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Title: The Legendary History of the Cross

Illustrator: active 1473-1486 Johann Veldener

Author of introduction, etc.: S. Baring-Gould

Contributor: William Caxton
        de Voragine Jacobus

Editor: John Ashton

Release date: September 7, 2014 [eBook #46800]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed
        Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
        produced from images generously made available by The
        Internet Archive)


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEGENDARY HISTORY OF THE CROSS ***




Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive)







[Transcriber's Notes: All spelling, capitalization, and punctuation
inconsistencies retained with the exception of those few listed at the
end of this text.

The following notations were used in the text:

      = for bold
      _ for italics
      + for an Old English font
      ^ for superscripted letters or numbers
     {} for sequential superscripted letters or numbers
   [)a] for letter with breve]





+The Legendary History of the Cross.+




[Illustration: This Copy is

_No._..............]




[Illustration]


_The Legendary History of the Cross_

    A SERIES OF

    Sixty-four Woodcuts

    _From a Dutch book published by_
    VELDENER, A.D. 1483

    WITH
    _AN INTRODUCTION_


    Written and Illustrated
    By JOHN ASHTON


    _PREFACE_
    By S. BARING GOULD, M.A.

[Illustration]

    +London+
    T. FISHER UNWIN
    M.D.CCC.LXXXVII




    UNWIN BROTHERS,
    _Old Style Printers_,
    THE GRESHAM PRESS, LUDGATE HILL, E.C.




[Illustration]




_PREFACE._


THE origin of the mediæval romance of the Cross is hard to discover.
It was very popular. It occurs in a good number of authors, and is
depicted in a good many churches in stained glass.

I may perhaps be allowed here to repeat what I have said in my article
on the Legend of the Cross, in "Myths of the Middle Ages:"--

"In the churches of the city of Troyes alone it appears in the windows
of four: S. Martin-ès-Vignes, S. Pantaléon, S. Madeleine, and S.
Nizier. It is frescoed along the walls of the choir of S. Croce at
Florence, by the hand of Agnolo Gaddi. Pietro della Francesca also
dedicated his pencil to the history of the Cross in a series of
frescoes in the chapel of the Bacci, in the church of S. Francesco at
Arezzo. It occurs as a predella painting among the specimens of early
art at the Accademia delle Belle Arti at Venice, and is the subject
of a picture by Beham, in the Munich Gallery. The Legend is told in
full in the 'Vita Christi,' printed at Troyes in 1517; in the 'Legenda
Aurea' of Jacques de Voragine; in a French MS. of the thirteenth
century, in the British Museum. Gervase of Tilbury relates a portion
of it in his 'Otia Imperalia,' quoting Peter Comestor; it appears in
the 'Speculum Historiale' of Gottfried of Viterbo, in the 'Chronicon
Engelhusii,' and elsewhere."

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

Of the popularity of the story of the Cross there can be no doubt, but
its origin is involved in obscurity. It is generally possible to track
most of the religious and popular folk tales and romances of the Middle
Ages to their origin, which is frequently Oriental, but it is not easy
to do so with the Legend of the Cross. It would rather seem that it was
made up by some romancer out of all kinds of pre-existing material,
with no other object than to write a religious novel for pious readers,
to displace the sensuous novels which were much in vogue.

We know that this was largely done after the third century, and a
number of martyr legends, such as those of S. Apollinaris Syncletica,
SS. Cyprian and Justina, the story of Duke Procopius, S. Euphrosyne,
SS. Zosimus and Mary, SS. Theophanes and Pansemne, and many others
were composed with this object. The earliest of all is undoubtedly the
Clementine Recognitions, which dates from a remotely early period, and
carries us into the heart of Petrine Christianity, and in which many a
covert attack is made on S. Paul and his teaching. On the other hand,
we know that an Asiatic priest, as Tertullian tells us, wrote a romance
on "Paul and Thecla, out of love to Paul." S. Jerome says that a
Pauline zealot, when convicted before his bishop of having written the
romance, tried to exculpate himself by saying that he had done it out
of admiration for S. Paul, but the Bishop would not accept the excuse,
and deprived him. Unfortunately this romance has not come down to us,
though we have another on S. Paul and his relations to Thecla, who is
said to have accompanied him on his apostolic rambles, disguised in
male attire.

The Greek romance literature was not wholesome reading for Christians.
Some of the writers of these tales became Christian bishops, and
probably devoted their facile pens to more edifying subjects than the
difficulties of parted lovers.

Heliodorus, who wrote "Theagenes and Charicheia," is said to have
become Bishop of Tricca, in Thessaly. Socrates, in the fifth century,
in speaking of clerical celibacy, mentions the severity of the rule
imposed on his clergy by this Heliodorus, "under whose name there are
love-books extant, called Ethiopica, which he composed in his youth."

Achilles Tatius, author of the "Loves of Clitophon and Leucippe," is
said also to have become a bishop. So also Eustathius of Thessalonica,
author of the "Lives of Hysemene and Hysmenias," but this is more than
doubtful.

Three things conduced to the production of a Christian romance
literature in the early ages of the Church:--(1) The necessity under
which the Church lay of supplying a want in human nature; (2) The need
there was for producing some light wholesome literature to supply the
place of the popular love-romances then largely read and circulated;
(3) The fact that some bishops and converts were experienced novel
writers, and therefore ready to lend their hands to some better purpose
than amusing the leisure and flattering the passions of the idle and
young.

Much the same conditions existed in the Middle Ages. There was an
influx of sensuous literature from the East, through the Arabs of Spain
and Sicily; Oriental tales easily took Western garb, in which the
caliphs became kings of Christendom, and the fakirs and imauns were
converted into monks and Catholic priests. To counteract these stories,
collections of which may be found in Le Grand d'Aussi and Von der
Hagen, and in Boccaccio, the Gesta Romanorum was drawn up, a collection
of moral tales, many of them of similar Oriental parentage. But beside
these short stories, or novels, were long romances, some heroic, and
founded on early national traditions and ballads. To these belong the
Niebelungen Lied and Noth, the Gudrun, the Heldenbuch, the cycles of
Karlovingian and of Arthurian romance.

As it happens, we have two authors in the Middle Ages, living much
about the same time, one intensely heathen in all his conceptions, the
other as entirely Christian, each dealing with subjects from the same
cycle, and the one writing in avowed opposition to the tendency of
the other's book. I allude to Wolfram of Eschenbach and Gottfried of
Strassburg. The latter wrote the Tristram, the former the Parzival. In
Gottfried, the moral sense seems to be absolutely dead; there is no
perception of the sacredness of truth, of chastity, of honour, none of
religion. Wolfram is his exact converse. Wolfram gives us the history
of the Grail, but he did not invent the myth of the Grail, he derived
it from pre-existing material. The Grail myth is almost certainly
heathen in its origin, but it has been entirely Christianised. The holy
basin is that in which the Blood of Christ is preserved, and only the
pure of heart can see it; but the Grail was really the great cauldron
of Nature, the basin of Ceridwen, the earth goddess of the Kelts, or,
among Teutonic nations, the sacrificial cauldron of Odin, in which was
brewed the spirit of poesy, of the blood of Mimer. The remembrance
of the mysterious vessel remained after Kelt and Teuton had become
Christian, and the poets and romancists gave it a new spell of life by
christening it. It was much the same with the story of the Cross. In
the Teutonic North, tree worship was widely spread; the tree was sacred
to Odin, who himself, according to the mysterious Havamal, hung nine
nights wounded, as a sacrifice to himself, a voluntary sacrifice, in
"the wind-rocked tree."

That tree was Yggdrasill, the world tree, whose roots extended to hell,
and whose branches spread to heaven.

Northern mythology is full of allusion to this tree, but we have,
unfortunately, little of the history of it preserved to us; we know of
it only through allusions. The Christmas tree is its representative; it
has been taken up out of paganism, and rooted in Christian soil, where
it flourishes to the annual delight of thousands of children.

Now the mediæval romancists laid hold of this tree, as they laid hold
of the Grail basin, and used it for Christian purposes. The Grail
cup became the chalice of the Blood of Christ, and the Tree of Odin
became the Cross of Calvary. They worked into the romance all kinds
of material gathered from floating folk-tale of heathen ancestry, and
they pieced in with it every scrap of allusion to a tree they could
find in Scripture. It is built up of fragments taken from all kinds of
old structures, put together with some skill, and built into a goodly
romance; but the tracing of every stone to its original quarry has not
been done by anyone as yet. The Grail myth has had many students and
interpreters, but not the Cross myth. That remains to be examined, and
it will doubtless prove a study rewarding the labour of investigation.

                                              S. BARING-GOULD.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




_The Legendary History of the Cross._


[Sidenote: 1 _A.D. 326._]

[Sidenote: _Rufinus on the Invention._]

[Sidenote: 2 _Hadrian is said to have done this._]

THE Cross on which our Lord and Saviour suffered, would, naturally, if
properly authenticated, be an object of the deepest veneration to all
Christian men, be their creed, or shade of opinion what it might; but,
for over 300 years it could not be found, and it was reserved for the
Empress Helena in her old age (for she was 79 years old) to discover
its place of concealment.[1] That this _Invention_, or finding of the
Cross was believed in, at the time, there can be no manner of doubt,
for it is alluded to by St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem (A.D. 350 to
386), and by St. Ambrose. Rufinus of Aquila, a friend of St. Jerome,
in his _Ecclesiastical History_, gives an account of its finding,
in the following words: "About the same time, Helena, the mother of
Constantine, a woman of incomparable faith, whose sincere piety was
equalled by her rare munificence, warned by celestial visions, went to
Jerusalem, and inquired of the inhabitants where was the place where
the Divine Body had been affixed and hung on a gibbet. This place was
difficult to find, for the persecutors of old had raised a statue to
Venus,[2] in order that the Christians who might wish to adore Christ
in that place, should appear to address their homage to the goddess;
and thus it was little frequented, and almost forgotten. After clearing
away the profane objects which defiled it, and the rubbish that was
there heaped up, she found three crosses placed in confusion. But the
joy which this discovery caused her was tempered by the impossibility
of distinguishing to whom each of them had belonged. There, also,
was found the title written by Pilate in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew
characters; but still there was nothing to indicate sufficiently
clearly the Cross of our Lord. This uncertainty of man was settled by
the testimony of heaven." And then follows the story of the dead woman
being raised to life.

[Sidenote: _Other Authorities._]

Not only did Rufinus write thus, but Socrates, Theodoret, and Sozomen,
all of whom lived within a century after the _Invention_, tell the same
story, so that it must have been of current belief.

[Sidenote: _Punishment of the Cross._]

The punishment of the Cross was a very ordinary one, and of far wider
extent than many are aware. It was common among the Scythians, the
Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Germans, and the Romans, who, however,
principally applied it to their slaves, and rarely crucified free men,
unless they were robbers or assassins.

Alexander the Great, after taking the city of Tyre, caused two thousand
inhabitants to be crucified.

[Sidenote: _Punishment of the Cross._]

Flavius Josephus relates, in his _Antiquities of the Jews_, that
Alexander, the King of the Jews, on the capture of the town of Betoma,
ordered eight hundred of the inhabitants to suffer the death of the
Cross, and their wives and children to be massacred before their eyes,
whilst they were still alive.

Augustus, after the Sicilian War, crucified six thousand slaves who had
not been claimed by their masters.

Tiberius crucified the priests of Isis, and destroyed their temple.

Titus, during the siege of Jerusalem, crucified all those unfortunates
who, to the number of five or six hundred daily, fled from the city to
escape the famine; and so numerous were these executions, that crosses
were wanting, and the land all about seemed like a hideous forest.

[Sidenote: _The different sorts of Crosses._]

These instances are sufficient to show that death by crucifixion was
a common punishment; but, singularly enough, the shape of the Cross
has never been satisfactorily settled; practically, the question lies
between the _Crux capitata_, or _immissa_, which is the ordinary form
of the Latin Cross, and the _Crux ansata_, or _commissa_, frequently
called the _Tau_ Cross, from the Greek letter [Greek: T]. The
_Tau_-shaped Cross is, undoubtedly, to be met with most frequently
in the older representations; and the more ancient authorities, such
as Tertullian, St. Jerome, St. Paulinus, Sozomen, and Rufinus, are
of opinion that this was the shape of the Cross. After the fifteenth
century, our Lord is rarely depicted on the _Crux commissa_, it being
reserved for the two thieves.

[Sidenote: _Antiquity of the Tau Cross._]

M. Adolphe Napoleon Didron, in his _Iconographie Chretienne_, gives
a few illustrations of the antiquity of the _Tau_ Cross: "The Cross
is our crucified Lord in person; 'Where the Cross is, there is the
martyr,' says St. Paulinus. Consequently it works miracles, as does
Jesus Himself: and the list of wonders operated by its power is in
truth immense. By the simple sign of the Cross traced upon the forehead
or the breast, men have been delivered from the most imminent danger.
It has constantly put demons to flight, protected the virginity of
women, and the faith of believers; it has restored men to life, or
health, inspired them with hope or resignation.

"Such is the virtue of the Cross, that a mere allusion to that sacred
sign, made even in the Old Testament, and long before the existence
of the Cross, saved the youthful Isaac from death, redeemed from
destruction an entire people whose houses were marked by that symbol,
healed the envenomed bites of those who looked at the serpent raised in
the form of a _Tau_ upon a pole. It called back the soul into the dead
body of the son of that poor widow who had given bread to the prophet.

[Sidenote: _The Tau Cross._]

"A beautiful painted window, belonging to the thirteenth century, in
the Cathedral of Bourges, has a representation of Isaac bearing on
his shoulders the wood that was to be used in his sacrifice, arranged
in the form of a Cross; the Hebrews, too, marked the lintel of their
dwellings with the blood of the Paschal lamb, in the form of a _Tau_
or Cross without a summit. The widow of Sarepta picked up and held
crosswise two pieces of wood, with which she intended to bake her
bread. These figures, to which others also may be added, serve to exalt
the triumph of the Cross, and seem to flow from a grand central picture
which forms their source, and exhibits Jesus expiring on the Cross.
It is from that real Cross indeed, bearing the Saviour, that these
subjects from the Old Testament derive all their virtue."

[Sidenote: _Wood of the Cross._]

[Sidenote: _Cross made of pine._]

The wood of which it was made is as unsettled as its shape. The
Venerable Bede says that our Lord's Cross was made of four kinds
of wood: the inscription of box, the upright beam of cypress, the
transverse of cedar, and the lower part of pine. John Cantacuméne
avers that only three woods were employed: the upright, cedar; the
transverse, pine; and the head in cypress. Others say that the upright
was cypress, the transverse in palm, and the head in olive; or cedar,
cypress, and olive. Most authorities seem to concur that it was made of
several woods, but there is a legend that it was made from the aspen
tree, whose leaves still tremble at the awful use the tree was put to;
whilst that veritable traveller, Sir John Maundeville, says: "And also
in Iherusalem toward the Weast is a fayre church where the tree grew
of the which the Crosse was made." Lipsius says that it was made of
but one wood, and that was oak; but M. Rohault de Fleury (to whose
wonderful and comprehensive work, _Mémoire sur les Instruments de la
Passion de notre Sauveur Jesus Christ_, I am deeply indebted, says, "M.
Decaisne, member of the Institut, and M. Pietro Savi, professor at the
University of Pisa, have shewn me by the microscope that the pieces in
the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem at Rome, in the Cathedral at
Pisa, in the Duomo at Florence, and in Notre Dame at Paris, were of
_pine_." And he adds, in a footnote, "Independently of the experiments
which M. Savi kindly made in my presence, he wrote me the results of
other observations, which tended to confirm."

Starting with the Invention of the Holy Cross, the loving, but fervid,
imaginations of the faithful soon wove round it a covering of imagery,
as we have just seen in the case of the several woods of the Cross,
and the sacred tree became the subject of a legend (for so it always
was only meant to be), which was incorporated in the _Legenda Aurea
Sanctorum_, or _Golden Legend of the Saints_, of Jacobus de Voragine,
a collection of legends connected with the services of the Church.
This book was exceedingly popular, and, when Caxton set up his
printing-press at Westminster, he produced a translation, the history
of which he quaintly tells us in a preface.[A]

[Sidenote: _Caxton's Golden Legend_]

As this Golden Legend is the standard authority on the subject, and as
it will much assist the intelligent appreciation of the wood-blocks, I
reproduce it, premising that I have used throughout the first edition,
20 Nov., 1483:--

[Sidenote: 3 _Page 39._]

[Sidenote: 4 _Laughed or smiled._]

[Sidenote: 5 _Obtained true mercy._]

[3] But alle the dayes of adam lyvynge here in erthe amounte to the
somme of +ixCxxx+[B] yere / And in thende of his lyf whan he shold
dye / it is said but of none auctoryte / that he sente Seth his sone in
to paradys for to fetch the oyle of mercy / where he receyuyde certayn
graynes of the fruyt of the tree of mercy by an angel / And whan he
come agayn / he fonde his fader adam yet alyve and told hym what he had
don. And thenne Adam lawhed[4] first / and then deyed / and thenne he
leyed the greynes or kernellis under his faders tonge and buryed hym
/ in the vale of ebron / and out of his mouth grewe thre trees of the
thre graynes / of which the crosse that our lord suffred his passion on
/ was made by vertue of which he gate[5] very mercy and was brought out
of darknes in to veray light of heven / to the whiche he brynge us that
lyveth and regneth god world with oute ende.

[Illustration: +Of thynuencyon of tholy crosse / and first of thys woke
Inuencion+]

[Sidenote: 6 _Page 167._]

[Sidenote: 7 _Of old._]

THE[6] Invencion[C] of the holy crosse is said bycause that this day
the holy crosse was founden / for to fore[7] it was founden of seth
in paradyse terestre / lyke as hit shal be sayd here after / and also
it was founden of salamon in the mounte of lybane and of the quene of
saba / in the temple of salamon / And of the Iewes in the water of
pyscyne[D] / And on thys day it was founden of Helayne in the mounte of
Calvarye/.


Of the Holy Crosse.


[Sidenote: 8 _Cured: French, guerir, to heal._]

[Sidenote: 9 _Whole._]

[Sidenote: 10 _Did so--caused to be: words of frequent occurrence._]

[Sidenote: 11 _Kingdom: French, royaume._]

[Sidenote: 12 _Cease._]

[Sidenote: 13 _Dug, p. part. of delve._]

[Sidenote: 14 _Pond._]

[Sidenote: 15 _The L[)a]b[)a]rum, or Sacred Banner of Constantine._]

[Sidenote: 16 _Caused to be called together._]

[Illustration]

[Sidenote: 17 _Know._]

[Sidenote: 18 _Grandfather._]

The holy crosse was founden two hondred yere after the resurrexyon of
our lord / It is redde in the gospel of nychodemus[E] / that whan adam
wexyd seck / Seth hys sone wente to the gate of paradyse terestre, for
to gete the oyle of mercy for to enoynte wythal hys faders body /
Thenne apperyd to hym saynt mychel thaungel and sayd to hym / travayle
not the in vayne / for thys oyle / for thou mayst not have it till fyve
thousand and fyve hondred yere been passed / how be it that fro Adam
unto the passyon of our lord were but fyve +MC+ and +xxxiii+ yere / In
another place it is redde that the aungel broughte hym a braunche / and
commaunded hym to plante it in the mounte of lybanye Yet fynde we in
another place / that he gafe to hym of the tree that Adam ete of / And
sayd to hym that whan that bare fruyte he should be guarisshed[8] and
alle hoole[9] /. whan seth came ageyn he founde his fader deed / and
planted this tree upon his grave / And it endured there un to the tyme
of Salomon / and bycause he sawe that it was fayre, he dyd[10] doo hewe
it doun / and sette it in his hows named saltus / and whan the quene
of saba came to vysyte Salamon / She worshypped this tre bycause she
sayd the savyour of alle the world shold be hanged there on / by whome
the royame[11] of the Iewes that be defaced and seace.[12] Salomon for
this cause made hit to be taken up / & dolven[13] depe in the grounde.
Now it happed after that they of Ierusalem (dyd do make a grete pytte
for a pyscyne[14] / where at the mynysters of the temple sholde wesshe
theyre bestys / that they shold sacrefyse / and there founde thys tre
/ and thys pyscyne had suche vertue, that the aungels descended and
mevyd the water / and the first seke man that descendyd in to the water
after the mevyng / was made hole of what somever sekenesse he was seek
of. And whan the tyme approched of the passyon of our lord / thys
tree aroos out of the water and floted above the water / And of this
pyece of tymbre made the Iewes the crosse of our lord / Thenne after
this hystorye / the crosse by which we been saved / came of the tree
by whiche we were dampned. And the water of that pyscyne had not his
vertue onely of the aungel / but of the tre/. With this tre wherof the
crosse was maad / there was a tree that went over thwarte / on whiche
the armes of our lord were nayled/. And another pyece above which was
the table / wherin the tytle was wryten / and another pyece wherein the
sokette or mortys was maad that the body of the crosse stood in soo
that there were foure manere of trees / That is of palme of cypres
/ of cedre and of olyve. So eche of thyse foure pyeces was of one of
those trees/. This blessed crosse was put in the erthe and hyd by the
space of on hondred yere and more / But the moder of themperour which
was named helayne[F] which founde it in thys manere / For Constantyn
came wyth a grete multytude of barbaryns nygh unto the ryver of the
dunoe / whyche wold have goon over for to have destroyed alle the
contree / And whan constantyn had assembled his hoost / He went and
sette them ageynst that other partye / But as sone as he began to passe
the ryver / he was moche aferde / by cause he shold on the morne have
batayle / and in the nyght as he slepte in his bedde / an aungel awoke
hym / and shewed to hym the sygne of the crosse in heven / and sayd to
hym / Beholde on hye on heven/. Thanne sawe he the crosse made of ryght
clere lyght / & was wryten there upon wyth lettres of golde / In this
sygne thou shalte over come the batayle/ Thenne was he alle comforted
of thys vysion / And on the morne / he put in his banere the Crosse[15]
/ and made it to be borne tofore hym and his hoost / And after smote in
the hoost of his enemyes / and slewe and chaced grete plente / After
thys he dyd doo[16] calle the bysshoppes of the ydolles / and demaunded
them to what god the sygne of the crosse apperteyned. And whan they
coude not answere / some cristen men that were there tolde to hym the
mysterye of the crosse / and enformed hym in the faythe of the trynyte
/ Thenne anone he bylevyd parfytly (in) god / and dyd do baptyse hym /
and after, it happed that constantyn his sone remembred the vyctorye
of his fader / Sente to helayn his modre for to fynde the holy crosse
/ Thenne helayne wente in to Iherusalem / and dyd doo assemble all
the wyse men of the contre / and whan they were assembled / they wold
fayn knowe wherfore they were called / Thenne one Iudas sayd to them
/ I wote[17] wel that she wyl knowe of us where the crosse of Ihesu
criste was leyed / but beware you al that none of you tell hyr / for
I wote wel then shall our lawe be destroyed / For zacheus my olde[18]
fader sayde to symon my fader / And my fader sayde to me at his dethe
/ be wel ware / that for no tormente that ye may suffre / telle not
where the crosse of Ihesu criste was leyde / for after that hit shal
be founden / the Iewes shal reygne no mour / But the cristen men that
worshypped the crosse shal then reygne / And verayly this Ihesus was
the sone of god.

Then demaunded I my fader / wherfore had they hanged hym on the crosse
sythe it was knowen that he was the sone of god / thenne he sayd to me
fayre sone I never accorded thereto / But gayn said it alwaye / But the
Pharisees dyd it bycause he repreyvd theyr vyces / but he aroos on the
thyrd day / and his dysciples seeing / he ascended in to heven / Thenne
by cause that Stephen thy broder belevyd in him / the Iewes stoned hym
to dethe.

[Sidenote: 19 _Inform._]

[Sidenote: 20 _Burn._]

Then when Iudas had sayd theyse wordes to his selawes / they answerd
we never herde of suche thynges / never the lesse kepe the wel if the
quene demaunde the therof / that thou say no thynge to hyr / Whan
the quene had called them / and demaunded them the place where our
lord Ihesu criste had been crucefyed/ they wold never tell her nor
ensygne[19] her /. Then commaunded she to brenne[20] them alle/. But
then they doubted and were aferde / & delyvered Iudas to hyr and sayd
/ lady thys man is the sone of a prophete and of a juste man / and
knoweth right wel the lawe / & can telle to you al thynge that ye shal
demaunde hym/.

[Sidenote: 21 _More ado._]

Thenne the quene lete al the other goo, and reteyned Iudas without
moo[21]/. Thenne she shewed to hym his life & dethe & bade hym chese
whyche he wold. Shewe to me sayd she the place named golgota where our
lord was crucefyed / by cause and to the end that we may fynde the
crosse/. Thenne sayd Iudas, it is two hondred yere passed & more / & I
was not thenne yet borne. Thenne sayd to hym the lady / by him that was
crucyfyed / I shal make the perisse for hungre/ yf thou telle not to me
the trouthe.

Thenne made she hym to be caste into a drye pytte / and there tormented
hym by hungre / and evyl reste / whan he had been seuen dayes in that
pytte / thenne sayd he yf I myght be drawen out / he shold say the
trouthe / Thenne he was drawen out / and whan he came to the place /
anone the erthe moevyd and a fume of grete swettnesse was felte in
suche wyse that Iudas smote his hondes togyder for ioye / and sayd / in
trouthe Ihesu criste thou art the savyour of the worlde.

[Sidenote: 22 _Twenty Paces._]

It was so that adryan the Emperour had doo make in the same place where
the crosse laye a temple of a goddesse by cause that all they that
come in that place shold adoure that goddesse/. But the quene did doo
destroy the temple / Thenne Iudas made hym redy and began to dygge /
and whan he came to +xx+ paas[22] depe / he fonde three crosses and
broughte them to the quene / And bycause he knewe not whiche was the
crosse of our lord / he leyed them in the myddel of the cyte / and
abode the demonstraunce of god / and aboute the houre of none / there
was the corps of a yonge man brought to be buryed / Iudas reteyned the
byere / and layed upon hit one of the crosses / and after the second /
and whan he leyed on hit the third / anone the body that was dede came
ageyn to lyf/.

[Sidenote: 23 _Everlasting._]

Thenne cryed the devyll in the eyre Iudas what hast thou doon / thou
hast doon the contrarye that thother Iudas dyd/. For by hym I have
wonne many sowles / and by the I shal lose many / by hym I reygned on
the peple / And by the I have lost my royame / never the lesse I shal
yelde to the this bountee/. For I shal send one that shal punysshe the
/ and that was accomplysshed by Iulian the apostata / which tormented
hym afterward whan he was bysshop of Iherusalem / and whan Iudas herde
hym he cursed the devyl and sayd to hym / Ihesu cryste dampne the in
fyre pardurable[23]/. After this Iudas was baptyzed and was named
quyryache[G]/. And after was made bysshop of Iherusalem/. Whan helayn
had the crosse of Ihesu criste / and saw she had not the nayles /
Thenne he dyd dygge in therthe so longe / that he founde them shynyng
as golde/. thenne bare he them to the quene / and anone as she sawe
them she worshypped them wyth grete reverence/.

Thenne gafe saynt helayn a part of the crosse to hir sone / And that
other parte she lefte in Iherusalem closyd in golde / sylver and
precious stones/.

[Sidenote: 24 _Eusebius, Bishop of Cesaræa._]

[Sidenote: 25 _Killed._]

And hyr sone bare the nayles to themperour / And the emperour dyd do
sette them in hys brydel and in hys helme whan he wente to batayle/.
This referreth Eusebe whiche was bysshop of Cezayr[24]/ how be it that
other say otherwyse/. Now it happed that Iulyan the appostate dyd
doo[25] slee quyriache that was bysshop of Iherusalem / by cause he had
founde the crosse / for he hated hit soo mooche / that where somever he
founde the crosse / he dyd hit to be destroyed / For whan he wente in
batayle ageynste them of perse / he sente and commaunded quyriache to
make sacrefyse to thydolles / and whan he wold not doo hit / he dyd do
smyte of his right honde / and sayd wyth this honde hast thou wryten
many letters / by whyche thou repellyd moche folke fro doynge sacrefyse
to our goddes/.

[Sidenote: 26 _Mad dog._]

[Sidenote: 27 _Since._]

[Sidenote: 28 _Turn this evil_]

Quyriache sayd thou wood hounde[26] thou hist doon to me grete
prouffyte / For thou hast cut of the hande / wyth whiche I have many
tymes wreton to the synagoges that they shold not byleve in Ihesu
criste / and now sythe[27] I am cristen / thou hast taken from me that
whiche noyed me / thenne dyd Iulyan do melte leed, and caste it in his
mowthe / and after dyd doo brynge a bedde of yron / and made quyriache
to be layed and stratched theron / and after leyed under brennyng
cooles / and threwe therein grece and salte / for to torment hym the
more / and whan quyriache moved not / Iulyan themperour said to hym /
outher thou shalt sacrefyse (to) our goddes / or thou shalt say at the
leste thou art not cristen/. And whan he sawe he wolde not do never
neyther / he dyd doo make a depe pytte ful of serpentes and venemous
bestys / and caste hym therein / & whan he entred / anone the serpentes
were al deed/. Thenne Iulyan put hym in a cawdron ful of boylyng oyle /
and whan he shold entre in to hit / he blessyd it & sayd / Fayre lord
torne thys bane[28] to baptysm of marterdom / Thenne was Iulyan moche
angry / and commaunded that he should be ryven thorough his herte with
a swerde / and in this manere he fynysshed his lyff.

The vertue of the crosse is declared to us by many miracles / For it
happed on a tyme that one enchantour had dysceyved a notarye / and
brought hym to a place / where he had assembled a grete companye of
devylles / and promysed to hym to have muche rychesse / and whan he
came there / he saw one persone blacke syttynge on a grete chayer
/ And all aboute hym al ful of horyble people and blacke whiche
had speres and swerdes / Thenne demaunded thys grete devyll of the
enchantour / who was that clerke / thenchantour sayd to hym / Syr he is
oures / thenne sayd the devyl to hym yf thou wylte worshyp me and be my
servaunte / and denye Ihesu cryste / thou shalt sytte on my right syde
/ The clerke anone blessyd hym wyth the sygne of the crosse / and sayd
that he was the servaunte of Ihesu criste / his savyour / And anone as
he had made the crosse / that grete multitude of devylles vanysshed
aweye. It happed that this notarye after this on a tyme entryd with
hys lord in the chyrche of saynt sophye / & knelyd doun on his knees
to fore the ymage of the crucyfyxe / the which crucifyxe as it semed
loked moche openly and sharpelye on hym/. Thenne his lord made hym to
go aparte on another syde / and alleweye the crucifixe torned his eyen
toward hym/. Thenne he made hym goo on the lefte syde / and yet the
crucifixe loked on hym / Thenne was the lord moche admerveyled / and
charged hym & commaunded hym that he shold telle hym wherof he had so
deserved that the crucifyxe so behelde and loked on hym / Thenne sayde
the notarye that he coude not remembre hym of no good thynge that
he had doon / saufe that one tyme he wold not renye nor forsake the
crucifixe tofore the devyl/.

Thenne late us so blesse us with the sygne of the blessyd crosse that
we may therby be kepte fro the power of our ghoostly and dedely enemye
the devyl / and by the glorious passyon that our saveour Ihesu cryst
suffred on the crosse after this lyf we may come to his everlastyng
blysse amen/.

Thus endeth thynvencion of the holy crosse.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: +Here foloweth the Exaltation of the holy Crosse.+]

[Sidenote: 29 _The Roman and English Churches celebrate this Festival
on February 14._]

[Sidenote: 30 _Carrion._]

[Sidenote: 31 _Vileness._]

[Sidenote: 32 _Resourced or replenished._]

Exaltation of the holy Crosse[29] is sayd / bycause that on this daye
the hooly crosse & faythe were gretely enhaunced/. And it is to be
understonden that tofore the passion of our lord Ihesu cryste / the
tree of the crosse was a tree of fylthe / For the crosses were made
of vyle trees, & of trees without fruyte / For al that was planted on
the Mount of Calvarye bare no fruyt. It was a fowle place / for hit
was the place of torment of thevys / It was derke / for it was in a
derke place and without any beaute / It was the tree of deth / for men
were put there to dethe / It was also the tree of stenche / for it was
planted amonge the caroynes[30] / & after the passyon the Crosse was
moche enhaunced / For the Vylte[31] was transported into preciousyte /
Of the whiche the blessyd saynt Andrewe sayth / O precious holy Crosse
god save the / his bareynes was torned into fruyte / as it is sayd in
the Cantyques / I shall ascende up in to a palme tree / et cetera /
His ignobylyte or unworthynes was tourned into sublymyte and heyght
/ The Crosse that was tormente of thevys is now born in the front of
themperours / his derkenes is torned into lyght and clerenesse/ wherof
Chrysostom sayth the Crosse and the Woundes shall be more shynyng than
the rayes of the Sonne at the jugement / his deth is converted into
perdurabylyte of lyf / whereof it is sayd in the preface / that fro
hens the lyf resourded[32] / and the stenche is torned into swetenes
/ canticorum /. This exaltacion of the hooly crosse is solempnysed
and halowed solempnly of the Chirche / For the faythe is in hit moche
enhaunced /.

[Sidenote: 33 _Chosroes II., who reigned in the seventh Century._]

For the yere of oure lord five honderd & +xv+ / our lord suffred
his people moche to be tormentyd by the cruelte of the paynyms /
And Cosdroe[33] Kynge of the Perceens subdued to his empyre all the
Royaumes of the world / And he cam into Iherusalem and was aferd and
a dred of the sepulcre of our lord & retorned / but he bare with hym
the parte of the hooly Crosse / that saynte Helene had left ther. And
then he wold be worshiped of alle the peple / as a god / & dyd do make
a tour of gold and of sylver wherein precious stones shone / and made
therein the ymages of the sonne and of the mone and of the sterres /
and made that by subtyle conduytes water to be hydde / and to come
doune in the maner of rayne / And in the laste stage he made horses to
draw charyotes round aboute lyke as they had mevyd the toure / and made
it to seme as it had thondred / and delyvered his Royaume to his sone.
And thus this cursyd man abode in this Temple / and dyd doo sette the
crosse of our lord by hym and commaunded that he shold be callyd god
of alle the peple / And as it is redde in libro de mitrali[H] officio
the said Cosdroe resydent in his trone as a fader / sette the tree of
the Crosse on his ryght syde in stede of the sonne / and a cock in the
lyft syde in stede of the hooly ghoost / & commaunded / that he shold
be called fader /. And then Heracle[I] themperour assembled a grete
hoost / and cam for to fyght wyth the sonne of Cosdroe by the ryver of
danubie / & thenne hit pleasyd to eyther prynce / that eche of them
shold fyght one ageynste that other upon the brydge / & he that shold
vaynquysshe & overcome his adversarye sholde be prynce of thempyre
withoute hurtyng eyther of bothe hostes / & so hit was ordeyned & sworn
/ & that who somever shold helpe his prynce shold have forthwith his
legges & armes cut of / & to be plonged / & cast in to the Ryver.

[Sidenote: 34 _Throne, or seat; French, siège._]

[Sidenote: 35 _Astonished._]

[Sidenote: 36 _Shoen--shoes._]

[Sidenote: 37 _Besprinkled._]

[Sidenote: 38 _Invited._]

[Sidenote: 39 _Pacified, appeased._]

[Sidenote: 40 _Ampullæ, bottles or flasks._]

[Sidenote: 41 _Consecrated._]

And then Heracle commaunded hym all to god and to the hooly crosse wyth
all the devocion that he myght. And thenne they fought longe / And at
the last our lord gaf the vyctory to Heracle and subdued hym to his
empyre / The hoost that was contrary / and alle the peple of Cosdroe
obeyed them to the Crysten faythe / and receyved the hooly baptysme /
And Cosdroe knew not the end of the batayll / For he was adoured and
worshiped of alle the peple as a god / so that no man durst say nay to
him / And thenne Heracle came to hym / and fonde hym syttinge in his
syege[34] of golde / and sayd to hym / For as moche as after the manere
thou hast honoured the Tree of the Crosse / yf thou wyld receyve baptym
and the faythe of Ihesu Cryst / I shal gete it to the / and yet shalt
thow holde thy crowne and Royamme with lytel hostages / And I shall
lete the have thy lyf / and yf thou wylt not / I shall flee the wyth
my swerde / and shalle smyte of thyne heed / and whanne he wold not
accorde therto / he did anon do smyte of his hede / and commaunded
that he shold be buryed / by cause he had be(en) a Kynge /. And he
fonde with hym one his sone of the age of ten yere / whome he dyd doo
baptyse and lyft hym fro the fonte / and left to hym the Royaume of
his fader / and then he dyd doo breke that Toure / And gaf the sylver
to them of his hooste / and gaf the gold and precious stones for to
repayre the chirches that the tyraunt had destroyed / and tooke the
hoole crosse / and brought it ageyne to Ierusalem / and as he descended
from the mount of Olyvete / and wold have entryd by the gate by whiche
our savyour wente to his passyon on horsbacke adourned as a Kynge /
sodenly the stones of the gates descended / and ioyned them togyder in
the gate like a wall & all the peple was abashed[35] / and thenne the
Aungel of oure lord appyeryd upon the gate holdyng the signe of the
signe (_sic_) of the Crosse in his honde / and sayd / Whanne the Kynge
of heven went to his passion by this gate / he was not arayed like
a Kynge / ne on horsbake / but cam humbly upon an asse / in shewynge
thexample of humylite which he left to them that honoure hym. And when
this was sayd / he departed and vanysshed aweye / Thenne th'emperour
took of his hosen and shone[36] himself in wepynge / and despollyed
hymselfe of alle his clothes in to his sherte / and tooke the crosse
of oure lord / and bare it moche humbly into the gate / and anone the
hardnes of the stones felte the celestyalle commaundement / and remeved
anone / and opened and gaf entree unto them that entred / Thenne the
sweete odour that was felt that day whanne the hooly Crosse was taken
fro the Toure of Cosdroe / and was brought ageyne to Iherusalem fro so
ferre countre / and so grete space of londe retourned in to Iherusalem
in that moment / and replenysshed it with al swetnes / Thenne the
ryght devoute Kyng beganne to saye the praysynges of the Crosse in
this wyse / O Crux splendydior / et cetera / O Crosse more shynynge
than alle the Sterres / honoured of the world / right holy / and moche
amyable to alle men / whiche only were worthy to bere the raunson of
the world Swete tree / Swete nayles / Swete yron / Swete spere berynge
the swete burthens / Save thou this present company / that is this daye
assembled in thy lawe and praysynges /. And thus was the precious tree
of the Crosse re establysshed in his place / and the auncient myracles
renewed /. For a dede man was reysed to lyf / and foure men taken with
the palsey were cured and heled / +x+ lepres were made clene / and
fyften blynde receyved theyr syghte ageyn / Devylles were put out of
men / and moche peple / and many / were delyvered of dyverse sekenes
and maladyes /. Thenne themperour dyd doo repayre the Chirches / and
gaf to them grete geftes / And after retorned home to his Empyre / And
hit is said in the Cronycles that this was done otherwise / For they
say that whanne Cosdroe hadde taken many Royammes / he took Iherusalem
/ and Zacharye the patriarke / and bare aweye the tree of the Crosse
/ And as Heracle wold make pees with hym / the Kyng Cosdroe swore a
grete othe / that he wold never make pees with Crysten men and Romayns
/ yf they denyed not hym that was crucyfyed / and adoured the sonne
/. And thenne Heracle / whiche was armed wythe faythe / brought his
hooste ageynst hym / and destroyed and wasted the Persyens with many
batayles that he made to them / and made Cosdroe to flee unto the Cyte
of thelyfonte /. And atte the laste Cosdroe hadde the flyxe in his bely
/ And wolde therefore crowne his sone Kynge / which was named Mendasa
/. And whenne Syroys his oldest sone herde thereof he made alyance with
Heracle / And pursewed his fader with his noble peple / and set hym in
bondes / And susteyned him with breede of trybulacion / and with water
of anguysshe / And atte last he made to shote arowes at him bycause he
wold not bileve in god & so deyde / & after this thynge he sente to
Heracle the patriarke the tree of the Crosse and all the prysoners /
And Heracle bare into Iherusalem the precious tree of the Crosse /. And
thus it is redde in many Cronycles also/. Sybyle sayth thus of the tre
of the Crosse / that the blessyd tree of the Crosse was thre tymes with
the paynyms / as it is sayd in thystorie trypertyte O thryse blessyd
tree on whiche god was stratched / This peradventure is sayd for the
lyf of Nature / of grace / and of glorye / which cam of the crosse /.
At Constantynople a Iewe entyred in to the chirche of seynt sophye /
and consydered that he was there allone / and sawe an ymage of Ihesu
cryste / and tooke his swerde and smote thymage in the throte / and
anone the bloode guysshed oute / and sprange in the face and on the
hide of the Iewe / And he thenne was aferd and took thymage / and cast
it into a pytte / and anone fledde awey /. And it happed that a Crysten
man mett hym / and sawe hym al blody / and sayd to hym / fro whens
comest thou / thou hast slayne soume man / And he sayd I have not / the
crysten man sayd Veryly thou has commysed somme homycyde / for thou art
all besprongen[37] with the blood. And the Jewe said / Veryly the god
of Crysten men is grete and the faythe of hym is ferme and approved in
all thynges / I have smyten no man / but I have smyten thymage of Ihesu
Cryste / and anone yssued blood of his throte /. And thenne the Jewe
brought the Crysten man to the pytte / and then they drewe oute that
hooly ymage /. And yet is sene on this daye the wounde in the throte of
thymage / And the Iewe anone bycam a good Crysten man, & was baptysed
/ In Syre in the cyte of baruth there was a cristen man / which had
hyred an hous for a yere / & he had set thymage of the crucifixe by
his bedde to whiche he made dayly his prayers and said his devocions
/ & at the yeres ende he remeved and tooke another hous / & forgate &
lefte thymage behynde hym / and it happed that a Iewe hyred that same
hows / & on a daye he had another Iewe one of his neyghbours to dyne
/ & as they were at mete it happed hym that was boden[38] in lookyng
on the walle to espye this ymage whiche was fyxed to the walle and
beganne to grenne at it for despyte / and ageynst hym that bad hym / &
also thretned & menaced hym bycause he durst kepe in his hous thymage
of Ihesu of nazareth / & that other Iewe sware as moche as he myght /
that he had never sene it / ne knewe not that it was there / & thenne
the Iewe fayned as he had been peasyd[39]. / & after went strayt to
the prynce of the Iewes / & accused that Iewe of that whiche he hadde
sene in his hous / thenne the Iewes assembleden & cam to the hous of
hym / & sawe thymage of Ihesu Cryst / and they took that Iewe and bete
hym / & did to hym many iniuryes / & caste hym out half dede of their
synagoge / & anone they defowled thymage with their feet / & renewed
in it all the tormentes of the passion of oure lorde / & and when they
perced his syde with the spere / blood and water yssued haboundauntly /
in so moche that they fylled a vessel / whiche they set therunder / And
thenne the Iewes were abasshhed & bare this blood in to theyr synagoge
& and alle the seke men and malades that were enoynted therwyth / were
anone guarysshed & made hool / & thenne the Iewes told & recounted al
this thynge by ordre to the bishop of the countre / & alle they with
one wyll receyved baptysm in the faythe of Ihesu Cryst / & the bisshop
putt the blood in ampulles[40] of Crystalle & of glas for to be kepte
/ & thenne he called / the Crysten man that had lefte it in the hows
/ & enquyred of hym / who had made so fayr an ymage / & he said that
Nychodemus had made it / And when he deyde / he lefte it to gamalyel
/ And Gamalyel to Zachee and Zachee to Iaques / and Iaques to Symon
/ and hadde ben thus in Ierusalem unto the destruction of the Cyte /
and fro thennes hit was borne in to the Royamme of Agryppe of Crysten
men / and fro thennes hit was brought ageyne into my countreye / & it
was left to me by my parentes by rightful herytage / & this was done
in y^e yere of our lord seven honderd and fifty / and thenne alle the
Iewes halowed[41] their synagogues in to chirches and therof cometh the
custoume that Chirches ben hallowed / For tofore that tyme the aultres
were but halowed only / and for this myracle the chirche hath ordeyned
/ that the fyfte Kalendar of december / or as it is redde in another
place / the fyfthe ydus of Novembre shold be the memorye of the passyon
of oure lord / wherfor at Rome the chirche is halowed in thonoure of
our savyour whereas is kepte an ampulla with the same blood / And there
a solempne feste is kepte and done / and there is proved the ryght
grete vertue of the crosse unto the paynyms and to the mysbylevyd men
in alle thynges /.

[Sidenote: 42 _Fiend._]

[Sidenote: 43 _Power._]

[Sidenote: 44 _Each or every one._]

[Sidenote: 45 _Attendants._]

[Sidenote: 46 _Drew._]

[Sidenote: 47 _Jest._]

[Sidenote: 48 _Kiss._]

[Sidenote: 49 _In this wise._]

And saynt Gregory recordeth in the thirdde booke of his dyalogues /
that whanne andrewe Bisshop of the Cyte of Fundane suffred an holy
noune to dwelle with him / the fende[42] thenemy beganne temprynte
in his herte the beaulte of her / in such wise / that he thought in
hys bedde wycked and cursyd thynges / and on a daye a Iewe cam to
Rome / and whanne he sawe / that the day fayled / and myghte fynde no
lodgynge / he wente that nyght / and abode in the Temple of appolyn /.
And bycause he doubted of the sacrylege of the place / how be hit /
that he hadde no faythe in the Crosse / yet he markyd and garnysshed
hym wyth the signe of the Crosse / then at mydnyght whan he awoke /
he sawe a companye of evylle sprytes / whiche went to fore one / like
as he hadde somme auctoryte puysiance[43] above thother by subiection
/ and thenne he sawe hym sytte in the myddes among the others / and
beganne to enquyre the causes and dedes of everyche[44] of these evylle
sprytes / whyche obeyed hym / and he wold knowe / what evylle everyche
had doo / But Gregory passyth the maner of this vysyon / bycause of
shortnes / But we fynde semblable in the lyf of faders / That as a man
entryd in a Temple of thydolles / he sawe the devylle syttynge / and
all his meyny[45] aboute hym. And one of these wycked / sprytes cam /
and adouryd hym / and he demaunded of hym / Fro whens comest thow /
and he sayd / I have ben in such a provynce / and have moeved grete
warres / and made many trybulacions and have shedde moche blood / and
am come to telle it to the / and Sathan sayd to hym / in what tyme
hath thow done this / and he sayd in thyrtty dayes and Sathan sayd /
why hast thow be soo longe there aboutes / and sayd to them that stode
by hym / goo ye and bete hym / and all to lasshe hym / Thenne cam the
second and worsshiped hym / & sayde Syre I have ben in the see / and
have moeved grete wyndes and tormentes / & drowned many shippes / &
slayn many men / and Sathan sayde how longe hast thow ben aboute thys /
& he sayd +vvii+ dayes / & Sathan sayd hast thou done no more in this
tyme / & commanded that he shold be beten / and the third cam / & said
/ I have ben in a Cyte & have mevyd stryves and debate in a weddynge /
and have shed moche blood / & have slayne the hosbond / & am come to
telle the / & sathan sayd / in what time hast thou done this / & he
said in ten dayes / & he sayd hast thou done no more in that time / &
commanded them that were aboute hym to bete hym also / Thenne cam the
fourth & sayd / I have ben in the wylderness fourty yere / and have
laboured aboute a monke / & unnethe at the laste I have throwen & made
hym falle in the synne of the flesshe / & when satan herd that / he
aroos fro his sete / & kyssed hym / & tooke hys crowne of his hede /
& set it on his hede / & made hym to sytte with hym / & sayde / thou
hast done a grete thynge / & hast laboured more / than all thother /
and this may be the maner of the vysyon / that saynt gregorye leveth /
whan eche had sayd / one sterte up in the myddle of them alle / & seyd
he hadde mevid Andrewe ageynste the name / & had mevyd the fourth part
of his fleshe agenst her in temptacion / & therto / y^t yesterday he
drough[46] so moche his mynde on her / that in the hour of evensonge he
gaf to her in Iapping[47] a busse[48] / & seid pleynly y^t she must
here it that he wold synne with her / thenne the mayster commanded hym
that he shold perform y^t he had begonne / & for to make hym to synne
he shold have a syngular Vyctory and reward among alle the other /. And
thenne commaunded he that they shold goo loke who that was that laye
in the Temple / And they wente / & loked / And anone they were ware
/ that he was marked with the signe of the crosse / And they levynge
aferd escaped / and sayd / veryly this is an empty vessel / alas / alas
/ he is marked /. And with[49] thus wys alle the company of the wykked
sprytes vanysshed awaye / And thenne the Iewe al amoevyd cam to the
bisshop / and told to hym all by ordere what was happend / And whan
the bisshoppe herd this / he wept strongly / and made to voyde all the
wymmen oute of his hows / And thenne he baptysed the Iewe.

[Sidenote: 50 _Bit._]

Seynt Gregory reherceth in his dyalogues that a nonne entryd into a
gardyne / and sawe a letuse / and coveyted that / and forgate to make
the signe of the Crosse / and bote[50] it glotonously / And anone
fylle doune and was ravysshed of a devylle / And ther cam to her saint
Equycyon[J] / And the devylle beganne to crye and to saye / What have I
doo / I satte uppon a lettuse / and she cam / and bote me / and anone
the devylle yssued oute by the commaundement of the holy man of god /.
It is redde in thystorye Scolastyke / that the paynyms had peynted on a
walle the armes of Serapis / And Theodosyen dide doo putt them oute /
and made to be paynted in the same place the signe of the Crosse / And
when the paynims & priestes of thydolles sawe that / anone they dyde
them to be baptysed / sayenge / that it was gyven them to understonde
of their olders / that those armes shold endure tyll / that suche a
signe were made then / in whiche were lyf / And they have a lettre / of
whiche they use / y^t they calle holy / & had a forme that they said it
exposed and signyfyed lyf perdurable.

Thus endeth the exaltacion of the holy Crosse.

       *       *       *       *       *

Having read these extracts from the Golden Legend, we shall be able to
understand the accompanying illustrations, which represent some frescos
of the fifteenth century, which formerly adorned the walls of the /
Chapel of the Gild of the Holy Cross, at Stratford-upon-Avon; which
stands close by New Place, Shakespeare's house. These frescos, alas! no
longer exist, for, in 1804, the Chapel underwent considerable repair,
during which, under the whitewash, were discovered traces of paint, and
these, being scraped, a series illustrating the legend of the Cross
was found in the chancel, which was built in 1450. In other parts of
the Chapel were found representations of the Ressurection, and the day
of Judgment, St. George and the Dragon, and the death of St. Thomas a
Becket, besides others.

Luckily, a gentleman from London, a Mr. Fisher, was then staying at
Stratford-on-Avon, and he drew, and painted them--afterwards, in 1807,
publishing them--and it is from his sketches that these illustrations
are taken. The barbarians of Stratford hacked the plaster on which the
Holy Cross series was painted to bits, and whitewashed all the other
paintings. It is presumed they still exist, for, when the Chapel was
thoroughly restored in 1835, traces of the other pictures were visible
under the whitewash.

These pictures of the Invention, and Exaltation, of the Holy Cross are
especially interesting, not only on account of their age and artistic
merit, but from the fact that they are of English work, and show the
English idea of treating the subject. I have reproduced them all but
two; one, the fight on the bridge over the Danube between Heraclius and
the son of Chosroes, and the other representing Heraclius smiting off
Chosroes' head.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: A]

Plate =A= represents the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. Her
name was Balkis, and, in her legendary history, it is reported that
Solomon, having heard of her riches and power, sent her a peremptory
message to submit herself to his rule. She, dreading war with so potent
a sovereign, sent an embassy to try and find out whether Solomon was
as wise as he was represented to be. With this object she dressed five
hundred boys as girls, and a like number of girls as boys, and, among
other presents, sent a pearl, a diamond cut through in zigzags, and a
crystal box; and she should be able to judge of his wisdom and power,
if he could tell the boys from the girls, pierce the pearl, thread the
diamond, and fill the goblet with water that came neither from the
earth nor the sky.

Needless to say, Solomon passed through the ordeal triumphantly. He
ordered silver basins to be brought, so that the ambassadors' suite
might wash their hands after their long journey, and the boys were
easily distinguished from the girls, for they dipped their hands only
in the water, whilst the girls tucked up their sleeves and washed
their arms as well as their hands. Then he opened the box containing
the pearl, diamond, and goblet, and, taking out the pearl, he applied
his magic stone, Samur, or Schamir, which a raven had brought him,
and which had the power of cleaving anything, and lo! the pearl was
pierced; then he examined the diamond, which was so pierced that no
thread could be passed through it; so he took a worm, and having
placed a piece of silk in its mouth, it wriggled through, and the
diamond was threaded. The next task was to fill the goblet, which he
gave to a negro slave, and bade him mount a wild horse and gallop it
till it streamed with sweat, and then to fill the goblet with it, thus
fulfilling the imposed conditions. He then gave back these presents to
the ambassadors, who speedily returned to Queen Balkis. She at once saw
that it would be useless to oppose the powerful will of Solomon, and
immediately set out on her journey to that monarch.

It is here that her connection with the holy Cross comes in, for its
wood, which Solomon had cut down in order to incorporate it into his
Temple, and which had the inconvenient property of fitting in nowhere,
being either too long or too short for any purpose, was in consequence
thrown aside, and ultimately was used as a foot-bridge across a brook.
Across this plank the Queen had to pass, but she, recognising its holy
virtue, refused to walk across it, preferring to wade the brook, which,
having done, she expounded its value to Solomon, and prophesied that
out of it should be made the Cross on which Jesus should suffer.

She afterwards became one of Solomon's wives, and bore him a son, and
then returned to her own land, and from this son are descended the
kings of Abyssynia.

The legend on the label is, as far as is legible, REGINA SABA FAMA
SALOMONIS (adduct) A VENIT (Iero)SOLUMA UBI LIGNUM IN ... ABATICA ...
IT ... GENIS ... PERSOLVETUR.

[Illustration: B]

Plate =B= is, virtually, two; one showing the angel appearing to
Constantine when, early in the fourth century, he was advancing towards
Rome against Maxentius; but the legend of the miraculous inscription
which appeared in the sky, "IN HOC SIGNO VINCES," does not appear. The
other, and larger portion, represents his victory over Maxentius, and
he is represented as spearing and killing that monarch; but this is not
historically correct, for, after his defeat, as Maxentius fled towards
Rome, essaying to cross the Tiber over a rotten bridge, it gave way,
and he was drowned. It is noticeable that the Christian flag bears the
Tau Cross.

[Illustration: C D]

_The Plates_ =C= _and_ =D= _run into each other, although they portray
different subjects,_ =C= _being the departure of St. Helena for
Jerusalem on her quest of the holy Cross. The label in this fresco is
utterly illegible._

Plate =D= shows Judas (called Julius in the label) Cyryacus (the
Quyryache of the Golden Legend) being released, after having been
forced, through imprisonment and starvation, into confessing where the
holy Cross lay buried. In the upper part St. Helena is receiving the
holy Cross, whilst labourers are uncovering the Tau Crosses of the two
thieves.

The legend is mutilated, but enough remains to make its meaning clear:
"HERE SEYNTE HELYNE EXAMY(neth) THE I(ews for) Y^E HOLY CROS.... IULIUS
CYRYACUS (saith that he knew w)HERE HETE WAS."

[Illustration: E F]

_The legend in Plate_ =E= _is nearly perfect, and accurately describes
the painting_, "HYT WAS PROVED EVIDENTLY BY MYRAKEL WHICH WAS Y^E VERY
CROS THAT OURE SAVYOUR SUFFYRED.... IN RESYNGE A MADE FROM DETH TO
LYFE."

Here all the Crosses are of the Tau type, and the scene is laid in a
forest, where an old labourer, and a bill-man, and the deer nibbling
the trees, give a rural aspect, instead of in the City of Jerusalem, as
saith the Golden Legend.

Plate =F= evidently consists of two separate paintings--one, where
St. Helena is reverently carrying the Cross into Jerusalem, whilst
the angels in heaven are discoursing celestial music; and the other,
its reception either in Jerusalem or Byzantium, whither St. Helena
sent a portion as a present to her son. And this latter seems the more
probable, if we imagine the King, who, with St. Helena, is adoring the
Crucifix, to be the emperor Constantine, a fact which might have been
settled had the label been legible.

The legend at the bottom is unfortunately mutilated, but that evidently
relates to that portion of the Cross which remained at Jerusalem,
because it speaks of Chosroes: "HERE THE HOLE CROS WAS BROUGHTE
SOLEMLY YN TO THE ... IN Y^E BYSSHOPS HANDS EASILY AND (remaynyd) UN TO
THE TYME OF (King Codsd)ROE.

[Illustration: G H]

Plates =G= and =H= represent the story told in the Golden Legend, of
Heraclius bearing the Cross into Jerusalem, how the gate miraculously
closed, and an angel appeared in the heavens and reproved Heraclius for
riding in state on the very spot where Jesus had gone in all meekness,
and lowliness, to His passion. The legend is erased in parts, the
unmutilated portion reading, "AS THE NOBUL KYNGE ERACLYUS COM RYDYNG
TOWARDE Y^E CYTTE OF IERUSALEM BERYNG Y^E CROSSE SO GRETE PRYDE ...
WHERE Y^E...."

Naturally, the possession of a piece of the true Cross would be
esteemed as a most precious property. No matter how small, it would
be reverentially enclosed in crystal and gold, and was more than a
present fit for an emperor or king, and we cannot marvel that small
pieces were distributed all over Christendom. Possibly some of the
relics shown as pieces of the very Cross might not have been what they
were supposed to be, but it is hard to believe what John Calvin[K]
wrote about it:--

"And fyrst of all let us begynne to speake of his crosse, whereupon
he was hanged. I know that it is holden for a certaintie that it was
founde of Heline the mother of Constantine the Romaine Emperour. I
knowe also what certaine Doctours have written touching the approbation
hereof, for to certifie that the crosse which she found was without
doute the selfe same on the whiche Iesus Christ was hanged. Touchynge
all this I reporte me to the thynge it selfe, so much is there that
it was but a folish curiositie of her, or at the least a folishe and
unconsidered devotion. But yet put the case it had ben a worke worthy
of prayse to her, for to have taken paynes to fynde the trewe crosse,
and that our lord had then declared by myracle that it was his crosse
which she found; Yet let us onely consider that which is of our time.
Every one doeth holde that this crosse which Helene founde is yet at
Ierusalem, and none doeth doute thereof. Although the Ecclesiasticall
history against sayeth the same notablye. For it is ther recited that
Helene toke one part thereof to send to the Emperour her sonne, who put
the same at Constantinople upon a fyne pyller of Marble in the myddest
of the market. Of the other part, it is sayde that she did locke the
same in a copher of silver, and gave it to the Bishop of Ierusalem to
kepe. So then eyther we shall augment the historie of a lie or els that
which is holden at this daye of the true Crosse, is but a vayne and
triflyng opinion.

[Sidenote: 51 _Blocks--billets_]

"Let us consider on the other part howe many peeces there are thereof
throug out the worlde. Yf I would onely recite that whiche I coulde say
there woulde be a register sufficient to fyl a whole boke. There is not
so little a town where there is not some peece thereof, and that not
onelye in cathedrall churches, but also in some parishes. Likewise ther
is not so wicked an abbey where there is not of it to be shewed. And in
some places ther are good great shydes:[51] as at the holye chappell of
Paris, and at Poitiers & at Rome, where there is a great crucifix made
thereof as men saye. To be short, yf a man woulde gather together all
that hath bene founde of this crosse, there would be inough to fraighte
a great ship. The Gospell testifieth that the crosse myght be caried of
one man. What audacitie then was this to fyll the earth with pieces of
wod in suche quantitie, that thre hundred men can not cary them," &c.

Calvin was full of zeal, and could not stoop to particularise. Witness
his assertion that the Cross would freight a ship, and yet that three
hundred men could carry it. M. Rohault de Fleury has gone very minutely
into this matter. Knowing, from microscopical examination, that
several of the relics of the Cross were of pine, he accepts this wood
as his basis, and, from its probable size, he deduces a weight of 100
kilogrammes, equal to about 240 English lbs.; and, taking the average
density of pine, he estimates that this would give 178 millions of
cubic millimetres. He then describes all the known pieces in Europe,
Jerusalem, and Mount Athos, with their measurements, and he puts the
outcome at 3,941,975 cubic millimetres; thus, according to his shewing,
there is but a very small portion of the Holy Cross in existence. I
subjoin his list of the places in which pieces of the Cross are known
to exist, as it is most interesting, showing the comparative bulk of
the pieces, in cubic millimetres:--

    Aix la Chapelle             150
    Amiens                    4,500
    Angers                    2,640
    Angleterre               30,516
    Arles                     8,000
    Arras                    10,314
    Athos (le Mont)         878,360
    Autun                        50
    Avignon                     220
    Baugé                   104,000
    Bernay                      375
    Besançon                  1,000
    Bologne                  15,000
    Bonifacio                47,960
    Bordeaux                  3,420
    Bourbon l'Archambault    29,275
    Bourges                  22,275
    Bruxelles               516,090
    Chalmarques                 "
    Châlons                    200
    Chamirey                   605
    Chatillon                   "
    Cheffes (Anjou)            100
    Chelles                     "
    Compiègne                1,896
    Conques                    108
    Cortone                  3,000
    Courtrai                   200
    Dijon                   33,091
    Donawert                12,000
    Faghine                     "
    Florence                37,640
    Fumes                    5,250
    Gand                   436,450
    Gênes                   26,458
    Gramont                  5,000
    Jancourt (Aube)          3,500
    Jerusalem                5,045
    Langres                    200
    Laon                        "
    Libourne                 3,000
    Lille                   15,112
    Limbourg               133,768
    Longpont                 1,136
    Lorris                      "
    Lyon                     1,696
    Mâcon                    2,000
    Maestricht              10,000
    Marseille                  150
    Milan                    1,920
    Montepulciano              500
    Naples                  10,000
    Nevers                     176
    Nuremberg                   "
    Padoue                      64
    Paris                  237,731
    Pisa                     8,175
    Poitiers                   870
    Pontigny                12,000
    Raguse                 169,324
    Riel les Eaux              671
    Rome                   537,587
    Royaumont                   "
    Saint Dié                   99
    Saint Florent              400
    Saint Quentin            5,000
    Saint Sepolcro             200
    Sens                    69,545
    Sienne                   1,680
    Tournai                  2,000
    Trèves                  18,000
    Troyes                     201
    Turin                    6,500
    Venice                 445,582
    Venloo                      "
    Walcourt                 2,000
    Wambach                     "
                         ---------
        TOTAL            3,941,975

According to this table we are credited in England with 30,516 cubic
millimetres of the holy Cross, and it is interesting to know where
they are situated. M. Rohault de Fleury, writing in 1870, says there
were pieces at Isleworth; St. Gregory, Downside, near Bath; in the
possession of Lord Petre; at Bergholt East, in Suffolk; at Plowden;
at the convent of St. Mary, York; at West Grinstead; at St. George's,
Southwark; and Slindon, Sussex.

These pieces of the holy Cross are not large, as the following table,
in cubic millimetres, shows:--

    At Isleworth                              1,000
     " College of St. Gregory                 6,120
    Lord Petre (two relics)                   8,287
    At St. Mary, Bergholt East                1,008
     " Plowden Hall, Salop                      262
     " St. Mary, York (two relics)            5,600
     " West Grinstead      "                     38
     " St. George's, Southwark (four relics)     63
     " St. Richard, Slindon                   8,100
                                             ------
              TOTAL                          30,516

One relic at St. Mary's Convent, York, is very fine; it is ornamented
with scroll-work of the tenth century, and bears three impressions of
the seal of the Vicar Capitular of the diocese of Saint Omer, 1657 to
1662. It is a pectoral cross that is supposed to have belonged to the
patriarch Arnulph, who was with Robert, Duke of Normandy.

The other is supposed to have been attached to the above, and to have
belonged equally to Arnulph, patriarch of Jerusalem. This is kept in a
silver reliquary, which also contains relics of SS. Ignatius Loyola and
François Xavier.

We see by the Golden Legend, that St. Helena, after finding the Cross,
feeling certain that the nails were not far off, prosecuted a further
search for them, and they were discovered "shynyng as gold." As with
the fashion of the Cross, whether it was _immissa_ or _commissa_, there
is, and was, a controversy with regard to the nails, whether three or
four.

Bosius in his learned and exhaustive book, _Crux Triumphans et
Gloriosa_,[L] gives several authorities for three nails only--foremost,
Gregory Nazianzen; but he does not give the passage where it may be
found; the quotation, however, is

    [Greek: Gymnon trisêlô keimenon xylô labôn],

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

Bosius then goes on to quote Apollinaris Laodicenus, who, in his
tragedy entitled _Christus patiens_, called the holy Cross by the same
words, [Greek: trisêlon xylô], "three-nailed wood"; and he also quotes
from the _Meditat. vitæ Christi_ of Bonaventura, "_Illi tres clavi
sustinent totius corporis pondus_." Nonnus, the Greek poet, writing
in the fifth century, also says that our Lord's feet overlapped each
other, and were fastened by only one large nail. So that there is a
very fair amount of antiquity in favour of three nails.

Against this theory may be quoted the authority of St. Cyprian,
St. Augustine, St. Gregory of Tours, Pope Innocent III., Rufinus,
Theodoret, and others, who say four nails were used in the Crucifixion
of our Saviour. The battle waged pictorially; but perhaps the earliest
known representation of the Crucifixion, that found in the Cemetery of
St. Julian, Pope, or of St. Valentine in Via Flaminia at Rome, ought to
bear most weight. Our Saviour is represented as being clothed in a long
sleeveless robe, which reaches to His ankles; the feet are separate,
and are each nailed. It is said that Cimabue was the first to paint
the feet overlapping, and one nail. His example, however, was much
followed, and hence the controversy.

Of these nails, universal tradition says that St. Helena sent two to
her son Constantine, and, as the Golden Legend has it, "the emperour
dyd do sette them in hys brydel and in hys helme when he wente to
batayle." One can understand one of these sacred nails being worn
in the Emperour's helmet as a presage of victory and as a safeguard
against danger, but the utility of incorporating one of such priceless
relics in a horse's bridle is not so easy to comprehend; but the
fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Ambrose, Theodoret,
and St. Gregory of Tours, recognise in it the fulfilment of the
prophecy of Zecharius, chap. xiv. 20: "In that day shall be upon the
bridles of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD."

This bridle, or rather bit, is now said to be in existence in France
at Carpentras, department of Vaucluse. How it got there is not clearly
known, but probably it was taken at the time of the Crusades--as leaden
seals on which it is engraved exist, attached to parchments of the
dates 1226 and 1250, and it was mentioned in an inventory of relics in
the year 1322.

[Illustration: ^{1} The iron crown of Lombardy. ^{2} The holy bridle
at Carpentras. ^{3} Nail at Venice. ^{4} Nail at Rome in Sta. Maria in
Campitelli. ^{5} Nail at Arras. ^{6} Nail at Colle. ^{7} Nail in the Church
of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, at Rome. ^{8} Portion of nail at Toul. ^{9}
Nail at Trèves.]

I have reproduced it, as well as the Iron Crown of Lombardy and the
nails, from M. Rohault de Fleury's work, and, as will be seen, it is
undoubtedly of great antiquity, closely resembling the bits of the
Romans.

According to Bosius, who quotes Gregory Nazianzen, a third nail was
thrown by St. Helena into the Adriatic Sea, in order to calm a tempest;
and the same authority says that the fourth was deposited in the head
of a statue of Constantine, but this militates much against the number
of holy nails said to be in existence. Calvin notices this, and is down
upon it with sledge-hammer force:--

"Yet there is a greater combat of the nayles. I wyll recite them only
that are come to my knowledge. Thereupon there is not so lytle a childe
but wyll judge that the Devyll hath to much deluded the worlde in
takyng from it both understandyng and reason, that it coulde discerne
nothynge in this matter. If the auncient writers saye trewe, and
namely Theodorite Historiographer of the auncient churche, Helene
caused one to be nayled on her sonne's helmet, the other two she put
in his horse bitte. How be it Sainct Ambrose sayeth not fully so. For
he sayeth that one was put in Constantine's crowne, of the other his
horsebit was made, and the thirde Helene kept. Wee se y^t already more
than twelve hundred yeres agone this hath bene in controversie, to wit,
what was become of the nayles. What certentie can be had of them then
at this present time?

"Now at Millan they boste that thei have y nayle that was put in
Constantine's horse bitte. To the whiche the towne of Carpentras
opposeth herselfe, sayinge that it is she that hath it. Nowe S. Ambrose
doth not saye that the nayle was knit to the bitte, but that the bitte
was made thereof. Whiche thynge can in no wyse be made to agre eyther
w^t their saying of Milan or w^t theirs of Carpentras.

"Moreover there is one in Rome at Sainct Helenes; another also at
Sene, another at Venise. In Germany two: at Collyne one, at the three
Maries: another at Triers, one in Fraunce at the holy chappell of
Paris, another at y^e Carmes, one also at Sainct Denis in France: one
at Burges: one at Tenaill, one at Draguine.

"Beholde here fourteene, whereof account is made; in every place they
alledge good approbation for themselves, as they suppose. And so it is
that everye one hath as good right as aunother. Wherefor there is no
better way then to make them all passe under one fidelium. That is to
saye, to repute all that they saye hereof to be but lyes, seying that
otherwise a man shoulde never come to an ende."

What would Calvin have said if he had seen the formidable list of holy
nails enumerated by Guisto (or Justus) Fontanini, Archbishop of Ancyra?
which is as follows:--

     1. Aix la Chapelle.
     2. Ancona, in the Cathedral.
     3. Bamberg.
     4. In Bavaria, Convent of Audechsen.
     5. Carpentras. The Holy Bit.
     6. Catania, Sicily.
     7. Colle, in Tuscany.
     8. Cologne.
     9. The Escurial in Spain.
    10. Milan.
    11. Monza. The Iron Crown.
    12. Naples. Monastery of S. Patricius.
    13. Nuremberg. Church of the Holy Virgin.
    14. Paris.
    15. Rome. Two Nails. Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem;
            Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli.
    16. Sienna. Hospital Sainte Marie de de l'Echelle.
    17. Spoleto.
    18. Torcello, near Venice. Church of S. Anthony.
    19. Torno, on the Lake of Como.
    20. Toul.
    21. Trèves.
    22. Venice. Three nails.
    23. Vienna.

But this list is further supplemented by M. Rohault de Fleury, who
gives six more:--

    1. Arras, according to M. le Chev. de Linas.
    2. Compiègne. A point.
    3. Cracow, in Poland, according to M. Gosselin.
    4. Florence.
    5. Lagney.
    6. Troyes.

So that no less than twenty-nine towns claim the possession of
thirty-two nails, all differing in form, the number of which can only
be accounted for by the supposition that only a portion of the holy
nails has been incorporated into each of them.

[Illustration: _The Title of the Cross._]

One of the most interesting relics in connection with the holy nails is
the Iron Crown of Lombardy. This, as may be seen by reference to the
illustration (Fig. 1), is a circlet of gold, ornamented with precious
stones, and it is indebted for its name of "Iron" to a thin band (=A=)
of that metal, which is inside the gold circlet. The Crown itself is of
very antique form, being even devoid of rays, and is too small to go on
the head. Charlemagne was crowned with it in 774, and Napoleon did not
think himself King of Italy until he had placed this precious diadem
on his head, in 1805. It is kept at Monza, nine miles from Milan, in
the Cathedral, which is of great antiquity. There it reposes in a huge
cross placed over the altar.

Of the relics of the Cross there now remains but two specks of the
title or inscription thereon, and here, again, I am indebted to M.
Rohault de Fleury for the illustration on page xciv., as it seems to me
to be the best yet published.

The Evangelists, although agreeing in the spirit of the inscription,
vary as to the letter.

    Says St. Matthew: "This is Jesus the King of the Jews."
     "  St. Mark: "The King of the Jews."
     "  St. Luke: "This is the King of the Jews."
     "  St. John: "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews."

Neither St. Matthew nor St. Mark note the tri-lingual character, and
SS. Luke and John vary as to the order of the different languages; the
former saying it was in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew--the latter that it
was in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The latter is the generally accepted
form, and the reason given is, that Hebrew, being the common language,
it would naturally come first, as we should do in an English notice,
first in English, then, say in French and German, for the benefit of
foreigners, as were the Greeks and Romans in Jerusalem.

The tradition is that, along with the Cross, St. Helena found the
inscription, and that she sent it, together with a piece of the Holy
Cross and a number of other sacred relics, to Rome, where it was
deposited in the basilica of Santa Croce. Here it remained until
Valentinian, fearing that it might fall into the hands of the Goths and
Huns, hid it in the wall of the building, until it was found in 1492.

Valentinian died A.D. 375, and Antoninus Martyr, in his _De Locis
Sanctis_ (sec. 20), written about A.D. 570, says he saw the inscription
which had been placed on the Cross, and that the words were, "Iesus
Nazarenus Rex Iudæorum." He says that he held it in his hand, and
kissed it, in the Church of Constantine at _Jerusalem_. Hence it is
evident that either tradition is incorrect, or that Antoninus did not
tell the truth.

But the claim is that it is, and always has been, in Rome, and Bosius,
in his _Crux Triumphans_ (p. 60), gives an account of its re-discovery.
He says that in February, 1492, Monseigneur Pedro Gonsalvo de Mendoza,
Cardinal Sanctæ Crucis, was repairing and cleansing his church, and on
the first day of that month, when the workmen reached the top of the
arch which was in the middle of the basilica, and near the roof, they
saw two small columns; and finding a space, they discovered a niche
in which they found a leaden box, well closed, and on its lid was a
tablet of marble, on which were engraved these words: HIC EST TITVLVS
VERÆ CRUCIS. In this box was found a little board, about a hand's
breadth and a half, much corroded on one side by time, and bearing, in
grooved, engraved characters, which were coloured red, the following
inscription: IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM. But the word IVDÆORVM was
not entire, the last two letters VM having crumbled to pieces by reason
of old age. The first line was written in Latin characters, the second
in Greek, and the third in Hebrew.

All the city went to see it; and three days afterwards, Pope Innocent
went also, and ordered the relic to be preserved in its box, and
covered with a sheet of glass. Every one was convinced that they had
before their eyes the inscription which Pilate placed upon the Cross
over our Saviour's head, and which Saint Helena had deposited in the
church at the time of its building.

The relic, as now seen, is very worm-eaten, but the letters are still
visible, and have been cut with a small gouge. They read from right
to left, as Hebrew does, thus lending great plausibility to the idea
that it was done by some Jewish artificers; and it seems to be of some
close-grained wood. Taking the piece now at Santa Croce, the whole
inscription, if restored, would be thus:

[Illustration: _The Inscription at Santa Croce, restored._]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




_Notes on the Woodcuts._

[Illustration]

THE History of the Legend of the Holy Cross which is here reproduced,
is somewhat fuller than the Golden Legend of Caxton, there being
particulars about Moses, David, and Solomon not to be found therein;
but they may be found in other versions of the Legend, some in the
Latin of Jacobus de Voragine, others in two MSS. in the British
Museum.[M]

The engravings are taken from a very rare book, of which, as far as
is known, there are but three copies in existence: one is in the
Royal Library at Brussels, another at the Hague, in the collection of
Mr. Schinkel, and the third is in the possession of Lord Spencer at
Althorp. It is from this book that these fac-similes (made by M. J. Ph.
Berjeau) were taken. The book itself has one woodcut on each page, with
a verse in Dutch, at the bottom, explanatory of each engraving. It is
called indifferently _Historia Sanctæ Crucis_ or _Boec van den houte_
(Book of the wood or tree).

It was printed at Kuilenburg on March 6th, 1483, by John Veldener,[N]
who had just removed from Louvain. These sixty-four engravings were
originally on thirty-two blocks,[O] and evidently belonged to some much
older block book, now lost. These, Veldener cut in half, as he had
already treated a _Speculum_, and brought them out as a fresh book.

The Legend as told by these engravings is as follows:--

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 1._]

[Sidenote: _No. 2._]

[Sidenote: _No. 3._]

[Sidenote: _No. 4._]

[Sidenote: _No. 5._]

[Sidenote: _No. 6._]

[Sidenote: _Nos. 7, 8._]

Adam, feeling himself about to die, sent Seth to Paradise to beg for
some of the oil of mercy,^{1} which, however, the Archangel Michael
refused to give him, but, instead, presented him with three seeds of
the tree of life.^{2} On his return, he found Adam dead, and, being
unable to administer these seeds to his father in any other manner,
he put them under his tongue, and then buried him.^{3} Presently these
seeds germinated and shot through the ground, and are traditionally
said to have been a cedar, a cypress, and a pine.^{4} They grew until
Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt, when he found them in the
Valley of Hebron, and he recognized them as typifying the Trinity. He
removed them, and they were his constant companions.^{5} With them he
smote the rock, and the waters gushed out,^{6} and the bitter waters of
Marah became sweet.^{7, 8}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 9._]

[Sidenote: _No. 10._]

[Sidenote: _No. 11._]

[Sidenote: _No. 12._]

[Sidenote: _No. 13._]

He then planted them in the land of Moab,^{9} and there they remained,
until an angelic vision appeared unto David, and commanded him to go,
and take them up, and bring them to Jerusalem.^{10} On his return the
three rods worked miracles, healing the sick,^{11} and the leprous,
with a touch;^{12} nay, more, on being applied to three black men, they
instantly became white.^{13}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 14._]

[Sidenote: _No. 15._]

[Sidenote: _No. 16._]

[Sidenote: _No. 17._]

Arrived at Jerusalem, they wished to plant them, but for the night
they left them in a cistern, by the Tower of David,^{14} and lo!
during the night, they struck root, and, entwining themselves, became
but one stem,^{15} which, when David saw, he had a wall built round
it.^{16} And the tree grew for thirty years, David ornamenting it with
rings of sapphire and other precious stones, adding one for every
year, and under this tree he composed the Psalms, and praised God
exceedingly.^{17}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 18._]

[Sidenote: _No. 19._]

[Sidenote: _No. 20._]

[Sidenote: _No. 21._]

[Sidenote: _No. 22._]

[Sidenote: _No. 23._]

But Solomon, who must needs have all that was rare and costly to adorn
his temple, cast his eyes upon this precious tree, and ordered it to
be cut down.^{18} It was duly felled, and squared, and trimmed, and it
measured thirty cubits in length.^{19} But when the carpenters came
to put it into a place of that length, it was a cubit too short, and
when it was fitted into a place of twenty-nine cubits, lo! it measured
thirty, and the carpenters marvelled much, and were greatly astonished,
and so, being useless, it was laid aside.^{20} Yet the people came to
see this wonderful tree, and amongst them was a maid named Maximilla,
who sat down upon it, and instantly her clothes were in a blaze.^{21}
Then she began to lift up her voice, and prophesy, crying, "My God, and
my Lord Jesu Christ."^{22} Then the Jews took her, and scourged her to
death.^{23}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 24._]

[Sidenote: _No. 25._]

[Sidenote: _No. 26._]

[Sidenote: _No. 27._]

[Sidenote: _No. 28._]

[Sidenote: _No. 29._]

[Sidenote: _No. 30._]

The Jews, not knowing what to do with this miraculous tree, laid it
across a brook,^{24} and, when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon,
she recognized the virtue of the wood; and, refusing to defile it
with her feet, she dismounted, and adored it, and waded through the
brook.^{25} Then, when she met Solomon, she reproved him, and told him
that on that tree would the Saviour of the world suffer death.^{26} And
Solomon commanded the holy wood to be taken up,^{27} and caused it to
be carried into the Temple, there to be placed over the door, so that
all men might bless, and adore it, and he coated it over with gold and
silver.^{28} There it remained until Abias stripped it of its costly
coverings,^{29} and the Jews buried it deep in the earth.^{30}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 31._]

[Sidenote: _No. 32._]

There it remained for many years, until the Jews wished to make a pool,
where the priests might wash the beasts, to purify them, previous to
sacrificing them, and, unknowingly, they dug over the burial-place of
the Holy Cross.^{31} This imparted such a virtue to the water of that
pool, which was called Bethesda, that the sick were healed thereat, and
an angel at times descended from heaven, and stirred the waters, and
then whoever could get first into the waters was straightway healed of
any infirmity he might have.^{32}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 33._]

[Sidenote: _No. 34._]

[Sidenote: _No. 35._]

[Sidenote: _No. 36._]

We now come to the Crucifixion, and there was a lack of wood to make
Christ's cross--when, suddenly, from the depths of Bethesda, leaped up
the tree of the Cross, and floated gently to land. One ran to the High
Priest,^{33} and told him of the timely find of suitable wood, and he at
once gave orders for it to be fashioned into a Cross.^{34} Then comes
the mournful procession to Calvary, with our Saviour fainting under the
weight of the Cross, and Simon the Cyrenean is pressed into the service
to help Jesus.^{35} And then the Crucifixion.^{36}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 37._]

[Sidenote: _No. 38._]

[Sidenote: _No. 39._]

[Sidenote: _No. 40._]

[Sidenote: _No. 41._]

[Sidenote: _No. 42._]

[Sidenote: _No. 43._]

[Sidenote: _No. 44._]

And whilst the crosses were still standing, the disciples came to
them and prayed, and many were healed of their infirmities, and many
devils were cast out.^{37} This so angered the Jews that they took the
crosses down, and buried them,^{38} and there they remained until their
invention by St. Helena, A.D. 326. On her arrival at Jerusalem,^{39} she
convened a meeting of the principal Jews, and they denied all knowledge
of it, but, on threat of being burnt, they said that one of their
number, named Judas, knew where the crosses were buried.^{40} Judas,
however, refused to tell, and, to compel him to impart his knowledge,
St. Helena had him lowered into a dry well, "and there tormented hym
by hongre and evyl reste."^{41} Seven days of this treatment made him
submissive, and at the end of that time he capitulated. He was then
drawn up,^{42} and prayed to God to direct him to the right spot.^{43}
His prayer was heard, and after some digging, the crosses were
discovered.^{44}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 45._]

[Sidenote: _No. 46._]

[Sidenote: _No. 47._]

[Sidenote: _No. 48._]

[Sidenote: _No. 49._]

[Sidenote: _No. 50._]

The news was brought to St. Helena, who visited the spot,^{45} but
although there were certainly three crosses, no one knew which was the
one upon which Jesus suffered. A test, however, was applied, which
proved to be satisfactory. The body of a maid was being borne on a bier
for burial, but the funeral procession was stopped, and the body was
touched by the different crosses. The two first produced no effect,^{46}
but when the third touched the dead maiden, she was at once restored
to life.^{47} Here, then, was proof positive; this was the very Cross;
and St. Helena, mindful of her son Constantine, divided the sacred
wood; part she enclosed in a case of precious metal, and kept at
Jerusalem;^{48} and part she sent to her son, at Byzantium, who received
it with due reverence,^{49} and deposited it in the church, with great
ceremony.^{50}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 51._]

Here it remained, until it was taken away, with other spoil, by
Chosroes, the King of Persia, who, aware of the sanctity of the relic,
had it placed on the right hand of his throne. He was so puffed up with
pride, that he ordered himself to be adored. His people, hitherto,
had worshipped the sun, but now he ordained that henceforth he was to
be considered the principal Person in the Trinity (the Father), and
that the relic of the Cross was to be looked upon as the Son, whilst a
golden cock which he had made was to represent the Holy Ghost.^{51}

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 52._]

[Sidenote: _No. 53._]

[Sidenote: _No. 54._]

Then Heraclius made war against Chosroes, and meeting with a Persian
army under one of the sons of that monarch, it was agreed that, in
order to prevent a useless effusion of blood, the two commanders
should fight it out between them, and whoever was vanquished should
submit.^{52} The duel was fought on a bridge over the Danube, and
Heraclius vanquished and killed the son of Chosroes.^{53} The Persian
army then made their submission,^{54} and the penance imposed upon them
by the conqueror was that they should all be baptized, which was duly
done.

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 55._]

[Sidenote: _No. 56._]

[Sidenote: _No. 57._]

[Sidenote: _No. 58._]

[Sidenote: _No. 59._]

[Sidenote: _No. 60._]

[Sidenote: _No. 61._]

[Sidenote: _No. 62._]

Heraclius then went to Chosroes, and told him what he had done,
offering him his life if he too would embrace Christianity,^{55} but
the Persian monarch refused, and Heraclius smote off his head.^{56} He
then crowned a son of Chosroes, and caused him to be baptized,^{57}
himself standing sponsor, and buried the slain king with befitting
honours.^{58} Then, taking possession of the holy relic,^{59} he set out
with it for Jerusalem. But, as he was bearing it in great state, he
came to that gate of the City through which Jesus went to His passion,
worn, buffeted, scorned, and weary, carrying the heavy burden of His
cross. And suddenly the gateway became solid masonry, so that he could
not pass through, and an angel appeared in the heavens, and reproved
him for his ostentatious display in a place which his Saviour had
previously trodden in such deep humility.^{60} Heraclius dismounted
from his horse, and, stripping himself of all the trappings of royalty,
barefoot, and in his shirt,^{61} he meekly bore the Cross to its
appointed place,^{62} the masonry disappearing as soon as he had humbled
himself.

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 63._]

[Sidenote: _No. 64._]

A piece of the Cross was afterwards sent to Rome, where it duly arrived
after a very stormy voyage,^{63} and it was there preserved for the
adoration of the faithful.^{64}

                                                   JOHN ASHTON.

[Illustration]

FOOTNOTES:

[A] "And for as moche as this sayd worke was grete & over chargeable to
me taccomplisshe, I feryd me in the begynnynge of the translacion to
have contynued it / bycause of the longe tyme of the translacion / &
also in thenpryntyng of y^e same and in maner halfe desperate to have
accomplissd it / was in purpose to have lefte it / after that I had
begonne to translate it / & to have layed it aparte ne had it be(en)
at thynstance & requeste of the puyssant noble & vertuous erle my lord
wyllyam erle of arondel / whych desyred me to procede & contynue the
said werke / & promysed me to take a resonable quantyte of them when
they were acheyeued & accomplisshed / and sente to me a worshypful
gentylman a servaunt of his named John Stanney which solycyted me in
my Lordes name that I shold in no wyse leve it but accomplisshe it
promysyng that my sayd lord shold duringe my lyf geve & graunt to me a
yerely fee / that is to wete a bucke in sommer / & a doo in Wynter /
with whiche fee I holde me wel contente," &c.

[B]

[Sidenote: _Length of Adam's life._]

This apparently long life of Adam is admitted on all hands, even in the
Revised Version of the Bible. The Talmud says that God promised him one
thousand years of life, and it is recorded that he begat Seth when he
was a hundred and thirty years old. On this the Talmud (_Eruvin_, fol.
18, col. 2) has the following comment: "Rav Yirmyah ben Elazer said:
All those years, which Adam spent in alienation from God, he begat evil
spirits, demons, and fairies; for it is said, 'And Adam was an hundred
and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his
image'; consequently, before that time, he begat after another image."

This term of one hundred and thirty years seems to have been a period
in Adam's existence, for we again find (_Eruvin_, fol. 18 b.): "Adam
was a Chasid, or great saint, when he observed that the decree of death
was occasioned by him; he _fasted_ a hundred and thirty years, and all
this time he abstained from intercourse with his wife."

[Sidenote: _Talmud legends respecting Adam's length of life._]

There is a Talmudical tradition that God showed the future to Adam
(Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 31): "The Holy One--blessed be He!--shewed
unto Adam each generation, and its preachers, its guardians, its
leaders, its prophets, its heroes, its sinners, and its saints, saying,
'In such and such a generation such and such a _King_ shall reign, in
such and such a generation such and such a wife man shall teach.'" This
is amplified in Midrash Yalkut (fol. 12), where it is said that God
showed Adam all future generations of men, with their leaders, learned
and literary men, and there he observed that David was credited with
only three hours of life, and he said, "Lord and Creator of the world,
is this unalterable?" "Such was my first intention," was the reply.
"How many years have I to live?" asked Adam. "One thousand." Then Adam
said, "I will lend him some of my years." And a document was drawn up
whereby Adam transferred seventy years of his life to David.

S. Baring-Gould, in his legends of _Old Testament Characters_, vol
i. p. 77, referring to a Mussulman legend, says: "Finally, when Adam
reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the Angel of Death
appeared under the form of a goat, and ran between his legs.

"Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, 'God has given me one
thousand years; wherefore comest thou now?'

"'What!' exclaimed the Angel of Death, 'hast thou not given seventy
years of thy life to the prophet David?'

"Adam stoutly denied that he had done so. Then the Angel of Death drew
the document of transfer from out of his beard, and presented it to
Adam, who could no longer refuse to go."

[C] The Festival of the Invention, or finding of the Cross, is kept in
the Roman and English Churches on May 3.

[D] Piscina, a fish-pond: _Lat_. In this instance it is supposed to be
the Pool of Bethesda.

[E] Nicodemus, chap. 14:--

[Sidenote: _v._ 1.]

But when the first man our father Adam heard these things, that Jesus
was baptized in Jordan, he called out to his son Seth, and said,

[Sidenote: _v._ 2.]

Declare to your sons, the patriarchs and prophets, all those things
which thou didst hear from Michael the Archangel, when I sent thee to
the gates of Paradise to entreat God that he would anoint my head when
I was sick.

[Sidenote: _v._ 3]

Then Seth, coming near to the patriarchs and prophets, said: I, Seth,
when I was praying to God at the gates of Paradise, beheld the angel of
the Lord, Michael, appear unto me, saying, I am sent unto thee from the
Lord; I am appointed to preside over human bodies.

[Sidenote: _v._ 4.]

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

[Sidenote: _v._ 5.]

Because thou canst not by any means obtain it till the last day and
times, namely, till five thousand and five hundred years be past.

[Sidenote: _v._ 6.]

Then will Christ, the most merciful Son of God, come on earth to raise
again the human body of Adam, and at the same time to raise the bodies
of the dead, and when he cometh he will be baptized in Jordan;

[Sidenote: _v._ 7.]

Then with the oil of his mercy he will anoint all those that believe on
him; and the oil of his mercy will continue to future generations, for
those who shall be born of the water and the Holy Ghost unto eternal
life.

[Sidenote: _v._ 8.]

And when at that time the most merciful Son of God, Christ Jesus, shall
come down on earth, he will introduce our father Adam into Paradise, to
the tree of mercy.

[Sidenote: _v._ 9.]

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

[F] Alban Butler, in _The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and
other Principal Saints_, denies that St. Helena was an Innholder
(_Stabularia_) in Bithynia, when Constantius married her, and says: "We
are assured by the unanimous tradition of our English historians that
this holy empress was a native of our island. William of Malmesbury,
the principal historian of the ancient state of our country after Bede,
and before him, the Saxon author of the life of St. Helen, in 970,
quoted by Usher, expressly say that Constantine was a Briton by birth."
Leland, in his _Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis_, says that St.
Helena was the only daughter of King Coilus, the King Cöol who first
built walls round Colchester, and the English Church has generally
recognised her British origin. Her festival is kept on August 18.

When her husband, Constantine Chlorus, entered into an arrangement with
Diocletian, by which he had the countries this side the Alps, namely,
Gaul and Britain, he was obliged, as part of the bargain, to divorce
St. Helena, and marry Theodora, the daughter-in-law of Maximinianus.
According to Eusebius, she was not converted to Christianity at the
same time as her son Constantine, who, when he came to the throne,
paid her the greatest deference, and gave her the title of Augusta,
or empress. After the Council of Nice, in 325, he wrote to Macarius,
Bishop of Jerusalem, concerning the building of a splendid church upon
Mount Calvary, and St. Helena, although she was then 79 years of age,
undertook to see it carried out.

It was then that the reputed Invention of the Cross, together with the
nails, took place, and she soon afterwards died, but the exact year is
uncertain, some authorities giving A.D. 326, others 328.

[G] Other accounts say the Crosses were found by Macarius, then Bishop
of Jerusalem.

[H] The book of the office of Mithras or Mithra, the Sun, worshipped by
the Persians.

[I] Heraclius, Emperor of the East, who from A.D. 622 to 627 fought
Chosroes II., defeated him, and concluded peace.

[J] St. Equitius was a hermit, and looked after the welfare of other
hermits and monks. He took a special interest in a convent of young
virgins; died about A.D. 540.

[K] I quote from the translation by Steven Withers, 1561.

[L] From this book I have taken the head and tail piece here given.--J.
A.

[M] Arundel, No. 507, and Add. MSS. 6524.

[N] His life and labours may be read in Mr. Hottrop's _Monuments
Typographiques des Pays-bas_--.

[O] See _The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the 15th Century_, by W.
M. Conway, and an article by him in the _Bibliographer_ of May, 1883,
p. 32.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Illustration: 1

_Adam sends Seth to Paradise for some of the Oil of Mercy._]

[Illustration: 2

_The Archangel Michael gives Seth three seeds of the Tree of Life._]

[Illustration: 3

_Seth buries Adam and puts the three seeds of the Tree of Life under
his tongue._]

[Illustration: 4

_The three seeds spring up._]

[Illustration: 5

_Moses always has the three rods with him._]

[Illustration: 6

_With them he makes water flow from the Rock._]

[Illustration: 7

_An Angel tells Moses how to sweeten the bitter waters._]

[Illustration: 8

_Moses, by dipping the rods in the waters of Marah, sweetens them._]

[Illustration: 9

_Moses plants the rods in the land of Moab._]

[Illustration: 10

_An Angel appears to David and tells him to bring the rods to
Jerusalem._]

[Illustration: 11

_The rods heal the sick._]

[Illustration: 12

_The rods heal a leper._]

[Illustration: 13

_The rods turn three black men white._]

[Illustration: 14

_David leaves the rods for the night._]

[Illustration: 15

_In the morning he finds the rods have taken root and have become one
tree._]

[Illustration: 16

_David builds a wall round the miraculous tree._]

[Illustration: 17

_David composes the Psalms and praises God, under the shadow of the
tree._]

[Illustration: 18

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

[Illustration: 19

_Artificers fashion the tree._]

[Illustration: 20

_The holy wood will fit nowhere._]

[Illustration: 21

_St. Maximilla sitting on the wood, her clothes catch alight._]

[Illustration: 22

_St. Maximilla prophesies concerning the wood._]

[Illustration: 23

_St. Maximilla scourged to death._]

[Illustration: 24

_The wood used as a foot-bridge over a brook._]

[Illustration: 25

_The Queen of Sheba prefers wading through the brook, to walking over
the holy wood._]

[Illustration: 26

_The Queen of Sheba tells Solomon of the holy nature of the wood._]

[Illustration: 27

_The holy wood is taken up._]

[Illustration: 28

_The holy wood is carried into the Temple._]

[Illustration: 29

_Abias despoils the holy wood of its precious covering._]

[Illustration: 30

_The Jews bury the holy wood._]

[Illustration: 31

_Digging the Pool of Bethesda._]

[Illustration: 32

_The sick being healed at the Pool of Bethesda._]

[Illustration: 33

_The High Priest told of the discovery of the holy wood._]

[Illustration: 34

_The holy wood is made into the Cross._]

[Illustration: 35

_Christ bearing the Cross._]

[Illustration: 36

_The Crucifixion._]

[Illustration: 37

_Disciples adore the Cross, the sick are healed, and devils cast out._]

[Illustration: 38

_The Jews bury the Crosses._]

[Illustration: 39

_St. Helena comes to Jerusalem._]

[Illustration: 40

_St. Helena calls together the Chief Jews._]

[Illustration: 41

_Judas is put into a dry well._]

[Illustration: 42

_Judas is liberated from confinement._]

[Illustration: 43

_Judas prays for Divine direction._]

[Illustration: 44

_The Crosses are discovered._]

[Illustration: 45

_St. Helena views the Crosses._]

[Illustration: 46

_Trial of the true Cross._]

[Illustration: 47

_A dead maiden raised to life by being touched by the true Cross._]

[Illustration: 48

_St. Helena deposits a portion of the Cross in Jerusalem._]

[Illustration: 49

_St. Helena gives a portion of the Cross to Constantine._]

[Illustration: 50

_Constantine deposits his portion of the Cross in Byzantium._]

[Illustration: 51

_Chosroes commands his people to adore him._]

[Illustration: 52

_Meeting of Heraclius and Chosroes' son._]

[Illustration: 53

_Heraclius fights the son of Chosroes and kills him._]

[Illustration: 54

_The Persian army submit to Heraclius._]

[Illustration: 55

_Heraclius visits Chosroes._]

[Illustration: 56

_Heraclius kills Chosroes._]

[Illustration: 57

_Heraclius crowns and baptizes the son of Chosroes._]

[Illustration: 58

_Burial of Chosroes._]

[Illustration: 59

_Heraclius takes possession of the relic of the Cross._]

[Illustration: 60

_Heraclius, attempting to enter Jerusalem, is miraculously prevented,
and is reproved by an angel._]

[Illustration: 61

_Heraclius divests himself of state._]

[Illustration: 62

_Heraclius places the relic of the Cross in its appointed place._]

[Illustration: 63

_A portion of the Cross is sent to Rome, the vessel bearing it meeting
with a storm._]

[Illustration: 64

_The relic of the Cross exposed for adoration._]

       *       *       *       *       *

Transcriber's Notes:

Edits made:

Page ix, number added to sidenote (2 _Hadrian is said to_)

Page xxii, number added to sidenote (7 _Of old._)

Page xxxvii, anchor for sidenote [28] added to text (torne thys
bane[28])

Page lii, anchor for sidenote [39] added to text. (had been peasyd[39])

Page lxxvii and following, the totals were removed until the final one.
Each page ended with a total, such as:

    Chalmarques                 "
                            -------
        Carried forward   1,674,145

The following page began with something similar to:

       Brought forward   1,674,145
    Châlons                    200


Page cii and following, the sidenotes listing the woodcut numbers were
originally formed with the first sidenote of each page including the
word _Woodcut_. As this sometimes landed in the middle of paragraphs
and the notes were moved to the start of paragraphs, the form was
changed to listing the word _Woodcut_ in the first sidenote of each
paragraph instead of each page.





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