The legendary history of the cross: a series of 64 woodcuts from a Dutch book

V

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES

GIFT OF

COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS

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€^t ^egenbatg ^tefotg of t^t Cxo^b^

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lie Liegendary
Hijiory of the Ltro/s

A SERIES OF

Sixty-four Woodcuts

From a Dutch hook fublifhed by
Veldener, A.D. 1483

047^ If^TEODUCrW?^

Written and Illuftrated

By JOHN ASHTON

TREE ACE
ByS. BARING GOULD,m.a.

Mt'^ iorfe
A. C. Armstrong 6c Son

M.D.CCaLIXXVIl

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mp v^i

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PREFACE.

^^^<»=t-

[HE origin of the mediaeval romance of
the Crofs is hard to difcover. It was
very popular. It occurs in a good num-
ber of authors, and is depided in a
good many churches in ftained glafs.

I may perhaps be allowed here to repeat what I
have faid in my article on the Legend of the Crofs,
in " Myths of the Middle Ages : " —

** In the churches of the city of Troyes alone it
appears in the windows of four : S. Martin-es-Vignes,
S. Pantaleon, S. Madeleine, and S. Nizier. It is
frefcoed along the walls of the choir of S. Croce at
Florence, by the hand of Agnolo Gaddi. Pietro
della Francefca alfo dedicated his pencil to the hiftory
of the Crofs in a feries of frefcoes in the chapel of
the Bacci, in the church of S. Francefco at Arezzo.
It occurs as a predella painting among the fpecimens

of early art at the Accademia delle Belle Arti at
Venice, and is the fubjedt of a pidture by Beham, in
the Munich Gallery. The Legend is told in full in
the * Vita Chrifti,' printed at Troyes in 1 517; in the

* Legenda Aurea' of Jacques de Voragine ; in a French
MS. of the thirteenth century, in the Britifh Mufeum.
Gervafe of Tilbury relates a- portion of it in his ' Otia
Imperalia,' quoting Peter Comeftor ; it appears in the

* Speculum Hiftoriale ' of Gottfried of Viterbo, in the

* Chronicon Engelhufii,' and eifewhere."

In the very curious Creation window of S. Neot's
Church, Cornwall, Seth is reprefented putting three
pips of the Tree of Life into the mouth and noftrils
of dead Adam, as he buries him.

Of the popularity of the ftory of the Crofs there
can be no doubt, but its origin is involved in obfcurity.
It is generally poffible to track moft of the religious
and popular folk tales and romances of the Middle
Ages to their origin, which is frequently Oriental, but
it is not eafy to do fo with the Legend of the Crofs.
It would rather feem that it was made up by fome
romancer out of all kinds of pre-exifting material, with
no other obje6t than to write a religious novel for pious
readers, to difplace the fenfuous novels which were
much in vogue.

We know that this was largely done after the third
century, and a number of martyr legends, fuch
as thofe of S. Apollinaris Syncletica, SS. Cyprian and
Juftina, the ftory of Duke Procopius, S. Euphrofyne,
SS. Zofimus and Mary, SS.Theophanes and Panfemne,
and many others were compofed with this objed:. The
earlieft of all is undoubtedly the Clementine Recog-
nitions, which dates from a remotely early period,
and carries us into the heart of Petrine Chriftianity,
and in which many a covert attack is made on S. Paul
and his teaching. On the other hand, we know that
an Afiatic prieft, as Tertullian tells us, wrote a romance
on " Paul and Thecla, out of love to Paul." S. Jerome
fays that a Pauline zealot, when convidled before his
bifhop of having written the romance, tried to excul-
pate himfelf by faying that he had done it out of
admiration for S. Paul, but the Bifhop would not
accept the excufe, and deprived him. Unfortunately
this romance has not come down to us, though we
have another on S. Paul and his relations to Thecla,
who is faid to have accompanied him on his apoftolic
rambles, difguifed in male attire.

The Greek romance literature was not wholefome
reading for Chriftians. Some of the writers of thefe
tales became Chriftian bifhops, and probably devoted

their facile pens to more edifying fubjeAs than the
difficulties of parted lovers.

Heliodorus, who wrote " Theagenes and
Charicheia," is faid to have become Biftiop of
Tricca, in ThefTaly. Socrates, in the fifth century, in
fpeaking of clerical celibacy, mentions the feverity of
the rule impofed on his clergy by this Heliodorus,
"under whofe name there are love-books extant,
called Ethiopica, which he compofed in his youth."

Achilles Tatius, author of the " Loves of Clitophon
and Leucippe," is faid alfo to have become a bifhop.
So alfo Euftathius of ThefTalonica, author of the
"Lives of Hyfemene and Hyfmenias," but this
is more than doubtful.

Three things conduced to the production of a
Chriftian romance literature in the early ages of the
Church : — (i) The neceffity under which the Church
lay of fupplying a want in human nature; (2) The
need there was for producing fome light wholefome
literature to fupply the place of the popular love-
romances then largely read and circulated ; (3) The
fadl that fome bifhops and converts were experienced
novel writers, and therefore ready to lend their hands
to fome better purpofe than amufing the leifure and
flattering the paflions of the idle and young.

Much the fame conditions exifted in the Middle Ages.
There was an influx of fenfuous literature from the
Eaft, through the Arabs of Spain and Sicily ; Oriental
tales easily took Weftern garb, in which the caliphs
became kings of Chriftendom, and the fakirs and
imauns were converted into monks and Catholic
priefts. To counterad: thefe flories, colledlions of
which may be found in Le Grand d'Aufli and Von
der Hagen, and in Boccaccio, the Gefta Romanorum
was drawn up, a colledlion of moral tales, many of
them of fimilar Oriental parentage. But befide thefe
fhort flories, or novels, were long romances, fome
heroic, and founded on early national traditions and
ballads. To thefe belong the Niebelungen Lied and
Noth, the Gudrun, the Heldenbuch, the cycles of
Karlovingian and of Arthurian romance.

As it happens, we have two authors in the Middle
Ages, living much about the fame time, one intenfely
heathen in all his conceptions, the other as entirely
Chrifliian, each dealing with fubjeds from the fame
cycle, and the one writing in avowed oppofition
to the tendency of the other's book. I allude to
Wolfram of Efchenbach and Gottfried of Strafsburg.
The latter wrote the Triftram, the former the Parzival.
In Gottfried, the moral fenfe feems to be abfolutely

dead ; there is no perception of the facrednefs of truth,
of chaftity, of honour, none of religion. Wolfram is
his exadl converfe. Wolfram gives us the hiftory of
the Grail, but he did not invent the myth of the
Grail, he derived it from pre-exifting material.
The Grail myth is almoft certainly heathen in its
origin, but it has been entirely Chriftianifed. The
holy bafin is that in which the Blood of Chrift is
preferved, and only the pure of heart can fee it ; but
the Grail was really the great cauldron of Nature, the
bafln of Ceridwen, the earth goddefs of the Kelts, or,
among Teutonic nations, the facrificial cauldron of
Odin, in which was brewed the fpirit of poefy, of
the blood of Mimer. The remembrance of the
myfterious vefTel remained after Kelt and Teuton
had become Chriftian, and the poets and romancifts
gave it a new fpell of life by chriftening it. It was
much the fame with the ftory of the Crofs. In the
Teutonic North, tree worfhip was widely fpread ; the
tree was facred to Odin, who himfelf, according to
the myfterious Havamal, hung nine nights wounded,
as a facrifice to himfelf, a voluntary facrifice, in ** the
wind-rocked tree."

That tree was Yggdrafill, the world tree, whofe roots
extended to hell, and whofe branches fpread to heaven.

Northern mythology is full of allufion to this
tree, but we have, unfortunately, little of the hiftory
of it preferved to us ; we know of it only through
allufions. The Chriftmas tree is its reprefentative ; it
has been taken up out of paganifm, and rooted in
Chriftian foil, where it flourifhes to the annual delight
of thoufands of children.

Now the mediaeval romancifts laid hold of this tree,
as they laid hold of the Grail bafin, and ufed it for
Chriftian purpofes. The Grail cup became the chalice
of the Blood of Chrift, and the Tree of Odin became
the Crofs of Calvary. They worked into the romance
all kinds of material gathered from floating folk-tale
of heathen anceftry, and they pieced in with it every
fcrap of allufion to a tree they could find in Scripture.
It is built up of fragments taken from all kinds of
old ftrudures, put together with fome fkill, and built
into a goodly romance ; but the tracing of every
ftone to its original quarry has not been done by
anyone as yet. The Grail myth has had many
ftudents and interpreters, but not the Crofs myth.
That remains to be examined, and it will doubtlefs
prove a ftudy rewarding the labour of inveftigation.

S. BARING-GOULD.

T'he Legendary
Hiflory of the Crofs.

>%^

g .TisgyoS:-ii5i3ms5^ Y\ F Crofs on which our

Lord and Saviour fuf-

fered, would, naturally, if

properly authenticated,

^ be an objedl of the

S^^ deepeft veneration to all

Chriftian men, be their creed, or fhade of
opinion what it might; but, for over 300 '
years it could not be found, and it was
referved for the Emprefs Helena in her
old age (for fhe was 79 years old) to
difcover its place of concealment.' That
this Invention, or finding of the Crofs was
believed in, at the time, there can be no
manner of doubt, for it is alluded to by

A.D. 326.

Cije JLegentiar^

Rufinus on
the Invention.

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerufalem (a.d. 350
to 386), and by St. Ambrofe. Rufinus
of Aquila, a friend of St. Jerome, in his
Ecclefiaftical Hijlory, gives an account
of its finding, in the following words :
"About the fame time, Helena, the
mother of Conftantine, a woman ot
incomparable faith, whofe fincere piety
was equalled by her rare munificence,
warned by celeflial vifions, went to Jeru-
falem, and inquired of the inhabitants
where was the place where the Divine
Body had been affixed and hung on a
gibbet. This place was difficult to find,
for the perfecutors of old had raifed a
ftatue to Venus,' in order that the Chrif-
tians who might wifli to adore Chrift in
that place, fhould appear to addrefs their
homage to the goddefs ; and thus it was
little frequented, and almoft forgotten.
After clearing away the profane obje(fts
which defiled it, and the rubbifh that
there heaped up, fhe found three

Hadrian is

[aid to ha-Tje

done this.

was

crofTes placed in confufion. But the joy

^iftorp of tU Crofs*

XI

which this difcovery caufed her was
tempered by the impoflibihty of dif-
tinguifhing to whom each of them had
belonged. There, alfo, was found the
title written by Pilate in Greek, Latin,
and Hebrew characfters ; but flill there
was nothing to indicate fufficiently clearly
the Crols of our Lord. This uncertainty
of man was fettled by the teflimony of
heaven." And then follows the ftory of
the dead woman being raifed to life.

Not only did Rufinus write thus, but
Socrates, Theodoret, and Sozomen, all
of whom lived within a century after
the Invention, tell the fame ftory,
fo that it muft have been of current
belief.

The punifhment of the Crofs was
a very ordinary one, and of far wider
extent than many are aware. It was
common among the Scythians, the Greeks,
the Carthaginians, the Germans, and the
Romans, who, however, principally ap-
plied it to their flaves, and rarely crucified

Other
Authorities.

PuniJJiment
of the Crofs,

Xll

C6e JLegcnDar^

Punijliment
of the Crofs.

free men, unlefs they were robbers or
afTaffins.

Alexander the Great, after taking the
city of Tyre, caufed two thoufand in-
habitants to be crucified.

Flavius Jofephus relates, in his Anti-
quities of the yews, that Alexander, the
King of the Jews, on the capture of the
town of Betoma, ordered eight hundred
of the inhabitants to fuffer the death of
the Crofs, and their wives and children
to be malTacred before their eyes, whilfl
they were ftill alive.

Auguftus, after the Sicilian War, cru-
cified fix thoufand flaves who had not
been claimed by their mafiiers.

Tiberius crucified the priefiis of Ifis,
and deflroyed their temple.

Titus, during the fiege of Jerufalem,
crucified all thofe unfortunates who,
to the number of five or fix hundred
daily, fled from the city to efcape the
famine; and fo numerous were thefe
executions, that crofiTes were wanting,

^iflorp of t\)Z Crofs.

Xlll

T/ie different
forts ofCroffes.

and the land all about feemed like a
hideous foreft.

Thefe inftances are fufficient to {how
that death by crucifixion was a common
punifhment ; but, Angularly enough, the
fhape of the Crofs has never been fatif-
fadiorily fettled ; practically, the queftion
lies between the Crux capttata^ or immijfa^
which is the ordinary form of the Latin
Crofs, and the Crux anfata, or commijja.
frequently called the Tau Crofs, from the
Greek letter T. The T'^^^-fhaped Crofs
is, undoubtedly, to be met with moft
frequently in the older reprefentations;
and the more ancient authorities, fuch
as Tertullian, St. Jerome, St. Paulinus,
Sozomen, and Rufinus, are of opinion
that this was the fhape of the Crofs.
After the fifteenth century, our Lord is
rarely dep idled on the Crux co?nmi[fa, it
being referved for the two thieves.

M. Adolphe Napoleon Didron, in
his Iconographie Chretienne, gives a few
illuftrations of the antiquity of the

Antiquity of
the Tau Crofs.

Tau Crofs : " The Crofs is our crucified
Lord in perfon ; ' Where the Crofs is,
there is the martyr,' fays St. PauHnus.
Confequently it works miracles, as does
Jefus Himfelf : and the hfh of wonders
operated by its power is in truth immenfe.
By the fimple lign of the Crofs traced
upon the forehead or the breaft, men
have been dehvered from the moft im-
minent danger. It has conftantly put
demons to flight, protected the virginity
of women, and the faith of believers;
it has reftored men to life, or health,
infpired them with hope or refignation.

" Such is the virtue of the Crofs, that
a mere allufion to that facred iign, made
even in the Old Teftament, and long
before the exiftence of the Crofs, faved
the youthful Ifaac from death, redeemed
from deftrudlion an entire people whofe
houfes were marked by that fymbol,
healed the envenomed bites of thofe who
looked at the ferpent raifed in the form
of a Tau upon a pole. It called back the

^iUocp of tbe Crofs.

XV

foul into the dead body of the fon of that
poor widow who had given bread to the
prophet.

" A beautiful painted window, belong-
ing to the thirteenth century, in the
Cathedral of Bourges, has a reprefen-
tation of Ifaac bearing on his fhoulders
the wood that was to be ufed in
his facrifice, arranged in the form of a
Crofs; the Hebrews, too, marked the
lintel of their dwellings with the blood

of the Pafchal lamb, in the form of a
Tau or Crofs without a fummit. The
widow of Sarepta picked up and held
croiTwife two pieces of wood, with which
fhe intended to bake her bread. Thefe
figures, to which others alfo may be
added, ferve to exalt the triumph of the
Crofs, and feem to flow from a grand
central picture which forms their fource,
and exhibits Jefus expiring on the Crofs.
It is from that real Crofs indeed, bearing
the Saviour, that thefe fubjedts from the
Old Teftament derive all their virtue.'*

T/ieTau Crofs.

XVI

Cl)e Icgenuarp

JVood oj the
Crofs.

The wood of which it was made is as
unfettled as its fhape. The Venerable
Bede fays that our Lord's Crofs was made
of four kinds of wood : the infcription
of box, the upright beam of cyprefs, the
tranfverfe of cedar, and the lower part of
pine. John Cantacumene avers that only
three woods were employed: the upright,
cedar ; the tranfverfe, pine ; and the head
in cyprefs. Others fay that the upright
was cyprefs, the tranfverfe in palm, and
the head in olive ; or cedar, cyprefs, and
olive. Mofl authorities feem to concur
that it was made of feveral woods, but
there is a legend that it was made from
the afpen tree, whofe leaves flill tremble
at the awful ufe the tree was put to ;
whilfl: that veritable traveller. Sir John
Maundeville, fays : " And alfo in Iheru-
faiem toward the Weaft is a fayre church
where the tree grew of the which the
Crolfe was made." Liplius fays that it
was made of but one wood, and that
was oak ; but M. Rohault de Fleury (to

whofe wonderful and comprehenfive
work, M^moire fur les Injlruments de la
Pajfion de notre Sauveur Jefus Chriji^ I
am deeply indebted, fays, " M. Decaifne,
member of the Inftitut, and M. Pietro
Savi, profeiTor at the Univerfity of Pifa,
have fhewn me by the microfcope that
the pieces in the Church of the Holy
Crofs of Jerufalem at Rome, in the
Cathedral at Pifa, in the Duomo at
Florence, and in Notre Dame at Paris,
were of pine'' And he adds, in a foot-
note, " Independently of the experiments
which M. Savi kindly made in my
prefence, he wrote me the refults of other
obfervations, which tended to confirm."

Starting with the Invention of the
Holy Crofs, the loving, but fervid,
imaginations of the faithful foon wove
round it a covering of imagery, as we
have jufl: feen in the cafe of the feveral
woods of the Crofs, and the facred tree
became the fubjedl of a legend (for fo it
always was only meant to be), which

Crofs made
of pine.

XVlll

Cbe Legcntiarp

Caxtons
Golden Legend

was Incorporated in the Legenda Aurea
SanBorufTiy or Golden Legend of the Saints,
of Jacobus de Voraglne, a colledlion of
legends connecfled with the fervices of
the Church. This book was exceedingly
popular, and, when Caxton fet up his
printing-prefs at Weftminfler, he pro-
duced a tranflation, the hiftory of which
he quaintly tells us In a preface.*

As this Golden Legend Is the ftandard
authority on the fubjeft, and as It will

* " And for as moche as this fayd worke was grete & over
chargeable to me taccompliffhe, I feryd me in the begynnynge
of the tvanflacion to have contynued it / bycaufe of the longe
tyme of the tranflacion / & alfo in thenpryntyng of y' fame
and in maner halfe defperate to have accompliflci it / was in
purpofe to have lefte it / after that I had begonne to tranflate
it / & to have layed it aparte ne had it be (en) at thynftance &
requefte of the puyfTant noble & vertuous erle my lord wyllyam
erle of arondel / whych defyred me to procede & contynue the
faid werke / & promyfed me to take a refonable quantyte of
them when they were acheyeued & accompliflhed / and fente to
me a worftiypful gentylman a fervaunt of his named John
Stanney which folycyted me in my Lordes name that I fliold
in no wyfe leve it but accompliffhe it promyfyng that my fayd
lord {hold duringe my lyf geve & graunt to me a yerely fee /
that is to wete a bucke in fommer / & a doo in Wynter / with
whiche fee I holde me wel contente," &c.

5)ilIotp of tl)e €tof0.

XIX

much affift the intelligent appreciation
of the wood-blocks, I reproduce it,
premiling that I have ufed throughout
the firft edition, 20 Nov., 1483 : —

' But alle the dayes of adam lyvynge
here in erthe amounte to the fomme of
ip^VVV* yere / And in thende of his lyf

* This apparently long life of Adam is admitted on all
hands, even in the Revifed Verfion of the Bible. The Talmud
lays that God promifed him one thoufand years of life, and it
is recorded that he begat Seth when he was a hundred and
thirty years old. On this the Talmud {Erwvin, fol. 18, col. 2)
has the following comment : " Rav Yirmyah ben Ehzer faid :
All thofe years, which Adam fpent in alienation from God,
he begat evil fpirits, demons, and fairies; for it is faid, ' And
Adam was an hundred and thirty years, and begat a fon in
his own likenefs, after his image ' ; confequently, before that
time, he begat after another image."

This term of one hundred and thirty years feems to have
been a period in Adam's exiftence, for we again find (Eruvin,
fol. 18 b.) ; "Adam was a Chafid, or great faint, when he
obferved that the decree of death was occafioned by him ; he
faftedvi hundred and thirty years, and all this time he abitained
from intercourfe with his wife."

There is a Talmudical tradition that God Ihowed the
future to Adam (Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 31): "The
Holy One — blefled be He ! — fhewed unto Adam each genera-
tion, and its preachers, its guardians, its leaders, its prophets, its
heroes, its finners, and its faints, faying, ' In fuch and fuch a
generation fuch and fuch a King flaall reign, in fuch and fuch
a generation fuch and fuch a wife man fhall teach.' "

Page 39.

Length of
Adam's life.

Talmud

legends

rejpe^ing

Adam^s length

oflife.

XX

Ot %nucncgon of t^lp
ci-orfe/ au^ fira of t^gs ^i30Ite
Juuenaon

©iflorp of tbt Crof0,

XXI

whan he (hold dye / it is faid but ot none
audtoryte / that he fente Seth his fone in
to paradys for to fetch the oyle of mercy
/ where he receyuyde certayn graynes of
the fruyt of the tree of mercy by an
angel / And whan he come agayn / he
fonde his fader adam yet alyve and told
hym what he had don. And thenne

This isamplified in Midiafli Yalkut (fol. 12), where it is
faid that God Ihowed Adam all future generations of men,
with their leaders, learned and literary men, and there he
oblerved that David was credited with only three rours
of life, and he faid, " Lord and Creator of the world, is this
unalterable ?" " Such was my firft intention," was the reply.
"How many years have I to live ?" afked Adam. "One
thoufand." Then Adam faid, " I will lend him fome of my
years." And a document was drawn up whereby Adam
transferred feventy years of his life to David.

S. Baring-Gould, in his legends of Old Tejiament CharaSiers,
vol i. p. 77, referring to a Muffulman legend, fays : " Finally,
when Adam reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the
Angel of Death appeared under the form of a goat, and ran
between his legs.

" Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, ' God has
given me one thoufand years j wherefore comeft thou now ? '

" < What ! ' exclaimed the Angel of Death, * haft thou not
given feventy years of thy life to the prophet David ? '

"Adam ftoutly denied that he had done fo. Then the Angel
of Death drew the document of transfer from out of his beard,
and prefented it to Adam, who could no longer refufe to go."

xxu

Cfje legentiatp

Laughed or
Cmiled.

Obtained
true mercy.

Adam lawhed' firft / and then deyed /
and thenne he leyed the greynes or
kernellis under his faders tonge and
buryed hym / in the vale of ebron / and
out of his mouth grewe thre trees of the
thre graynes / of which the crofTe that
our lord fuffred his paffion on / was made
by vertue of which he gate^ very mercy
and was brought out of darknes in to
veray light of heven / to the whiche he
brynge us that lyveth and regneth god
world with oute ende.

?age 167.

Of old.

j^HE 3lnvencion*of the holy crofle is
faid bycaufe that this day the holy
crofle was founden / for to fore'* it was
founden of feth in paradyfe tereftre / lyke
as hit fhal be fayd here after / and alfo
it was founden of falamon in the mounte
of lybane and of the quene of faba / in
the temple of falamon / And of the

* The Feftival of the Invention, or finding of the Crofs, is
kept in the Roman and Englifli Churches on May 3.

©ilfoc^ of tbe Crofs.

XXlll

lewes in the water of pyfcyne* / And on
thys day it was founden of Helayne in
the mounte of Calvarye/.

Of the Holy Croffe.

j?JJHE holy crofle was founden two
hondred yere after the refurrexyon
of our lord / It is redde in the gofpel of
nychodemus^ / that whan adam wexyd
feck / Seth hys fone wente to the gate of
paradyfe tereftre, for to gete the oyle of

'■'■- Pifcina, a fifh-pond : Lat.
to be the Pool of Bethefda.

In this inftance it is fuppofed

•f- Nicodenius, chap. 14: —

But when the firft man our father Adam heard theie things,
that Jefus was baptized in Jordan, he called out to his fon
Seth, and faid,

Declare to your fons, the patriarchs and prophets, all thofe
things which thou didft hear from Michael the Archangel,
when I fent thee to the gates of Paradife to entreat God
that he would anoint my head when I was fick.

Then Seth, coming near to the patriarchs and prophets,
faid : I, Seth, when I was praying to God at the gates of
Paradife, beheld the angel of the Lord, Michael, appear unto
me, faying, I am fent unto thee from the Lord j I am
appointed to prefide over human bodies.

I tell thee, Seth, do not pray to God in tears, and entreat
him for the oil of the tree of mercy, wherewith to anoint
thy father Adam for his headach j

f. 3.

'V. 4.

XXIV

Cbe Legennarp

mercy for to enoynte wythal hys faders
body / Thenne apperyd to hym faynt
mychel thaungel and fayd to hym /
travayle not the in vayne / for thys oyle
/ for thou mayft not have it till fyve
thoufand and fyve hondred yere been
paffed / how be it that fro Adam unto
the paffyon of our lord were but fyve

QfJtC and 55S^^^ y^^^ I -^^ another place
it is redde that the aungel broughte hym
a braunche / and commaunded hym to
plante it in the mounte of lybanye / Yet

•v. 5.

"v. 6.

'v. 7,

'v. 8.

"v. 9.

Becaufe thou canft not by any means obtain it till the laft
day and times, namely, till five thoufand and five hundred
years be paft.

Then will Chrift, the moll merciful Son of God, come
on earth to raife again the human body of Adam, and at the
fame time to raife the bodies of the dead, and when he cometh
he will be baptized in Jordan ;

Then with the oil of his mercy he will anoint all thofe
that believe on him j and the oil of his mercy will continue
to future generations, for thofe who (hall be born of the water
and the Holy Ghoft unto eternal life.

And when at that time the moft merciful Son of God,
Chrift Jel'us, fliall come down on earth, he will introduce our
father Adam into Paradife, to the tree of mercy.

When all the patriarchs and prophets heard all thefe things
from Seth, they rejoiced more.

^iftotp of tU (ZErofs.

fynde we in another place / that he gafe
to hym of the tree that Adam ete of /
And fayd to hym that whan that bare
fruyte he fhould be guariffhed' and alle
hoole V' whan feth came ageyn he founde
his fader deed / and planted this tree
upon his grave / And it endured there
un to the tyme of Salomon / and bycaufe
he fawe that it was fayre, he dyd^ doo
hewe it doun / and fette it in his hows
named faltus / and whan the queue of
faba came to vyfyte Salamon / She wor-
fhypped this tre bycaufe fhe fayd the
favyour of alle the world fhold be hanged
there on / by whome the royame^ of the
lewes that be defaced and feace.^ Salomon
for this caufe made hit to be taken up /
& dolven^ depe in the grounde. Now it
happed after that they of lerufalem (dyd
do make a grete pytte for a pyfcyne^ /
where at the mynyfters of the temple
fholde wefflie theyre beftys / that they
(hold facrefyfe / and there founde thys
tre / and thys pyfcyne had fuche vertue,

XXV

Cured:

French^uerir,

to heal.

JVhole.

Didfo — caufed

to be : ivords

of frequent

occurrence.

Kingdom ;

French,

royaume.

Ceafe.

6

Dug, p. part,
of delve.

Pond.

i^

XXVI

C6e legennarp

that the aungels defcended and mevyd
the water / and the firft feke man that
defcendyd in to the water after the
mevyng / was made hole of what fomever
fekenefle he was feek of. And whan
the tyme approched of the paflyon of
our lord / thys tree aroos out of the
water and floted above the water / And
of this pyece of tymbre made the lewes
the croffe of our lord / Thenne after
this hyftorye / the crofle by which we
been faved / came of the tree by whiche
we were dampned. And the water of
that pyfcyne had not his vertue onely of
the aungel / but of the tre/. With this
tre wherof the crolTe was maad / there
was a tree that went over thwarte / on
whiche the armes of our lord were
nayled/. And another pyece above which
was the table / wherin the tytle was
wryten / and another pyece wherein the
fokette or mortys was maad that the
body of the crolTe flood in foo that
there were foure manere of trees / That

ft)iGotp of tbe €xot^.

XXVll

is of palme of cypres / of cedre and of
olyve. So cche of thyfe foure pyeces was
of one of thofe trees/. This blefled
crofle was put in the erthe and hyd by
the ipace of on hondred yere and more /
But the moder of themperour which
was named helayne* founde it in thys
manere / For Conftantyn came wyth a
grete multytude of barbaryns nygh unto
the ryver of the dunoe / whyche wold
have goon over for to have deftroyed alle
the contree / And whan conftantyn had

* Alban Butler, in TAe Lives of the Fathers^ Martyrs,
and other Principal Saints, denies that St. Helena was an
Innholder (Stabularia) in Bithynia, when Conftantius married
her, and fays : *' We are affured by the unanimous tradition
of our Englifti hiftorians that this holy emprefs was a native
of our ifland. William of Malmefbury, the principal hiftorian
of the ancient ftate of our country after Bede, and before him,
the Saxon author of the life of St. Helen, in 970, quoted by
Ulher, expreffly fay that Conftantine was a Briton by birth."
Leland, in his Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis, fays
that St. Helena was the only daughter of King Coilus, the
King Cool who firft built walls round Colchefter, and the
Englifh Church has generally recognifed her Britifli origin.
Her feftival is kept on Auguft 18.

When her huftand, Conftantine Chlorus, entered into an
arrangement with Diocletian, by which he had the countries

XXVIU

Cl)e iLegenuarp

aflembled his hooft / He went and fette
them ageynft that other partye / But as
fone as he began to pafle the ryver / he
was moche aferde / by caufe he {hold
on the morne have batayle / and in the
nyght as he flepte in his bedde / an
aungel awoke hym / and fhewed to hym
the fygne of the crofle in heven / and
fayd to hym / Beholde on hye on heven/.
Thanne fawe he the crofle made of
ryght clere lyght / & was wryten there
upon wyth lettres of golde / In this
fygne thou fhalte over come the batayle/

this fide the Alps, namely, Gaul and Britain, he was obliged,
as part of the bargain, to divorce St. Helena, and marry
Theodora, the daughter-in-law of Maximinianus. According
to Eufebius, (he was not converted to Chriftianity at the fame
time as her fon Conftantine, who, when he came to the throne,
paid her the greateft deference, and gave her the title of
Augufta, or emprefs. After the Council of Nice, in 325, he
wrote to Macarius, Biftiop of Jerufalem, concerning the
building of a fplendid church upon Mount Calvary, and St.
Helena, although ftie was then 79 years of age, undertook to
fee it carried out.

It was then that the reputed Invention of the Crofs, together
with the nails, took place, and ftie foon afterwards died, but
the exaft year is uncertain, fome authorities giving a.d. 326,
others 328,

Jj)morp of tbe ^rofs*

XXIX

Thenne was he alle comforted of thys
vylion / And on the morne / he put
in his banere the Croffe^ / and made it ^t wr

Banner of
Confiantine.

to be borne tofore hym and his hooft /
And after fmote in the hooft of his
enemyes / and llewe and chaced grete
plente / After thys he dyd doo"" calle the
byffhoppes of the ydolles /and demaunded
them to what god the fygne of the crolTe
apperteyned. And whan they coude not
anfwere / fome criften men that were
there tolde to hym the myfterye of the
croffe / and enformed hym in the faythe
of the trynyte / Thenne anone he bylevyd
parfytly (in) god / and dyd do baptyfe
hym / and after, it happed that conftan-
tyn his fone remembred the vy6torye of
his fader / Sente to helayn his modre

Cauftd to be
called together.

XXX

C6e LegenDarp

for to fynde the holy crofTe / Thenne
helayne wente in to Iherufalem / and
dyd doo afTemble all the wyfe men of
the contre / and whan they were afl'em-
bled / they wold fayn knowe wherfore
they were called / Thenne one ludas
Know. fayd to them / I wote' wel that fhe wyl

knowe of us where the crofTe of Ihefu
crifte was leyed / but beware you al
that none of you tell hyr / for I wote
wel then fhall our lawe be deftroyed /
Grandfather. Yov zacheus my olde^ fader fayde to
fymon my fader / And my fader fayde
to me at his dethe / be wel ware / that
for no tormente that ye may fuffre / telle
not where the crofTe of Ihefu crifte was
leyde / for after that hit fhal be founden
/ the lewes fhal reygne no mour / But
the criften men that worfhypped the
crofTe fhal then reygne / And verayly
this Ihefus was the fone of god.

Then demaunded I my fader / wher-
fore had they hanged hym on the crofTe
fythe it was knowen that he was the fone

J

^illorp of tbe Crofs*

XXXI

of god / thenne he fayd to me fayre
fone I never accorded thereto / But gayn
faid it alwaye /But the Pharifees dyd it
bycaufe he repreyvd theyr vyces / but he
aroos on the thyrd day / and his dyfciples
feeing / he afcended in to heven /
Thenne by caufe that Stephen thy broder
belevyd in him / the lewes floned hym
to dethe.

Then when ludas had fayd theyfe
wordes to his felawes / they anfwerd we
never herde of fuche thynges / never the
leffe kepe the wel if the quene demaunde
the therof / that thou fay no thynge to
hyr / Whan the quene had called them
/ and demaunded them the place where
our lord Ihefu crifte had been crucefyed/
they wold never tell her nor enfygne'
her /. Then commaunded fhe to brenne^
them alle/. But then they doubted and
were aferde / & delyvered ludas to hyr
and fayd / lady thys man is the fone of
a prophete and of a jufle man / and
knoweth right wel the lawe / & can

Inform.
Burn.

XXXll

Cbe LegenDarp

More ado.

telle to you al thynge that ye fhal
demaunde hym/.

Thenne the quene lete al the other
goo, and reteyned ludas without mooV-
Thenne fhe fhewed to hym his life &
dethe & bade hym chefe whyche he
wold. Shewe to me fayd fhe the place
named golgota where our lord was
crucefyed / by caufe and to the end
that we may fynde the crolTe/. Thenne
fayd ludas, it is two hondred yere palfed
& more / & I was not thenne yet borne.
Thenne fayd to hym the lady / by him
that was crucyfyed / I (hal make the
periiTe for hungre/ yf thou telle not to
me the trouthe.

Thenne made fhe hym to be cafle into
a drye pytte / and there tormented hym
by hungre / and evyl refle / whan he
had been feuen dayes in that pytte /
thenne fayd he yf I myght be drawen
out / he lliold fay the trouthe / Thenne
he was drawen out / and whan he came
to the place / anone the erthe moevyd

5)iftorp of tbt Ctofs.

XXXlll

and a fume of grete fwettnefle was felte
in fuche wyfe that ludas fmote his
hondes togyder for ioye / and fayd / in
trouthe Ihefu crifte thou art the favyour
of the worlde.

It was fo that adryan the Emperour
had doo make in the fame place where
the crofTe laye a temple of a goddefle by
caufe that all they that come in that
place (hold adoure that goddefTe/. But
the quene did doo deftroy the temple /
Thenne ludas made hym redy and began
to dygge / and whan he came to J^J
paas' depe / he fonde three crolTes and
broughte them to the quene / And
bycaufe he knewe not whiche was the
crofle of our lord / he leyed them in the
myddel of the cyte / and abode the
demonftraunce of god / and aboute the
houre of none / there was the corps of
a yonge man brought to be buryed /
ludas reteyned the byere / and layed
upon hit one of the crofles / and after
the fecond / and whan he leyed on hit

Inventy Paces,

xxxiv

Cfie iLegenDarp

I

E'verlajiing. '

the third / anone the body that was dede
came ageyn to lyf/.

Thenne cryed the devyll in the eyre
ludas what haft thou doon / thou haft
doon the contrarye that thother ludas
dyd/. For by hym I have wonne many
fowles / and by the I fhal lofe many /
by hym I reygned on the peple / And
by the I have loft my royame / never
the lefte I fhal yelde to the this bountee/.
For I fhal fend one that fhal punyffhe the /
and that was accomplyffhed by lulian the
apoftata / which tormented hym afterward
whan he was byffhop of Iherufalem / and
whan ludas herde hym he curfed the
devyl and fayd to hym / Ihefu cryfte
dampne the in fyre pardurable'/. After
this ludas was baptyzed and was named
quyryache */. And after was made
byffhop of Iherufalem/. Whan helayn
had the crofTe of Ihefu crifte / and faw
fhe had not the nayles / Thenne he dyd

* Other accounts fay the CrofTes were found by Macarius,
then Bifhop of Jerufalenn.

©illotp of tit €tois.

XXXV

dygge in therthe fo longe / that he
founde them fhynyng as golde/. thenne
bare he them to the quene / and anone
as fhe fawe them fhe worfhypped them
wyth grete reverence/.

Thenne gafe faynt helayn a part of the
crofle to hir fone / And that other parte
fhe lefte in Iherufalem clofyd in golde /
fylver and precious ftones/.

And hyr fone bare the nayles to
themperour / And the emperour dyd
do fette them in hys brydel and in hys
helme whan he wente to batayle/. This
referreth Eufebe whiche was byffhop of
Cezayr Y how be it that other fay other-
wyfe/. Now it happed that lulyan the
appoftate dyd doo* flee quyriache that
was byffhop of Iherufalem / by caufe he
had founde the croffe / for he hated
hit foo mooche / that where fomever he
founde the croffe / he dyd hit to be
deflroyed / For whan he wente in batayle
ageynfle them of perfe / he fente and
commaunded quyriache to make facrefyfe

Eufebius,
Bi/hop of
Cefaraa.

Killed.

XXXVl

Cbe iLegennarp

Mad dog.

to thydolles / and whan he wold not doo
hit / he dyd do fmyte of his right honde
/ and fayd wyth this honde haft thou
wryten many letters / by whyche thou
repellyd moche folke fro doynge facrefyfe
to our goddes/.

Quyriache fayd thou wood hounde*
thou hift doon to me grete prouffyte /
For thou haft cut of the hande / wyth
whiche I have many tymes wreton to
the fynagoges that they fhold not byleve
in Ihefu crifte / and now fythe"* I am
criften / thou haft taken from me that
whiche noyed me / thenne dyd lulyan
do melte leed, and cafte it in his mowthe
/ and after dyd doo brynge a bedde of
yron / and made quyriache to be layed
and ftratched theron / and after leyed
under brennyng cooles / and threwe
therein grece and falte / for to torment
hym the more / and whan quyriache
moved not / lulyan themperour faid to
hym / outher thou {halt facrefyfe (to)
our goddes / or thou fhalt fay at the

Since.

^iflorp of tjje Crof0,

xxxvii

lefle thou art not criften/. And whan he
fawe he wolde not do never neyther /
he dyd doo make a depe pytte ful of
ferpentes and venemous beflys / and cafte
hym therein / & whan he entred / anone
the ferpentes were al deed/. Thenne
lulyan put hym in a cawdron ful of
boylyng oyle / and whan he fhold entre
in to hit / he bleflyd it & fayd / Fayre
lord torne thys bane to baptyfm of
marterdom / Thenne was lulyan moche
angry / and commaunded that he fhould
be ryven thorough his herte with a
fwerde / and in this manere he fynyfflied
his lyff.

The vertue of the croiTe is declared to
us by many miracles / For it happed
on a tyme that one enchantour had
dyfceyved a notarye / and brought hym
to a place / where he had affembled a
grete companye of devylles/and promyfed
to hym to have muche rychelTe / and
whan he came there / he faw one perfone
blacke fyttynge on a grete chayer / And

Turn this evil

XXXVlll

C6e ilegenDarp

all aboute hym al ful of horyble people
and blacke whiche had fperes and fwerdes
/ Thenne demaunded thys grete devyll
of the enchantour / who was thatclerke/
thenchantour fayd to hym / Syr he is
oures / thenne fayd the devyl to hym yf
thou wylte worlhyp me and be my
fervaunte / and denye Ihefu cryfte / thou
fhalt fytte on my right fyde / The clerke
anone bleflyd hym wyth the fygne of the
crofTe / and fayd that he was the fervaunte
of Ihefu crifte / his favyour / And anone
as he had made the croffe / that grete
multitude of devylles vanyffhed aweye.
It happed that this notarye after this on
a tyme en try d with hys lord in the
chyrche of faynt fophye / & knelyd doun
on his knees to fore the ymage of the
crucyfyxe / the which crucifyxe as it
femed loked moche openly and fharpelye
on hym/. Thenne his lord made hym
to go aparte on another fyde / and
alleweye the crucifixe torned his eyen
toward hym/. Thenne he made hym

j^iaorp of tfie Crofs*

xxxix

goo on the lefte fyde / and yet the
crucifixe loked on hym / Thenne was
the lord moche admerveyled/and charged
hym & commaunded hym that he fhold
telle hym wherof he had fo deferved that
the crucifyxe fo behelde and loked on
hym / Thenne fayde the notarye that he
coude not remembre hym of no good
thynge that he had doon / faufe that one
tyme he wold not renye nor forfake the
crucifixe tofore the devyl/.

Thenne late us fo blefle us with the
fygne of the blefiyd crofle that we may
therby be kepte fro the power of our
ghooftly and dedely enemye the devyl /
and by the glorious paflyon that our
faveour Ihefu cryft fuffred on the crofTe
after this lyf we may come to his
everlaftyng blyffe amen/.

Thus endeth thynvencion of the holy
crofTe.

xl

TTTTI

2)ere eblo^i)et^) ti^ (gjaltaoon
of tl^ Iplp <S:tToiTe

I^mts of tlje Crofs.

xli

Exaltation of the holy Croffe' is fayd/
bycaufe that on this daye the hooly crolTe
& faythe were gretely enhaunced/. And
it is to be underftonden that tofore the
paflion of our lord Ihefu cryfte / the
tree of the crofTe was a tree of fylthe /
For the crofTes were made of vyle trees,
& of trees without fruyte / For al that
was planted on the Mount of Calvarye
bare no fruyt. It was a fowle place /
for hit was the place of torment of thevys/
It was derke / for it was in a derke place
and without any beaute / It was the tree
of deth / for men were put there to
dethe / It was alfo the tree of ftenche /
for it was planted amonge the caroynes^
& after the paflyon the Crofle was moche
enhaunced / For the Vylte^ was tranf-
ported into precioufyte / Of the whiche
the bleffyd faynt Andrewe fayth / O
precious holy CrofTe god fave the / his
bareynes was torned into fruyte / as it is
fayd in the Cantyques / I fhall afcende
up in to a palme tree / et cetera / His

T/ie Roman
and Englijh
Churches
celebrate this
Fejii'val on
February 14.

Carrion.

ViUnefs.

xlii

C6e LeffenDatp

Refourced or
repUniJhed.

Chofroes II.,

'who reigned in

tbe/eventh

Century,

ignobylyte or unworthynes was tourned
into fublymyte and heyght / The Crofle
that was tormente of thevys is now born
in the front of themperours / his derkenes
is torned into lyght and clerenefTe/ wherof
Chryfoflom fayth the Crofle and the
Woundes fhall be more fhynyng than
the rayes of the Sonne at the jugement/
his deth is converted into perdurabylyte of
lyf / whereof it is fayd in the preface /
that fro hens the lyf refourded' /and the
ftenche is torned into fwetenes / canti-
corum /. This exaltacion of the hooly
crofl^e is folempnyfed and halowed
folempnly of the Chirche / For the
faythe is in hit moche enhaunced /.

For the yere of oure lord five honderd
& J« / our lord fuffred his people moche
to be tormentyd by the cruelte of the
paynyms / And Cofdroe^ Kynge of the
Perceens fubdued to his empyre all the
Royaumes of the world / And he cam
into Iherufalem and was aferd and a
dred of the fepulcre of our lord &

/

©ifiorg of tbe Croftt. xliii

retorned / but he bare with hym the parte
of the hooly Croffe / that faynte Helene
had left ther. And then he wold be
worfhiped of alle the peple / as a god /
6c dyd do make a tour of gold and of
fylver wherein precious ftones fhone /
and made therein the ymages of the
fonne and of the mone and of the fterres
/ and made that by fubtyle conduytes
water to be hydde / and to come doune
in the maner of rayne / And in the lafte
ftage he made horfes to draw charyotes
round aboute lyke as they had mevyd
the toure / and made it to feme as
it had thondred / and delyvered his
Royaume to his fone. And thus this
curfyd man abode in this Temple / and
dyd doo fette the croiTe of our lord by
hym and commaunded that he {hold be
callyd god of alle the peple / And as it is
redde in libro de mitrali* officio the faid
Cofdroe refydent in his trone as a fader /

'i- The book of the office of Mithras or Mithra, the Sun,
worlhipped by the Perfians.

xliv

Cl)e Legennarp

fette the tree of the CrofTe on his ryght
fyde in flede of the fonne / and a cock
in the lyft fyde in ftede of the hooly
ghoofl / & commaunded / that he fhold
be called fader /. And then Heracle*
themperour affembled a grete hooft /
and cam for to fyght wyth the fonne of
Cofdroe by the ryver of danubie / &
thenne hit pleafyd to eyther prynce /
that eche of them fhold fyght one
ageynfte that other upon the brydge /
& he that fhold vaynquyffhe & over-
come his adverfarye fholde be prynce of
thempyre withoute hurtyng eyther of
bothe hostes / & fo hit was ordeyned &
fworn / & that who fomever fhold helpe
his prynce fhold have forthwith his
legges & armes cut of / & to be plonged
/ & cafl in to the Ryver.

And then Heracle commaunded hym
all to god and to the hooly crofTe wyth
all the devocion that he myght. And

'»'• Heraclius, Emperor of the Eaft, who from a.d. 622 to
627 fought Chofroes II., defeated him, and concluded peace.

^iftorp of tbc Ctof0»

xlv

thenne they fought longe / And at the
lad our lord gaf the vy(5lory to Heracle
and fubdued hym to his empyre / The
hoofl that was contrary / and alle the
peple of Cofdroe obeyed them to the
Cryften faythe / and receyved the hooly
baptyfme / And Cofdroe knew not the
end of the batayll / For he was adoured
and worfhiped of alle the peple as a god
/ fo that no man durft fay nay to him /
And thenne Heracle came to hym / and
fonde hym fyttinge in his fyege' of
golde / and fayd to hym / For as moche
as after the manere thou haft honoured
the Tree of the CrofTe / yf thou wyld
receyve baptym and the faythe of Ihefu
Cryft / I (hal gete it to the / and yet fhalt
thow holde thy crowne and Royamme
with lytel hoftages / And I fhall lete the
have thy lyf / and yf thou wylt not / I
fhall flee the wyth my fwerde / and
fhalle fmyte of thyne heed / and whanne
he wold not accorde therto / he did anon
do fmyte of his hede / and commaunded

Throne , or featt
French, siige.

xlvi

C6e iLegenDatp

that he fhold be buryed / by caufe he
had be(en) a Kynge /. And he fonde
with hym one his fone of the age of ten
yere / whome he dyd doo baptyfe and
lyft hym fro the fonte / and left to hym
the Royaume of his fader / and then he
dyd doo breke that Toure / And gaf the
fylver to them of his hoofte / and gaf
the gold and precious ftones for to re-
payre the chirches that the tyraunt had
deftroyed / and tooke the hoole croiTe /
and brought it ageyne to lerufalem / and
as he defcended from the mount of
Olyvete / and wold have entryd by the
gate by whiche our favyour wente to his
paflyon on horfbacke adourned as a Kynge
/ fodenly the ftones of the gates de-
fcended / and ioyned them togyder in
the gate like a wall & all the peple was
AiioHijhed, abafhed' / and thenne the Aungel of
cure lord appyeryd upon the gate hold-
yng the ligne of the figne {sic) of the
Crofle in his honde / and fayd / Whanne
the Kynge of heven went to his paflion

©ifiotp of fte Ctof0,

xlvii

by this gate / he was not arayed like a
Kynge / ne on horfbake / but cam
humbly upon an afle / in fhewynge
thexample of humylite which he left to
them that honoure hym. And when
this was fayd / he departed and vanyffhed
aweye / Thenne th'emperour took of his
hofen and fhone' himfelf in wepynge /
and defpollyed hymfelfe of alle his clothes
in to his fherte / and tooke the croiTe of
oure lord / and bare it moche humbly
into the gate / and anone the hardnes of
the ilones felte the celeftyalle commaund-
ement / and remeved anone / and opened
and gaf entree unto them that entred /
Thenne the fweete odour that was felt
that day whanne the hooly CroiTe was
taken fro the Toure of Cofdroe / and
was brought ageyne to Iherufalem fro fo
ferre countre / and fo grete fpace of
londe retourned in to Iherufalem in that
moment / and replenyffhed it with al
fwetnes / Thenne the ryght devoute
Kyng beganne to faye the prayfynges of

Shoen — Aees.

xlviii

Clje LegenDati?

the Crofle in this wyfe / O Crux fplen-
dydior / et cetera / O CrofTe more
fhynynge than alle the Sterres / honoured
of the world / right holy / and moche
amyable to alle men / whiche only were
worthy to here the raunfon of the world
Swete tree / Swete nayles / Swete yron /
Swete fpere berynge the fwete burthens
/ Save thou this prefent company / that
is this daye aflembled in thy lawe and
prayfynges /. And thus was the pre-
cious tree of the CroiTe re eftablyffhed in
his place /and the auncient myracles
renewed /. For a dede man was reyfed
to lyf / and foure men taken with the
palfey were cured and heled / J lepres
were made clene / and fyften blynde
receyved theyr fyghte ageyn / Devylles
were put out of men / and moche peple
/ and many / were delyvered of dyverfe
fekenes and maladyes /. Thenne them-
perour dyd doo repayre the Chirches /
and gaf to them grete geftes / And after
retorned home to his Empyre / And hit

I^iiiorp of tbe Crofs. xlix

is faid in the Cronycles that this was
done otherwife / For they fay that
whanne Cofdroe hadde taken many
Royammes / he took Iherufalem / and
Zacharye the patriarke / and bare aweye
the tree of the CrofTe / And as Heraclc
wold make pees with hym / the Kyng
Cofdroe fwore a grete othe / that he wold
never make pees with Cryften men and
Romayns / yf they denyed not hym that
was crucyfyed / and adoured the fonne /.
And thenne Heracle / whiche was armed
wythe faythe / brought his hoofte ageynft
hym / and deftroyed and wafted the
Perfyens with many batayles that he
made to them / and made Cofdroe to
flee unto the Cyte of thelyfonte /. And
atte the lafte Cofdroe hadde the flyxe in
his bely / And wolde therefore crowne
his fone Kynge / which was named
Mendafa /. And whenne Syroys his
oldeft fone herde thereof he made alyance
with Heracle / And purfewed his fader
with his noble peple / and fet hym in

Cbe iLegenDarp

bondes / And fufteyned him with breede
of trybulacion / and with water of
anguyffhe / And atte laft he made to
fhote arowes at him bycaufe he wold not
bileve in god 6c fo deyde / & after this
thynge he fente to Heracle the patriarke
the tree of the CrofTe and all the pry-
foners / And Heracle bare into Iherufa-
lem the precious tree of the CrolTe /.
And thus it is redde in many Cronycles
alfo/. Sybyle fayth thus of the tre of the
CrolTe / that the blelTyd tree of the
CroiTe was thre tymes with the paynyms
/ as it is fayd in thyftorie trypertyte O
thryfe blellyd tree on whiche god was
ftratched / This peradventure is fayd for
the lyf of Nature / of grace / and of
glorye / which cam of the crofle /. At
Conftantynople a lewe entyred in to the
chirche of feynt fophye / and confydered
that he was there allone / and fawe an
ymage of Ihefu cryfte / and tooke his
fwerde and fmote thymage in the throte
/ and anone the bloode guyffhed oute /

i&iOotp of tbe Crofs.

U

and fprange in the face and on the hide

of the lewe / And he thenne was aferd

and took thymage / and cait it into a

pytte / and anone fledde awey /. And it

happed that a Cryften man mett hym /

and fawe hym al blody / and fayd to

hym / fro whens comefl thou / thou

haft flayne foume man / And he fayd I

have not / the cryften man fayd Veryly

thou has commyfed fomme homycyde /

for thou art all befprongen' with the BefprinkUd.

blood. And the J ewe faid / Veryly the

god of Cryften men is grete and the

faythe of hym is ferme and approved in

all thynges / I have fmyten no man /

but I have fmyten thymage of Ihefu

Cryfte / and anone yiTued blood of his

throte /. And thenne the Jewe brought

the Cryften man to the pytte / and then

they drewe oute that hooly ymage /.

And yet is fene on this daye the wounde

in the throte of thymage / And the lewe

anone by cam a good Cryften man, &

was baptyfed / In Syre in the cyte of

Hi

Cfte LcgenDarp

baruth there was a criften man / which
had hyred an hous for a yere / & he had
fet thymage of the crucifixe by his bedde
to whiche he made dayly his prayers and
faid his devocions / & at the yeres ende
he remeved and tooke another hous / &
forgate & lefte thymage behynde hym /
and it happed that a lewe hyred that
fame hows / & on a daye he had another
lewe one of his neyghbours to dyne / &
as they were at mete it happed hym that
was boden' in lookyng on the walle to
elpye this ymage whiche was fyxed to
the walle and beganne to grenne at it
for defpyte / and ageynft hym that bad
hym / & alfo thretned & menaced hym
bycaufe he durft kepe in his hous
thymage of Ihefu of nazareth / & that
other lewe fware as moche as he myght /
that he had never fene it / ne knewe
not that it was there / & thenne the
lewe fayned as he had been peafyd . /
& after went flrayt to the prynce of the
lewes / & accufed that lewe of that

Invited.

Pacified,
appeafed.

IJjiflorp of tbe Crofs.

liii

whiche he hadde fene in his hous /
thenne the lewes aflembleden & cam to
the hous of hym / & fawe thymage of
Ihefu Cryft / and they took that lewe
and bete hym / & did to hym many
iniuryes / & cafte hym out half dede of
their fynagoge / & anone they defowled
thymage with their feet / & renewed in
it all the tormentes of the paflion of oure
lorde / & and when they perced his fyde
with the fpere / blood and water yffued
haboundauntly / in fo moche that they
fylled a veffel / whiche they fet ther-
under / And thenne the lewes were
abaffhhed & bare this blood in to theyr
fynagoge & and alle the feke men and
malades that were enoynted therwyth /
were anone guaryffhed & made hool/
& thenne the lewes told & recounted al
this thynge by ordre to the bifhop of
the countre / & alle they with one wyll
receyved baptyfm in the fay the of Ihefu
Cryft / & the biffhop putt the blood in
ampulles' of Cryftalle & of glas for to

Ampulla^
bottles or Aajks.

liv

Cfje LcgentJarp

be kepte / & thenne he called / the
Cryften man that had lefte it in the hows
/ & enquyred of hym / who had made
fo fayr an ymage / & he faid that Nycho-
demus had made it / And when he
deyde / he lefte it to gamalyel / And
Gamalyel to Zachee and Zachee to
laques / and laques to Symon / and
hadde ben thus in lerufalem unto the
deftrud:ion of the Cyte / and fro thennes
hit was borne in to the Royamme of
Agryppe of Cryften men / and fro
thennes hit was brought ageyne into my
countreye / & it was left to me by my
parentes by rightful herytage / & this
was done in y^ yere of our lord feven
honderd and fifty / and thenne alle the
Confecrated. lewes halowed' their fynagogues in to
chirches and therof cometh the cuftoume
that Chirches ben hallowed / For tofore
that tyme the aultres were but halowed
only / and for this myracle the chirche
hath ordeyned / that the fyfte Kalendar
of december / or as it is redde in another

5)i0otp of ttz CtOf0» Iv

place / the fyfthe ydus of Novembre
fhold be the memorye of the pallyon of
oure lord / wherfor at Rome the chirche
is halowed in thonoure of our favyour
whereas is kepte an ampulla with the
fame blood / And there a folempne fefte
is kepte and done / and there is proved
the ryght grete vertue of the crolTe unto
the paynyms and to the mylbylevyd men
in alle thynges /.

And faynt Gregory recordeth in the
thirdde booke of his dyalogues / that
whanne andrewe Biffhop of the Cyte of
Fundane fuffred an holy noune to dwelle
with him / the fende' thenemy beganne * /•;>»</.
temprynte in his herte the beaulte of her
/ in fuch wife / that he thought in hys
bedde wycked and curfyd thynges / and
on a daye a lewe cam to Rome / and
whanne he fawe / that the day fayled /
and myghte fynde no lodgynge / he
wente that nyght / and abode in the
Temple of appolyn /. And bycaufe he
doubted of the facrylege of the place /

Ivi

CJje LegenDatp

P<nver,

Each or e-very
one.

how be hit / that he hadde no faythe in
the CrolTe / yet he markyd and gar-
nyffhed hym wyth the figne of the
Crofle / then at mydnyght whan he
awoke / he fawe a companye of evylle
fprytes / whiche went to fore one / like
as he hadde fomme audloryte puyflance'
above thother by fubiedtion / and thenne
he fawe hym fytte in the myddes among
the others / and beganne to enquyre the
caufes and dedes of every che'' of thefe
evylle fprytes / whyche obeyed hym /
and he wold knowe / what evylle
everyche had doo / But Gregory paflyth
the maner of this vyfyon / bycaufe of
fhortnes / But we fynde femblable in the
lyf of faders / That as a man entryd in a
Temple of thydolles / he fawe the devylle
fyttynge / and all his meyny^ aboute
hym. And one of thefe wycked / fprytes
cam / and adouryd hym / and he de-
maunded of hym / Fro whens comeft
thow / and he fayd / I have ben in fuch
a provynce / and have moeved grete

Attendants.

^ifiotp of tbe Crof0,

Ivii

warres / and made many trybulacions
and have fhedde moche blood / and am
come to telle it to the / and Sathan fayd
to hym / in what tyme hath thow done
this / and he fayd in thyrtty dayes and
Sathan fayd / why haft thow be foo
longe there aboutes / and fayd to them
that ftode by hym / goo ye and bete hym
/ and all to laffhe hym / Thenne cam
the fecond and worffhiped hym / & fayde
Syre I have ben in the fee / and have
moeved grete wyndes and tormentes /
& drowned many fhippes / & flayn many
men / and Sathan fayde how longe haft
thow ben aboute thys / & he fayd Jjit
dayes / & Sathan fayd haft thou done no
more in this tyme / & commanded that
he ftiold be beten / and the third cam /
& faid / I have ben in a Cyte & have
mevyd ftryves and debate in a weddynge
/ and have ftied moche blood / & have
flayne the hoft)ond / & am come to telle
the / & fathan fayd / in what time haft
thou done this / & he faid in ten dayes /

Iviii

C|)e legennarp

Drenv.

Jeft.

& he fayd haft thou done no more in
that time / & commanded them that
were aboute hym to bete hym alfo /
Thenne cam the fourth & fayd / I have
ben in the wyldernefs fourty yere / and
have laboured aboute a monke / &
unnethe at the lafte I have throwen &
made hym falle in the fynne of the
fleffhe / & when fatan herd that / he
aroos fro his fete / & kyffed hym / &
tooke hys crowne of his hede / & fet it
on his hede / & made hym to fytte with
hym / & fayde / thou haft done a grete
thynge / & haft laboured more / than
all thother / and this may be the maner
of the vyfyon / that faynt gregorye leveth
/ whan eche had fayd / one fterte up in
the myddle of them alle / & feyd he
hadde mevid Andre we ageynfte the
name / & had mevyd the fourth part of
his fleftie agenft her in temptacion / &
therto / y' yefterday he drough' fo moche
his mynde on her / that in the hour of
evenfonge he gaf to her in lapping^ a

lj)iliorp of t{)e Crof0.

lix

buffe' / & feid pleynly y' fhe muft here ' ki/s.

it that he wold fynne with her / thenne

the mayfter commanded hym that he

fhold perform y' he had begonne / &

for to make hym to fynne he fhold have

a fyngular Vycflory and reward among

alle the other /. And thenne commaunded

he that they fhold goo loke who that

was that laye in the Temple / And they

wente / & loked / And anone they were

ware / that he was marked with the

figne of the crofTe / And they levynge

aferd efcaped / and fayd / veryly this is

an empty veilel / alas / alas / he is

marked /. And with^ thus wys alle the 'in this 'wi/e.

company of the wykked fprytes van-

yflhed awaye / And thenne the lewe al

amoevyd cam to the biffhop / and told

to hym all by ordere what was happend /

And whan the biffhoppe herd this / he

wept ftrongly / and made to voyde all

the wymmen oute of his hows / And

thenne he baptyfed the lewe.

Seynt Gregory reherceth in his

Ix

C6e LegenDarp

dyalogues that a nonne entryd into a
gardyne / and fawe a letufe / and coveyted
that / and forgate to make the figne of
Bit. the CrolTe / and bote' it glotonoufly /

And anone fylle doune and was ravyfihed
of a devylle / And ther cam to her faint
Equycyon* / And the devylle beganne to
crye and to faye / What have I doo / I
fatte uppon a lettufe / and fhe cam / and
bote me / and anone the devylle yffued
oute by the commaundement of the holy
man of god /. It is redde in thyftorye
Scolaftyke / that the paynyms had peyn-
ted on a v^alle the armes of Serapis /
And Theodoiyen dide doo putt them
oute / and made to be paynted in the
fame place the figne of the CrofTe / And
when the paynims & prieftes of thydolles
fawe that / anone they dyde them to be
baptyfed / fayenge / that it was gyven
them to underflonde of their olders /

* St. Equitius was a hermit, and looked after the welfare
of other hermits and monks. He took a fpecial intereft in a
convent of young virgins ; died about a.d. 540.

lJ)i(}orp of tfie Crofs. Ixi

that thofe armes fhold endure tyll / that
fuche a figne were made then / in
whiche were lyf / And they have a lettre
/ of whiche they ufe / y' they calle holy
/ & had a forme that they faid it expofed
and fignyfyed lyf perdurable.

Thus endeth the exaltacion of the
holy Crofle.

Having read thefe extrafts from the
Golden Legend, we (hall be able to
underftand the accompanying illuftra-
tions, which repfefent fome frefcos of
the fifteenth century, which formerly
adorned the walls of the / Chapel of the
Gild of the Holy Crofs, at Stratford-upon-
Avon; which ftands clofe by New Place,
Shakefpeare's houfe. Thefe frefcos, alas!
no longer exift, for, in 1804, the Chapel
underwent confiderable repair, during
which, under the whitewafh, were dif-
covered traces of paint, and thefe, being
fcraped, a feries illuftrating the legend of
the Crofs was found in the chancel.

Ixii

Cbe Hegennarp

which was built in 1450. In other
parts of the Chapel were found repre-
fentations of the RefTurediion, and the
day of Judgment, St. George and the
Dragon, and the death of St. Thomas a
Becket, befides others.

Luckily, a gentleman from London, a
Mr. Fifher, was then ftaying at Stratford-
on-Avon, and he drew, and painted them
— afterwards, in 1807, publilhing them
— and it is from his fketches that thefe
illuftrations are taken. The barbarians
of Stratford hacked the plafter on which
the Holy Crofs feries was painted to bits,
and whitewashed all the other paintings.
It is prefumed they ftill exifl:, for, when
the Chapel was thoroughly reftored in
1835, traces of the other pictures were
vifible under the whitewafh.

Thefe pictures of the Invention, and
Exaltation, of the Holy Crofs are ef-
pecially interefting, not only on account
of their age and artiftic merit, but from
the fa6l that they are of Englifh work.

f^ifiorp of tf)e Crofs.

Ixiii

and fhow the Englifh idea of treating

the fubjedl. I have reproduced them all

but two; one, the fight on the bridge

over the Danube between Heraclius and

the fon of Chofroes, and the other

reprefenting Heraclius fmiting off Chof-

roes' head.

^A

Ixiv

jft igwj tta SpBsSlflaom ■ i m- Uf nit ■■ ; fohma obi Iimi"
in ■ bthia ■, v . - .._ ..; ,t '(■ 7

8)il}otp of tfie Crof0,

Ixv

Plate A reprefents the viiit of the
Queen of Sheba to Solomon. Her name
was Balkis, and, in her legendary hiftory,
it is reported that Solomon, having heard
of her riches and power, fent her a
peremptory meflage to fubmit herfelf to
his rule. She, dreading war with fo
potent a fovereign, fent an embafly to
try and find out whether Solomon was
as wife as he was reprefented to be.
With this objed: (he drelTed five hundred
boys as girls, and a like number of girls
as boys, and, among other prefents, fent
a pearl, a diamond cut through in
zigzags, and a cryftal box; and fhe
fhould be able to judge of his wifdom
and power, if he could tell the boys from
the girls, pierce the pearl, thread the
diamond, and fill the goblet with water
that came neither from the earth nor
the fky.

Needlefs to fay, Solomon paffed through
the ordeal triumphantly. He ordered
filver bafins to be brought, fo that the

Ixvi

C6e LegenDatp

ambaffadors' fuite might wafh their hands
after their long journey, and the boys
were eafily diftinguifhed from the girls, for
they dipped their hands only in the water,
whilft the girls tucked up their fleeves
and wafhed their arms as well as their
hands. Then he opened the box con-
taining the pearl, diamond, and goblet,
and, taking out the pearl, he applied his
magic ftone, Samur, or Schamir, which
a raven had brought him, and which
had the power of cleaving anything, and
lo ! the pearl was pierced ; then he
examined the diamond, which was fo
pierced that no thread could be pafTed
through it; fo he took a worm, and
having placed a piece of filk in its mouth,
it wriggled through, and the diamond
was threaded. The next tafk was to fill
the goblet, which he gave to a negro
flave, and bade him mount a wild horfe
and gallop it till it ftreamed with fweat,
and then to fill the goblet with it, thus
fulfilling the impofed conditions. He

^iliotp Of t{)e Crof0. Ixvii

then gave back thefe prefents to the
ambafladors, who fpeedily returned to
Queen Balkis. She at once faw that it
would be ufelefs to oppofe the powerful
will of Solomon, and immediately fet out
on her journey to that monarch.

It is here that her connection with the
holy Crofs comes in, for its wood, which
Solomon had cut down in order to
incorporate it into his Temple, and
which had the inconvenient property of
fitting in nowhere, being either too long
or too fhort for any purpofe, was in
confequence thrown afide, and ultimately
was ufed as a foot-bridge acrofs a brook.
Acrofs this plank the Queen had to pafs,
but fhe, recognifing its holy virtue,
refufed to walk acrofs it, preferring to
wade the brook, which, having done, fhe
expounded its value to Solomon, and
prophefied that out of it fhould be made
the Crofs on which Jefus fhould fufFer.

She afterwards became one of Solomon's
wives, and bore him a fon, and then

©ifiorp of tfie €rof0.

returned to her own land, and from this
fon are defcended the kings of Abyflynia.
The legend on the label is, as far as is
legible, Regina Saba fama Salomonis
(addu(5t) A VENIT (lero)sOLUMA UBi

LIGNUM IN . . . ABATICA . . . IT . . .
GENIS . . . PERSOLVETUR.

Plate B is, virtually, two; one fhowing
the angel appearing to Conftantine when,
early in the . fourth century, he was
advancing towards Rome againft Maxen-
tius; but the legend of the miraculous
infcription which appeared in the fky,
"In hoc signo vinces," does not appear.
The other, and larger portion, reprefents
his vidiory over Maxentius, and he is
reprefented as fpearing and killing that
monarch ; but this is not hiftorically
correct, for, after his defeat, as Maxentius
fled towards Rome, elTaying to crofs the
Tiber over a rotten bridge, it gave way,
and he was drowned. It is noticeable
that the Chriftian flag bears the Tau
Crofs.

Ixix

Ixx

Cbe Legentiatp

The Plates C and D run into each other ^
although they -portray different /ubje5fSj O
being the departure of St. Helena for Jerujalem
on her queji of the holy Crofs. The label in
this frefco is utterly illegible.

Plate D fhows Judas (called Julius in
the label) Cyryacus (the Quyryache of
the Golden Legend) being releafed, after
having been forced, through imprifon-
ment and ftarvation, into confeffing
where the holy Crofs lay buried. In
the upper part St. Helena is receiving the
holy Crofs, whilft labourers are uncover-
ing the Tau CrolTes of the two thieves.

The legend is mutilated, but enough
remains to make its meaning clear :
**Here Seynte helyne EXAMY(neth)
THE I(ews for) Y^ Holy cros ....
luLius CYRYACUS (faith that he knew
w)here hete was."

The legend in Plate E is nearly ferfe^^
and accurately dejcribes the painting.^ " Hyt

V/AS PROVED EVIDENTLY BY MYRAKEL
WHICH WAS YE very CROS THAT DURE

Savyour suffyred .... In resynge a
made from deth to lyfe."

D

Here all the CrolTes are of the Tau
type, and the fcene is laid in a foreft,
where an old labourer, and a bill-
man, and the deer nibbling the trees,
give a rural afped:, inftead of in the
City of Jerufalem, as faith the Golden
Legend.

Plate F evidently confifts of two
feparate paintings — one, where St. Helena
is reverently carrying the Crofs into
Jerufalem, whilfl the angels in heaven are
difcourling eeleftial mulic ; and the other,
its reception either in Jerufalem or
Byzantium, whither St. Helena fent a por-
tion as a prefent to her fon. And this
latter feems the more probable, if we
imagine the King, who, with St. Helena,
is adoring the Crucifix, to be the emperor
Conftantine, a fa6t which might have
been fettled had the label been legible.

The legend at the bottom is un-
fortunately mutilated, but that evidently
relates to that portion of the Crofs which
remained at Jerufalem, becaufe it fpeaks

^iftorp of fte Crofs.

Ixxiii

of Chofroes : " Here the hole cros
WAS broughte solemly yn to the

. . . . IN Y^ BYSSHOPS HANDS EASILY

AND (remaynyd) un to the tyme of
(King Co(ifd)ROE.

Plates G and H reprefent the flory
told in the Golden Legend, of Heraclius
bearing the Crofs into Jerufalem, how
the gate miraculoufly clofed, and an
angel appeared in the heavens and
reproved Heraclius for riding in ftate
on the very fpot where Jefus had gone
in all meeknefs, and lowlinefs, to His
paffion. The legend is erafed in parts,
the unmutilated portion reading, " As

THE NOBUL KYNGE ERACLYUS COM
RYDYNG TOWARDE Y^ CYTTE OF JERU-
SALEM BERYNG Y^ CROSSE SO GRETE
PRYDE .... WHERE Y^ . . . ."

Naturally, the poiTeffion of a piece of
the true Crofs would be efteemed as a
moft precious property. No matter how
fmall, it would be reverentially enclofed
in cryftal and gold, and was more than

Ixxiv

Cbe !Leg:enuarp

a prefent fit for an emperor or king, and
we cannot marvel that fmall pieces were
diftributed all over Chriftendom. Poflibly
fome of the relics fhown as pieces of the
very Crofs might not have been what
they were fuppofed to be, but it is hard
to believe what John Calvin* wrote
about it : —

" And fyrft of all let us begynne to
fpeake of his crolTe, whereupon he was
hanged. I know that it is holden for a
certaintie that it was founde of Heline
the mother of Conftantine the Romaine
Emperour. I knowe alfo what certaine
Dodtours have written touching the
approbation hereof, for to certifie that
the crofle which fhe found was without
doute the felfe fame on the whiche
lefus Chrift was hanged. Touchynge
all this I reporte me to the thynge it felfe,
fo much is there that it was but a folifh
curiofitie of her, or at the leaft a folifhe

* I quote from the tranflatlon by Steven Withers, 1561.

5)iaorp of tbe Crofs*

Ixxv

and unconfidered devotion. But yet put
the cafe it had ben a worke worthy of
prayfe to her, for to have taken paynes
to fynde the trewe crofTe, and that our
lord had then declared by myracle that
it was his crofle which fhe found ; Yet
let us onely conlider that which is of our
time. Every one doeth holde that this
crofle which Helene founde is yet at
lerufalem, and none doeth doute thereof.
Although theEccleliafliicall hiflory againft
fayeth the fame notablye. For it is ther
recited that Helene toke one part thereof
to fend to the Emperour her fonne, who
put the fame at Conftantinople upon a
fyne pyller of Marble in the myddeft of
the market. Of the other part, it is
fayde that fhe did locke the fame in a
copher of filver, and gave it to the Bifhop
of lerufalem to kepe. So then eyther
we fhall augment the hiftorie of a lie or
els that which is holden at this daye of
the true Crofl^e, is but a vayne and
triflyng opinion.

ixxvi

Blocks — billets

Cbe legenDarp

*' Let us confider on the other part
howe many peeces there are thereof
throug out the worlde. Yf I would
onely recite that whiche I coulde fay
there woulde be a regifter fufficient to
fyl a whole boke. There is not fo little
a town where there is not fome peece
thereof, and that not onelye in cathedrall
churches, but alfo in fome parifhes.
Likewife ther is not fo wicked an abbey
where there is not of it to be fhewed.
And in fome places ther are good great
fhydes : ' as at the holye chappell of Paris,
and at Poitiers & at Rome, where there
is a great crucifix made thereof as men
faye. To be fhort, yf a man woulde
gather together all that hath bene founde
of this crofTe, there would be inough to
fraighte a great fhip. The Gofpell tefti-
fieth that the croffe myght be caried of
one man. What audacitie then was this
to fyll the earth with pieces of wod in
fuche quantitie, that thre hundred men
can not cary them," &c.

5)morp of t&e Ctof0.

Ixxvii

Calvin was full of zeal, and could not
ftoop to particularife. Witnefs his affer-
tion that the Crofs would freight a fhip,
and yet that three hundred men could
carry it. M. Rohault de Fleury has
gone very minutely into this matter.
Knowing, from microfcopical examina-
tion, that feveral of the relics of the
Crofs were of pine, he accepts this wood
as his bafis, and, from its probable lize,
he deduces a weight of i oo kilogrammes,
equal to about 240 Englifh lbs. ; and,
taking the average denfity of pine, he
eftimates that this would give 178 mil-
lions of cubic millimetres. He then
defcribes all the known pieces in Europe,
Jerufalem, and Mount Athos, with their
meafurements, and he puts the outcome
at 3,941,975 cubic millimetres; thus,
according to his (hewing, there is but a
very fmall portion of the Holy Crofs in
exiflence. I fubjoin his lift of the
places in which pieces of the Crofs are
known to exift, as it is moft interefting.

fhowing the comparative bulk of the
pieces, in cubic millimetres : —

Aix la Chapelle ... 150

Amiens 4*500

Angers 2,640

Angleterre 30,516

Aries 8,000

Arras 10,314

Athos (le Mont) . . . 878,360

Autun 50

Avignon 220

Baug^ 1 04,000

Bernay 375

Befangon 1,000

Bologne 15,000

Bonifacio 47,960

Bordeaux 3>42o

Bourbon TArchambault . 29,275

Bourges 22,275

Bruxelles 516,090

Chalmarques .... „

Carried forv^ard 1,674,145

©iaotp of tfte Crof0.

Ixxix

Brought forward 1,674,145

Chalons 200

Chamirey 605

Chatillon „

ChefFes (Anjou) ... 100

Chelles

Compiegne 1,896

Conques 108

Cortone . . ' . . . . 3,000

Courtrai 200

I^ijon 33*091

Donawert 12,000

Faghine „

Florence 37,640

Fumes 5*250

Gand 436,450

Genes 26,458

Gramont 5,000

Jancourt (Aube) . . . 3,500

Jerufalem 5>045

Langres 200

Laon

Carried forward 2,244,888

Ixxx

Clje legenDarp

Brought forward 2,244,888

Libourne 3>ooo

Lille . 15,112

Limbourg 133,768

Longpont i>i36

Lorris „

Lyon 1,696

Macon 2,000

Maeftricht 10,000

Marfeille 150

Milan 1,920

Montepulciano .... 500

Naples 10,000

Nevers 176

Nuremberg „

Padoue 64

Paris 237,731

Pifa 8,175

Poitiers 870

Pontigny 12,000

Ragufe 169,324

Riel les Eaux .... 671

C arried forward 2,853,181

5)iflorp of tU Ctof0,

Ixxxi

■

Brought forward 2,853,181

Rome

Royaumont .
Saint Die

537>5^7
99

Saint Florent

400

Saint Quentin

5,000

Saint Sepolcro
Sens ....
Sienne

200

69>545
1,680

Tournai .

2,000

Treves

18,000

Troyes . .
Turin . . .

201
6,500

Venice
Venloo

■ 445^582

Walcourt

2,000

Wambach

•

»>

Total . .

3>94i»975

According to this table we are credited

in England with 30,5 16 cubic millimetres
of the holy Crofs, and it is interefting
to know where they are iituated. M.

Ixxxii

Cbe legennarp

Rohault de Fleury, writing in 1870,
fays there were pieces at Ifleworth; St.
Gregory, Downiide, near Bath; in the
pofTeflion of Lord Petre; at Bergholt
Eaft, in Suffolk; at Plowden ; at the con-
vent of St. Mary, York ; at Weft Grinftead ;
at St. George's, South wark; and SHndon,
Suffex.

Thefe pieces of the holy Crofs are not
large, as the following table, in cubic
millimetres, (hows: —

At Ifleworth 1,000

„ College of St. Gregory . 6,120

Lord Petre (two relics) . 8,287

At St. Mary, Bergholt Eaft 1,008

„ Plowden Hall, Salop . 262

„ St. Mary, York (two relics) 5,600

„ Weft Grinftead „ 38
„ St. George's, Southwark

(four relics) .... 63

„ St. Richard, Slindon . 8,100

Total

30,516

^iflorp of tfie Crof0.

Ixxxiii

One relic at St. Mary's Convent, York,
is very fine ; it is ornamented with fcroll-
work of the tenth century, and bears
three impreflions of the feal of the Vicar
Capitular of the diocefe of Saint Omer,
1657 ^^ 1662. It is a pe(5toral crofs that
is fuppofed to have belonged to the
patriarch Arnulph, who was with Robert,
Duke of Normandy.

The other is fuppofed to have been
attached to the above, and to have
belonged equally to Arnulph, patriarch
of Jerufalem. This is kept in a filver
reliquary, which alfo contains relics of
SS. Ignatius Loyola and Francois Xavier.

We fee by the Golden Legend, that
St. Helena, after finding the Crofs, feeling
certain that the nails were not far off,
profecuted a further fearch for them, and
they were difcovered "fhynyng as gold."
As with the fafhion of the Crofs, whether
it was immijfa or commijfa^ there is, and
was, a controverfy with regard to the
nails, whether three or four.

Ixxxiv

Cfte Legennarp

Bolius in his learned and exhauftive
book. Crux Triumphans et Gloriofa* gives
several authorities for three nails only —
foremoft, Gregory Nazianzen; but he
does not give the pafTage where it may
be found ; the quotation, however, is

TvfXVOV TpifftjX^ KBlfltVOV i^vKi^ \a&ijv,

" having taken from the three-nailed
wood the dead (or hanging) body." Thus
clearly showing the number of nails he
conlidered right.

Bolius then goes on to quote ApoUinaris
Laodicenus, who, in his tragedy entitled
Chrijius patiens, called the holy Crofs by
the fame words, rpiaiikov ^u\w, "three-nailed
wood"; and he also quotes from the
Meditat. vitce Chrijlioi Bonaventura, "////*
tres clavl fuflinent totius corporis pondus''
Nonnus, the Greek poet, writing in the
fifth century, alfo fays that our Lord's
feet overlapped each other, and were

* From this book I have taken the head and tail piece here
given. — J. A.

^ifiorp of tbe Crof0»

Ixxxv

faftened by only one large nail. So that
there is a very fair amount of antiquity
in favour of three nails.

Againft this theory may be quoted the
authority of St. Cyprian, St. Auguftine,
^ St. Gregory of Tours, Pope Innocent III.,
Rufinus, Theodoret, and others, who fay
four nails were ufed in the Crucifixion of
our Saviour. The battle waged pic-
torially ; but perhaps the earlieft known
reprefentation of the Crucifixion, that
found in the Cemetery of St. Julian,
Pope, or of St. Valentine in Via Flaminia
at Rome, ought to bear moft weight.
Our Saviour is reprefented as being clothed
in a long lleevelefs robe, which reaches
to His ankles ; the feet are feparate, and
are each nailed. It is faid that Cimabue
was the firft to paint the feet overlapping,
and one nail. His example, however,
was much followed, and hence the
controverfy.

Of thefe nails, univerfal tradition fays
that St. Helena fent two to her fon

Ixxxvi

Cbe HegenBarp

Constantine, and, as the Golden Legend
has it, "the emperour dyd do fette them
in hys brydel and in hys helme when he
wente to batayle." One can underftand
one of thefe facred nails being worn in
the Emperour's helmet as a prefage
of vidlory and as a fafeguard againft
danger, but the utility of incorporating
one of fuch pricelefs relics in a horfe's
bridle is not fo eafy to comprehend; but
the fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of
Alexandria, St. Ambrofe, Theodoret, and
St. Gregory of Tours, recognife in it the
fulfilment of the prophecy of Zecharius,
chap. xiv. 20: "In that day fhall be
upon the bridles of the horfes. Holiness
UNTO THE Lord."

This bridle, or rather bit, is now faid
to be in exiftence in France at Carpentras,
department of Vauclufe. How it got
there is not clearly known, but probably
it was taken at the time of the Crufades
— as leaden feals on which it is engraved
exift, attached to parchments of the dates

5)ifiorp of tbt Crof?,

Ixxxvii

1226 and 1250, and it was mentioned in
an inventory of relics in the year 1322.
I have reproduced it, as well as the

' The iron crown of Lombardy. * The holy bridle at Car-
pentras. ' Nail at Venice. ■• Nail at Rome in Sta. Maria in
Campitelli. * Nail at Arras. «Nail at Colle. '^ Nail in the
Church of the Holy Crofs of Jerufalem, at Rome. ^ Portion
of nail at Toul. ^ Nail at Treves.

Ixxxviii

Ci)e Hcgennarp

Iron Crown of Lombardy and the nails,
from M. Rohault de Fleury's work, and,
as will be feen, it is undoubtedly of
great antiquity, clofely refembling the
bits of the Romans.

According to Bolius, who quotes
Gregory Nazianzen, a third nail was
thrown by St. Helena into the Adriatic
Sea, in order to calm a tempeft; and the
fame authority fays that the fourth was
depoHted in the head of a ftatue of Con-
ftantine, but this militates much againft
the number of holy nails faid to be in
exiftence. Calvin notices this, and is
down upon it with fledge - hammer
force : —

" Yet there is a greater combat of the
nayles. I wyll recite them only that are
come to my knowledge. Thereupon
there is not fo lytle a childe but wyll
judge that the Devyll hath to much de-
luded the worlde in takyng from it both
underftandyng and reafon, that it coulde
difcerne nothynge in this matter. If the

auncient writers faye trewe, and namely
Theodorite Hiftoriographer of the aun-
cient churche, Helene caufed one to be
nayled on her fonne's helmet, the other
two fhe put in his horfe bitte. How be
it Saind: Ambrofe fayeth not fully fo.
For he fayeth that one was put in
Conftantine*s crowne, of the other his
horfebit was made, and the thirde Helene
kept. Wee fe y' already more than
twelve hundred yeres agone this hath
bene in controverfie, to wit, what was
become of the nayles. What certentie
can be had of them then at this prefent
time ?

"Now at Millan they bofte that thei
have y nayle that was put in Conftantine's
horfe bitte. To the whiche the towne
of Carpentras oppofeth herfelfe, fayinge
that it is fhe that hath it. Nowe S.
Ambrofe doth not faye that the nayle
was knit to the bitte, but that the bitte
was made thereof Whiche thynge can
in no wyfe be made to agre eyther w*

xc C6e LegenDatp

their faying of Milan or w' theirs of
Carpentras.

" Moreover there is one in Rome at
Sainft Helenes ; another alfo at Sene,
another at Venife. In Germany two :
at CoUyne one, at the three Maries :
another at Triers, one in Fraunce at the
holy chappell of Paris, another at y^
Carmes, one alfo at Saindt Denis in
France : one at Burges : one at Tenaill,
one at Draguine.

"Beholde here fourteene, whereof
account is made ; in every place they
alledge good approbation for themfelves,
as they fuppofe. And fo it is that everye
one hath as good right as aunother.
Wherefor there is no better way then to
make them all palTe under one fidelium.
That is to faye, to repute all that they
faye hereof to be but lyes, feying that
otherwife a man fhoulde never come to
an ende."

What would Calvin have faid if he
had feen the formidable lift of holy

©iCfotp of tU CtOf!8l»

XCl

nails enumerated by Guifto (or Juftus)
Fontanini, Archbifhop of Ancyra ? which
is as follows : —

1 . Aix la Chapelle.

2. Ancona, in the Cathedral.

3. Bamberg.

4 . In Bavaria, Convent of Audechfen.

5. Carpentras. The Holy Bit.

6. Catania, Sicily.

7. Colle, in Tufcany.

8. Cologne.

9. The Efcurial in Spain.

10. Milan.

11. Monza. The Iron Crown.

12. Naples. Monaftery of S. Patricius.

13. Nuremberg. Church of the Holy

Virgin.

14. Paris.

15. Rome. Two Nails. Church of

the Holy Crofs of Jerufalem;
Church of Santa Maria in
Campitelli.

1 6. Sienna. Hofpital Sainte Marie de

de I'Echelle.

xeii

€bt Legennatp

17. Spoleto.

18. Torcello, near Venice. Church

of S. Anthony.

19. Torno, on the Lake of Como.

20. Toul.

21. Treves.

22. Venice. Three nails.

23. Vienna.

But this lift is further fupplemented

by M. Rohault de Fleury, who gives

fix more : —

I. Arras, according to M. le Chev. de

Linas.

2. Compiegne. A point.

3. Cracow, in Poland, according to

M. Goffelin.

4. Florence.

5. Lagney.

6. Troyes.

So that no lefs than twenty-nine towns

claim the pofteflion of thirty-two nails, all

differing in form, the number of which

can only be accounted for by the fup-

pofition that only a portion of the holy

^ifiorp of fte Crofs.

X«lll

nails has been incorporated into each of
them.

One of the moft interefting relics in
connediion with the holy nails is the
Iron Crown of Lombardy. This, as may
be feen by reference to the illuftration
(Fig. I ), is a circlet of gold, ornamented
with precious ftones, and it is indebted
for its name of "Iron" to a thin band (A)
of that metal, which is inside the gold
circlet. The Crown itfelf is of very
antique form, being even devoid of rays,
and is too fmall to go on the head.
Charlemagne was crowned with it in
774, and Napoleon did not think him-
felf King of Italy until he had placed
this precious diadem on his head, in
1805. It is kept at Monza, nine miles
from Milan, in the Cathedral, which is
of great antiquity. There it repofes in
a huge crofs placed over the altar.

Of the relics of the Crofs there now
remains but two fpecks of the title or
infcription thereon, and here, again, I am

XCIV

Cbe LcgenDarp

ISMmmrmra

©iftorp of tje Crof0. xcv

indebted to M. Rohault de Fleury for
the illuftration on page xciv., as it feems
to me to be the beft yet publifhed.

The Evangelifts, although agreeing in
the fpirit of the infcription, vary as to the
letter.

Says St. Matthew : '* This is Jefus the
King of the Jews."
„ St. Mark: '*The King of the

Jews."
„ St. Luke : *'This is the King of

the Jews."

„ St. John : " Jefus of Nazareth the

King of the Jews."

Neither St. Matthew nor St. Mark note

the tri-lingual chara(fler, and SS. Luke

and John vary as to the order of the

different languages ; the former faying

it was in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew —

the latter that it was in Hebrew, Greek,

and Latin. The latter is the generally

accepted form, and the reafon given is,

that Hebrew, being the common

language, it would naturally come firft.

XCVl

Cfte LegenDatp

as we fhould do in an Englifh notice, firft
in Englifh, then, fay in French and
German, for the benefit of foreigners,
as were the Greeks and Romans in
Jerufalem.

The tradition is that, along with the
Crofs, St. Helena found the infcription,
and that fhe fent it, together with a piece
of the Holy Crofs and a number of other
facred relics, to Rome, where it was
depofited in the bafilica of Santa Croce.
Here it remained until Valentinian,
fearing that it might fall into the hands
of the Goths and Huns, hid it in the
wall of the building, until it was found
in 1492.

Valentinian died A. D. 375, and Antoninus
Martyr, in his De Locis SanBis (fee. 20),
written about a.d. 570, fays he faw the
infcription which had been placed on the
Crofs, and that the words were, " lefus
Nazarenus Rex ludasorum." He fays that
he held it in his hand, and kiffed it, in
the Church of Conflantine at Jerufalem,

^iftorp of tbe Ctof0.

xcrii

Hence it is evident that either tradition is
incorred, or that Antoninus did not tell
the truth.

But the claim is that it is, and always
has been, in Rome, and Bofius, in his
Crux Triumphans (p. 60), gives an account
of its re-difcovery. He fays that in
February, 1492, Monfeigneur Pedro
Gonfalvo de Mendoza, Cardinal Sanftse
Crucis, was repairing and cleanfing his
church, and on the firft day of that month,
when the workmen reached the top of
the arch which was in the middle of the
bafilica, and near the roof, they faw two
fmall columns ; and finding a fpace, they
difcovered a niche in which they found a
leaden box, well clofed, and on its lid
was a tablet of marble, on which were
engraved thefe words : Hic est Titvlvs
Ver^ Crucis. In this box was found
a little board, about a hand's breadth
and a half, much corroded on one fide
by time, and bearing, in grooved, engraved
charaders, which were coloured red, the

XCVIU

Clje Legennatp

following infcription : Iesvs Nazarenvs
RexIvd^orvm. But the word Ivd^orvm
was not entire, the laft two letters vm
having crumbled to pieces by reafon of
old age. The firft line was written in
Latin characfters, the fecond in Greek,
and the third in Hebrew.

All the city went to fee it ; and three
days afterwards. Pope Innocent went alfo,
and ordered the relic to be preferved in
its box, and covered with a fheet ot
glafs. Every one was convinced that
they had before their eyes the infcription
which Pilate placed upon the Crofs over
our Saviour's head, and which Saint
Helena had depofited in the church at
the time of its building.

The relic, as now feen, is very worm-
eaten, but the letters are ftill vifible,
and have been cut with a fmall gouge.
They read from right to left, as Hebrew
does, thus lending great plaufibility to
the idea that it was done by fome Jewilh
artificers ; and it feems to be of fome

^ilJotp of tbt Crofs.

xcix

clofe-grained wood. Taking the piece
now at Santa Croce, the whole infcrip-
tion, if reftored, would be thus :

^'T^n^i) liy) '1'^^ y^^'

H^3A^IDV3\DAa3VH39 A2AM iD^oai

Mv5io3avix3a2vi/imA^AM eveBi

"itbe Infcripion at Santa Croce^ reftored.

Notes on the fVoodcuts.

HE Hiftory of the Legend
of the Holy Crofs which
is here reproduced, is
fomewhat fuller than the
Golden Legend of Caxton,
there being particulars
about Mofes, David, and Solomon not
to be found therein; but they may be
found in other verfions of the Legend, fome
in the Latin of Jacobus deVoragine, others
in two MSS. in the Britifh Mufeum.*

The engravings are taken from a very
rare book, of which, as far as is known,

"^ Arundel, No. 507, and Add. MSS. 6514.

cii

Cbe Hegennarp

there are but three copies in exiftence :
one is in the Royal Library at Bruffels,
another at the Hague, in the colled:ion
of Mr. Schinkel, and the third is in the
pofTeffion of Lord Spencer at Althorp.
It is from this book that thefe fac-fimiles
(made by M. J. Ph. Berjeau) were taken.
The book itfelf has one woodcut on each
page, with a verfe in Dutch, at the
bottom, explanatory of each engraving.
It is called indifferently Hijloria SanSlce
Cruets or Boec van den houte (Book of
the wood or tree).

It was printed at Kuilenburg on March
6th, 1483, by John Veldener,* who had
juft removed from Louvain. Thefe
fixty-four engravings were originally on
thirty-two blocks,! and evidently belonged
to fome much older block book, now

* His life and labours may be read in Mr. Hottrop's
Monuments Typographiques des Pays-bas — ,

f See The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the i^th Century,
by W. M. Conway, and an article by him in the Bibliographer
of May, 1883, p. 32.

f^iHot^ of tbe Crofs.

em

loft. Thefe, Veldener cut in half, as he
had already treated a Speculum, and
brought them out as a frefh book.

The Legend as told by thefe engravings
is as follows : —

Adam, feeling himfelf about to die,
fent Seth to Paradife to beg for fome ot
the oil of mercy," which, however, the
Archangel Michael refufed to give him,
but, inftead, prefented him with three
feeds of the tree of life.^ On his return,
he found Adam dead, and, being unable
to adminifter thefe feeds to his father in
any other manner, he put them under
his tongue, and then buried him.^ Pre-
fently thefe feeds germinated and fhot
through the ground, and are traditionally
faid to have been a cedar, a cyprefs, and
a pine/ They grew until Mofes had led
the Ifraelites out of Egypt, when he found
them in the Valley of Hebron, and he
recognized them as typifying the Trinity.
He removed them, and they were his
conftant companions.^ With them he

Woodcut No. 1 .

No.

No. 3.

No.^.

No. 5.

CIV

Cfie JLegennarp

Woodcut
No. 6.

Nos. 7, 8.
No. 9.

No. 10.

A'i?. II.
No. 12.

^0. 13.

A'o. 14,

No. 15.
//o. 16.

fmote the rock, and the waters gufhed
out/ and the bitter waters of Marah
became fweet/*^

He then planted them in the land of
Moab,'' and there they remained, until an
angelic vifion appeared unto David, and
commanded him to go, and take them
up, and bring them to Jerufalem.'° On
his return the three rods worked miracles,
healing the fick," and the leprous, with
a touch ;'^ nay, more, on being applied to
three black men, they inftantly became
white.'3

Arrived at Jerufalem, they wifhed to
plant them, but for the night they left
them in a ciflern, by the Tower of
David,'^ and lo ! during the night, they
ftruck root, and, entwining themfelves,
became but one ftem,'^ which, when
David faw, he had a wall built round it/^
And the tree grew for thirty years, David
ornamenting it with rings of fapphire
and other precious ilones, adding one for
every year, and under this tree he com-

5)iCorp of tbe Crofe.

cv

pofed the Pfalms, and praifed God
exceedingly."

But Solomon, who muft needs have
all that was rare and coflly to adorn his
temple, cafl his eyes upon this precious
tree, and ordered it to be cut down.'^ It
was duly felled, and fquared, and trimmed,
and it meafured thirty cubits in length.'^
But when the carpenters came to put it
into a place of that length, it was a cubit
too fhort, and when it was fitted into
a place of twenty-nine cubits, lo ! it
meafured thirty, and the carpenters mar-
velled much, and were greatly aftonifhed,
and fo, being ufelefs, it was laid alide.'°
Yet the people came to fee this wonderful
tree, and amongft them was a maid
named Maximilla, who fat down upon
it, and inftantly her clothes were in a
blaze." Then fhe began to lift up her
voice, and prophefy, crying, " My God,
and my Lord Jefu Chrift." " Then the
Jews took her, and fcourged her to
death.''

Woodcut
No. 17.

No. 18.

No. 19.

No. 20.

No.

No. 12.

No. .5.

H

CVl

Cte Legmtiarp

ffoodcut
No. 24.

The Jews, not knowing what to do
with this miraculous tree, laid it acrofs a
brook/* and, when the Queen of Sheba
came to vilit Solomon, fhe recognized
the virtue of the wood; and, refufing to
defile it with her feet, ihe difmounted,
and adored it, and waded through the
brook/^ Then, when Ihe met Solomon,
Ihe reproved him, and told him that on
that tree would the Saviour of the world
fuffer death /^ And Solomon commanded
the holy wood to be taken up,^ and
caufed it to be carried into the Temple,
there to be placed over the door, fo that
all men might blefs, and adore it, and he
coated it over with gold and filver.*^
There it remained until Abias flripped it
of its coflly coverings,"' and the Jews
buried it deep in the earth. ^^

There it remained for many years,
until the Jews wifhed to make a pool,
where the priefts might wafh the bcafb,
to purify them, previous to facrificing
them, and, unknowingly, they dug over

No. 25.

No. 26.
No. 27.

No. »8.

No. 19.
No. 30.

©iflorp of tbz Crof0,

evil

the burial-place of the Holy Crofs.^' This
imparted fuch a virtue to the water of
that pool, which was called Bethefda,
that the fick were healed thereat, and an
angel at times defcended from heaven,
and flirred the waters, and then whoever
could get firft into the waters was ftraight-
way healed of any infirmity he might
have.3"

We now come to the Crucifixion,
and there was a lack of wood to make
Chrift's crofs — when, fuddenly, from the
depths of Bethefda, leaped up the tree
of the Crofs, and floated gently to land.
One ran to the High Prieft," and told
him of the timely find of fuitable wood,
and he at once gave orders for it to be
falhioned into a Crofs.^* Then comes
the mournful proceflion to Calvary, with
our Saviour fainting under the weight of
the Crofs, and Simon the Cyrenean is
prefixed into the fervice to help Jefus."
And then the Crucifixion. ^^

And whilft the crofi"es were ftill fland-

JToodcut
No. 31.

No. 3*.

No. 33.

No. 34..

No. 35.
No. 36.

CVUl

CDe HegenDarp

Woodcut

No. 37.

No.ii%.
No. 39.

ing, the difciples came to them and
prayed, and many were healed of their
infirmities, and many devils were caft
out." This fo angered the Jews that
they took the crofTes down, and buried
them,^^ and there they remained until
their invention by St. Helena, a.d. 326.
On her arrival at Jerufalem,'' fhe con-
vened a meeting of the principal Jews,
and they denied all knowledge of it, but,
on threat of being burnt, they faid that
one of their number, named Judas, knew
where the croiTes were buried. *° Judas,
however, refufed to tell, and, to compel
him to impart his knowledge, St. Helena
had him lowered into a dry well, " and
there tormented hym by hongre and cvyl
refte."'*' Seven days of this treatment
made him fubmiffive, and at the end of
that time he capitulated. He was then
drawn up,"^' and prayed to God to direct
him to the right fpot."*^ His prayer was
heard, and after fome digging, the crofTes
were difcovered."**

No. 40.

No.^T.

No. 41.
No. 4j.

No.^A.

pmt^ of tbe Crof0.

cix

The news was brought to St. Helena,
who vifited the fpot/* but although there
were certainly three crofTes, no one knew
which was the one upon which Jefus
fufFered. A teft, however, was applied,
which proved to be fatisfadtory. The
body of a maid was being borne on a
bier for burial, but the funeral proceffion
was flopped, and the body was touched
by the different crofTes. The two iirfl
produced no effedl,*^ but when the third
touched the dead maiden, fhe was at
once reflored to life."' Here, then, was
proof pofitive ; this was the very Crofs ;
and St. Helena, mindful of her fon Con-
ftantine, divided the facred wood; part
fhe cnclofed in a cafe of precious metal,
and kept at Jerufalem ; "^ and part fhe
fent to her fon, at Byzantium, who
received it with due reverence,''^ and
depofited it in the church, with great
ceremony.*"

Here it remained, until it was taken
away, with other fpoil, by Chofroes, the

fVoodcut
No. 45.

No. 46.
No. 47.

No. 48.
No. 49.
No. 50.

ex

Cbe JLegenHatp

fToodcut
No. 51.

No. 5:

No. 51.

No. 54.

King of Perfia, who, aware of the fandtity
of the rehc, had it placed on the right
hand of his throne. He was fo puffed
up with pride, that he ordered himfelf
to be adored. His people, hitherto, had
worfhipped the fun, but now he ordained
that henceforth he was to be confidered
the principal Perfon in the Trinity (the
Father), and that the relic of the Crofs
was to be looked upon as the Son, whilft
a golden cock which he had made was
to reprefent the Holy Ghoft.^'

Then Heraclius made war againft
Chofroes, and meeting with a Perfian
army under one of the fons of that
monarch, it was agreed that, in order to
prevent a ufelefs effufion of blood, the
two commanders fhould fight it out
between them, and whoever was van-
quished fhould fubmit.'" The duel was
fought on a bridge over the Danube, and
Heraclius vanquifhed and killed the fon
of Chofroes." The Perfian army then
made their fubmiflion,^* and the penance

^iflorp of tjje Crof0.

CXI

impofed upon them by the conqueror
was that they fhould all be baptized,
which was duly done.

Heraclius then went to Chofroes, and
told him what he had done, offering him
his life if he too would embrace Chrif-
tianity," but the Periian monarch refufed,
and Heraclius fmote off his head.^^ He
then crowned a Ion of Chofroes, and
caufed him to be baptized," himfelf {land-
ing fponfor, and buried the flain king
with befitting honours.^^ Then, taking
poffeffion of the holy relic,'' he fet out
with it for Jerufalem. But, as he was
bearing it in great ftate, he came to that
gate of the City through which Jefus
went to His paflion, worn, buffeted,
fcorned, and weary, carrying the heavy
burden of His crofs. And fuddenly the
gateway became folid mafonry, fo that he
could not pafs through, and an angel
appeared in the heavens, and reproved
him for his oflentatious difplay in a place
which his Saviour had previouHy trodden

Woodcta

No. 55.

No. 56.

No. 57.

No. 58.
No. 59.

cxu

Cfte Legentiarp S)i0orp of tije Croft.

Woodcut
No. 60.

No. 61.
W'o. 62.

i\^o. 63.
No. 6+,

in fuch deep humility.^" Heraclius dif-
mounted from his horfe, and, ftripping
himfelf of all the trappings of royalty,
barefoot, and in his fhirt,^' he meekly
bore the Crofs to its appointed place,^'
the mafonry difappearing as foon as he
had humbled himfelf.

A piece of the Crofs was afterwards
fent to Rome, where it duly arrived
after a very ftormy voyage,^^ and it was
there preferved for the adoration of the
faithful.^*

JOHN ASHTON.

Sel^ dm Rue wifeniBtDrfT»rflQ£0
<gn)feoQer (ufl^^iiep en^myia

Adam /ends Seth to Paradije for Jome of the Oil of Mercy,

The Archangel Michael gives Seth three feeds of the
Tree of Life.

cxv

Seth buries Adam and "puts the three feeds of the
Tree of Life under his tongue.

ex VI

The three feeds Jpring up.

CXVll

Mo/es always has the three rods with him.

cxvni

With them he makes water flow from the Rock.

mm^

An Angel tells Mojes how tojweeten the bitter waters.

Mo/es, hy dip-ping the rods in the waters of Marah,
fweetens them.

CXXl

Mo/es plants the rods in the land of Moab,

cxxu

10

\'infi

An Angel appears to David and tells him to bring the rods
to Jerujalem.

II

CXXUl

The rods heal the ftck.

The rods heal a leper.

13

cxxv

The rods turn three black men white.

David leaves the rods for the night*

15

cxxvu

In the morning he finds the rods have taken root and have
become one tree.

DavU builds a wall round the miraculous tree.

'7

CXXIX

iBSfi«f6»h^tt\i^i$iMm

David compo/es the P/a/ms and praifes God, under the fhadow

of the tree.

ic

cxxx

Solomon orders the tree to be cut down and ujed in the Temple.

cxxxi

Artificers fajhion the tree.

cxxxu

20

The holy wood will fit nowhere.

M

21

CXXXlll

Sf. Maximilla fitting on the wood, her clgthes catch alight.

CXXXIV

22

mmaatmteaat

St. Maximilla propheftes concerning the wood.

cxxxv

St. Maximilla/courged to death.

The wood u/ed as a foot -bridge over a brook.

The Slueen of Sheha prefers wading through the brook, to
walking over the holy wood.

CXXXVlll

26

1'be ^ueen of Sheika tells Solomon of the holy nature
of the wood.

27

CXXXIX

The holy wood is taken up.

Tl^^ /&^/y wfii^^ /V carried into the 'Temple.

Abias defpoils the holy wood of its precious covering.

cxlii

The Jews hury the holy wood.

31

cxliii

^^ig^^i ibs Pool of Bethefda.

The/tck being healed at the Pool of Bethejda.

33

cxlv

Tie High Prieft told of the dijcovery of the holy wood.

cxlvi

34

7'y&^ /&<?/)' wood is made into the Crofs.

ChriJ^ bearing the Crqfs,

cxlviii

The Crucifixion.

37

cxlix

Difciples adore the CrofSy thejick are healed, and devils

cafi out.

cl

38

The Jews bury the CroJJes.

Sf. Helena comes to Jerufalem.

clii

40

Sf. Helena calls together the Chief Jews.

41

cliii

'Judas is put into a dry well.

cliv

42

Judas is liberated from confinement.

43

clv

m WW t%

Judas prays for Divine dire5iion.

^m i»tii^ tit mxoimt

The CroJJes are dif covered.

45

clvii

W^M

I

^^^MfttlVbM

CClM^fi(i!i^

^ii

f

i

St. Helena views the Crojfes.

clviii

46

m

^^^^

Aff

S^^\\^*^

f

7V/fl/ of the true Crofs.

A dead maiden raifed to life by being touched by the
true Crqfs,

' ■ clx

Sf. Helena depofits a fortiori of the Crojs in Jerujalem.

49

clxi

^^ J»J5*R«et«tttei)iicort"

St, Helena gives a portion of the Crojs to Conftantine.

M

clxii

so

Si

Conftantine depofits his 'portion of the Crojs in Byzantium.

51

clxiii

Chojroes commands his people to adore him.

clxiv

J2

Meeting of Heraclius and Chojroes' [on.

■fllJ. ,1.1 I 1

.J^

55

clxvii

Of0

Heraclius viftts Cbo/roes.

:lxviii

56

peo^axitit of ^|r<<g9») ^fy^

Heraclius kills Chqfroes.

57

dxix

Heraclius crowns and baptizes t kef on of Chofroes.

Burial of Chqfroes.

Heraclius takes pojfejfwn of the relic cj the Crofs.

cl

XXll

60

Heraclius, attempting to enter Jerufalem, is miraculoujly
prevented, and is reproved by an angel.

Heraclius divefts himfelf ofjiate.

clxxiv

62

Heraclius 'places the relic of the Crofs in its appointed -place.

cl

XXV

A portion of the Cro/s is Jent to Rome^ the vejfel bearing it
meeting with a Jlorm.

clxxvi

64

The relic of the Crqfs exfojed for adoration.

J)

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