial Paradise may be supplemented
by the following extracts from Bartholomew de Glanvilla,
whose book, De Froprietatibus Rerum^ written about 1248,
was for a long time a favourite cyclopaedia of useful know-
ledge. Paradise is included in the description of the coun-
tries of the world, placed in an alphabetical arrangemen
between the Orkneys and Parthia :

" God from the beginning ordained and arrayed a place of
liking with herbs and trees, and in the beginning of the
world, that is in the East : and that place is most merry and
far in space of land and sea out of the country that we
dwell in. And it is so high that it reacheth almost to the
circle of the moon 5 where also by reason of the height the

278 NOTSS.

waters of the great flood could not come. The trees wither
not nor their leaves nor flowers fade. There is Eli and
Enoch yet alive without corruption. Therein groweth all
manner trees and all manner trees bearing apples : therein is
the tree of life. There is no passing cold nor passing heat 5
but always temperate weather and air. In the middle there-
of springeth a well that findeth water enough to that place 5
that well is parted in four streams and rivers. The way
thereto is stopped and unknown to mankind after the sin of
the first man. For it is closed and beclipped all about with
a fiery wall ; so that the burning thereof reacheth nigh to
heaven."

St. Brendan's island, gathering around it the traditions of
the Fortunate Islands, kept for centuries its place in the
ocean. It was identified with Aprositus, the Unapproachable,
which Ptolemy had placed near the Canaries. "There is
yet another isle," says Honorius of Antun writing in the
twelfth century, " the which may not be seen when men
would go thereto, but some go thither as men say, and it is
called the Isle Lost. This isle found Saint Brendan."
Thither, as the Spaniards said, Roderick the last of the Gothic
kings was transported after his defeat by the Moors, and the
Portuguese made it the refuge of their own vanquished king,
Sebastian. It appears in Venetian and Genoese maps of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and in the globe which
Martin Behem constructed at Nuremberg in 1492. Colum-
bus hoped to meet with it on his voyage. The site given to
the island varied greatly 5 but a mirage reflecting the coast-
line of Palma placed it, in the general opinion, somewhere in
the neighbourhood of the Canaries. Repeated attempts were
made to discover it, the last as recently as in the year 1721.

The Mountain of Stones seems to be the fabulous moun-
tain of adamant or loadstone which figures in the story of
Sindbad. It was well known to Medieval geographers and
romancers and originated probably in the fact that canoes
used in the Indian Ocean were stitched together with twine
made from the husk of the Indian nut. The name of the
whale Jasconius is from the Irish iasc, a fish. His unsuccess-
ful attempts to put his tail in his mouth may be due to the
Norse legend of the snake Jormungandr or Midgard, the off-

NOTES. 179

spring of Loki, which was thrown into the sea, and encircled
the whole world by putting its tail into its mouth. Honorius
of Antun (translated in Caxton, Myrrour of the World) says,
"In this sea of India is another fish so huge that on his back
groweth earth and grass, and seemeth properly that it is a great
island. Whereof it happeth sometime that the mariners sail-
ing by the sea be greatly deceived and abused. For they ween
certainly that it be firm land, wherefore they go out of their
ships thereon. And when they have made to burn after their
need weening to be on a firm land, in-continent as this mar-
vellous fish feeleth the heat of the fire, he moveth him suddenly
and diveth him down into the water as deep as he may. And
thus all that is upon him is lost in the sea. And by this
means many ships be drowned and perish, and the people
when they supposed to |have been in safety." (Compare
Paradise Lost, i., 200-208. With regard to the angels be-
come birds, Dante finds spirits in the first circle of Hell who
stood neutral in the great rebellion against God :
"Angeli che non furon ribelli
Ne fur fedeli a Dio, ma per se foro."

Inferno iii., 38-39-
" The Gryphon" (p. 65) says Bartholomew de Glanvilla,
" is a beast with wings and is four-footed and breedeth in the
Mountains Hyperborean. He is like to the lion in all parts
of the body and to the eagle only in the head and wings : and
is strong enemy to the horse. And gryphons keep the moun-
tains in which be gems and precious stones and suffer them
not to be taken from thence." (De Prop. Rer. xviii., cap.
Ivi.) The beautiful and touching story of Judas — retold, it
will be remembered, by Matthew Arnold — has no precise
parallel in Medieval literature. In the "Vision of Saint
Paul," written by Adam de Ros, an Anglo-Norman trouvere,
it is said that by the intercession of that Apostle and the
angels, the torments of the damned are remitted every week
from Saturday evening to Monday morning. The objects
which surround Judas on the rock are made in the English
version to point morals suggested by the life of the time 5 an
abuse of almsgiving when the rich seek to square their ac-
count with Heaven at the expense of their poorer brethren ;
and the duty of giving to the clergy and of repairing roads,

28o NOTES.

regarded in those days of difficult travelling as a pious work
deserving spiritual reward. (Comp. Jusserand, English Way-
faring Life in the Fourteenth Century, p. 44).

The text is an abridgment of the Latin not included in
Jacobus de Voragine. Unfortunately it omits several inter-
esting particulars. Three monks in the original join Saint
Brendan at the last moment and one of them has. his end in
the island of the deserted hall (p. 55). The walls of the
building are hung round with bridle-bits of silver, according
to an Irish custom 5 he steals one but Saint Brendan sees the
tempter in the form of a little black boy beckoning to him,
and reveals the theft. The monk confesses his fault and is
absolved, but dies on the island and is taken up to heaven by
angels of light. The English version mentions the predic-
tion of Saint Brendan concerning another of the three, that he
will be left on the Island of Ankers, but omits its fulfilment.
It occurred soon after the voyagers had been delivered from
the peril of the great fish that spouted water. They came to
an island that stood on a level with the sea : and there was
nothing that grew high thereon but all the earth was covered
with white and purple flowers. Three troops of monks,
boys in snow-white garments, young men in violet, and old
men clad in purple dalmatics welcomed St. Brendan and
his companions with hymns : and as they sang a bright cloud
came and over-shadowed the island. Then two of the youths
came and brought grapes of wondrous size and sweetness into
the boat and asked that the monk might remain with them.
So his companions took their farewells of him and he left
them and was joyfully received. Again the monks — like
Maelduin — fall in with an iceberg, or column in the waves,
so high that it's top is invisible. It has a canopy like silver,
while the column itself is of the clearest crystal. They sail
about it for four days, and discover on the south side a chalice
of the same material as the canopy and a paten of that of the
column. These St. Brendan takes away, saying, " Our Lord
Jesus Christ has displayed to us this marvel and has given to
us two gifts therefrom as a token to others." In the Latin,
the candles of the monastery church are lighted by a fiery
arrow,

A manuscript in the British Museum (dated 1470) contains

NOTES. 281

Caxton's text. It Is a prose rendering of a metrical version
in the Harleian collection. (No. 2,270 fol. 41). Occasion-
ally the transcriber has misread his authority, and in such
mstances I have not hesitated to correct the text : they are
few in number and of little importance. The prose and the
verse were edited together by T. Wright (St. Brendan, a
medieval legend of the sea, Percy Society), reproduced as an
appendix to Father O'Donoghue's Brendaniana (Dublin 1873)
The Latin Navigatio will be found in Moran's ^cta Sancti
Brendani (Dublin 1872). O'Hanlon^s Li'ves of the Irish Saints,
vol. 5, contains much information relating to St. Brendan.

P. 77' St. Christopher.

July 25th. In the East, May 9th.

P. 87. St. Eustace.

September 20th. The Acts of St. Eustace are derived from
the Greek of Simeon Metaphrastes, a writer of the ninth
century. Few ecclesiastical historians have hesitated to treat
them as fabulous. A martry of the name of Eustachius may
however have suffered at Rome 5 for an ancient church there
was dedicated to his memory and his name occurs in early
calendars. The date assigned to the event is September 20th,
A.D. 118. The popular legend belongs of course to a very
large class of tales of similar " recognitions."

P. 102. St. George.

April 23rd. The Golden Legend contains the earliest ex-
tant description of St. George's combat with the dragon.
It has also an abstract of the apocryphal Acts condemned by
Pope Gelasins in 494 but used as material for the lections on
St. George's da> in the Sarum and other breviaries.

As this is tedious and of inferior interest I have preferred
to let the famous allegory stand alone. For an examination
of It in detail one need hardly refer to Baring Gould's Curious
Myths and Ruskin's St. Mark's Rest, supplement, The Place
of Dragons,

282 NOTES.

P. 1 08. St. Giles.
September ist.

P. 113. St. Julian, Hospitator.

Jan. 9th. The legend as we have it here — it is of late
origin — is clearly a piece of folk lore, a variant of the tale of
Ordipus and of Prince Agib, the third calendar in the
Arabian Nights.

P. 114. St. Katherine.

November 25th. The mystic marriage forms no part of
the earliest accounts of this saint, and it is not found in the
Latin and French of the Golden Legend. It was added in
the English of John of Benynguay used by Caxton, probably
a transcript from one of the numerous poems on the subject
which were produced from the thirteenth century onward.

P. 145. St. Margaret.

July 20th.

P. 152. St. Sylvester.

December 21st. The Acts of St. Sylvester, written in
Greek by Simeon Metaphrastes, were Eastern in origin :
perhaps their earliest form was Syriac, as a version in that
language exists, belonging probably to the sixth century.
They seem strangely enough to be founded on a heathen
calumny. Constantine, after the murder of his son Crispus
was seized with remorse and applied to the heathen philoso-
phers for consolation ; but they told him that there could be
no expiation for such offences as his. Then he turned to
the bishops, who promised to wash away his sin on condition
of repentance and baptism. He therefore became a Christian
and tried to lead others in the same way (Sozomen, Hist.
Eccl. i. v.). As a fact Constantine was not baptized till
near the end of his life. Here in germ are the leprosy (of
sin) and the blood bath : and with these are mingled early

NOTES. 283

traditions of great gifts of the Emperor to the church, after-
wards expanded into the Donation, by which he surrendered
his palace, the city of Rome and the provinces of the West
to Sylvester the Catholic Pope and his successors,

P. 161. The Passion of the Eleven Thousand
Virgins.

St. Ursula's Day is October 21st.
P. 166. The Seven Sleepers.

Commemorated on July 27th. These and the Eleven
Thousand Virgins are very fully dealt with in Baring Gould's
Curious Myths, The story about Edward the Confessor is
from William of Malmesbury's Chronicle, ii. 13.

P. 192. St. Martha.

July 29th. From a Proven5;al religious romance attributed
to Herbanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz, who died A.D.
856. The dragon, here as elsewhere, is probably derived
from symbols and pictures representing the triumph of
Christianity over paganism.

P. 188. St. Longinus.

March 15th. Like Veronica and Amphibalus this saint
has probably derived his name from the object which figures
most largely in his story 5 in his case the longche {\oy^rj) "^
spear with which he pierced the Saviour's side.

P. 193. Judas and Pilate.

The account of the youth of Judas is from an apocryphal
gospel. (Thilo, Tod Apocryph. N. T. Evang. Infant, c. 35).
Pilate's story is a fusion of a German legend concerning his
youth and the Mors P'tlati which gives his trial before
Tiberius and the troubles which befell his remains at Mount
Pilatus. (See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible ^ ylr tides
Judas and Pilate.)

t84 NOTES.

P. 203. Julian the Apostate.

Julian's intercourse with the Neoplatonist and magician
Maximus of Ephesus furnished the basis of this legend. The
story about the sign of the cross is found in a somewhat different
form in Gregory of Nazianzus. (Orat, IV. I. contr, Julianum^
vol. I., p. 578 of his works in Migne's edition.) Flickering
lights, voices and spectres encountered him as he was in a
(lark passage with his teacher practising unlawful arts. From
old habit he made the sign of the cross and the horrible
visions disappeared. Twice he was attacked again and suc-
cessfully defended himself in the same way. He was puzzled
at the power of the sign but was reassured by being told that
the devils trembled at it because it signified something worse
than themselves. The account of the supposed slayer of
Julian (see Gibbon c. xxiv) is built upon a story given by
John of Damascus on the authority of Helladius the disciple
and successor of Basil the Great. {De Imaginihus^ Orat, /.)

P. 206. St. Macarius of Alexandria.

January 2nd. A hermit who lived for about sixty years in
the deserts of Egypt, and died A.D. 394.

P. 209. St. Felix.

January 14th. A native of Nola in Campaina fourteen
miles from Naples, he was ordained priest about a.d. 250.,
He is celebrated in the poems of Paulinus, bishop of Nola
(A.D. 409-431).

P. 211. Peter the Toller.

The story is taken from the life of John the Almoner
written by Simeon Metaphrastes.

P. 215. Invention of St. Firmin.

September 25th. St. Firminus, a native of Pampeluna was
the bishop and first martyr of Amiens. His death is said by
the Bollandists to have occurred at the beginning of the

NOTES. 285

second century. When St. Salvius was Bishop of Amiens
(518-612), the resting place of his predecessor, which had
been before unknown, was miraculously revealed to him as
he was celebrating Mass. Then followed the translation of
the remains as described in the text. Caxton took the story
from his French Golden Legend (Paris, 1480), which con-
tains several legends, not found in other editions, of Saints
of Flanders and northern France. One of the portals of the
north facade of Amiens Cathedral is sculptured with incidents
drawn from the life of St. Firminus.

P. 218. Miracles of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas
of Myra.

December 6th. These tales concerning this most popular
saint are taken from Vincent de Beauvais, " Speculum his-
toriale."

P. 235. The Translation of St. Mark.

The Translation of St. Mark is usually said to have
taken place about A.D. 815. The body was supposed to
have been deposited for greater security under one of the
great pillars of the Church of St. Mark in Venice. (^Daru,
Hi St 0 ire de Venise I, 57,)

P. 243. St. Anastasia.

December 25th. A lady of lUyricum burned in the Island
of Palmarola in the Tyrrhenian Sea about A.D. 304, during
the persecution of Diocletian.

P. 254. St. John the Almoner.

January 23rd. Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, A.D.
609-6164

P. 258. St. Genevieve.

January 3rd. Died probably about A.D. 512. This virgin
through her reputation for holy living obtained such influence

286 NOTES.

with Clovls that she succeeded in softening the rigours of the
Prankish conquest and was afterwards honoured as the
patroness of Paris.

P. 265. St. Patrick's Purgatory was a celebrated resort of
Pilgrims from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. There
was a monastery on an island in Lough Derg in county Done-
gal : and hard by was a cave which had a gate always closed
of which the abbot kept the keys. That was the entranec into
Purgatory which had been revealed to the Apostle of Ireland.
It first became widely known in the twelfth century. Giraldus
Cambrensis in his Topographica Hibernica written about 1188
says that the island is divided into two parts, one containing a
church of exceeding sanctity, the other wholly abandoned to
demons. From his time onward it was visited by many, often
persons of fgreat distinction, as we know by safe conducts
granted by the king for the purpose. After permission obtained
and due religious preparation the gate was unbarred and the
pilgrim spent the night within the cave. Some descriptions
of the gruesome sights to be met with there, especially that
known as the Vision of Sir Owayne had a wide popularity.
Froisart mentions the visit of a knight to the cave, who
however saw but little. In 1497 the Pope satisfied himself
that the claims of St. Patrick's Purgatory were unfounded
and ordered it to be destroyed. In a short time Pilgrims
again resorted thither 5 and, although a law forbidding these
visits was passed in the second year of Queen Anne, they have
continued down to recent times. See Baring-Gould's Curious
Myths, and T. Wright's 8t, Patrick's Purgatory ^London 1844.)

The Vision of Tundale is not strictly an account of a visit
to the cave on the Island at all. Tundale was a nobleman
of Cashel, who lavished his money in vain-glory instead of
bestowing it on the church and the poor. He was stricken
into a trance which lasted from Wednesday till Saturday.
The sights which befell him were not very difl^erent from
those in the vision given in the text : the bridge invariably
appears in these stories. The date of his vision is about
1 149 and accounts of it were circulated in Latin and French
and in English verse.

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