Extract from
http://txm.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/bfm/pdf/becket.pdf
Stanzas 1219-1236
Lines 6091-6180
1219
...
6095 Un’avisun oï mustrer maistre Fermin :
1220
Ainz que sainz Thomas fust ocis el saint mustier,
Grant processiun vit aler lez le clochier :
El senestre reng vit saint Thomas chevalchier,
E un clerc luinz de lui, mais nel solt entercier ;
6100 Le rei de l’altre part desur un grant destrier.
1221
Une corune d’or out a la croiz pendant ;
Cil la porta mult halt ki ala tut devant.
Une voiz unt oïe desus en l’air criant :
Qui a la croiz metreit gemmes e or luisant,
6105 Corune d’or avreit el ciel a parmenant.
1222
La voiz fu bien oïe. Sainz Thomas l’escuta
E s’il puet a nul sens, a la cruiz ateindra ;
Car corune del ciel durement desira.
Sur un grant cheval fu ; e cele part ala :
6110 Mult gemmes e mult or esmeré i posa.
1223
Lungement après ço s’est li reis purpensez :
S’il n’avient a la croiz, mult en ert vergundez.
Sur un grant cheval fu ; a la cruiz est alez :
Mult i mist pures gemmes e or ki fu provez ;
6115 Mais n’i mist mie tant cum li bons ordenez.
1224
Idunches s’en ala li clers repurpensant
Coment i avendra ; mais la vint chevalchant :
Mult i aveit mis gemmes e mult or reluisant,
E mult bien i avint ; mais n’i mist mie tant
6120 Cum li uns des dous fist ki offrirent avant.
1225
La processiun vait, li munz est en decurs.
Li plus i vunt a pié, car poi beent aillurs.
Sainz Thomas li martyrs nus face veir sucurs !
Mais jo vus di pur veir : uncor vendra li jurs
6125 Li reis larra pur Deu les seculers honurs.
1226
Car nuls ne seit qu’il ad en sun quer enbracié ;
Mais la muableté le truble de sun sié,
E si enfant ki sunt de sens poi esforcié.
E li dit Merlin l’unt durement esmaié ;
6130 Li fol espositur l’en unt pi aveié.
1227
Car li fol conseil furent vers Bretaigne forgié
Par ki fut enfrenez e bien pres mis a pié.
Or guart coment l’eglesse i aveit l’or culchié.
Plus de treis feiz e treis ad ja nidifïé ;
6135 Del tierz ni d’Engleterre ad oü sun quer lié.
1228
De celui e des altres, se Deu plaist, s’esjoira.
Mais ja de cele eglesse li reis mar dutera :
Ja mais en altre liu ne nidifiera,
Car sa plume ad perdue ; ja ne recovera.
6140 Mais encor guard la terre, kar grant mestier en a !
1229
Mais bien sache li reis, e jo pur veir li mant,
Si fiz erent produme e forcible e vaillant ;
S’il se tienent ensemble, plus en erent puissant ;
Mult les criendrunt Engleis, Peitevin e Normant,
6145 E tels en plorera qui or s’en vait riant.
1230
Tant cum s’entre – amerunt e li fiz e li pere
E il dui amerunt e la broiz e la mere,
Tant cum tendrunt ensemble li enfant cume frere
E li reis ert sur els e reis e emperere :
6150 Ki metlera la salse, mult la bevra amere.
1231
Deu pri e le martir, que j’ai servi maint jur,
Qu’il mette pes el regne, e tienge en bon’amur
E le pere e le fiz e la broiz e l’oisur,
E lur doinst joie e vie senz change de seignur,
6155 E lur mette en curage que me facent honur.
1232
Guernes li Clers del Punt fine ici sun sermun
Del martir saint Thomas e de sa passiun.
E mainte feiz le list a la tumbe al barun.
Ci n’a mis un sul mot se la verité nun.
6160 De ses mesfaiz li face li pius Deus veir pardun !
1233
Ainc mais si bons romanz ne fu faiz ne trovez.
A Cantorbire fu e faiz e amendez ;
N’i ad mis un sul mot qui ne seit veritez.
Li vers est d’une rime en cinc clauses cuplez.
6165 Mis languages est bons, car en France fui nez.
1234
L’an secund que li sainz fu en s’iglise ocis,
Comenchai cest romanz, e mult m’en entremis.
Des privez saint Thomas la verité apris :
Mainte feiz en ostai ço que jo ainz escris,
6170 Pur oster la mençonge. Al quart an fin i mis.
1235
E ço sacent tuit cil qui ceste vie orrunt
Que pure verité par tut oïr purrunt.
E ço sacent tuit cil qui del saint traitié unt,
U romanz u latin, e cest chemin ne vunt :
6175 U el dient que jo, contre verité sunt.
1236
Or prium Jesu Crist le fiz sainte Marie,
Pur amur saint Thomas, nus doinst la sue aïe,
Que rien ne nus suffraigne a la corporal vie,
E si nus esneium de seculer folie
6180 Qu’al muriant aium la sue conpaignie.
Amen.
Ici fine la Vie saint Thomas le Martyr.
Translation
1219
... . I have heard a vision that Master Firmin had. 6095
1220
Before St.Thomas was murdered in the cathedral, he [ Master Firmin] watched a great procession pass by the clocktower. He saw that St. Thomas was mounted on a horse in the left file, and there was a cleric further away from him whom he was not able to recognize. The King was on the other side mounted on a large destrier. 6100
1221 There was a cross with a golden crown hanging from it, which was being carried up on high before all who were in the procession. A voice was heard from above, proclaiming that the one who put gems and glistening gold upon the cross would forever have a golden crown in heaven. 6105
1222
The voice was heard well [by all]. St. Thomas paid heed to it and he tried by every means possible to reach the cross, for he eagerly desired the crown of Heaven. He was mounted on a large horse; and riding forward he placed before it a great quantity of gems and pure gold. 6110
1223
For a long time after this the King thought about it. If he did not go up to the cross, great would be his dishonour. He was mounted on a large horse, and to the cross he rode, placing before it a great quantity of gems and proof gold, but not as much as had been put there by the good priest. 6115
1224
Then the cleric came forward and wondered how he might also reach the cross. Riding his horse up to it, he placed upon the cross a great number of precious stones and glistening gold. Well did he succeed in this but he did not put there as much in offerings as the other two who had come before him. 6120
1225
The procession continuesalong its path, but the world is on the wane. Most men proceed on foot, because they are few those who aspire to be elsewhere. May St. Thomas, the martyr, bring us true deliverance! But let me tell you the truth, the day will yet come when the king abandons worldly honors for those of God. 6125
1226
As no one knows what he had embraced within his heart, but the inconstancy, the troubles affecting his kingdom [throne], which his own children, who have little sense, have forced upon him, and those foretellings of Merlin which have long troubled him, which the fools [those deprived of reason] who have tried to interpret them have done little to enlighten us. 6130
1227
In fact this moronic plan was conceived on the way towards Britain [Brittany?] by those who wanted to rein him [the King] in and this well nearly brought him to his feet. Now look at how the [female] eagle has laid her gold there, more than three times [and] three she made her nest there; and with the third nest, in England, look how this brought gladness to her heart. 6135
[The female eagle is clearly Eleanor of Aquitaine, and her three sons her three golden eggs.]
1228
From this and others, if it so pleases God, so it will be happy. But now, however, the king would be wrong to fear her: she will never make her nest in another place for she has shed her feathers and will never be covered again. But let the king watch guard over his land, for he is the Grandmaster in it. 6140
1229
Indeed the king well knows, and truly I say to him if his sons behave like brave loyal men, both bold and valiant, if they hold together, they will be even more powerful. The English, the Poitevins, and the Normans will much fear them, and such as those who might laugh at them will be in tears. 6145
1230
As long as there is love between them both, the son and the father and the two love the brothers and the mother; as long as the children hold togethe like brothers, the king above all others may rule as king and emperor: but whosoever stirs up the sauce will drink the waters of much bitterness. 6150
1231
I pray to God and the Martyr, whom I have served for many a day, that He brings peace to the kingdom, and in the good name of love supports both the father and the son, and the brothers and the wife, and gives to them joy and [long] life without need to change the sovereign. And may God give them courage to do me the honour [and make me proud]. (6155)
1232
Guernes de Pont[-Sainte-Maxence], the cleric, here ends his sermon on the martyrdom and passion of Saint Thomas. Many times has he read it by the tomb of our hero. In it is not one word which is not the truth. For any sins he has committed he begs forgiveness with true piety from God. 6160
1233
Never will you be able to find or compose so good an account. It has been both produced and corrected at Canterbury. In it there is not one single word which is not true. The verses are a rhyme of five line couplets. My language is good because I was born in France. 6165
1234
During the second year after the saint had been killed in his church I began this narrative [Life of Becket], and [have since] put a great deal of effort into it. From St Thomas' own private circle [of companions] I learned the truth: many times I have erased what I had previously written, in order to remove the untruths. In the fourth year I finished it. 6170
1235
And let all those who listen to this Life [of Becket] know that they are listening to nothing but the pure truth. And let them also know that all those who have composed [a Life of] the Saint in either the Romance or Latin languages and who did not follow the same path as me, know that where they tell his story differently from me, they are in error. 6175
1236
Now let us pray to Jesus Christ, son of St Mary [the Virgin], that for the love of St. Thomas that He will gives us His help, so that we will suffer nothing during our corporeal life, and when we are cleansed of worldly folly, as we die, we may have His companionship 6180
Amen
Here Ends the Life of St. Thomas the Martyr
References
Guernes (de Pont-Sainte-Maxence); Emmanuel Walberg (1936). Les Classiques français du Moyen Age. Librarie Honoré Champion. pp. 187–.
St. Thomas of Canterbury, his death and miracles Volume I p. 235 footnotes
St. Thomas of Canterbury, his death and miracles, Abbott, Edwin Abbott Volume II pp 5-6 Visions - §592
La vie de saint Thomas le martyr, publ. par C. Hippeau. pp215-7
Paul Alonzo Brown (1930). The Development of the Legend of Thomas Becket. University of Pennsylvania. pp. 110–11.
A certain physician of Canterbury, a man of honest life, Fermin by name, ministered to the ill of the brotherhood. At the festival of Pentecost before the passion of the Holy Martyr Thomas he saw in a vision that a solemn procession was made in Canterbury Cathedral, and was followed by a group of brothers, attired in festive clothing, and serving God joyfully and loudly. Lastly on horse and riding together came Henry, King of England, and Thomas, archbishop. ...
Monday, 29 May 2017
Sunday, 28 May 2017
Garnier: Postscript, on Becket's Sister
Epiloge
L'abesse, suer saint Thomas,
Pur s'onur et pur le barun,
M 'ad doné palefrei et dras;
N'i faillent nis li esperun.
Ne getai pas mes dez sur as,
Quant jo tornai à sa meisun !
Ne ele n'i ad mespris pas :
De mei aura tel gueredun,
Et devant halz et devant bas,
Par tut eshalcerai sun nun.
Meillur femme, très k'à Patras,
En nul liu ne trouvereit-run.
Et les Dames m'unt fet tut gras,
Ghescune d'eles, de sun dun.
Or lur duinst Deus tuz dis à tas
Pain et vin et char et peisun ;
Et quant lur cors ert mus et kas
Deus face as aimes veir pardun I
Ne dirai mes dès ore at las I
Car servirai Seignur mult buen.
De ço k*ai esté sovent las
De rimeier sa passiun,
U me rent bien, ne m'a à gas;
Assez me trouve guarisun,
Or, argent et robe en mes sas ,
Chevals , autre possessiun.
Se nuls me dit : Guamiers, où vas?
Tuz li munz est miens en virun.
Ne di se bien nun de Judas
Quand il veint à confessiun.
(£de, li buens priurs de seinte Temité,
Li covenz des seignurs, Deus lur sache buen gré!
M'unt fet mult granz sueurs , de lur sovent doné.
Maintenu an et jur et entr'els govemé.
Quel part ke seit mis cuers , et de loing et de lé ,
A els est mes returs, tut pur lur grant bunté;
Rar une ne vi meillurs en la Cristienté.
Explicit vita sancti Thome archiespicopi et martiris Canturiensis.
Translation
The abbess, sister of St. Thomas, for her honour and that of our hero, gave me a palfrey and clothes. It didnt even lack spurs. I did not throw ones [aces] on my dice, when I turned up at her house. And she did not disappoint me. She will receive from me a corresponding reward: before the great as well as the humble, everywhere [I go] I will glorify her name. In no place even as far as Patras [Eastern end of Western Christendom] is a better woman to be found. And the ladies of the abbey each has enriched me with her gift. May God always lavish upon them an abundance of bread, wine, meat, and fish. When their bodies lie silent and in their coffin, may God forgive their souls.
Henceforth I shall have no reason to complain; For I have served an excellent lord. If I have often exhausted myself in putting into verse the account of his passion, he rewards me well - and does not laugh at me - he gives me a lot of goods, gold, money, clothes packed into my sacks, horses and other riches. If someone asks me, "Guernes, where are you going?" I answer that the whole world belongs to me. I will only have good to say to Judas if he comes to confession. Odo [Eudes], the good prior of the Holy Trinity [Canterbury Cathedral], as well as master of the convent (may God thank them for their generosity!) have procured me great succour and have often given of their possessions. For years, they have kept and nurtured me amongst them. Wherever my steps lead me, whatever may be my direction, it is to them that I shall return because of their great goodness, for never in all Christendom did I see better men.
Here laid before you has been The Life of St. Thomas, Archbishop and Martyr of Canterbury.
References
La vie de saint Thomas le martyr, publ. par C. Hippeau : Garnier de Pont Sainte Maxence : pp.206-7
La vie de Saint Thomas le martyr; par E. Walberg 1922.
Collection des poètes français du moyen âge. Aubier. 1859. pp. 206–.
Archaeologia Cantiana. Kent Archaeological Society. 1876. pp. 17–.
Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie. 1859. pp. 245–.
Mary Carpenter Erler; Maryanne Kowaleski (2003). Gendering the Master Narrative: Women and Power in the Middle Ages. Cornell University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 0-8014-8830-3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barking_Abbey
The withheld Name of Marie in the Epilogue of Guernes' 'Vie Saint Thomas'
Rossi, Carla. (2015) - In: Studi Giuseppe Tavani (2015) S. 127-142
Barking Abbey
https://goo.gl/Rp4FsA
L'abesse, suer saint Thomas,
Pur s'onur et pur le barun,
M 'ad doné palefrei et dras;
N'i faillent nis li esperun.
Ne getai pas mes dez sur as,
Quant jo tornai à sa meisun !
Ne ele n'i ad mespris pas :
De mei aura tel gueredun,
Et devant halz et devant bas,
Par tut eshalcerai sun nun.
Meillur femme, très k'à Patras,
En nul liu ne trouvereit-run.
Et les Dames m'unt fet tut gras,
Ghescune d'eles, de sun dun.
Or lur duinst Deus tuz dis à tas
Pain et vin et char et peisun ;
Et quant lur cors ert mus et kas
Deus face as aimes veir pardun I
Ne dirai mes dès ore at las I
Car servirai Seignur mult buen.
De ço k*ai esté sovent las
De rimeier sa passiun,
U me rent bien, ne m'a à gas;
Assez me trouve guarisun,
Or, argent et robe en mes sas ,
Chevals , autre possessiun.
Se nuls me dit : Guamiers, où vas?
Tuz li munz est miens en virun.
Ne di se bien nun de Judas
Quand il veint à confessiun.
(£de, li buens priurs de seinte Temité,
Li covenz des seignurs, Deus lur sache buen gré!
M'unt fet mult granz sueurs , de lur sovent doné.
Maintenu an et jur et entr'els govemé.
Quel part ke seit mis cuers , et de loing et de lé ,
A els est mes returs, tut pur lur grant bunté;
Rar une ne vi meillurs en la Cristienté.
Explicit vita sancti Thome archiespicopi et martiris Canturiensis.
Translation
The abbess, sister of St. Thomas, for her honour and that of our hero, gave me a palfrey and clothes. It didnt even lack spurs. I did not throw ones [aces] on my dice, when I turned up at her house. And she did not disappoint me. She will receive from me a corresponding reward: before the great as well as the humble, everywhere [I go] I will glorify her name. In no place even as far as Patras [Eastern end of Western Christendom] is a better woman to be found. And the ladies of the abbey each has enriched me with her gift. May God always lavish upon them an abundance of bread, wine, meat, and fish. When their bodies lie silent and in their coffin, may God forgive their souls.
Henceforth I shall have no reason to complain; For I have served an excellent lord. If I have often exhausted myself in putting into verse the account of his passion, he rewards me well - and does not laugh at me - he gives me a lot of goods, gold, money, clothes packed into my sacks, horses and other riches. If someone asks me, "Guernes, where are you going?" I answer that the whole world belongs to me. I will only have good to say to Judas if he comes to confession. Odo [Eudes], the good prior of the Holy Trinity [Canterbury Cathedral], as well as master of the convent (may God thank them for their generosity!) have procured me great succour and have often given of their possessions. For years, they have kept and nurtured me amongst them. Wherever my steps lead me, whatever may be my direction, it is to them that I shall return because of their great goodness, for never in all Christendom did I see better men.
Here laid before you has been The Life of St. Thomas, Archbishop and Martyr of Canterbury.
References
La vie de saint Thomas le martyr, publ. par C. Hippeau : Garnier de Pont Sainte Maxence : pp.206-7
La vie de Saint Thomas le martyr; par E. Walberg 1922.
Collection des poètes français du moyen âge. Aubier. 1859. pp. 206–.
Archaeologia Cantiana. Kent Archaeological Society. 1876. pp. 17–.
Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie. 1859. pp. 245–.
Mary Carpenter Erler; Maryanne Kowaleski (2003). Gendering the Master Narrative: Women and Power in the Middle Ages. Cornell University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 0-8014-8830-3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barking_Abbey
The withheld Name of Marie in the Epilogue of Guernes' 'Vie Saint Thomas'
Rossi, Carla. (2015) - In: Studi Giuseppe Tavani (2015) S. 127-142
Barking Abbey
https://goo.gl/Rp4FsA
Thursday, 25 May 2017
Garnier: Miracles, Pilgrimages and Souvenirs
http://txm.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/bfm/pdf/becket.pdf
Stanzas 1172 - 1182
Lines 5856-5910
1172
Li sainz martyrs dunt vus l’estorie oï avez,
La nuit de saint Thomas, devant Noël, fu nez,
Quant um chantout les vespres ; après vespres, levez ;
E après saint Thomas fu Thomas apelez.
5860 Quant um chantout les vespres, el halt ciel fu portez.
1173
Li parreins fu ocis e gist en Orïent,
Car saint’iglise esteit idunc en creissement.
Cist fu ocis el Nort, e guarde l’Occident,
Pur s’iglise qui ert tut’en dechaement.
5865 Noël e Jursalem unt parti igalment.
1174
Pur la terrestre iglise furent andui ocis ;
Le celestïel regne unt par lur mort conquis.
E al servise Deu unt tuz les cinc sens mis,
E tuz les cinc degrez unt muntez e purpris.
5870 Tut le mund de dous parz unt en lur guarde pris.
1175
Par un marsdi fu nez li sainz huem dunt vus di ;
Pur veir de Norhamtun par marsdi s’en fuï,
E si passa la mer par un jur de marsdi,
E repassa d’essil par tel jur altresi ;
5875 Par marsdi ensement le martyre suffri.
1176
Pur ço qu’or tart nus est novals martyrs donez,
Guernes li Clers, del Punt Sainte Mesence nez,
Vus volt faire del tens del martyre acertez :
Mil anz cent e seissante e diz tuz acuntez
5880 I out, des que Deus fu en la Virgene encarnez.
1177
Mult est bien saint Thomas de Deu nostre Seignur ;
E tuz li munz le veit, n’en querrum menteür.
Ne fu unches oï des le siecle primur
Que Deus a humme mort mustrast si grant amur :
5885 Mult granz miracles fait pur lui e nuit e jur.
1178
En terre est Deus od nus pur amur al martyr,
E les morz fait revivre, mutz parler, surz oïr,
Les contraiz redrescier, gutus, fevrus guarir,
Ydropikes, leprus en santé restablir,
5890 Cius veer, en lur sens les desvez revenir.
1179
Pluisur rei le requierent en dreit pelerinage,
Li prince, li barun, li duc od lur barnage,
Genz d’alïens païs, de mult divers language,
Prelat, moine, reclus e maint en poünage ;
5895 E ampolles reportent en signe del veage.
1180
Mais de Jerusalem est la cruiz aportee,
E de Rochemadur, Marie en plum getee,
[182] De Saint Jame, l’escale qui en plum est muee :
Or ad Deus saint Thomas cel’ampole donee,
5900 Qui est par tut le mund cherie e honuree.
1181
En semblance de vin e d’ewe fait user
Deus sun sanc par le mund, pur les anemes salver ;
En ewe e en ampoles fait par le mund porter
Deus le sanc al martir, pur les enferms saner.
5905 En santé e en signe i fait l’onur dubler.
1182
Mais merveille poum e veer e oïr,
Que cil ki mortalment le soleient haïr,
Envers le rei Henri medler e mal tenir,
Ki furent a sa mort purchacier e bastir,
5910 Pur merci les veum ses hummes devenir.
Translation
1172
The holy martyr whose story you have listened to was born before Christmas on the night of St. Thomas [the Apostle/Doubting Thomas] at the hour when Vespers was chanted. And it was after this Thomas that our Thomas was named. And it was at the hour when Vespers were chanted that he was carried up high into Heaven. 5860
1173
The saint after whom he was baptised and named was killed and laid to rest in the East, as holy Church was then in the ascent. As for him [our Thomas], he was killed in the North and protects the West for the sake of his Church, which was in decline. They each divide the world into two equal halves at Christmas time on either side of Jerusalem. 5865
1174
The two of them were both killed in the cause of the Church here on Earth. By their deaths they each gained the kingdom of Heaven. And in the service of God they put all their five senses; and mounted all of and achieved the five steps to canonisation. Each has taken half of the world under his protection. 5870
1175
The saintly man of whom I speak to you about was born on a Tuesday; it was a Tuesday, verily, when he took flight from Northampton; he crossed the sea on a day which was a Tuesday, and similarly returned from exile on the same day. It was on a Tuesday that he suffered martyrdom. 5875
1176
Since a new martyr has recently been given to us, [I] Guernes the Cleric, born in Pont-Sainte-Maxence, wants to give an exact date of his martyrdom: one thousand one hundred and seventy years since God was made flesh by the Virgin. 5880
1177
St. Thomas is hugely in the favour of God our Lord. The whole world knows this: we will not to seek a liar. It has not been heard of since the first century that God has shown so much love for a dead man. Many great miracles has He performed through him both night and day. 5885
1178
God manifests Himself on Earth in the midst of us through His love for the martyr; He raises up the dead, the dumb are able to speak, the deaf to hear, deformities are straightened out; those who suffer from gout or fever are cured, those with dropsy or leprosy have their health restored; the blind are made to see and the insane recover their senses. 5890
1179
Many a king, as well as princes, barons, and dukes together with their entourage, have made a pilgrimage [to his tomb] seeking his help; people from foreign lands speaking many diverse languages: prelates, monks, recluses and many [pilgrims] who come on foot. They take away ampullae bearing witness to their journey. 5895
1180
Indeed from Jerusalem have pieces [of the True] Cross been brought; and from Rocamadour [statues] of [the Virgin Mary] moulded from lead [pewter?]; and of St James [Santiago de Compostella] scallops fashioned out of lead [pewter?]. Now God has given us these ampullae which the whole world cherish and honour. 5900
1181
Under the appearance [pretence?] of turning wine into water, God has used his [Thomas'] blood for the salvation of everyone's souls. He has caused the blood of the martyr to be carried throughout the world mixed with water in ampullae for the cure of the sick. 5905
1182
Even we can see and hear extraordinary things: those who have never ceased to hate him to death, to confound him with their slanders before King Henry, those who sought and realised his martyrdom, we see them through his mercy [obtain their pardon] by becoming his vassals. 5910
References
Peter Damian-Grint (1999). The New Historians of the Twelfth-century Renaissance: Inventing Vernacular Authority. On the word "estoire": Boydell & Brewer. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-0-85115-760-3.
Erik Thunø (2002). Image and Relic: Mediating the Sacred in Early Medieval Rome. L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-88-8265-217-3
Daniel Rancour-Laferriere (31 December 2011). The Sign of the Cross: From Golgotha to Genocide. Transaction Publishers. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-1-4128-4399-7.
John Block Friedman; Kristen Mossler Figg (4 July 2013). Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 1250–. ISBN 978-1-135-59101-4.
Pewter ampulla of St. Thomas Becket: 12th-13th century at Museum of London
https://goo.gl/JrX9cS
British Museum - ampulla
https://goo.gl/DOzrTI
The miraculous water from Becket's well in Canterbury was said to heal any ailment — "optimus egrorum, medicus fit thomas bonorum" for people who are sick, Thomas is the best of physicians," said the motto stamped on the lead ampules which each pilgrim received.
Donald Roy Howard (1978). The Idea of the Canterbury Tales. University of California Press. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-0-520-03492-1.
Stanzas 1172 - 1182
Lines 5856-5910
1172
Li sainz martyrs dunt vus l’estorie oï avez,
La nuit de saint Thomas, devant Noël, fu nez,
Quant um chantout les vespres ; après vespres, levez ;
E après saint Thomas fu Thomas apelez.
5860 Quant um chantout les vespres, el halt ciel fu portez.
1173
Li parreins fu ocis e gist en Orïent,
Car saint’iglise esteit idunc en creissement.
Cist fu ocis el Nort, e guarde l’Occident,
Pur s’iglise qui ert tut’en dechaement.
5865 Noël e Jursalem unt parti igalment.
1174
Pur la terrestre iglise furent andui ocis ;
Le celestïel regne unt par lur mort conquis.
E al servise Deu unt tuz les cinc sens mis,
E tuz les cinc degrez unt muntez e purpris.
5870 Tut le mund de dous parz unt en lur guarde pris.
1175
Par un marsdi fu nez li sainz huem dunt vus di ;
Pur veir de Norhamtun par marsdi s’en fuï,
E si passa la mer par un jur de marsdi,
E repassa d’essil par tel jur altresi ;
5875 Par marsdi ensement le martyre suffri.
1176
Pur ço qu’or tart nus est novals martyrs donez,
Guernes li Clers, del Punt Sainte Mesence nez,
Vus volt faire del tens del martyre acertez :
Mil anz cent e seissante e diz tuz acuntez
5880 I out, des que Deus fu en la Virgene encarnez.
1177
Mult est bien saint Thomas de Deu nostre Seignur ;
E tuz li munz le veit, n’en querrum menteür.
Ne fu unches oï des le siecle primur
Que Deus a humme mort mustrast si grant amur :
5885 Mult granz miracles fait pur lui e nuit e jur.
1178
En terre est Deus od nus pur amur al martyr,
E les morz fait revivre, mutz parler, surz oïr,
Les contraiz redrescier, gutus, fevrus guarir,
Ydropikes, leprus en santé restablir,
5890 Cius veer, en lur sens les desvez revenir.
1179
Pluisur rei le requierent en dreit pelerinage,
Li prince, li barun, li duc od lur barnage,
Genz d’alïens païs, de mult divers language,
Prelat, moine, reclus e maint en poünage ;
5895 E ampolles reportent en signe del veage.
1180
Mais de Jerusalem est la cruiz aportee,
E de Rochemadur, Marie en plum getee,
[182] De Saint Jame, l’escale qui en plum est muee :
Or ad Deus saint Thomas cel’ampole donee,
5900 Qui est par tut le mund cherie e honuree.
1181
En semblance de vin e d’ewe fait user
Deus sun sanc par le mund, pur les anemes salver ;
En ewe e en ampoles fait par le mund porter
Deus le sanc al martir, pur les enferms saner.
5905 En santé e en signe i fait l’onur dubler.
1182
Mais merveille poum e veer e oïr,
Que cil ki mortalment le soleient haïr,
Envers le rei Henri medler e mal tenir,
Ki furent a sa mort purchacier e bastir,
5910 Pur merci les veum ses hummes devenir.
Translation
1172
The holy martyr whose story you have listened to was born before Christmas on the night of St. Thomas [the Apostle/Doubting Thomas] at the hour when Vespers was chanted. And it was after this Thomas that our Thomas was named. And it was at the hour when Vespers were chanted that he was carried up high into Heaven. 5860
1173
The saint after whom he was baptised and named was killed and laid to rest in the East, as holy Church was then in the ascent. As for him [our Thomas], he was killed in the North and protects the West for the sake of his Church, which was in decline. They each divide the world into two equal halves at Christmas time on either side of Jerusalem. 5865
1174
The two of them were both killed in the cause of the Church here on Earth. By their deaths they each gained the kingdom of Heaven. And in the service of God they put all their five senses; and mounted all of and achieved the five steps to canonisation. Each has taken half of the world under his protection. 5870
1175
The saintly man of whom I speak to you about was born on a Tuesday; it was a Tuesday, verily, when he took flight from Northampton; he crossed the sea on a day which was a Tuesday, and similarly returned from exile on the same day. It was on a Tuesday that he suffered martyrdom. 5875
1176
Since a new martyr has recently been given to us, [I] Guernes the Cleric, born in Pont-Sainte-Maxence, wants to give an exact date of his martyrdom: one thousand one hundred and seventy years since God was made flesh by the Virgin. 5880
1177
St. Thomas is hugely in the favour of God our Lord. The whole world knows this: we will not to seek a liar. It has not been heard of since the first century that God has shown so much love for a dead man. Many great miracles has He performed through him both night and day. 5885
1178
God manifests Himself on Earth in the midst of us through His love for the martyr; He raises up the dead, the dumb are able to speak, the deaf to hear, deformities are straightened out; those who suffer from gout or fever are cured, those with dropsy or leprosy have their health restored; the blind are made to see and the insane recover their senses. 5890
1179
Many a king, as well as princes, barons, and dukes together with their entourage, have made a pilgrimage [to his tomb] seeking his help; people from foreign lands speaking many diverse languages: prelates, monks, recluses and many [pilgrims] who come on foot. They take away ampullae bearing witness to their journey. 5895
1180
Indeed from Jerusalem have pieces [of the True] Cross been brought; and from Rocamadour [statues] of [the Virgin Mary] moulded from lead [pewter?]; and of St James [Santiago de Compostella] scallops fashioned out of lead [pewter?]. Now God has given us these ampullae which the whole world cherish and honour. 5900
1181
Under the appearance [pretence?] of turning wine into water, God has used his [Thomas'] blood for the salvation of everyone's souls. He has caused the blood of the martyr to be carried throughout the world mixed with water in ampullae for the cure of the sick. 5905
1182
Even we can see and hear extraordinary things: those who have never ceased to hate him to death, to confound him with their slanders before King Henry, those who sought and realised his martyrdom, we see them through his mercy [obtain their pardon] by becoming his vassals. 5910
References
Peter Damian-Grint (1999). The New Historians of the Twelfth-century Renaissance: Inventing Vernacular Authority. On the word "estoire": Boydell & Brewer. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-0-85115-760-3.
Erik Thunø (2002). Image and Relic: Mediating the Sacred in Early Medieval Rome. L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-88-8265-217-3
Daniel Rancour-Laferriere (31 December 2011). The Sign of the Cross: From Golgotha to Genocide. Transaction Publishers. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-1-4128-4399-7.
John Block Friedman; Kristen Mossler Figg (4 July 2013). Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 1250–. ISBN 978-1-135-59101-4.
Pewter ampulla of St. Thomas Becket: 12th-13th century at Museum of London
https://goo.gl/JrX9cS
British Museum - ampulla
https://goo.gl/DOzrTI
The miraculous water from Becket's well in Canterbury was said to heal any ailment — "optimus egrorum, medicus fit thomas bonorum" for people who are sick, Thomas is the best of physicians," said the motto stamped on the lead ampules which each pilgrim received.
Donald Roy Howard (1978). The Idea of the Canterbury Tales. University of California Press. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-0-520-03492-1.
R. N. Swanson (10 April 2015). The Routledge History of Medieval Christianity: 1050-1500. Routledge. pp. 206–. ISBN 978-1-317-50809-0.
Paul Webster; Marie-Pierre Gelin (2016). The Cult of St Thomas Becket in the Plantagenet World, C.1170-c.1220. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 8–. ISBN 978-1-78327-161-0.
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/155937205820552215/
The Scallop Shell and the Camino de Santiago - CaminoWays.com
Linda Kay Davidson; David Martin Gitlitz. Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland ; an Encyclopedia. Rocamadour, France: ABC-CLIO. pp. 527–. ISBN 978-1-57607-004-8.
William McLoughlin; Jill Pinnock (2007). Mary for Time and Eternity. Gracewing Publishing. pp. 352–. ISBN 978-0-85244-651-5.
La Fontenelle de Vaudoré (1839). Revue anglo-française: destinée à recueillir toutes les données historiques et autres, se rattachant aux points de contact entre la France, l'Aquitaine et la Normandie, la Grande-Bretagne et l'Irlande. Saurin frères
Emmanuel Walberg (1975). La tradition hagiographique de Saint Thomas Becket: avant la fin du XIIe siècle : études critiques. Slatkine. pp. 35–.
Paul Webster; Marie-Pierre Gelin (2016). The Cult of St Thomas Becket in the Plantagenet World, C.1170-c.1220. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 8–. ISBN 978-1-78327-161-0.
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/155937205820552215/
The Scallop Shell and the Camino de Santiago - CaminoWays.com
Linda Kay Davidson; David Martin Gitlitz. Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland ; an Encyclopedia. Rocamadour, France: ABC-CLIO. pp. 527–. ISBN 978-1-57607-004-8.
William McLoughlin; Jill Pinnock (2007). Mary for Time and Eternity. Gracewing Publishing. pp. 352–. ISBN 978-0-85244-651-5.
La Fontenelle de Vaudoré (1839). Revue anglo-française: destinée à recueillir toutes les données historiques et autres, se rattachant aux points de contact entre la France, l'Aquitaine et la Normandie, la Grande-Bretagne et l'Irlande. Saurin frères
Emmanuel Walberg (1975). La tradition hagiographique de Saint Thomas Becket: avant la fin du XIIe siècle : études critiques. Slatkine. pp. 35–.
Monday, 15 May 2017
South-English Legendary
The early South-English legendary ; or, Lives of saints. I. Ms. Laud, 108,
in the Bodleian library. Edited by Carl Horstmann.
27 ¶ Ici poez oyer coment seint Thomas de Kaunterbures nasqui. e de quev manere gent de pere e de Mere.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/AHA2708.0001.001/1:3.18?rgn=div2;view=fulltext
https://goo.gl/lkhBgU
The Early South-English Legendary, Or, Lives of Saints
by Carl Horstmann , Bodleian Library
https://archive.org/details/earlysouthengli01librgoog
https://archive.org/stream/TheEarlySouthEnglishLegendary#page/n165/mode/2up
Die me. Thomas Beket-Legende des Gloucesterlegendars (Teilausgabe): Kritisch hrsg. mit Einl. 1919
William Henry Black (1845). The Life and Martyrdom of Thomas Beket: Archbishop of Canterbury. Percy Society.
John Scahill; Margaret Rogerson (2005). Middle English Saints' Legends. DS Brewer. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-1-84384-059-6.
South English Legendary - Wikipedia
Robert of Gloucester (1810). Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle. Transcrib'd and Now First Publish'd from a Ms. in the Harleyan Library by Thomas Hearne, M. A. ... in Two Volumes: 1-2. Bagster. pp. 465–.
Legenda aurea - Légende dorée - Golden legend. A study of Caxton's Golden legend with special reference to its relations to the earlier English prose translation .. : Butler, Pierce
Bibliography
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=byte&byte=192944273&egdisplay=open&egs=192964979
http://lexissearch.arts.manchester.ac.uk/citation.aspx?id=10145
https://goo.gl/UWqb1G
in the Bodleian library. Edited by Carl Horstmann.
27 ¶ Ici poez oyer coment seint Thomas de Kaunterbures nasqui. e de quev manere gent de pere e de Mere.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/AHA2708.0001.001/1:3.18?rgn=div2;view=fulltext
https://goo.gl/lkhBgU
The Early South-English Legendary, Or, Lives of Saints
by Carl Horstmann , Bodleian Library
https://archive.org/details/earlysouthengli01librgoog
https://archive.org/stream/TheEarlySouthEnglishLegendary#page/n165/mode/2up
Die me. Thomas Beket-Legende des Gloucesterlegendars (Teilausgabe): Kritisch hrsg. mit Einl. 1919
William Henry Black (1845). The Life and Martyrdom of Thomas Beket: Archbishop of Canterbury. Percy Society.
John Scahill; Margaret Rogerson (2005). Middle English Saints' Legends. DS Brewer. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-1-84384-059-6.
South English Legendary - Wikipedia
Robert of Gloucester (1810). Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle. Transcrib'd and Now First Publish'd from a Ms. in the Harleyan Library by Thomas Hearne, M. A. ... in Two Volumes: 1-2. Bagster. pp. 465–.
Legenda aurea - Légende dorée - Golden legend. A study of Caxton's Golden legend with special reference to its relations to the earlier English prose translation .. : Butler, Pierce
Bibliography
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=byte&byte=192944273&egdisplay=open&egs=192964979
http://lexissearch.arts.manchester.ac.uk/citation.aspx?id=10145
https://goo.gl/UWqb1G