De sancto Pelagio papa
The Rise of the Lombards
This section recounts the origins of the Lombard people, their migration into Italy, and the political instability of the Byzantine administration under Narses.
Pope Pelagius was a man of great holiness, and as he conducted himself in the papacy with praiseworthy character, he eventually rested in peace, full of good works. It was during the time of the first Pelagius that the Lombards came into Italy, and because many are shown to be ignorant of this history, I have decided to include it here, just as it is explained in the History of the Lombards, which Paul the Lombard historiographer compiled, and in various chronicles. For there was a certain Germanic tribe, very populous, which set out from the northern shores of the Ocean; after they had come through the island of Scandinavia and through many battles and the circuits of various lands, they finally arrived in Pannonia, and not daring to proceed further, they established a place for themselves there for a permanent home. They were first called Winuli, and later Lombards. While they were still residing in Germany, Agilmud, king of the Lombards, found seven boys in a pool who had been cast out by a harlot to be killed; the aforementioned harlot had given birth to them in a single delivery. While the king was looking at them in wonder and turning them over with his spear, having found them by chance, one of them grasped the king's spear with his hand. The king, seeing this and struck with amazement, had him raised and called him Lamissio, predicting that he would become a great man. He turned out to be a man of such integrity that, when the king died, the Lombards made him their king. Around the year 480 AD, an Arian bishop—as Eutropius relates—wanted to baptize a man named Barba. He said, "I baptize you, Barba, in the name of the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit," intending to show that the Son and the Holy Spirit were lesser than the Father. Suddenly, the water disappeared, and the man fled to the church. Around this same time, the saints Medardus and Gildardus flourished; they were brothers born of the same womb, born on the same day, made bishops on the same day, died on the same day, and were taken up by Christ on the same day. Before this time, however, as is said in a certain chronicle, around the year of the Lord 450, while the Arian heresy was spreading through Gaul, the unity of substance of the three persons was demonstrated by an evident miracle, as Sigibertus says. For while a bishop was celebrating Mass in the city of Vasacensis, he saw three very clear drops of equal size fall onto the altar, which flowed together and, joining into one, formed a most beautiful gem. When he placed it in the center of a golden cross, the other gems already there immediately fell off. He also added that it appeared dark to the wicked but clear to the pure, and that it brought health to the sick and increased the devotion of those who adored the cross. After this, a king named Alboin ruled the Lombards. He was a strong and energetic man who, while at war with the king of the Gepids, crushed his army and killed the king. The slain king's son, who succeeded him on the throne, then marched out with an armed force to take revenge on Alboin for his father. Alboin moved his army against him, defeated and killed him, took his daughter Rosamund captive, and married her. He even fashioned a cup for himself from the skull of that king, which he encased in silver and used for drinking. In those days, Justin the Younger was governing the empire; he had a certain eunuch as a prince, who was called Narses—a noble and energetic man who marched against the Goths, who had invaded all of Italy, overcame them, killed the king of the Goths, and restored peace to all of Italy. Because of his great services, he endured great envy from the Romans; consequently, he was falsely accused before the emperor and was deposed by the aforementioned emperor.
The Long-Bearded Invaders
The narrative details the conquest of Italy by Alboin, the tragic legend of his death, and the eventual conversion of the Lombard kings.
The emperor's wife, Sophia, took this as a personal insult, because he had made her spin with her maids and divide up the wool. Narses replied to these words, "And I will arrange for you to start a weaving project that you won't be able to take off as long as you live." So Narses withdrew to Naples and sent word to the Lombards that they should leave the very poor lands of Pannonia and move to take possession of the fertile soil of Italy. When Alboin heard this, he left Pannonia and, in the year 568 of the Lord's incarnation, entered Italy with the Lombards. It was their custom to wear very long beards. As the story goes, when scouts were expected to visit them, Alboin ordered all the women to wrap their loose hair around their chins so the scouts would mistake them for bearded men. From this, the Lombards were later named for their long beards, as "harda" meant beard in their language. Others say that when the Winuli were about to fight the Vandals, they went to someone who had a spirit... ...of prophecy to pray for their victory and bless them. Following his wife's advice, they positioned themselves near the window where he prayed toward the east in the morning, and the women wrapped their hair around their chins. to wrap around. They gave orders according to his advice. When he opened the window and saw them, he exclaimed, "Who are these Longobards?" And his wife joined in, so that he might grant victory to those to whom he had given a name. Once they entered Italy, they captured almost every city. Every single one. After killing the inhabitants, they finally captured Pavia, which had been under siege for three years; King Alboin, however, had sworn he would kill all the Christians. As he was about to enter Pavia, his horse dropped to its knees before the city gate and, no matter how much he spurred it, couldn't get up until, at the warning of a Christian, the king changed his oath. The Lombards then entered Milan and conquered almost all of Italy in a short time, except for Rome and Romanilia—which is called Romanilia because it is a 'second Rome,' since it had always clung to Rome. When King Alboin was in Verona and had prepared a great... feast, and had ordered his cup, which he had made from the king's skull, to be brought out... He drank from it and made his wife, Rosamund, drink from it too, saying, 'Drink with your father.' When Rosamund learned of this, she conceived a great hatred for the king. . Now the king had a certain duke who was having an affair with one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting; one night, while the king was away, the queen entered the maid's room and, pretending to be the maid herself, ordered the duke to come to her that night. When he arrived, the queen took the place of the maid with the duke and afterwards said to him, 'Do you know who I am?' When she told him she was his lover, she said, 'No, I am Rosamund; you have done such a thing today that you must either kill Alboin or die by his sword. I want you to avenge me on my own husband, who killed my father and made me drink from his skull as a cup.' He didn't agree to this, but promised to find someone else who would carry out the deed. carry out the deed. And so. She took his weapons and tied his sword, which was at the head of the bed, firmly in place so it couldn't be picked up or drawn. While the king was sleeping in his bed, his murderer arrived. He tried to enter the bedroom. When the king sensed this, he jumped from his bed and grabbed for his sword, but since he couldn't draw it, he began to defend himself bravely with a footstool; yet the other man, being fully armed, overpowered the king and killed him. He then took all the palace treasures and fled with Rosimunda to Ravenna, as the story goes. But when Rosimunda saw a very handsome young man—the prefect of Ravenna—and wanted him as her husband, she served her current husband poison in a cup. When he sensed its bitterness, he ordered his wife to drink the rest. When she refused, he drew his sword and forced her to drink, and so they both died there. Eventually, a certain king of the Lombards named Adalaoth was baptized and embraced the faith of Christ.
The Faith of Queens and the Rise of Islam
This section focuses on the piety of Queen Theodelinda and the rise of Muhammad as a false prophet, detailing his deceptions and the origins of Saracen belief.
Theodelinda, the most Christian and devout queen of the Lombards, also built a beautiful oratory at Monza. Gregory sent the books of his Dialogues to this queen, who converted her husband Agilulf—first the Duke of Turin, but later King of the Lombards—to the faith, and she made him keep peace with the Roman Empire and the Church; thus, on the feast of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, peace was made between the Romans and the Lombards, and for that reason, Gregory established that the antiphon 'The Lord will speak peace' be sung in the Mass on that same feast. On the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, this peace and conversion were further confirmed. Theodelinda, for her part, had a special devotion to the blessed John, attributing the conversion of her people to his merits, and she built the aforementioned oratory at Monza; it was revealed to a certain holy man that John was the patron and defender of her people. After Gregory died, Sabinian succeeded him, followed by Boniface III, and then Boniface IV. At the request of the latter, the Emperor Phocas gave the Pantheon to the Church of Christ around the year 610. Previously, at the request of Boniface III, he had decreed that the Roman See was the head of all churches, as the Church of Constantinople had been styling itself the first of all churches. In the time of this Boniface, after Phocas had died and Heraclius was reigning, around the year of our Lord 610, the false prophet and magician Muhammad deceived the Hagarenes—or Ishmaelites, that is, the Saracens—in this way, as is read in a certain history of him and in a certain chronicle. A prominent cleric, having failed to secure the position he sought at the Roman Curia, left in anger for lands overseas. There, through his own deceit, he gathered a massive following. He eventually found Muhammad and proposed that he would elevate him as a leader over these people, then began training a dove by placing grain and other food inside Muhammad's ears. The dove would perch on his shoulders to feed from his ears, and it became so accustomed to this that whenever it saw Muhammad, it would immediately jump onto his shoulders and insert its beak into his ear. The aforementioned man, therefore, gathered the people and said that he wanted to set over them the one whom the Holy Spirit would show in the form of a dove; he immediately released the dove in secret, and it flew onto the shoulders of Muhammad, who was standing with the others, and placed its beak into his ear. Seeing this, the people believed the Holy Spirit had descended upon him to whisper the words of God into his ear. In this way, Muhammad deceived the Saracens, who followed him and invaded the kingdom of Persia and the borders of the eastern empire as far as Alexandria. This is what is commonly said, but it is more true, as is held below, that Muhammad, inventing his own laws, falsely claimed that he had received them from the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove—which often flew over him while the people watched—and in these laws he inserted certain things from both Testaments. In his early life, he worked in trade and spent time in Egypt. As he traveled to Palestine with camel caravans, he frequently spoke with Christians and Jews, from whom he learned the Old and New Testaments. This is why, following Jewish custom, the Saracens are circumcised and abstain from eating pork. When Muhammad wanted to explain the reason for this, he said that a pig was created from camel dung after the flood. He claimed it was born that way and therefore, as an unclean thing, it must be avoided by the world's people; yet he agreed with Christians that there is one sole, omnipotent God, the Creator of all things. The false prophet also asserted—mixing certain truths with falsehoods—that Moses was a great prophet, but that Christ is greater, the highest. He said that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of God without human seed. He also claims in his Quran that when Christ was still a boy, He created birds from the mud of the earth, but he added poison to this, saying that Christ didn't truly suffer and didn't truly rise again, but... someone else. He taught that a certain man similar to Him had done these things or had suffered in His place. A certain noblewoman, however, named... Cadigan, who ruled a province named Corocanica, saw him surrounded by a company of Jews and Saracens and thought divine majesty lay within him. Since she was a widow, she took him as her husband, and thus Muhammad gained all of that... province and obtained its leadership. Through his deceptions, he eventually deluded not only the aforementioned lady but also the Jews and Saracens to such an extent that he publicly claimed to be the Messiah promised in the Law. After this, however, Muhammad began to have frequent epileptic seizures. Seeing this, Cadigan was deeply saddened that she had married a man who was both extremely impure and epileptic. But wishing to appease her, he would soothe her with words like these: “I often contemplate the archangel Gabriel speaking with me, and unable to bear the splendor of his face, I faint and wither away.” The woman and the others believed that this was so. Elsewhere, however, it is written that a certain monk named Sergius instructed Muhammad. Having fallen into the error of Nestorius and been expelled by his fellow monks, he came to Arabia and attached himself to Muhammad—though it is written elsewhere that he was an archdeacon living in the regions of Antioch and was (as they claim) a Jacobite, who preached circumcision and affirmed that Christ is not God, but only a just and holy man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. The Saracens affirm and believe all these things. This Sergius taught Muhammad many things from the New and Old Testaments, as they report. For Muhammad, orphaned of both parents, spent his childhood under the care of his uncle, and for a long time he served the worship of idols with all his Arab people, just as he testifies in his own Quran that God said to him: “You were an orphan and I took you in; you remained long in the error of idolatry and from there I led you out; you were poor and I enriched you.” The entire Arab nation with Muhammad worshipped Venus as a goddess, and that is why Friday is still held in great veneration among the Saracens, just as the Sabbath is observed among the Jews and the Lord’s Day among Christians. Muhammad, therefore, enriched by the wealth of the aforementioned Cadigan, grew so bold that he thought to usurp the kingdom of the Arabs for himself.
Saracen Law and Monastic Discipline
A detailed account of the laws, dietary restrictions, and eschatological beliefs of the Saracens, as well as the legends surrounding Muhammad's life.
But when he saw that he couldn't achieve this through violence—especially since he was looked down upon by his own tribesmen, who had been his superiors—he decided to pretend to be a prophet, so that he might attract through feigned holiness those he could not subdue by force, and he clung to the advice of the aforementioned Sergius, a very prudent man. For he made it appear that he remained in hiding, and he would seek everything from him and report it to the people, and he named him the archangel Gabriel; and thus, by pretending to be the prophet of that whole nation, Muhammad gained leadership, and everyone believed him, either of their own free will or out of fear of the sword. This is more true than what is said about the dove, and it is to be held as such. Because the aforementioned Sergius was a monk, he wanted the Saracens to wear a monastic habit—specifically a tunic without a hood—and he wanted them to perform many ordered genuflections like monks and to pray in a very orderly fashion. And because the Jews prayed toward the west and the Christians toward the east, he wanted his followers to pray toward the south. The Saracens still observe all these things. Muhammad promulgated many laws, however, which the aforementioned Sergius taught him, and he took many of them from the Mosaic Law. For the Saracens wash themselves often, and especially when they are about to pray; they wash their private parts, hands, arms, face, mouth, and all the limbs of their body, so that they may pray more cleanly. When praying, they confess one God, who has no equal or likeness, and they confess Muhammad as his prophet. They also fast for an entire month during the year; while fasting, they eat during the night, but they fast during the day, so that no one dares to eat, drink, or defile himself with marital relations from the hour of the day when they can distinguish black from white until sunset. After sunset until the twilight of the following day, they are always permitted to use food, drink, and their own wives; the infirm, however, are not bound by this. years. for the sake of recognizing the house of God, which is in Mecca; they are commanded to go there to worship, to circle it in seamless garments, and to throw stones through the openings to stone the devil, which they say Adam built the house for all his children. his, and Abraham's. and they affirm that it was a place of prayer for Ishmael, and that finally Muhammad handed that house over to himself and all his people. They may eat all meats except pork, blood, and carrion. They are permitted to have four legitimate wives at once, and They may divorce and take back any woman up to three times, provided they don't exceed the number of four. It is lawful for them to own as many purchased women and captives as they wish, and they may sell them whenever they like, unless they have made any of them pregnant. They are permitted to marry their own relatives so that their bloodline may grow and... become stronger. In this way, their bonds of friendship are strengthened. Regarding property disputes, they follow a rule where the plaintiff must prove his case with witnesses, while the defendant can clear himself by oath. If a man is caught in adultery, he and the woman are stoned together; if he commits fornication with someone else, he is punished with eighty lashes. However, Muhammad claimed that the Angel Gabriel told him he was permitted to approach the wives of others so that he might father men of virtue and prophets. One of his servants, who had a beautiful wife, had forbidden her from speaking with his master; one day, he found her talking to him and immediately cast her aside. Muhammad took her and counted her among his other wives, but fearing the people's murmuring, he forged a document supposedly brought from heaven, which stated that if a man divorced his wife, she would become the wife of the man who took her in—a rule the Saracens still follow as law today. A thief is punished with lashes for the first and second offense; for the third, his hand is cut off; for the fourth, he is punished by having a foot amputated. They are commanded to abstain from wine at all times. God has promised, as they claim, that those who keep these and other commandments will have paradise—a garden of delights irrigated by flowing waters—where they will have permanent homes, won't be afflicted by any cold or heat, will eat every kind of food, and will immediately find whatever they ask for; they will be dressed in multicolored silk garments, will be joined to the most beautiful virgins, and will recline in every delight. . Angels will walk among them like cupbearers with gold and silver vessels, bringing milk in the gold ones and wine in the silver ones, saying, 'Eat and drink in joy.' Muhammad says they have three rivers in paradise—of milk, honey, and the best aromatic wine—and that they will see most beautiful angels, so large that the distance from one eye of an angel to the other is a day's journey. For those who don't believe in God or Muhammad, there will be, as they claim, endless punishment in hell. Whatever sins anyone may have been bound by, if at the day of death he believed in God and Muhammad, he will be saved on the day of judgment through Muhammad's intercession, as they claim. The Saracens, living in darkness, claim that this false prophet possessed a spirit of prophecy above all others, and they preach that ten angels favored him and kept watch over him. They also lie about him, saying that the moon approached him, which he took into his bosom, split into two parts, and then joined back together. Furthermore, they say he suffered from poison served to him in lamb's meat. But they claim the lamb spoke to him, saying, 'Beware, don't eat me, because I have poison in me.' And yet, many years later, he died from poison given to him.
The Carolingian Era and the Church
The history follows the rise of the Frankish royal house, the reign of Charlemagne, and the consolidation of the Roman Church's authority.
But now my pen turns to follow the history of the Lombards. The Lombards, therefore, were a great nuisance to the Roman Empire, even though they had accepted the faith of Christ. After this, Pepin, the chief prince of the Frankish royal house, died, and was succeeded by his son Charles, who was called 'Tutides.' After winning many victories, he left behind two princes of that same royal court, namely Charles and Pepin. But Charles the Great, having left behind the pomp of the world, became a monk at Monte Cassino, while Pepin continued to govern the royal court with vigor. But since King Childeric was useless and lazy, Pepin consulted Pope Zachary as to whether the man who was content with only the royal name ought to be king. The Pope replied that the one who actually managed the state well should be called king. Encouraged by this answer, the Franks shut Childeric away in a monastery and made Pepin king, around the year of our Lord 740. However, when Aistulf, King of the Lombards, stripped the Roman Church of its possessions and authority, Pope Stephen—who had succeeded Zachary—went to Pepin, King of the Franks, to seek help against the Lombards. Pepin gathered a large army, came into Italy, and besieged King Aistulf, from whom he took forty hostages to ensure that he would return all the property he had taken from the Roman Church and would no longer harass it. But once Pepin had left, Aistulf voided everything he had promised. However, after a short time, while he was out hunting, he suddenly died, and Desiderius succeeded him. During that same time, while Theodoric, King of the Goths, was ruling Italy by the emperor's command—and was corrupted by the Arian heresy—the philosopher and patrician Boethius, along with the patrician Symmachus (whose son-in-law he was), was bringing honor to the state and defending the authority of the Roman Senate against Theodoric. The same Theodoric threw Boethius into exile at Pavia, where he composed his book 'On the Consolation of Philosophy,' and eventually put him to death. His wife, Elpes, is said to have composed the hymn for the apostles Peter and Paul, which begins: 'Felix per omnes festum mundi cardines.' She also composed her own epitaph, saying: 'I, Elpes, was born in the region of Sicily, whom the love of my husband led far from my homeland.' As for Theoderic, after he suddenly died, a holy hermit saw him being cast, naked and barefoot, into a cauldron of Vulcan by Pope John and Symmachus, whom he himself had killed, just as Gregory relates in his Dialogues. Around the year 677, King Dagobert of the Franks—who, as a certain chronicle records, had reigned long before Pepin—began from his childhood to hold Saint Denis in great veneration; for whenever he feared the anger of his father Lothair, he would take refuge at the church of Saint Denis. After the king died, a holy man saw in a vision that his soul had been taken to judgment, where many saints accused him of plundering their churches. So, when the evil angels were already wanting to drag his soul off to punishment, Saint Denis appeared and, through his intervention, the king was set free and escaped the penalty; for it happened that his soul returned to his body, and there he performed penance. King Clovis, while uncovering the body of Saint Denis with too little reverence, broke a bone of his arm and greedily snatched it away, and he was soon struck with madness. Around the year 677, the Venerable Bede, a priest and monk, was a prominent figure in England; although he is included in the list of saints, the Church calls him 'Venerable' rather than 'Saint' for two reasons. The first is that, when his eyes had grown dim from extreme old age, he had, as they say, a guide by whom he would have himself led through villages and towns, and everywhere he preached the word of the Lord. Once, as they were passing through a valley filled with large stones, his disciple jokingly told him that a great crowd had gathered there, waiting silently and eagerly for his sermon. Bede began to preach fervently, and when he concluded with the words 'forever and ever,' the stones—as the story goes—immediately cried out in a loud voice: 'Amen, venerable father.' Because, therefore, the stones miraculously called him 'venerable,' he is called 'Venerable Father,' or, as others assert, the angels answered him: 'Well said, venerable father.' The second reason is that after his death, a certain cleric devoted to him wished to compose a verse that he wanted to have carved on his tomb, beginning thus: 'These are in the pit,' wishing to finish the verse in this way: 'The bones of holy Bede.' But because the rhythm of the verse did not allow for such an ending, and he turned it over in his mind diligently but could not see a suitable ending, he went to the tomb early one morning after thinking about it much during the night, and he found the verse carved and finished by angelic hands: 'In this pit lie the bones of the venerable Bede.' On the day of the Ascension, when he was approaching death, he had himself carried to the altar and said devoutly until the end: 'Amen, O King of Glory, Lord of Virtues.' When this was finished, he fell asleep in peace, and such a sweet odor filled everyone that they thought they were in paradise. His body is honored with appropriate devotion in Genoa. The body of Saint Petronilla, daughter of the apostle Peter, was moved; on her marble tomb, an inscription written by Peter's own hand read: 'To golden Petronilla, most beloved daughter.' Sigebert says this. At that time, the Tyrians were harassing Armenia; in their country, when a plague had once broken out, they cut their hair in the shape of a cross at the urging of Christians, and because salvation was restored through this sign, they kept this custom of cutting their hair. When Pippin finally died after many triumphs, his son Charlemagne succeeded him on the throne; during his time, Pope Adrian presided over the Roman see, and he sent envoys to Charlemagne, asking him for help against Desiderius, king of the Lombards, who was harassing the Church greatly, just as his father Aistulf had done. Obeying him, Charlemagne gathered a great army, entered Italy through the Mont Cenis pass, and powerfully besieged Pavia, the royal city. There he captured Desiderius and sent him into exile in Gaul with his wife, children, and nobles, and restored to the Church all the rights the Lombards had taken away. At that time, Amicus and Amelius, the most valiant soldiers of Christ whose wonderful deeds are read about, were in Charlemagne's army; they fell at Mortara, where Charlemagne defeated the Lombards, and here the kingdom of the Lombards ended, for from then on they had the king whom the Caesars gave them. As Charlemagne set out for Rome, the Pope gathered a synod of 154 bishops, in which the Pope gave Charlemagne the right to choose the Roman pontiff and to organize the apostolic see; he also decreed that archbishops and bishops in every province were to receive investiture from him before their consecration, and his sons were also anointed as kings in Rome, namely: Pippin over Italy, Louis over Aquitaine. Alcuin, Charlemagne's teacher, was flourishing at that time.
Imperial Transitions and Liturgical Reform
This section covers the coronation of Charlemagne, the development of liturgical rites, and the shifting power dynamics of the Holy Roman Empire.
Pepin, the son of Charles, was convicted of conspiring against his father and was tonsured as a monk around that year. In the year of our Lord 780, during the time of Empress Irene and her son Constantine, a man digging in the long walls of Thrace found a stone chest, as is read in a certain chronicle. After clearing and opening it, he found a man lying inside with an inscription that read: 'Christ will be born of the Virgin Mary, and I believe in him. Under the emperors Constantine and Irene, O sun, you will see me again.' After Adrian died, Leo was elevated to the Roman see—a man to be revered in every way—but Adrian's relatives, resenting his elevation, stirred up the people while he was performing the Greater Litanies, gouging out his eyes and cutting off his tongue. But God miraculously restored his tongue and his sight. When he had fled to Charles, Charles placed him back on his throne and punished the guilty. Therefore, in the year of our Lord 784, with the Pope's encouragement, the Romans abandoned the Constantinopolitan empire and, by the unanimous consent of all, acclaimed Charles with imperial honors, crowning him emperor, Caesar, and Augustus by the hand of Leo. For after Constantine the Great, the imperial seat was held at Constantinople because the aforementioned Constantine left the Roman see to the vicars of blessed Peter and established his own seat in that city. Nevertheless, because of the dignity of the office, they were called Roman emperors until the time the Roman empire was transferred to the kings of the Franks. Afterward, however, those were called emperors of the Greeks or of Constantinople, while the latter were called emperors of the Romans. It was truly remarkable about such a great emperor that, as long as he lived, he didn't want to give any of his daughters in marriage. He said that he couldn't do without their company, and as Alcuin, his teacher, writes about him, although he was otherwise happy, he experienced the malice of adverse fortune in this, declaring what he meant to say about it; yet the emperor glossed over it as if there were no suspicion of him at all, although... there was a lot of talk about it. So, wherever he went, he always took them with him. During the time of Charles, the Ambrosian rite was largely set aside and the Gregorian was solemnly spread, with imperial authority doing much to help it along. For Ambrose, as Augustine testifies in his Confessions, when he was suffering persecution from the Empress Justina, who was corrupted by Arian heresy, and was being besieged by traps within the church by the Catholic people, instituted the singing of hymns and psalms in the manner of the Easterners, so that the people wouldn't waste away from the weariness of their sorrow. This was later spread throughout all the churches; however, Gregory, coming along later, changed many things, added to them, and cut them down, for the holy fathers couldn't see everything pertaining to the beauty of the office at once, but different people ordered different things. For the beginning of the Mass has three variations; in the old days it began with a reading, just as it still does on Holy Saturday. Later, Pope Celestine instituted the singing of psalms at the introit of the Mass, but Gregory ordered the introit of the Mass with chant and kept one verse from that psalm, which used to be sung in its entirety. In the old days, those standing around the altar in the form of a crown sang the psalms together in harmony, and that is why it is called a choir; but Flavian and Theodore instituted that they should be sung alternately, having learned this from Ignatius, who was divinely taught about it. Jerome also organized the psalms, epistles, gospels, and a large part of the daily and nightly offices, excluding the chant; Ambrose, Gelasius, and Gregory added prayers and chants, and adapted them to the readings and gospels; Ambrose, Gelasius, and Gregory instituted the singing of the graduals, tracts, and alleluia at Mass; Hilary—or according to some, Pope Symmachus, or according to others, Pope Telesphorus—added to the Gloria in excelsis: "We praise you," and the rest that follows. Notker, Abbot of Saint Gall, was the first to compose sequences for the neumes of his alleluia, but Pope Nicholas granted permission for them to be sung at Masses. Hermannus Contractus the Teuton composed: "King Almighty," "May the grace of the Holy Spirit be with us," "Hail Mary," and the antiphons: "Loving Mother of the Redeemer" and "Simon Bar-Jona." Peter, Bishop of Compostella, composed the "Hail, Holy Queen." Sigibert, however, says that Robert, King of the Franks, composed the sequence: "May the grace of the Holy Spirit be with us, etc." Charlemagne (as Archbishop Turpin reports) was handsome in body but fierce in appearance; his stature was eight feet, and his face was a palm and a half in length; his beard was a palm long, and his forehead was a foot wide; he could cut an armed soldier sitting on a horse, from the top of his head down through the horse, with a single blow of his sword, and he could easily stretch four horseshoes at once with his hands. He could quickly lift an armed soldier standing upright on his palm from the ground to his head with one hand; he would eat a whole hare, or two hens, or a goose; he drank a little wine mixed with water, and he was so sparing in his drinking that he rarely used to drink more than three times at dinner. He built many monasteries, finished his life laudably, and at the end of his affairs made Christ his heir. His son Louis, a most merciful man, succeeded him in the empire around the year 815, during which time bishops and clergy set aside belts woven with gold, exquisite garments, and other secular ornaments. Theodulph, Bishop of Orléans, was falsely accused before the emperor and was committed to custody in Angers by him. As one chronicle tells it, when the Palm Sunday procession passed the house where he was being held, he opened a window. Once silence fell, he sang the beautiful verses he had composed: 'Glory, praise, and honor be to you, O Christ, King and Redeemer,' and so on. He sang this in the emperor's presence, and it pleased him so much that he immediately released him from his chains and restored him to his see. Among other gifts, the envoys of the Byzantine Emperor Michael brought Louis, son of Charlemagne, the books of Dionysius on the hierarchy, translated from Greek into Latin. They were received with joy, and that very night, nineteen sick people were healed in his church. After Louis died, Lothair held the empire, but his brothers—Charles and Louis—declared war on him. The slaughter on both sides was so great that no age will ever remember such a thing happening in the kingdom of the Franks. Eventually, they made a pact: Charles reigned in France, Louis in Germany, and Lothair in Italy and the part of France named Lotharingia after him. Later, he left the empire to his son Louis and took up the monastic habit. In his time, as another chronicle says, Pope Sergius was born, a Roman who was first called 'Pig's Mouth,' but was called Sergius after his name was changed. From that time on, it was ordained that all popes should change their names: partly because the Lord changed the names of those he chose for the apostolate; partly because, just as they are changed in name, they ought to be changed in the perfection of their lives; and partly so that he who is chosen for such a noble office might not be disgraced by an unbecoming name.
Signs, Wonders, and Dynastic Strife
The final section recounts various omens, the lives of saints, and the ongoing conflicts between the Empire and the Papacy leading up to the vacancy of the imperial throne.
In the time of this Louis, specifically in the year of our Lord 856, as is recorded in a certain chronicle, an evil spirit in the parish of Mainz was tormenting people so severely by pounding on the walls of houses as if with hammers, speaking openly, and sowing discord, that wherever it entered, that house would immediately wither; yet when the priests performed litanies and sprinkled holy water, the enemy would throw stones and wound many. Eventually, when it was quiet, it confessed that when the water was being sprinkled, it had been hiding under the cope of a certain priest who was like a familiar of its, accusing him of having fallen into sin with the steward's daughter. During that same time, the King of the Bulgarians, having converted to the faith with his people, was of such perfection that, after ordaining his eldest son to the kingdom, he himself took the monastic habit; but when his son, acting with the recklessness of youth, wanted to return to the worship of paganism, he took up arms again, pursued him, captured him, gouged out his eyes, threw him into prison, and, having established his younger son in the kingdom, resumed the sacred habit. It is said that in Italy, near Brescia, blood rained from the sky for three days and three nights. During that same time, countless locusts appeared in Gaul, each with six wings, six feet, and two teeth harder than stone. They flew in squadrons like an army, covering an area a day's journey long and four or five miles wide, destroying all greenery in the grass and trees. These locusts reached the British Sea and were finally blown into the depths by the wind, but when the tide cast them back onto the shore, their rot corrupted the air. From this, a great mortality and severe famine followed, so that nearly a third of the people perished. Finally, Otto I began his reign, specifically in the year of our Lord 938. When Otto prepared a banquet for the princes during the Easter solemnity, a prince's son took a dish from the table in a childish way before they had sat down, and the steward struck him with a staff. Seeing this, the boy's tutor immediately killed the steward. When the Emperor tried to condemn the tutor without a hearing, the man threw the Emperor to the ground and began to suffocate him. The Emperor, having barely been rescued, ordered that the tutor be spared, crying out that he himself was guilty for not having shown honor to the feast. Afterward, he allowed him to leave freely. Otto I was succeeded by Otto II. Because the Italians often violated the peace, he came to Rome and hosted a great banquet for all the nobles, magnates, and bishops on the steps of the church. While they were feasting, he secretly had them all surrounded by armed men; then, raising a complaint about the violated peace, he ordered the guilty to be written down and had them immediately beheaded on the spot, while he made sure the others continued to feast. Otto III succeeded him around the year of our Lord 984. He was nicknamed "the wonder of the world." As a certain chronicle says, he had a wife who wanted to prostitute herself to a count. When the count refused to commit such a crime, she was indignant and slandered him so severely to the emperor that the emperor had him beheaded without a hearing. Before he was beheaded, he asked his wife to prove his innocence after his death through the ordeal of the red-hot iron. The day arrived when the emperor declared he would render judgment for orphans and widows; the widow appeared, carrying her husband's head in her arms. She then asked the emperor what death a man deserved who had unjustly killed someone. When he declared that the man deserved to be beheaded, she replied, 'You are that man, who ordered my husband to be killed innocently at the suggestion of your wife, and to prove that I am telling the truth, I will prove it by the ordeal of the red-hot iron.' Stunned by this, the emperor surrendered himself to the woman to be punished. However, through the intervention of the bishops and nobles, he received a stay of execution from the widow for ten days, then eight, then seven, and finally six. After examining the case and learning the truth, the emperor had his wife burned alive and gave the widow four castles as restitution for his actions. These castles are in the bishopric of Liège and are named after the days of the stay: 10, 8, 7, and 6. After him, the blessed Henry, who had been Duke of Bavaria, assumed the empire in the year of our Lord 1002. He gave his sister, Gela, in marriage to Stephen, the king of Hungary, who was still a pagan. He converted both the king himself and his entire nation to the faith of Christ. This Stephen was a man of such religious devotion that God made him illustrious through the glory of many miracles. This Henry and his wife, Cunegund, remained virgins, living a celibate life and resting in peace; Conrad, a certain duke of the Franks, succeeded him and took the niece of Saint Henry as his wife. During his time, a fiery beam of wondrous size was seen in the sky, racing over the sun as it was setting and falling to the earth. He threw certain bishops from Italy into chains, and because the Archbishop of Milan escaped from his chains, he burned the suburbs of Milan. On the day of Pentecost, however, when the emperor was being crowned in a small church near the city, there was such heavy thunder and lightning during the Mass that some lost their minds and others breathed their last. Bishop Bruno, who was celebrating the Mass, and the emperor's secretary said that during the solemnities of the Mass they had seen Saint Ambrose threatening the emperor; in the time of this Conrad, namely in the year of our Lord 1025, Count Lupold, as it is said in a certain chronicle, fearing the king's wrath, fled with his wife to an island and hid in a certain hut, and while the emperor was hunting in that forest, night overtook him and he had to take shelter in that same hut. The woman who hosted him, being pregnant and near her time, made him a bed as best she could and provided him with what he needed. That same night, the woman gave birth to a son, and for the third time, the Emperor heard a voice saying to him, "Conrad, this boy just born will be your son-in-law." Rising in the morning, he called two of his trusted squires and said, "Go and take that little boy from his mother's arms by force, cut him in two, and bring me his heart." They hurried off and snatched the boy from his mother's lap, but seeing how beautiful he was, they were moved by mercy. They placed him in a tree so he wouldn't be eaten by wild beasts, and after killing a hare, they cut out its heart and brought it to the Emperor. That same day, a certain duke happened to pass by and heard the boy crying. He had him brought to him, and since he had no son of his own, he took him to his wife, had him raised, pretended he was his own son born of his wife, and named him Henry. When he had grown up, he was very handsome, eloquent in speech, and well-liked by everyone. Seeing how handsome and prudent he was, the Emperor asked the father for him and had him stay at court. But when he saw that the boy was well-liked and praised by all, he began to doubt whether this was the one he had ordered killed and if he would eventually reign after him. Wishing to be secure, he wrote a letter in his own hand and sent it to his wife by the boy, saying, "As much as your life is dear to you, as soon as you receive this letter, kill this boy." While he was traveling and stayed at a certain church, he grew tired and rested on a bench, leaving his purse, which contained the letter, hanging there. A priest, led by curiosity, opened the purse and, seeing the letter sealed with the Emperor's seal, opened it without breaking the seal. Reading it, he was horrified by the wickedness, and scraping out the words "kill this boy" with great care, he wrote instead: "Give our daughter to this man in marriage." When the Queen saw the letter sealed with the Emperor's seal and recognized it as being written by the Emperor's own hand, she called the nobles together, celebrated the wedding, and gave her daughter to him in marriage. These nuptials were celebrated in Aachen. When, however, it was reported to the Emperor by those who spoke that his daughter's wedding had been celebrated with such solemnity, he was stunned. Once the truth was discovered from the two squires, the duke, and the priest, he saw that God's decree was not to be resisted; and so, sending for the boy, he acknowledged him as his son-in-law and appointed him to reign after him. A noble monastery was built in the place where the boy Henry was born, which is called Ursania to this day. This Henry removed all jesters from his court and gave to the poor what he had been accustomed to give to them. During his time, there was such a schism in the Church that three men were elected as supreme pontiffs. However, they yielded to a priest named Gratian after a large sum of money was paid to them, and he obtained the papacy. But when Henry was on his way to Rome to settle the schism, Gratian met him and offered him a golden crown so that he might have him as a friend. Henry, however, ignoring all this, convened a synod, convicted Gratian of simony, and appointed another in his place. Yet in the book of Bonizo, which he sent to Countess Matilda, it is said that when the priest, led by simplicity, had acquired the pontificate for himself through money in order to stop the schism, he later recognized his error and, at the urging of the Emperor, deposed himself. After this Henry, the third Henry reigns. In his time, Bruno was elected pope and took the name Leo. While traveling to Rome to take up the apostolic see, he heard the voices of angels singing, 'The Lord says, I think thoughts of peace, etc.' He composed chants about many saints. At that time, the Church was troubled by Berengarius, who claimed that the Body and Blood of Christ were not truly present on the altar, but only figuratively; Lanfranc, a prior from Bec, a native of Pavia and the teacher of Anselm of Canterbury, wrote an excellent refutation against him. Then Henry IV began his reign in the year of our Lord 1057, a time when Lanfranc flourished greatly. Anselm, a man later adorned with great virtue and wisdom, fled from Burgundy to study under his exceptional teaching, and he succeeded him as prior of the monastery at Bec. During this same period, Jerusalem was captured by the Saracens and later recovered by the faithful. The bones of blessed Nicholas were translated to the city of Bari. Among other things, it is recorded that while a new office for blessed Nicholas was not yet being sung in a certain church—the Church of the Holy Cross, which was subject to Saint Mary of Charity—the brothers insistently begged the prior to allow them to sing it. He wouldn't agree at all, saying it was inappropriate to change an ancient custom for the sake of novelties. When the brothers continued to press him, he replied indignantly, "Leave me, brothers; I will never grant permission for new songs—or rather, for certain jocular things—to be sung in my church." When the feast day arrived, the brothers kept the Matins vigil with a sense of sadness. After they had all gone to bed, Nicholas appeared to the prior in a terrifying, visible form, dragged him by the hair from his bed, and slammed him onto the dormitory floor. He began the antiphon, "O eternal shepherd," and as he sang it slowly, he beat the prior on the back with the rods he held in his hand, striking him heavily at every change in the melody until he finished the antiphon. When the prior's cries woke everyone up, he was carried to his bed half-dead. Finally, coming to his senses, he said, "From now on, go and sing the new history of Saint Nicholas." At this time, twenty-one monks from the monastery of Molesme, along with their abbot Robert, went to the wilderness of Cîteaux to observe their rule more strictly, and they established a new order based on the old one. Hildebrand, the prior of Cluny, was made pope and took the name Gregory. While he was still in minor orders and serving as a legate, he convicted the Archbishop of Embrun of simony through a miracle. For while the archbishop was bribing all his accusers so he couldn't be convicted, the legate ordered him to say, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit." He said "Glory to the Father and to the Son" easily, but he couldn't say "to the Holy Spirit," because he had sinned against the Holy Spirit. Confessing his sin, he soon named the Holy Spirit in a clear voice once he was deposed. Bonizo recounts this miracle in his book to Countess Matilda. After Henry IV died at Speyer and was buried with other kings, this verse was inscribed on his epitaph: "The son lies here, the father lies here, the grandfather lies here, the great-grandfather lies here." Henry V succeeded him in the year of our Lord 1107; he captured the pope and the cardinals, and upon releasing them, he received the investiture of bishops and abbots by ring and pastoral staff. At this time, Bernard entered Cîteaux with his brothers. In the parish of Liège, a sow gave birth to a piglet with a human face, and a chicken hatched a four-legged chick. Lothair succeeded Henry, and during his reign, a woman in Spain gave birth to a monstrous creature with two bodies joined together, their faces and bodies turned away from each other. In front, it had the appearance of a human, with the body and limbs arranged in the proper order, but on the back, it had the face of a dog, with the body and limbs also perfectly formed. Conrad reigned after him in the year of our Lord 1138. At that time, Hugo of Saint Victor—a most excellent doctor, supreme in every branch of knowledge, and a man of devout religious life—passed away. They tell of him that when he was suffering from his final illness and could keep no food down, he still asked with great urgency that the Lord's Body be given to him. The brothers, wanting to calm his distress, brought him a simple host as if it were the Lord's Body. Recognizing this through the Spirit, he said, “May the Lord have mercy on you, brothers; why did you want to deceive me?” “For this is not my Lord, whom you have brought.” Soon, the brothers were stunned and ran to bring him the Lord's Body. But seeing that he was unable to receive it, he lifted his hands to heaven and prayed, “Let the Son ascend to the Father, and the spirit to God his Maker.” And in the midst of these words, he breathed his last, and the Lord's Body disappeared from that place. Eugenius, abbot of Saint Anastasius, was made pope. After being driven from the city because the senators had elected someone else, he went to Gaul and sent Bernard ahead of him, who preached the way of the Lord and performed many miracles. Gilbert de la Porrée was active during that time. Frederick, the nephew of Conrad, began his reign in the year of our Lord 1154. At that time, Master Peter Lombard, Bishop of Paris, was at his peak; he helpfully compiled the Book of Sentences, the gloss on the Psalter, and the gloss on the Epistles of Paul. During that period, three moons appeared in the sky with a cross in the middle, and not long after, three suns were seen. Then Alexander was canonically elected pope, against whom Octavian (John of Crema, of the title of Saint Calixtus) and John of Struma were successively elected pope and supported by the emperor's favor. This schism lasted for eighteen years, during which time the Teutons, who were staying near Tusculum for the emperor, attacked the Romans at Mount Porzio and killed so many from the ninth hour until vespers that never before had so many thousands of Romans been killed, although in the time of Hannibal so many were killed that Hannibal had three baskets of rings, which he had ordered to be removed from the fingers of the slain nobles, sent to Carthage. Many of them were buried at Saint Stephen's and Saint Lawrence's, and they have this epitaph: 'One thousand, ten times ten, six times ten, and also six.' Emperor Frederick, while visiting the Holy Land, perished there when he was bathing in a certain river, or, as others claim, he fell into the water when his horse stumbled and died there. His son Henry succeeded him in the year of our Lord 1190. At that time, there were such heavy rains, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and storms, as no one in antiquity could remember; for stones the size of eggs, square in shape and mixed with the rain, fell from the sky, destroying trees, vineyards, and crops, and killing many people. Crows and many other birds were also seen flying through the air during this storm, carrying live coals in their beaks and setting houses on fire. Henry had always acted as a tyrant against the Roman Church, so after he died, Innocent III opposed his brother Philip to prevent his promotion, siding instead with Otto, son of the Duke of Saxony, and having him crowned King of Germany at Aachen. At that time, while many barons of France were heading overseas for the liberation of the Holy Land, they captured Constantinople. During these times, the orders of the Preachers and all the friars arose. Innocent IV sent legates to Philip, King of the Franks, to invade the land of the Albigensians and destroy the heretics, and he captured them all and had them burned. Finally, Innocent crowned Otto emperor and, to ensure he would protect the rights of the Church, exacted an oath from him; but Otto immediately broke that oath that very day and ordered that pilgrims to Rome be stripped of their belongings, for which the Pope excommunicated him and deposed him from the empire. At that time lived Saint Elizabeth, daughter of the King of Hungary, who was the wife of the Landgrave of Thuringia. Among her countless other miracles, she raised sixteen people from the dead—as it is written—and gave sight to a man born blind; it is said that oil has flowed from her body to this day. After Otto was deposed, Frederick, son of Henry, was elected and crowned by Honorius. He issued excellent laws for the freedom of the Church and against heretics. He abounded in wealth and glory more than anyone else, but he abused these things through pride, for he exercised tyranny against the Church, imprisoned two cardinals, and [dealt with] the prelates whom Gregory IX... ...had summoned to a council, he had them captured, and for that reason, he was excommunicated by him. Finally, Gregory, pressed by many tribulations, died. Innocent IV, a native of Genoa, convened a council at Lyons and deposed the emperor himself; after he was deposed and had died, the seat of the empire has remained vacant to this day.
Read the original Latin
Pelagius papa multae sanctitatis fnit ac in pontificatu laudabi liter se gerens tandem plenus bonis operibus in pace quievit, Non fuit autem iste Pelagius praedecessor sancti Gregorii, sed alius ante ipsum, Huic enim Pelagio successit Johannes tertius, Johanni successit Benedictus, Benedicto Pelagius, Pelagio Gregorius. Tempore igitur primi Pelagii Longobardi in Maliam venerunt et quia multi hujus hystoriam ignorare probantur, ideo eam hic inserendam decrevi, prout in hystoria Longobardorum, quam Panlus Longobardorum hystoriographus compilavit, et in diversis chronicis explanata habetur. Gens enim quaedam erat Germanica plurimum populosa, quae de littoribus Oceani parte septentrionali egressa, cum de insula Scandinaria per bellorum multa certamina diversarumque terrarum circuitus tandem in Pannoniam devenisset, ultra non audens procedere sedem sibi in ea perpetuae habitationis instituit. Hi primo )Winuli, postea Longobardi sunt appellati. Dum autem adhuc in Germania residerent,Agilmud rex Longobardorum VII pueros in piscina a meretrice ad necandum projectos invenit, quos uno partu dicta meretrix ediderat. Quos dum rex casu repertos cum hasta admirans revolveret, unus eorum hastam regis manu tenuit. Quem rex videus et stupens nutriri fecit et Lamissionem vocavit, magnam eum futurum esse pronuntians. Qui tantae probitatis exstitit, quod mortuo rege eum Longobardi regem fecerunt.
Per idem fere tempus, scilicet anno ab incarnatione domini CCCCLXXX, dum quidam episcopus Arianus, ut ait Eutropius, quendam nomine Barbam baptizare volens diceret: baptizo te, Barba, in nomine patris per filium in spiritu sancto, filium et spiritum sanctum minorem patre per hoo ostendere volens, subito aqua disparuit et baptizandus ad ecclesiam confugit. Per idem fere tempus floraerunt sancti Medardus et Gildardns fratres uterini uno die nati, uno die episcopi conseorali, uno die mortui, uno die a Christo assumli, Ante vero hoc tempus, ut in quadam chronica dicitur, circa annum domini CCCCL, duam intra Gallias Ariana haeresis pullularet, unitassubstantiae trium personarum evidenti miraculo demonstratur, ut aitSigibertus. Dum enim in urbe Vasacensi missam episcopus celebraret, vidit tres guttas clarissimas aequalis magnitudinis super altare emissas, quae simul defluentes in unum conjunctae gemmam pulcherrimam effecerunt. Qnam cum in medio cujusdam crucis aureae posuisset, aliae gemmae, quae ibi erant, de ipsa protinus ceciderunt. Addidit quoque, quod impiis obscura et mundis clara videbatur, et quod infirmis dabat sanitatem et adorantibus crucem augebat devotionem. , Post hoc autem Longobardis his quidam rex praeerat, nomine Albuinus, vir quidem fortis et strenuus, qui cum rege Gebidaniorum proelium gerens ejus exercitum contrivit et regem interfecit, Quapropter filius praedicti regis occisi, qui sibi in regnum successerat, in ultionem patris sui contra Albuinum manu armata fortiter processit. Gontra quem Albuinus exercitum suum movit et ipsam superans interfecit filiamque suam, nomine Rosimundam, captivam ducens in uxorem accepit, sed et de capite ipsius rcgis sibi cupam paravit, quam argento cireumducens inde bibebat. In illis antem diebus Justinus minor imperium gubernabat, qui quendameunuchum principem habebat, qni dicebatur Narses, virum quendam nobilem et strenuum, qui contra Gothos, qui totam Italiam invaserant, procedens ipsos superavit et regem ) Gothorum occidit et universam Italiam pacatam reddidit, qui pro magnis beneficiis magnam invidiam perlulit a Romanis, Quapropter apud imperatorem falso accusatus a praefato imperatore depositus est.
Uxor quoque imperatoris, nomine ) Sophia, hanc contumeliam sibi misit, quod eum cum ancillis suis faceret filare et lanarum pensa dividere, Ad haec verba Narses respondit: et ego talem telam tibi ordiri procurabo, quam, donec vixeris, deponere non valebis, Neapolim igitur Narses secedens Longobardis mandavit, ut pauperrima Pannoniae rura desererent et ad Italiae fertile solum possidendum confluerent. Qaod Albuinus audiens Pannoniam deseruit et anno ab incarnatione domini quingentesimo sexagesimo octavo cum Longobardis Italiam intravit. Erat antem consuetudo eorum longas valde barbas portare. Unde cum quadam vice, ut ajunt, exploratores ad eos venire deberent, praecepit Albuinus, ut omnes mulieres solutos crines circa mentum circumducerent, ut barbati homines ab exploratoribus crederentur, et inde Longobardi a longis barbis postmodum -sunt vocati, harda enim in eorum lingua barbam sonabat, Alii dicunt, quod, cum Winuli cum Wandalis pugnaturi essent, et ad quendam, qui habebat spiritum. prophetiae accessissent, ut pro eorum vicloria exoraret et iis benediceret, de consilio uxoris juxta fenestram, in qua mane ad orientem orabat, se posuerunt et mulieres circa mentum capillos. cireumducere . de ejusdem consilio praeceperunt. Cum ergo ille fenestram aperiens eos vidisset, exclamavit: qui sunt isti Longobardi?
et uxor sua adjunxit, nt, quibus nomen dederat, victoriam eondonaret. Ingressi igitur Italiam omnes paene civitates ceperunt. cunctis. habitatoribus interfeetis, Papiam autem tribus annis obsessam tandem ceperunt, Rex autem Albninus juraverat, se omnes christianos occisurum. Unde, eum Papiam intrare deberet et equus ejus ante portam ivitatis genua figens, quantumcunque calcaribus urgeretur, surgere non valebat, quousque ad admonitionem cujusdam christiani rex juramentum mutavit, Mediolanum ergo Lombardi ingressi totam paene Italiam intra breve temporis spatium subjugarunt, praeter Romam et Romaniliam, quae Romanilia est vocata, qnia altera Roma, ex eo scilicet, quod Romae semper adhaesisset,. Gum igitur rex Albuinus Veronae esset et quoddam magnum. convivium. praeparasset et scyphum suum, quem de capite regis fecerat, afferri faciens ex.
eo bibit et uxorem suam, nomine Rosimundam , de eo bibere fecit dicens: bibe cum patre tuo. Quod cum Rosimunda didicisset, odium magnum contra regem concepit. . Erat antem regi dux quidam, qui quandam domicellam reginae carnaliter cognoscebat, at regina absente rege quadam nocte ancillae suae cubiculum intrans praedicto duci ex persona ipsius ancillae mandavit, ut ad se illa nocte deberet accedere. Qui cum venisset, regina praedicto duci vice ancillae se supposuit et postmodum dixit ei: scis, quae sum? Cui cum se esse talem amicam snam diceret, illa ait: ne"quaquam, sed sum Rosimunda; certe talem rem perpetrasti hodie, quod aut Albuinum occides aut Albuini gladio interibis; volo igitar, ut de ipso viro meo, qui patrem meum occidit et de ejus capite cupam sibi faciens me in ca bibere fecit, me debeas vindicare. Cni ille non acquiescens alium se invenire promisit, qui hoc. negotium perpetraret.
Unde. illa arma sublrahens, spatham illius, quae erat ad lectuli caput, ne tolli aut evaginari posset, fortiter toligavit. Dum ergo rex in stratu dormiret, homicida ejus. cubieulum intrare conatur. Quod rex sentiens de stratn exsiliit et spatham arripiens, sed extrahere non valens eum scabello se viriliter defendere coepit, sed ille, cum optime esset armatus, in regem invaluit et occidit. Accipiens igitur universos thesauros palatii cum Rosimunda Ravennam (ut dicitur) aufugit, sed cum Rosimunda quendam juvenem pulcherrimum praefectum, scilicet Ravennae, vidisset, ipsum in virum habere desiderans venenum viro in calice propinavit, cujus amaritudinem ille praesentiens jubet uxori, ut residuum bibat. Qnod cum recusaret, ille evaginato gladio eam bibero coegit et sic ambo ibidem perierunt. Tandem rex quidam Longobardorum, nomine Adalaoth, baptizatus est et fidem Christi suscepit.
Sed et Theudelina Longobardorum regina, christianissima et devota apud Modoetiam pulcherrimum oratorium constituit. Ad quam reginam Gregorius libros dyalogorum transmisit, Quae virum suum Agisulphum primo ducem Taurinensem, sed postmodum Longobardorum regem ad fidem convertit et cum Romano imperio et ecclesia eum pacem habere fecit, sicque in festo sanctorum Gervasii ct Protasii faeta est pax inter Romanos et Longobardos et ideo Gregorius in codem festo cantare instituit in officio missae: loquetur dominus pacem etc. In nativitate quoque saneti Johannis baptistae praedictorum pax et conversio amplius confirmata fuit. "Theudelina vero in beatum Johannem specialem devolionem habebat, eujus meritis gentis suae conversionem adscribens praedictum oratorium apud Modoetiam fabricavit ejusque gentis Johannem patronum et defensorem esse cuidam viro sancto revelatum fuit. Mortuo Gregorio successit ei Sabinus et Sabino Bonifacius tertius et Bonifacio tertio Bonifacius quartus, ad cujns preces Phocas imperator donavit ecclesiae Christi Pantheon circa annos domini DCX et ad preces tertii Bonifacii prius statuit sedem Romanam esse caput omnium ecclesiarum, nam ecclesia Constantinopolis se primam omnium ecclesiarum scribebat,
Hujus Bonifacii tempore mortuo Phoca et regnante Heraclio circa annum domini DCX Magumeth pseudopropheta et etiam magus Agarenos sive Ismaelitas, id est Saracenos, hoc modo decepit, sicut legitur in quadam hystoria ipsius et in quadam chronica. Clericus quidam valde famosus, eum in Romana curia honorem, quem cupiebat, assequi non potuisset, indignatus ad partes ultramarinas confugiens sua simulatione innumerabiles ad se altraxit inveniensque Magumeth dixit ei, quod ipsum illi populo praeficere vellet, nutriensque columbam grana et alia hujusmodi inauribus Magumeth ponebat. Columba autem supra ejus humeros stans de auribus ejus cibum sibi sumebat sicque jam adeo asuefácta erat, quod, quandocumque Magumeth videbat, protinus super humeros ejus prosiliens rostrum in ejus aure ponebat. Praedictus igitur vir populum convocans dixit, se illum sibi velle praeficere, quem spiritas sanctus in specie columbae monstraret, statimque columbam secrete emisit et illa super humeros Magumeth, qui cum aliis adstabat, evolans rostrum in ejus aure apposuit. Quod populus videns spiritum sanctum esse credidit, qui super eum descenderet ae in ejus aure verba Dei inferret, et sic Magumeth Saracenos decepit, qui sibi adhaerentes regnum Persidis ac orientalis imperii fines usque ad Alexandriam invaserunt. Hoc quidem vulgariter dicitur, sed verius est, quod infra habetur, Magumeth igitur proprias leges confingens ipsas a spiritu sancto in specie columbae, quae saepe vidente popnlo super eum volabat, se recepisse mentiebatur, in quibus quaedam de utroque testamento inseruit. Nam cum in prima aetate mercimonia exerceret et apud Aegyptum. ot Palaestinam-cum camelis pergeret, cum christianis et Judaeis saepe conversabatur, à quibus tam novum quam vetus didicit testamentum, Unde secundum ritum Judaeorum circumciduntur Saraceni, carnes porcinas non comedunt.
Cujus rationem cum vellet Magumeth assignare, dixit, quod ex fimo cameli porcus post diluvium. fuerit procreatus et ideo tamquam immundus a mundo populo est vitandus, Cum christianis autem conveniunt, quod credunt unum solum Deum omnipotentem omnium creatorem, Asseruit eliam pseudopropheta, vera quaedam falsis immiscens, quod Moyses fait magnus propheta, sed Christus major est, summus. prophetarum- natus ex Maria virgine virtute Dei absque semine hominis, Ait quoque in suo alchorano, quod Christus, dum adhue puer esset, de limo terrae volucres procreavit, sed venenum immiscnit, quia Christum non vere passum nec vere resurrexisse dixit, sed. alium. quendam hominem sibi similem hujusmodi egisse vel passum esse docnit. Quaedam autem matrona, nomine. Cadigan, quae praeerat cuidam provinciae, nomine Corocanica, videns hominem Judaeorum et Saracenorum contubernio vallari, existimabat in illo majestatem divinam latere, et cum esset vidua, ipsum in maritum accepit et sic Magumeth totius illius. provinciae obtinuit principatum, ille autem suis praestigiis non solum praedictam dominam, sed etiam Judaeos et Saracenos demum adeo demntavit, ut se Messiam in lege promissum publice fateretur.
Post hoc vero Magumeth coepit frequenter cadere in epileptica passione. Quod Cadigan cernens plarimum tristabatur eo, quod inpurissimo homini et epileptico nupsisset, Quam ille placare desiderans talibus eam sermonibus demulcebat dicens: Gabrielem archangelum frequenter mecum loquentem contemplor ct non ferens splendorem vultus ejus in me deficio et tabesco. Quod sic esse mnlier et caeteri erediderunt. Alibi tamen legitur, quod fuit quidam monachus, qui Magumethum instruxit, nomine Sergius, qui in errorem Nestorii incidens, dum a monachis fuisset expulsus, in Arabiam venit et Magumetho adhaesit, licet alibi legatur, quod fuit archidiaconus in partibus Antiochiae degens et fuit (ut asserunt) Jacobita, qui circumcisionem praedicant Christumque non Deum, sed hominem tantum justum et sanctum, de spiritu sancto conceptum et de virgine natum affirmant. Quae omnia Saraceni affirmant et credunt. Praedictus igitar Sergius Magumethum de novo et veteri testamento (nt tradunt) plura edocuit. Magumethus enim utroque parente orbatus sub patrui sui cura pueritiae annos agebat multoque tempore cum universa gente sua Arabum ydolorum cultui deservivit, quemadmodum in alchorano suo testatur Deum sibi dixisse: orphanus fuisti et suscepi te, in errore ydololatriae diu mansisti et inde eduxi te, pauper eras et ego locupletavi te, Universa enim gens Arabum cum Magumetho Venerem pro Dea colebat et inde est, quod adhuc sexta feria apud Saracenos in magna veneratione habetur, sicut apud Judaeos sabbatum et apud christianos dies dominica colitur. Magumethus igitur praedictae Cadigan looupletatu divitiis in tantam prorupit mentis audaciam, ut regnum Arabum sibi usurpare cogitaret.
Sed cum videret, se per violentiam hoc assequi non valere, maxime cum a contribulibus suis, qui eo majores fuerant, despiceretur, prophetam se fingere voluit, ut, quos non poterat subjugare per potentiam, saltem per sanctitatem attraheret simulatam, praedictique Sergii viri valde prudentis consiliis adhaerebat. Ipsum enim abscondite manere faciebat et ab eo omnia requirebat et populo referebat ac Gabrielem archangelum eum nominabat, et sic Magumeth totius gentis illius prophetam se simulando obtinuit principatum omnesque sibi sponte vel timore gladii crediderunt; et istud verius est, quam illud, quod dictum est de columba, et sic est tenendum. Praedictus igitur Sergius, cum monachus esset, voluit, ut Saraceni monachali habitu uterentur, scilicet cnenla sine capucio, el ut instar monachorum multas et ordinatas genuflexiones facerent et ordinate valde orarent, et qnia Judaei versus occidentem et christiani versus orientem orabant, voluit, ut sui versus meridiem orarent. Quae omnia adhuc Saraceni observant. Multas autem leges Magumethus promulgavit, quas praedictus Sergius eum docuit, quarum multas de Mosayca lege accepit. Saepe namque Saraceni se lavant et maxime, cum orare debent,verenda sua, manus, brachia, faciem et os ect omnia membra corporis abluunt, ut mundius orare possint. Orantes antem unum confitentur Deum, qui nullum aequalem vel similem habeat, ejusdemque Magumethum prophetam, In anno quoque integrum mensem jejunant, jejunantes autem nocturno tempore comedunt, diurno vero jejunant, ita ut ab ea hora diei, qua nigrum ab albo distinguere possunt, usque ad solis occasum comedere vel bibere aut se uxoris commixtione foedare nemo audeat. Post solis occubitum usque ad sequentis diei crepusculum semper licet iis cibo et potu et propriis uxoribus uli, infirmi antem ad hoe non obligantur, Semel autem per singulos.
annos. causa recognitionis ad domum Dei, quae est in. Mecha, ire praecipinntur et ibi adorare eamque inconsutilibus tegumentis circuire et lapides per mediaforamina pro dyabolo lapidando jactare; quam. domam dicunt Adam construxisse omnibusque filiis. ejus et Abraham. et Ismaeli loeum orationis fuisse, demum Magumethum eam domum sibi cunctisque gentibus suis tradidisse affirmant. Omnes carnes practer porcinas, sanguinem et morticinum comedere possunt. Quatuor legitimas uxores insimul habere iis licet et.
quamlibet usque tertio repudiare et rursus recipere, ita tamen, ut quaternarium numcrum non transscendant. Emtitias vero atque caplivas, quot volunt, habere licitum est et eas vendere possunt, cum velint, nisi earam aliquam impraegnassent. Conceditur iis de propria cognatione habere uxores, ut sanguinis proles accreseat et. fortius. inter eos amicitiae vinenlum astringatur. Circa possessiones repetendas observant, ut actor testibus probet et reus juramento se comprohet innocentem, Gum adultera deprehensus eum ea pariter lapidatur, cum alia autem fornicatus octoginta verberibus plectitur, - Magumethás tamen dixit sibi a domino angelo Gabriele nuntiante fuisse concessum, quod ad aliorum uxores accedere posset, ut viros virtutis et prophetas generaret. Quidam autem servus ejas, cum pulchram nxorem haberet el sibi, ne cum domino suo loqueretar, interdixisset, quadam die ipsam cum co loquentem invenit et prolinus eam a se rejecit. Quam Magumeth recipiens inter alias snas mulieres connumeravit, timens vero ex hoo murmur popnli ‘chartam de coelo sibi delatam confinxit, qua continebatur, quod, si aliquis uxorem repudiaret, ejus esset uxor, qui eam suscepisset, quod Saraceni usque hodie pro lege observant.
Fur prima et secunda vice verberibus plectitur, tertia manus ei praeciditur, quarta pedis truncatione punitur. A vino semper abstinere jubentur. Servantibus haec et alia mandata promisit Deus, ut asserunt, paradisum, id est hortum deliciarum aquis praeterfluentibus irrigatum, in quo sedes habebunt perpetuas nec frigore aut aestu aliquo affligentnr, omnibus ciborum generibus vescentur, quidquid autem petierint, coram iis statim invenient, sericis vestimentis omnicoloribus indmentur et virginibus speciosissimis conjugentur, in deliciis omnibus accubabunt. . Quibns angeli pincernarum more cum vasis aureis et argenteis deambnlabunt, in aureis làc, in argenteis vinum afferentes et dicentes: comedite et bibite in laetitia. Tria flumina, scilicet laetis, mellis et vini optimi aromatici eos habere dicit Magumethus in paradiso, et quod angelos pulcherrimos sunt visuri et adeo magnos, quod ab uno oculo angeli usque ad alium sit spatium unius diei. Non credentibus vero Deo nec Magumetho erit, ut asserunt, infernalis poena sine fine. Quibuscunque autem peccatis quilibet obligatus fuerit, si in die mortis Deo et Magumetho credidit, in die judicii Magumetho interveniente, ut asserunt, salvus erit.
Hunc pseudoprophetam Saraceni tenebris involuti spiritum prophetiae super omnes habuisse affirmant et decem angelos sibi faventes et eum custodientes eum habuisse praedicant, Addunt quoque, quod, antequam Deus coelum et terram creasset, nomen Magumethi in conspectu Dei adstabat et nisi ipse Magumethus futurus fnisset, nec coelum nec terra nec paradisus fuisset. Mentiantur quoque de eo, quod luna ad eum accessit, quam ille in sinu recipiens in partes duas divisit et iternm conjunxit. Venenum insuper sibi in carne agnina oblatam luisse dicunt. Agnus autem ei locutus est dicens: cave, ne me sumas, quia in me habeo venenum. Et tamen post plures annos veneno sihi dato interiit,
Sed jam nune ad Longobardorum hystoriam prosequendam stylus se verlat. Longobardi igitur Romano imperio plurimum molesti erant, licet fidem Christi recepissent. Post hoc antem Pipinus princeps major regiae domus Francorum defunctus est, cni successit Carolus filius ejus, qui Tutides appellabatur, qui multas victorias faciens reliquit duos cjusdem aulae regiae principes, scilicet Carolum et Pipinum, Sed Carolus magnus relicta saeculi pompa Casinensis monachus est effectus, Pipinus autem aulam regiam strenue gubernabat. Sed cum Childericus rex esset inutilis et remissus, consuluit Pipinus Zachariam papam, an ille deberet esse rex, qui solo nomine regio erat contentus. Qui papa respondit, illum debere regem vocari, qni bene rempublicam gereret. Qua responsione Franci animati Childericum in monasterio recluserunt et Pipinum regem creaverunt, circa annos domini quingentesimo ducentesimo quadragesimo. Verum cum Arstulphas rex Longobardorum ecclesiam Romanam suis possessionibus et dominio spoliasset, Stephanus papa, qui Zachariae successerat, ad Pipinum regem Franciae contra Longobardos auxilium petiturus accessit, Pipinus autem copiosum exercitum congregans in Italiam venit et Arstulphum regem obsedit, a quo quadraginta obsides accepit, ut ecclesiae Romanae omnia praedia, quae abstulerat, redderet et ipsam amplius non inquietaret. Sed recedente Pipino Arstulphus totum, quod promiserat, irritum fecit, qui tamen post modicum, dum venatum pergeret, subito exspiravit et Desiderius eidem successit, Per idem tempus, dum Theodericus rex Gothorum jussu imperatoris Italiam regeret et Ariana haeresi depravatus esset et Boethius philosophus consularis patricius cum Symmacho patricio, cujus gener erat, rempublicam illustraret et auctoritatem Romani senatus contra Theodericum defensaret, idem Theodericus Boethium Papiae in exsilium trusit, ubi librum de consolatione comflosuit, 'et tandem eum exstinxit, Ejus uxor, Elpes nomine, hymnum apostolorum Petri et Pauli, qui sic incipit: felix per omnes festum mundi cardines, edidisse fertur.
Epitaphinm quoque sunm ipsa composuit ita dicens: Elpes dicta fui, Siciliae regionis alumna, Quam procul a patria conjugis egit amor; Theodericus autem subito defunctus a quodam sancto eremita visus est a Johanne papa et Symmacho, quos ipse occiderat, nudus et discalceatus in ollam Vulcani demergi, sicut ait Gregorius in dyalogo.
Circa annum domini DCLXXVII Dagobertns rex Francorum, ut in quadam chronica habetur, qui longe ante Pipinum regnaverat, a sui pueritia sanctum Dionysium in magna veneratione habere coepit, nam et, quando Lotharii patris sui iram metuebat, ad ecclesiam sancti Dionysii confugiebat. Cum ergo factus jam rex mortuus fuissct, cuidam sancto viro in visione monstratum est, quod anima ejus ad judicium rapta fuit et multi sancti suarum ecclesiarum exspoliationeim objiciebant eidem. Cum ergo mali angeli jam ad poenas rapere eam vellent, affuit beatus Dionysius et ejus interventu liberatus est et poenam evasit, Forte enim ejus anima ad corpus rediit el ibi poenitentiam egit. Clodoveus rex corpus sancti Dionysii minus religiose discooperiens os brachii ejus fregit et cupide rapuit, qui mox in amentiam versus est.
Circa annum domini DCLXXXVIL Beda Venerabilis presbiter et monachus in Anglia claruit, qui, licet in catalogo sanctorum computetur, tamen ab ecclesia non sanctus, sed venerabilis appellatur, et hoc duplici de causa, Prima est, quia, cum prae nimia senectute ejus oculi caligassent, habebat, ut ajunt, quendam ductorem, à quo per villas et castella se duci faciebat et ubique verbum domini praedicabat. Quadam vice, dum per quandam vallem magnis lapidibus plenam transirent, ejus discipulus derisionis causa eidem dixit, quod ibi esset magnus populus congregatus, qui ejus praedicationem silenter et avide exspectaret, Tunc ille ferventer praedicare incipiens, cum in fine per omnia secula seculorum conclusisset, mox, ut ajunt, alta voce clamaverunt: amen, venerabilis pater, Quia igitur venerabilem eum miraculose lapides vocavernnt, ideo venerabilis pater appellatur, vel, ut alii asserunt, ei angeli responderunt : bene, venerabilis pater, dixisti. Secunda causa est, quia post ejus mortem quidam clericus sibi devotus quendam versum edere cupiebat, quem in ejus tumulum facere sculpi volebat, ita incipiens: hae sunt in fossa, volens versum taliter terminare: Bedae sancti ossa. Sed quia talem finem versus congruitas non patiebatur et sedula mente revolveret nec congruum finem videret, dum quadam nocte multum super hoc cogitans mane ad tumulum properasset, manibus angelicis versum taliter sculptum reperit et finitum: hac sunt in fossa Bedae venerabilis ossa. In die antem ascensionis cum morti appropinquaret, ad altare se portari faciens: amen, o rex gloriae virtutum, usque ad finem devote dixit, qna finita in pace dormivit lantusque odor omnes perfudit, ut in paradiso se existimarent. Ejus corpus cum devotione congrua colitur apud Januam. Per idem tempus, scilicet circa annum domini DCG Rachordus rex Frixonum, cum baptizari deberet et jam unum pedem in lavacro intinxisset, alterum retrahens interrogavit, ubinam plures majorum suorum essent, in inferno an in paradiso, et audiens plures esse in inferno, intinctum pedem retrahens: sanctius est, inquit, plures quam pauciores sequi, et ita ludificatas a daemone promittente, quod tertia die abhinc incomparabilia bona sibi daret, ipse quarta die subita et aeterna morte periit, In Campania Italiae frumentum et hordeum et legumina instar pluviae de coelo cecidisse referlur. Per idem tempus, scilicet circa annum domini DCCXL, cum corpus sancti Benedicti de monte Cassino ad monasterium Floriacense et corpus sanctae Scholasticae sororis ejus apud Ceromanas fuisset translatum, Carolus monachus Cassinensis corpus sancti Benedicti ad castrum Cassinum transferre volebat, sed miraculis a Deo ostensis et Francis resistentibus prohibitus fuit, Eo tempore circa annum domini septingentesimum quadragesimum terrae motus magunus factus est, quo urbes aliae sunt subversae, aliae a montanis ad subjecta campestria cum muris et habitatoribus suis integre et salve ultra sex milliaria transmigrarunt, nt dicitur.
Corpus sanctae Petronellae Petri apostoli filiae transfertur, in eujus sepulchro marmoreo ipsias Petri manu scriptam legebatur: aureae Petronellae dilectissimae filiae. Haec ait Sigebertus. Eo tempore Tyrii Armeniam infestant, in quorum patria cum olim pestilentia fuisset, suasu christianorum in modum crucis sua capita totonderunt, et quia per hoc signum salus reddita est, hunc tondendi retinuerunt ritum. Pipino tandem post multos triumphos defuncto Carolus Magnus ejus filius eidem in regnum successit, cujus tempore in Romana sede Adrianus pontifex praesidebat, qui ad Carolum Magnum legatos misit postulans ab eo anxilium contra Desiderium regem Longobardorum, qui more patris sui Arstulphi ecclesiam plurimum infestabat. Cui Carolus obediens magno congregato exercita per montem Senisium Italiam intravit et Papiam civitatem regiam potenter obsedit et ibi Desiderium capiens cum uxore, filiis et principibus ad Gallias in exsilium misit et omnia jura ecclesiae, quae Longobardi abstulerant, sibi restituit. Erant tunc in exercitu Caroli Amicus et Amelius strenuissimi milites Christi, quorum miri actus leguntur, qui apud Mortariam, ubi Longobardos Carolus superavit, ceciderunt, et hic terminatum est regnum Longobardorum, nam deinceps illum regem habebant, quem Caesares sibi dabant, Proficiscente Carolo Romam papa synodum CLIV episcoporum congregavit, in qua synodo papa jus eligendi pontificem Romanum et ordinandi apostolicam sedem Carolo dedit, archiepiscopos quoque et episcopos per singulas provincias ante consecrationem ab ipso investituram accipere definivit, filii quoque ejus Romae in reges unguntur, scilicet. Pipinus super Italiam, Ludovicus super Aquitaniam. Alcuinus magister Caroli tunc florebat.
Pipinus Caroli filius de conjuratione contra patrem convictus in monachum tonsuratur, Circa annum. domini DCCLXXX, tempore scilicet Irenae imperatricis et filii sui nomine Constantini, homo quidam in longis muris Thraciae fodiens, sicut in" quadam chronica legitur, invenit archam lapideam. Quam cum expurgasset et revelasset, virum jacentem ibi reperit et litteras taliter continentes: Christus nascetur ex Maria virgine et credo in: eum, sub Constantino et Irene imperatoribus o sol iterum me videbis, Defuncto Adriano Leo in Romanam sedem sublimatus est, vir per omnia reverendus, cujus sublimationem propinqui Adriani aegre ferentes, cum litanias majores ageret, contra eum populo concitato ei oculos eruerunt et linguam praeciderunt. Sed Deus miraculose lingnam sibi et visum restituit, qui dum ad Carolum confugisset, ipse enm in sede sua collocavit et reos punivit, Romani igitur suadente papa anno domini DCCLXXXIV relicto imperio Constantinopolitano, uno omnium consensu imperatorias laudes Carolo acclamant, eumque per manum Leonis imperatorem coronant Caesarem et Augustum appellant. Post Constantinufi enim Magnum imperialis sedes apud Constantinopolim habebatur pro eo, quod praedictus Constantinus Romanam sedem vicariis beati Petri reliquit et apud praedictam urbem sedem sibi ordinavit. Verumtamen propter dignitatem imperatores Romani nuncupati sunt usque ad illud tempus, quo imperium Romanum ad reges Francorum translatum est. Postea vero illi Graecorum sive Constantinopolitani, isti vero Romanorum imperatores vocati sunt. Hoc antem de tanto imperatore valde mirabile fnit, quod nullam filiarum snarum, quamdiu vixit, voluit conjugio copulare.
Dicebat enim se earum contubernio non posse carere et, ut Alcuinus ejus magister de co scribit, licet alias felix esset, in hoc adversae fortunae malignitatem expertus est salis declarans, quid super hoc dicere vellet, Quod tamen 93 ita imperator dissimulavit, ac si de eo nulla suspicio haberelur, quamvis. de hoc multus sermo fieret. Unde et, quocumque ibat, semper eas secum ducebat. Hujus Caroli tempore officium Ambrosianum maxime dimissum est et Gregorianum sollemniter divulgatum, imperiali auctoritate ad hoc plurimum adjuvante. Ambrosius namque, ut testatur Augustinus in libro confessionum, cum a Justina imperatrice, Ariana perfidia depravata, persecutionem pateretur et intra ecclesiam eum plebe catholica insidiis urgeretur, instituit hymnos et psalmos, sed more orientalium, decantari, ne populus moeroris taedio contabesceret. Quod per omnes fuit postmodum ecclesias derivatum, Verum (Gregorius postmodum superveniens plura mutavit, addidit et detruncavit, Sancti enim patres non statim omnia ad decorem officii pertinentia videre potuerunt, sed diversi diversa ordinaverunt. Nam et missae inceptio tres varietates habet, olim enim a lectione inchoabatnr, sicut adhuc in sabbato sancto fit, Postmodum Coclestinus papa psalmos ad introitum missae cantari instituit, Gregorius vero introitum missae cum cantu ordinavit et unum versum de illo psalmo, qui totus cantabalur, retinuit. Psalmos olim circa aram in modum coronae circumstantes concorditer concinebant et inde chorus dicitur, sed Flavianus et Theodorus, quod alternatim cantarentar, instituerunt, ab Ignatio hoc habentes, qui super hoc divinitus fuit edoctus.
Hieronymus quoque psalmos, epistolas, evangelia et ex magna parte officia diurna et nocturna praeter cantum ordinavit, Ambrosius, Gelasius et Gregorius orationes et cantus addiderunt et cum lectionibus et cum evangeliis coaptaverunt; gradualia, tractus et alleluja Ambrosius et Gelasius et Gregorius ad missam cantari instituerunt; Hilarius vel secundum quosdam Symmachus papa vel secundum alios Telesphorus papa addidit ad gloria in excelsis: laudamus te, et caetera, quae sequuntur. Nocherus abbas sancti Galli - sequentias pro neumis ipsius alleluja primus composuit, sed Nicolaus papa ad missas eas cantari concessit, Hermannus Contractus Teutonicus fecit: rex omnipotens, sancli spiritus assit nobis gratia, ave Maria, et antiphonam: alma redemtoris mater et Symon baryona. Petrus vero de Compostella episcopus fecit: salve regina. Sigibertus tamen dicit, quod Robertus rex Francorum fecit sequentiam: sancti spiritus nobis assit gratia etc. Carolus (ut refert Turpinus archiepiscopus) erat corpore decorus, sed visu ferus, statura ejus pedum octo et facies ejus palmam et dimidium in longitudine possidebat, barba vero palmam, frons erat unius pedis, militem super equum armatum sedentem a vertice simul cum equo uno ictu cum spatha scindebat, quatuor ferraturas equorum simul facile manibus extendebat. Militem armatum recte stantem super mamum suam a terra usque ad caput suüm sola mann velociter elevabat, leporem integrum aut duas gallinas vel anserem edebat, modicum vinum et lymphatum bibebat, tam parcus in bibendo erat, quod semper in coena raro plus quam ter bibere solebat. Coenobia multa construxit ac laudabiliter vitam finivit et in fine rerum suarum Christum haeredem fecit, Cui in imperium successit Ludovicus ejus filius vir clementissimus circa annos domini DCCCXV, cujus tempore episcopi et clerici cingula auro texta et exquisitas vestes et alia ornamenta secularia deposuerunt. Theodulphus Aurelianensis episcopus falso apud imperatorem accusatus ab codem est custodiae Andegavis mancipatus.
Cum autem (ut in quadam chronica habetur) in die palmarum processio juxta domum, in qua custodiebatur, transiret, ille aperta fenestra factoque silentio pulcherrimos illos versus a se editos, scilicet: gloria, laus et honor tibi sit rex Christe redemtor etc. praesente imperatore cantavit, qui in tantum imperatori placuerunt, quod ipsum a vinculis mox absolvit et in suam sedem restituit. Legati Michaelis imperatoris Constantinopolitani inter caetera munera detulerunt Ludovico filio Caroli Magui libros Dionysii de hierarchia de graeco in latinum translatos, qui cum gaudio sunt recepti, et XIX infirmi in ipsa nocte in ecclesia ejus sunt curati. Mortuo Ludovico Lotharius imperium tenuit, cui fratres ejus, scilicet Carolus et Ludovicus, bellum indicentes, tanta utrimque facta est strages, ut nulla aetas' meminerit tantam aliquando fuisse in regno Francorum. Tandem pacto inito Carolus regnat in Francia, Ludovicus in Germania, Lotharius in Italia et parte Franciae, quae ab ipso Lotharingia dicta est. Qui postmodum Ludovico ejus filio imperium derelinquens habitum monachalem accepit. Hujus tempore, ut in alia quadam chronica dicitur, erat papa Sergius natus Romanus, qui primo os porci dictus est, sed mulato nomine vocatus est Sergius. Ab illo tempore ordinatum est, ut omnes papae nomina mutent, tum quia dominus his, quos im apostolatum elegit, nomen mulavit, tum quia sicut mutantur in nomine, sie mutari debent in vitae perfectione, tum ne ille, qui ad tam decorum officium eligitur, aliquo nomine indecoro turpetur.
Hujus Ludovici tempore, scilicet anno domini DCGCLVI, ut in chronica quadam habetur, in parochia Moguntina malignus spiritus parietes domorum quasi malleis pulsando et manifeste loquendo et discordias seminando adeo homines infestabat, ut, quocumque intrasset, statim illa domus exarebatur, Presbiteris antem litanias agentibns et aquam benedictam spargentibus inimicus lapides jactabat et multos cruentabat. Tandem aliquando conquiescens confessus est se, quando aqua spargebalur, sub cappa talis sacerdotis quasi familiaris sui latuisse, accusans eum, quod cum filia procuratoris in peccatum lapsus fuerit, Per idem tempus rex Bulgarorum cum gente sua ad fidem conversus tantae perfectionis fuit, ut majore filio in regnum ordinato ipse habitum monachalem accepit, sed cum ejus filius juveniliter agens ad gentilitatis cultum redire vellet, resumta militia persecutus ipsum cepit effossisque oculis in carcerem trusit et in regnum statuto filio juniore habitum sacrum resumsit, In ltalia apud Brixiam tribus diebus et tribus noctibus sanguis de coelo pluisse narratur. Per idem tempus locustae innumerabiles in Galliis apparuerunt, senas habentes alas, sex pedes, duos dentes lapidibus duriores, ut castrorum acies turmatim volantes spatium diurni itineris quatuor aut quinque milliaribus extendentes, omnia viridia in herbis et arboribus vastantes, quae usque ad mare Britannicum pervenientes tandem flatu ventorum in profundo maris demersae sunt, sed aestu Oceani ad littus rejectae ex putredine sua aérem corruperunt. Unde mortalitas maxima et fames praevalida est secuta, ut fere tertia pars hominum interiret, Denique primus Otto imperavit, scilicet anno domini DCCCCXXXVIII. Dum autem in paschali sollemnitate dictus Otto principibus convivium praeparasset, antequam sederent, cujusdam principis filins more puerili ferculum de mensa accepit, quem dapifer fuste prostravit. Quod cernens paedagozus pueri ipsum dapifernm mox peremit, Quem cum sine audientia Caesar condemnare, vellet, ille Caesarem ad terram dejecit et sufTocare-eoepit, qui, cum de ejus manibus vix erutus fuisset, ipsum reservari jussit, se culpabilem clamans, quod festo honorem non detulit. Unde ipsum libere abire permisit. Ottoni primo successit Otto secundus.
Hic, dum Italici pacem saepe violarent, Romam venit et omnibus proceribus, magnatibus et pontificibus apud gradum ecclesiae convivium grande fecit, Quibus epulantibus latenter omnes cingi fecit armatis, deinde de violata pace querimoniam movens jubet in scriptis culpabiles recifari, quos statim ibidem decollari fecit, alios vero epulari satagebat, Huic successit Otto terlias circa annum domini DCCCCLXXXIV. Iste cognominabatur mirabilia mundi. Hic, nt in quadam chronica dicitur, quandam uxorem habuit,quae cuidam comiti se proStituere voluit, Sed cum ille nollet tantum facinus perpetrare, illa indignata praedictum comitem apud imperatorem adeo infamavit, quod eum imperator sine audientia decollari fecit. Qui, antequam decollaretur, rogavit uxorem suam, ut judicio candentis ferri post mortem eum comprobet innocentem. Adest dies, in quo Caesar pupillis et viduis se asserit judicium facturum, affuit et vidua mariti caput secum suis portans in ulnis, Tunc quaesivit ab imperafore, qua morte dignus esset, qui injuste aliquem occidisset. Qui um privatione capitis dignum eum assereret, illa intulit dicens: ta es ille vir, qui maritum meum ad suggestionem uxoris tuae innocenter occidi mandasli, et nt me verum dicere comprobes, hoc candentis ferri judicio comprobabo. Quod Caesar videns obstupuit et in manu feminae puniendam se dedit, Interventu tamen pontificum et procerum inducias decem diernm, deinde octo, tertio septem, quarto sex a vidua accepit, Tunc imperator causa examinata, veritate cognita uxorem vivam coneremavit et pro redemtione sui quatuor castra viduae dedit, Quae castra sunt in episcopatuLeviensi et vocantur ab induciis dierum X, VIH, VII, VI. Post hunc beatus Heinricus, qui fait dux Bavariae, anno domini MII imperium sumsit.
Qui Stephano regi Ungariae adhuc gentili sororem suam nomine Galam in uxorem dedit et tam. ipsum regem quam totam ejus gentem ad fidem Christi convertit. Qui Stephanus tantae religionis fuit, ut multorum miraculorum gloria Deus ipsum illustrem redderet. Hic Heinricus et uxor ejus Cunegundis virgines permanserunt et caelibem vitam ducentes in pace quieverunt, Huic successit Conradus quidam dux Francorum, qui neptem sancti Heinrici duxit uxorem. Hujus tempore visa est in coelo trabs ignea mirae magnitudinis super solem jam ad occasum vergentem currere et ad terram cadere. Hic quosdam episcopos de Italia in vincula conjecit et quia Mediolanensis archiepiscopus de vinculis fagit, suburbia Mediolani incendit. Die vero pentecostes, cum imperator in parva ecclesia secus urbem coronaretur, ad missam tam gravia tonilrua fulguraque fuerunt, ut aliqui mente exciderent, aliqui spiritum exhalarent. Bruno vero episcopus, qui missam cantabat, et secretarius imperatoris cum aliis dixerunt, se inter missarum sollemnia vidisse sanctum Ambrosium imperatori comminantem Hujus Conradi tempore, scilicet anno domini MXXV comes Lupoldus, ut in quadam chronica dicitur, iram regis metuens cum uxore sua in insulam fugiens in quodam tugurio latitabant, In qua sylva dum Caesar venaretur, nocte superveniente in eodem tugurio ipsum oportuit hospitare.
Cui hospita praegnans vicinaque partui decenter, ut potnit, stravit et necessaria ministravit. Eadem nocte mulier filinm peperit et vocem tertio ad se venientem Caesar audivit: Conrade, hic puer modo progenitus gener tuus erit, Mane ille surgens duos armigeros sibi secretarios ad se vocavit dicens: ite et puerulum illum de manibus matris violenter auferte et ipsum per medinm scindentes or ejus mihi portate. Conciti illi euntes de gremio matris puerum rapuerunt, Quem videntes elegantissimae formae misericordia commoti ipsum super quandam arborem, ne a feris devoraretnr, reposuerunt, et leporem scindentes cor ejus Caesari detulerunt. Eodem-die dum quidam dux inde transiret et puerum vagientem audiret, eum ad se duci fecit et, dum filium non haberet, uxori attulit, et nutriri eum faciens a se de uxore sua genitum esse finxit et Heinricum vocavit. Cum igitur jam crevisset, erat corpore pulcherrimus, ore facundus et omnibus gratiosns. Quem Caesar tam decorum et prudentem videns a patre ipsum petiit et in curia sna manere fecit, sed cum videret puerum omnibus gratiosum et ab omnibus commendari, dubitare coepit, ne post se regnaret et ne iste sit ille, quem occidi mandaverat. Volens igitur esse securus litteras manibus suis scriptas per eum uxori dirigit in hunc modam: in quantum est tibi cara vita tua, mox, ut litteras istas receperis, puerum hunc necabis. Dum igitur pergens in quadam ecclesia hospitatus fuisset et fessus super bancum quiesceret et bursa, in qua erant litterae, dependeret, -sacerdos curiositate ductus’ bursam aperuit et literas sigillo regis munitas videns ipsas salvo sigillo aperuit et legens scelus abhorruit et radens subtiliter, quod dicebatur: istum necabis, scripsit: filiam nostram isti in uxorem dabis, Cumque regina litteras sigillo imperatoris munitas videret et de manu imperatoris scriptas esse cognosceret, convocalis principibus celebravit nuptias et filiam suam eidem in uxorem dedit.
Quae nnptiae Aquisgrani celebratae sunt. Cum autem Caesari a dicentibus narraretur, quod sollemniter fuissent filiae suae nuptiae celebratae, ille obstupefactus a duobus armigeris et duce et sacerdote veritate comperta Dei ordinationi resistendum non esse vidit et ideo pro puero mittens enm esse snum generum approbavit et post se regnare instituit. n loco autem, ubi puer Heinricus natus fuit, nobile monasterium aedificatum est, quod usque hodie Ursania nominata est, Iste Heinricus omnes joulatores a curia sua removit et quae his dare consueverat, panperibus erogabat. Hujus tempore tantum schisma in ecclesia fuit, ut tres in summos pontifices electi essent. A quodam tamen presbitero, nomine Gratiano, magna illis data pecunia eidem cesserunt et ipse papatum obtinuit. At Heinricus dum pro sedando schismate Romam pergeret, Gratianus ei obvians auream coronam sibi obtulit, ut propitium sibi haberet, Jlle autem cuncta dissimulans synodo convocata Gratianum de simonia convicit et alium subrogavit. In libro tamenBonizi, quem misit ad comitissamMechtildim, dicitur, quod, cum presbiter simplicitate ductus pontificatum sibi per pecuniam acquisierit, ut schismati obviaret, ipse postmodum errorem sunm cognoscens se ipsum suadente imperatore deposuit, Post hunc Heinricum tertius Heinricus imperat. Hujus tempore Bruno in papam eligitur et Leo vocatur, qui, dum ad capessendam sedem apostolicam Romam pergeret, audivit voces angelorum canentium: dicit dominus, ego cogito cogitationes pacis etc, Hic de multis sanctis cantus composuit.
Hoc tempore per Berengarium turbata fuit ecclesia, qui asserebat corpus et sanguinem Christi non vere, sed figurative esse in altari, Contra quem scripsit egregie Lanfrancus prior Betensis natione Papiensis, qui fuit magister Anselmi Cantuariensis. Deinde quartus Heinricus imperat anno domini MLVII, cujus tempore maxime floruit Lanfrancus. Ad cujas eximiam doctrinam convolavit de Burgundia Anselmus vir postmodum malta virtute et sapientia adornatus, et ei in prioratu monasterii Betensis successit. Sub hoc tempore Jerusalem a Saracenis capta a fidelibus recuperata est. Ossa beali Nicolai apud Barensem urbem translata sunt. De quo inter caetera legitur, quod, dum in quadam ecclesia, quae dicitur sancta crux, subjecta sanctae Mariae de caritate nondum beati Nicolai nova hystoria cantaretur, fratres priorem, ut eam sibi cantare liceret, instantius exorabant. Qui nullatenus acquiescens dixit, incongruum esse, morem pristinum de novitatibus immutare. Cum adhuc fratres instarent, ille indignatus respondit: recedite, fratres, nunquam a me licentia concedetur, ut nova cantica, imo joculatoria quaedam in mea ecclesia decantentur.
Adveniente vero festivitate ejusdem fratres cum quadam tristitia matutinarum - vigilias perezerunt, cumque omnes se in lectis recepissent, ecce Nicolaus priori visibiliter apparuit terribilis, quém per capillos a lecto abstrahens dormitorii pavimento collisit incipiensque antiphonam: o pastor aeterne, per singulas vocum differentias virgis, quas in manu tenebat, gravissimos ictus super dorsum prioris ingeminans per ordinem morose canendo antiphonam ad finem usque perduxit, Qui cum omnes suis clamoribus excitasset, semivivus ad lectum deporlatur. Tandem ad se rediens ait: ite et hystoriam novam sancti Nicolai amodo decantate, Hoc tempore ex Molinensi coenobio XXI monachi eum abbate suo Roberto Cistercii solitadinem adeuntes, ut ibi regulae suae professionem districtius observarent, novam ordinem ex veteri instituerunt. Hildebrandus prior Cluniacensis factus papa Gregorius est vocatus. Hic, dum in minoribus constitutis legatione fungeretur, apud Lugdunum archiepiscopum )Ebronensem de simonia convieit miraculosa. Nam dum idem archiepiscopus omnes accusatores suos corrumperet et convinci non posset, legatus, ut: gloria patri et filio et spiritui sancto diceret, imperavit. INe: gloria patri et filio, expedite dicebat, spiritui sancto vero dicere non poterat, quippe quia in spiritum sanctum peccaverat. Qui peccatum saum confitens mox, ut depositus est, clara voce spiritum sanctum nominavit, Hoc miraculum recitat Bonizo in libro ad comíitissam Mechtildim. : Mortuo Heinrico quarto Spirae et eum aliis regibus sepulto in ejus epitaphio versus iste fuit inscriptus: filius hic, pater hie, avas hic, proavus jacet istic, Huic successit Heinricus quintus anno domini MCVII, qui papam cum cardinalibus cepit et eos dimittens investituram episcoporum et abbatum per annulum et baculum pastoralem accepit Sub hoc tempore Bernardus eum fratribus suis Cistercium ingreditur.
In parochia Legiensi porca porcellum faciem hominis habentem enixa est; pullus gallinae quadrupes natus est. Lotharius successit Heinrico, cnjus tempore mulier quaedam in Hispania monstrum bis gemini corporis enixa est aversis vultibus etcorporibus sibi cohaerens. Ante quidem effigies erat hominis integro corporis membrorumque ordine distincta, retro vero facies canis, corporis et membrorum proprietate integra.
Post hunc regnavit Conradus anno domini MCXXXVIII. Eo tempore Hugo de sancto Victore doctor excellentissimus: et in omni scientia summus et rcligione devotus obiit. De qno referunt, quod, cum infirmitate ultima laboraret et nullum cibum retinere posset, corpus tamen dominicum sibi dari cum multa instantia postulabat, Tune fratres: ejus turbationem sedare volentes simplicem hostiam instar corporis dominici sibi detulerunt, Qaod ille per spiritum recognoscens ait: miserealur vestri dominus, fratres, cur me deludere voluistis? Iste enim non est dominus meus, queih deportastis. Mox illi stupefacti cucurrerunt et sibi corpus domini detulerunt, sed ille videns, quod recipere non valeret, elevatis in coelum manibus sic oravit: adscendat filins ad patrem et spiritus ad Deum suum, qui fecit illum. Et inter haec verba spiritum exhalavit et corpus domini ibidem disparuit. Eugenius abbas sancti Anastasii papa constituitur, qui ab urbe expulsus eo, quod senatores alium creaverant, in Gallias venit et Bernardum ante se misit, qui viam domini praedicabat et multa miracula faciebat. Gilbertus Porretanus florebat.
Fridericus nepos Conradi imperavit anno domini MCLIV. Eo tempore floruit magister Petrus Lombardus episcopus Parisiensis, qui librum sententiarum, glossam psalterii et epistolarum Pauli utiliter compilavit. Eo tempore tres lunae in coelo visae sunt et in medio signum crucis nec multo post visi sunt tres soles. Tunc Alexander in papam canonice est electus, contra quem Octavianus Johannes Cremensis tituli sancti Calixti et Johannes Strumensis successive in papam eliguntur et favore imperatoris fulciuntur, Duravit hoc schisma annis XVIII, infra quod tempus Teutonici, qui apud Tusculanum pro imperatore morabantur, Romanos apud montem Portum invadunt et tot a nona usque ad vesperas occiderunt, ut nunquam ex Romanis tot millia sint occisa, licet tempore Hannibalis iot occisi sint, ut tres cophinos annulorum, quos de digitis procerum occisorumidem Hannibal extrahi fecerat, Carthaginem destinaverit. Quorum multi apud sanctum Stephanum et sanctum Laurentium sepulti sunt et habent hoc epitaphium: mille decem decies sex decies quoque seni. Imperator Fridericus, dum terram sanctam visitasset et in flumine quodam lavaretur, ibidem necalus periit, vel nt alii asserunt, equo suo impingente in aquam cecidit ibique interiit. Huic successit Heinricus filius ejus anno domini MCXC.
Eo tempore tantae pluviae cum tonitruis et fulminibus et tempestatibus factae sunt, quantas nulla meminit hominum antiquitas, Lapides enim in quantitate ovorum quadranguli mixti cum pluvia de coelo cadentes arbores, vineas et segetes destruxerunt et multos homines occiderunt. Corvi quoque et quamplures aves per aéra in hac tempestate volantes visi sunt carbones vivos in rostris portare et domos incendere, Contra Romanam ecclesiam semper tyrannidem Heinricus exercuit et ideo eo mortuo Innocentius tertius, ne frater ejus Philippus promoveretur, se opposuit et Ottoni filio ducis Saxoniae adhaesit et eum Aquisgrani in regem Alemanniae coronari fecit. Eo tempore, dum plures barones Franciae pro liberatione terrae sanctae ultra mare pergerent, Constantinopolim ceperunt, His temporibus ordines praedicatorum et omnium fratrum orti sunt, Innocentius quartus legatos ad Philippum regem Francorum misit, ut terram Albigensium invaderet et haereticos deleret, qui omnes capiens eoncremari fecit, Denique Innocentius Ottonem imperatorem coronavit et, ut jura ecclesiae salvaret, ab eo juramentum exegit, qui statim ipso die contra juramentum fecit et Romipetas exspoliari jussit, Unde papa eum excommunicavit et ab imperio deposuit. Eo tempore fuit sancta Elizabeth filia regis Ungariae, quae fuit uxor landgravii Thuringiae, quae inter alia innumera miracula plures, id est, XVI mortuos, nt scribitur, suscitavit et caecum natum illnminavit, de cujus corpore usque hodie oleum fluere perhibetur. Ottone deposito Fridericus, Heinrici filins, eligitur et ab Honorio coronatur. Leges optimas pro libertate ecclesiae et contra haereticos edidit, Hic super omnes divitiis et gloria abundavit, sed iis in superbia abusus fuit, nam tyrannidem contra ecclesiam exercuit, duos cardinales vinculavit, praelatos, quos Gregorius IX. ad concilium convocaverat, capi fecil et ideo ab ipso excommnunicatur. Denique Gregorius multis tribulationibus pressus moritur et Innocentius quartus nátióne Januensis concilium apud Lugdunum Convocans ipsum imperatorem deposuit, Quo deposito et defuncto sedes imperii usque hodie vacat,
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