De expugnacione castri Sardewicz et invencione capitis beate Barbar.
The Brothers Resolve to Fight
The brothers, grieved by the destruction wrought by a tyrant, choose death in battle over witnessing further evils, led by the veteran marshal Theoderic of Bernheim.
of the virgin and martyr. No one of sound mind could think or hear that the work of faith in those regions—promoted so magnificently to God's glory at countless expense and under such hardships—would through the malice of a single tyrant come to such destruction, without being moved to deep disturbance of heart and to the compassion that is owed.1 So the brothers, shaken in mind by what they had seen, chose rather to die in battle than to witness so many evils befalling their people and the saints. Among them was one in particular—Brother Theoderic of Bernheim, a veteran marshal, every bit as magnanimous: he was a Ulysses in counsel and in action no lesser than Hector—along with the brothers and forty armigers, a company of night-time fighters.2 3.3
The Assault on Sardewicz
On the eve of Saint Barbara, the brothers secretly scale the walls of Sardewicz and engage in fierce combat with its garrison from dawn until the third hour.
On the eve of the blessed virgin and martyr Barbara, they approached the castle of Swantopolk at Sardewicz, and setting ladders against the walls and entering secretly, they found fifty men assigned to its guard—men strong in might and trained in arms—whom the brothers with their forty armigers manfully attacked.4 They, resisting from the opposite side with hostility, defended themselves strongly. Now these, now those, bearing the brunt of the attack, a most fierce war arose between them and lasted from daybreak until the third hour.5
Victory and the Discovery of Saint Barbara's Head
God grants the brothers victory; they discover the head of Saint Barbara in a cellar and venerate it with prostration and praise.
Finally God himself, who does not abandon those who hope in him, sent the brothers help and victory from heaven, so that all were killed except for a few who escaped by fleeing, and they bound the women captured there along with their little ones. When this was done, they found in a certain cellar a chest or ark, and a silver box inside it, and in the box the head of the blessed Barbara, virgin and martyr. When they saw it, they fell prostrate on the ground, praising God for the discovery of so glorious a gift. Lifting up these holy relics with great joy, they left the cellar.
Hgata's Vision of Saint Barbara
An elderly matron named Hgata testifies that Saint Barbara appeared to her three times in a vision, revealing that the castle was delivered through the saint's merits.
When a certain elderly matron named Hgata, who was standing with the others, saw this, she said to the brothers: 'You have good reason to rejoice, and rightly you ought to, because through the merits of blessed Barbara you have obtained whatever honor you have reached today.' The brothers said to her: 'Who revealed this to you?' 'Or how can you know this?' She replied: 'I have always loved holy Barbara with special devotion, and so she appeared to me three times this night, her garments girded, as if she were prepared to walk on the road, and I said to her: "Where are you going, holy virgin?"' She replied: 'I want to go to the city of Kolberg and hear Mass there, and while she appeared to me a third time, she said to me: "Fare well, my beloved." And I fell from my bed, and followed her all the way to the door of the house, where she vanished with her, and I saw you armed in the castle.'
Translation of the Relics to Coline
Hgata affirms the relics will be more venerated in Prussia; Brother Theodericus leads them in solemn procession to Coline, where they remain honored for miracles.
From all this I know beyond any doubt that through her merits and prayers this castle has been handed over to you, so that you may lead her relics with you into the land of Prussia, where they will be held in greater reverence than they are here. After this, Brother Theodericus, having appointed certain brothers and men-at-arms to guard the aforementioned castle, returned with a small company and led these holy relics toward Coline, where the clergy and people came out to meet them in solemn procession and carried them to the church, and then to the old castle, where they rest in constant veneration to this day, on account of the frequent miracles that the Lord works through her.
Read the original Latin
virginis et martiris. Nullus sane mentis cogitare vel audire posset, quod fidei negocium in predictis partibus sub innumpris expensis et angustiis ad dei gloriam tarn magnifice promotum, sicf per unius tyranni maliciam ad talem interitum deveniret, quin ad gravem cordis perturbacionem et compassionem debitam moveretur. Unde fratres hiis visis consternati mente elegerunt pocius mori in belle, quam videre tot mala gentis sue et sanctorum. Ex quibus unus scilicet frater Theodericus de Bernheim antiquus marscalcus totus magnanimus, (erat enim Ulixes in pectore nec manu minor Hectore) et fratres im et armigeri xxnn noctis tem-. 3. Dec(e"b« pore in vigilia beate Barbare virginis et martiris accesserunt ad castrum Sardewicz Swantepolci, et applicantes scalas ad menia intrantesque' secrete, invenerunt quinquaginta viros ad ejus custodiam deputatos, viros utique robore fortes et in armis exercitatos, quosb fratres cum suis xxnn armigeris viriliter sunt aggressi. Illi ex opposito hostiliter se opponentes fortiter defenderunt. Nunc istis, nunc illis repressionem sustinentibus, bellum durissimum inter eos est exortumc, et duravit ab ortud diei usque ad horam terciam.
Tandem ipse deus, qui sperantes in se non derelinquit, fratribus opem et victoriam de celo misit, ut occisis omnibus preter paucos, qui fugientes evaserunt, mulieres cl ibi captas cum parvulis ligaverunt. Quo facto invenerunt in quodam celario cistam seu archam, et pixidem argenteam in ea, et in pixide caput beateBarbare virginis et martiris, quo viso, proni ceciderunt in terram collaudantes deum de tarn gloriosi muneris invencione. Elevantes ergo has sanctas reliquias, cum magno gaudio celarium exierunt. Quod cum videret quedam matrona antiqua, que cum aliis stetit Hgata, ait ad fratres: bene potestis gaudere et juste debetis, quia meritis beate Barbare habetis, quicquid honoris estis hodie consecuti. Ad quam fratres: quis tibi hoc indicavit? aut quomodo potes hoc scire? Que respondit: ego specialie devocione semper dilexi sanctam Barbaram, unde hac nocte apparuit mihi tribus vicibus, succinctis vestibus, ac si parata esset ad ambulandum in via, et ego dixi ad eam: quo vadis sancta virgo? Que respondit: ego volo ire ad civitatem Colmensem et audire ibi missam, et dum tercio appareret mihi, et diceret ad mef: valeas, dilecta mea, ego cecidi de stratu meo, et secuta fui ipsam usque ad ostium domus, ubi cums ipsa disparuisset, vidi vos armatos in Castro.
Ex istis scio indubitanter, quod meritis et precibus ejus traditum est vobis hoc castrum, ut reliquias ipsius vobiscum ducatis in terram Prussie, ubi in majori quam hic reverencia habeantur. Post hec frater Theodericus, quibusdam fratribus et armigeris ad dicti castri custodiam ordinatis, cum paucis reversus, has sanctas reliquias versus Colinen duxit, ubi clerus et populus cum solenni processione occurrens eas ad ecclesiam portaverunt, et ad castrum antiquum posuerunt, ubi usque in presentem diem propter crebra miracula, que per eam dominus operatur, in veneracione assidua requiescunt.
Notes
- 1 ↩'tarn' is a likely scribal error for 'tam' (so); 'sicf' is an uncertain reading, possibly a truncated or corrupted adverb.
- 2 ↩'im' is an uncertain reading, possibly a truncated form. 'xxnn' is a numeral abbreviation for forty. 'tem-' is truncated, likely from 'tempore' (time). The sentence is incomplete in the source.
- 3 ↩This appears to be a section or paragraph marker rather than a sentence.
- 4 ↩'Dec(e"b« pore' is heavily corrupted; the reading is uncertain but the context clearly points to 'on the eve of.' 'quosb' is an uncertain reading, likely a scribal variant of 'quos' (whom). 'xxnn' is a numeral abbreviation for forty.
- 5 ↩'exortumc' is an uncertain reading, likely a variant of 'exortum' (arisen). 'ortud' is a spelling variant of 'ortu' (rising).
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